"Ka-chan!" a young Saburo called out. His seven year old legs were dashing madly towards his sister who had just arrived home. As he jumped to embrace her, she toppled over onto the ground as she was trying to remove her shoes. "Saburo, please don't knock me over every day" she said chuckling. "I'm sorry nee-chan, but I missed you so much! Mom and Dad said you wouldn't be home for the rest of the day" he told her sadly. "But you're home early!" he exclaimed in pleasure. Kaiya's smile showed him that she was happy, but he was still too young to notice the pain she hid behind it. "Oh…Kaiya, you're home already? Don't you have anything to do?" their mother asked as she noticed the arrival of her daughter. There was a slight scowl on her sullen face that spoke only to Kaiya. "No mother…everything that needed to be done I finished earlier today" she replied with a reluctant joy. She knew she had to keep the act up as long as Saburo was around. He never knew how they acted towards her when he wasn't around. In a way, she found shelter in Saburo, but she knew she couldn't keep it that way for long.
"Ka-chan, wanna play today? I thought up a new game with some new friends at school!" Saburo asked joyfully. She couldn't refuse him, and she diffidently did not want to stay here with them. She nodded in agreement and raced him outside towards the park. Their mother just watched without a single word to either child. She'd never interact nicely with her daughter. No one knew why, she was their pride and glory, yet they held a great disdain for her. Locking the door behind her, the mother found herself walking into the living room, staring at her husband. As he stared back, he could see the tears building up behind them. They weren't sad tears, but angry. He only said, "I know dear, I know…"
Kaiya stared at the sky with stoic eyes. She couldn't help but think of what awaits her at home. As she lay in her hiding spot, she couldn't help but peak through the bushes to see Saburo helplessly searching for her. It would only be a matter of time that he'd start crying if he couldn't find her. It was always like this. He'd try to be the hero and save her from their parents to play a game, but in the end she had to step up and save him from the tears. He couldn't live without her when she was at school, let alone her disappearing on him all of a sudden. Right then he began sniffling and tearing up. "Ka-chan…." he'd begin to whisper and progress to shouting until she'd show up. Quickly running up behind him and picking him up, the 14 year old teen girl hugged him close and whispered for him to hush. He continued to muffle his cries into her shoulder until he finally got tired of it and fell asleep. "Same old Saburo…" she'd whisper and proceed to carry him home. She never felt tired of it, but she always feared the walk home.
Saburo now lay peacefully in his bed, while Kaiya was now downstairs facing her parents and their complaints. "If you aren't going to commit to all hours of the day to extra school work then why do we even bother with you?" her father began. "Either find something to do in school, or get yourself a job because we won't always support you in your life like we do now" her mother interjected. "You're never supportive of what I want to do, so why should I continue listening to you? I have a commitment at home too" she blurted. Her parents were furious with this outburst. "Do you want to be one of those kids you see at school? The ones that don't have a guaranteed future ahead of them? They're lucky enough if they can even afford a new text book let alone a future!" her father raged. "We support your life with the money, and you fulfill what we brought you into. There's no other way for it Kaiya" her mother said. Kaiya had learned to stay quiet and accept everything they told her for years, but tonight, she wasn't going to take it anymore. "No" she responded. They looked at her with shock, and then anger. "what did you-" "NO. I'm not putting up with this anymore. It's my life and I'll live it how I want to. You can't control me like I'm a slave!" she yelled. "Like it or not Kaiya, but as long as you live under this roof you will listen and pull through everything we tell you!" her father growled. "Fine. Then I won't live under this roof nor its rules any longer! I'm done with you both!" she screamed as she turned and ran out the door. They stared incredulously and then proceeded to chase her.
Kaiya ran far into the city where she eventually lost her parents. She knew they'd be out looking for her all night if they had to. She didn't care. But she did care about her little brother. Taking a secret route she'd take to get home faster, she sprinted as fast as she could. She needed to grab a few of her things, the money she'd saved up for years, and most importantly, see her brother for one last time. Finally reaching the house and tucking into one of the windows, she saw that no one was home. Good. Running up to her room, she packed the money, some clothes, her resumes she'd been working on and anything else she thought she'd need. Her parents shouldn't have made her learn everything because now she was just as prepared to live an adult life as they were. Now they would regret it.
Slowly, the door slid open and Kaiya went inside, shutting it quietly behind her. Saburo stirred in his sleep. It looked like he was reaching out towards her, almost like he knew. She watched him stir, there wasn't much she could do really. She was about to wake him up to tell him what she was going to do, but the rushing footsteps in the house told her she didn't have the time. They were back and they knew exactly where she was. Saburo sat up and rubbed his light blue eyes. He looked over to his window where the only thing he saw was his sisters long hair disappear. He ran to the window and saw her running away. He yelled after her, but she didn't dare look back. Tears were streaming down her face as she ran away, never looking back, never to return again.
As she finished her story, everyone in the room was either tearing up or in absolute silence. No one knew what to say, even the nosy and rude Kururu. Everyone just stared at the ground in pure silence. "So it wasn't because of me…" they all heard the voice emanate from the stairs. Eyes shifted to Saburo who was wide awake and sullen with tears. Kaiya stood up in surprise. Saburo stared at her with painful, yet relieved tears. This time, she ran to him and held him close, tears forming in her eyes as she repeated the words, "I'm sorry."
