Hi. I cannot believe that it took me so long to write something for AZ!

This is a collection of stories of which I thought, but couldn't fit into the main story "Let the Heaven Fall" because it is a pretty stuffed FF. I hope I can continue working on it after graduating.^^ Until it's out, I will just keep uploading these background stories which I had to sort out, but didn't have the heart to scrap.

I hope you will enjoy this silly little one-shot :)

Chapter One:

Night to Remember

"The way I figure it, everyone gets a miracle."
― John Green, Paper Towns

Shin-awara, Fukui Prefecture, Japan – March 2012

~Yuki~

It was over.

When I woke up today, I could only smile. And all I did after standing up I did smiling and grinning.

Yesterday had been my Graduation Ceremony – I wasn't a pupil anymore! I had finished school with good grades, and just like others with whom I had graduated, I had already enlisted in the United Forces of Earth because I wanted to follow in my father's footsteps. He had been a Commander of the UFE during the interplanetary war between Earth and Vers; and just like Mum, he had lost his life during Heaven's Fall. I terribly missed them. I wondered if they would be happy and proud of me graduating, of my grades, of my choice.

I wished they would still be here – but today was supposed to be a happy day, so I shoved my sad thoughts to the back of my mind.

"Good morning, Nao-kun!" Kaizuka Yuki greeted her brother and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting down on the table.

"Good morning, Yuki-nee," Inaho replied, continuing to prepare breakfast. "Omelette or scrambled eggs?"

"Omelette would be nice."

"I am sorry, I can't – we are out of soup stock, so I can't make mentsuyu."

"Why do you even give me a choice when, in the end, I actually don't have one?"

"Inko told me that it was polite to ask first," Inaho said and transferred the scrambled eggs from the pan to two plates. Then, the toast he had put earlier into the toaster popped up, and he retrieved them, placing them on the plates. Inaho carried the plates to the already set table.

For a while, we ate in silence. It was rather nice – just Nao and me. While studying for my exams, I had barely been able to see him, and, lately, he had always come home so late, so it was nice that we could spend some time together. In two weeks, the next term would start – Nao's second year of middle school, and I would continue my training at a military facility. Until then, I hoped to spend as much time as possible with my little brother.

"Yuki-nee?" Inaho asked, and she looked up from her plate.

"Hm? What's the matter, Nao-kun?"

"You still don't have a dress for your promenade dance."

Only a few months ago, a group of very engaging girls had come up with the idea to celebrate our upcoming graduation with a prom like in the USA. Immediately, most students of my year had been excited and supported it as well as they could. They hadn't been preparing it for a very long time, and with all the exams it was like a miracle that they had still managed to do everything; and now, in only a week, the big day would come.

"I don't even have a date," Yuki meant. "I think you need a date for events like that. Without one, I don't have to go. And when I don't go, I don't need a dress. Also, I think a ball dress would be too expensive for us. I've not started working now, so we are still quite limited when it comes to such things."

"You are wrong."

She blinked at Inaho. "Huh?"

"I calculated everything, and as long as you don't choose the most expensive of all, we can afford a ball dress," Inaho said, organising his plate, mug, and cutlery as he had already finished eating. "Besides, even without an escort, I think you should go. Usually, there are no proms in Japan, so this is a rather special event. And you can see your schoolmates and say goodbye."

"I have already said goodbye to them yesterday at the ceremony," Yuki replied, grinning at her brother's words. "I didn't know that it was so important to you that I go."

"You were the one who told me that I should grab a chance as it is a good one, Yuki-nee. And this is a chance other Japanese students do not get, so it is a good opportunity, and you should grab it."

"But even if I grab it, I still don't have a date; I still don't have anybody to dance with. Most of my schoolmates already have dates, and I don't really think that one of them will take a break from their date and ask me to share a dance. Even if I go, I will only sit in the back and drink and eat. And if someone doesn't feel like dancing, I can talk to them, even for a bit. I mean that's not really exciting and not really worth to spend money on."

"You are wrong again."

Yuki blinked at him. "Huh?"

"Even if you don't dance, it is the experience which counts – and it is one you can only obtain once. You can still have a nice night without dancing."

She couldn't help herself but laugh a little bit. "Okay, okay, my persistent little brother! And with whom should I buy this dress we apparently can afford after all?"

"I think Inko would happily agree to go with you if you ask her," Inaho said, standing up and washing up the dishes. "She often complains to Okisuke and me about only having male friends."

Yuki stood up and brought her dishes to the sink too before hugging Inaho. "Come, let me help you do this."

Just like Amifumi Inko didn't have any female friends, I didn't have any friends at all. That didn't mean that I didn't go along well with my schoolmates – there were a lot of people with whom I often talked. It was just that despite being with them on a friendly basis, I hadn't become friends with one of them. Because just like in any other relationship, you needed to work for it to make it happen, but I didn't have the time and energy to do it.

I was a useless sister – only on very good days, I managed to cook something edible, and I often had no idea about certain things – but that didn't stop me from not doing my best. I always took care that Inaho was doing well, that our finances were stable; I regularly met with our representative and made sure that we could continue living in our little flat, that none of us would have to live in an orphanage again. Because until I turned 21, I couldn't become Inaho's legal guardian and become independent from our representative and the state. This meant that if they believed that we weren't able to live on our own, they would send us back to an orphanage immediately – or worse, to two different homes.

I would never blame Inaho for me not having any friends – after all, how could I? It had been my own choice to focus on him and me and not on others.

"Sorry that I'm late," Inko said when she approached Yuki who was sitting on a bench inside the mall. "I suddenly had to help out a bit longer at the restaurant."

"No problem," Yuki replied. "I was also a bit late."

"How come Inaho's always punctual while you're always late?"

"You could ask yourself the same thing."

"But I am not blood-related to him."

Yuki shrugged. "Well, just because we are siblings doesn't mean we have to be alike in everything." She stood up and together, they entered the first shop.

"But the only things you have in common are your face and your stature," Inko pointed out. "You could be as well cousins or strangers who happen to look a bit too much alike."

Yuki chuckled. She had heard that a lot at the home where she had stayed with Inaho before coming to Shin-awara and living alone. Back then, she hadn't been able to laugh at this remark. "That's because Nao-kun comes more after our mother, and I more after our father," Yuki said, showing Inko a green dress.

Inko shook her head. "Too narrow and too glittery." Yuki put the dress back and continued searching.

"You seldom talk about your parents," Inko said, "but when you said that Inaho comes after your mother – do you mean that she was just like him? I have a hard time to imagine that."

"Oh, no." Yuki chuckled again. "Mum was very intelligent and kind. But also very headstrong and reckless. Nao-kun is like her, but different because he is a different person. Just like I am not exactly like my father despite coming after him."

"Oh, good." Inko took a lavender coloured dress with feathers on the seam and glitter around the décolleté. "That is just hideous," she said before putting it back. "Imagining a female, grown-up Inaho would have been weird. Especially, imagining her alongside Inaho."

"You are right. That would be weird." Yuki stopped to look through the dresses for a moment. "I am still sad that he wasn't able to meet them, to get to know them. They would have loved how he turned out. I am certain of it. I think Dad would have bragged about him in front of Hiroaki."

"Hiroaki?"

"My mother's brother. He and my dad were best friends. That's how my parents got to know each other. I think he also died during Heaven's Fall."

Inko frowned. "You think that he died then?"

"We were never officially informed of his whereabouts. I simply assume that he died during Heaven's Fall, but it could be that he died later or sooner. I only know that he is definitely dead – I mean, if he weren't, he would have undoubtedly searched for us, right? And because he didn't, he must be dead."

We looked around a little while longer. After some hours, we finally settled on a light thistle-coloured backless dress made of soft tulle. It was rather simple, but it didn't make it less beautiful. I liked it more when clothes were no too overloaded. One more thing: It didn't even cost too much! We had even been able to find some nice clothes for Inko too. I thought that she was rather happy to have been able to go shopping with someone who wasn't her mother even if she loved her mother a lot.

When I returned home in the evening, I happily showed Inaho the dress, and he nodded and congratulated me before resuming whatever he had been doing.

"You will look lovely!" Inko said, braiding Yuki's hair.

"I still cannot understand why I can't just wear my hair loose."

After we had found a fitting dress, Inko had pondered over possible hairstyles with Inaho as they were both thinking that I should wear my hair up. The question was simply, how exactly? They argued for two days, not consulting me once before they settled on a fishtail-merged crown braid. On pictures, it looked nice, I admitted it, but I wondered how it would look like in real life.

"You know why – if you wear a backless dress you have to wear your hair up if it's long because otherwise, this part of your dress won't be seen."

"I know, but you are doing my hair for hours now, and I just think that it would be easier and less nerve-wracking if we just let it be. After all, I am not going because I want to impress someone, but because Inaho basically forced me to," Yuki said.

"Let it be and make the hours I've spent practising with Inaho go to waste? No, definitely not."

Yuki moved in her seat. "You practised with Nao-kun?"

"Of course, I did!" Inko replied. "Please, don't move! It won't turn out well if you do."

"Sorry. Well, I just mean, how can you practice with him when he has short hair?"

Inko giggled. "Of course, I didn't try it on him! My mother had a dress-up doll. You know these scary things which only consist of a head and shoulders? I practised with it. I made Inaho try it too because he kept giving stupid advice and I wanted to make him suffer with me."

"That sounds much more plausible."

"Uh… I almost have it," Inko announced. She finished the last braid and put it into its rightful position before fixating everything. "Voilà! It's done!" She happily bounced back and got a hand mirror to let Yuki see her from all angles. Yuki's eyes widened.

"This looks great, Inko!"

"It's not exactly like in the photo though…"

"No, it's all right." Yuki stood up and hugged her. "Thank you for doing all this."

"You're welcome. I enjoyed it that I could do this girly stuff."

"We can do this again if we have some free time." Yuki hugged her again before leaving her bedroom to show herself to Inaho, but she stopped when she saw Inaho standing in a suit in the living room, reading a book. He had even combed back his hair!

Uh… what was going on?

"Nao-kun?" Yuki said, and Inaho looked up from his book. "Ah, you are done," he said. "Inko did your hair well."

"Uh, yes. Uh, Nao-kun?"

"Yes?" He closed his book and put it on a table, next to a box.

"Why are you wearing a suit?"

"This isn't a suit – it is a tuxedo."

"Very well… so why are you wearing a tuxedo?"

Inaho blinked at her. "You complained about not having a date, so I thought that I could go with you. Inko's father gave me his old tuxedo, and her mother cut it into shape so that I would fit into it."

Yuki nearly started to cry; she only held back because she didn't want to ruin the tiny little bit of makeup she had put on. "Oh, Nao-kun…" She walked towards him and hugged him tightly. "You are just too sweet!"

"Yuki-nee?"

"Yes, little brother?"

"I can barely breathe."

"Oh, right, sorry." Yuki stepped back, and Inaho picked up the box from the table and handed it to her. Confused, she took and opened it. Inside it was a pink and red flower corsage – just the sort of thing you gave your prom date.

"Aw, you shouldn't have, Nao-kun!" she said and put it on. It was just a bracelet with plastic flowers and ribbons attached to it, but she still loved it.

"These are gladioli and poppies," Inaho told her. "Usually, you don't put these flowers on a corsage for a dance. But I've read that these flowers are the birth flowers for August, and I thought they would go better with your dress."

Yuki smiled at him before she remembered something. "Oh, right! Am I not supposed to give you something too, then? What's it called? A boutin, a boutian…"

"A boutonnière," Inaho helped.

"Yes. But because I thought that I would go alone, I don't have one."

"Coincidentally, I do!" Inko suddenly said, handing Yuki a boutonnière with a huge grin on her face.

"Ah, you were his partner-in-crime, right?" Yuki said and took the pin from her.

"Of course, I was."

Yuki shook her head, smiling, before pinning the gladiolus on Inaho's lapel. "Ah, what a sly good-looking boy you are, Nao-kun! If one of your female classmates saw you like that, they would make sure to organise a prom too to see you like that again. Especially if you will look even more handsome in a couple of years."

"Thanks, Yuki-nee."

"Uh, well, isn't it time for the photos?!" Inko said, waving her camera in front of her face to cover up her blush.

Yuki and Inaho stood next to each other with linked arms, and Inko took a few pictures before they said goodbye to her and left for the prom.

I still couldn't believe that this was happening: My baby brother had really succeeded to make me go to the prom – and he was even my escort!

"Yuki-chan!" someone called her when they entered the gymnasium. Yuki turned around to see Takayama Yukino, a member of the Prom Committee. They got along rather well, liking to irritate others with introducing themselves as "Yuki and Yuki."

Yukino had curled her dark brown, almost black hair and wore a light blue dress which made her big grey eyes shine.

"I am so happy to see you here! I thought that you would come in the end."

"Well, it was an opportunity I couldn't miss," Yuki replied with a sideways glance at Inaho.

Yukino smiled at her. "You look lovely. Your hair is amazing!"

"Thanks. And you look beautiful too. I like it that you cut your hair. It suits you."

Yukino tugged on one of her strands. "I wasn't so sure about it – but in the end, I am rather happy with it. If my mother and I put on sunglasses, people have trouble to tell us apart."

"Are you here with Takeru-kun?" Yuki asked. Kaneko Takeru was Yukino's best friend, and everyone knew how much he actually liked her. Their fathers had known each other forever, but their children had only met a few years ago for the first time.

She laughed. "Yes, it took him a while to ask me though. Right now, he is dancing with Tomoko-chan. It is almost like I have two dates."

"Well, it's not easy to separate the Kaneko twins."

"Yes, it sure isn't." Yukino noticed Inaho who briefly waved at her. "Ah, you have come with your brother?"

"Yes, he knew that I had no date, so he offered to accompany me instead," Yuki replied, beaming with joy.

"I have always known that he's a sweet brother." Yukino grinned at Inaho. "That he's with you wants me to get Shu, but he's only seven so I doubt that he would li..." She interrupted herself when she saw something in the crowd, and Yuki looked in the same direction to see Joshima Nanase's orange hair in the sea of black and brown.

"I have to greet Nana-chan now! See you guys later!" With these words, Yukino hurried towards her friend.

Yuki turned back to Inaho who asked: "Do you want to dance?"

Stunned at his sudden question, Yuki stared at him.

"You complained about not being able to dance if you go alone," he explained to her. "But I went with you, so I am asking if you want to dance."

She laughed and shook her head. "Nao-kun, you cannot dance."

"I practised with Inko," Inaho told her which made her stare at him again. "I learned with her doing the crown braid, and she learned with me how to dance."

"Nao-kun?"

"Yes?"

"How long have you been planning this?"

Inaho avoided her gaze which made his answer even more adorable. "Ever since you first told me about the promenade dance."

Yuki blinked away her tears. "You are the best little brother a sister as hopeless as I could ever have."

"You aren't that hopeless, Yuki-nee," Inaho replied, taking her hand. His hand was so small and soft in her own; and for some reason, she suddenly remembered how she held his tiny hand after he was born – and what had come afterwards, what had come and turned everything upside down.

"Yuki-nee?" His voice tore her out of her thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to dance now?"

Everything was beautiful.

While I danced with Nao through the hall, I always had to remind myself that we were in a gymnasium. The decoration had been done so well and thoughtfully that I forgot what a terrible place this actually was.

Everything was orange and yellow, and daffodils and jonquils could be found everywhere: plastic and drawn versions, and even real ones in vases made of coloured glass. Outside the world was dark and the light was dim, but the hall was still shining.

We whirled around, and the scent of the flowers was around us. It was a bit difficult to dance with Inaho because he was shorter than me, and I wasn't used to dancing with someone who was so short. Inaho, however, didn't seem to have any problems – after all, he had practised with Inko, and she was taller than him. I didn't mind though because it was still fun.

I looked around and saw Yukino again, but this time, she was dancing with Takeru. I looked somewhere else and saw Fan Yawen's wonderful hair in which flowers had been braided. Just like Yukino, she was part of the Committee who had organised everything. I had never really talked to her, but she was someone who stayed in people's minds with her natural beauty and her odd dark blue eyes. Yawen was dancing with Caradoc Ruskin who had come to Japan from England after Heaven's Fall when Earth had to reorganise itself.

Inaho and I danced for a few songs until we were both too exhausted to keep on. We had just sat down at a table to catch a breath before grabbing something to eat when Yawen and Caradoc approached us.

"Can we sit with you?" Yawen asked politely.

"Sure, go ahead."

They sat down, and Yuki said: "Ah, Yawen-san, I wanted to tell you how great everything turned out."

"Good that you are enjoying it. I have seen you and Inaho-san dance for quite a long time." Yawen glared at Caradoc who grinned at her. "I would have liked to dance so long too, but a certain someone keeps stepping on my feet."

"You knew what was coming and you still wanted to dance, Fan-dàrén," Caradoc replied.

"As a child, his parents dropped him once too often," Yawen told Yuki, ignoring him. "His primary motor cortex was damaged in the process – that's why he can only move so clumsily."

I had never really talked to them, but you always saw them teasing each other – and I couldn't remember a time when they hadn't been together.

"By the way, Yawen-san," Yuki started, "how did Yukino-chan, you and the others manage to organise all this despite the exams."

"It was not an easy task," Yawen said, "but I cannot say how exactly we could do it. I don't mean it in the way 'It was a miracle, and we are surprised ourselves how we had done it.' I mean it just like I have said. None of us from the Committee should take the full credit for this all, and I believe that those who have done something should be properly credited for it, and not wander with their deeds in the dark." She held up her hand, and Caradoc helped her to stand up. Then, they vanished in the crowd.

Yuki watched them for a while before turning back to Inaho who was strangely silent.

And when I saw him like this, everything hit me at once: I faintly remembered that Yukino had never seen Inaho before and could have never known that he was my brother; that I had only briefly spoken to Yawen before and she shouldn't know that I had a brother or what his name was.

My gaze landed on the corsage around my wrist. And hadn't I once read that jonquils and daffodils were the birthday flowers of March? And weren't graduations the birth of something new?

I remembered that I had not been wrong, that we could have never afforded this dress. Right before my exams had started, I had met with our representative – I knew about our finances. I had only briefly forgotten this meeting because of the stress graduating brought with it.

And hadn't Inaho come back rather late in the last few weeks?

Yuki started to cry. "Nao-kun."

He didn't say anything.

"Nao-kun." She made him look at her. "You were the reason the prom could happen after all, right, Nao-kun? That's why you were so persistent that I should come. Because you only helped Yawen-san and Yukino-chan to…"

"It's a gift," Inaho mumbled. "Don't people receive gifts for graduation?"

"Yes – pens or books or something like that. Not balls!" Yuki said.

"You once told me that it had become very unlikely that the promenade dance could take place because the idea had come too late and now, you all had to study. You looked rather sad back then, so I went to your school and searched for the committee members. I offered them my help, and they allowed me to do it."

"And the dress? I know that, normally, we could have never afforded it. Don't try to fool me again."

Inaho lowered his voice. "I worked in the restaurant for Inko's parents for a while for it."

"What if you had got caught?"

"I am sorry, Yuki-nee, for being so reckless."

Yuki was reminded of another thing. "When Inko and I were shopping, she was late because she suddenly had to help out in the restaurant."

"I had been late for my shift because of an organisational problem; that's why she had to fill in for me for a while."

I couldn't believe what I had heard. I couldn't believe what my reckless, wonderful little brother had done for me.

"You always look after me," Inaho continued. "And I know that it is because of me that you never made any friends or that you didn't find a date – I wanted to give you something in return for all you have given up for me."

Yuki chortled and whipped away her tears. "You are the one who always looks after me, Nao-kun. Just like you did now. You don't need anyone to look after you – especially someone as hopeless as me. And you are not the reason that I don't have friends – I had decided that for myself. It has nothing to do with you – so, please, don't think that."

"I do need you. You are my sister. You are not hopeless or useless, Yuki-nee," he said. "We look after each other." Inaho paused. "That's what we always did – because there's only the two of us left."

Yuki nearly tackled him with her hug. "I could never wish for a different brother – because I already have the most amazing. I love you, Nao-kun – and thanks for everything."

Inaho hugged her back; and when he spoke, she could hear his smile, and she burst into tears again. "And I could never wish for a different Yuki-nee."

Yukino, Shu, Takeru, Tomoko, and Nanase are characters from a scrapped FF. And Yawen and Caradoc? Oh, well... :)