I Have How Many New Brothers?! (Brothers Conflict fanfiction)

Chapter 2 - Promises and Goodbyes

I distracted myself with the task of preparing breakfast for us three. I didn't want to think about how, in a few hours, I was going to say goodbye to the house I've been living in for countless years and to the people I've known for more than half my life.

What to cook, what to cook, I pondered. Eggs? How about an omelette? Hmmm. They don't seem to fit the mood. I know! The thought came to me. I'll make pancakes!

I cleared the countertop and made some batter. I was halfway through cooking the pancakes when Sora appeared in the doorway wearing just his pants and a towel over his head. He sloppily dried his hair with the towel. He stopped when he saw me staring at him and smirked. "Oh, sorry Yui. Do you find this-" he gestured to his shirtless torso "-distracting?"

I scoffed. "Oh yeah, I just can't stop my eyes from admiring your hot bod," I said sarcastically. He smiled smugly, satisfied with my response, and sat down at the dining table. He drummed on the table grinning to himself. "Sora, I know that my beautiful face is enough to make every mortal stop and stare in awe, but that grin of yours is a little suspicious," I say whilst cooking the pancakes.

"You're wearing your sweatband. So am I," he says happily. "That makes me really happy. Do you still remember when we got these?" I looked to his sweatband which had a picture of the sky. I remember alright. That was one of the best days in my life.

Sora and I had been friends ever since the day he saw me sitting alone behind the school. I was by myself because Ema's and my friends had approached us to hang around. I knew that they were closer to Ema than me, that I was not needed, nor wanted, so I told Ema I had something to do and that I'd meet up with her at the end of the day. But, in reality, I just went behind the school to wait for the bell signalling the end of lunch to ring.

Little Sora with his long-but-short, spiky-yet-smooth black hair and cute voice had approached me that day and asked, "Want to be friends?" I remember looking up at him and seeing neither pity nor empathy reflected in his eyes. I saw hope. Genuine hope that I'd agree.

I'd stared at him when he asked me that. I didn't reply, just stared blankly. He didn't walk away or yell or anything of the sort. He just smiled widely and plopped down next to me without asking permission. "Okay then, how about best friends? Do you want to be best friends, Yui?" He'd said and held a fist in front of me.

I was always surrounded by friends. But those friends only stuck with me for a little while before moving on to other friends. I'd never know what a best friend was. And here, Sora was, offering it to me so innocently.

I smiled and held my fist out too. "Best friends... Forever." He didn't back away or voice any objection to my addition.

"It's a promise," he'd said, without hesitation and we bumped fists. And that was how our friendship began. To this day, we've still kept that promise and we both understand how important that day was to each of us.

I've come to know more about Sora. I learnt that he was the only son to a rich corporation, and he was under a lot of pressure to succeed because he was to take over the corporation when he got older. He'd get perfect results in tests, athletics and everyone knew his name. However, because he was so exceptional, not many people would approach him, so, like me, he was alone.

I found out about his problems whilst I was still coping with the shock of finding out I was adopted. I'd gone out to the shops and bought him a present because I wanted to cheer him up. I'd bought him a blue sweatband with a picture of the sky on it. I'd put it in a little blue box and placed a note inside that read:

To: Sora
From: Yui

You know, in Japanese, Sora means "sky"? I think that's great because for you, the sky's the limit! I got you a sweatband because I bet no one else will have something as cool as this!

The next day, we met up at our usual place behind the school and I said, "I have a present for you."

He stared at me for a second and grinned. "I was just about to say the exact same thing." He pulled out a box, identical to mine.

We passed each other the boxes and opened them hurriedly. I opened mine to see a black sweatband with a chain link design on it. I saw a note peeking out from the side and opened it.

To: Yui
From: Sora

I did some research and found out that your name means "link" in Japanese. That definitely describes you because you're Yui Hinata, the chain that links everyone together! I know you might think a sweatband is lame, but I bet no one else will have something as cool as this!

We looked at each other in silence then burst out laughing. We calmed down a little and held out our fists at the same time. "Forever," we said in unison and bumped fists. I think that little note was what brought me out of my identity crisis.

I snapped out of my reverie to notice that I had almost finished cooking the pancakes. "Why did we get sweatbands again?" I asked Sora, grinning.

"I don't know, but I bet no one else will have something as cool as this!" he replied enthusiastically and beamed at me.

Just then, Ema walked in, hair still wet from the shower she'd just taken, with Juli on her shoulder, squeaking angrily. "Chii! Look at this mess, you're leaving today, the house must be clean!"

"Juli, we need to eat before we even consider cleaning this dump." I told him sternly. He squeaked back in reluctant agreement. Ema sat next to me and shifted a little at Sora's shirtless-ness.

"Thanks for the food!" I shout and dug in to the pancakes filled with chocolate spread. We all ate quickly and by 9:00am, we'd cleaned the dishes and started cleaning the living room.

The doorbell a not too long after and my other friends who'd come to the party earlier arrived to help with the cleaning. I left the living room, bathroom, games room and kitchen to them whist Ema and I put everything in our room into boxes.

By the time the movers arrived, everything was spotless and packed up and in less than an hour, they'd moved out all of our stuff. The house looked empty and unwelcoming.

Ema and I went outside to the car. I turned around and all of our friends were waving like crazy, a few had tears in their eyes. "We'll miss you guys!" I shouted and waved back as enthusiastically as I could. Sora approached me and gave me a big hug.

"I promise to visit soon. Take care of yourself." He pulled back and smiled mischievously. "You can come back if you miss me too much," he added with a wink.

"Better leave a spare mattress on the floor then, 'cause I'll come knocking," I said, laughing.

He suddenly pressed his lips on my forehead and held up my arm with the sweatband. "The chain that links everyone together. Don't forget."

I blushed and looked at him one last time before hopping into the car. I waved at everyone until they were out of sight. I thought about Sora kissing my forehead for a bit, and smiled to myself, before a more immediate thought come to mind.

I'm on my way to meet my new brothers for the first time.