Yumi ran all the way home. There was no noise as she burst through the door crying. No mother running in asking if she was alright. Not even her father saying "bad day, kiddo?" But that wasn't any different than any other day. Yumi ran to her room and fell on her bed. After a while, her door creaked open and her brother snuck in.
"What are you crying like a baby for?" he asked . He was trying to sound mature but she could still hear the concern in his voice. "Nothing much, just a bad day. Go on and do your homework now." Yumi whispered. She didn't want to worry her little brother. He didn't need to shoulder her boy-problems.
She sulked off to take a really long hot bath. The phone rang as she was getting out, but Hiroki answered it. By the time she had gotten to her room and changed, the phone had rang again. There was a knock at her bedroom door.
"Who was that?" Yumi asked as if she didn't know. It made it feel like it didn't happen all the time. "Mom's got some meeting to go to, and Dad's work trip has been extended." Her little brother said with attitude in voice. 'Wow, big surprise' was what his posture told his big sister. Yumi just wanted the pain in his eyes and the weight on his shoulders to lift. "How about, we order pizza!?" she exclaimed with as much fake enthusiasm as she could muster. He smiled and ran off as she called the Pizza place. After a dinner filled with jokes and laughter that almost broke Yumi's heart, she tucked her brother into bed.
She slipped into her room, pushing away the homework that wouldn't get done, and started to cry into her pillow. But her tears had no sound and she made no attempt to make any. Silence was common here, and had already started to be expected by her brother. He'd started sleeping with his iPod on a month ago.
But Yumi just cried and listened to the silence. Until it was broken by a 'tap' and then another. Yumi pulled herself away from her bed and opened her window. And there stood Odd. "Hiya, busy?" Odd asked as if he'd had just been walking by, even though he lived at the school, and decided to drop in. Through her window.
"Nope, not tonight." She said, not even trying to hide her misery. Odd swung himself in and closed the window with a tiny thunk. "So, you want to talk?" he asked, and she knew that he knew. She didn't even want to know how. Yumi just shook her head no. "Then…I'll just sit here for awhile until you think you do." She nodded at his decision before throwing herself face-first onto her bed.
About five minutes later, Odd said "Doesn't the silence bother you? I mean, it seems so…unnatural." Yumi burst out laughing, and Odd looked a little taken back. "Is it like this all the time?" he said in his usual joking tone.
"It's not always so silent. But it is better when my parents are home." She lied through her teeth.