It was the last day of 9th grade, and my sister and I were heading home. The summer heat burning on my cheeks made me sweat long before we reached the creek, and shade baring trees on the way home. It was a long and tiring day. A day we shouldn't have came to school at all.
My sister, Akari, was like my best friend, though she was the complete opposite of me. She had long blonde hair, and emerald eyes. She even wore the school uniform to its fullest potential. She had many friends, in which she'd ditch most of the time to hang out with me. We went everywhere together, and there wasn't a time I remember when we chose someone else over each other.
I also had an older brother, Kazuya. He was the one I told everything, even more things than Akari. I looked up to him, and thought of him as my role model.
While walking home, breaking the silence, Akari spoke, "So Yuni. A new kid and his brother, foreign exchange students from England, started coming here. One of them, I believe his name is Keita.. He's so cute. And so nice too! And so is his brother. Wouldn't it be cool if we could do a double date or something?!"
"So my sister has her eyes on someone, huh? I want to meet him! And I'm not sure about relationships, remember." I replied.
"Well me either! You know how I am, the big flirt. Heh." She said shyly.
I laughed and continued walking alongside her before the creek came to an end, and we reached our house. Beyond the creek was a deciduous forest full of cherry blossom trees, and further was a large field of wheat. But in that forest was a house complex, which not a lot of people lived in besides us. While opening the door to our house, I heard the loud sound of drums in the basement. My brother was home.
"Ugh. I thought he would be at work." Akari said sternly. She hated him. Well, not quite hate, but strongly disliked him. She never understood why I liked him so much, and sometimes, not even I understood why I liked him. Maybe I saw a different side of him?
Ignoring her comment, I rushed down the stairs to see him, while Akari went to go change in our room.
He had jet black hair, which was dyed, and aqua blue eyes behind a set of glasses. He had a necklace he had gotten from his own mother, who died when he was 9. After all, he is my step brother. After she died, his birth father, who was mine also, took him along with my birth mother. Ever since then, I got closer to him, even though I was only 5. He's 19 now.
"Bro, what song are you playing?" I asked. He stopped playing and looked up at me with a blank expression.
"Why do you want to know? And besides, it's not a song. I'm just playing to my own beat." He replied. I sighed and put my backpack down on his bed.
"Why aren't you at work? Isn't this your last day for the summer? Don't you want to say bye to your friends?" I asked.
He shook his head and said, "Nah. Why should I go to work if I'm not doing anything productive? What's the point?"
"To say bye to—"
"I don't have any friends that work there." He interrupted.
"Oh. Okay." I nodded and went up to my bedroom to change into sweats and a T-shirt. Walking into the bathroom, I looked at my reflection, my long, hime cut light brown hair looked greasy, and my violet eyes looked as if they had no soul. I didn't have the energy to smile, so I left it at a simple frown. I leaned over the sink, and cupped my hands to catch the water dripping from the faucet. I saw my reflection in the water, too.
Slowly lifting my hands up, I splashed it on my face, then reached for the towel on the counter, feeling something furry. I opened my eyes quickly to see a cat, and then closed them again, to keep drying my face. I heard a meow, and I looked in the spot where I saw the cat, but it was no longer there.
Feeling a bit crazy, I looked around for the cat I once caught a glimpse of. I looked behind the bathroom door, in the closet, in the shower, in the cabinet. Everywhere. I couldn't find it. Thinking it was my head, I heard a meow again, but I didn't bother looking for the cat again.
Walking out of the bathroom, Akari came running up to me. "Did you hear that meow?!" She asked.
"Yes, I saw a cat too." I replied.
"Well, where is it?!"
"I don't know. I can't find it."
"Aw!"
She walked into the bathroom, and looked vigorously for the cat. I'm not sure why, but I ignored it, and yelled out to her. "Want to go and see if we can get past the wheat field today?"
"We have all summer to do that, Yuni!" She replied, sounding muffled, being behind a door.
I sighed, and walked over to her bed, sitting on it. As soon as I sat, I felt a vibration; scooting to the side, I saw her phone. Looking down at it, it said "New Message". I took a glance at the bathroom door, before picking up her phone, and tapping the message. It read: "Hey, it's Keita. You told me to text you, so here I am."
I laughed and pondered whether I should mess with him or not. Eventually I came to the point that I am a troll, and I sent; "Hey, baby. ;)" Five minutes later, he replied with a; "What? This is Akari, right? O-o"
"Indeed. You got a girlfriend?" I asked.
"N-No.. But I barely know you, you shouldn't call me baby."
"I'm kidding with you. This is her sister. Deleting these messages, tell her I did anything, and I kill you. ."
"Oh... Alright. o-o"
I laughed again and deleted the messages. Right before I put her phone down, Akari came out of the bathroom holding an all-white kitten, and asking me, "Why are you laughing so much?"
I ignored her, and got up to walk to the kitten and pet it. "Are we keeping it?"
"I want to. And I want to name her Yuki. Since Yuki means snow. And her coat is white like the snow." She replied.
Yes, the cat was white and fluffy, looked about 2 or 3 months old. Her grey eyes looked as if they were staring into my soul. I looked up at Akari, and said "We should tell bro about her first." She nodded, and walked down the stairs from the top floor, and down another flight of stairs to the basement, while I followed in close behind.
He looked up at Akari, then at me. "Well hello my dear sisters." He said politely. She only frowned and replied with,
"I'm only here to ask if you don't mind if we keep this kitten. Her name is Yuki." He nodded and smiled.
"Not a problem." He said.
I looked at Akari's bright face, as she left the room, then back at my brother, which only resumed playing his drums. The reason why my sister hated my brother so much still remains unknown to me, but it was somewhere along the lines of him being too lifeless, or so. He's been trying to change her point of view for only a week, though she thinks he's playing a joke on her. In which he might be, but I wouldn't know.
I glanced at him, and walked over to his closet, reaching up to get down an electric guitar he never pulled out. It was red, and had black Japanese dragon stickers on the front, and back. He stopped playing his drums, and looked up at me. "You want to play it? Do you know how?" He asked. I nodded.
"A little bit. I don't know how to read music." I replied. He only laughed and gestured me do go back to what I was doing.
I frowned, and walked back up to the second floor where my room was. Being a traditional Japanese home, we had slide doors, except my brother's room, which was a secret spot for the people who lived in this home before us. Sliding the door open, there was a kotatsu* (Japanese style table with a blanket for warmth built into it) in the middle of the room, and 2 futons at the far side of the room, next up against a giant window. The room was slightly dark, and had a warm feeling to it, using a mixture of warm colors, such as burgundy, maple wood, and tan.
I walked over to my futon, and sat on it, pulling out a book to read, while Akari put on tango music. I looked at her, and lifted a brow. "Tango music?" I asked. She looked at me and smiled.
"I want to go to France or Spain one day… And dance this type of dance with someone I love." She replied.
I nodded, and resumed to what I was doing. She pulled out her phone, and sat on her futon next to mine, while the kitten curled up at her feet. 10 minutes later she looked up at me, squinting an eye. I didn't notice until she growled at me. While looking at her, she held up her phone and said, "So… Keita texted me." I only gave her a clueless expression, before she said something else.
"He says… "Hey baby."
"So? Isn't that good? He likes you, right?" I replied.
"No… Afterwards, he said, "This is Akari's sister, right?" She said.
"Oh. OH… It's not what you think Akari! Oh, I'm going to kill him…" I said.
"Of course, because my sister wouldn't do that to me, right?" She asked.
"Right… Give me your phone, please." I requested.
"What, why?" She asked.
"Because I need to talk to him." I said.
"Well… It's not that I don't trust you, but I want to see the conversation…" She said while looking away. I nodded before she gave me her phone. Right as soon as I took it, it vibrated with a new message that read: "Wait. Akari? AKARI! It's not what you think! It was a joke between your sister and me. I thought she still had your phone! Please respond! Dx"
I looked at Akari and showed her the message. "See? He didn't mean it." I said.
"Wait… You had my phone? When?" She asked.
"Um… That's a different story; let me finish yelling at him."
I picked up her phone again, and began to type the message; "Are you dumb?! Why would you try calling me babe back? And the last time I texted you was 3 hours ago! Why would you think I still had her pho-"interrupting me, Kazu called us down from the bottom of the stairs. Akari groaned, and got off her bed to come down the stairs, the kitten following in close behind. I looked at her, then put her phone down, and ran after her.