Sakurai and Akabane

“Fuck,” my brother mumbled.

I looked at him confused but the feeling in the pit of my stomach was nothing less than fear. I stared at him waiting for him to say something, anything but he stayed quiet which started to get on my nerves.

“Get on with it then!” I yelled.

“Okay, okay geez!” he mumbled.

He bounced forward slightly and crossed his legs.

“This happened during the time you were born so you don’t remember… or know anything for that matter, I was 5 but I know so you have to trust me when I tell you this, okay here we go, so, there were two guys, we’ll call them A and B…”

“A and B?” I asked, laughing.

“You could have said any name but the best you thought of was A and B?” my laughter was short-lived when I saw the look he gave me.

“Do you want to hear the story or not?” he snapped.

“Yes, I’m sorry. So, A and B...?” I urged him to go on.

“Yes, so A and B were best friends, and because of their love for wine, they decided that they wanted to make their wine. Soon it was a hit and people from all over the country wanted to come and purchase some.

Their partnership was admired everywhere, soon everyone wanted to be like them. They hardly had any disagreements even though they were so different, one was more modern whereas the other was more traditional in his methods of running a business.

They both graduated from University, got married, and had kids but they still managed to keep the business running smoothly. That was until a slight disagreement got in the way of everything, they held dear…”

“What happened?” I croaked after staying silent and listening intently for the past few minutes.

“Person A had an idea that they should change the flavour of their wine to something different, something that no other Vintner would have thought of. Although, person B agreed he didn’t realise that his decision would create a rift between them.”

“Why what happened?” I repeated.

Why is my brother creating suspense all of a sudden? I thought he liked getting straight to the point but no! Now he’s all about the cliffhangers?!

“Person A decided that he wanted his wine to be Cherry flavoured, but Person B had a different idea. He said that the wine should be Strawberry flavour, this was the first time they had disagreed over anything!

Person A was livid never had he imagined that Person B would go against him. So, he did something that made Person B break their partnership…”

“He what?” I practically jumped out of the chair.

“Shhh!” my brother shushed me while glaring daggers.

“First of all, shut it! I’m not supposed to be telling you this and if someone hears you, especially Dad, I’m going down but trust me I’m taking you with me! And secondly for the love of everything on this planet stop interrupting me, you little gremlin!” he hissed.

“Firstly hey! That’s mean! And secondly sorry, please carry on, dear brother,” I know I was overstepping the mark with that last comment but he was mean to me just now.

“So, as I was saying Person B decided to break their friendship and built his own business from scratch. I have to admit he is doing pretty well for himself, so as much as I hate to say this, I’m impressed,” my brother nodded.

I sat there quietly for a few minutes processing everything my brother had just narrated. The gears in my head were turning twice as much as they normally would which made my head spin but I think I was able to put two and two together.

“So, if I’m correct, Person A is Dad?” I asked.

“Correct,” my brother nodded.

“Person B, is Akabane Chiharu?”

“Also correct.”

“They were partners…”

“Best friends,” he corrected.

“Yes, but they were also partners! They decided to create a Winery, and they then had a small disagreement over the flavour which put the whole business in jeopardy?” I asked.

“Well done! You got it!” my brother nodded.

“What the fuck? Over something so… small?” I asked surprised.

I would never break my friendship or partnership over something like that! The best thing you can do is compromise or come up with something entirely new if you’re that desperate! Why ruin years’ worth of hard work and years of friendship?

“Wait, why didn’t they just mix the flavours?” I asked.

My brother looked up from his phone mid-text, “Huh?”

“Yeah, strawberries and cherries are a great combo, and there are several drinks with those two flavours together. I’m sure having a Strawberry-Cherry Wine would’ve been epic!” I stated the obvious.

My brother looked at me as if I had two heads before he dropped his phone in his lap, he ran a hand over his face and looked at me for a few seconds before he burst out laughing.

“Wow little bro, sometimes you amaze me with your intelligence,” he ruffled my hair.

“How? I’m naturally smart,” I grinned.

He gave me a look before rolling his eyes.

“No, you’re naturally stupid! But sometimes you manage to say things that baffle even me!” he shrugged.

I picked up a notebook from his desk and threw it at him, he did easily dodge it as he saw the big heavy thing flying towards his head, but the pencil I threw got him right on the head.

“Oww!” he rubbed his head.

“You’re a little shit you know!” he grumbled.

“What happened to your no-swearing rule?” I smirked.

“Firstly, I’m older than you so I can, secondly what about you saying, ‘What the fuck?” he asked making the smile on my face disappear.

“Yeah, just be happy I’m not rinsing your mouth out with detergent!” he warned.

Does he think my swearing is bad? He should probably read some of the stuff I do, he would end up cleaning my mind with detergent as well as his own when he’s done with it!

“But jokes aside, what are you going to do?” he asked.

“About?” I raised an eyebrow.

“That girl, are you still going to be friends with her?” he asked.

“First of all, that girl’s name is Ichigo so please use it! And secondly, of course, I am! If you think I’m going to stop seeing a girl because of who her dad is then you’ve got another thing coming! She’s my very first friend ever! And I’m not losing this friendship!” I made my point very clear.

My brother looked at me surprised but there was a hint of something else in his eyes, a hint of what I thought could be admiration.

“In that case, I’m with you,” he smiled.

“Really?” I asked, quite surprised.

“Absolutely. Just because Dad messed up doesn’t mean you will,” he nodded.

“Of course not! I’m nothing like him,” I made clear.

“I know you’re not! If anything, you’re like Mum, you’re both sensitive, sweet, nice, and caring, so there is no way you will be like Dad because you care about the little things,” he explained.

“You’re like Mum too,” I told him.

He let out a sarcastic laugh, “I wish! Unfortunately, I’m like Dad, we’re both more business-minded people who care about the business running, and I can be quite heartless about some things.”

“You’re not heartless, I mean you also care about things, like your girlfriend for example,” I tried to get across to him.

“That’s true but I’ve been feeling pretty bad about blowing her off most of the time,” he told me sadly.

“But that’s not your fault, it’s the rivals… oh wait I just realised,” I facepalmed.

“Yup,” he replied.

“Still, I’m not letting this friendship go!” I told him, determinately.

“Good!” he nodded.

“Also, you’re pretty nice to me too,” I shrugged.

“Oh, how dare you,” he joked.

“Don’t get used to it though,” he made clear.

“Wasn’t planning to,” I replied in the same tone.

“But, seriously, that whole Cherry-Strawberry Wine idea is pretty good, I would pitch that to Dad but I’m afraid he would send me to a guillotine,” he laughed.

I burst out laughing myself and soon we were pretty much in tears. I know he had the same image that popped in his head which out dad, face red, smoke bellowing from his ears like some fog machine and ordering someone to cut off my brother’s head like some medieval king.

We calmed down after a few minutes and I looked at him, “No matter what I’m not getting scared by the consequences,” I smiled.

“Good, but seriously too bad you weren’t born then, you probably would’ve saved us from a lot of drama, especially me,” my brother laughed.

“Really?” I asked.

“Well duh! I obviously wouldn’t have so much pressure on me and I could’ve pursued music like I was born to do,” he winked, cockily.

“Yeah, I hate to admit this but you are really good,” I nodded.

“Thank you,” he smiled.

“You’re much better at music than business,” I shrugged.

“Yeah, that’s… ayyy what?” he picked up a pillow and threw it at my head as I laughed.

“But it’s true you have to admit,” I pointed out.

“Whatever! Now get out of my room you’ve already contaminated my air with your presence,” he waved me out.

“Fine! I don’t want to be in your pigsty of a room anyways,” I walked out with my head held high.

I shut the door and exhaled slowly, that was a lot of information to process in 30 minutes, but no matter what Akabane Ichigo you’re stuck with me.