Closed You Mess With Me, You Mess With My Family

[Jingyi Huang]

Now that Xiuying was at Hogwarts, it was down to Jingyi to protect Xinyi. Not that he wasn't doing that anyway, strange as it was for the younger twin to be protecting the older, but that was how it needed to be. Xinyi had always been the quieter and softer of the two brothers. Though they had the same face (more or less if it weren't for Jingyi's birthmark), they were two different people with very different personalities. Not like some twins who were similar in every way and more or less attached at the hip. When it came to Jingyi and Xinyi, they were just too different to really be close. Of course, Xinyi was still his slightly older brother and he would always protect him, but they weren't really friends.

It was just another boring old day of school, Jingyi hoisting his backpack over his shoulder, hands shoved into his pockets, and baseball cap low over his brow to try and hide as much of his face as possible. The school bell had just rung and everyone was starting to head home, but he couldn't find his brother. Though he had a feeling he might know where he was. Biting his lip, Jingyi started to head behind the school building and, sure enough, he saw Xinyi and two of their classmates almost trapping him in against the brick wall.

Obviously.

Jingyi sighed, instantly marching forward and placing himself between his brother and the two bullies. "You okay?" He only briefly glanced behind him when he addressed him with the question in Chinese before his eyes locked back onto the other boys. "Get lost," he growled at the two much bigger boys, "And leave my brother alone before I rearrange your face." And he would, his hands were already curled into fists.

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi had really been having a relatively normal day. For a while. He'd hardly paid attention in class, drawing portraits of his classmates and teachers instead. He'd been sitting in the back, working on a portrait for Jingyi. He hadn't noticed that class had ended. Not until he was hauled out of his seat and dragged out by a few classmates. His eyes were wide as they shoved him up against the wall, sneering that his brother wasn't here to protect him. He whimpered as he hit the bricks, hugging his sketch pad tight to his chest. He was startled when out of nowhere his brother appeared.

Xinyi nodded at Jingyi's question, guilt twisting his gut as his brother stood between him and the others- again. He bit his lip, barely relaxing as the boys that had dragged him back here ran away. Jingyi had built up quite the reputation. He sighed, stepping forward and reaching shakily for the edge of his brothers sleeve. "Jingyi," he whispered, lip quivering and tears filling his eyes. Why did this always happen?

 

[Jingyi Huang]

He squared his shoulders as he stared down at the two other boys, almost instinctively wanting to cover as much of his older twin standing behind him as possible just in case any punches came swinging so they would simply hit him instead and avoid his twin. But it seemed he didn't even have to bother, the two bullies gave each other a look before turning heel and running away, but not before shouting something about making him regret it. Yeah right, Jingyi wasn't worried about them. They would not be the first bullies he had dealt with on his twin's behalf and no doubt they wouldn't be the last, either. Even if it meant taking a couple of punches in Xinyi's place.

Finally uncurling his fingers once the bullies were out of sight, Jingyi felt Xinyi reach for his sleeve, though he jerked his hand away as he turned around. He could already see the tears in his eyes. Why was his twin so pathetic? He was supposed to be the older twin, the cooler and protective one. Sometimes, Jingyi did wonder if their parents had mixed them up at birth. "You have to stop letting them pick on you like that," he told him simply, deciding to speak in their native tongue simply out of a preference, "Fight back and they'll leave you alone."

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi shrunk back as Jingyi jerked away. He almost felt worse now than he did when the other boys had dragged him back here. "I-I'm sorry," he stuttered softly. "I don't mean to- I-i tried, it didn't- they didn't-" He bit his lip. He had tried to fight back before, tried to argue, and the last time he had he'd been leveled to the ground and Jingyi had been furious when he'd seen the black eye. He held his sketchbook closer to his chest.

 

[Jingyi Huang]

The last thing Jingyi wanted to be dealing with right now was his brother looking all pathetic and tearful about things. It just made him look bad. So he groaned, dragging a hand down his face to try and compose himself. Then he straightened, trying not to glare at his older twin too much as he let out a long breath. "Look. Just punch them first next time. If they know you're willing to physically fight them, they're going to be a lot less eager to mess with you again." Though, Jingyi knew that now they were just more eager to come and find him and beat him into the ground for ruining their fun.

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi shook his head, biting his lip and shrinking back a bit under Jingyi's gaze. "I-i tried, Jingyi, the last time I tried to f-f-fight them, they h-hurt me more and y-you, you got s-so um, s-so, so mad," He stuttered furiously, shaking his head. Why was it always like this? He just wanted Jingyi to love him, he wanted life to be soft and quiet and sweet. He just wanted to draw. What was so wrong with that?

 

[Jingyi Huang]

It was true, the last time Xinyi had come home with the black eye and Jingyi had managed to get out of him what had happened, he had been pretty mad about it. No one was allowed to hurt his brother like that. "Then just hit them harder," he responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Keep hitting them until they're the ones on the floor. If you kick their ass instead then they might get the idea. And don't look so pathetic while you do it." As it stood, however, Jingyi was going to be the one doing the punching and no doubt would get into trouble for starting another fight. As if he had any choice if he wanted to keep his brother safe.

"You have to remember you're not the only one with that face," he did have to add a little quieter, averting his eyes from his twin.

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi tried not to show it, but it felt like Jingyi was tearing him apart with his words. Xinyi didn't know how to fight. Every time he had tried, it had been for his brother, and it had always just caused him so much more pain. He had been trying to make it up to Jingyi, he really had. When his twin spoke again, Jingyi froze. Tears welled up in his eyes again, and he bit his lip. An idea hit him them, and he stepped forward a little bit. "Jingyi, what- what if, um, I can talk to mom and dad. I can't fight. I don't know how. But what if- what if I convince them to let us sign up for a class, like self defense?" He offered, biting his lip again.

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Maybe he was being a little harsh on his brother, but he really felt like he had to, if only to try and strengthen him up a bit. If he stopped looking so weak and pathetic all of the time then all his bullying problems would most likely go away. But asking his twin to change such a big part of his personality like that was a rather big ask. Not to mention a little bit cruel as well. "You would want to take a self-defense class?" He did have to ask a little incredulously at the sudden idea his brother had. "And I don't think mum and dad would want anyone teaching me how to punch anyone properly. Not with how much trouble I get into." He was, of course, referring to the countless times he had gotten into fights with other kids now trying to protect his twin. "And I don't even want to learn how to," he added with a small shrug, "I'm managing just fine without any stupid lessons. By all means, you go ahead though." Though he really didn't think it would work out very well.

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Jingyi's rejection wasn't entirely unexpected, but Xinyi couldn't help the way his shoulders slumped a little. He stepped forward, looking to his twin brother with his best, saddest eyes. "Please, Jingyi?" He pleaded gently. "If we learn together, you can help me practice," He tried, wanting to hold his brothers hand but thinking that not only would Jingyi pull away but that Xinyi didn't deserve it, anyway. "I can talk to mom and dad, it's okay. I just... I want you to come with me, please?"

 

[Jingyi Huang]

He sighed, opening his mouth to say something, but paused when he saw the stupid puppy dog eyes his twin was currently giving him. Jingyi closed his mouth again, giving a rather annoyed huff as he pulled off his baseball cap only for a moment to comb a hand through his fringe before putting the hat back on. "You're just going to hurt yourself more taking classes like that," you couldn't learn without taking some hits. And he didn't really want anyone else hitting his brother, even if it was in a practice environment. "But you can talk to them all you want, but they won't let me do it," their parents could be rather stubborn like that. And it was not like Jingyi cared as he didn't want to take the lessons himself anyhow. Just sounded like a fat waste of his time if you asked him. "It's a lost cause. But if you want to learn how to punch someone so bad then you can just ask me to show you."

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi shook his head. He would hurt himself at first, maybe, but he would get better. He would try to talk to their parents, he was sure he could think of something. He shook his head again as Jingyi said he would show Xinyi how to punch people. "But I don't want to punch people, I want to be able to defend myself. Look, just... let me look more into it when we get home." He sighed, taking a small step forward. "Can we go home, Jingyi? I have another bag of your favorite candy hidden in my pillow, we could share," he offered, giving his twin a shy smile.

 

[Jingyi Huang]

"Punching people, defending yourself, it's the same thing," he offered with a waft of his hand. Just blocking punches was not going to make a bully leave you alone, that was just going to make them more annoyed. And would probably make them punch harder. "But fine, look into it all you want" he gave in with a small huff, "But I'm not taking any stupid self-defense lessons." And nothing was going to change his mind about that. It was not like he needed the lessons, more than capable of protecting himself and his brother without them. But at least he could agree that it was about time to go home, just nodding his head as he shoved his hands in his pockets and stalked back towards the front of the school building, only glancing behind him to see if Xinyi was following.

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi sighed softly. He wasn't sure what he had expected. Jingyi hated him, there was no way he would ever support any of Xinyi's idea. If he ever wanted his brother to love him, he would have to change. Drastically. And Xinyi would. When they got home he would lock away his art supplies. If Xinyi could just do better, just be better, then his brother wouldn't look at him that way, wouldn't despise him. He wiped at his eyes, staring at his feet as he hurried after his twins. Xinyi could do this, couldn't he?