To spirit618 -- I APOLOGIZE FOR THE LATE SUBMIT AND FOR NOT CONTACTING YOU AFTER DISAPPEARING FOR AROUND A MONTH AND MORE.

Disclaimer – I do NOT own APH nor the fan-fic! Yes! Not even the fan-fic!

It belongs to Spirit618 in(s20001073deviantart/tamashi魂yam)

Please do read the original fic if you know Chinese! -- http:/ /blog. yam. com /spirit618/ category/ 2515399 (please delete spaces)

Warning – Tons of grammar mistakes and bad translation… Some lines have been changed due to my inability of translating… I apologize.

A/N – I know Hong Kong speaks in British English, but since this was in Chinese, and Hong Kong speaks in Cantonese, I'll make it into a weird kind of English, with tons of grammar mistakes or whatever, don't read those lines if you can't stand it, it's for your own good. (I couldn't get anything right, can I? –Sigh-)

This summer, is still as lively as ever.

[Summer]

"Cling… cling…"The wind chimes on the eaves slightly rocked as the cicadas called noisily outside.

"It's boiling in here… Aru… I don't recall summer being this hot!!"

"Brother, you wear vest and shorts already…" (But Brother, you're wearing vest and shorts already…)

"Aww… Blame the heat, Xiao-Xiang!" (1)

Yao looked at his brother, who was still wearing that red oriental garb of his, and yet, was not sweating at all.

"Xiao-Xiang, what do you think about buying an air-conditioner? Aru~"

"Our home too big, it spend too much" (With our home this big, I doubt the electricity bill will be cheap…)

"Sigh… You don't have to retort everything I say, aru…" Yao whispered to himself, appeared to be hurt from Xiang's words.

"Yao-Yao…. (2)" A creepy shadow grew on the courtyard's outer wall.

"Wuaahhhh!!!" What is that thing?! Aru!" Yao was freaked out by that shadow on the wall; he jumped and hid behind his brother, who was even taller than him.

"Tch. Got stupid. Should kill him last time. Even though brother hiding behind me looks super cute now." (Tch. It was stupid of me not to kill him last time. But I guess it makes up with the adorable sight of Brother hiding behind me…) Xiang muttered.

"What did you say, Xiang-Chan?! Aru!"

"Have you forgotten, Yao-Yao, I'm Ivan, you're neighbor! I live just right behind your house." The man was wearing a long scarf. It was around 20 to 30 "Yao-Yao said that he wants to use an air-con, right? If you come to my home, you can use the 'air-con' as long as you like!" (3)

"What air-con is that in you house's? " (What kind of 'air-con' is that in your house?) Xiang coldly replied.

'A child shouldn't speak when an adult is,' Ivan smiled, only that there was a dark aura behind him. 'Yao-Yao, what do you think? So how about coming to my house? Ooff!'

A rock hit Ivan. He then disappeared in one of the dark corners. Yao let loose of his grip on Xiang's sleeve, and wept the cold sweat on his forehead.

'Thanks, Xiang-Chan, Aru.'

'En,' (4) Xiang cleared off the dirt on his hands when he picked up the rock.

Yao stared at where Ivan left. His gaze drifted to the middle in the court.

'Ah… It seems just like yesterday, Yun-soo and Xiao-Wan (5) playing in the garden….' But Yun-soo wasn't here anymore, and Xiao-Wan wouldn't come home….

Wang Yao sat on the floor, which's temperature went up, sighing.

'Brother, you talk same as an old man.' (Brother, you're talking like an old geezer.)

'Do you really have to retort everything I say, Aru…I seriously am going to complain to Arthur, Aru.'

Wang-Yao furrowed and grumbled about the hot weather, lying on the floor. Then, he started to roll, lie, faced the ceiling, and went on until he was on the other side of the corridor.

'Ne (6), Xiao-Xiang, would you buy me some popsicle?'

'Brother, stop rolling, your waist is seen. '(Brother, stop rolling on the floor, your shirt is lifted up…)

'Oh?' Wang-Yao pulled down his shirt. 'You didn't peek, did you?'

'Ah, I go buy popsicles.' (Ah, right, I'll be on my way to buy the popsicles now.) Xiang stood up, patting off the leaves on his trousers.

'Now don't play dumb! Aru! Or I'll really complain to Arthur!'

Just before Xiang reached the door, Wang-Yao spoke, 'oh! Right! Xiao-Ju's (7) visiting today, Aru, so please buy one for him too!'

'…En…' (…Sure…) Xiang replied, and stepped out.

[Still call Honda Xiao-Ju… (So he still calls Honda as Xiao-Ju…)]

[Brother… Still can't let go the past… (Brother… he hasn't let go of the past…)]

As Xiang stepped out of the mansion, he kicked someone. The person wore a long, thick scarf, covering up his face on a day so hot that it seemed like everything would melt. He was hiding somewhere near their house. Xiang then gave a signal to a brother-complex who was also hiding somewhere near them.

'Yo~ Xiang-Bro~ you're buying ice for your brother?' asked the shopkeeper from Cuba in quite an enthusiastic way as Xiang-Gang was quite a frequent costumer.

'Well, yes, do you have red bean flavored popsicles?' said Xiang, fluently in English.

'Yes we do! In fact, we just bought shipped a new box of them yesterday! Would you like to buy more?'

'No, no thanks. The fridge broke down again since Brother opened and closed it way too many times. I'll have two red beans and one green tea.'

'Sure!'

[Same flavor as Brother's…Honda? He eat green tea flavor alone! (I'll have the same flavor as Brother's...Honda? He can have the green tea flavor alone!)]

When Xiang was back, Honda has already arrived.

'Mister Honda, (8) why don't you come in?' asked Xiang, in fluent Japanese, who was just speaking in English before that.

'Well, I'd like to…But your door is locked… (9)'replied Honda leisurely.

Xiang glanced downwards, seeing that Honda was standing on Ivan in the face, who was struggling. He attempted to call out for help, but failed miserably.

'What… he still not die…' (Oh… so he's still alive?) Xiang 'calmly' kicked Ivan, angrily (?), that he even used his own language.

'Err, out of curiosity, May I ask what is this thing?' Honda blushed, yet was stepping on Ivan, with fiercer force.

'Oh, this? Your zashiki-warashi.' (10)

'No, I don't think so. I dare say that there isn't any unsightly… creature like this in my place.'

'Oh, is that so.' Xiang kicked Ivan out of the way, and opened the door. 'Please do come in, Brother is waiting for you.'

'Yao-Yao! Xiang and Honda are bullying me!' Ivan, who was kicked aside, yelled, obviously trying and failing to draw attention from the one who's inside the mansion.

'You mother--! You shut up!' (You mother-###! Shut up!)

'Brother… So there you are….' Natalia was pulling on Ivan's scarf, smiling like a real demon.

'Natalia… I… I… was searching for you… Erm… I... I was just finding my pipe! Ahhhhh!!!!' Ivan tried to make his excuse; someone's footprints were on his face…

'Goodbye, take care.' Xiang waved at Ivan, whose face was blue, as his dearest sister brutally brought him back home, till they disappeared in a corner.

'Xiao-Xiang! Did someone ask for me?' yelled Wang-Yao loudly from the inside.

'Nothing happen, Brother you hear wrong?' (No, nothing happened. I think it might have been a hallucination.)

Kiku entered the mansion which he used to stay in everyday in his childhood. Compared to the grand home of his in his memory, it seemed that the mansion had lost its color. It looked worse as they were fixing the damage the earthquake had done not long ago. (11) Wood and bricks piled on the floor, the messiness gave him a desolate feeling.

Kiku's gaze fell upon the living room, where Wang-Yao was, with his own popsicle, who seemed happy and contented.

'Thank you for inviting, Wang-Yao-san.' (12)

'En?' Yao looked at Kiku, who seemed austere. 'Make yourself at home (13), Aru. It's Xiao-Ju, so it's alright, Aru.'

'Xiao-Xiang, did you buy Xiao-Ju's share?'

'En, yes, I did.'

The brothers were chatting peacefully. Kiku stared at them. A weird feeling was tingling inside him…

If he didn't argue with Yao, would things be different? Even if they weren't close, the relationship would still be better than now, right?

'Xiao-Ju, is the green tea flavored one alright?' Yao held out Kiku's green popsicle, while he was licking his red one.

Meanwhile, Xiang was standing behind Yao, smugly twirling his popsicle, which was obviously the same flavor as Yao's.

'…' What is this…? Showing off your brotherly love…?

'Xiao-Ju? What's wrong, Aru?'

'… It's nothing, Wong-Yao-san.' Yao handed him his popsicle. 'Thank you for buying my share, Xiang-kun.'

'You don't have to, Mister Honda, I still haven't 'thank you' for 'taking care' of me in the past…' Xiang gently but firmly placed the tea tray. His eyes stayed upon Kiku for a second or two, then drifted to Yao.

'Brother, melted popsicle stuck on face' (Brother, you have some melted popsicle stuck on your face) Xiang wiped the sticky substance off Yao's face, then turned and left.

TBC

1. Xiao-Xiang – as "little Hong Kong". I know it sounds weird, but it's similar to the Japanese way to call someone friendlier, but it's in Chinese. (like "Naurto-kun") It's actually Xiao-Xiang here, as "小香" By the way, to those who don't know why HK's called like that here, Hong Kong is pronounce as Xiang Gang in Mandarin. So I'll be using Xiang Gang since I don't know what HK's called in other names. But I'll just call him 'Xiang' or something like that since it's 'Ya-Xiang' (阿香) in the actual writing.

2. Yao-Yao – a super close and sweet way of calling Wong Yao, like 'Yao-kun' or 'Yao-chan' in Japanese. It is "耀耀" in the original writing.

3. 'air-con' – it's a pun. As air-con is pronounced as "neng qi" in Chinese and the 'cold wind' is also 'neng qi'.

4. En – '嗯' in Chinese, mostly used as a positive reply on conversations, similar to Japanese's 'un', which you might have seen a lot in the mangas.

5. Yun-soo – Korea / Xiao-Wan – Wan-Liang – Taiwan, Xiao = little ("小"in Chinese), Xiao-Wan – something like Wan-Chan.

6. Ne – a sound, something like 'oi', to get people's attention. It is '吶' in Chinese.

7. Xiao-Ju – Kiku Honda, Japan. It's like, 'little Kiku' or something similar to that. I'm using 'Xiao-Ju' since it's Chinese, Yao's native language.

8. Mister Honda – Honda-San, as a more polite and formal way to speak to others with respect or to mostly acquaintances, whom are not close to you in Japanese.

9. Your door is locked – it's actually 'I can't open the door' or something similar, but I think this makes more sense.

10. Zashiki-warashi – also named as zashiki-bokko, a kind of Japanese demon which brings good fortune to people who are kind to them. They usually appear as a child, youngest at 2-3, eldest as 5-6. They like red, and usually wear a yukata/ kimono in red. They are quite childish, and would leave immediately if you anger them. Some say that those who were left by the zashiki-warashi, would lost all their good fortune, and go bankrupt or so.

11. Earthquake – the Xi-Chuan Earthquake. Yes, it's been a year or so already, but the damage's still here, and I don't think a year's really that long, especially when it's something as disastrous as this.

12. Wang-Yao-san – Mister Wang-Yao, but I think –san is better since he's Japanese. And instead of 'thank you', it was supposedly to be 'sorry for bothering' or 'excuse me for disturbing' or something like that, since the original writing was '打擾了', which somehow mean 'sorry for disturbing', as a verb, not an adjective, but I think 'thank you' would be better. Same as Xiang-kun.

13. Make yourself at home – it was supposed to be 'you won't', as 'you won't disturb me', but since it doesn't make sense, I'm using 'make yourself at home' here.

It seems that my A/Ns are longer than the fic… I sincerely apologize for boring you out with the notes…

THIS SHOULD BE UPLOADED IN JUNE. I'M SORRY, SPIRIT618, I KNOW IT'S UNFORGIVABLE AND I HAVE NO EXCUSE TO DO SO.

R&R please! I really do appreciate some comments for improving!!!

*I've just noticed that the numbers for the notes were missing D: Sorry!!