He had definitely been surprised to hear of it- my brother. It was two days after the chat with Hiro-san in the kitchen that I finally told Hikaru-nii and Kaori-nee about my decision to move. I had even told them about starting to look for my own place. Initially, the both of them had just heard me out and asked me to think about it more seriously. A day later, Hikaru-nii brought the both of us drinks and came into my room after Aki-chan had gone to sleep in her own room. We had a long brother-to-brother talk about a lot of things, starting from the issues we had had to face when we were still staying with our folks to after we had moved out and all that had happened after Kaori-nee too entered our lives. I figured that the point that he had wanted to make clear to me was that we had been by each other's side through a lot of the important things in our lives. He was sentimental.
"We're family."
It had taken me some time to work my way through the words that could convince him that it wasn't because I was not happy living with them. While Hikaru-nii had understood my reasons for moving out, he, along with Kaori-nee, had still asked me to stay and not worry about being a burden to them at all. In the end though, they had given no further protest to my stepping out to go check the houses that Hiro-san had said that he would show me.
“And? What do you think?” Hiro-san asked me after giving me a tour of the house personally. He had said that the builder was a friend but, in reality, they were a client. In fact, the very apartment building and vacant flat that he had shown me were his design. It was no wonder that he was so gung-ho about showing me around. In fact, this was the third one that he was showing me just that evening.
“I think it’s nice.” I nodded, glancing at the balcony that overlooked the street below. It wasn’t the best view but I could at least see the sky properly.
“Satisfied with this one?” He enquired.
It was a 15-minute walk from Hikaru-nii’s place too. “Compared to the other two, I like this one better.” I admitted. “The rent is reasonable too.”
“Right? I thought you’d say that.” Hiro-san grinned. “Ah, don’t decide yet though. There are two more places that I would like to show you. Probably the day after tomorrow. You can make up your mind after that too.”
Knowing Hiro-san personally did make things a lot easier for me. “Ah. At least, I know that I can trust you, Hiro-san. Thank you very much.” I said, genuinely feeling grateful.
“Don’t mention it. I want you to get the best buy. I’m your Hiro-san here before being a professional. You can take my word for it.”
I knew that. “Then... shall we go back? You’re coming home, right?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “How did your chat with Hikaru go though? He had told me that he would be talking to you."
"Mm. We talked. He is actively making me feel bad about it too." I rolled my eyes, then shook my head and chuckled. "No. He's just that kind of guy. He wants to look out for me, I guess. Everything's so good at home already. It probably feels like it came out of nowhere when I said it. I do get where he is coming from too. I might have done the same thing had I been in his place but, then, he would have done what I am doing had he been in my place too."
"Yes, I can see that happening too." He laughed lightly. "You brothers are rather troublesome this way."
I frowned. "Then don't bother with us."
"I can't do that, no, can I?" He ruffled up my hair.
I grunted at him and looked away. "Geez."
"But, Kakeru, is it really not because of a girl?"
"Wha-" I frowned. "I don't have a girl to start with."
He shrugged. "I just asked. Since you want to suddenly be independent, I just thought that it could be a possibility. I mean, I already knew that you weren't seeing anyone but, who knows? What if you were being sneaky about it?"
"You know better than to think that."
"Right." He chuckled. "After you move out though, what will it be like? Will you visit every day?”
“I will definitely try to.” I spoke. “It will depend on the situation but I won’t make excuses.”
“It will be weird without you home, Kake-chan. If you aren’t going to be there, then I won’t go either.”
“The hell is that?” I chuckled. “As if you’ll choose to stay home and cook for yourself!”
“Well, that’s also true.” He gave in. "The one person who is really going to feel your absence is Aki-chan though."
I sighed. "I think that the one person I might end up missing unbearably is her too."
"She is a very lively little thing, yes." He laughed. "It might get lonely, Kakeru."
"Stop. You aren't helping."
"I'm stating facts."
"You're still not helping, so don't. This is hard enough as it is."
"Alright. I'll stop here for today. It's not fun teasing you when you get serious."
“Lets just go home for now.” I shook my head and led the way out. Once Hiro-san had locked up, we took the bus to Hikaru-nii’s place just because it had conveniently pulled up when we were near the bus stop. Hiro-san did not bring up the topic again and we made pleasant small talk all the way home. When I thought about it, I realised that the whole process of looking for a place of my on not only became easier but less painful because I had someone I knew with me throughout it. Hiro-san was just the kind of person who made someone feel comfortable that way too. Maybe I owed him more than I thought I did.
The night was a little chilly but it wasn’t to a point where it actually bothered me.
There, in that line of thought, I paused. I ended up looking at Hiro-san. I vaguely remembered thinking that he was warm enough to beat the cold but I couldn’t quite place when and why I had come to that conclusion. Not only was it trivial a matter but it was also too embarrassing for me to ponder on and so, I instantly tossed the thought out of the moving bus's window.
“Kake-jii!” A shrill cry went up the moment that I opened the door to the house with my key. Even before I could announce that I was home, I had a pair of arms thrown around my legs and sobbing filled the entryway. While this shocked both Hiro-san and I into freezing up, my brother just stood there and shook his head in exasperation. Even Kaori-nee peeked around the kitchen doorway, greeted us and disappeared back inside. The little one, however, was practically pouring her heart out to me. “What happened? How come you’re crying?” I pat her head as soothingly as I could in my confusion. Hiro-san too crouched beside me and looked at her closely. “Hey, Aki-chan. What happened? Did your father get angry at you?” “Why is this my fault?” Hikaru-nii asked, coming over and trying to pull Aki-chan off my legs but to no avail. “Aki, you’re getting Kake-jii’s pants dirty. Give him some space. He just got home.” “I don’t want to! I don’t want to let Kake-jii go!
“Kakeru.” Hikaru-nii called softly and lightly shook me awake. “Oi. Wake up. It’s morning.” “Mm.” I turned over on my side. “It’s Sunday. Please let me sleep…” “It’s already late. Wake up.” He said, voice still low. That was weird in itself but I couldn’t really be bothered by it in my state of sleep. “Kakeru.” “I heard you.” I groaned and stretched my arm out a bit in trying to shoo him off. That was when I touched skin. I touched someone… small. I raised myself by my elbows, on my stomach and remembered the three-year-old sleeping next to me in her favourite yellow night dress only when I saw her peaceful features. She was still fast asleep. So that’s why Hikaru-nii was speaking so softly. “How many nights has this been now?” Hikaru-nii shook his head in defeat. “I don’t know… Four?” I slowly sat up and rubbed the sand out of my eyes. Aki-chan had woken me up at around 01:30 am saying that she wanted to sleep with me. This nigh
Aki-chan and I were playing with her building blocks when Hiro-san arrived a little over an hour later. Once he came, he was the one playing most of her games with her. I settled for just sitting back and watching, occasionally joining in. It was all so peaceful that I found myself promising to keep my Sundays as free as possible even after moving out. Since breakfast was late, Aki-chan wasn’t exactly hungry at lunch time. I did not want to delay it though because Hiro-san had not had even breakfast. So, eventually, all three of us ended up in the kitchen. Hiro-san was carrying Aki-chan and the both of them were following me around the kitchen, lending a hand whenever they could and keeping up a conversation about the most trivial things. … I owed my brother thanks for letting her stay here with me, although it would have been better had he and Kaori-nee been here as well. “She slept?” Hiro-san asked when I returned to the living room after leaving Aki-chan i
It was from the hospital. My perfect and careless Sunday had shattered with that one phone call. It was horrifying how one moment was all it took to make my previous worries seem insignificant. It was unbelievable. Hiro-san had tried his best to remain calm while relaying the news to us. Well, mostly to me. There had been an accident. A pretty bad one too. A T-junction. Hikaru-nii’s car and a truck. Those were all the points of information that my brain could take in. People on-site had reacted quickly. The two people in the car had been sent to the hospital immediately. The call was from a nurse there. Hikaru-nii had been conscious enough to convey to her that she needed to call me. By the time we had gotten to the hospital, the anxiety and fear had eaten me up alive for we had received no further information about it. Carrying a very confused Aki-chan, when we got there, the attending doctor informed us that Hikaru-nii had been taken in for
Sleep evaded me. The new project was also in full swing and in order to get out of office early enough to pick Aki-chan up from daycare, I was forced to bring some work home. Moreover, I had to cook for us. Not to complain, but I ended up taking over all of those chores that Kaori-nee used to take care of before. It was physically and emotionally taxing on me to try and keep the household together, especially since her earlier indulgent father had suddenly become cold to Aki-chan. Even to me. But there was nothing that I could say or do to ease his pain. Whenever Hiro-san came over, he brought food for us all. Otherwise, he would help me around the house. The visits, however, were nothing like before. He would come, try and fail to talk properly to Hikaru-nii, spend time with Aki-chan, help me out a bit, eat and just leave. From coming here because he was always warmly received, it felt like he was coming over only to check in on us. Save for those random occasions w
I was standing at the window in my room and looking out at the clear night sky that was barely visible through between the surrounding buildings when Hiro-san entered the room. I had been fully aware of the entire hour that had passed us by. Especially after Aki-chan slept off, it had gotten so silent that it as as though I was counting the seconds that mocked how small I had become in the face of loss. I was starting to feel a little too overwhelmed by it all. Hiro-san's voice made me turn to him slowly. “Hikaru is in his room. He didn't really talk to me but... We should probably give him some space. Kakeru, why didn’t you close the front door? Oh. Is she asleep?” He lowered his voice on realising it, looked closer at the girl I was still holding onto closely and sighed. “Looks like she cried a lot.” His grey eyes narrowed in a sort of pained affection when he stepped closer and and ran a thumb tenderly over her tear-stained cheek. Then, he looked at me. “You shoul
Aki-chan and Hikaru-nii both seemed to have been actively avoiding each other after the Ohagi incident. The girl was still upset and her father had retreated into a shell from where he probably felt that he wouldn't be able to hurt her. Aki-chan herself had become a lot quieter. She no longer ran and threw herself at me when I went to pick her up from the daycare. The most she would do is walk over and climb into my arms, hugging me around my neck and staying there for a while, as though collecting herself before she lifted her face and started answering whatever I asked about her day. Whenever I was around though, she ould stick by me. She had even completely stopped using her own room. And yet, she would follow her father with her eyes whenever he was around, probably hoping that he would come and talk to her. The following weekend, I had settled in the living room after lunch with Aki-chan to watch one of her cartoons with her. Hikaru-nii had gone right into his r
Kaori-nee’s mother came over two hours later. Aki-chan was excited to see her grandmother but knowing that the joy was going to be short-lived, I couldn’t watch her. It was almost like we were betraying her. I prepared tea and after about an hour’s chat, which Hikaru-nii also took part in, she was finally informed that she would have to go with her grandmother. And that was all it took. “Are Otou-san and Kake-jii also coming?” “No. For now, only you are going.” Hikaru-nii said, looking at the child properly after a long time. “Your grandmother will take care of you. It’s only for a few days.” I… averted my eyes. “N-No. I don’t want to go…” She stated from where she sat on the couch next to her grandmother. “I want to stay with Otou-san and Kake-jii.” “That cannot happen, Aki.” I did not want to lend my voice to convince either side of anything. “Otou-san has work, Aki-chan.” Kaori-nee’s mother tried to reason wi