Chapter 4

Joint Birthday is a Thing of the Past

When Hina and Mom entered the room, Sayo was fiddling with her laptop. Her face looked all-serious in front of the screen but not with her pose, as she was holding a dog plushie on her lap. It was her favorite, given when she was still in the kindergarten (despite its age, the plushie was still in good condition).

Sayo turned her head and said, "Hi, Mom. Haven't slept yet?"

Sayo didn't even address Hina. Bummer.

"I could ask you the same, Sayo-chan."

Hina followed right behind as Mom approached Sayo. The laptop screen showed an image of some sort of floor plan with a LINE chat window beside it.

"What are you up to?" Mom asked.

Sayo returned her focus to the screen. "Mm, just student council work for the entrance ceremony. Our current talk is kinda out of topic though," the long-haired girl answered as she continued typing.

Hina peeked at her sister's messages. Sayo was chatting with at least four people. One of them asked whether Sayo prefer corgi or pomeranian; followed by another person who mentioned some not-so-cute-looking dog breeds like Pitbull, German Shepherd, Rottweiler, and Doberman.

Were Sayo's student council friends happened to be dog lovers as well? Coincidentally, Hina's curiosity was conveyed by Mom, who asked the very same question.

"Well, one of them owns a Shiba Inu Sayo answered.

The Hanasakigawa student typed 'What's the occasion, Ushigome-senpai?' then sent a follow-up chat 'All breeds are fine for me, including the fierce-looking one like Rottweiler'. The other participants then talked about a dog popularity poll and spammed the chat with stickers.

Sayo continued typing, but her hands stopped part way. She gave her mother a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Mom. I won't pull an all-nighter."

Hina kind of envied her Mom now. Sayo never smiled to Hina in years. When was the last time they were still in good terms? The fifth or sixth year of elementary school? She was lost in thought until a poke at her arm interrupted.

"Hina-chan, why don't you join the student council like your sister?" asked Mom with a teasing smile. "Instead of playing around every day."

Hina pouted. "I do some serious after-school activities too..."

"For instance?" Mom asked with a calm smile.

"My astronomy club meetings!"

Though it was kind of sad because the club only had two members during this whole year.

"I also make aroma oils at the chemistry lab!"

But it wasn't considered a club activity.

"And…" Hina gave her mom a meaningful look. "You-know-what practice."

"Yes, I believe you, dear." Mom said. The woman later turned to Sayo. "Could you come down for a while? Your dad is looking for you."

"This late at night?"

Sayo gave a confused look. She seemed unaware of the cake, let alone the birthday celebration. Either that, or she was so good at acting oblivious. She didn't ask questions and excuse herself from the chatroom nevertheless.

What welcomed Hikawa twins in the living room were 'Happy Birthday' sung by their parents as well as a birthday cake. Dad popped a party popper; making both Hina and Sayo were covered in confetti. The room was decorated with pennant banners and some balloons.

"Happy birthday, Onee-chan!" exclaimed Hina with a bright smile.

"...happy birthday too, Hina."

Ironically, happiness was absent from her sister's face. Hina guessed Sayo might be still upset about her band situation, so she didn't contemplate on that. Instead, she hugged her parents and thank them for the surprise.

"I don't realize today is our birthday," Sayo muttered.

Dad gave a small laugh. "My daughter is such a busy bee that she even forgets her own birthday."

"Sayo-chan's been up for her student council's task when I called her," Mom informed.

"Well, there's the entrance ceremony around the corner…"

"Take a break, Sayo," Dad suggested. The teal-haired man then spread his arms and exclaimed, "Come, join the hug on this merry day!"

Hina, still clinging to her parents like a koala to its eucalyptus tree, nodded. She turned her head to Sayo and said, "Yeah, yeah! Let's do a group hug, Onee-chan!"

"What's with this group hug thing…" muttered Sayo, who later said, "Mom, Dad, we're not kids anymore… No need to hold a celebration like this every single year."

Hina let go of her hug. "There's a whole cake, Onee-chan! Don't you love it?" she asked enthusiastically. The younger twin grinned and added, "I'll give a third, nope, half of my share to you!"

"I've past the period of sweets-loving kid."

That was puzzling. Hina saw Sayo ate a slice of chocolate cake just yesterday. Furthermore, there were chewing gums and candies beside her sister's laptop. Why would she lie?

Sayo let out a sigh. "Look; Mom, Dad, I truly appreciate this," she uttered. "But to be honest, these few years I have been meaning to tell you that I'm not that fond of this kind of celebration anymore..."

"Sayo-chan," Mom reached out Sayo's hand. She calmly said, "Just stay for a while."

Sayo looked at Mom in the eyes. She went silent for a while before eventually stated, "Alright... I'll stay until we cut the cake."

The family of four then gathered around the birthday cake. Hina and Sayo were seated on a couch. The birthday girls held the cake together, while their parents took photos of them. Contrary to Hina who smiled all the time, Sayo seemed apathetic. It was very apparent that her big sister didn't enjoy this at all. And Hina kind of guessed that it was her fault. Like always.

Dad asked Sayo and Hina to blow the candles together. Hina, being a good girl, readied herself to do so, yet her sister on the other hand…

Sayo crossed her arms and stated, "I don't want to."

Hina turned her head to Sayo. "Onee-chan…" she said weakly.

Dad tried to encourage his eldest daughter. "Come on, Sayo. Just blow the candle together with Hina, then you're done." His hands were still holding the phone to take pictures.

Sayo shook her head. "...this joint birthday is ridiculous."

"Your grandparents would like to see the photos."

"So this whole set up is to fool our grandparents, huh…" Sayo flatly said.

Hina was bewildered by her sister's statement. "Set up? Fooling grandpas and grandmas?"

Sayo got up from the sofa. She looked at Dad straight in the eye and continued, "You have been sending birthday photos of us every single year to give them the false impression that Hina and I are getting along like the old days."

Mom approached Sayo and patted her shoulder. "Sayo-chan, please calm down."

"I'm done with this pretend play, Mom," Sayo opposed. She then turned to Dad and said, "Truth is: we don't! And they already realize that."

"They know?" Hina asked as she raised from her seat as well. "Even great grandpa and grandma?"

Whenever Hina talked to her grandparents, she made it seemed like Sayo and her relationship was normal, just like any other siblings. She didn't want them to worry about their cold war. But to think that they knew the truth all along….

"Of course they're aware of our situation," replied Sayo. She walked past Hina, intending to leave the living room.

"T-then…" Hina talked to Sayo's back. "What made us drift apart like this? We've stopped doing things together, you and I are going to different schools, and… and… these days we barely even talk!"

Sayo mumbled inaudibly then turned around. Mom and Dad meanwhile were left speechless by their children's outburst.

"Please tell me, Onee-chan! What did I do wrong?"

"Why don't you figure it out yourself?" Sayo asked Hina back. "You're supposed to be a genius, am I right?"

"But…!"

Hina didn't have any single clue. She did ask her parents of this, yet all they said were 'It's not anyone's fault' and 'Please give Sayo some more time'. They knew all along, but what made them decided to keep it from Hina was a total mystery.

"Now excuse me."

Hina and her parents could only watch in silence as Sayo left the room and went back upstairs.

"...maybe onee-chan was right," Hina said. "It's foolish to pretend that all is well… Besides, we're not kids anymore. We shouldn't have a birthday party like this."

Mom and Dad exchanged looks. Her parents seemed as if they were communicating with some sort of codes. They often did that, so Hina became kind of used to it.

"...I'm a sad excuse for a father," Dad said. He smiled wearily. "I forced you and Sayo to do things that you girls didn't even enjoy."

"N-no! I always look forward to our birthday parties!" Hina objected. "It's just that… she doesn't want to celebrate with me. It's practically my fault."

"No, dear," said Mom. She held Hina's hand and continued, "Sayo-chan is just too tired with her student council and band activities."

Hina shook her head. "Onee-chan is always grumpy whenever I talk to her," she weakly said. "And you've heard her: we're not getting along…."

Hina stared at her birthday cake blankly. Some parts of the ice cream had started to melt.

"I wonder if she actually hates me…." Hina added. "If that's the case, I-"

"Of course not," Dad interjected. "Sayo loves you. It's the one thing that's not going to change. Ever," the teal-haired man smiled warmly.

Hina could see the sadness on her parents' eyes. Now she made the atmosphere in the room worsened. And it made her feel guilty.

Hina exclaimed, "Welp, onee-chan didn't want the cake; that means more cake for me!" She grinned and asked, "Mom, cut the cake for the birthday girl, will ya~"

It was Hina's duty to brighten the mood, for her parents' sake. If there was one thing she disliked in the world, it was seeing her family sad. Ironically, Sayo was the reason this time. Yet, she couldn't hate her sister for it. She just loved her twin so much, no matter how distant they were now.

Hina and her parents spent another hour in the living room before returning to their own bedrooms.

Hina glanced at Sayo's door, wondering whether her sister was still up or not. The girl clenched her fist and raised it. She meant to knock but suddenly decided not to. She lightly tapped the door instead. The sound was so faint that Sayo wouldn't possibly hear that. Besides, if she were to knock, Sayo would most likely say 'Go away, Hina' or something along the lines.

And Hina didn't need to worsen her special day any further.

As the girl turned away, she laid eyes to Hikawa family's photos hanged on the hallway. Most of them were pictures taken during Hina and Sayo's childhood. It was happy times full of laughter. As the sisters grew older, their picture together became scarcer and scarcer.

A certain photo reminded her of something. It captured the moment when infant Hikawa twins slept soundly inside their crib, with Sayo holding Hina's hand… just like sea otters who hold hands while sleeping, so they wouldn't drift away from each other.

A few years later, when the six-year-old twins helped their parents picking photos to hang, Mom praised Sayo as a good big sister because she always managed to calm Hina down whenever her younger sibling burst out crying in the middle of the night. Sayo replied that maybe her baby self was just too tired of hearing Hina's ear-piercing scream, so she used whatever means necessary to make her twin shut up (holding hands, hugging, or pat in the head worked wonders). Sayo then hugged Hina and exclaimed: "Onee-chan won't let you cry, ever!"

Hina could still feel the warmth from a decade back. She hugged herself, fully aware that her twin couldn't return the hug. Sayo who cherished Hina was hidden somewhere behind her current ice-cold persona.

Hina's vision turned blurry. She wiped her eyes and smiled wearily at their childhood photos.

"Guess you won't be around to comfort me this time… Onee-chan."