Blues on the Canvas

4.4

September 20th of 2016

Hiro stood in his kitchen, reading a recipe that he once stumbled upon on his feed while he was waiting for his turn to perform overseas. He invited his sister for dinner that night for both fun and discussion, and he had missed her deeply after his overseas schedules.

Hanae sat in front of the television, checking on her souvenirs in case she had left any behind in her dorm.

"Hanae! Dinner's ready, pasta is fine right?" Hiro beamed, almost skipping in his steps for joy of seeing his sister.

"Pasta is fine thanks, here's your souvenir." she replied, barely matching even a third of his energy. She had been drained from dealing with tests and assignments, and even rehearsals for upcoming shows. 

Hiro opened the bag to see a bottle of Pineapple wine and a black pearl accessory. 

"Hanae...how did you bring alcohol back?"

"The teachers bought a lot while they were drunk so, everyone got a bottle. The accessory is for your microphone by the way, it seems to fit." 

"I got you something too from Paris, the stage there was great! Did you watch it live?"

Hanae nodded, and gave him a small applause. Hiro gave her a bag and she opened it to see perfume and a beret. She thanked him and placed it to a side, then turned on the television, only to see their father.

"What...what is it this time-" Hiro grumbled, sitting beside Hanae on the sofa with a more serious face. Hanae on the other hand narrowed her eyebrows at the screen.

"We're back at Ultra Sportsgear's headquarters to check out the current situation! It seems the business saviour Teruya Uchida has once again prevented a company tragedy from happening between major companies! Uchida has been known for possessing a massive understanding on businesses and always know what is the best way to develop fast and at a pace where his workers and partners can follow along! From experts, they've analysed how well his collaborations with Big Bang Burger have went! If you didn't know, Uchida has received the Best Company award six years in a row! Oh and he's coming out right now!"

The siblings both knew, he was nothing like a saviour at all.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

At night, Hanae returned to her dorm, her head clouded with thoughts. And again, she had this dream of the illusion she saw, every single night. She neither knew what it was, or why it was so vivid, but she was sure her mother was in it.

These days, she felt empty, hollow even. She played her music with ease but teachers had been saying her emotions into the piece had gone a bit staler than usual. She worked on tasks at school but with a constant headache, even though she took medicine. A flicker of doubt crept into her, she was worried she was having mental issues.

But it wasn't entirely her fault, the things she had heard from the people around her and even her father, always found their way to grow a sprout of anxiety in her. The physical pain she sometimes endured from her father, never healed mentally. 

She tossed and turned on her bed, clutching her doll close, sometimes pausing to grip her head out of pain. Some days she did wish Yusuke stayed, so she had someone to talk to, but he was an artist and she knew that he needed lots of space to survive. 

With a sigh, she turned on her whale diffuser and placed the blankets over her head to sleep, hoping for just one night that wasn't going to be a sleepless one.