"So, did you guys roll around the dirt or...?"
---
Fuyumi groaned as she sat from her mattress. She was still not used to the time zone so the girl only slept for four hours and the sun is already up.
She immediately went out of her room and saw Fujio and her mother preparing breakfast.
"Ohayou," she greeted. Their mother smiled and ushered her to come to sit down with them and have some breakfast.
Fuyumi noticed Fujio staring at her. "What?"
"Your hair," Fujio said with a grin on his face. The girl tapped her bed hair to keep the strands down.
"Shut up," Fuyumi muttered and her brother just snickered as they continued to eat.
"What are you going to do today, Yumi?" their mom asked while eating.
"My stuff will arrive today so I might be busy unpacking them," she replied and put a rolled omelet in her mouth.
"Do you want some help?" Fujio offered but the older sibling shook her head.
"It's fine. Don't you have school?" she asked.
"Yeah, but I'll be going home early," he replied. Fuyumi frowned but shrugged it off as she kept on eating.
After breakfast, her mother left for work. Fuyumi already told her mom that she should stop working already but her mom kept on saying that she will be bored out of her life if she stayed at home.
Fuyumi wanted her mother to take a rest from work since she can already work for her family. She wants her mother to live and enjoy life instead of working every day.
Fujio, on the other hand, is getting ready to leave for school.
"There's a store a few blocks away if you need anything, aneki," Fujio told her and the latter just nodded.
"Okay, now get going," Fuyumi shooed him away which made the teenager laugh.
"Alright, I'm going," he said.
"Take care!"
Two hours passed by when her stuff finally came. She began unpacking it after the male staff put it inside their house. The girl sighed and smiled at the sight of her cameras. There are three of them and the oldest one is her digital camera which was a present from her grandfather when she turned seventeen.
Then the girl turned to a box full of her books and began taking them out. She stopped when she saw a familiar black leather album. It was old and holds a lot of memories from her youth. She loves taking photos of places and people that matter to her.
She opened it and her eyes met the photo of her grandfather, her mother, and an eleven-year-old Fujio smiling at the camera. On the other page, it was Fujio and his childhood friends.
She barely has photos of herself in the album since she was always the one who took the pictures.
She smiled when she saw the cold glare of Hiyori looking at the camera. She was a friend from Oya High. They both attended the school but Fuyumi left after a month to pursue her studies abroad.
The girl wondered how her friend is doing now. The last time she heard from her is when her grandfather died and that was a long time ago.
Fuyumi stopped flipping the pages when she saw a photo of one of the people she cherished the most back then. Her thoughts came back from when she first met that person and their memories together.
And how she regretted leaving that person without a word. But she left for a good reason.
She only hopes that that person can understand her and will listen to her when they meet again.
The girl took the withered and pressed oakleaf hydrangea and stared at it. It carries a lot of memories from that person.
Fuyumi smiled at the thought but quickly went back to reality and looked out the engawa as the rain began pouring outside.
"Does Fujio have an umbrella?" she thought.
"What about Mom?" she asked herself. Then, she realized that her mom's workplace is a bit far away from home than Fujio's school.
Fuyumi left their house when she suddenly felt hungry. She grabbed two umbrellas just in case she will see Fujio on the way and she can give one of them to him if he forget his own.
The girl walked on an empty road and just a few blocks away from home, she spotted the convenience store that her brother was talking about.
She went to the store and picked up some snacks. The girl noticed that the rain stopped already and let out a sigh.
Fuyumi went to the counter and paid for the snacks. She picked up her two umbrellas on the other hand and left the store.
While walking, she spotted Fujio not far from her direction. She walked towards him and when she was near, the girl called for his name.
"Fujio?" the said teenager turned around to look at her.
"Aneki?" Fujio called as the girl approached him.
"What the heck happened to you?" she asked as she noticed that he was covered in mud as if like he rolled around on it.
The girl then glanced at the blonde teenage boy who is apparently with Fujio and in the same state as her brother. The boy was staring at her in confusion.
"Ah, it's just..." Fujio trailed off as he tried to explain the situation.
"Is he your friend?" Fuyumi asked and smiled lightly at both of the boys.
"I'm Takajo Tsukasa," the blonde introduced himself and lightly bowed at her.
"I'm Fuyumi, Fujio's sister," she smiled. The teenager looked at both Fujio and the older woman.
"Oh, it's nice to meet you," Tsukasa stated with a polite smile.
"Nice to meet you, too," Fuyumi replied with a gentle smile on her face. "So, did you guys roll around the dirt or...?"
The two teenagers suppressed their laugh at the woman's question.
"Something like that," Fujio replied with a smile.
"I should really get going," Tsukasa told the two.
"Are you sure? I mean, you are covered in dirt. Don't you want to come to our house for a while?" Fuyumi asked with a look of worry on her face. Tsukasa can feel the big sister atmosphere in her.
"No, it's fine," he said and bid his farewell to the siblings.
"Let's go," Fujio told her sister and motioned to turn in the opposite direction.
"Are you sure your friend will be fine?" Fuyumi asked.
"Yes, Tsukasa's fine," Fujio told her and tapped her shoulders reassuringly as they began to walk home.
"Okay. Well, are you hungry?" she asked, shifting the conversation.
"Yeah, are you going to cook?" Fujio questioned.
"I'll make something," Fuyumi shrugged.
"Can you even cook?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" the girl glared at her brother.
"Nothing, I was just asking," Fujio muttered and held up his hands defensively. Fuyumi chuckled and shook her head in amusement.
"Of course, I can cook, idiot. I was living alone before, in case you forgot," she said and walked past him when they reached home. She went inside first but stopped and turned around to look at her brother.
"I'll be making something to eat while you take a bath and then we can treat your wounds," she said.
"Wh—"
"Fujio, I'm not stupid when it comes to fistfights," she said with a gentle smile on her face. She already noticed the bruises on his face and arms while they were walking.
After that, she left her brother completely speechless.
---
Hey, guys! Quick fun fact.
My OC faceclaim, Nishiuchi Mariya, and Murayama, which is Yamada Yuki, both starred in the 2012 Remake of Great Teacher Onizuka.
I loved that series because AKIRA from EXILE (also played Kohaku in HiLo) is Onizuka Eikichi.
Shirahama Alan and Noboyuki Suzuki were there, too!