Every third Saturday of the given month marks the date where Akihiko would skip classes to go and visit Miki's grave down at the Tatsumi Port Memorial Cemetery.
The Friday before the promised day he would stop by the toy shop at Paulownia Mall in order to pick out a brand new stuffed animal to rest upon the cold marble headstone that was etched with her history on it.
And at 11:30am on the given Saturday, the boxer would head over to the local florist to purchase a bouquet of freshly cut daisies before hoping onto the monorail and waiting for it to take him to his destination.
Yes, Akihiko took much pride in this little routine of his, for he has never missed a single detail in over 10 years. How could he make such a careless error when tending to the one family member he had known of?
Grieving old couples were scattered sporadically throughout the cemetery, for they were mourning the loss of their children. Akihiko recalled the few phrases uttered by their leader, Minato when he had asked him where he was upon returning to the dorm last week, something about parents only thinking about their children. If that was the case, then going by that logic, the boxer wondered if that considered him to be a father figure to his younger sister.
He certainly cared much for Miki and he does think of her more so than the average "normal" person. But then again, who was to dictate how much he thought about her? Perhaps Akihiko was not a "normal" person; he knew that all too well growing up.
Those guardians that Shinjiro had loathed with such an intense passion would gossip amongst themselves about how he was a weird kid for not having parents. It hurt him inside. It hadn't been his choice to have parents or not. It was a card dealt to him by the hand of fate. But Akihiko never complained openly about it. No, he couldn't do such a thing when he had to take care of a 4 year old Miki Sanada who got bullied constantly for being a "depressing" child.
The other children would never share their toys with her and would always make fun of her most insignificant characteristics. And whenever they would play with her, it would be out of sheer pity and their games would end up being just another excuse to outcast her. The caretakers would occasionally scold the others for being mean to Miki but the stern words were short lived. Akihiko couldn't fathom the reason why his younger sister would be the victim subjected to their heartless bullying sessions.
His sister was a kind girl who was modest and innocent. She never bothered anyone else in the orphanage and would keep to herself. So what did she do to deserve such cruel treatment? If they had to pick on someone, he would have rather it be him instead of her.
But today wasn't a day for him to reflect on such thoughts. Today was a day dedicated to the good memories of Miki. Today was the day where he would think only of her and care only for her. Today was the day where he shed a tear for her as it would have been her 13th birthday if she had lived long enough to see it.
The gentle spring breeze kissed the nape of his neck as Akihiko bent down to rest the bouquet and toy upon the gravestone before taking a seat at the base of a large cherry blossom tree.
He lightly tapped his left hand to the steady and rhythmic pace of his own heart, getting lost in the quiet atmosphere.
It was peaceful.
"Happy birthday, Miki. Onii-chan is sorry that Shinji-nii couldn't visit you today, but he'll be here tomorrow," Akihiko reassured tenderly, looking up to the blue sky framed with only a few clouds.
On days like these, it reminded him much of their days back at the orphanage. He, Miki and Shinji would run around the playground like they were the only ones alive on this earth. He reflected on the times when they would play castle, he would be the prince, Shinji stuck being the bad guy and Miki would without a doubt be their princess. Sometimes Shinji would complain about having to be the bad guy but the two Sanada siblings would simply laugh at his protests.
So Akihiko couldn't let go of the past. He had already admitted to the claim a long while back when Shinji brought it up. But it didn't matter to the boxer. To him, letting go of the past meant letting his memories of Miki fade away into nothing.
Those rare memories of her laughing contently with him and Shinji were Akihiko's most treasured memoirs of his younger sister. How could he discard them so easily?
"Don't worry, onii-chan is doing fine, he's made a lot of new friends who care for him as much he cares for them," he smiled at the etched gravestone.
"Onii-chan will always love you," drifted softly from his lips before effortlessly disappearing into the wind.
Akihiko smiled inwardly as he heard the words: "I love you, Aki-nii" being echoed by the rustle of the cherry blossom leaves.
*This April birth flower has the flower meaning of implicitly, modesty, innocence, stability, sympathy and cheerfulness
I picked this flower completely by chance and I looked up the symbolism for it, I thought it was perfect for this story/situation.
I've been playing Persona 3 (Portable version) a lot lately and I've been intrigued by Aki's little sister. I did some research but came up blank, so I figured she would be the perfect blank canvas to work with. I might do another story involving her, but no promises. I mean, it has been almost a year or so since my last upload.