Big sis had been weird since their fight.

The fight itself had been weird. Big sis never fought back. She never yelled at him or pushed him or anything. She wasn't supposed to. She was the big sister, not the big brother, and if she had been a boy then he would have fully expected her to push him back and yell at him. She was a girl, though, and girls didn't like to fight. Dad had said so. Even if he was a jerk he could be right about some things.

And also big sis had never fought back before.

Which was scary. He remembered, or maybe he dreamt it, that something bad happened once. Something loud and…and he was there and he was scared….and also there was a light. It might have been, probably had been, a dream or something. Something like that. Because that had been the first time in his entire life that big sis had fought back.

And she had been scary.

All she did was push him. That was it. She probably could have done much worse. She didn't have to push him, then, because he was only yelling at her and not pushing her or hitting her or anything like that. If he had been pushing her or tugging on her braids then it would have made sense for her to push him. But he hadn't been and therefore it made no sense that she had pushed him and that was the really scary part of all of it.

Not that she was so much stronger than him.

No, he wasn't afraid of her because she was so much stronger than him….or even afraid of her at all. He was just…not happy….that was all. Because she had pushed him. She had lied to him, too, before she pushed him. She had said that they were going home. This was not home. Home was the Castle because they had always lived in the castle and this was not the castle. So she had lied. She was lucky that he only jumped on the bed instead of on her like every part of him was screaming to. She had lie to him.

This was not their home.

No matter how many toys they brought with them this was not home. Even if they were back in Japan this was not home. Though it was nice to know what everyone was saying. He was tired of having to learn knew languages. English and Mandarin and Korean and all of that. It was nice to be back in Japan where he could understand all the people and read all the signs, also they were in a city this time and not outside of a city where there was a whole lot of nothing. It just felt better to have people near him.

Nobody had lived near them when they lived in the castle.

And that was not a reason to like it here. There was stuff to do, at least, and he was trying to make the best of it. Dad was not going to take them back to the castle. They had fought about it. Dad kicked his butt. Dad kicked him and hit him and threw him and, eventually, the message sank in. They were never going home again. Everywhere was their home. They could live anywhere in the world but the castle.

When everywhere was your home then nowhere was your home.

Big sis said, before, that they were never going home to the castle so they had to make the best of it now. So that was what they had been doing. At least there was stuff to do in Tokyo. The other day they went to an arcade. The day after that they went to a park. It had been fun even though big sis had been there…and also kind of boring. She had been kind of boring lately, actually, which was nice in some ways. It was nice, at least, that she was not planning on making fighting with him a regular thing. It wasn't nice, however, that she was making doing nothing at all a regular thing.

"Come on, play with me." Said Sho. They were done with their homeschool work and now they could do whatever they wanted. Dad said that he didn't really need them because there wasn't a lot to do in Tokyo to begin with. That left more time for fun.

"Did you do your homeschool work?" asked big sis. She picked his notebook up off the table and held it open so she could see.

"All of it." Said Sho. It had been boring as all else but he had done it. Dad was happy when they did their work and now was not the time to make dad mad. His aura had been so weird since the first day. Also he had been way madder than normal on that first day. He had punished Sho before but never like that. Also he had never pulled big sis' hair like that before, either. He hardly ever punished her because she was his favorite and all of that. That whole day had been so weird.

But this day could be normal.

It was normal. The TV was on like normal, she was watching Frozen in Japanese again even though they had seen that movie a million times, and she was even wearing that dumb Frozen dress too. That was normal. She had a bottle of milk in front of her too. That was normal. She liked milk even though cola was the best drink there ever was. She didn't agree, that was why she had been drinking so much milk lately. Enough to make her tired all the time. Sho had heard that about milk, that it had chemicals in it to make you tired. Maybe that was why she had been laying down so much lately.

She was not getting sick.

She was not sick like mom had been sick. First of all mom spent all day in her pajamas. Big sis was not in her pajamas but instead in one of her costume dresses. Second of all big sis was out of bed. Mom had spent the whole day in bed when she had been sick. Third of all big sis was still bossing him around. Mom had left him and big sis alone all day when she had been sick. Therefore big sis was not sick like mom had been.

She was just weird.

"O-Ok. What do you want to play?" asked big sis. She was laying down on the couch, she did that a lot these days. She had this creepy looking doll sitting on her stomach. Sho picked up one of his guns, not a real one because dad said that a gun was a coward's weapon and also real guns were not toys, and aimed it at her doll.

"Target practice." Said Sho. She wasn't going to push him again. No matter how hard he pushed her she was never going to push him back again. Before was just because she had been upset, that was all, she had even said so. She had been so upset that she had even spent the night with Minegishi….and Sho was not jealous just because he had never been to a sleepover before and also it had not been hard sleeping away from big sis. He had only been up all night because his bones were cracked. It didn't matter, Fukuda had fixed him up and dad wasn't upset anymore and neither was big sis.

She was weird but not mean an weird at the same time. Nope, just weird. Different.

"Please try not to shoot me in the eye this time." Said big sis. She was still laying down on the couch. She didn't even try to move. What was the point of target practice if your target wasn't moving? She used to run away sometimes when he shot at her. He knew that maybe he should have shot at something else but he didn't have anyone else to shoot, the Awakened weren't fun to shoot and Minegishi was way mean, and also he needed to get as much shooting in before dad got rid of his guns just like he got rid of everything else that he didn't like.

Sho really missed his crazy string.

And making glitter bombs. That had been fun.

And also the time with the water balloons. That may have been the one step too far, playing that inside the house, because big sis slipped and then her ankle got super swollen. Though really they had no choice but to play water balloons inside because outside it had been snowing and people died of getting too cold. Like in that movie about the people who were trapped on the ski lift. So really unless they wanted to die by freezing they'd had to play water balloons inside the house. They were not being ridiculous like dad had said.

Sho was not ridiculous.

"I'll try but these guns aren't very accurate." Said Sho. He hadn't been aiming for her eye that one time or the other time or even that OTHER other time. He had been aiming for her face and then the bullets had just gone into her eye. She was ok though, she hadn't gone blind, and even if she had then Fukuda would have been able to fix her up. He could fix anything.

Well, not broken dolls.

But whatever. If her doll broke then she would just get another one. She had a million of them anyway. She always filled up the bedrooms of wherever they were staying with dolls. They were so creepy. He didn't get it at all. Girls were just plain weird and big sis was the weirdest out of all the girls in the whole world.

He knew, he'd looked.

"Ok. Even if you hit me in the eye I won't be mad at you, little brother." Said big sis. She said that but he had to test it. He didn't trust her. She had said, before, that she would never do anything to hurt him. Then she went off and pushed him even though she had been the one to lie to him in the first place. So really everything that happened had been her fault.

If she had just told him that they were going to Tokyo, not home, then everything would have been ok.

But she had lied. She said that they were finally going home. He wanted to go home. He had left a drawing on the kitchen table and he still had to finish it. Plus also he had left his Zootopia plate at home and everything tasted better off of that plate. Even steamed vegetables tasted better off of that plate. Mom always served them off of their special plates…and even if they went back to the castle Sho knew that mom would never serve them off of those plates or any plates ever again. She wouldn't because she was gone. She had run away from home and left their family and she was never coming back. Dad had said that because she had left she was a traitor….and Sho would never have called his own mother a traitor. She was mom and no matter what he would always love her….and she had said that she would always love him….

But then she had left without him.

"Ready, aim, fire." Said Sho quickly before he shot his gun. This one was a revolver. It shot a lot of bullets out one after the other after the other. It was good for making a lot of shots at once. Most of his were accurate, they hit her doll, and the doll went tumbling from big sis' stomach down to the ground.

She didn't catch it with her powers.

It stopped in midair before changing direction and flying across the room. For a moment Sho had thought that she had been throwing it at him. She hadn't been because it went in the totally opposite direction of him. She just sort of looked at it for a while like she couldn't believe that she had done that…like she had lost control….and for a moment he feels very cold…

Big sis losing control was….not good.

"Oh. I did that." Said big sis. She sat up and took another drink from her milk bottle. Her fingers fumbled over the cap a couple of times but she got it opened. That was kind of weird….but she wasn't sick. She was fine, just weird.

"That was a good shot, Sho, you didn't hit me at all." said big sis. Sho shrugged and tossed his gun to the side. He was bored of that already.

"Wasn't aiming at you." Said Sho

"Oh. Ok. I still think that it was a good shot. Do you want to watch Frozen with me? It's getting to the part with the trolls and the Fixer Upper song. You like that one." said big sis

"It's ok." Said Sho. He kind of wanted to do something else but…but he did like this song just a little bit. Not that he would ever admit to it. This was a girls' movie. Somethings in their world for only for girls, some things in this world were only for boys, and some things in this world were for both. This movie was not for both…but he did like parts of it.

He used his powers to jump from his spot and onto the couch. He only squished big sis' legs just a little.

"Careful, Sho, you might hurt yourself." Said big sis as she pulled her legs up and sat up. It took her a little but to sit up. Sho ended up having to reach over to help her. Sho wondered if maybe he should have called Fukuda just to be safe…but then dad might have thought the he and big sis were fighting again and that would not have been good at all. Dad was already so upset from their first night in Tokyo…yeah, it would do no good to make dad even more upset.

"Be careful Sho, you might hurt yourself" said Sho doing a dead on impression of big sis when she said that. She said that like she was a grown up, all worried about him, but if she had been worried then she wouldn't have pushed him before in the first place.

"That's what I just said. I want you to be careful so that you don't end up hurting yourself." Said big sis

"I didn't hurt myself. I'm not a baby. You worry about your own self." Said Sho. Big sis leaned against him. Well she sort of tipped over against him. He let her. Girls were like that, always touching and hugging and stuff, and he wasn't going to make her sad or anything like that. She was just being weird, that was all, and he would let her be weird even if she was leaning against him and the stupid cape from her stupid dress itched his stupid arm so stupidly that the entire thing just felt so stupid.

He was mad for no reason again.

He hated when this happened. He kicked the couch a few times. He was big enough, now, that his feet hung over the couch. Mom used to mark their height on the doorframe…but mom was not there anymore to do that. Also they never stayed in one place long enough to make down how much they grew. Dad didn't care anyway. He could have cared less whether they grew or shrunk.

Big sis cared, though…and it was so annoying.

"I-I don't need to. I worry about you. I love you so much Sho…so very much. You're my most favorite brother in the whole world, you know that? I'm so happy that I get to be your big sister. I'm so happy that you're here…" said big sis. She was hugging him, now, and rubbing her head against his. He tried to push her away.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah I love you too, big sis, now knock it off." Said Sho. He didn't need to be hugged. He was fine. If she needed a hug then she should have hugged dad. He was always letting her hug him. He never let Sho hug him…which was fine. Sho was eight, now, and way too old for hugs. Especially from his big sister. Yeah, he was old enough that hugs were something that he only gave to people when he had to.

And he had to hug her now.

Because she wanted a hug and she was his sister and also all of the love and stuff like that. He did love her. He just didn't go around screaming it at the top of his lungs. She knew that he loved her. Even though he was a jerk to her he still loved her. So he had to hug her, and he had for a little bit, and now the hug was done. He hoped that whenever he ended up getting a girlfriend or a wife or whatever she didn't want to hug or stuff like that.

But she probably would and it would probably suck.

"You are the best little brother in the whole world and I never want you to go." Said big sis

"I'm not trying to go, I'm trying to get you to let go." Said Sho as he managed to squirm one of his arms free. He could have used his powers…but then she might have used her powers….and he didn't want that right now.

"Let it go! Let it go!" sang big sis. Well it was more like she was shouting than screaming. Sho wished that dad could have heard that. Then maybe he would have shut up about all the noise that Sho made. He took that back as soon as he was done thinking it. No, he did not want dad to be back there. Everything seemed to be making him mad these days…which really wasn't that different from every other day. Well he had been meaner lately….at least to Sho. He stopped being mean to big sis as soon as she came back from Minegishi's house the day after they had that big fight.

"What's with you?" asked Sho. She was done singing, now, and she was playing with his hair. She was pushing down on it and then letting it spring back up. He hated it when people touched his hair. Sometimes adults did it but mostly it was other kids. Girls. They were so weird about hair. They were always brushing their hair and braiding it and washing it and all of that stuff. Girls were always touching his hair and saying how nice it was….they were weird like that.

And big sis was the weirdest.

"I've always been so jealous of your hair, little brother, I wish that my hair was red. You're so lucky to have red hair." Said big sis

"Don't be a dummy. Red hair sucks. Everyone stares at you when you have red hair. Be happy that you have black hair like everyone else." Said Sho

"Not everyone in the world has black hair." Said big sis

"But everyone in Japan does. You're lucky to look Japanese." Said Sho. Everyone in Japan looked like her. That was one of the things he missed about being in the rest of the world. They went to a lot of places that weren't Japan and the people there looked a lot like him. Now they were here and people looked like big sis. It wasn't fair. They were both half Japanese but she had gotten all of the Japanese and he had gotten all of the half.

It sucked sometimes.

"You-you're Japanese too. We're Japanese and we live in Japan….and everyone speaks Japanese….and stuff. I don't know. You're someone I love. I know that." Said big sis. She was hugging him now and she wasn't stopping no matter how much he squirmed. She was being so weird…but she wasn't being mean and that was good. She had never been mean before that day and he hoped that she was never mean to him again.

This family wasn't big enough for three mean people.

"Yeah, I love you too. I love you and I love Japan and I love getting hugs and I love everything." Said Sho in his best Minegishi impression. She didn't get it. She couldn't hear tones. Neither could dad. She got it from him. She got everything from him. Her powers and the way she talked and being able to sit through kendo. All he got from dad was red hair.

"Sho, you don't love everything. Like citrus. If you have any citrus you'll die. I remember that day. It was so scary. I almost lost you…and then if I lose you then…then I won't have a little brother anymore…" said big sis. She wasn't holding him as tight, now, but he didn't try to squirm away. He knew that if he tried to she would just hold onto him super tight again. He didn't need her to hold on to him tight again just like he didn't need her to talk about the time he almost died because of a stupid grapefruit.

"I remember. I was dead. I was the one who did the almost dying." Said Sho

"I'm so glad that you're alive." Said big sis. She yawned, then, and she was leaning more of her weight onto him. Maybe she was going to take a nap again. She had been taking a lot of naps lately. He didn't get it. She must have been hanging out with Minegishi for too long. She had probably caught his boring. Or maybe that was just something else that she had gotten from dad.

"So am I." said Sho. She was still leaned up against him. He could have pushed her off easily but he didn't. That would have been a jerky thing to do and he didn't like to be a jerk to her. He was a jerk all the time. Maybe he deserved to be pushed by her. Maybe if he wasn't such a jerk to her…but he couldn't help it. Sometimes he just did things without even knowing it. It was like he was on autopilot sometimes. Like the other day, the day when they had first come to Tokyo, and his body kept on telling him to move around and stuff and so he had jumped on the bed because otherwise he would have hurt her for lying…and he had ended up hurting her…but she had ended up hurting him first….

But he had done more of the hurting over the years.

So maybe she had just been getting even. He didn't know. That wasn't really like her but she had been acting so weird lately he wasn't sure if he could ever accurately predict her behavior again. He didn't like that. Enough stuff had changed in his life…he didn't need her changing too. He didn't need her being all huggy and touchy-feely and stuff. Well she had always been like that but never this bad before. He also didn't want her to sleep all day like mom had.

She was always trying to be like mom.

Even though there was no way that she could ever be like mom. Mom was their mom. There wasn't a single person in the whole world that could ever have taken her place. He had been thinking about her a lot since coming to Japan. Sometimes he even imagined running into her on the streets…but that would never happen because they got driven everywhere and also mom didn't live here. He didn't know where she lived but it wasn't here. She had always said that they were luck to live in such a big house and away from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

She probably wasn't here.

She probably wasn't anywhere.

"Hey, don't go anywhere….I mean fall asleep. I might want to do more target practice later." Said Sho. He had shared a room with her for his entire life. He knew what it sounded like when she was starting to go to sleep, how her breathing got, and he didn't want her to go to sleep. To leave him alone. Even if she was being all weird it was better than him being all alone.

"Ok…whatever you want little brother…I love you so much…" said big sis. She let him go and took another drink of her milk. Her eyes were kind of droopy like she had been up all night…and she sort of had been. She and dad were cool again and they had been hanging out. Sho didn't care. Let her hang out with dad or whatever. That was how things always were.

She had been weird since their big fight but somethings never changed. She was still dad's favorite…and also she was always up for a game of target practice.