Chapter Text
What made it crystal clear that your family was far different from others was the day you saw Kusuo, just born, ceremoniously turn into a boy one hour after being birthed as a girl.
("Mom! I swear, Kusuo is a girl!" You stubbornly protested, sitting beside your mom's hospital bed. "I saw it with my own two eyes! She didn't have a weewee before. It... it just suddenly appeared... like magic. Like the magic I saw on TV!"
She seemed to grin at your enthusiasm(?) and sighed contently, "Sweetie... I know how much you wanted a younger sister. But that doesn't mean you should go against your baby brother's existence! He's just like us, you know?"
"None of us have pink hair!" You retaliated, pointing at your newborn brother who was peacefully sleeping in his crib. Despite your behavior, you liked his pink hair a lot since it reminded you of the main character of a show you normally watched.
You were never going to admit that.)
But to be fair, your expectation of normality had been warped from the beginning.
"Look, look. I made this cool robot invention. I'm definitely going to beat Kusuo this time, right? Say yes."
Because you grew up with Kusuke. A boy just a year older than you who already has an IQ of 218.
"Say yes already!"
"No," you grumbled, aggressively sucking on your apple juice carton. "Please leave. You're distracting me from watching Episode 402 of Doki Doki Lover Magical Girls: I Can't Believe I Reincarnated as a Cute School Girl~ ♡!"
"Wowww," he pouted. "So your little anime show is more important than your big brother?"
"Yes."
"Kya~!" The main character squealed. Your eyes sparkled at her pink hair. "I won't let you get away with this, big supervillain. You better sleep with one eye open, because with the power of friendship... my friends and I are going to stab you in the back with a bloody knife ♡!"
She's your biggest role model.
But perhaps even Kusuo, a psychic baby with pink hair, is more normal than Kusuke– a deranged little boy who's yet to leave his emo phase from the way he would part his hair.
"Have you considered showing both of your eyes?" You asked, still drinking your carton of apple juice. The straw started to make a bubbling noise, signaling that there was nothing else left to sip. "You might get an infection if you keep styling your hair like that."
"Yes– well, no! That's not the point." Kusuke huffed. "Listen, I have to beat Kusuo. My master plan isn't done yet, but I'm still working very hard on it. According to my calculations, if I spare at least six hours of my day working on the project then... I should be able to finish it when I turn thirteen!"
"He's right behind us. You know that right?" You weren't lying. Kusuo was really behind you guys, but in Kusuo-fashion, he didn't respond.
"He's still a baby, he doesn't understand what I'm saying."
Yes. A baby.
A baby who's able to speak fluent Japanese to his parents when he turned two weeks old via telepathy.
"I guess you're right."
"We did it, Sakura-chan♡!" The blue haired sidekick giggled. You immediately squeezed your juice carton in annoyance. Kusuke side eyed you. "I remember the day you were so tiny and weak. Now, you're big and strong~! Hehe, can you teach me how to–"
You turned off the TV and walked away.
Pink hair is definitely better than blue.
—
You liked television. A lot, actually.
It's a place of fiction where people had the freedom to make a world of imagination. Sure, horrible things might happen in some of the shows you've watched, but what assured you was that all of it was fiction. Nothing as abstract as telepathy and clairvoyance could ever be real.
(There was a short time period where you wanted to be like Batman. Horror struck when you found out that the Batmobile and Gotham City don't exist in the states.
"Aw, honey. As long as you believe, anything can be real!"
"Shut up dad.")
But today, you were starting to doubt that.
"Hey, um... so, if like– hypothetically," you whispered to your friend as nonchalantly as possible. "If you ever saw your younger sister freestyle on a motorcycle with no hands on the throttle, what kind of person do you think she might be?"
"An angel." Makoto sighed blissfully. "An angel from the heavens."
Your expression automatically formed into one of disgust. Ugh.
You immediately stood up from your seat, shuffling out to leave. "Nevermind, I'm going to ask someone else."
"I'm joking!"
"We both know you aren't joking."
"You're right."
"See? I'm asking a teacher instead."
"Whaaatt?" He snorted, "No sane teacher would ever answer that question."
"You've asked dumber ones," you retorted, pointing directly at his chest. "How would I know what color sleepwear your sister wanted for her birthday? Or which style of architecture she would want for her future house when she turns eighteen? My mom taught me that somebody's personal life is none of my business."
He rolled his eyes, "They're extremely important questions."
"Yeah? Well my question is also extremely important."
"But it's so dumb! If I had that same ability I'd probably start overthrowing the system and rule mankind!" He looked at his reflection on the window and grinned, "But then again... I can still do that. My looks are out of this world."
You didn't bother to reply... but a part of you started to wonder. Overthrowing the system? Ruling mankind?
"No..." You mumbled in horror, "There's no way...!"
"What?"
You weren't going crazy. There was no doubt that your baby brother had superpowers– crazy ones that even Kusuke feels threatened by. So if Kusuo would ever have one bad influence in his childhood, wouldn't that be the gateway of villainy for him? What if the one-sided rivalry Kusuke forced upon him strained their relationship for the worst?
Isn't it like those TV shows? Where the villain has a flashback of their tragic backstory and uses their powers for evil? You really didn't want to put your younger brother in a bad light like this. But you were sure that if Kusuke would antagonize him further then Kusuo would surely turn into a supervillain like the one from Doki Doki Lover Magical Girls: I Can't Believe I Reincarnated as a Cute School Girl~ ♡.
You gripped your chest in horror.
Those shady anime forums were right. Anime is real!
"Hey, Makoto."
"Hm?"
"On a scale of one to ten, how good do you think I can take care of children?"
"With your skill?" He snickered, "You can't even touch the scale."
It was on this day forward where you vowed to protect Kusuo from all evil.