"So, what do you think?"

Hikari didn't bother to turn around. She stood at the sink with her back towards the rest of the kitchen and her brother. Knowing that continuing to ignore him would irk him further, she carried on washing up, elbow deep in bubbles and warm water. She glanced out of the window as the sudden movement of a bird caught her attention.

"Hikari?"

The bird perched itself on the window ledge with a pink worm wiggling frantically in its beak. Hikari giggled quietly as the robin almost dropped it. Leaning forward, she tapped the window and the startled robin opened its beak in surprise. The worm fell but was quickly snatched back up. The robin looked around nervously before opening its bright wings and taking off.

"Hikari..." Taichi's voice rose slightly the way it always did when he was annoyed.

Hikari could make out her brother's reflection in the window. A tall, broad man looked back at her, leaning on the kitchen island as he impatiently tapped his foot on the tiled floor.

"Look," she said carefully. She put down a wet glass on the counter and watched as a pool of water gathered at its base. She still refused to turn around. "You don't really want to have this conversation."

"What do you mean?"

"This conversation, Nii-san," Hikari breathed out in annoyance. She finally spun around to look at him. "The one where you come home with a dopey grin plastered over your face and new model draped over your arm, and then fish me out after dinner with Dad in an attempt to try to get me to approve of your latest fling. After which, you get disheartened and annoyed when I tell you that I don't like her. Then you say horrible things and I say horrible things in response. And the night ends with you leaving in a huff mumbling about how much you hate family and won't be coming back since I don't care enough to know about what's important in your life."

"But Suki's great," Taichi replied defensively. He decided to ignore the truth in his sister's statement.

"Really? We're going to do this? Again?" Hikari snapped. "Okay, fine. She's just like all the others you bring home." She started counting on her soapy fingers. "Tall, thin, attractive, brunette –"

"Nothing wrong with that." He grinned as he picked out the largest apple from the fruit bowl on the counter and bit into it slowly.

"– stupid, dim-witted, shallow –" The exact opposite of Sora, she wanted to add.

"Hey! That's my girlfriend you're talking about."

Hikari sighed and regarded her brother closely. He had just proved her point. Taichi stared right back at her, his chocolate-brown eyes unblinking and fierce. Hikari was momentarily distracted as loud laughter erupted from the joining room. Akira and Suki were still enjoying an intimate discussion by the fire that proved to be too uncomfortable for either of the siblings to watch. Even their father had chosen to wisely retire to his room shortly after dinner.

"Akira likes her," Taichi said. His gaze remained unwavering from his sister's face.

"That's because he's just as much of a playboy pervert as you are," Hikari retorted. She immediately regretted it though when her brother winced. "Sorry," she said, more softly. "I didn't mean –"

"Whatever. Let's just clean this place up," Taichi said looking away. He began clearing away the leftover food and salad from the kitchen island. He didn't really want to stay in here with his sister, but leaving would mean walking through the lounge first where his team mate and girlfriend were shamelessly flirting with one another. He sighed as he thought about Suki. He'd wanted to leave her for weeks now but didn't have the energy to deal with the fights and tears that would follow.

After working in silence for several minutes, Hikari folded up the cloth she had used to dry the dishes and put it away in one of the drawers. She smoothed down her apron and watched her brother as he shut the fridge door.

"You don't even like her," she added quietly.

Taichi paused; he was annoyed that she could read him so easily. But for once, he didn't argue.

"I'm surprised you even brought her home."

"She was nagging me," Taichi replied. "We've been dating for over a month and a half now. She wants to have a more serious relationship. So I brought her here - to meet the family." Taichi shrugged. Akira had tagged along too – the way he always did. Taichi was actually grateful for that since it took attention away from how little he and Suki had to talk about any more. When he realised that there was nothing else to do, he sat on the stool and began to idly play with his half eaten apple on the counter.

Hikari narrowed her eyes and studied him closely. Her older brother was usually able to hide what he was feeling behind his care-free, detached exterior. But this time, Hikari could see how miserable he was as soon as he walked through the door. His shoulders drooped, his smile didn't quite reach his eyes and he looked almost defeated. His girlfriend, of course, was completely oblivious to this and talked a mile a minute, gushing about how much she loved their home and how nice it was to finally meet Taichi's family in that irritating, shrill voice of hers. Hikari had taken an immediate dislike to her. And her mood had plummeted further when she realised that Akira was going to be joining them for dinner yet again.

"Why do you keep doing this to yourself?" Hikari demanded. "She's what, the fourth girl you've introduced to us in the last three months? One is just a substitute for another. None of these girls even mean anything to you."

Taichi remained impassive and continued to toy with his fruit.

Hikari sighed. She was annoyed that this conversation going to lead nowhere as usual. She decided to take a different tactic this time and brought up something that was sure was bound to provoke a reaction.

"And was that story true? The one about the party in Kyoto?"

"Probably." He shrugged. Again, he refused to look at her.

"Nii-san! She cheated on you... and... and... you don't even care!" Hikari went on as he failed to respond. "You're just using her for sex! Just like all the other girls."

He shrugged again. "Suki's probably doing the same."

"That's disgusting! Having meaningless flings isn't going to make things better. You know that they only leave you more exhausted and empty. You can't just hide away from what you're feeling." Hikari stepped closer, and continued more gently, "what is it? You can talk to me."

Taichi shrugged.

"I swear, if you do that one more time, I'll –"

"Everything reminds me of her, Hikari." Taichi stood and walked around the kitchen island with his arms spread wide. "This kitchen... Sora and I worked on it all summer for Dad's birthday... These curtains," he said as he tugged on the end of the light blue drapes, "she stitched them herself... She picked out the flooring, chose the cabinets and decorated this whole damn place. Everything makes me think of her... the park, playing football, the smell of strawberries, chocolate chip cookies, coffee in the morning... my empty apartment, my empty bed. If I don't have something to distract me, I'm scared I'll just wallow in my grief and fall to pieces."

He sat back down on the stool and buried his head in his hands. For a second, Hikari thought her older, usually self-assured brother would actually break down and succumb to tears. But after taking a few deep calming breaths, he looked up at her with sad, withdrawn eyes.

Hikari moved towards him. She hugged his shoulders and brought his head down to rest against her shoulder. He didn't pull away like she thought he would. Instead, Taichi encircled her waist with his strong arms and held her closer. He clutched onto her tightly as if scared that she too might suddenly disappear and leave him. Hikari threaded her slender fingers through his dark unruly hair and eventually felt him relax against her.

"I don't think I can bear to be alone," he whispered so quietly that she almost didn't hear him.

Hikari's heart went out to her brother. She knew he was hurting, but never this much. He always pretended to be so strong and uncaring. But he had reached his breaking point. As much as she hated seeing him like this, Hikari was glad that he was finally letting some emotion show rather than cutting off any conversation regarding his late wife.

"You're not alone, Nii-san," she responded, gently resting her head on his. "It's okay to be upset. It happened only a year ago and we all miss her. You don't have to move on just yet, no one is asking you too. But what you're doing, bottling up everything and pretending to yourself that it doesn't matter, is hurting you even more. It'll take time for you to get better. It always takes time. Mom's been dead for over eight years now and Dad still hasn't been able to get over it."

"Yeah," Taichi mumbled to her neck. "He'd rather drink himself into oblivion and hit on girls half his age than deal with anything emotional."

"Reminds me of someone else I know," Hikari teased as she kissed her brother lightly on the forehead.

Taichi smiled sheepishly and pulled away from her.

"You should call Yamato and Koushiro. They're really worried about you, you know."

Taichi nodded. "I know. I just –"

Suki yelped from the lounge and furious giggling commenced.

Taichi groaned. "God, I have to break up with her."

Hikari chuckled. "I wonder what they're doing in there. Akira was awfully drunk when I left. I hope –"

"Please, Hikari! I don't even want to think about it."

Hikari giggled even more as the laughter and squealing from the lounge continued. Akira's voice droned on. Taichi hoped that the only thing keeping Suki entertained was his friend's exaggerated stories about their college years.

"You know," Taichi said, after a moment of silence. "I always thought you were so much like her."

"Who, Suki? Yuck, that's –"

"No, no," he chuckled. "Like Sora. You're so caring and determined and strong. And you know how to keep me sane. You're the only one who can knock some sense into both me and Dad."

Hikari smiled back at him. She was about to say something when there was a loud crash from the lounge. Akira started yelling incoherently.

Taichi stood up. "I better go see what's happening."

"And break up with her," Hikari teased.

"And break up with her," he sighed. He grabbed Hikari's hand and pulled her along until they reached the lounge.

Hikari was about to push open the door, when she was suddenly grabbed from behind. Taichi wrapped his arms around her waist and held onto her tightly as he crushed her back to his chest.

"Thank you," he said, quietly. "For everything... for always... you know..."

"I know," she replied.

Author's Note: If Hikari appears a little OOC, it's because she's much older now. And she's had to take on a lot more responsibility by looking after their father when their mother died.

Edit: (27/06/12) Yeah, I think she might be a little too OOC :/ Ug.