"Onee-chan wait up!" A five year old Ryuko huffed as she ran after a six year old Satsuki across the massive lawn of their backyard. Satsuki had been so excited to show her something when she had came home from school that she had grabbed her hand and had ran outside without a word, carrying a plastic bag that contained something that clanked every time she took a step. Ryuko only fumbled after her, confused, until the older girl let her go, only to sprint ahead to their shared treehouse.
By the time Ryuko had managed to climb the ladder, Satsuki had splayed the contents of the bag onto the hardwood floor. Ryuko was even more confused to see that it was nothing more than a pack of yarn and some soup cans. "This is what you dragged me out here for? Some stupid cans and some string?!" She yelled, waving her hands.
"It's what we're going to do with them that I brought you out here." Satsuki responded, rolling her eyes. "Go get the scissors out the drawer."
Rolling her own eyes and sighing, Ryuko stomped over to the arts and crafts drawer by the window and rummaged for the red scissors they shared. Once she found it, she handed it to the older girl and sat crosslegged beside her. "Now you're gonna tell me what this is all about." She commanded with a pout. She wanted to get back to her cartoons.
"Today in my class we made these things called can phones," Satsuki explained, stabbing a hole into the bottom of one can and then the next. Ryuko watched her, still confused. "We took the scissors and cut holes in the cans and then we took the string and strung it through like this," Satsuki opened the pack of yarn and unwound it until it was a about 2 feet long. Cutting it, she weaved it through the first can and then tied a big knot so that it would stay. She then did the same with the other can. She smiled, looking at her work.
Ryuko had stopped asking questions because her curiosity for what exactly this contraption could do over powered her annoyance. Satsuki handed her a can, and instructed her to walk to the other side of the tree house.
Their tree house wasn't an average one, it was huge compared to a normal one. There was enough room for both sisters to be in it and not see each other. Ryuko took the can and walked all the way over to the next room where the string ran out. "Okay, now what?" She called back.
"Can you hear me?" Satsuki answered her, speaking into the can. Only she didn't shout it, she said it in a soft tone. "Does it work?" She asked.
"H-How are you doing that?!" Ryuko squealed, her stunned expression being mirrored in her voice.
"I told you," Satsuki responded, giggling. "It's the cans. Speak into it, do it!" She encouraged.
"H-Hello?" The younger girl said unsurely.
"I can hear you loud and clear!" Satsuki laughed, clapping her hands. "It works! Hey, you think we can use these when we can't talk out loud? You know, like when one of us gets in trouble or something?"
"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Ryuko agreed. The two girl raced down the ladder of the tree house and ran into the house, where they went up to their room, shutting the door behind stayed in their room for hours, playing and talking and laughing until they fell asleep.
The next morning, Satsuki went back to school, and all day Ryuko eagerly awaited her return. She sat on the couch with the cans in her hand, swinging her legs back and forth, and humming a happy tune as she watched the front door carefully. When the clock struck three and Satsuki didn't step through the door like she usually would, Ryuko got a little worried. "Maybe they're in traffic." She reasoned to herself, turning back to her cartoons.
Two hours later, Satsuki still had not come home from school. Now Ryuko felt like crying. Sliding off the couch she went to find her father who was in his laboratory sitting at his desk. "Daddy, where's Mommy and Sacchan?" She asked, her lip trembling. "I wanted to play with her and she hasn't come home yet. She was supposed to be home hours ago."
Soichiro turned to his youngest daughter and ruffled her hair to make her feel better. "Don't worry, Ryuko. She just went with Mommy to the office. She'll be back soon. Why don't you go play with your toys until she comes back alright?"
Ryuko was still a little sad, but nodded. "Okay daddy." She went back into the living room to pick up her stuffed bear Senketsu when the front door opened. In stepped Satsuki, but something was very, very different. She wasn't happy like she was yesterday. She was silent. Still. Afraid even. What happened to her?
Ryuko ran up to her. "Onee-chan! Onee-chan!" She chanted, jumping up and down. "Do you wanna play with the cans?!" She asked, pointing to the cans on the couch. Her face fell when she saw that Satsuki hadn't so much as smiled at her. "Onee-chan, what's wrong?" She asked, tilting her head.
"Satsuki's very tired, Ryuko. She's had a long day." Ragyo answered for her eldest daughter. "Isn't that right, Satsuki?" Ryuko saw the grip their mother had on Satsuki's shoulder tighten.
"Y-Yes, Mother." Satsuki responded, refusing to look Ryuko in the eye.
"Be a good dear and go to bed now." Ragyo commanded her, giving her a little push. Mechanically, with another utterance of 'Yes,Mother' Satsuki made the slow ascend up to their shared room without another word.
Ryuko tilted her head. Why was she walking so...funny? The dark haired child looked up at her mother with questioning eyes, but saw that the woman had already turned to leave to go down the hall to her private study.
Sensing something was terribly wrong, Ryuko grabbed the cans and ran up to their room. It was dark, and Ryuko couldn't see much, but what she could see was that Satsuki had thrown her clothes on the floor and gotten herself dressed for bed. Which she never does because Soroi would come and help them get ready for bed. Judging by the lump in the bed, Ryuko knew that she was all the way under the covers. Which she only did when she was upset. And for the first time ever, she could hear Satsuki crying.
Ryuko crawled over to her bed so as not to disturb her and let her know of her presence. When she looked up she was face to face with her older sister. "Sacchan. You promised me we would play with the cans today." She said, her eyebrows furrowing. "Why are you crying?"
Satsuki didn't respond. She rolled over and sniffed. "Please leave me alone, Ryuko." She said quietly after a moment.
But Ryuko didn't understand why she wanted to be left alone. "But the cans. You said we'd play with the cans!" She pounded her small fist on the bed in frustration. When Satsuki didn't respond again, Ryuko slumped down and sighed.
Suddenly, she got a bright idea, and jumped up. crossing over to the side Satsuki was facing, she put one of the cans under the covers and then went over to her bed and went under her covers.
Satsuki noticed the metal object right away and asked into the can, "Ryuko, what are you doing?"
"Trying to make you feel better, duh." Ryuko responded with a short giggle. And then she began to tell a story. It was a silly story about how Ryuko's bear Senketsu and Satsuki's bunny Junketsu could talk, and how they could be worn as silly outfits and that they had to throw pie in their mother's face to stop her from turning everyone into stuffed animals.
When she was done, Ryuko heard something that she had hoped to hear.
Laughter.
Satsuki laughed, and laughed, giggling and snorting at how ridiculous throwing pies in Mommy's face could be. And suddenly she felt better. Like nothing could ruin this one moment for her. "You're a silly girl, you know that?" She told the younger girl.
"Yeah, but you laughed so that makes you silly too," Ryuko said back, giggling. "I love you, Sacchan." She whispered.
Satsuki smiled big. "I love you too, Ryuko."