Chapter Seven

I felt tears coming to my eyes again. I bent over and gave my brother a huge hug and let the tears flow. "Mitsukuni! It's so good to see you again." I didn't know if I wanted to tell him yet that I had thought he was a ghost.

"Akito, why are you crying so much?" I heard him ask.

I let go if him and looked him right in the eyes. "You haven't changed at all." I bit my lip and at that moment decided not to hide anything from my family. "When I first saw you, I thought you were a spirit."

His expression made my heart break. He looked the same as when our father took away his bunny (which I noticed he was still carrying). "I'm sorry I haven't grown much." Now he was starting to cry. "I really did try."

I felt really bad for him, so I picked him up. A part of my mind told me that I should not be able to lift my older brother more than an inch off the ground. I ignored all reason as I carried him over to the couch. I sat beside him and gave him another hug. I barely noticed Takashi sitting on his other side.

Tamaki took a seat across the table from me. "Uh… Zuka?" He sounded like he didn't want to ruin our reunion. "What have you been up to?"

"Yeah. How did the boss know you before today?" One of the twins said, taking a seat beside Tamaki.

"And why have we never heard of you from Honey-sempie before?" The other twin finished, sitting on Tamaki's other side.

Mitsukuni looked up at me. He was smiling now. "What countries have you visited?" He sounded like he had been waiting for years to hear about my travels.

I looked at all of the people in the room. "I've been to Canada, Italy, France, China, Ireland, Australia, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, and Brazil, not in that order." I shrugged at their surprised looks. "Only a small percent of the world." I sat there, waiting for more questions.

Tamaki spoke next. "When you left France, you left suddenly. Why?" For a moment I realized that it was probably the most intelligent thing I had ever heard him say. I was amazed.

I felt a little bad about my sudden departures, even though I knew they weren't entirely my fault. I couldn't look at Tamaki as I answered. "My dad always sent me a letter telling me where I'd be living next. The tickets were always for the next day."

"So that's who all those letters were for."

Everyone looked to the door. Yasuchika had managed to open the door without anyone noticing. He was standing there, not wanting to come into the room completely. "I always wondered who he was sending tickets to."

I stood up and walked over to him. "Yeah, that would have been me." I put my arm around his shoulders and smiled widely at him. Then I remembered that he was supposed to be somewhere. "Why are you here and not at the karate club?"

His expression didn't change. "When two Haninozuka siblings meet, they must fight eachother." He then grabbed my wrist and flipped me over his shoulder.

Since I was caught off guard, I landed hard on my back. I slowly picked myself up, wincing at the pain. I stared at Yasuchika. I couldn't believe that he was the same child I had looked out for.

"Chika, she's been out of the country!" I heard Mitsukuni yell. He sounded very worried, I felt happy that he cared so much about me. "She doesn't know how to fight!"

My happiness faded and I looked over my shoulder at Mitsukuni. I grinned at him and shook my head. 'Just watch, Mitsukuni.' Then I jumped at Yasuchika.