From Distant Lands (Shiori's Story)

Chapter 2

 After an extremely long couple hours of unpacking both my room and then Kaida's, I finally get to lay down and relax. If I hadn't gone over to her room and watched her unpack until all her stuff was put away, she would've let the boxes sit for weeks. Maybe months. Then she'd make me paw through everything to help her find things at the bottom of piles. I can't help but cringe just thinking about it. Although I love my sister, she gets on my nerves sometimes.

"I'm glad I have a room to myself now." I say in a sing-song voice and stretch out in my bed. After a few minutes, I sit up. "Wow it's quiet." As overwhelming stillness fills my room, I become uneasy and twist my hair in-between my fingers. Usually, Kaida would've started ranting about something or turned-on music by now. "Oh! I'll turn on music!"

I grab my phone to open Spotify, but a reminder flashing on the screen causes me to forget about music. SHIT. I FORGOT. I rush over to my desk and rummage through all the notebooks I brought with me to find the one with the research I did on the Japanese agencies.

"I can't believe I forgot about picking agencies for the work studies. I never forget about homework. All because I had to help Kaida-" I pause looking through my notebooks and gasp. "She probably forgot about it too! I have to remind her!" When I run over to my door and open it, my sister is there, mid knock and gasping for air.

"The agencies!" We exclaim at the same time. She follows me into my room as I go back to searching for the notebook.

"You did the research right?" She demands, dropping a book on my desk, and my eyes narrow.

"Of course, I did." Maybe it's in my backpack? I move over to my bed where my bag is laying. "Do you have any idea where you want to go?"

"If I did, would I be here?" She barks back at me and my head snaps around.

"Listen, attitude." I warn her. "Calm yourself before I put you to sleep on my floor." I find the notebook in my bag and walk over to her, opening it up. "Look, these agencies are the ones best suited to you and your goals. Three of the top heroes are included here as well as some of the more active agencies when it comes to dealing with villains." I flip a couple more pages. "And these ones are a little more tailored to support heroes and the like." She nods, taking the notebook.

"Your Kanji is so much better than mine." I roll my eyes at her compliment, no doubt trying to smooth over the tension between us.

"Focus, Kaida." I walk over to my desk and sit down, staring down at my sheet and thinking about the agencies I'd want to join. It'll probably take her a while to read over all the details I-

"Right. I want Endeavor." My head whips up and I stare at her in disbelief.

"Endeavor?" She nods.

"Endeavor. Number one hero. Need." She... she didn't even read about the other agencies...didn't even look. I put so much work into writing down everything that she might want to know. Gazing at the notebook in her hand, my eyes go fuzzy.

"I totally didn't need to do all of that research." I whisper to myself.

"Why not?" She asks innocently and my arms start trembling as I try to keep my outrage contained. I slowly look into her eyes.

"Well, it's obvious that you know what you want. And I'm obviously going to go with you." She always does this... she couldn't sit down and discuss this with me. Or even ask my opinion. She's always like this. Just like Dad.

"Right... obviously." Her eyes are searching mine, trying to read me. I don't think so. I clear my throat and shift my focus back on my desk.

"You still need two more." I state.