This chapter and the next chapter are going to be kind of cheesy, just a warning. I'm not good at writing endings...I own nothing. oh and Aladdin is going to be in the next chapter. oh come on, you all knew it was coming. he's the star of the show!
Chapter 3
After the longest dinner Sinbad had ever been through he sat at the giant dinner table, surrounded by the Ren family and their friends. He sat at the head, with Kouen at the other glaring at him the whole meal. Hakuei sat next to Sinbad and her friend Seisyun on her left. Hakuryuu sat at Sinbad's right, with Kougyoku and her helper Koubun at Hakuryuu's left. The rest of the siblings all sat at different spots at the table with their servants all sitting around them. At the other side of the table, Kouen sat with Kouha and Kouen on either side, their servants or friends around them. So far, Sinbad wasn't getting anywhere.
As soon as she news had come out that Sinbad was Hakuei's boyfriend, Kouha had tried to kill him. All three of his servants as well as Chuu'un had to stop him from breaking anything. Koumei, who had not cared just a few seconds ago, ran over to Hakuei first and began pounding her with questions. The girls all began whispering to each other in shock, jealousy and disbelief. Kouen was the first to suggest that they all go to dinner and they would discuss the situation there. It didn't work out so well. They all ate their food in silence, no one sure what to say. When they were done their meals they still sat there, waiting for dessert in silence. A bunch of servants had begun to peek in, confused at the silence. Sinbad and Kouen were observing each other's movements cautiously, trying to guess the person's next move. No one seemed to have anything to say, so they continued to sit there. In silence. The girls started getting bored.
Seisyun was the first one to say anything. "So you're…dating Miss Hakuei?" everyone turned on him and he shrunk down in his chair sheepishly. Probably not the best idea, considering how short he was already.
"Yeah, that's me." Everyone turned back to Sinbad as soon as he spoke, but he just smiled back confidently at them. Out of embarrassment most of the girls looked away, but her brothers continued to glare. For brothers who had seemed so uncaring only an hour ago they certainly wanted to kill him now.
Seisyun seemed to be the only one who didn't think this was a bad thing. "I-I'm Hakuei's friend Seisyun Ri. My parents work here and we live on the grounds. You might have seen me around the school before? I go to a different school but,"
"Oh yeah, I remember you. You came for her volleyball games." The two of them shook hands. This boy was much friendlier to him than the others were. "What school do you go to?"
"The one on the edge of the town. I would go to your school, but mine has a better martial arts program so I decided to go there instead." He agreed with that. Their school was more suited for broad subjects. If you wanted to get specific into a rarer subject you had to go to a different school. "N-not that your school isn't good. It's really good, I'm just trying to go into,"
"What are you going into Sinbad?" For the first time that meal Koumei decided to speak up. They were all silent as they waited for Sinbad's response. Hakuei seemed much more nervous with Koumei speaking than her friend. She began twisting the cup in front of her, leaving fingerprints no the glass. Sinbad noticed, but he didn't say anything. He still didn't have the whole story yet.
"National security," he spoke with a confident voice that Koumei wasn't expecting, because he went silent right away. Kouen was the only one who was able to keep his cool.
"What grade are you in?" he asked with a dark voice, almost challenging him.
"12. Same as Hakuei."
"How old are you?"
"18."
"You have a job?"
"Yup. Work at the docks."
"What university are you going to?"
"Same one as Hakuei." A few people shot up, clearly shocked at that. At the answer Hakuei blushed and looked down at the table, unable to look at her family. Neither Sinbad nor Kouen hesitated, spoke quickly with sharp tones. Hakuei glanced at both of them worriedly, unable to say anything.
Sinbad was starting to notice something about this family. Kouen spoke to him like it was an interview, which he guessed it was but more like a business interview than a boyfriend interview. (Not that he ever had one before) Kouha looked like he was having a hard time not taking all the cutlery on the table and stabbing him in the chest. Koumei looked like it didn't bother him as much, but he didn't know what to say. Kougyoku was looking at Hakuei almost like she was worried and happy for her, but mostly she couldn't decide what to think. It looked to him like they hadn't done this before either. Even though they had a lot of sister's, one who was married, they looked just as new to this as Sinbad was.
"So how long have you two been together?" Koumei asked, finally able to come up with a good question. He still looked tired, but he woke up very quickly after what they found out.
"Bout a year. She never tell you?" judging from everyone's shocked expressions she hadn't. Slowly he felt his anger beginning to build in his chest. Most of that was directed at this family for being so suspicious of him, but even though he didn't want to admit it, some of it was at Hakuei. She hadn't told her family anything. Judging from their reactions to it, they would have wanted to know. Sinbad had told all his family, even the ones who didn't go to his school. Even Aladdin, who had only come to the orphanage recently had met Hakuei. Once he even called her older sister. And she couldn't even mention to her older siblings, 'Oh yeah, I've been dating this guy for about a year and we are going to the same university together.' Couldn't even bring it up once?
"This is enough." Nope, Sinbad didn't say that. Everyone turned to Kouha as he knocked over his chair and stood up at the table, his hand dangerously close to the kitchen knife. "Let's make this guy leave! He doesn't belong here with Hakuei!"
Hakuei felt her heart begin to race a million miles an hour. "Kouha, please wait,"
"NO! He can't be here, he's not supposed to be here!" spinning around he turned on the rest of his family to get their support. "We all know it's not right for him to be here!" unfortunately for Kouha, he didn't get any support for his family.
"Just wait Kouha. There's nothing wrong with him being here, and you know it." Sinbad could not believe that Kouen was the one saying that. Kouha turned on his brother in complete shock.
"How can you say that? It's wrong, he shouldn't be here, he should leave Hakuei and never look back!" at the suggestion Hakuei turned a little pale. Even though she didn't look at Sinbad he could guess she wasn't too happy about the idea. To reassure her he reached across the table and grabbed her hand, like he had done before. She glanced back at him and gave him a small smile, but couldn't keep it for long. Hakuei knew what Kouha was talking about. Sinbad didn't. Kouha saw him holding her hand and his anger grew. "You let go of her!"
"Not a chance," Sinbad challenged the young boy. Hakuei tried to pull away at the command but Sinbad held on tight. Kouha looked like he was ready to explode.
"Leave my sister be! She's been through enough without some random pony-tail coming in to use her a bit than throw her away like trash!" at that Sinbad expected Hakuei to tell her brother off, but this time her face dropped once again. Sinbad stared at her in shock. Did she not trust him? Was that why she didn't introduce him to her family? Because she thought it wasn't going to last? How could she not trust him like that?
There was definitely something that Sinbad was missing, something important. Kouen seemed to catch that Sinbad was missing the important detail. Even though he hated this man for reason's unknown to him, he decided if he truly had been dating his sister that he deserved to know that much.
"Hakuei. Please take Kouha and calm him down. Sinbad, you come with me and Koumei." Everyone turned and stared at Kouen in shock. He didn't even blink as he got out of his chair, Koumei hurrying to follow suit. Sinbad didn't want to take orders from him, but Hakuei nodded to say it was a good idea. The two of them stood up and Hakuei let go to hurry over to her younger brother. Kouha still looked like he wanted to punch something, but allowed his sister to bring him away. "Sinbad." He turned back to the two brothers who stood at the entrance to another hallway. "Follow us."
The two brother's lead Sinbad outside. It looked like the family garden, with beautiful flowers and trees everywhere. Kouen and Koumei walked ahead of Sinbad, whispering to each other. They kept glancing back at him then whispering to each other once again. It started to bug Sinbad. They had been walking for what felt like forever to him, but they hadn't told him a thing.
"Look you two, are one of you going to say something or are you leading me off into the forest to bury my body where no one will find it?" Both of them stopped and turned back to Sinbad. Neither of them seemed to be in a big rush to explain.
"Just a little further. Then we'll explain." Sinbad began to wonder if they really WERE going to kill him.
As they walked they came along an area filled with white peonies. His mind immediately flashed to Hakuei. She loved peonies. Before he met Hakuei, he always gave the women that he was interested in red roses. But Hakuei hadn't accepted a red one.
Flashback-
"Everyone, this is Hakuei Ren. She's starting at our school today, so I expect everyone to be nice to her." For a 17 year old entering in the middle of the first semester, she didn't seem nervous at all about being there. The class all took in her regular jeans and t-shirt, a red backpack and raven coloured hair hung straight and normal. At first glance she appeared very ordinary.
The first thing that caught Sinbad's attention was her eyes. They were bright blue, and shone brighter than any he had ever seen. In them he could see both innocence and intelligence that surpassed any others he had seen.
Next was her smile. She had a great smile, bright and beautiful. No matter who she would smile at them, and it was hard not to notice. Her smile was so kind and merciful that Sinbad was truly awed by it. A simple smile was hypnotic to him.
Then it was her voice. She spoke with a confidence and grace that was unique in others. She did not back down, but she spoke kindly to people even when they did not deserve it. This new girl had an air around her that drew people towards her.
Of course she wasn't perfect. There were a few things about her that really got on Sinbad's nerves. How uptight she could be about getting work done, how mistrusting she could be, as well as how quickly she could get angry, at him most of the time he found. But he grew to accept those things. Everyone had their faults. But her good sides seemed to overshadow her faults, to him at least. The little things he found got to him a lot. He loved the way she would turn beet red whenever he got to close. How she would make sure all of her friends were doing well in their classes and getting their work done. The way she would almost glow when she was very happy. Especially how smart she was. Out of all the girls he had dated before, Hakuei was the best conversationalist. He could talk to her about anything and she always seemed to know what to say. She was so brilliant and kind, and he didn't want to let her go.
It didn't take long for Sinbad to decide he was interested. He had a tradition of charming women and playing with their emotions before actually taking them on a date, just to see how long they could resist. Hakuei resisted longer than he had expected, or wanted. "You're in my English class? I'm sorry, I was very nervous on my first day and didn't notice much." "Sinbad, can you stop meeting me at my locker? I don't want to be rude, but if I keep talking to you for too long, my teacher will get mad for me always being late." "That's the same thing you said to the girl from computer science. Your words are hollow Sinbad." "I don't want to go to a party Sinbad. It's too far away from my house and I promised I would go to my younger brother's soccer tournament." "You say all these charming words Sinbad, but sometimes I truly wonder if you have a heart." That last one had stung a little. After almost a month he had gotten nowhere with this girl. Part of him had wondered if she was truly worth all this effort. None of the other girls had been.
When he had offered her a red rose, she had given it back to him. "Thank you for the gift, but a really don't like red roses. They are to tricky and dark, not to mention how ordinary they are. Everyone wants red roses, when they are just thoughtless gifts that everyone gets because they don't want to take the time to actually think about what the person would want." Honestly, Sinbad had never thought about it that way. All the girls who he had given red roses to were just happy that he was giving them a flower, much less care about what kind of flower. Even if they had, he doubted he would have spent any time trying to get them anything. He never cared too much about what they liked and disliked. Then Hakuei came along
When he had asked her to go on a date with him, he had been truly surprised she had said yes. After calling him heartless and having hollow words, he had been starting to worry she hated him. But for some reason she had said yes. "You're right. I don't trust you very much Sinbad. But everyone deserves a chance, and one date won't kill me." So enthusiastic.
Before he went on the date Sinbad spent an hour in the flower store. He knew this girl was going to be hard to impress, and for some reason he really wanted to. But to do that he would have to start by proving that he had a heart and he did care what she thought. Pisti had suggested he got daisies. Yamu told him to get orchids. Morgianna (another person at the orphanage) thought he should get her some tulips. Jafar was convinced that she was testing him and told him not to get her any flowers. Masrur said…nothing. Alibaba suggested he get her some chocolate instead, with the great words of wisdom, 'everyone loves chocolate.' Aladdin asked him what she was like, but Sinbad didn't know what he was supposed to say. Unfortunately that had left him with too many flowers and not enough time to decide. Why oh why did there have to be so many flowers in the world?
When he had been about to give up his eyes had landed on the peonies. That's when he realized why Aladdin had been asking him what she was like. Peonies were beautiful, but didn't catch attention from others. They shared it equally, just like how Hakuei liked to. He couldn't believe it had taken him an hour to find it.
It was worth it though. The two of them had met at the park. He remembered she had been dressed in a simple summer dress her hair done in a braid. She always wore simple cloths he noticed. It was as if she was trying to hide the fact that she was different. When she saw him she smiled, but not a flirty smile like he was expecting. The smile she wore issued a challenge, like this was a battle instead of a date. "Hello Sinbad," she had greeted him. "I was starting to think you were never going to come." Sinbad had smiled his tricky smile. He could play the game just as well as she could.
"Yet you still stayed around." She had blushed a bit, but kept on the calm face. That seemed like an appropriate moment, so he slipped the white rose into her hand. "I hope this makes it worth the wait." As soon as he had said it, he had wished he could take it back. He practically set himself up for criticism with that one. To his surprise though her eyes lit up at the sight of the small bundle of white peonies in her hand.
"Peonies. That's my favourite kind of flower…how'd you know?" he hadn't. Luckily she didn't wait for his answer, as she smelled the roses gently and smiled up at him. "Alright Sinbad. Maybe I'm impressed. Let's just see if you can keep up with this."
End flashback
"We are here Sinbad." He launched out of his flashback to look up at her two brothers. They had lead him to a little area that was surrounded by white roses. Three trees surrounded them making a triangle shape, and white petals flew past them in the breeze. In the middle of the area Sinbad noticed three very large rocks. As he focused on them he saw that they were headstones, two on either side of one larger one. They all had freshly cut flowers surrounding them, as well as an unlit candle and a picture of the deceased. The one in the middle looked like an older man, but the ones on the other sides looked much younger. One looked 22 and the other looked only 19, a year older than Sinbad. On the headstones the names that were written were: Hakuyuu Ren, Hakutoku Ren and Hakuren Ren.
"Hakuei and her brother only came to us a few years ago," Kouen explained. "After their brothers and father passed away."
Sinbad stared at him in surprise. Hakuei and Hakuryuu had never mentioned anything about losing any family members. Of course, he should have guessed something must have happened. Hakuei had come in the middle of grade 11, yet the Ren family had been living in their house for as long as Sinbad could remember. Koumei raised an eyebrow at him. "She never told you?" Slowly, Sinbad shook his head. Koumei nodded, expecting that answer. "Yeah. She doesn't like to talk about it."
"From what I know, both Hakuei and her brother adored their elder siblings the most," Kouen continued as if he had never spoken. "Since their father was away often and their mother had left when they were young, the two brothers became parents to the two of them. They were very dear to them, Hakuei held them in very high regards. When they died, the two of them were devastated."
"How'd they die?" Sinbad asked cautiously.
"Car crash." Kouen waited to see if Sinbad had any more questions before continuing. When he came up with nothing, he went on. "As soon as the three of them were killed they were brought to live here with our family. The two of them were polite to everyone, but it was easy to see something had broken in both of them. For a while they didn't speak to anyone, hiding in their rooms for long periods of times. It took forever for us to get them to be able to smile and be happy again, and even longer to get them out of the house. Hakuei, who knew her brothers longer than Hakuryuu, was harder than Hakuryuu. When she left her hometown she cut off all ties she had with anyone there. Even her mother who she used to send emails to she refused to contact. Our sister couldn't cope with the death of them as easily as someone should. Not only that, but she also took the responsibility of taking care of her younger brother, even though she was suffering just as much as him." Kouen remembered back to the day the two siblings were brought to his house. Kouen, this is Hakuei and Hakuryuu, your cousins from the north. Your father is adopting them into your family. The two of them had nice faces, and he remembered thinking that they were wearing far too painfully sad looks for people who seemed like they were used to smiling. The two of them had looked dead inside, always speaking in monotone and without emotion. They had improved greatly over the time they had been recovering, but part of him wondered if Hakuei was back to normal, or if she still hadn't healed enough.
After a moment to recollect his thoughts he turned back to Sinbad. "Don't misunderstand us. Our confusion at you being here isn't because we don't approve of Hakuei having a boyfriend. It's that we didn't think she could. She never brought anyone home, in all of the years that she has been here. No friends, no teammates, no one working with her on a project, nothing." Koumei added onto the story, starting to feel somewhat left out.
"We had assumed that she wasn't ready to invite anyone into her house. After she lost her brothers she didn't want to get to close to anyone. The only ones she was willing to get close to was family, and that was because she didn't want to lose anyone. We knew that she was making friends at school, but she never told anyone about them, because she was truly afraid of losing them. To free herself from that kind of loss, she just made sure not to have any kind of ties. To anyone."
"Other than you apparently," Kouen contemplated. "And now it seems you had quite a big part in her healing." Sinbad made a face at him.
"Me? How could you possibly know that? You didn't even know the two of us were dating until today." Kouen shook his head, not to say he was wrong but to say he wasn't understanding.
"Yes, but you also said you were dating her for…a year, correct?" Sinbad nodded. "That was around when Hakuei seemed to be getting better. She was able to smile, she became good friends with Kouha and other people in our house. It was as if she was starting to wake up from a long nap, finally seeing the world for what it was. At the time we didn't know what had caused it. We never really thought about it, since we were just grateful she was getting better. But you must have done something to her. I don't know what you did, since as you said, we only just found out about this. But whatever you did helped her, right from the start. You helped her back on her feet."
Sinbad had a hard time believing that. When they had first met, she almost seemed annoyed by his presence. On their first few dates she teased him about when he was going to break it off, or what girl he was seeing the night before. He had just thought it was because she knew how much of a player he was. Now he wondered if it was because she had been afraid of getting involved with him. When he had asked her to be his girlfriend, he remembered the look of fear that had passed through her eyes. For the next few days she didn't give him an answer, and he remembered going insane for the first time in a long time. His friends certainly remembered since they were the ones who had to stop him from breaking all of the furniture and glass they had in the house. When she had finally told him she wanted to, he remembered her hands had been shaking. Like before, he guessed incorrectly in thinking she didn't want to get involved with a player that would hurt her. No, instead she was worried about letting someone in.
"...Sinbad, we don't know what's going to happen to the two of you," Koumei explained. "But just understand this. She's very close to breaking. Yes, she's further away than she was a year ago, but it would only take a small push for her to break again. Hakuei is a…one of our dearest siblings, even if we are not really siblings. Whatever you do, if you break up with her," Sinbad tried to protest but Koumei continued. "Or stay together, we don't care. All we ask is that you don't hurt her too much. That's all we ask."
Kouha sat and pouted on his bed as Hakuei closed the door of his bedroom. The young boy crossed his arms and glared up as his older sister. She didn't glare back. Instead she looked at her younger brother with a love and sympathy that very little people looked at him with. He remembered when he had first met-no, when he had first truly thought of her as one was supposed to think of a sister. It was a long time ago, but he remembered it as if it was only yesterday.
Flashback
"KOUHA YOU LITTLE FREAK!" another one of his elder sister's yelled at him. "Watch where you are going with your little entourage of monsters will you?" as Kouha had rode his skateboard down the hallway he stopped immediately at that one. Turning he glared angrily at the sister he didn't even know the name of. Kathrin? Katrina? He didn't care. All of them but Kougyoku were the same. They always insulted his friends, whether it was Jinjin, Meihou, Junjun, Reirei, whoever he brought they were always the same in his sister's eyes. Freaks. Monsters. People not worthy to walk in their house.
Kougyoku was the only one who respected them. She didn't talk to them much, since his sister was so shy, but she treated them like friends. Since she knew where he and his friends were coming from, she could understand them. She knew what it was like to feel like an outcast, like you weren't wanted. That was why she had been the only sister he cared about: she didn't treat other differently because of how they were born or what others thought of them.
He had yelled back at her, "Don't call my friends monsters! They are prettier than you could ever be!" his servants smiled at him in gratitude. He didn't know why they took his sister's attitudes. They deserved to be treated far better, all of them. They had pure hearts and were more friends to him than servants.
His sister had only laughed. "Who, those little witches? Are you kidding me? Those three should go back to the dump where they belong, along with that freaky bodyguard who follows you around sometimes. What worthless creatures." At her words the three girls hung their heads in embarrassment. They shouldn't have been embarrassed. What she was saying was a lie, anyone could see that! But how dare she hurt his friends? No one hurts Kouha Ren's friends.
After they had called his friends monsters, he had snuck into that sister's bedroom and completely desecrated the room, tearing her cloths to shreds and spilling her makeup everywhere. He didn't feel guilty. They could buy new stuff anyway. She might even have fun. When his sister had found him she had called their dad. Kouha had sat on the ground in the hallway as his sister yelled at his dad and some of the servants in front of him. She had no right to yell at them. They treated her far kinder than she deserved.
As they were arguing though, Kouha noticed someone had come at sat next to him. When he looked up he saw a girl, years older than him, with dark hair and bright blue eyes. She had turned and smiled down at him. "Hello. You're Kouha, right?" he had snuffed darkly at her and turned away.
"Who wants to know?" Kouha was always rude to people who he just met. In his experience most of the normal people were the same: self-righteous and treated him and his friends like filth. So he did what it took to get rid of them. And if being mean didn't work he would try and scare them off. The girl had simply chuckled, unbothered by his tone.
"I'm Hakuei. I think we are cousins. Or would I say siblings?" Kouha had huffed and turned away from her. He knew of her. She and her quiet brother had arrived almost two months ago. Kouha had glimpsed them a few times. At the dinner table, walking through the hallways. Hakuryuu seemed cool. The scar over his eye was pretty nice. He was nice to his friends to, which he appreciated, but he cried a lot. Hakuei seemed like a mute, hiding herself in her room and eating her food in silence. That was the first time she had actually spoke to him since they had gotten there. She glanced around the people in front of them to look in the room. "Did you do that?"
"Yup!" Kouha huffed bravely, his chest puffing a bit. Hakuei had smiled a little, which he had been confused at. Most people would be horrified, but she laughed. Maybe she was as crazy as him.
"Well I must say you worked really hard at it. You even tore her socks apart." With a tone of knowledge she advised him, "The next time you do it though, you should try to get some glue and put it on the door so when she walks in the door will close and she can't get out." Kouha had laughed at that but tried to hide it. He wouldn't admit that was a good idea.
"Aren't you supposed to tell me what everyone tells kids my age? 'don't break things,' 'treat your sister's better,' all that stupid stuff?" Hakuei listened to his words carefully, not like she was listening to a child who didn't know what he was talking about. She actually listened to him.
"I guess I could," she finally responded. "But I don't think that would do you any good. You wouldn't listen no matter what I say, would you?" He shook his head and she nodded back. "Besides," she started as she turned back to the door. "She deserves worse for what she said to your friends."
Kouha spun to stare at her. "You heard? Are you a ghost? Where you stalking us?" She had laughed a little and shook her head.
"Yes to the first question, no to the second two. I was just passing by when I heard her yell at them. Besides, I know what it's like to want to protect the ones you care about."
"What would you know about it?" Kouha had asked cautiously, but with less venom than before. She had given him a weak smile in return.
"You know my little brother, Hakuryuu? Have you seen the scar over his eye?" he nodded. "He got it when he was little, right before our mom had left. A lot of the kids at school would make fun of him because he looked really creepy to them. Do you want to know what I did to them?" Kouha had nodded with more enthusiasm than he meant to. "I beat them up. Two of them got black eyes and one sprained his ankle." Kouha had laughed at that, so hard that his other sister looked at him in frustration. Hakuei laughed along with him though, relishing at the memory.
"HA! Those boys never bothered him again huh?" Hakuei nodded, still laughing.
"Nope. One of them even transferred schools." That made Kouha laugh even harder. When they calmed down Hakuei got to the point. "There's no shame in wanting to protect your friends. In fact it's admirable. They are lucky to have such a loyal friend at such a young age." That made Kouha's cheeks flush with pride, but he knew the end was coming. The part where she would say, 'but you should try doing something else, or once again, don't break things. He knew he should try something different, but that last insult had really gotten on his nerves and he had just snapped. But instead of that she had put her hand on his shoulder. "Just keep that loyalty. Not everyone is as loyal as you, and you should keep it." with that she had gotten up and walked away. Kouha had stared after her, watching her walk away in surprise.
After that, he was happy to have her as a sister. She was kind to his friends, no matter what they looked like or their background. She even made friends with a few of them. But mostly she treated Kouha as a brother, which was something he didn't get often from his siblings. Kougyoku was always there for him, but she never really knew how to actually take care of him. Hakuei treated him like a brother, making sure he ate the foods he hated, got his homework done, stood up for him, comforted him when he was scared, things his own mother had never done. Even though they weren't real siblings Kouha felt closer to her than most of his other sister's.
Even more, he was extremely proud when he had taken her advice and glued one of his sister's in her room.
End flashback
Which was why he felt guilty that he had disturbed her. He didn't want to make Hakuei unhappy. He just wanted the purple haired guy to leave. He didn't like him. He doubted he ever would. How could his sister not see it? That man was just going to hurt her, like everyone else would.
"…Kouha, why'd you yell at him?" Kouha crossed his arms and sat up straighter.
"I don't take back what I said. He should leave, he has no place here." Hakuei walked over. She didn't get mad, unless someone had done something very wrong. At least he had that. The bed moved as she sat next to him, but Kouha didn't budge.
"He is my boyfriend Kouha." At that Kouha felt a twitch in his eye. So it was true. That guy hadn't been lying. Part of him had hoped that when she hadn't spoken up it was because he wasn't telling the truth. Turns out he was.
"You should dump him than," Kouha stubbornly suggested. "Make him get out of our house. Cut off all contact with him, go to a different school if you have to, I don't care." Hakuei didn't say if it was a bad plan or not, just watched her brother with those far too intelligent eyes of hers. It wasn't fair how understanding she could be sometimes.
"Why don't you like him Kouha?" Kouha rolled his eyes like it should have been obvious.
"Why? Because he's normal. Normal people are never grateful or kind to anyone. So self-righteous and selfish, assuming they can have anything they want and treat the rest of us like crap." Hakuei gave a small smile that confused him a bit. "What?"
"Well Kouha, I'm normal aren't I? And Kougyoku, Kouen and Koumei are all normal. Does that mean we are all self-righteous?" Kouha gasped as if she had just spoke blasphemy.
"NO! That's why you aren't normal, because you are all nice to us!" Hakuei spoke up before he could continue.
"Then what makes you so sure Sinbad is just like everyone else? Not everyone in the world is a terrible person Kouha." At that Kouha's eyes darkened. Of course he knew that. But this was different, it really was. When he spoke he found his voice began to grow steadily louder and louder, and angrier and angrier.
"Not him. He's just like the rest. He's cocky, believes he can do whatever he wants, and apparently he thinks he can have you! Well no, he can't have my sister, he doesn't deserve it! He's just going to use you and then throw you away, when you deserve so much more than that! You are better now, and he thinks he can just come in and destroy all that again? Who does that guy think he is? I don't care if he's as 'attractive,' or 'good looking' as my sister's think he is, that doesn't matter one bit! He's not allowed to take my sister when I just got her. You don't belong to him, you belong to this family now! You should stay here, not go off with the likes of him! HE'S NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE AWAY ONE OF THE ONLY TRUE SISTER'S I HAVE, I DON'T CARE WHO HE IS!" at the end he smashed his hands against the bedframe, rattling the bed a bit. Hakuei remained quiet the whole time, waiting for him to finish patiently. After he was done she still waited for him, to see if he had anything left to say. When she was sure he was done she took a breath and began her explanation.
"Kouha…are you worried that I will stop caring about you and my family?" Kouha twitched a bit. He didn't mean to make it so obvious. Smiling gently, she reached out one arm and put it around his shoulder. Giving in, he moved over to he could put his head on her shoulder. It helped him relax for a bit. The way that she held him reminded him of how a mother would hold a child. He missed his mom. "Kouha, I promise you won't ever need to worry about that. Yes, I care about Sinbad. But I still care about all of you. Nothing will change that, no matter how many years pass, or who I decide to date, whether it is Sinbad or someone else. You are still my family, all of you, even the ones who aren't related by blood. You all took me and my brother in, taking care of us and treating us well even though we had done nothing to deserve it. And beyond that, you are still my little brother. I'm not going to leave my youngest brother when he needs me. If you ever need me, I promise no matter where I am, or who I'm with, I will always come to help you. That's what true family does."
"Hakuryuu?" Hakuryuu turned to face Kougyoku standing in the door frame nervously. After the dinner everyone had separated to different places. All the sister's had gone together to start gossiping about this new information. Kougyoku was the only one who hadn't said anything about it, which Hakuryuu was slightly surprised about. She was the only one who had really talked to him, and it looked like she had liked him. Nervously she stared at the ground and mumbled to him. "Can…can I speak with you?"
Hakuryuu smiled her easily. She was very shy, but over the months he got to know that she truly had a good heart, unlike her other sisters. When he first met her he wasn't sure, since she copied her sister's a lot. But over time he got to know what she was just very shy, maybe somewhat naïve. When he spoke to her he saw that she really did care about all of her family, even the sisters who treated her badly. Other than Hakuei, he would have said she was his favourite. "Ah, Yes Kougyoku. What can I help you with?"
Even though he had been living in her house for so long, Kougyoku still had a hard time speaking to him. Whenever she did, all she could think about was that first time, the first time she had tried to speak to him.
Flashback
It was a week or so after they had arrived. She would have come to see him earlier, but her brother's insisted that they should give them some time to get used to the house. Part of her was excited to meet them, see if she could make new friends. The other part though was worried they were going to be like her sister's, not caring and rude. Her curiosity overwhelmed her though, and she had found herself walking on her way to his room. When she got their before she could knock on the door she heard the sound of people talking in the room. Putting her ear against the wall she was able to hear better, but it was harder than she expected.
"Hakuryuu, we can't leave and you know it." that sounded like the girl, Hakuei. What were they talking about? "Were would we go? There is no place for us Hakuryuu, and we can't just live on the streets."
"We can't stay here." A boy's voice, Hakuryuu she guessed. He sounded cold and firm, unable to change his mind. There was a loud sigh, likely from his sister.
"Why not? Aren't the people being nice to us? They took us into their home brother, at the very least they deserve our respect," Hakuryuu had interrupted her with a sharp undertone in his voice.
"Don't pretend you don't feel the same way I do." there was a silence that left a dark feeling in the room. "Don't pretend you don't see the way they look at you. Like you're a charity case, like your just another person put here because you had nowhere to go. I don't want to be here, these people are strangers, not our family." Hakuei had tried to say something but Hakuryuu continued to speak. "I know they are trying. I know this is not their fault, and they are just trying to help us. But the truth is it doesn't feel that way. When I look at them…
They are just a constant reminder that our brothers are not coming back."
End flashback
His words had sent shivers down Kougyoku's spine, and they still did now. Was that really all he thought of them? That they were just another source of pain for him? She had been so excited that she might get another family member, maybe one who would stay around and not leave like Koumei and Kouen always did. But all she did was hurt them. Hakuryuu must have despised all of them, and she couldn't do anything about it. She wanted to try. She wanted to try so bad to make him feel like they were family, like they could help ease the pain, but he never let anyone in. Hakuei had made an effort, and she was nice. She had a gentle smile and helped her with her hair. More than anything she just wanted to help Hakuryuu. He deserved to get better didn't he? Now he seemed better. He didn't plot ways to run away anymore. He spoke to the family easily, even treated the meaner sister's with respect. But Kougyoku just wanted him to call her family. Even if it was just cousin, or step sibling, it would be enough. It would mean that maybe she meant something to him, that they could be friends. She wasn't sure if that would ever happen.
"I…I just wanted to know if it was true. That Hakuei's dating Sinbad? And has been for a year?" At her words Hakuryuu's face fell a bit. "t-that is if you don't mind telling me! If you don't, that's fine, I can ask Hakuei when I see her next,"
"No, it's alright. Yes, it's all true." Hakuryuu answer slowly. He didn't want to say anything that would get her upset, especially since he knew she got attached to people quickly. If she had developed a crush on Sinbad, she might not take it well and he didn't want to hurt her.
"oh." That was all she said. For a moment he thought that was all she was going to say, but she spoke up again. "Are you okay with it?"
Hakuryuu was taken back. "Me?"
"Y-yes," Kougyoku answered nervously. "I-I mean, she is your only sister isn't she? Wouldn't you want to protect her and make sure she's okay? Not that Sinbad is going to hurt her, he seems really nice and sweet and caring," Kougyoku was grateful he interrupted her before she could continue on her rant, admitting to her admiration for him.
"No, I don't mind. Sinbad and I know each other from school. He's a good man, and he's made my sister happy for the whole time she's been with him. As long as she is safe and happy than I'm okay." Kougyoku nodded quickly, wanting the conversation to end so she could run away.
"t-that's good. That's all I wanted to know. W-well that's all I have to say, so I'll see you," but before she could leave Hakuryuu spoke to her once again.
"Why do you say she is my only sister?" Kougyoku turned back to him, feeling her cheeks blush, afraid of saying something to get him mad. He didn't look mad, he just kept on that innocently clueless face he had on all the time.
"I-I mean, she is isn't she? The only sister you have left, since you didn't have any others,"
"You're my sister, aren't you?" Kougyoku stopped. Her own heart felt like it had stopped in her chest. Had she heard him wrong? Had he said something else? Having to check, she looked up at him, eyes wide.
"w-what?"
"You're my sister to," Hakuryuu repeated, confused. He hadn't expected her to be so shocked at that. It seemed like common knowledge. But Kougyoku looked so confused, like she hadn't realized it. "Why do you look so confused? Isn't that normal?"
"I…I thought we were just a reminder your brother's weren't here." Hakuryuu's eyes widened as he heard her say that. He hadn't realized anyone had heard what he said to his sister. The walls must have been thinner than he thought. Oh no, what else had he said? What did they know? Did they hear him talk about Morgianna from school? Oh gosh, what had he said? Before he could go through everything he had said for the last few months, he noticed Kougyoku's reaction. She wasn't mad, or even teasing him. She looked sad, eyes looking down and a frown set on her normally smiling face. Had this really bothered her? He had never meant to hurt her.
"I…yes, at first you were. But at the time Kougyoku, that was all I could think about. All I could think about was what had happened to my brothers. Everything was reminding me of them. I admit, you all were a greater reminder than most, but I learned to get past that. I got past it, and you were all there to help me. Kouen taught me how to play chess to distract me of what was happening. At school I made new friends, who were all very kind to me and treated me like I had been there the whole time. Kouha was often causing trouble, so I would forget about my own problems." As he spoke her eyes grew wider and wider. It almost confused him how she didn't understand this. Didn't they all know how much in debt he was to them? Kougyoku certainly didn't know. "You too, you've helped a lot. Your cheery attitude has helped remind me that not everything is as dark as it seems right now, and that I still have family around me to help."
"F…family." Kougyoku said the word slowly, almost like she was testing it. Considering how her older sister's treated her, he wondered if she was used to being called family. She should. Everyone deserved a family. Walking up to her, he put an encouraging hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him sharply. He smiled down at her, trying to be as caring as he could.
"That's right. You're my sister." She had almost choked him to death by hugging him so much.
