Chapter 24: 妹の戦争 (F)
EVERYONE is on a cloud of huge excitement as the annual Family Day of NeoHorikoshi Gakuen was put into a start. The Principal of the school gave a speech of appreciation to each family who made time just to attend the said event. He also gave thanks to Haru and the Student Council for despite having a few members to work still managed to have the task done magnificently. He welcomed everyone with the warmth that there should be inside a family.
The next person who gave a speech was Akane, somehow surprising everyone because Haru is present but why is the Vice President doing the speech for him?
“As our Principal said a while ago, we warmly welcome everyone to our Family Day. I hope that you will all enjoy this time with your family. Like usual, it is the combination of Sport’s Day and School Festival.”
Akane took air for a moment. “Morning activities will be focused on sports while the afternoon will be free for everyone to go around the booths. There are tasks to be enjoyed as a family, so don’t worry if you won’t be able to play in the morning games. We have prepared a lot of things for all of you to enjoy.”
The atmosphere was added with more excitement after that statement from the Drill Sergeant. Her parents are watching her from the distance with tears in their eyes, so proud of their daughter. What do you expect from this gachi family?
“And now, to officially begin this program, we are going to bring you the representative of our school and their
families into a contest. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s welcome NeoHorikoshi Gakuen’s own idol group—SHIKI!”
The girls’ cheer started to fill the field after hearing that the Shiki will be the one opening the event. The parents’ interest was piqued by the said group. They have heard about them from their daughters but this is the first time that they will see them in person. They never thought that they are really a big deal in this school.
“Known as the one who brought back social life in NHG, the Prince of New Beginnings and a prodigy in the business world, the representative of spring—Yokoyama Haru!”
A loud howling was heard for the respected president of the SC. He is really well-loved by the students because his thoughts are for the welfare of everyone. Haru went out to the improvised stage wearing a pink sports uniform to represent the cherry blossoms of spring.
He came out with an elegant manner where he is well-known for and all his fan girls from the business clubs couldn’t help but to shout his name.
“Up next, representing the overflowing energy there is during summer. The one who has captured the hearts of many due to his remarkable acting and his irresistible charm, the Prince of Summer—Matsui Natsu!”
Natsu came out wearing a yellow version of what Haru is wearing to represent the sun. It also fits his lively personality. He even showed his arm muscles to the audience which intensify the cheer to his name.
“And now, let’s welcome the Prince who has never failed to keep our hearts from swooning through his wonderful husky voice. The leader of our favorite band of this age, representing the cool breeze of autumn—Yamamoto Aki!”
A loud roll of cheers welcomed Aki as he came out on the stage. His uniform is color orange for autumn’s dried leaves. He waved to the audience and raised his fist to say that he is prepared to fight. He smiled to his friends and the smile he gave to Haru made the hearts of the shippers go wild.
Akane gulped. How is she going to present the next person with praise? She blushed for a moment, remembering how she was dumped by this guy that made her shut herself in her room for a week. The serious girl shook her head to get rid of the idea of revenge. It won’t be professional of her if she would shame him in front of all these people.
“For our last member, unexpectedly making his debut to this event; the one who is still able to charm ladies despite his cold treatment; the one who has made everyone curious of how he looks when he smiles; the prince who despite having a cold name has a surprisingly warm heart…”
“Is she confessing again?” Manaki asked Risao with a smirk.
Risao just shrugged his shoulders with a playful smile. “Her feelings might be leaking.”
“Representing winter—Hoshizora Fuyu!”
Fuyu came out with a face tinted with cringe. It was the first in his entire life that he was introduced like that and he wanted to cut off the mic’s signal while he was waiting in the backstage. It certainly made his skin crawl.
“What the hell is with that weird presentation, Haru?” Fuyu asked the SC president who is busy waving at the people.
“What’s weird with that, Fuyu? Akane said nothing wrong.”
“Come on, Fuyu! Just smile and wave, boy!” Aki arched his arm to him and presented him the audience who are busy cheering for them. “Smile and wave!”
“Tch.” Fuyu rolled his eyes which automatically landed to the seat where his girlfriend and her family are sitting. Miyu and Manaka are also sitting with them. A faint smile curved up his lips and he waved at them leaving the field into a louder roar of cheer. Fumie waved back at him as a sign of support, feeling a little bit flustered with the scene.
“Fuyu-nii, gambatte~!” Manaka cheered on top of her voice. She’s waving the banner she and Miyu made in a rush in support of his brother.
“Hoshi-senpai, fight-o~!” Miyu shouted which was followed by a soft push in the shoulder from Fumie. She then turned to Fumie only to eat rock salt.
“I said stop calling him like that!”
The attention of the audience then went back to the MC as Akane continued with the next participants.
“And since this is a family event, one family member of the Shiki’s will participate in this relay. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the younger sisters of the Shiki~!”
A platform then rose upward from the bottom of the stage and revealed the younger sisters who are wearing the same colors as their brothers. There was even a smoke effect which made the presentation more extravagant.
Curiosity covered the whole field as the kids were also covered with smoke. When the smoke screen was fanned away, everyone was up to their seats just to take a better look of the sisters.
There are those who murmured on how Aki and her sister look almost the same while there are people who giggled with Momoko’s cute and pure smile. The appearance of Neru at a quiz television program didn’t make it hard for her to be identified by the crowd but the sudden appearance of Yurina drove everyone into bewilderment. They all once thought that Fuyu is all alone in his life but here he is, presenting his younger sister in the whole school. They cannot deny that the two are oozing with the same aura.
“Neru-chan! Momoko-chan! Yuuka-chan! Yurina-chan!”
Each of them gave a bow to the audience as their names were called. After that, they joined their brothers and all of them bowed. Everyone is already settled with the participants when…
“Chotto matte!”The cameras then focused on the other side of the stage where the voice came from. A bright ray of light somehow prevented the owner of the voice to be seen but the light soon faded only to reveal Maki and a gloomy Yuma behind her, both in military outfits.
The audience laughed but her cuteness got them on hook so they didn’t criticize her. She is widely known as a chuunibyou anyway so no one is really surprised for her to suddenly come out like this.
“I’m also here to join the relay!” Maki protested in a loud voice. Miyu already lost it that she had to cling to Fumie in order not to die of laughter. “And Watanabe Yuma-kun here will serve as my older brother!”
The audience, thinking that probably Maki is lonely for having no one to come for her to this event, accepted her participation with warm hearts. Although she is
originally a participant to this particular contest.
“Why the hell are we going to participate as well, Haru?” Fuyu continued to grumble. “I thought this will only about younger sisters?”
“Isn’t it good?” Haru answered with composure just like a traditional Japanese man. “With this we can be able to play together. You can play with your sister, Yurina, and you can also enjoy the event with your twin brother at the same time.”
Fuyu’s eyes widened after realization struck him. He then turned to Natsu who is busy warming up. Their eyes met but the other guy immediately averted his gaze. Fuyu sighed and then turn back to Haru. “Man, you are really a genius.”
“Don’t think about it too much.” Haru smiled faintly. “I just want to beat you into this.”
Akane went on explaining the rules of the game to the now calm audience. The rules are as follow:
The younger sisters will be participating in a pop quiz that are of middle school level. The one who is quickest to answer the question correctly will give her brother an advantage to the start of the race. Simply put, their rank on this quiz will determine their brothers’ order in the race.
After the quiz, the official race will start. The guys will then have to race towards the next station where they have to reach for the numbers that are hanging in the air only through their mouth. The number corresponds to a costume which they have to wear in the cosplay booth. They will be judged if they have properly worn the item or not. If they pass, they can go and run towards their sisters and pass the baton to them.
The girls will now have to run towards to a mysterious booth and enter it. They have to pass the baton to a mystery player who will continue the race for them. Those mystery players will then race to pass the baton to the brothers who are already back to their ordinary clothes.
The last race will be of the guys running two laps and then the race will finish. With this flow, the younger sisters’ intellect and sports abilities will be measured. Although the over-all outcome of the event is also important, they have their mini games which will determine the best sister.
“But…” Yuma sighed. He is with the Shiki on the other side of the stage, waiting for the quiz to start. “Isn’t Maki-san in an advantage here? She’s already in high school and the quiz level is middle school.”
“Well…” Natsu gulped. “Let’s just see what will happen.”
The girls were made to sit in the center stage. In front of them are buzzers that are just waiting to be pressed for those who are going to attempt to answer. Yurina looked at the other competitors and she was overwhelmed of the calmness and confidence that Neru and Yuuka are showing. They looked like they are veterans of quizzes. On the other hand, Momoko is just smiling as usual. She doesn’t seem to be taking this game seriously at all while Maki is in deep concentration as if she is praying for the stars to align in favor of her victory.
She looked back at the girl wearing pink. Again, her eyes were jailed just to look at Neru. She was surprised to see her in the backstage. For the whole time she was talking with her brother, telling him how excited she is about the event. Neru suddenly turned to Yurina’s way which somehow made the latter stiff. Neru gave her another sweet smile making Yurina curse in her thoughts.
“Come on, Yurina. Focus! At least give Baka-nii-san a favorable spot in the race.” She told herself as she clenches her fist. She isn’t really confident of this type of contest but she has to try her best. If only Manaka could do this part…
“First question!”
The girls were put into serious mode. Their ears wide open for whatever question Akane is going to ask.
“First subject is Math…” The audience gave a chorus of ‘ooh’. They didn’t expect that the Drill Sergeant would start with the most hated subject. “If 2(x + y) = 8 + 2y, what is x?”
Yurina immediately used her palm as scratch paper, scribbling using her finger but a loud buzzer crumbled everything that she is trying to compute. Everybody turned to Neru whose hands are still on the buzzer.
“Yes, Neru-chan?” Akane asked.
“x is equal to 4.” She answered with a cute eye smile.
“She got it right.” Fuyu murmured surprising Aki and Yuma who are sitting beside him.
“You already computed it as well?” Aki asked, his eyes bulging.
“Come on, Agoki. That’s too basic. You can solve it without using a paper.” Fuyu innocently answered. Aki and Yuma looked at him like they are torturing him in their minds.
“Correct! The answer is 4!” Neru received a round of applause from the audience. She immediately gained their attention with that superb way of answering. “With Neru-chan being the first one to give a correct answer, Yokoyama Haru-senpai will have an advantage in the race. Neru-chan, you can now take your sit. Job well-done.”
“That was really fast.” Yurina murmured to herself.
“Yosh!” Maki stretched her arms forward. “It’s time for me to get the next question.
“Next question: There are two popular ways of riding a horse, Western and ______________?”
A buzzer immediately made an alarm. This time it was Yuuka, she hit the buzzer with her fist and she is even panting heavily when the camera turned to her. Probably because of the adrenaline rush.
“English!!!” Yuuka answered with a shout.
“Correct!”
“YES!!!” Yuuka celebrated and then went to take her seat without waiting for Akane to say anything. Aki facepalmed at the sight of his sister getting fired up about horses.
“How am I even supposed to know that?” Maki complained. “That’s not being taught even in highschool! This is unfair!”
“Next question!”
“At least listen to me!”
But the Drill Sergeant already got her ears closed. She went on with reading the next question.
It took quite a long time for the three to be ranked because they kept answering with the wrong answers. In the end, the ranking fell into this: Neru, Yuuka, Yurina, Momoko and Maki. The chuunibyou went back to her seat with her face so pale because of embarrassment. The middle-schoolers got her served in front of all these people.
With this ranking, Haru will have the most advantage in the beginning of the relay. He’ll start with a two-meter lead from Aki and a total of eight-meter lead from Yuma. The crowd went crazy once again when they went to their positions and readied their selves. The tension is so thick that you would think it is real Olympics.
Finally, the real event is about to begin and everyone’s hearts are already racing. The lights of the stage turned red and the screen is divided into five which focuses on each player’s faces. The background music set the mood into a deeper level of frenzy.
At the loud buzzing sound and the stage lights turning green, the runners jolted towards the cosplay booth that is about 150 meters away from the starting point. Even with a favorable lead, the other four runners were able to catch up to Haru. The president was surprised at the speed of the four. Did he become rusty with all the office works that he is doing?
They all arrived on the next stop at almost the same time, fighting their way to the hanging numbers. Yuma, who is unexpectedly serious about the race, immediately took the number with the longest thread. He grabbed the corresponding costume and went inside the booth to change. He was really fast like a
mouse.
The others soon followed and everyone’s hearts are on halt, waiting on who will come first and what kind of costume are they going to wear. Everyone was startled when Haru’s booth opened first. As far as they can remember, he got the number that is hanging higher than the others.
The President is wearing a basketball uniform, no wonder it was very easy to change on it. The judge raised the green flag for him and he is good to go. Soon after Haru went on, another door opened and the whole field rolled into laughter. The one came out is a mascot, a monkey mascot to be exact. It struggled to make its way to the judge’s area because of its giant head. It was Yuma, he fell into the trap of the numbers. He thought that the lowest one will be the easiest costume to change into but he got it all wrong.
Natsu and Aki came out almost at the same time. The audiences were on their feet at the sight of the two princes in costume. Natsu changed into a butler outfit while Aki got a yukata outfit or a traditional Japanese clothing for summer. They both looked marvelous to the point that people would think that there are stylists inside the booth.
Four runners are already back in the track but the winter prince isn’t coming out yet. His opponents have already taken quite a lead from him but his booth’s door is showing no sign of activity.
“What’s happening with Fuyu-kun?” Fumie’s mum asked. Her daughter couldn’t answer her because of worry.
Miyu and Manaka started shouting for Fuyu’s name to call him out but no Fuyu is coming out.
“Don’t tell me Senpai picked up a very embarrassing cos—“
Miyu’s statement was cut when the audience suddenly jumped from their seats. The next thing they saw is the camera focusing to Fuyu who is already back on the track. He is running barefoot and… and… and—
“He is only on SWIMMING TRUNKS!” Miyu shouted, half of her body is almost out of the railings.
Fuyu is running on top speed not because he wants to win the race but he badly needs to change back to normal clothes. Why on earth is swimming trunks included in this game? His face is already red due to embarrassment.
His fans are swooning at the sight of his upper body. His abs and chest muscles are refined that they thought he is some sort of Korean idol. His skin is so white and looks properly moisturized. For them, there was really no need to be embarrassed if you have that kind of body. At least his trunks are below the knee.
“His body is of a navy seal.” Fumie’s father casually commented while his daughter is struggling to free herself from her father’s hand blindfold.
“Papa!” Fumie gritted, trying her hardest to pull her father’s hand away from her eyes. “I want to see Senpai!!!”
“I wonder what kind of routine that boy is doing.”
“Papa!!!”
A big part of the audience is cheering for Fuyu for his late start and basically because of his abs. He effortlessly managed to outrun Yuma who was currently on the last place that time. He couldn’t see well because of the big head and the costume was really heavy. He also managed to outrun Aki because the guy kept on stepping on his long clothes and running on those sandals is really difficult.
“Natsu!!!” The running butler took a look at his brother for the sudden call. His heart almost jumped in joy when he saw that Fuyu is smiling at him. “Don’t tell me that you forgot that you never won against me on a race!?”
Memories of them playing as kids suddenly entered Natsu’s mind. A playful, puppy smile curved up his lips but then soon into a challenging one. “This will be the first time that you will lose!”
Fuyu slowly managed to close the gap between them and taunted his brother with a smirk. “Who told you?”
He managed to take over the second place in just a short time which fired up Natsu even more. He ripped his butler clothes open and revealed his also well-toned body to the whole school. This action almost flooded the field with blood because of nosebleed from the girls.
“I won’t let you show off just like this!” Natsu started to run faster while trying his hardest not to laugh. Just the sight of the two of the Shiki having fun like this is like a source of healing for the viewers. If they also knew the background story of the two they will be moved even more.
Haru was once again surprised when the two caught up on him. He smiled to himself, admitting that he has to work to regain his speed back.
Yurina is already dead nervous as she sees her brother approaching. She was worried about him a while ago but look at him running with the beam on his face.
“It feels nice to see them having fun together, right?”
Yurina turned to Momoko who spoke all of a sudden. She immediately wore her deadly stare to frighten the other girl. “What are you talking about?”
Momoko smiled wider. “I’m talking about
our brothers—“
“Shut up!” Yurina glared at her. “The only siblings Fuyu-nii-san has is me and Manaka. That blonde guy is never related to him. Especially you!”
“But—“
“Where were the both of you when Nii-san was suffering? That guy didn’t even visit our mother’s funeral. Can you consider him a family after that?”
“Hmmm…” Momoko thought aloud, there is no sign that she’s being she is fazed by Yurina’s intimidation. “Don’t you agree with me that we are all kind of caught up in the wrong decisions made by our parents?”
“Shut the fuck up!”
“I mean, the actions and everything… They were all influenced by those wrong decisions. Technically the fault is not ours…” Momoko turned to her brothers and smiled. “How about let’s just all be happy instead of making things harder for everyone of us?”
Yurina fell silent after that. The shout of the audience deafened her and made her return her focus on the game. Her brother suddenly appeared in front of her, passing the baton to her. She, Momoko and Neru took off almost at the same time.
“Yurina, gambare!!!” Fuyu shouted at his sister which made the girl flustered.
“I know exactly what to do!!!” She cursed to herself. She has been running on her top speed but she couldn’t catch up to Neru who is surprisingly fast. “What the hell is with this girl? Brute force and speed!? Is she a girl of the wild!?”
“Tch!” Yuuka tried to catch up with the three girls but her stamina immediately fades out as soon as she started running. “If they only permitted me to bring Sebastian then this race will be a piece of cake!”
“Maki-san, I’m sorry!” Those were Yuuma’s last words before he collapsed. He managed to properly pass the baton to Maki whose eyes are already burning.
“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” With a loud shout, Maki set off and surprised everyone with her…
running form?
“What’s happening to Maki-chan?” Fumie asked, her face looks so troubled. “Why are her eyes closed? And her arms…”
Once again, Miyu lost it. “She’s running like a titan!!!”
“All I have to do is to feel the wind and to be taken by the it! With this I will surely be—“ Maki opened her eyes only to see that Yuuka is still far away from her. “No way! What happened to my ninja-way of running!?”
Neru arrived first at the mysterious booth and shortly after, a familiar guy came out running with the baton on his hand. The guy was a member of the legendary male idol unit
Roku-jihan (Half Past Six), the one who became a bigtime idol producer—Hirahara Rino!
Another surprise came after as the second mysterious player came out. It was Shinoda Mario-sensei also known as Rio of Roku-jihan. He was the one who went out on the field for Yurina. He ran as fast as he could because he knows that the next members will eat them up if they don’t run for their lives.
Momoko finally arrived in the booth and her eyes widened in surprise. The guy took the baton from her and dashed on his way to the field.
“I’ll win this for you, Momo-chan~” was Yuu’s words before he set off. The ace of Roku-jihan and an award-winning actor, Matsui Yuu, is now on the field as well. After that they heard a roar from the booths followed by the rampage of Akimoto Michael, also a member of the said idol group that is known for his brute strength. He is with Aki’s team.
The last member of the group finally came out which received a lot of cheers from the audience. Maki came out of the booth short after. The girl is on tears cheering for the member who came out.
“Papa! Ganbatte~!!!” Maki shouted on top of her voice. Togawa Sae is also now in the field. He just raised his fist to tell his daughter that he heard her loud and clear. The idol turned army general made his debut to the public after a very long time.
General Togawa or was more well-known as Genking, dashed to tighten the gap with a roar until to the point that each competitor is already almost in a straight line. Everyone is on their feet as they are cheering for their own favorites.
But even after a lot of years have passed, nothing has changed to the characters of Roku-jihan. Despite being the shortest, Yuu still managed to take the lead. Behind him are the twin towers of the group, Michael and Sae. Next is the most handsome yet best prankster of the group, the Sadist, Mario. He is just running like he is doing a CM. While on the other hand, Rino fell so much behind despite the huge lead Neru gave him. The guy didn’t improve with his athletic skills. It probably became even worse because he’s always at the office writing songs.
Yuu managed to pass the baton to Natsu who seemed to be in a wary. The son went on, worried about the people who were left in that line. For the first time after so many years, Yuu and Fuyu are such in a close distance.
“Go son! Don’t dare to trip!” Yuu shouted as if his other son is not around. There isn’t any trace of emotion in the face of Fuyu. He is just patiently waiting for his uncle to come…or not?
He keeps on wishing on his mind that Rio would come soon so he could leave this strange air behind. He doesn’t want to look at his father. He doesn’t have any interest to see his face and he doesn’t want him to see him as well.
Michael and Sae arrived at almost the same time, launching Aki and Yuma back on the track. This is the final leg of the race and the brothers are the anchors. They have to run two laps to finish the race.
“Long time no see.”Fuyu suddenly froze when he heard Yuu greeted him. He couldn’t look at him directly but he can see in his peripheral vision that the man is still chasing for his breath after that run. His hands are on his knees for support.
“You grew up well.” Yuu commented in between huffs. “I’m really glad that you are good in keeping secrets. No one even suspected that you came from me.”
Fuyu still didn’t show anything through his face but his fists are saying another thing. They are balled firmly and even shaking. It’s as if he is restricting himself to hit this guy beside him.
“I never wished for that anyway.” Fuyu firmly answered. “You left a home broken just to pursue another woman but you can’t accept a son who is set to find the girl of his dreams. I never liked to be recognized as your own flesh.”
“Hee…” Yuu smirked. He straightened up and turned to Fuyu with a smug face. “Saying those
mean words while having those eyes of
Atsuko just proves that leaving you behind is the best decision.”
Fuyu almost chocked after hearing the name of his mother. How can this guy so casually say her mother’s name as if he didn’t wrong her? He couldn’t even blink his eyes; he could feel the heat filling up the back of his eyeballs. He was about to turn to him but—
“BAKA-NII-SAAAAAN!!!” Fuyu snapped back to reality after that call from Yurina on the other side of the course. “STRETCH OUT YOUR HAND! DON’T BE STUPID!”
Fuyu’s gaze turned back to the track and he saw his uncle waving the baton at him like he is filming a graduation CM. The winter prince stretched out his hand automatically and his focus went back to the race as soon as he felt the baton in his hand. Before he set off he took a quick glance to his father and—
“Sorry, I don’t really talk to strangers.”Haruna couldn’t help but heave a deep sigh after seeing that the two has already been separated. She is sure that Yuu agitated Fuyu just seeing how the two acted. She shook her head with great disappointment and shrank on her seat.
“Why can’t you just be honest with your son and say that you are truly sorry and you are making him your
punishment to yourself?”
Yuma and Aki passed Natsu behind who is strangely slowing down. The viewers started to murmur at each other about the sudden behavior of the usually energetic prince. He knew something has happened on the short period of time his father and brother are together. He couldn’t help but to be bothered by it.
Behind him are Fuyu and Haru racing with each other, both of them gnashing. The two passed him in no time and seeing his brother looking okay somehow calmed him down. He slowly tried to accelerate but it seems like it is already late for him. Yuma already took the first place. Somehow he and General Togawa saved Maki from shame. Aki is in second place. It seems like they don’t need the help of Yuuka’s horse to get a good place.
Haru came third. Even though Neru outshone the others with her wit and sports abilities, they got unlucky with their teammate coming from Roku-jihan. Natsu heard cheers from the crowd and his head automatically raised up only to see that his brother is standing before the finish line.
“Natsu… What the hell are you doing?” Fuyu asked with a hint of annoyance in his face, trying hard to get air. “You could’ve won first place! Why are you spacing out in a race!?”
“F-Fuyu-nii—“
Natsu wasn’t able to continue what he is saying when Fuyu walked towards him. The former backed off a little bit. Why is Fuyu even coming near him when Yuu can clearly see everything? Why is he breaking the law their father has set?
Fuyu suddenly caught him by arching his arm around his neck. He then dragged Natsu who is still feeling awkward. And despite that sudden drama, the two of them finished the race at the same time and they were welcomed with a round of applause from the audience. To most people, that was just a wonderful showcase of their deep friendship but for a few a people this is a very amazing scene of brotherly love.
Fumie was moved by what Fuyu did. She knows exactly how he was trying so hard to ignore his brother in public but she guesses there is a limit to everything. She just couldn’t believe that he would do it in front of everyone, in front of their father.
The younger sisters and the guest players joined them in the finish line. Maki was very happy that their team won even though they were in the toughest position since the beginning. She just won’t let go of her father’s arm and clings to him like how it usually is when they reunite.
They were then invited to the stage and they gave their short speeches. Roku-jihan was also asked to greet the crowd and everyone went wild.
“This is to celebrate the anniversary of our group.” Rino explained. “Even though we were disbanded quite a long time ago, there are still a lot of people who love the group and it is really amazing. I thank Yokoyama-kun for inviting us all.”
“It would be great if
Kai is also here but I guess the King of Fails is already enjoying his stay in heaven.” Sae commented that somehow pricked the hearts of the audience. “It would still be best if all six of us are here. We won’t be Roku-jihan if we are just five anyway.”
“If Kai is here he would just tell a joke and fail miserably like always. Let’s just let him rest and drink his favorite wine in heaven together with his wife.” AkiGori snobbishly said, trying his hardest not to show the tears that he is forcing back.
“Don’t worry…” Mario suddenly stole the mic. “I believe that guy is also in the hearts of many people. He won’t really die if he won’t be forgotten even just by one person.” He then sneaked a glimpse of Yurina and Fuyu who are standing behind them and gave them a meaningful wink.
“Anyway, thank you everyone for having us here! We really enjoyed the event and I hope you enjoyed that race as well.” Yuu waved to the audience while smiling from ear to ear. “I believe that being a family isn’t just by blood but also by the special bonds we create with people like our friends, seniors and juniors and our teachers. I hope you all enjoy this family day~!”
After that, they went backstage and the former national idols were too noisy chatting with each other after a long time. Mario suddenly elbowed Yuu and pointed something with his lips. The other guys just looked at where he was pointing and they saw Fuyu, Natsu, Momoko and Yurina on one corner of the backstage.
“What are you going to do”? Mario challengingly asked Yuu who is intently looking at the four. The latter just shrugged his shoulders and went on walking.
“Let them be.” That’s all and he exited.
“What’s up with this sudden meeting, stupid brother?” Yurina asked with her arms crossed. “You lost the game because of waiting for this guy who gave up midway! How pathetic—“
“Yurina!” The girl suddenly fell quiet at that call from Fuyu. “I know things were hard for all of us but being the eldest, I shall take responsibility with this.”
“W-What the hell—“
“Yurina, this is your other brother, Natsu.”
Yurina’s jaw dropped straight to the ground. Is Fuyu really introducing Natsu as his brother?
“W-W-Wait! What are you—“
“He is my twin brother; if you treat me as your brother then you should do the same to Natsu.”
Fuyu’s firm resolution was properly received by those who are listening. Momoko clapped in joy after that order from Fuyu. The eldest then pushed Natsu towards Yurina to have him introduce himself.
“Y-Yo!” He awkwardly greeted, looking at his brother from time to time as if asking for help. “I am Natsu. I’m sorry… I’m sorry for not being there—“
Yurina was dumbfounded when he saw Natsu shedding tears. The guy couldn’t stop his tears from flowing and he didn’t plan to cry in the first place. Natsu felt his brother’s palm on top of his head and he started to cry even more.
“I-I’m sorry for not being able to show my face on our mother’s funeral. I-I am really ashamed of what I did. I’m really sorry.”
“I told you.” Momoko whispered to Yurina. “We are all victims here.”
Yurina looked at how the usually proud guy cries in front of him. She then looked at her Fuyu-nii who is gesturing for her to do something. The tsundere girl sighed in defeat.
“Alright, alright.
Natsu-nii-san… Are you happy with that?”
Natsu raised his head, his face filled with tears with his cheeks blushing. “How about... How about call me
‘handsome Natsu-nii-chama’?The other girl backed off in disgust. “Dude, are you on drugs!?”
Momoko just laughed at their banters. She then turned to Fuyu and tugged his sleeves.
“How about me?” She asked with an innocent face. “Can I call you, Fuyu-nii-san as well?”
Fuyu leaned forward Momoko which surprised the other girl. “You can. But, don’t be too loud. Are we okay with that?”
The girl’s face brightened after that affirmation. She nodded in excitement and she received a pat in the head as a reward.
“Let’s go out and meet Manaka. It would be unfair for her if we left her out like this.”
The four then went out leaving the others behind.
“Seems like a big family reunion for them.” Aki commented with a huge smile on his face. “Our little Fuyu just stepped out of his shell and took his role.”
“Something might’ve urged him to do that.” Yuma stated.
“Maybe.” Haru thriftily answered. He then turned to his sister who is busy eating a snack with Yuuka. “Neru might’ve won the best sister competition but the real winner here is nobody else but Natsu…”
From: Togawa Sae
Subject: No time to think about one
Message: Hey, Fuyu. I saw you at the Family Day but I wasn’t able to talk to you because I immediately left soon after the event finished. I really wanted to talk to you but maybe next time.
Have you thought about the offer? Give me a call when you finally have arrived in a conclusion.
I heard that you found the girl you were searching for. It’s a waste that I wasn’t able to meet her but Maki showed me her picture. They seem really close.
Anyway, is Maki really not enough? Haha. See you next time I get an off from work. Think about it well, Fuyu. This is for your future.
**Sorry for being absent last week. A lot of things happened. Sorry also for not properly replying to comments of the last chap. I will respond in the next chapter.
Also, my updates will be irregular for now. I'm undergoing a lot of changes so yeah.. I hope you enjoyed this arc and I also hope you are all ready for the next arcs to come. If I say ready, you know what I mean already. Haha. See you~ **
Topic: The Waste of a Wish - [ANNOUNCEMENT] (Read 148775 times)