Chiba Erika
I take a deep breath in, then slowly let it out in a sigh.
At least, when training for the Nine Schools Competition starts, I'll get to spend less time at home, I think to myself as I open the front door of my house after having stood there for a good minute.
I take off my shoes and walk through the kitchen where, as usual, my mother is busy making dinner.
She smiles at me and says, "Welcome home, Erika! Both of your brothers just happen to be visiting at the same time this weekend!"
That made my eyes light up. "They're here already?"
"Yes, they should be in the dojo if you want to see them."
I quickly rush outside to the private dojo connected to our house. And sure enough, my older brothers, Toshikazu and Naotsugu were there playfully sparring with each other using wooden swords.
The two see me approaching and wave as I run in and hug both of them at the same time.
"Well aren't you energetic," Toshikazu remarks.
"You have no idea how boring this house has become with only our parents," I say, shaking my head.
Toshikazu is the oldest brother and is already in the workforce, working for the police. He has shaggy, black hair with small, squinty eyes. He moved out of the house multiple years ago.
But the second oldest brother, Naotsugu, only just moved out last year. He graduated top of his class from First High last year and is now attending magic university. Naotsugu looks completely different from his brother with well-groomed brownish-red hair, large, bold eyes, and much paler skin. Some say that Naotsugu could have easily become a model if he wanted to. The two brothers are so different that most people can't even tell that the two are brothers.
"That uniform looks good on you," Naotsugu comments after taking a good look at his little sister.
"You think so?" I say while twirling around in the dress, "I like it because it was designed with combat in mind. This material of the dress is super flexible so I can still move around freely."
"It all makes sense now!" Toshikazu exclaims, laughing a little. "You never liked dresses before because you couldn't fight in them!"
I roll my eyes a little and start laughing too, "Well yeah, I had to be prepared in case you wanted to beat me up."
"You were that scared of me? Man, if only I'd known early, who knows how many chores I could have forced you to do," Toshikazu patted his little sister on the head.
"Enough talk!" I shout, pushing Toshikazu's hand away. "Let's spar! Have you guys heard? I'm going to be representing First High in the capture the flag tournament in the Nine Schools Competition! I want to get some early training in."
"Really?" Naotsugu nods approvingly, "I don't recall any school letting course 2 students represent them in the Nine Schools Competition. You must've really impressed them!"
Toshikazu butts in, "I heard that all the schools are scared of Third High this year for the Freshman capture the flag tournament. Rumor has it they'll be sending out not one, but two heirs of the ten master clans, with one being the Ichijou heir, along with the genius child Cardinal George."
I make a pouting face, "What are you suggesting here, brother?"
Toshikazu waves his hands signalling that I had been mistaken, "I don't mean to suggest that you're not qualified for this. I have faith that my little sister can beat anyone if she puts her mind to it. I'm just trying to reason why your school would allow any course 2 students to participate in such a prestigious event, you know, from a logical perspective."
"That being said," Naotsugu adds, "This likely does mean that your school has very low hopes of winning the Freshman capture the flag event. Which then in turn means they must be extremely confident in First High's ability to win the other events."
"Oh please," I shake my head, "I think you guys are being too calculated about this. Even if the odds aren't in our favor, I know for sure we have a chance of winning. I know my capabilities can match that of members of the ten master clans, and I know for a fact that some of my teammates are quite strong too."
Toshikazu grabs a wooden sword from a rack in the dojo and throws it towards me, "Regardless, you know that both Naotsugu and I will be cheering for you, and we always will, even if no one else will."
His remark catches me off guard and makes me smile, "Yeah, I'm glad to have you two as well."
With wooden swords in hand, the three of us spend the rest of the afternoon sparring and training, as well as goofing around in the dojo.
As the sun begins to set, mother calls us all in for dinner.
"Wow, time went by fast there. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun," Naotsugu says as we walk into the kitchen filled with delicious food.
Toshikazu looks around, "Is father back yet? Will he be eating with us?"
"Who knows," mother replies frowning, "He's been coming home later and later recently. I suspect he has extra work to do in preparations for the Nine Schools Competition."
My father works as a government official. Even though the Nine Schools competition is a competition only for nine high schools, it is still one of the biggest events of the year, with students and spectators pouring in from all over the country to participate and watch. My father must be working to sort out the accommodations for so many people.
As I'm eating, I feel that the food today tastes better than usual. But upon closer inspection, it doesn't look any different from the food that mother cooks every day.
Maybe it's because I get to eat with Toshikazu and Naotsugu like when we were younger. I look over at the two of them joking with each other and playing with their food and I can't help but to smile.
After eating for a short while, I hear the front door opening.
"That must be dad," I say.
My mother gently asks, "Erika, do you mind greeting him?"
I make a slight frown. Normally, I would have simply refused, but since this is a special day with the entire family gathered, I oblige.
I walk to the front door and see my father taking off his shoes.
"Welcome home, father," I say while bowing. I walk over and take his jacket and his suitcase.
"Thank you, darling," my father replies, in a tone that holds no sincere gratitude, as if what I'm doing for him is simply expected of me.
He walks into the kitchen, ready for dinner, and I follow behind him after hanging up his jacket and putting away his suitcase.
"Wow," my father comments, "It's been so long since we've all been together as a family."
Both Toshikazu and Naotsugu have stopped messing around and are now simply calmly eating their dinner. For a second, the house becomes silent except for the clattering of dining utensils.
My father speaks up again, "I don't believe I've seen you since the school year started for you, Naotsugu. How has university been like?"
Naotsugu quickly glances at Toshikazu. Toshikazu merely stares at his food and continues eating. All three of us knew that father was purposefully avoiding talking to Toshikazu.
"University has been great so far. I like the faster paced learning compared to high school. I think it suits me well.
Then my father turns to me, "Erika? I'm sorry I've been so busy that I don't think I've asked you yet. How has high school been?"
"It's been fine." I hesitate, not sure if I should say the next line or not. "I will be competing in the Freshman capture the flag event at the Nine Schools Competition which is happening in a few weeks."
"That sounds incredible," my father's remark causes me to look up, a bit surprised. Unfortunately, that surprise is quickly followed by disappointment with a single word, "However. . ."
My father continues, "That event is very dangerous, especially for such a young girl like yourself."
My mother suddenly chimes in after not talking the entire dinner, "Yes, I've read stories of students losing fingers or getting severe concussions from that event."
My father nods in agreement, "That would ruin the rest of your life if they happen, my dear. For your own safety, Erika, I don't think you should compete in the event."
Even though I mostly expected this response from my parents, it still made me mad as hell. "You didn't say that when Naotsugu told you he was participating in the Nine Schools Competition. All four years in fact! Why am I any different?!"
"For one, Naotsugu was a course 1 student, so these magic combats are less dangerous for him. Second, he's going to be the heir of the Chiba clan. He needs to prove to himself and the world that he's capable of such responsibility. You don't have that burden!"
I became furious. I've always hated how much my parents liked Naotsugu, never shying away from displaying him as their favorite child, even though he isn't the eldest.
Before I can control myself, I realize that I've already stood up. I might as well go all the way, so I just storm out of the kitchen and into my room. Naotsugu tries his best to calm father down while Toshikazu quickly chases after me.
Knock. Knock. "Erika? Can I come in?" Toshikazu asks gently from behind the closed door of my room.
"Yeah."
He sits on my bed next to me and just sighs.
We both sit there for a few seconds before he finally says, "If you think that this Nine Schools Competition is important to you. . . then you should just ignore dad and just go for it. I'll be sure to support you. And Naotsugu too, of course."
I just sit there, not sure what to say. So Toshikazu continues, "You've always tried so hard to be the good girl that mom and dad want you to be, even though clearly it isn't who you are."
Toshikazu looks at the ceiling, reflecting on his own life, "I've been there too. I wanted to please our parents. I wanted to be the proper heir to the Chiba family like I was supposed to. But in the end, I decided that I didn't want to be who they wanted me to be. I wanted to help and protect people and our community, not just this family. When I finally made that decision, I stopped caring about what dad thinks of me, because I'm the judge of myself. But making that choice was the hardest part."
Toshikazu looks me in the eyes and holds up my chin, "Well, my sweet baby sister, now it's your time to choose. What will you live for? What will you fight for? Decide how you're gonna deal with mom and dad based on that."
I think for a while, What do I want to fight for? I guess. . . I haven't found that thing that I am so passionate about that I would be willing to sacrifice everything to achieve. How do I even find such a thing? Do I wait for it to hit me one day? . . . And what if it never does. . .
Toshikazu stands and breaks my train of thought, "Take your time. It would suck if you made the wrong choice and regretted it for the rest of your life, hehe." With a wave of his hand, he left the room.
I lay down on my bed, with my arms stretched out, and try to think hard about all this.
The next thing I know, I am being shaken and so I jolt up, smacking Naotsugu in the head with my forehead.
"Ouch" Naotsugu whimpers as he grabs his forehead and falls backwards onto the floor.
I too rub my head in pain. "What are you doing?"
"It's getting late. You'll catch a cold if you sleep the whole night like this."
"I'm not a baby anymore, you know. Wait a second. . . it's night already?"
Naotsugu nods, "Yeah, mom and dad both went to bed already. Toshikazu too."
"Hm. . . I want to go for a stroll. Will you accompany me?"
"As you wish," Naotsugu smiles, takes my hand, and bows, as if he were a knight. I can't help but start laughing myself.
Naotsugu and I walk around the neighborhood, side by side. At first, neither of us say anything.
Finally, I work up the courage to ask, "How do you do it? How do you manage to please mother and father all the time?"
"Well, it's not as easy as it looks. It was my choice to act as their ideal son."
"Your choice? What were you choosing between?"
"I could have been like Toshikazu, just rebelled against our parents and did whatever I wanted. You may not realize this, but I've made a lot of sacrifices."
"Really? I wasn't aware the whole time."
"Ha, here's a little secret. Back in high school, I really liked a particular girl. I guess you could call her a 'bad girl.' The type of girl that is a lot of fun to be with. But I knew she wasn't the type of girl our parents would approve of."
"And so you didn't go after her?"
Naotsugu sighs, "Yeah."
I am speechless. To me, Naotsugu has always seemed like the romantic type, so hearing him give up on a girl he loved just because of our parents surprised me.
"But," Naotsugu continues, "I don't regret my choices. Being on mom and dad's good side does have its perks. So whatever you choose to do, there will always be trade offs."
He raises his arms above his head, his hands resting against the back of his head. Naotsugu looks up at the starry night and says, "Just make sure you have a strong reason for doing so."
"I guess that's my problem," I ponder, "I don't think I feel strongly enough about anything. I go along with what our parents want most of the time because I don't really have a reason to go against them. And when I do go against them it's often just for the sake of going against them."
"Is that how you feel about the Nine Schools Competition as well?"
"I guess not. . ."
"Then don't overthink it. A day will come when you find that special something or even someone that you feel so strongly about that you'll do anything to fight for it, even to die for it. Until then, just go with what your gut tells you. So shout it out loud! Tell the stars what your gut is telling you!"
"I. . . I want to fight in the Nine Schools Competition!" I yell as lou as I can into the empty night, "I want to be with my friends and show the world what I'm capable of!"
Naotsugu smiles, "There. Feel better?"
I catch my breath and smile, "Yeah, much better. I'm going to kick some ass in the tournament. I'm going to show our parents that I'm not just a helpless damsel."
