Sibling Love (Sequel to I Just Want To Be Loved)

Dangers of Overworking

Kirika was tired when she returned home. She meant to make a start on an essay, but she accidentally fell asleep after five minutes.

When Kirika woke up, she found herself in her bed. She was in her pyjamas and her hair was untied. She was hungry, so she changed back into her clothes and went to the kitchen.

Kirika found a note next to a bowl of spaghetti carbonara.

Dear Kirika,

I have to work late tonight, so I prepared your dinner. You can play games on your computer for an hour before bed if you wish. If you need me, call me or come to my office. Don't sleep too late. Love you.

Shu

Kirika ate her spaghetti happily. But just as she was finishing her meal, a sudden thought came to her.

She was certain that Shu also had a late night yesterday. When she had woken up around two in the morning to use the bathroom, she had noticed that Shu wasn't home yet. Shu had only returned after Kirika had finished doing her business and was going back to her room.

"Shu, why are you back so late?" Kirika had asked.

Though tired, Shu had said, "It's nothing, sis. Go back to sleep."

Kirika had been too sleepy to comprehend the situation at the time, but now she thought of all the times Shu had come home late or worked late in the night.

Last week, Kirika had learned that not getting enough rest was bad for health. Now she was worried. Instead of playing Roblox on her laptop, she dressed up in warm clothing and went straight to the Raging Bulls.

The Raging Bulls was of walking distance, so Kirika could get there easily. Instead of stopping to talk to the team as she usually did, Kirika went straight to Shu's office. For the first time, she went in Shu's office without knocking.

Shu was startled to suddenly see his sister. "Kirika, what's wrong?"

"I'm worried about you," said Kirika.

Shu looked at her, puzzled. "Why do you say that?"

Kirika looked at Shu. She could tell that he was tired. Shu had dark circles under his eyes and he seemed sleepy.

"You are not getting enough sleep," said Kirika. "It's not healthy to not get enough sleep."

Shu patted his sister's head. "It's okay. I will be fine."

"Shu, you came home really late last night."

"It was actually this morning."

"Morning?"

"Yeah. It's considered morning after midnight."

"Well, I know that you get up at five every morning. I can't imagine how tired you feel every morning. Don't you ever get tired?"

"Sometimes. But I'm used to it."

Kirika was right to be concerned. She was young, but it was obvious even to her that Shu cared very little about his health. And unfortunately, Shu's neglect of rest had very serious consequences.

Kirika ended up falling asleep in Shu's office, so he carried her home and tucked her into bed.

"Sleep tight, sis," said Shu. He went to his room and started to work there (does this guy ever stop working?).

Kirika woke to hear a strange sound. "Hello?" she asked. No answer.

Just then, Kirika heard a weird sound and noticed that's the light in Shu's room was still on. She went to peek in Shu's room.

To her astonishment, she found Shu rearranging his clothes. "Shu, what are you doing?" she asked. There was no answer from him.

"Hello, I'm talking to you," she said. It was very unlike Shu to ignore her like this.

Kirika went over to Shu. She noticed that his eyes were glassy and his gaze seemed unfocused. She felt nervous.

"Shu, what's wrong with you?" she asked. "You're giving me the creeps!"

But there was no response from Shu, which scared her. Kirika suddenly noticed that all of Shu's clothes were arranged wrongly. Shu was a total neat freak, so something must be up.

Kirika ran to use Shu's phone and called 911. "911. What's your emergency?"

"My big brother is acting weird! He isn't responding to me and he's not being himself."

"Oh, okay. We will send someone to your house. What's your address?"

Kirika was in the middle of giving her address when she heard a thump from Shu's room. She went to investigate.

Kirika discovered Shu lying unconscious on the floor. She wasn't sure if he had fallen asleep or passed out.

"There's another emergency! My brother has fainted!"

Kirika tried to shake Shu awake, but to no avail. She was alarmed now. She decided to call Valt as well. Valt had gone back to Spain yesterday.

Valt got alarmed when he heard about Shu collapsing. "What? Is Shu alright?"

"I don't know," said Kirika. She was practically in tears.

Paramedics came and did a checkup on Shu. He ended up being taken to the hospital.

"Is Shu okay?" asked Kirika. She was practically in tears. Kirika rarely cried, but she was terrified of losing her brother.

"It's alright," said a paramedic. "Where are your parents? Let me call them."

"No, don't call my parents," said Kirika. "I'll manage."

But the adults weren't going to let a young child be left home alone and decided to take her to the hospital as well where someone can keep an eye on her.

Kirika didn't sleep the whole night. She hoped that Shu would be alright.

In the morning, a nurse explained to Kirika that Shu was affected by exhaustion and overworking. "Can I see him?" asked Kirika.

"Not just yet," said the nurse. "He needs to rest for now. Oh, and he may have been sleepwalking last night."

"Sleepwalking?" asked Kirika. "Don't sleepwalkers walk with arms outstretched?"

"No, that only happens in movies," said the nurse. "Well, you should rest too. You look exhausted."

Kirika was tired, but her mind was too active to feel sleepy. She wanted to see Shu and know that he would be fine.