Character: Yukie Sugita (OC)
Year: 2021
Title: What Happiness Is
Anything Else: One of the jokes (I use that term loosely) is based on the different meanings Japanese names can have dependent on what characters are used to write them. Here, Yukie's name is written as 'yu' meaning possession, 'ki' meaning hope and 'e' meaning blessing. Another variant would have 'yuki' meaning happiness, and 'e' meaning blessing.

"Onii-Chan, Can I come and annoy you?"

"Surely your use of the word 'annoy' gives you the answer?"

Mirai doesn't look up as he says this, but his voice is full of laughter, so Yukie takes this as a good sign and bounds right in anyway, leaping straight into the middle of Mirai's bed as she always does whenever she comes in here, and then she sits up straight, crosses her legs and watches him do his homework.

From her angle, his back is to her, but from the way he scribbles so furiously, only to stop and tap his pen against the exercise book, Yukie suspects that the work he is doing is difficult, and pulls a face at the thought. She's so not looking forward to high school. She's not even sure she wants to go into middle school, being perfectly content with things as they are, being a fifth grader and all.

"So, what is it, Yukie?"

She nearly jumps at this.

"Onii-Chan, you scared me!" she protests in annoyance, but she shakes it off quickly, remembering part of the reason she decided to come here.

"I'm stuck on my essay." She tells Mirai.

"Essay? Your homework?"

"Yes…well, no. The composition book."

"Ah, the composition book essays." Mirai nods, but doesn't turn around. "I remember that. I might still have mine from that time. Somewhere. I think."

"Really?" Yukie bug-eyes at this.

"That's not an excuse to go snooping around, by the way." Mirai adds. Yukie says nothing to this, but pouts behind his back and pretends that she wasn't planning to snoop around in the first place.

"Anyway, it's more likely Mum has it, rather than me."

"Mum?"

"Sure, she likes keeping all the things we do, right?"

"Yeah…." Yukie thinks about this. "Do you think she kept her own one, then?"

"It's possible. I'm not sure though. I don't think Mum was happy when she was in fifth grade."

"Oh." Yukie blinks. She knows this already, sort of. Not completely, because it is not as if their mother talks about these things a lot, unless she is asked. But she knows little things, such as some of the reasons Mum is still kind of awkward around Grandma Akemi, as if they are friendly strangers rather than a mother and daughter. She also knows that her parents were in the same fifth grade class, and that that was the year they became friends in the first place. It's the same with all their important family friends.

"I guess you're right? But what about Dad, and Satoru-san and Kenya-san and everyone? Wasn't she happy with them?"

"Sure. But they were how she became happy in the first place. Before that, she was rather lonely."

"Mum told you that?"

"I asked her."

"Oh."

"Anyway…" Mirai puts down his pen and finally spins his chair around to face her. "Weren't you talking about your essay? Do you have any ideas at all? Even a vague sense of what you'd want to write about?"

"Uh…." Yukie goes blank, and has to think for a moment, eventually blurting out the first thing that she thinks of.

"Happiness."

"Oh? Like something that makes you happy? Like your birthday?"

Yukie gives Mirai a look and wonders if he is completely crazy. Sure, she enjoyed her last birthday, but is that really something to write about?

"What? I wrote about mine!" Mirai says, a little defensive.

"Then I'm definitely not going to do that! What if Sensei thinks I copied you?!"

"It's been long enough that I don't think that'll be a problem, Yukie." Mirai retorts. "Ah! Speaking of which, there's an idea!"

"Huh?"

"If you want to write about happiness, why not centre it around your own name?"

"It takes a moment for Yukie to get it, but when she does, she pulls a face at Mirai and grabs a pillow off of his bed.

"My name isn't even written that way!" she protests before lobbing the pillow at him. Mirai catches it neatly and throws it back at her, and the next few moments are caught up in a riotous and rather silly pillow fight before they are both doubled over in laughter and end up stopping as a result.

When she is calmer, Yukie star-fish flops across the bed and looks up at the ceiling, at the faint outlines of glow-in-the-dark stickers that have been there for as long as she can remember. She smiles at them.

"I could write a really long essay about happiness, couldn't I?" she muses.

"Well, I suppose so. It depends. Are you going to write about all the different things that make you happy? Or why you're generally happy anyway? Or maybe about someone else's happiness?"

"Someone else's happiness?" Yukie rolls over and eyes Mirai, still sitting on his desk chair. "Like Mum's?"

"For example." Mirai shrugs. "But it's your essay, so shouldn't it be more about you?"

Yukie frowns.

"I know…." She shrugs. "Argh, I don't know. What does happiness even mean anyway, Onii-Chan?"

"Ah, such philosophical questions. But I say that it depends on the person and the moment. We're all different people after all. Makes sense that we all have different things that make us happy, and therefore different definitions of the concept."

"Like how you like to say fancy things like that when they just confuse everyone?" Yukie deadpans.

"Yukie, they only confuse you because you're little."

"Onii-Chan!" Yukie complains, making Mirai laugh and laugh. She glares at him, offended.

"Anyway!" she says, loudly and meaningfully, sitting back up and folding her arms to make a point.

"Some people have the same definitions of happiness too, right? They share their happiness. Like Mum and Dad?"

Yukie thinks of the way her mother's face lights up at the sight of her father, how in return his voice is a little different- more precious, somehow- when he talks to her. How they seem to understand each other really well. Mirai is clearly thinking about this too, for he chortles and rolls his eyes.

"Oh god, yeah, they're so sappy at times. But yes, I think I get what you mean. Like our pillow fight?"

"What? You enjoyed the pillow fight?" Yukie eyes her brother suspiciously. "Even though I won?"

"Who said that there was ever going to be a winner?"

"I did. Just now." Yukie quips. Mirai shakes his head and she giggles for a moment before a thought hits her.

"Oh!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Yukie frowns for a moment, then grins. Mirai stares at her, looking confused.

"I just thought of something!" she proclaims cheerfully.

"For…." Mirai tips his head to the side and considers. "Your essay?"

"Yup."

A silence, and Yukie continues to grin at Mirai, who continues to appear confused. Eventually, he sighs.

"Are you not going to explain?"

"My essay!"

"Yes, but what about it?"

"I want to write about happiness, and we just talked about happiness."

"Okay…..so?"

"Onii-Chan, honestly." Yukie huffs and rolls her eyes exaggeratedly, but she gives the explanation anyway.

"So obviously, I'm going to write about this conversation we just had!"

Yeah...the hiatus is now off. Despite being overtaken by Dangan Ronpa 3 I somehow got the spark I needed to get on with this collection. Though I don't know if there is much point in saying that given this is the second-to-last story anyway. Meh. Oh well. Anyway, the very final story has already been completely handwritten. I am aiming to type it up on Sunday, with the aim that it should be up early-to-mid next week. At least, that is the plan.

Anyway, thank you for your patience if you've been waiting for this, I hope you enjoyed this story and please leave feedback!