Chapter 5

Night and Day

"Boppin' shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo~"

Hina was walking across the hallway as she sang 'Baby Shark' with altered lyrics.

"Hina-chan, can you make me a cup of coffee?" asked her mother's voice. It came from upstairs.

Hina responded to the request and immediately went to the kitchen. She made Mom's usual cup of espresso, then brought it to the attic.

The attic was illuminated with natural light that came through from its large windows. Two canvases stood at the center of the room. The paintings haven't finished yet, from the looks of it. Some parts of the room's wooden flooring were covered with large sheets because painting was always a messy activity.

It was Mom's studio. When Hina and Sayo were kids, they spent lots of their time in this room; playing with paints and crayons. Hina recalled that she often drew aliens with its flying saucers, while Sayo preferred dogs and other fluffy animals.

Mom didn't seem to realize Hina's presence yet, as she was in working mode. Hina could peek at her mother's work through a large monitor and graphic tablet (which size was as big as the monitor). The woman was digitally coloring some sort of RPG-ish artwork while looking at reference pictures.

As Hina walked toward Mom's workstation, she gave one of the canvases a more careful look. The ones depicted there made Hina stop her legs and smiled wryly.

The painting featured two astronaut rabbits; each stood on the sun and moon. Their hands were reaching out to each other, but to no avail as their homes were so far apart. The celestial bodies were clearly referring to Hina and her sister. Hina's name contained the kanji character for "day", while Sayo was "night".

Mom often drew Hina and Sayo since they were little. In this particular piece, she used other beings to represent the twins. But Mom wasn't the type to draw her close ones out of whim. She must've worried sick with her daughters' fight the other day that she poured her feelings into a canvas.

Not that Hina could do anything….

"Here's your morning caffeine~" Hina placed the mug on Mom's table, just beside the graphic tablet. The teenager did it with extreme caution. She didn't want to spill hot coffee on a gadget that cost even more than her electric guitar.

Mom thanked Hina and pointed at her with a stylus-pen-thingy. "But why are you still wearing that?"

What Mom meant by that was a loose t-shirt and a pair of short cotton pants. A look that was fitting for a couch potato, watching sitcoms all weekend.

"Shouldn't you start preparing?" The blond-haired woman glanced at a clock that displayed half-past ten. "Your meeting will start at noon, right?"

Hina smiled sheepishly. "Wh-what are you talking about, Mom? The meeting is at twelve… twelve midnight!"

Mom chuckled. "No one holds a meeting at midnight. Especially the one that includes a teenager." She later sipped her coffee as Hina forced a laugh. The mother put back the mug and looked at the daughter in the eyes. "...Or do you intend to miss the meeting on purpose?"

Hina avoided eye contact and raised her shoulders. "Should I go, tho?"

"Huh? Are you sure about that?" asked Mom, worried. "You've been practicing hard these past few weeks for the audition… In fact, I've never seen you that dedicated before."

It was just like Mom said. In her sixteen years of life, Hina had never been serious with literally anything. She could achieve good results without even trying that it quickly bore her. Being a genius at everything, the girl couldn't understand the word 'dedication'.

Why did Mom take days, even weeks, just to finish one artwork?

Why would Sayo strum a certain phrase over and over again?

It was so puzzling.

Only when Hina decided to play the guitar, she started to understand its meaning, even if just a little. She spent day and night strumming the strings of her guitar; whether it was in the school premises or at home when Sayo wasn't around. She was obsessed with learning chords, performing over a hundred songs, and arranging the medley for her band audition.

All in the hope to rekindle their sisterhood.

"It's just…" Hina sighed. The girl sat on the floor and leaned her back to Mom's computer table. She hugged her legs and buried her face there. "Now I wonder if playing guitar will do any good to fix our relationship."

Nearly two weeks had passed since the incident during the Hikawa twins' birthday. The two never speak a word to each other after that. They even avoid being in the same room due to awkwardness. And Hina never picked up the guitar anymore because it reminded her of Sayo.

"Isn't it useless to do anything when the recipient clearly hates you…?" Hina continued. Tears were formed in her eyes as she uttered the painful word.

"Hina-chan…"

Hina sobbed. It was rare for her to have an emotional breakdown like this. The girl felt so vulnerable when it came to her sister. But warmth quickly filled her heart as she felt Mom's hands embraced her. Hina broke into tears on her mother's shoulder.

Mom patted Hina's head gently. "I'm so sorry I can't do anything for you and Sayo-chan."

Hina muttered inaudibly. She was always perplexed whenever her parents apologized regarding Hina and Sayo's current relationship. It frustrated her, being clueless about everything.

Hina let go of the hug and raised her head to look at Mom who had the same pair of green eyes like hers. "Mom, can you please tell me, what made Onee-chan change?" Her voice was so weak that it almost sounded like a whisper.

Mom smiled bitterly. "I've been meaning to tell you for years, but…" She sighed. "I just can't disclose that."

"But why?" Hina insisted. Her eyes were still wet from tears. "I-if only I know what's the reason, I can try to fix whatever is wrong with me...!"

"It's not something that needs fixing." Mom wiped Hina's tears. "There's nothing wrong with you, my daughter," she said with a reassuring smile.

Yet, Hina wasn't satisfied with her mother's answer. It was way too vague.

"Then, why… Why do you keep it a secret?"

Mom seemed at a loss for words. She looked the other way for a moment—maybe thinking hard of what to say—then fixated her gaze to Hina once more.

"If I were the one to reveal that, I'm afraid it'll only inflict more pain to either you or Sayo-chan… or worse."

Hina was left speechless. Whatever the reason was, it seemed the only person who could straighten the issue was Sayo Hikawa herself.

"...But I can share this one secret," Mom said. "Tell you what: Sayo-chan recently saw that rabbit painting of you two." She glanced at the painting and smiled. "You might think that Sayo hates you, but her eyes back then… It reflected sadness."

"Is that true?"

Mom nodded in return.

Hina turned her eyes at the painting of sun and moon rabbits. From what Mom described, it seemed that Sayo longed to reach Hina's hand as well. It made the younger twin realize: although Sayo was usually cold, there were some instances when she cared for her.

"Mom," said Hina. "I think I would give the band a shot."

»↠ ≈ ≈ ↞«

Hina locked the front door then descended a flight of stairs (the entrance of her house was located on the second floor). She glanced at the clear morning sky and hummed the jingle from a TV commercial. Her mood improved a lot after that talk with Mom.

But the merry humming ended abruptly when Hina bumped into another person at the staircase intersection. She unconsciously took a step backward and said sorry. Her eyes then widened at the sight of the person who stood before her.

"Welcome home... Onee-chan."

Sayo nodded indifferently. Although still on holiday, she wore her school uniform. She carried a large paper bag on her left hand and a jacket on the other.

"...I'm home."

The twins averted their gaze and didn't speak another word. If awkwardness could kill, Hina might be dead in a matter of minutes.

Hina looked at the large paper bag that Sayo carried. "That's... A big package you've got." She tried to break the ice.

"It's a birthday present from student council members," Sayo replied without looking at Hina.

Hina's body tensed. Talking about their birthday made her recalled their fight. The air felt so heavy that she found it hard to breathe.

"Hina."

The voice came from the older Hikawa sisters. Hina anxiously thought that Sayo might realize her puffy eyes. She was sure to get rid of them with a cool compress and eye cream. Should she make up a story like binge-watching tear-jerking Thai commercials?

"…I crossed the line the other day," Sayo still avoided eye contact. "So, uh—"

Hina let out a sigh of relief. Good thing Sayo didn't see her puffy eyes. But most importantly, her sister brought up that incident.

Sayo's cheeks reddened. "—I apologize for that."

Hina shook her head and smiled brightly. "It's A-okay, Onee-chan! Just conversing like this already made my day."

Sayo then asked where Hina intended to go and when she would return home, which the younger twin answered with a white lie. Sayo couldn't find out about the band audition… yet.

"Welp, Imma off then~"

Sayo gave way to Hina, who immediately passed through. But as Hina continued to descend the stairs, she could hear Sayo say "Hold on". The short-haired girl stopped her step and turned to the big sister.

"You'd better take this if you intend to return home late. It's going to be cold at night," said Sayo, handing the jacket that she had been carrying for a while. "It's still clean. I haven't used it yet," she added.

Hina only wore a rolled-sleeve flannel shirt over a blouse, which she realized wasn't quite enough to withstand the cold breeze of early spring nights. The girl forgot to bring a jacket as she was in a rush due to her initial plan to skip the meeting.

Hina took the gray jacket from her sister's hand. It was Sayo's favorite outerwear, made of wool, and had double-breasted buttons. It wasn't Hina's usual style of outerwear, but the fact that Sayo lent it made her over the moon.

"Thanks, Onee-chan!"

Sayo nodded and turned around. As the older twin ascended the stairs, she quietly said, "Be careful on your way there."