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Bacchus, Rakta, and Suo had actually been sharing a room long before any of them got their Red Chanpuru membership tattoos. It was a room spacious enough to fit three futons, but it would feel cramped if used for a pillow fight. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop his older brothers from pelting each other with things, and Suo grew up with a special skill for dodging stray throws.
When Suo was six years old, he wasn’t a child who could fall asleep easily. His futon was in the middle, and he’d toss and turn restlessly from side to side.
“Go to sleep, Sun Fei,” Bacchus would scold him, pulling his own blanket tight to avoid mosquito bites.
“I can’t sleep,” the boy would retort brightly, blinking his clear eyes with no sign of drowsiness.
“Close your eyes and you’ll fall asleep before you know it,” Rakta suggested, secretly wondering why his little brother was so tireless. He trained at the dojo, roamed the woods behind their house, and took extra lessons because their master saw that he had a talent for learning foreign languages faster than most people. How could he still have any energy left after dinner?
“No.”
“No?”
“I won’t go to sleep until you read me a story or sing me a lullaby.”
Bacchus and Rakta exchanged glances, then looked over at Suo, who was smiling with no intention of backing down.
And so it was that Bacchus and Rakta took turns every night putting their demanding little brother to sleep. There were books of folk tales from various countries in the master’s lounge, and most were in English if not in the native language of the country of origin. As for the songs, Rakta always covered his ears whenever Bacchus hummed off-key, but Suo somehow still drifted off to sleep instead of being bothered by it. Conversely, Bacchus also stifled a laugh every time Rakta failed to hit a high note, but Suo didn’t say a word either.
That routine continued until Suo graduated from elementary school, and began to fade once he entered middle school, which was located far outside Bankoku-gai. Perhaps their little brother had finally grown tired of it, since the four-hour round-trip commute certainly wasn’t anything to take lightly.
Suo became more prone to falling asleep, to the point where he’d drift off the moment his head hit the pillow. Bacchus and Rakta often even had to spread out his blanket and remove his earrings and eyepatch so he could sleep more comfortably. Sometimes he’d pass out on the sofa before he even had a chance to go into his room to lay out his futon or take off his socks. When that happens, his older siblings would carry him inside, and Suo would sometimes reflexively wrap his arms around their necks for support, even after he’d been safely placed in bed.
Speaking of the eyepatch, there’s no denying that Suo’s attitude has changed since his right eye was injured and lost its sight. He’d become more distant, as if anyone could betray him, as if the injury made him unworthy of being loved as he once was. Of course, he didn’t openly voice his thoughts, but Bacchus and Rakta could see that Suo was rejecting help too much and holding himself back from being pampered.
“Sun Fei.”
One weekend, when Suo didn’t have school and thus had some free time, Bacchus and Rakta decided this was the perfect time to fix whatever was wrong with Suo’s mindset.
"Yeah?" Suo looked up from his textbooks, where he was diligently working on his assignments for the coming week.
"Let’s go explore outside today," Bacchus said cheerfully, waving brochures of various locations outside Bankoku-gai—from quaint tea houses to an aquarium offering half-price promotions.
Suo blinked in confusion.
“You guys are inviting me…?”
“Oh, come on, who’d want to go out if it’s just with Rakta?” Bacchus waved his hand dismissively.
Rakta shrugged without denying it. “This idiot’s antics out there are bound to be an embarrassment, so you have to come along to keep an eye on him, Sun Fei.”
“Hah, what’s that supposed to mean, Rakta?!”
“Look, the commotion he’ll cause is sure to make everyone turn their heads.”
Suo remained silent, not yet stepping in to break up the argument between his older brothers because he was still lost in his own thoughts. “But… is it okay for you guys to go out with me?” he muttered hesitantly.
“And why do you think that’s a problem?” Rakta asked patiently. His tone immediately changed when his conversation partner shifted from the stubborn Bacchus to his nervous younger brother.
“Well… I mean, my eyes…”
Aren’t Bacchus and Rakta embarrassed to take him out when he’s no longer the same as before?
Suo didn’t finish his sentence, but Bacchus and Rakta already understood, and they took turns clicking his forehead.
“Huh, why?!” Poor Suo rubbed his forehead, even though the clicks didn’t really hurt and wouldn’t leave any red marks.
“Because you’re thinking something stupid,” Bacchus said bluntly. “How could that possibly bother us?”
Rakta nodded, for once not contradicting Bacchus. “Nothing has changed. You’re still our precious little brother. And even if you might need more help right now, that doesn’t make you a burden at all.”
Suo fell silent, too overwhelmed to respond with words. His one remaining eye glistened with tears, but the boy tried his hardest not to cry. However, when Bacchus gently stroked his hair and Rakta patted his shoulder softly in comfort, Suo finally let out a sob.
That day, the three of them truly went for a walk together, briefly leaving the bustling Bankoku-gai behind and crossing the river. No one said anything when Suo nearly slipped while stepping down the stairs; Bacchus simply caught his arm to keep him from falling, then continued to hold his hand securely while chattering about clouds shaped like ocean ripples. No one mentioned the fact that Suo occasionally dropped food from his chopsticks. Rakta merely took out a handkerchief and wiped away the stains left on the table.
Then, as they headed home at dusk, Suo finally felt comfortable holding onto the sleeve of Rakta’s garment while crossing the street, and relaxed, resting his head on Bacchus’s shoulder as he fell asleep on the train.
When Suo entered Furin, they began to have night patrol schedules. Sometimes Bacchus had to patrol the city until midnight, or Rakta would wake up early in the morning to check the guard posts. Suo himself was more often scheduled for the early evening shifts, considering his status as a student, and at certain times they could take time off together on the weekends.
“It’s so nice—it’s been a long time since we’ve all slept like this together~” Suo gazed at the ceiling of the room as he said cheerfully. It was one of those rare days when Bacchus and Rakta were lying down on either side of him, with no patrol duties to attend to. He himself had already finished his other tasks, so he didn’t need to stay up late at his desk.
“That’s true… but you’re all grown up now, so you won’t ask for a bedtime story anymore, right?” Bacchus folded his arms across his pillow, as if it weren’t high enough to prop his head up. Suo sometimes worried whether his older brother’s arms would get sore from being used as a pillow all night long.
Suo chuckled softly. “Well, I’ve read it so many times I know it by heart,” he admitted under his breath. “In that case, let’s talk about something else.”
“Like…?” Rakta shifted from lying flat to lying on his side. He wasn’t too sleepy yet, and there was no harm in chatting with his little brother. Or rather, Suo would always be his little brother no matter how grown-up he became. Because, well, Rakta would always be a few years older than him.
“Hm, the situation in the city?”
So, they discussed Bankoku-gai while lying on their respective futons. Bacchus talked about the disputes between merchants selling similar commodities at wildly different prices, Rakta mentioned the logistics supplies that were starting to arrive late, and Suo voiced his concerns about the future of the children at the dojo.
“…I’ll have nightmares if I go to sleep right after all this heavy discussion,” Bacchus grumbled finally. “Tell us about something else, Sun Fei,” he ordered on a whim.
“Uh, what exactly do you guys want to hear about?” Suo raised an eyebrow with an amused expression. Back then, his role was to listen—why had things turned upside down now?
Rakta blinked, also pondering an answer, since he knew Bacchus wasn’t really considering alternative topics, even though he was the one who had suggested changing the subject. “How about your school?” he said calmly.
Suo’s expression softened slightly and suddenly. “Hmm, all right…” he replied, half-pensive. “It’s still as fun as ever. Sakura-kun just played hide-and-seek for the first time, Nirei-kun discovered a new brand of drink with a bubblegum flavor, and then, Sugishita-kun...”
Suo chattered on at length about each of the Bofurin members he knew. About Kiryu showing off his popcorn-shaped keychain, Tsugeura with his huge box of banana protein bars, and Umemiya’s plant that just kept getting taller. Then, little by little, his voice grew fainter, until it fell completely silent. Rakta tucked the blanket around his younger brother, who was already fast asleep, while Bacchus turned off the light. After that, only a peaceful silence enveloped the room, until dawn arrived and they woke up, as was their habit, to immediately assume their meditation positions.
They were roommates, and with personalities as opposite as Bacchus’s and Rakta’s, minor arguments were inevitable.
Once, Bacchus ransacked every drawer looking for his earrings, without realizing they’d been in his ears the whole time. Rakta cursed about how things were scattered all over the floor in three foreign languages, and Suo, who understood it all, could only think to himself that none of the Red Chanpuru members would have guessed that their calm and composed leader actually possessed such a vicious vocabulary.
On another day, they played rock-paper-scissors to decide who could use the bathroom first. On certain afternoons, they sat in a circle and folded their own clothes that had piled up in the laundry basket. When they were truly free, they played cards, a game in which Bacchus always lost.
They were roommates, and more than that, they shared burdens, problems, happiness, and... sometimes despair.
It was already quite late at night, and the drizzle falling made the streets of Bankoku-gai even quieter. There weren’t as many people out as usual, and the Red Chanpuru members on patrol had returned early to their own homes.
“Why hasn’t that kid come home yet?” Bacchus peeled an orange restlessly. “There were no reports of train delays, so he should’ve been home half an hour ago.”
Rakta stared at the book he was reading, its pages untouched since earlier. Although he appeared quiet, the young man wasn’t concentrating at all. He’d already sent a message, but Suo hadn’t opened it. Maybe his younger brother just stopped by a certain tea shop for a moment and ended up ordering too many sweets? He’s like that sometimes.
Well, let’s hope so—
Then, there was a faint knock at the front door. Just once, and it felt odd because if it were Suo, he should have a key, and the boy rarely asked for help opening the door. Bacchus and Rakta exchanged glances, then set aside their oranges and books to see who had come.
Bacchus opened the door, and his eyes immediately widened in shock. Suo stood before him, pale, sweaty, and unfocused. One hand pressed against his stomach, desperately trying to stem the flow of blood to no avail, as the red stain had already spread widely across his white changsan.
“Sun Fei, what’s—”
Bacchus hadn’t even finished his question when Suo staggered and lost all strength to stay upright. The boy collapsed forward, caught by Rakta’s arm, who had immediately rushed to catch him before he hit the floor. Suo writhed weakly, and his still-warm, sticky blood made his older brother freeze in a sudden realization.
“Bacchus. An ambulance. Now!”
Bacchus ran to grab his cell phone without a moment’s delay, while Rakta carried Suo inside and laid him down on the floor. Truth be told, he wanted to give Suo something as comfortable as a futon, or at least as soft as a sofa. However, his younger brother now needed a firm and stable surface to stem the bleeding, and a hard floor was far safer and more effective for that.
Suo lay on his back, his gaze dim and distant, as Rakta checked his condition with unusual urgency. It was a stab wound—deep enough to sever an artery, wide enough to cause his blood to flow freely and unstoppably.
Who did this?
What happened?
Rakta desperately wanted to ask, but he knew it would be a long explanation, and Suo didn’t have enough strength to answer right now. So, he ran to grab any cloth, bandages—anything—to plug the wound. However, what worried him more was internal bleeding, which he couldn’t reach with just his hands.
“Rakta… Bacchus…”
“Yes?” Bacchus replied quickly, still clutching his phone after calling the hospital. “Keep talking—the ambulance will be here in five minutes.”
“I’m… going home,” Suo whispered wearily, mimicking the standard greeting he usually used when entering the house.
“Well, you’re home,” Bacchus replied, unable to hide the frustration in his voice. “But could you do it in a way that doesn’t give us a heart attack?”
“Bacchus,” Rakta scolded.
Suo laughed softly. “Hey… I’m sleepy…” he mumbled haltingly. “Can’t you guys… sing a lullaby or recite a poem…?”
“No way.” Bacchus refused flatly, and this time Rakta didn’t argue.
“Sun Fei, this isn’t the time to sleep. You mustn’t fall asleep.”
“Ah… I can see the Master right up ahead…”
That was the worst joke Bacchus and Rakta had heard all week.
“Damn it, Sun Fei, don’t even think about following the Master!”
“…The Master… is carrying a nice teapot…”
Oh, that kid must be completely hallucinating. Bacchus bit his lip as he paced back and forth, waiting for the ambulance to finally appear from the end of the street. Rakta touched Suo’s neck every so often, checking his pulse, which grew weaker with each time he checked.
After five minutes that felt like an eternity, medical help finally arrived. Suo had completely lost consciousness by the time he was loaded into the ambulance, and Bacchus pushed Rakta inside without even discussing it.
Rakta furrowed his brow, muttering lowly, “I know you really want to be by his side.”
Bacchus nodded, his eyes momentarily glistening. “But Sun Fei needs your calm presence more.”
The ambulance roared away, and Bacchus roughly wiped his face. He went back inside the house, mopping the blood-stained floor with a blank stare and trembling hands. Suo would be back, and he shouldn’t be greeted by a dirty, messy room.
After locking the door, Bacchus headed to the hospital. It wasn’t too hard to find Rakta, since his brother was sitting in the waiting area, looking unnervingly calm. Or so it seemed.
“How…?” Bacchus asked quietly, taking a seat beside Rakta. For once, he didn’t have the energy to argue like he usually did.
“His heart stopped for a moment,” Rakta muttered, and his hoarse voice made Bacchus realize that Rakta wasn’t as strong as he appeared. He raised his hand hesitantly, then patted his brother’s back in a wordless gesture of comfort.
Rakta didn’t push him away.
And that made Bacchus feel even more terrified.
The operating room door finally opened after four hours. The doctor explained many things to them, but the bottom line was that Suo was alive. When Bacchus and Rakta saw the boy, he was still under the influence of anesthesia, sleepily asking if he could keep a cat.
A week later, Suo returned home. He was still strictly forbidden from doing anything, but that Red Chanpuru officer insisted on at least reviewing the report. Bacchus and Rakta never got the chance to take revenge on whoever had hurt their beloved younger brother, because it turned out Suo had already taken care of his opponent himself—even with injuries as severe as that.
“I just gave the knife back to him, and then he decided that the rushing river water seemed like it might cool his head,” Suo said matter-of-factly, and the Red Chanpuru members could only exchange bewildered glances. Well, that young boy was promoted to officer for a reason.
“Ouch—”
Suo winced involuntarily. He was just trying to grab a book from a fairly high shelf, but the act of standing on tiptoes made his stitches feel like they were being pulled.
“I told you not to do anything yet!” Bacchus arrived in three seconds from the next room and immediately clicked his younger brother on the forehead. Rakta fetched the book in question, giving him a reproachful look that made Suo grin.
“It’s okay, really, I’m fine,” he said in his defense.
“You’re the type who’d be covered in blood on the floor and still insist everything’s fine!” Bacchus grumbled. “Besides, what book are you even trying to read, anyway?”
“A book you wouldn’t understand,” Rakta replied flatly. “But, Sun Fei, you really should just focus on resting for now.” Ignoring Bacchus’s protests over his all-too-natural insult, Rakta continued to offer advice to Suo.
“I’m bored,” Suo replied with a feigned pout. “You guys are going on patrol tonight, right? That means no one’s going to read to me, so I’ll have to read it myself.”
“…Sun Fei. Do I need to change the patrol schedule?”
“No need, that’d be a hassle~” Suo waved his hand hastily. “Be careful, okay? I’ll be waiting for you guys to come back.”
“Seriously, just go to sleep first!” Bacchus groaned in frustration. Rakta nodded, arguing about recovery for the umpteenth time that day. Suo could only resign himself to it, listening to all of Rakta’s advice—which he already knew by heart.
Bacchus and Rakta returned from patrol just before midnight and found the boy, who hadn’t yet recovered from his injuries, asleep at his desk. Had he really insisted on waiting for them?
Rakta silently laid out three futons, this time kindly helping Bacchus without much drama. Bacchus himself carefully moved Suo, carrying the boy and laying him down where he belonged. Suo didn’t wake up at all; he was still regularly taking painkillers whose side effects made him drowsy.
They didn’t talk about it much, but the image of Suo—bloodied and limp—was still fresh in both their minds. That’s why, even tonight, they lay facing their younger brother, holding the edge of his blanket, just to make sure Suo would always be warm and safe.
Omake
Suo jolted awake at three in the morning, roused from a nightmare about the day he was left at the dojo gate, about his master’s cold body, about the knife that sliced through his right eye.
“A nightmare…?” Bacchus whispered to him, his eyes still heavy with sleep. He wasn’t usually easily woken by any noise, no matter how loud, but his reaction to his little brother was always quick.
“Uh....” Suo put on an apologetic expression. “Did I wake you up?”
“It’s fine,” Bacchus replied. “But... let’s go back to sleep? I’ll lend you my hand if that helps.”
“You can borrow mine, too,” Rakta chimed in.
Suo thought about it, then slowly reached out his hand. His two siblings firmly clasped his left and right palms. Tight enough to make him feel warm, but also loose enough to let go whenever Suo wanted.
He slept soundly until the end of the night.