File Five: Fulfilling a Favor

Hiruma gazed around his living room. That should be good enough for now. He felt a little proud of himself as he gave the living room another look-through. He had tidied his place up (which was a rare thing for him to do), but it was necessary for his plans that week.

Now to start getting' some other things ready.

He plopped down on his couch and pulled out his cellphone and his little Book of Threats. Yup, he had lovely little plans for this week.

Mamori was still mad. What made things worse was the fact that Hiruma kept slipping away as soon as practice was over! Mamori had tried to "bump" into Hiruma before practice but that hadn't worked. "Bumping" into him after practice should have worked! But strangely, Hiruma left earlier then he normally did which made Mamori very displeased. It really messed everything up. She couldn't blow up on him if he was never there!

"Uh... Sena? Is Mamori-san okay?" Monta asked.

Sena shrugged. "I have no idea... She's been like this since after the Seibu vs. Misaki game."

"But that game was last week!"

"I know..." Sena sighed. "I guess Hiruma-san made her really mad..."

"That Hiruma-san! Makin' Mamori-san mad!"

Sena grabbed Monta and tried to hold him down to prevent him from wrecking the locker room.

"Let me at him, Sena! Hiruma-san shouldn't get away with makin' Mamori-san mad!"

Sena sighed and let go of Monta. "Hiruma-san is already gone."

"Gone?! Already?! After him-max!"

Monta dashed out of the clubhouse as fast as he could. Sena glanced around the locker room and sighed. Monta had left before cleaning up his locker. Oh well, he might as well clean it up himself. It wasn't like Monta would come back and clean. At least he just had to clean up after Monta, it would be just awful if he had to clean up after everyone. Just the thought brought back bad memories. Sena shivered and quickly cleaned Monta's as well as his own locker.

Though, to be honest, he couldn't help but wonder about Mamori-oneesan as well. She seemed pretty mad. It wasn't like her to hold grudges for this long. Had Hiruma-san really made her that mad? Or… maybe was there something more?

It was a rather peaceful night. Not many people were wandering around the streets of Tokyo. Musashi thought it was rather strange but thought nothing of it as he headed toward the convenience store. He smiled slightly as he passed by the small movie theatre.

He remembered the times when he and Kurita would watch movies there. They had always invited Hiruma to join them, but of course… he would always say he was busy or the movie was stupid or some lame excuse like that. One day, he and Kurita would have to get Hiruma to watch a movie with them.

Well, it was time to take his mind off memories and focus on what he was supposed to buy at the store. He was running low on a few things. With his father at the hospital, he was responsible for making sure the pantry was stocked. He hurried over to the store when something (or rather someone) caught his eye.

Was that who he thought it was coming out of the movie theatre? Musashi turned around to double check. His eyes widened in surprise as he watched Hiruma step out of the movie theatre. Musahi would have been mildly surprised if Hiruma came out of the theatre by himself, but no, Hiruma had come out of the theatre with a little girl.

"Hiruma..."

Hiruma slightly raised an eyebrow, noticing his friend.

"Nii-san, do you know that man?" the girl asked as she looked up at Hiruma.

Hiruma nodded and walked up to Musashi. "Hey, old man."

"Uh... hi, Hiruma?" He wasn't sure what to say. The little girl had called him "nii-san." What was that supposed to even mean?!

Hiruma blew a bubble then snapped it with his teeth. He gestured to the little girl. "This is Masumi... my little sister."

Musashi coughed hard.

"Masumi, this is Musashi."

Masumi nodded and smiled brightly. "Hello, Musashi-san."

Musashi coughed again. "Hiruma..."

Hiruma blew another bubble. "Let's get something to eat."

Musashi blinked, unsure how to take everything in. This wasn't exactly the typical Hiruma responses he was familiar with. "Uh... okay..."

Musashi remained silent beside Hiruma as the three of them headed over to a nearby fast food restaurant. Everything was happening rather quickly. Hiruma had picked out a booth for them and left Masumi with Musashi while he ordered their food. Shortly, Hiruma and Musashi were eating burgers and some fries. Masumi had fallen asleep after finishing her food and had her head resting in Hiruma's lap.

"I thought…. I thought you were an only child, Hiruma."

Hiruma sipped some of his drink. "So did I until after I talked with my mom."

"Why is she with you?"

Hiruma grabbed a few fries and chewed them slowly. "My mom is on a business trip and couldn't take her. So, she's staying with me this week."

Hiruma glanced down at Masumi and pushes a few stray hairs away from her face.

"So that is why you have been leaving early after practice..."

"Yeah... but don't you dare tell anyone, old man."

"But Hiruma..."

"Look here, old man," Hiruma growled, "this is none of their business. This is my private life, and I didn't want anyone to know… But I can trust you," he admitted. "The only thing the others can know about is my jerk of a dad. I don't want my sister or mom to be connected with me. Got that?"

Musashi sighed and nodded. "I understand... but Hiruma, why do you not want people to know you are related to your sister?"

"Divorce is a touchy subject, old man. I don't think my mom wants to be connected with my dad. After all, he took me, and my mom got her. Our lives have to stay separate. Got that?"

Musashi nodded as Hiruma finished his burger and fries in silence.

I actually don't understand, Hiruma. I'll keep your secret for as long as I can, but I have a feeling one of these days this will come out whether you like it or not.