Chapter 3 ~ Yuiren

The fading sunset caressed the walls of the sizable house on the outskirts of town, turning the white walls into a subdued orange as dusk began to make its presence known. Toys littered the garden, along with a small bicycle that hadn't been put away, and the teenage girl who was just coming up the front walk proceeded to pause and roll her green gaze heavenward as she noticed the less than tidy state of the garden. The lawn was wet, there were muddy footprints all the way to the front door (which had been left open) and inside, she could hear the gleeful shouts of her younger siblings – who, by the way, were not supposed to be home alone while their parents were still at work.

Flipping her shoulder-length black hair behind her back – with red highlights today, just because she was in the mood for bright colors – she carefully hopped over the muddiest patches and entered the house.

They were a family of nine, it was usually a mess, but because the two youngest members of her family had been left to their own devices, it was worse than usual. She hadn't been aware that her brother and sister had this many toys between them, but it looked like someone had sent King Kong through a toy store.

With a sigh, she hung up her jacket and took off her shoes, placing them in the usual place in the shoe rack, then stepped out of the doorway and called the kids.

"Aoi! Haruna-chan!"

At first, silence, then, a clattering of feet and excited yelling.

"Onee-san! You're back!"

"Onee-san, onee-san!"

And as the eight and six-year-olds pounced on her, knocking her onto her butt on the floor, Sukunami Yuiren's face broke into a gentle smile.

"Where's Daichi-nii?" she asked, referring to her 15-year-old brother who was supposed to be taking care of the kids.

Haruna beamed up at her. "He went to a friend's house to get something for school. Onee-san, can we play?"

"Clean up the garden first, and the stuff here – and don't give me the Big Eyes," Yuiren said sternly, as her sister stuck out her lower lip and pouted. "Okaa-san will have a fit when she sees this, and you know it. I'll help, but then I have to go pack. I'm leaving tomorrow."

It was a mistake. Both chidren's faces instantly fell. Haruna actually looked like she might cry. Yuiren felt like she'd kicked a puppy.

"It's not forever," she assured them. Aoi frowned.

"That's what Yasuo-nii said before he left, too," he said softly, little voice trembling, and Yuiren sighed, gathering her siblings into a hug as Haruna-chan started to sob in earnest.

Packing and cleaning would have to wait.

Much later, her other sister came to find her when she was alone in their room, trying to jam her clothes into her bag. Hikari was younger than her by a year, and they were quite close. She knew by the expression on Yuiren's face that talking wasn't going to help right now, so instead she went to help remove some of the clothing and refold it so that it would fit better. They worked together in silence, and the older girl sighed in relief as she finally managed to zip her bag and toss it on the floor at the foot of her bed.

Hikari grinned. She was almost a younger version of her sister, but without the highlights, and her eyes were brown, like their father's.

"You forgot to pack the most important thing," she said, lightly, and Yuiren frowned.

"What? I'm not bringing Cuddles-san," she said gruffly, glancing at her old teddy bear with a light blush and a scowl. Hikari laughed.

"I know, and you'll miss him, but I wasn't referring to him," she said, with a mock-respectful bow towards the bear. Getting to her feet, she moved with light steps to their dresser, and proceeded to remove one photograph and a poster from where they had been taped to the mirror, and handed them to Yuiren, who smiled distractedly as she took them both.

The poster was of Starish, and she wasn't quite sure she wanted to bring it. It might be a little embarrassing, but it was her favorite poster, signed by all the members. But they would be there, and she would be studying with them, and she couldn't quite pretend that she wasn't nervous about the idea. But she wasn't doing this for them, she was doing this for the person in the photograph her sister had just handed to her.

Tracing a finger over Ittoki-san's signature, she turned to the photograph and looked somberly at the image of her twin brother, taken just before he'd died in a skiing accident.

Yasuo.

Up till recently, she hadn't been able to face school, nor her friends, nor anyone else besides her family, really. Her parents had been home-schooling her – they understood her grief. Half of her soul had died just a year and a half ago, and Yuiren had been barely surviving, only existing, trying to climb up out of the pit of grief.

But then, she had let her sister drag her to a Starish concert, and she had heard their music, and as it touched something deep within her she had remembered her twin's dream.

Yasuo had been a talented musician, a talented singer. His dream had been to be an idol. Now he was dead, but Yuiren had been touched by the music and a sudden urge to see her brother's dream live on had hit her like a bolt out of the blue.

She wasn't as good as he was, might never be. But suddenly, she couldn't bear to see Yasuo's dream die with him like that. It would be like admitting that all traces of her brother had died with him, just like that, and she couldn't do it. She wasn't strong enough.

She had talked to her parents, and they had been surprisingly supportive. A little worried about the fact that she wasn't living her own dreams, but she had assured them that Yasuo's dream was her dream, now.

And perhaps in her entire family, only Hikari knew that this wasn't the entire truth…

But for now, it was all that was keeping her going.

Distracted with sliding the poster and photograph into a folder to bring with her, Yuiren failed to notice as her sister nodded thoughtfully to herself and carefully snuck over to her side of the bed to gently push Cuddles-san into Yuiren's luggage as well.

"Keep an eye on her, Cuddles-san," Hikari whispered to the teddy bear. "I know Yasuo-nii's watching over her, but it's Yuiren, and he could always use a bit of help from someone more experienced."

And the beady black eyes of the friendly, worn bear seemed to wink at her right before she zipped the bag shut.

Turning around, Hikari crossed her fingers for luck, pasted a smile on her face, and skipped over to her sister to teasingly remind her: "Hey, don't forget to get me Hijirikawa Masato's signature while you're there!"

Author's Note: Yay! And now that we've met all three (3) leading ladies, hopefully this will get really interesting. R&R if you have a heart, and if you did, thanks.