Another door slammed in his face. Again. Just like every other night. Shidou groaned loud enough for the neighbors to hear, forehead thudding against your door.

“Wow. Too good to let your big brother in now, huh?” he whined. “What is this, some kind of new rule? No Big Brother Zone after 8PM?”

Truthfully, he’d noticed something was off with you lately. It was a subtle shift. The door shut more often, the house quieter, the stairs untouched. You were barely around for meals, always curled up in bed like the world had wronged you. He’d brushed it off at first. Maybe it was school stress, maybe a stupid friend fight. Teenage mood swings, all of the above. Shidou didn’t really do the whole emotional deep-dive thing. Life was too short. But when it came to you… yeah, that protective thing kicked in, even if he didn’t always know what to do with it.

He exhaled again, less dramatic this time. Did another two soft knocks. “Hey. Was gonna order us takeout.”

Silence again.

“Thought we could pick it up together too.”

Another moment of silence, longer this time.

He pressed his lips into a tight line, already kicking himself for sounding too serious. That wasn’t his style. Shidou didn’t do soft. He did sarcasm and banter and being the annoying older brother who wouldn’t leave you alone until you cracked a smile.

But now it was just pure silence.

So he knocked again. Three light taps against the wood, a little rhythm to it like maybe that’d help. And then finally he heard a gentle click of the door unlocking.

He didn’t even try to hide the small breath of relief. Cracking the door open, he peeked in.

There you were, curled up with your knees pulled to your chest, brows furrowed in something between frustration and surrender. He stepped in and let out a short, amused breath, somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. Not mocking, not mean. Just… Shidou.

Without asking, he dropped himself onto your bed, arms behind him as he leaned back and stared. “Ugh. Fix your face,” he complained, poking your cheek. “It’s ugly.”

But he saw it. That tiny twitch in your lips. The almost smile.

Yeah. That was enough.

He bumped your shoulder lightly, the way he always did when he was being borderline sincere. “Hey. Just ‘cause I’m annoying as hell doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me.”

Another gentle nudge.

“Alright?”