Poem: "Expectations"
Nov. 23rd, 2015 01:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shiori_makibaPoem: Expectations
by shiori_makiba / Ashley Weyer
Part of ysabetwordsmith's “Polychrome Heroics” series in the “Berettaflies” thread. As always, comments and constructive criticism is welcomed.
Warning: Single utterance of mild (IMO) foul language.
“Expectations”
Everyone has expectations.
Some are their own, some are their parents', and others come from society.
So like everyone else, Keisuke Inoue had certain expectations.
From his parents, there was a few.
A good education but most parents want that for their children.
And his parents weren't crazy about it either.
Just learn as much as you can and get good grades.
Their second was to stay out of trouble.
Again, not unusual expectation from your parents.
This one was harder to accomplish.
Because as a kid and especially as a teenager, you push boundaries
and that can lead to trouble.
Or sometimes the trouble is unavoidable.
People don't ask to be harassed by bullies
and Keisuke wasn't the sort to stand by while someone is getting hurt.
Unfortunately his teachers didn't always see the rescue part.
All they saw was a fight and sometimes that was all they wanted to see.
His parents understood that and simply signed him up for classes to handle it better.
Classes that taught him to try to deescalate the situation first,
hopefully before it got violent.
It was difficult in the beginning.
Keisuke had a nasty temper with a short fuse.
“I'm not saying don't get angry kid,” Mr. Lafayette said.
“I'm saying don't get violent if you don't have to.”
While there was a certain immediate satisfaction to punching some jerk in the nose,
that satisfaction didn't last very long.
At least not for him.
He couldn't look at another kid's bruised face
knowing that he put those there and be happy about it.
He didn't like how scared the other kids were of him either.
So he worked on not letting his anger get the better of him.
It was hard but worth it.
It also set a good example for his little sisters.
Keisuke wanted to be a good example for his little sisters.
It was part of being a good onii-chan.
And he wanted to be the best onii-chan to Tsubasa and Mai.
Maybe that's why this hit him so hard.
He was the onii-chan
and the onii-chan is supposed to protect the little ones.
Tsubasa was an adult now but she was still his little sister.
And it hurt to know that she was hurt, that she had almost died
and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.
It is always hard when you failed to live up to expectations.
It was worst when those expectations were your own.
Notes:
onii-chan – big brother. Not the only form of big brother in Japanese and this one is rather informal.
Or least that is my understanding. My knowledge of Japanese is entirely self-taught so mistakes are a distinct possibility.
EDIT: Typo corrections
by shiori_makiba / Ashley Weyer
Part of ysabetwordsmith's “Polychrome Heroics” series in the “Berettaflies” thread. As always, comments and constructive criticism is welcomed.
Warning: Single utterance of mild (IMO) foul language.
“Expectations”
Everyone has expectations.
Some are their own, some are their parents', and others come from society.
So like everyone else, Keisuke Inoue had certain expectations.
From his parents, there was a few.
A good education but most parents want that for their children.
And his parents weren't crazy about it either.
Just learn as much as you can and get good grades.
Their second was to stay out of trouble.
Again, not unusual expectation from your parents.
This one was harder to accomplish.
Because as a kid and especially as a teenager, you push boundaries
and that can lead to trouble.
Or sometimes the trouble is unavoidable.
People don't ask to be harassed by bullies
and Keisuke wasn't the sort to stand by while someone is getting hurt.
Unfortunately his teachers didn't always see the rescue part.
All they saw was a fight and sometimes that was all they wanted to see.
His parents understood that and simply signed him up for classes to handle it better.
Classes that taught him to try to deescalate the situation first,
hopefully before it got violent.
It was difficult in the beginning.
Keisuke had a nasty temper with a short fuse.
“I'm not saying don't get angry kid,” Mr. Lafayette said.
“I'm saying don't get violent if you don't have to.”
While there was a certain immediate satisfaction to punching some jerk in the nose,
that satisfaction didn't last very long.
At least not for him.
He couldn't look at another kid's bruised face
knowing that he put those there and be happy about it.
He didn't like how scared the other kids were of him either.
So he worked on not letting his anger get the better of him.
It was hard but worth it.
It also set a good example for his little sisters.
Keisuke wanted to be a good example for his little sisters.
It was part of being a good onii-chan.
And he wanted to be the best onii-chan to Tsubasa and Mai.
Maybe that's why this hit him so hard.
He was the onii-chan
and the onii-chan is supposed to protect the little ones.
Tsubasa was an adult now but she was still his little sister.
And it hurt to know that she was hurt, that she had almost died
and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.
It is always hard when you failed to live up to expectations.
It was worst when those expectations were your own.
Notes:
onii-chan – big brother. Not the only form of big brother in Japanese and this one is rather informal.
Or least that is my understanding. My knowledge of Japanese is entirely self-taught so mistakes are a distinct possibility.
EDIT: Typo corrections
