"No, aru!" I screamed, staring at the neon yellow flier posted to the bulletin board at the front of my school.
In neat, printed handwriting the words Siblings Day Tomorrow! Could be read.
Not many people liked this day, but I probably liked it the least. I have FIVE little siblings, and every year at least one of them manages to embarrass me (Normally it is Im Yong Soo, with his, uh, touchy and obsessive tendencies).
One of my friends, Arthur (well, he is actually kind of a frienemy) walked up behind me. He was one of the only ones not to be unhappy, because his only brother, Peter, was not much trouble. Alfred Jones was sort of counted as the Brit's brother, but was really just a family friend. Plus, Alfred was really popular, so it wasn't like Arthur would be ashamed to call him his brother.
"Tough luck, Yao." He said.
"What am I going to do, aru?! You know my little siblings!" I said exasperatedly.
"Well, at least you're not Gilbert. Every year, his brother, Ludwig, completely ignores him and talks to Lovino's little brother Feliciano until it is the end of the school day." Arthur said.
"Ugh, I WISH that happened with me, aru!" I yelled again. "And, just like every year, Kiku will go join Ludwig and Feliciano, Leon will try to, oh who am I kidding, he WILL blow something up, and Im Yong Soo will be, well, Im Yong Soo!"
"I thought you had five siblings." Arthur commented.
"The girls are good, Mei gets hyper easily, but other than that, they don't cause any trouble, aru." I replied.
"Wait, SIBLINGS DAY is tomorrow?!" A female voice shrieked.
"Yes." I replied, turning to find Natalia Braginski.
Natalia has two siblings, but she only ever brings her big sister, Katyusha, who is more of a mother to her than a sister. She claims to have a big brother, but will never tell us his name, for some reason.
At this time Natalia started to laugh evilly, "Big brother, you will come this year, and when you try to escape, I will hunt you down. You cannot outrun the power of my love, big brother!" She walked off, still rambling about her big brother.
I shuddered, "creepy, aru."
Arthur nodded. "Well, see you tomorrow, I guess. Good luck with your little brothers."
I nodded, starting my walk home. 'How did I not see that flier until the end of the school day?' I thought. 'The thing is bright yellow!'
My train of thought was halted when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. Taking it out, the screen read the name 'Mei'. I pressed the answer button, holding the phone up to my ear.
"What is it, aru?" I asked.
"You out of school yet?" A chirpy voice answered.
"Yes, aru. It gets out a 3:15 every day, Mei, you know that. Can you remind everyone that it is Siblings Day tomorrow?"
"Right on it!" She answered, and then I could hear her shouting, "Hey you guys! We get to go to Yao-Yao's school tomorrow!"
"Okay, I'll be home in five minutes, stay out of trouble, aru!" I said before hanging up.
Almost instantaneously, she called again. I sighed pressing the answer button again and roughly saying, "What now?"
"You might want to hurry up. There's an exclusive interview on television with you- know- who. *Giggle*" Mei said.
I froze in my steps, "You mean HIM?" After her giggle in confirmation, I picked up the speed, bolting to the house that I shared with my siblings.
Slamming open the door, a small six year old immediately attacked me.
Hugging me in the chest area (how he jumped that high was a mystery to me) Im Yong Soo shouted, "Yao's home!"
I saw an eight year old girl with a long ponytail watching off to the side, and quickly shouted, "Lien, help me aru!"
The Vietnamese girl quickly nodded and succeeded in yanking the small Korean boy off of me and holding him back.
"Thank you, Lien." I sighed.
"You're welcome, Yao." She said, before dragging Im Yong Soo back to the living room to calm him down. "Oh, yeah, Mei wants you." She added.
"Oh, I forgot, aru!" I shouted. Then I called out over the house, "Mei, where are you, aru?!"
"Over here, Yao-Yao!" Came a shout from the kitchen.
I ran to the kitchen, where nine year old Kiku was helping Eleven year old Leon fan smoke away from what had to be one of the pyromaniac's "experiments".
Slightly coughing from the smoke, I saw Mei sitting on a bar stool in front of the small TV that we kept in the kitchen.
The three children waved to me as I walked in.
"Is the interview still on?" I asked my sister.
Mei giggled, "yeah."
I sat on a bar stool beside the seven year old.
On the screen, a man in a black suit was talking to a boy my same age (sixteen) that had beautiful swooshy platinum-blonde hair and dazzling purple eyes. Even though he had a sort of big nose, it seemed to help his looks, instead of hurt (which it does to most everyone else). His ever-present almost-white pink scarf was wrapped loosely around his neck. Instead of his normal thick tan coat, today the boy adorned a simple black long-sleeved shirt and dark jeans.
The boy was Ivan Braginski, the currently most famous actor/ singer in pop- culture. The fact that he never told anybody about his family or why he was never seen without the long (pink) scarf added to his mystery appeal. Needless to say, he was the secret crush of just about every girl and even a fraction of the boys in my school (me being one of them).
But it wasn't his mysterious façade or attractive features that pulled me in; it was, first of all, his beautifully thick Russian accent and cheerful- yet- intimidating- yet- at- the- same- time- somehow- welcoming personality.
A while passed, and I was so entranced by the interview (but really just Ivan) that I didn't notice the small Korean sneak up behind me.
"Yao!" He screamed, jumping behind me, and hugging me yet again in the chest area.
"Ahhhhh!" I screamed (a little to girl-like for a guy) and fell backwards in my chair, almost falling out of it.
"I heard that it's Sibling's Day tomorrow!" Im Yong Soo said happily.
"Yeah, Mei told you! Shut up, I'm trying to watch this interview, aru!" I pulled him off of me and placed the Korean in a chair beside me.
"Don't worry, Yao-Yao. I'm recording the interview. You can re-watch it if you get distracted." Mei held up a remote control, whose record button was blinking red.
"Thank you, Mei. You're a good sister, aru." I patted the Taiwanese girl on the head, and she giggled.
"No problem. I know how much you have a crush on him, anyways, so I decided that it was the right thing to do." Mei said, a smirk on her face.
A blush quickly formed on my face, "Sh-shut up! I don't have a crush on Ivan Braginski!" I yelled, getting up. "I'm going to make dinner. Suggestions, aru?"
Kiku spoke up, "Sushi."
"Okay, we haven't had that in a while. Im Yong Soo, could you go get the nori (I think that's what the seaweed is called) and rice? I think we have some in the pantry." I went to the refrigerator and looked inside. "It looks like we'll need to go to the store to get fish and other stuff, though, aru." I said. "Okay, Mei and Kiku, get your shoes on, we're walking to the grocery store."
"Ugh, why me?" The Taiwanese complained.
"It's either you or Lien, and Lien is better at keeping watch over the boys, so you're coming with me, aru."
"Fine." Mei grumbled, pulling on some pink flats. Once Kiku was ready, we headed out into the fresh spring afternoon.
About halfway there, I spotted a tall woman with light blonde, short hair that was pulled back with a headband. She was wearing a light blue shirt a short, yellow skirt, and black leggings half covered by knee-length fuzzy boots (even though it was spring). I recognized her as Natalia's older sister, Katyusha, and waved to her.
She noticed and waved back saying, "Hello, Yao!" Her and I were friends. Since both of us lived on the same street we helped each other out with sibling issues (her obsessive little sister and my little brothers).
"Hey Kat! Mei, Kiku and I were headed to the grocery store to get sushi supplies, aru." I said as I walked toward her.
"Oh, that's nice! I'm going to pick up my little brother at the airport. He's been over in Russia for a long time, and is coming over to see us, and come with Natalia and I to the school tomorrow." She explained.
"I don't think I've ever met your brother before, aru. Why was he all the way in Russia?" I asked.
"Oh, you know, he has a job that requires him to travel a lot. Now that I think about it, he's about the same age as you. Sixteen, I think." She said.
"Why does he was a travel- job at sixteen, aru?" I asked, utterly confused. Kat looked like she'd given something away, and started to get stuttery and fidgety. "Well you see, Natalia doesn't want me to tell-," She started right when a taxi pulled up. "Look! There's my ride! Nice talk. See you later, Yao!" The Ukrainian quickly said before bouncing into the car and closing the door.
Confusedly, I waved after her.
Mei giggled, "She's funny."
"That's not nice, Mei- chan." Kiku said.
"Well, It wasn't mean!" Mei snapped back. Kiku rolled his eyes.
"Come on, you two, we have food to buy, aru!" I said, holding one of each of their hands to keep them on opposite sides of me. Sometimes, they could get into arguments (Sometimes being an understatement).
Finally, we reached to Grocery Store, and I let Kiku get the fish while Mei and I got the vegetables.
"Look, Yao-Yao! There's Vash and Lilli!" Mei pointed to two similar looking figures. The older one, a frightening Swiss boy named Vash, was in my grade. He was extremely overprotective over his little sister, Lilli.
"Hey Lilli!" Mei waved vigorously to her friend." Lilli noticed and waved back. Vash saw us, and silently nodded in my direction before going on with his shopping.
"I hope she goes to school tomorrow." Mei said.
"She might, but Vash will probably not let her three feet away from him, aru." I said back.
"You're probably right." Mei sighed.
"Come on, I got the veggies. Let's get Kiku and head back home, aru." I said to my sister.
"Okay!" She said. I handed her some dollar bills and the basket. "Go pay for this. I'll be right back with your brother, aru."
Mei nodded, heading to the checkout line.
'Now, where is the fish?' I thought. This was a large Grocery store, and the signs were the only source of guidance through the massive maze of food. Weaving through the crowds of people, I finally came upon the refrigerated section labeled 'Fish'. Under the sign stood Kiku, holding a basket of fish (Tuna and the like). He waved to me, and I quickly made my way toward him.
"Come on, Mei already checked out the veggies, aru." I said, taking the basket from him. Silently, Kiku held his hands up, signaling me to pick him up.
I did so, sighing. "Kiku, you're nine years old. I'm sure you can walk to a checkout line, aru!"
He rested his chin on my shoulder. "But I'm tired." He insisted.
"Alright, aru." I said, walking to where I could see Mei's bright pink dress.
When I got there, I put Kiku down (against his protests) and put the fish basket next to the veggies on the conveyer belt. As the cashier scanned each item boredly, Mei decided it would be fun to poke Kiku in the arm continuously.
"Stop it, Mei-chan!" Kiku snapped.
Mei giggled, "Nope!"
Kiku then decided it would be equally fun to poke Mei on the forehead repeatedly.
"Hey! Your fingernails are sharp!" Mei complained, batting away the Japanese boy's hand.
"So were yours!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Uh-huh!"
This continued for a while, before people started to look at us weirdly.
"Stop it you two! You are being disturbances, aru!" I said harshly.
"She started it!" Kiku said, pointing to Mei.
Mei looked offended, "It is rude to point, Kiku!"
"Cut it out, aru!" I said.
"but-," Kiku started, but I cut him off.
"No 'buts'! Mei, you stand over here, aru." I pointed to the opposite side of me.
"Fine." Mei said, going to her designated spot, crossing her arms.
We stayed like this until the lady was finally done scanning the meat and I could pay and get out.
Once out, each of us was carrying a large paper bag full of food home.
"I'm so excited about tomorrow!" Mei jumped about.
"Yeah, yay, aru." I mumbled.
"Now that I think about it, we never have met Natalia-san's brother, have we?" Kiku said after a moment of silence.
"No, we haven't. Natalia never wants us to know about him, either. I guess it's because she is sort of obsessive over him, so she wouldn't want anybody to take him away from her, aru." I replied.
"That makes sense. Kind of like how Im Yong Soo is over you!" Mei said.
"Yes, aru." I answered. The rest of the walk home was quiet, and when we finally got home, I wasn't surprised to find Lien holding Im Yong soo in a headlock while shouting at Leon to stop playing with matches.
Kiku quickly went to help Lien stop the little pyromaniac, while I cautiously told the Vietnamese to take her brother out of a headlock.
The second he was free, the young Korean dashed up toward me and latched onto my leg. "I missed you, brother!" He said much too emotionally for me being gone for twenty minutes.
Dragging Im Yong Soo, who was still on my leg, over to the kitchen, I poured out the contents of my bag onto the countertop.
"Hey, Im Yong Soo, could you please start heating up some water for rice?" I asked. He instantly unlatched himself from me and obeyed.
"Kiku, can you start washing and cutting up the fish? Leon, wash and cut the vegetables." The two boys did so, and I left the girls to watch them as I went up to my room to finish my homework.
Once in my room, I pulled out my homework folder, which was given to me by Kiku's Hungarian friend, Elizabeth. Knowing the overdramatic romance-loving reporter for the school newspaper and her overdramatic ideas on celeb crushes, the folder had Ivan Braginski on it (because a certain young Japanese boy is bad at keeping his loving older brother's secrets).
Pulling out my work, I found most of it already complete, since my teachers usually give us time in class. I usually take advantage of the opportunity, because I know that once I get home it will only be distractions.
Like now. I was just about to get out my math, when Mei popped into my room.
"We're done cutting the veggies!" She said.
"Well, stay in the kitchen to keep watch on the rice. You can do what ever you want. Make sure you're homework is done or something, aru." I said. Their school gets out earlier than me, so they usually get home before me by way of the school bus.
I breezed through my few math problems, and shoved it back in the Homework folder, noticing, as I did so, a Hello Kitty sticky note placed on the inside cover of the folder. I took it out, and noticed the words 'essay due on Friday for History' scrawled out on it.
"I almost forgot about that, aru," I muttered, looking for the essay. I had finished the paper a while ago (the topic was World War 2).
I was shocked to realize that the paper was nowhere in my binder.
Oh, no.
I looked in my desk. Nope.
Maybe I left it on the floor? Haha, no.
Under my bed? Forget it.
Have I left it at school? It was never at school in the first place, Yao!
I mentally flipped out, and was about to go ask my siblings about it, when I remembered.
I went to Katyusha's house to print it! My house has no printer, and it was one of those inconvenient days when the library was closed.
Wasting no time, I raced down stairs.
"I'm going to the Braginskis' house for a second, keep an eye on the rice and, for Panda's sake, Leon, stay away from the stove!" I yelled into the kitchen, before dashing out of the house.
The sun was setting, and my shadow stretched far behind me as I approached Kat and Natalia's double-story eggshell blue house. Katyusha was especially proud of her garden, which held beautiful blue flax flowers and (somehow) sunflowers. Normally, those types of flowers cannot grow in our region.
I walked up to her doorstep, and allowed myself to catch my breath before pressing the doorbell once (I don't like sounding impatient).
Luckily, it was Kat who answered the door, and not Natalia.
"Yao? What are you doing here?" she asked, mildly confused. Farther into the house (maybe on the 2nd floor) I heard a scared male voice say something in Russian, and Natalia screaming something back.
"Hey, Kat. I think I left my History paper here, do you know?" I asked. After a moment, I added, "Is everything alright upstairs?"
"Yes, it is alright. Natalia is just a little . . . excited that our brother is back." After a bit of silence, she added, "I think your essay is here, do you mind coming in?" She stepped aside as I walked into the house.
I sat on her plush couch while she went to get the paper.
On her way to the printer (which was where she's left it, as not to lose it) She yelled up the stairs, "Can you two please be a little calmer? Yao's visiting for a little bit."
Natalia said something back. Now, I don't know any Russian, but I've been at the Ukrainian woman's house enough to know that she wasn't saying the nicest things to her sister.
Instead of being angry with her sister, Kat sighed and quietly chuckled. "I'm sorry about that, Yao."
"No, no, I understand." I said.
After a minute, she came back into her living room, holding my paper. I stood up, and took the paper, thanking the woman greatly.
"I best be getting back to my siblings, aru." I said to her.
On my way out, I glanced up the stairs, and noticed a flash of someone, probably Natalia and Kat's brother. My guess was confirmed when I saw Natalia run past a little bit later. Waving to Kat, I took my leave.
Ivan POV
It was a bad idea to come back. It really was. I'd only been home for an hour, and the entire upstairs was already trashed from my little sister's obsessive nature.
Currently, Katyusha was helping me by standing between Natalia and me. I grasped desperately to her arm.
"Natalia, this is not how we treat Ivan. He just got back from Russia and is probably exhausted." Kat was trying to calm our little sister.
"Whatever, It's his fault for running from me in the first place." Natalia spat.
"I went to Russia for an interview, not to be away from my sisters." I said in my defense.
Natalia was about to reply, but the doorbell rang. Katyusha looked at me sympathetically. "Sorry, Ivan, but I have to answer the door." Katyusha left the room, and Natalia started to laugh.
"Go away!" I yelled in Russian.
"Never! You cannot outrun our love, no matter which country you try to hide in!" She screamed back. Before she could attack me, I bolted to another room and locked the door. For even better precautions, I pushed a chair and a mattress against the door and turned over the bed frame to use as a shield.
Suddenly, from the first floor, I heard Katyusha say, "Can you two be a little calmer? Yao's visiting for a little bit."
Natalia shouted something (not appropriate for a K+ fan fiction) in Russian at Kat, and then left my door for a second, probably to wait until this Yao person left. I took this to my advantage and got out of the room.
Downstairs, I heard my big sister saying, "I'm sorry about that, Yao."
"No, no, I understand." Yao said back. I was startled at his voice. It was cute; He had a strong accent (Chinese, maybe?) and sounded like he was my age (although his voice had a girly twinge to it). I peeked over the side of the wall to try to see Yao. Luckily, he was sitting on the couch facing the stairs, so I could see him. His chocolate brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail that allowed his golden-brown eyes to be seen. He was wearing a bright red silk shirt that had extended sleeves. His overall frame was very feminine, and that added to his cuteness.
When he turned around to face the stairs I realized I was staring at him, and I blushed and ran the opposite way. Unluckily for me, I heard Natalia close behind me. I veered back into my original safe room, re- barricading the door.
"Help me sister!" I yelled to Katyusha down the stairs.
"You two, come down! Dinner is ready!" She said.
"Is Yao gone?" Natalia asked.
"Yes, he is." Katyusha said.
I could hear Natalia run down the stairs, so I took my leave from the bedroom and descended into the first floor, as well. Natalia was sitting at our small dining room table. I sat across from her, deciding that it would make for a quicker escape.
Once Katyusha sat down, we began our meal.
"What'd Yao want?" Natalia asked irritably.
"He left his History paper here." Kat said, not noticing her younger sister's bad tone.
"His paper shouldn't have been here, though." Natalia replied with the same amount of annoyance. Katyusha noticed it this time, and shot Natalia a 'be nice' look.
"Who?" I asked, feeling left out of the conversation.
"Oh, Yao is a few grades above Natalia. He is really nice. We help each other out with stuff. Yao has five younger siblings, so it can get a little hard on him." Katyusha said.
"So I can meet him at Natalia's school tomorrow?" I asked. I don't know why I was so excited about meeting Yao, but he looked nice.
"Uh-Huh! He'll probably be in a bad mood, though. Sibling's day isn't a favorite of the students." Katyusha said.
"Da, I can tell why." I replied, already imagining the chaos destined to go down tomorrow.
We ate in silence for a while.
Once I had finished my meal, I put my dishes in the sink and headed up to my room to get ready for bed.
The door was closed tight, since I had been hiding in it, so I had to use all of my strength to open the door enough to get in. Once I was inside of the room, I un-barricaded the door, seeing that I need a mattress to sleep on. I left the chair, though, and re-locked the door.
I took a deep breath, finally allowing myself to relax. It had been too long since I'd left home to go to multiple interviews, including one I had right before boarding the plane home.
All of my nice, young memories had taken place in this neighborhood. Before I had been swept up by fame and couldn't take a step outside without someone freaking out.
I don't hate being famous. I get a lot of money, which I majorly give to Kat and Natalia to get by. I also like being positively noticed, unlike before, when everyone was scared of me because of my towering stature naturally secluded attitude. Sometimes, though, I just wish I were treated normally, even if that means putting up with an over obsessive little sister.
Once I was in a comfortable pair of pajama pants and a plain t-shirt, I shouted, "good night!" down to Katyusha, who slept on the bottom floor, and turned off my lights.
I was almost asleep, when I heard my door (which I'd unlocked before I turned off the lights) creak open, and the sound of feet quietly padding over to my bed.
"Big brother?" Natalia whispered.
"Yeah?" I said, shrinking down into my bed, frightened.
"My nightlight went out." She said quietly.
I sighed, "You're in 8th, you shouldn't be afraid of the dark."
"Age doesn't make a difference to phobias!" She retorted.
"Ugh, whatever. What do you want me to do about it?" I asked. "Go get Kat to replace the bulb."
"We don't have any extras." Natalia said. "I don't want to be in a dark room for a whole night alone!" A threatening edge was appearing in her tone.
I sighed, knowing I'd regret my decision. "You can sleep in my room if you want."
"Really?" She asked.
I sighed, already regretting it, "Da." She immediately jumped into my bed and latched onto my arm, almost instantly falling asleep. Even if it was Natalia, being in the calm presence of a family member was settling for me.
Moving a comfortable distance away from my little sister without falling out of the bed, I relaxed, and, finally, fell asleep.