Thank you Kiyoka Kurosawa for being my beta again.
Originally, this was just two lines at the end of the last chapter, but it just did not flow so I gave it a chapter of it's own. It's suppose to be funny, but I'm bad at humor so I don't know.
Hope you like it.
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The Next Day
A scream resonates within the house.
The scream startles the birds in the trees around the house, causing them to fly away all at once.
At the flight of the birds, the neighbor looks up from his paper, only to return to it a few seconds later, unsure of the cause but not really caring about the disturbance.
………………
Before the Scream
The sun was shining, the birds were chirping happily in the trees and three of the house inhabitants were blissfully ignorant to the problems of the forth.
One lay snoring at the edge of her bed, another in the kitchen was flipping pancakes while the third was pouring his cup of coffee. Each lost in their thoughts, or dreams in the case of one, and enjoying the peace and quiet the early morning offered.
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The Scream
A thud and a second smaller scream are heard after the first as one person falls out of bed at the sound.
'What a wake up call,' she thinks.
In the kitchen a scream, a smaller scream, a thud and the flutter of wings are heard, completely distracting the occupants from their tasks.
With the occupants distracted, the pancake misses the pan, while the coffee misses the cup.
A burnt pancake, a ruined shirt and scorched skin are the consequences.
…………………….
'That feels better' thinks Keiichi as he runs cold water over his scorched skin. He looks over his shoulders at Nanase, whom was busy cleaning up the mess.
Nishiwaki san is just getting up off the floor of the guest room.
Each one forgetting the cause of the situation they are currently in.
Then it hits them…
Keiichi runs to the stairs, not fully turning off the faucet, with Nanase close behind him. Nishiwaki runs out of the room, still in her night clothes. Their destination the same: Yura's room.
Keiichi and Nishiwaki almost run face first into each other with Nanase almost running into Keiichi's back when he suddenly stopped. They were now in front of Yura's room.
Keiichi opens the door, each preparing for the worst so they are taken back by what they find.
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The Source
Sitting on the floor with her legs folded under her is Yura staring at what is in front of her. She has her back to the door and when she hears them enter, she looks over her shoulder. The three adults notices the tears in her eyes are not yet over flowing, but are close to doing so. They also have a clear view of the cause, as it sits in front of her.
Keiichi enters, leaving the other two to stand by the door. He gets on one knee next to Yura and hesitantly raises his hand to her back. Rubbing it, he tries to assure her that everything is going to be fine, that the damage isn't that bad and could easily be fixed. He feels her stop shaking and could see she is calming down, so he gets up. He stands next to her and looks down as she looks up at him, waiting for him to say something else. He tells her she should get ready for school and go down for breakfast.
He leaves without uttering another word to anyone else.
Nanase and Nishiwaki are left standing by the door, and looks at Yura with uncertainty. She senses their uneasiness and smiles, trying to assure them everything is alright now. They both relax at her smile and each tells her they will see her at breakfast. Nanase goes back to the kitchen to finish clearing up the mess and making breakfast and Nishiwaki heads to the guest room to get dressed.
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Left alone, Yura looks back at the damage and sighs. She lifts her hand and runs her finger over the crack on the screen and sighs again.
'Note to self,' she thinks, 'Never go to sleep hugging the laptop again.'