-"Tsubomi, are you okay?"
I couldn't hear anything besides all the thunders outside and the fear I was feeling in that moment. Rainy days were unusual in that place but it was autumn so the chances to contemplate water drops falling on the ground were higher, but… a thunderstorm?
I couldn't stand the sudden lights illuminating the entire room for less than a second, creating deformed shadows around me before hearing that horrible sound filtering through my ears and shaking my brain.
Thunders are strong, thunders are a powerful force of electricity, thunders can destroy, thunders can cause fires, and fire was something I hated.
My eyes were closed, my body covered with blankets which I thought they would protect me if something happened that night. Kousuke and Shuuya were sleeping in another room. When we were little we used to sleep together in just one bed, but we are 13 now and things changed. Now my sister Ayano and I sleep in the same room while Kano and Seto sleep next to us in the room in front of ours, slightly bigger but with just one window. I envied them when I heard the storm outside, hitting the three big windows in our walls.
Suddenly someone touched my shoulder over the blankets, what made me let out a little shout. I opened one of my eyes to see who patted my shoulder and then I could hear her.
-Tsubomi! Are you okay?
Ayano was standing next to the edge of my bed. I couldn't see her face clearly due to the darkness but her sweet voice was recognizable, although now her tone was worried.
-A-Aya-nee…? –I whispered before another lighting illuminated the dark place, which allowed Ayano to see my horrified face for a second before everything turned black again and my scream hit her ears.
I was really scared, those kind of storms usually happened twice during winter, but my hate for that sound was so strong that sometimes I wished to be deaf to stop it and to stop every word that hurt me in the past like the fire those thunders would create in a second.
Everything was in silence now. Ayano had probably left after that pathetic scene but just when I had accepted the idea, I felt the blankets moving and suddenly a pair of arms wrapped my shoulders and dragged me to the body of my sister.
-"Do you feel better?" –Ayano whispered to my ear softly, interlacing her legs between mine as if she wanted to keep me in that position forever. My cheeks grew reddish, feeling her warmth and love around my body. It wasn't cold anymore.
Another thunder.
I shivered, I hugged Ayano back, who started to say that her arms were a shield and that she would protect me, because she was a hero.
When I was little, Ayano would always tell me stories about awesome heroes with red scarfs who saved the world to protect their loved ones, because that was what heroes do.
She hugged me all the night trying to calm my thoughts, singing a song she knew I loved, talking about really smart classmate who wanted to know more, and when the thunders started to sound again she kissed my forehead and hugged me tightly, with a little smile.
-I will always protect you, Tsubomi, it's a promise. –whispered sweetly before both of us fell asleep.
And sometimes I cried, thinking of that day, thinking about that promise she complied, thinking about how she was that hero with that red muffer, who appeared in the tales she told us.