"SURPRISE!" shouted the guests in chorus, as the three women entered the living room of the pension. Yui looked at her sister reproachfully.
"They all wanted to do it. I'm sorry," Yuna whispered.
"No. It's alright."
Yui looked around. Ayumi, the red-haired roommate, and Wataru, the boyfriend of her sister and also her roommate, were here, of course. Then Nobu, Kaito and Mizuki, the other band members of Wakamino. Next to the drummer was Nisha, the new, gray-haired friend of her sister, who she had brought along to the hospital once. And even Hikari, the black-haired, best friend of her sister, was here, although she hadn't seen her for a long time.
The blonde blushed a little. "Um ... thank you ... And hello."
Ayumi came quickly over and hugged the girl. "Nice to have you at home, Yui-chan."
"Thank you. It's nice to feel welcome."
Next, Hikari came to her and embraced her too. "Are you all right, Yui?"
"Yes. Thanks for asking. How are you?"
Hikari looked at Wataru. "Very good. I'm so glad you're finally out of the hospital."
The band members hadn't yet met the blonde, so she raised her hand and waved at them shyly. "Hello everybody."
"Hello, Yui-chan," the musicians greeted her.
"These are Nobu, the drummer, Kaito, our bassist and Mizuki, our lead guitarist," Wataru introduced his band. Alternately, he pointed to the long-haired glasses wearer, the almost bald-headed, blond pierced, and the violet-haired high-school girl.
"I know. I already knew you. But haven't met you yet."
General laughter echoed through the living room.
Nisha stepped aside to Yui and bowed politely. "Nice to see you again, Masuda-chan."
Hikari imitated her behind her back and grimaced, then caught a blaming glance from Yuna.
"Please ... just call me Yui."
"Gladly, Yui-chan. I brought you a small present." She handed the blond girl a small box of chocolates.
"Wow. Thank you. That wasn't necessary."
"Exactly. It was said to not bring a gift," Hikari said.
"So ... let's party." Ayumi intervened and pushed Hikari to the living room table where they had stacked some PET bottles and aluminum cans next to bowls of snacks. "What do you want to drink, Yui-chan?"
The blonde looked a little helpless at her sister. "I would like to deposit my bag."
"Just put it down, Yui-chan," Wataru suggested.
"No. I want to put it in my room."
The singer laughed. "Don't worry about that."
Ayumi cleared her throat briefly. "Yuna-chan, show her your room."
"Um ... now?"
"Now."
On the urgent gaze of the red-haired woman, the high-school girl nodded. "Come, Yui."
Gratefully, the blonde smiled to her future roommate and followed her sister. The two Masuda girls disappeared in the room, while the guests got themselves drinks and made themselves comfortable in the living room.
"What was that, A-chan?" Wataru asked the redhead in a low voice.
"I think that's just too much for her."
"Hm ... are we gonna throw them all out?"
"No ... she probably didn't expect it. Let's give her a little time."
Ayumi scanned the room. Hikari talked to Nobu and Kaito while she blinked over to Wataru. Nisha and Mizuki had also come into conversation and Wataru glanced at the room door of Yuna, which was closed.
Midori sat on an armchair and drank green tea from a can. The redhead decided to take a closer look at the nurse. Yuna had already told her about her.
"Hi. I'm Ayumi Shikibu," the younger woman introduced herself.
"Hi. Midori Omura."
"I've heard a lot from you, Omura-san."
"Oh please. I'm not that old yet, okay, Ayumi-san?"
The redhead grinned and sat with her beer on the armrest. "Okay, Midori-san. I just didn't want to be rude."
The black-haired smiled broadly. "Don't worry. It's difficult to beat Yuna at that."
"You're right. The little one can be quite exhausting."
***
Yui went over to the table and put her bag on it. She discovered a stack of cartons on a wall. She turned to Yuna, who stood with her hands crossed behind her back in front of the room door and looked at her.
The older one smiled encouragingly. "Sorry ... for the party."
"It's okay. Somehow I expected something like that. It suits Ayumi."
"Yes." Yuna stroked her pony aside.
"She's really great. They all are great."
"That's true. They were a great help to me, the last few months."
The blonde looked around the room attentively. She looked at the table with the two chairs, whereupon Yuna's drawing tools were neatly arranged, the small, shabby TV and the ancient microwave.
"Is this my room?" Yui asked.
"Our room. For the beginning. Wataru suggested that I move in with him. Kind of."
"Hm."
"Of course, if that's all right with you. I'm not sure yet. I think at the beginning we should share this room."
The younger one nodded absently. "Like in old times ..."
"Yes ..."
They were silent for a moment. Yui thought of their old room in their old home. Her sister had told her that it was almost completely burned out and that negotiations with the insurance company were in progress because of the damage sum and a possible renovation.
She admired Yuna for the fact that she was doing all these adult things. Before the catastrophe, she had been a total child who cared only for her animes and mangas, but in recent months she had grown to be a young, responsible woman.
"I'm glad, you're here, Yui."
The addressee nodded slowly as she looked at her bag.
"If you'd like, we can skip the party and watch anime," Yuna grinned.
"No. That would be unfair."
"Okay ... then ... let's go out again?"
Yui looked around the room once more. "Where is my bed?"
"You will not believe that." Yuna came over to her, went to the closet, pushed it open and pulled out the futon. "Tada."
"Oh my God. That's unacceptable."
The blue-haired grinned broadly. "I know. This is so ... poor. But you get used to it."
"I need a bed."
"We could buy you one."
"For real?!"
Yuna pushed the futon back into the closet. "There are a few things I need to tell you. Much has happened in recent months."
"I know. I mean ... I don't know. I just know that much has happened. The house. Our family. Yoshiro."
The blue-haired looked at her sister as she searched for a start.
"What happened to your eye?" Yui asked.
The older girl blinked in surprise. So far they had avoided this subject. Yuna, because she didn't know what to say and Yui probably because she had enough other things to deal with.
The high-school student had told her sister about the gas explosion, but not about Tirr and the Oni. Yui asked about the dragon, but Doctor Yamada could tell her this was just a 'fantasy'.
"I ... well ..." the blue-haired stammered.
"You know what? Let it be. We will talk about this later. Let us celebrate."
"For real?"
"Yes. I don't want to be ungrateful."
Her sister smiled happily. "Good. We'll talk about everything later."
"Yes. I still ask myself one thing."
"What?"
Yui pointed to the wall next to the room door. "Are these father's swords?"
Yuna turned and looked at the weapons she had attached to the wall by means of brackets. She remembered how she'd killed Tirr as if it had been yesterday. In the night, she was sometimes frightened because he was still following her in her dreams. Luckily no longer in the literal sense. Her gaze slid over the handle of the Katana to the top of the sword, then to the Wakizashi. She turned back to her sister.
"Yes."
"Cool. They were always taboo for us."
The blue-haired laughed. "Yes."
"Can I?"
"Sure. They belong to both of us." The blonde approached the sword and took the Katana with both hands from the holder. Carefully she held it and looked at the dark scabbard and the green, bound handle. "Caution. It's really sharp," Yuna warned her.
"It should be."
Yui clenched her left fist around the upper end of the sheath and wrapped her right hand around the handle. Then she pulled out the Katana. She lifted the sword up and scrutinized the brilliantly polished blade.
"Be careful not to cut yourself."
The blonde gave her sister an annoyed side view. "Yeah, yeah." She put the sword back into the sheath, took it into both hands and lifted it to its place. Then she came back to Yuna and hugged her. "I miss them so much," Yui sniffed.
Her sister returned the strong embrace. "I'm missing them too."
"Sometimes, I just can't believe it."
"It's exactly the same to me. It's all so crazy."
The younger broke away from her sister and wiped her eyes. "Let's go to the party. We can talk later."
"Agreed."
The two girls joined the celebration, but every time their eyes met, they could see that there was still a lot of work to be done.