Part 01
"Kouitten! Kouitten, wake up!"
My eye's fluttered open to see my four little brother and sisters staring down at me. I mumbled and turned over, covering my head with my blankets, "Go away!"
Neisha laughed as she jumped onto my bed, "Get up, get up, get up!" She giggled again as Koji helped the little twins, Ayame and Suekko, onto my bed.
"Come on Ane! Ane, get up!" Ayame screamed happily. I moaned and rolled over, then finally sat up. Neisha jumped off my bed and took Ayame while Koji took Suekko.
"She's awake!" Suekko laughed. I rubbed my eyes a few times and finally climbed out of bed. I stumbled between the four of them and out into our living room to find a social worker sitting there. I stopped dead in my tracks and I knew what she was going to say just by the look on her face. This was the third and final time she was to check in on the five of us....and my last shot at proving I could support the five of them and myself.
I turned to the four of my younger siblings, "Go to the back room and watch some TV, okay?"
"But Ane...." Ayame started.
"Please, Imouto, go....all of you, now......" Koji nodded and turned. I watched until all of them were in the room and the door was shut.
I walked over and sat down on the couch as I fixed my messed up hair. "Hello Ms. Jiano, you know what today is, right?" I nodded sorrowfully. "Do you have what I came for?"
"No, I don't."
"Then I have to take the children and put them into an orphanage," she replied without remorse.
"Come on Ms. Jarelin, I need two more weeks, that's it. I promise I can have everything by then," I begged, "You just can't take them away from me! I'm all they have in this world! If you put them in an orphanage they'll be separated and we'll never see one another again!"
"I'm sorry, I've told you before, today was the deadline....."
"I couldn't get some of it completed, I've got a job, and they are all fed, dressed, and attend school, what more do you want? My parents gave me custody of them because they knew that they would not return! I can't give them up just like that! It will destroy all that my family stands for! We've fought so hard to make it here, and now you're just going to rip it away from us?!" I screamed, the tears staining my cheeks as they fell, "They mean more to me than life itself! I would give my life for them just like my parents did if I had to! They entrusted me with them and their safety!"
"I am sorry, but the law is the law, and you have not abided by it."
"WHO CARES ABOUT THE STUPID LAW! THEY'RE NOT SOME DOLLS YOU CAN JUST TAKE FROM ME AND TOSS AWAY INTO SOME RUNDOWN GOVERNMENT FACILITY!"
"MS. JIANO! THEY ARE COMING WITH ME, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!" Ms. Jarelin exclaimed back, "NOW DO I HAVE TO CALL THE POLICE OR ARE YOU GOING TO COOPERATE!"
I fell silent and just shook my head, knowing the police were the last people I needed on my case. "Okay, give us an hour, they'll be ready in an hour." She nodded and rose. I watched as she left and closed the door behind her.
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"DAMMIT!" I screamed as more tears fell from my eyes, "WHY?!"
"Kouitten....."
"WHAT?!" I screamed looking up at the four most important people to me. I was crushed when I saw Ayame and Suekko both jump and become scared of me. I had become their worst nightmare. "I didn't mean it that way, little ones...." They all walked over to me and sat around me.
"What was that all about, Ane?" Suekko asked me.
"Well, you guys, it looks as if the four of you are going on a trip."
"Aren't you coming too?" Ayame asked innocently.
I shook my head, "No, I'm afraid not." I looked up at Koji and Neisha, both of whom knew what their fate was. "Don't worry though, Keishi will take care of you on the trip, I promise."
"When will we see you again?"
I smiled slightly, "I'm not sure, Suekko, but hopefully soon. Now come on, it's time to go pack for your trip."
"Okay!" he and Ayame exclaimed as they ran back to their room.
"Sis....." Neisha started.
"Don't, please. Don't make it harder than it already is....." She fell silent as she and Koji both went into the back to obtain their belongings and to help the little ones.
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Soon enough, an hour had come and gone before I even knew it. We all stood outside of our house as Ms. Jarelin pulled up in her station wagon that she drove especially for taking kids away from their homes. I turned to them as she stepped out of her car. I knelt down before Suekko, "Little one, you are the youngest of us all, and the smallest. Please, Suekko, take care of yourself and I will see you soon, okay?" He nodded as I have him a kiss and a hug. "Come here Ayame," I grinned grabbing her hand, "My ever blooming flower, you have grown so much and are so bright for one so young. I hope you continue to get more beautiful and smart on this trip. I will see you soon, okay Imouto?"
She giggled, "Yeah." I gave her a kiss and a hug as she walked off the porch and joined Suekko in the car.
"Neisha, the smooth talker of us all. I wish I knew when we'll meet again so I'd at least have a day to look forward to, but yet, I do not. Take care of yourself and continue with your school work. And even though you and Koji aren't the best of siblings, help one another out in keeping the twins together and safe, okay?"
"Of course, Kouitten.....I'm going to miss you!" She threw her arms around me and I hugged her closely. I released her as Koji walked up.
He shook my hand, "Ma'am."
I laughed, "You act as if this really is just a trip, I wish I was that confident."
"It is, we'll meet again, I just know it. The five of us aren't easily drawn apart from one another."
I nodded, "Yes, but please take care of them all, you are now the oldest sibling. Take care of yourself, and be prosperous in all that you do, alright?" He nodded and we shook hands again, then hugged one another. "Stay together as long as possible, make sure NO MATTER WHAT that you are the last to go and the twins go together."
Koji gave me the thumbs up and left the porch. I watched the four of them all get situated and Ms. Jarelin climb back into her car. As she pulled away I saw the look in Ayame and Suekko's eyes, the same look I'd seen in Neisha and Koji's when our parents died.
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I returned to the empty house to hear nothing but complete silence. I walked into the twin's room and picked up their toys they'd left sprawled on the floor. As I walked back and forth from their toys to the toy box I could see them arguing with me, telling me that their toys were on the floor for a reason. "What reason?" I'd asked.
"They're easier to find and we don't have to take them out of the box again," they'd answer.
I sighed and shook my head as I walked into Neisha's room. I looked around at the clean room and smiled, "Always perfect....." Then I looked under her bed. I groaned at the sight of all the junk she had beneath it. I began to clean out under the bed and found places for everything so I wouldn't get yelled at when she returned home. After that I treaded into Koji's room and checked every corner of the room to find it completely spotless. "Perfectionist," I snorted leaving his room. I locked all of the three rooms and placed their room and house keys on a keychain with my set. When that was finished I retired to my room where I went back to bed, not knowing what else to do.
