Shiro inspected the letter over and over. This had to be some kind of trick.
He read his name again and again, just to be sure. He looked around the room before tearing it open.
Dear Shiro,
You've got some nerve ignoring my letters, you jackass. When I get back to Japan, I'm going to give you a piece of my mind. I've been busting my behind over here trying to make it back to you. I hope my stupid brother told you. I haven't broken my promise. I'm in Bura Bura Academy! Can you believe it? I just couldn't go back right away. Headmaster, Higa said I could do my classes in his new foreign exchange program but I wouldn't be able to get the pins. It's kind of bummer, but what can you do? Well, anyway, I hope you've gotten lots done since starting. Have you joined any clubs? I know it hasn't been easy without me haha. I hope you're eating okay. I can't wait to hear about your time there. We have so much to catch up on! And don't forget my birthday is coming up so I expect a big present from you, jerk!
- Your best friend in the world, Keiko.
Shiro read the words slower the second time. And even slower the third and fourth time he read it.
As a kid, he remembered waiting by the phone for it to ring. He remembered checking the mailbox day after day, waiting for a letter that never came. He'd be happy getting a postcard.
Hell, anything that said she was okay.
He remembered picking up the phone hearing, Kokoro's voice and being so disappointed it wasn't Keiko.
"Have you heard from Kei?" she'd ask. "Keep your head up. I'm sure you'll hear from her soon, baby bro." But he never did. He never got a single letter.
It didn't make any sense. He inspected the letter, still in disbelief. That's when he saw it.
Right under his name on the address bar.
She wrote it wrong.
He sat on the bed again. His head bent over the letter.
The tears flooded his vision before spilling over on to the letter.
"You wrote the address wrong, you idiot."
He half cursed, half laughed at her stupidity.
He wiped the moisture from his eyes.
Tears?
When was the last time he was able to cry? He couldn't remember. He read the letter again, this time with Keiko's voice in his head.
"Haha, that sounds just like you." It did sound like her. She hadn't changed at all. It was still Keiko. She was still the girl that had been his best friend so many years ago.
His hands shook. Tremors spread across his body. He couldn't tell if he was happy, sad, angry or a mixture of every emotion known to man.
She kept her promise.
He couldn't stop the waves from coming. He cried for all the time they'd been separated. She kept her promise.
He kneeled on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. His hands dropped to his sides, still gripping the letter.
The reality he escaped momentarily caved in on him again.
She kept her promise, but...I didn't.
He felt the guilt build up in his throat.
He was the one that didn't value the friendship. He gave up on her. He could've asked Kokoro to find Keiko's new address, but he never did. He didn't even try. He failed her. He broke his promise.
"In the end...I was to blame."
Ding!
His email notification went off again.
Kenshin: Father is fast asleep, I'm afraid. I'll take it to him int he morning and get the transfer sorted.
There was still time. He was sure Kenshin would understand. He, of all people, would sympathize with him. Shiro had told him everything that had happened between Keiko and him. Surely, he would understand.
Shiro: Let's wait on it. Sorry I can't talk about it yet, I'll fill you in tomorrow, but looks like I won't need to transfer after all.
He hit send and within second a barrage of replies came in
Kenshin: Ishida, What are you talking about? Let's discuss this first.
Shiro ignored the wave of notifications that followed and pulled a blank sheet of paper from his printer.
He wrote as fast as he could. He grabbed a few things and wrestled his clothes on.
He stopped himself before walking out the door.
Aya...
He thought as he remembered he owed his baby sister an apology. She must have gone to bed upset. He needed to make it up to her before he left.
He grabbed a blank notebook off his shelf and quickly tiptoed into the twins room, doing his best not to wake the other children who had sleeping bags arranged all over the floor.
"Aya, wake up." He nudged his sister, whispering as low as he could.
"Big brother? Is it morning already?"
She squinted toward the clock reading 11:00 p.m.
"No. Sorry I shouldn't have woken you up so late. We can talk tomorrow if you want."
"It's okay. I..."
She sat up in her bed, looking down at her hands.
"I'm sorry for taking your book without asking. I didn't mean to make you mad." She sniffled.
"Don't worry about that now. I'm sorry for being a jerk. It was my fault." Shiro hugged his baby sister, letting her cry into his chest and patting her head.
"Here. This is for you." He placed a notebook on her lap.
"A Notebook? What's this for?"
"It's not just a notebook. It's a new world. For you."
Aya opened the book and eyed the blank pages, furrowing her brows.
"But it's empty." She said, confused.
"Of course it is." He said, trying to hide his smile. "You haven't made it yet."
Aya closed the book, giving Shiro another tight hug.
"I'll write the best story one day!" she promised.
"I look forward to it." He kissed his little sister on the forehead. "Go back to sleep, OK? I'm going
out for a while."
"Eh? Where are you going at this hour?"
"There is something important I have to take care of, but I'll be back soon. Don't wait for me. You should get some rest."
He tucked her in and quietly shut the door behind him
----------------------------------------
Kanna wrapped her father in a blanket before heading to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea.
Eleven O'clock.
She looked at the time on the stovetop before putting the kettle on the stove.
She hadn't been able to sleep soundly in years. Having her nightly chamomile tea had become routine but in all honesty, it didn't help her sleep.
Her father had fallen asleep at his desk. She's been worried about Friedrich. He's been working late these past few weeks, surely getting ready for the technological upgrades for Tetsudori Institute.
Kanna sipped her tea and grabbed her backpack from the door. If she couldn't sleep, she might as well study. She grabbed a few of her textbooks and a notepad.
"Dammit! God Dammit!"
Crash!
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Kanna heard her little brother's tantrum as she walked by his room. Crash, shatter!
"That little bitch!"
Kanna peaked through the door and saw Kenshin slamming his keyboard into his monitor over and over again.
"Brother..."
Kenshin stood with his back straight; a mess of computer parts and shattered ornaments surrounding him.
"Tsk. Do you have to come barging in here as you please?"
He said the words without looking at her. Kenshin dusted off his yellow nightgown and smoothed his hair back, tightening the ribbon that held his half ponytail up.
"Is something the matter?"
He turned to glare at her. She was used to his hateful eyes.
"Tch. You always sound so damned monotone. Get a personality, you useless sister."
Kenshin walked past her, taking the tea from her hand. He barely reached half her height. His long, strawberry-blond hair brushed past her as he continued down the hall to his bedroom.
"Clean this mess up." Kenshin took a few steps before stopping at the doorway.
"By the way," the small boy glanced at the books in her hands. "Father will never acknowledge
you. So give up"
He sipped the tea she had made as his footsteps disappeared into the dark hallway. Kanna gripped the programming textbooks in her hand.
She took a breath, only realizing then her body was shaking. Her heart raced. Kenshin was several years younger than her. He should be in elementary school right now. But... he's a genius. He is a second year at her high school.
There is something off-putting about overly intelligent children. Although she loved her baby brother, the boy terrified her.
The way he looked at her with malice every time she walked in the room. The way he acted sweet and innocent when there were other people around.
Kanna placed the broken computer parts in a bin and set it aside. She folded Kenshin's clothing, ribbons and dresses their father had gifted him.
Kenshin enjoys dressing this way.
Frilly dresses, ribbons, jewelry. Father didn't like it at first. They put Kenshin through all sorts of intervention therapy because of it. But in the end, it was better for everyone if Kenshin got his way.
It didn't bother her that her little brother dressed as a female. Or that he got better clothes and cuter accessories than she did. She only wished he would accept her gifts as well. But any time she'd found a bow or jewels that would look beautiful on him, he rejected them.
Kanna sighed as she reached over to pick up the glass shards from the broken globe on the ground.
There was a time the two got along very well. After their mother died giving birth to him.
Kenshin clung to her every day. But back then, Kanna couldn't acknowledge him. She never blamed him for her mother's death, per se. But his existence just reminded her of the fact that she was gone. She didn't her best to care for him while father grieved, but Kanna couldn't force herself to smile at the boy.
She could never hate the boy who had never known is mother's love as she had. In the end, Kenshin was all she had left. Him and father. Father was elderly. Eventually, she and Kenshin would be the only Furotani's left.
Sadness welled in her chest. She wasn't outgoing or friendly like Kenshin portrayed himself in front of others. She was shy and struggled to speak to others. Some people even accused her of being an android created by the Tetsudori Institute because of her monotonous voice. But she couldn't help that.
She didn't feel the pain on her finger, but saw the bright red liquid spill onto the carpet.Kanna's eyes widened, watching the blood spill from her hand.
Her heart raised, and she felt queasy. She didn't like blood. She hated the smell.
She placed her hand over her mouth and pulled the trash bin closer, leaning into it and throwing up the contents of her dinner.
Blood.
She shut her eyes, but all she could picture was red.
Red spilling onto the ground from her hands. Red gushing out of her mother as she writhed in pain alone in a dark room. Red blood all over her newborn brother as Kanna bit his umbilical cord and wrapped him in one of mother's dresses.
image [https://img.wattpad.com/99a47726be7d0c4f66feaaeb2e7894fe15dc3f55/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f61466e47765774344d6f573247773d3d2d313436363736393238322e313765376665323637316534613439303932393339363534343837392e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
She tasted the sour metal in her mouth, gagging some more.
I hate blood.
She clutched her chest, feeling as if her heart would tear out of it on its own.
Mother...
Her breath grew faster and heavier and her throat ached.She squeezed her eyes tight, willing the memories away.
Ding!
It wasn't long before she heard her surroundings through, as if she were in a tunnel.
Ding.
Ding.
Kenshin's laptop notifications went off again and again.
Kanna's heartbeat slowed, and her vision returned.She took a few breaths and wrapped her finger with a napkin, trying her best to look away as she did so.
Ding.
She glanced at the laptop sitting on the desk.
"Report complete." It read.
"Here's everything I could find on the girl."
There on the screen, a girl with reddish hair and honey brown eyes went about her daily life. Blurred images of the red-head in the grocery store, walking to the bus stop, even at school.
Kanna looked toward the door. Kenshin should be asleep by now. She scrolled back to see the rest of the messages.
Kenshin: Isaiah. What's the range on the X950 Drone?
Isaiah: Why? Need a lift? Lol
Kenshin: It isn't wise to bite the hand that feeds you.
Isaiah: I work for your father, wise ass.
Kenshin: Father is elderly, you know who will inherit her empire.
Isaiah: True. What do you need?
Kenshin: I need information on a new target.
Isaiah: Isn't that on invasion of privacy?
Kenshin: And?
Isaiah: Name and location.
Kenshin: Keiko Matsuda, Bura Bura Academy.
Isaiah: Understood. Give me a few days.
Bura Bura Academy?
Kanna thought hard about where she'd heard that name.
"Bura Bura Academy...Is where that boy goes to school."
Shiro Ishida. Her fiancé. A boy she'd never met but was set to marry once she graduated high school. If she remembered correctly, he denied the scholarship to go to Bura Bura instead.
Maybe this girl...has something to do with him.
Kanna scrolled through the messages. She didn't know what the girl had done to get on Kenshin's blacklist, or what her brother was going to do with this information.
She looked at at the time. 1:45a.m
In any case. She should try and sleep.
She tidied up the room and grabbed her textbooks.
She shut off the light and glanced at the bin with the broken computer parts, grabbing them before leaving the room.
Kanna walked down the hall and closed her bedroom door, storing the broken parts in her closet along with some other electronic devices she's been repairing.
Since she couldn't sleep. She carefully place a glove on her injured hand and sat at her secret work bench hidden in her walk-in closet and got to work.
----------------------------------------
Shiro ran as fast as he could to the address left on the back of Keiko's journal. It wasn't that far from their old elementary school. He was sure he could make it on foot.
There was hardly anyone on the street, so he ran the lights, not waiting for the crosswalk. He dodged a man on a motorcycle as he ran to the sidewalk.
"Sorry!" he yell though the man had already disappeared into the night.
Shiro looked around for the house. The street wasn't very well lit. He turned on his phone flashlight and hid the incoming messages from Kenshin.
Kenshin: hey, pick up. Let's talk. Is this about that girl? Don't do anything crazy.
He felt bad, but he didn't have time to explain. Kenshin would understand once he knew the details. It was all a misunderstanding. He had it wrong all along. Keiko never broke her promise.
Keiko always had faith in him. She valued their friendship. He was the one that lost faith. He was the one who broke their promise. He could've asked for her address. He could've reached out.
But he didn't. He didn't have faith in her.
"I see you Keiko. I hear you now." He said.
The lights were still on by the time she reached her house. He looked at the clock.
11:45pm
It was late, but this couldn't wait. Not anymore.
He knocked on the door, bracing for what was sure to be an awkward encounter.
"Yeah, who are you?"
A man with light brown hair and tired eyes opened the door. The man he recognized as Hana's homeroom teacher.
"Did you need something kid?" He asked
Shiro wasn't sure what to say.
So, it's true. He and Keiko are...living together.
Shiro rubbed the back of his head, his resolve fading.
"Um..."
"Are you Kei's friend?" he opened the door pointing behind him.
"She's in there if you want to talk to her." He said, making his way back to the living room without even waiting for Shiro to say a word.
Shiro reluctantly stepped into the house. He can hear a tv in the living room playing some rom-com.
He slowly makes his way to the door, turning to look at the man who had just let a stranger into his room. He had a stack of papers lay out on the table.
This is the guy Keiko is with. He still couldn't believe it. He paused midway to the doorway.
Do I really want to be involved with this?
He held the package he brought with him to his chest. The gift he brought her.
Then he remembered. The little girl who made him promise to follow his dreams. The one who wrote him a letter every day for years. The one who lost a tooth, taking a punch from a boy twice her size, just to get his glasses back when they were children.
I'll support you, Keiko.
He made his way to her door, opening it without knocking.
"I'm on your si — "
He cut himself off when he stopped breathing. There behind the door was Keiko, laying in the tub...completely naked.
"Get out of here, you pervert!" she yelled
Shiro closed the door behind him, waiting for the repercussions.
The man who had been grading papers on the couch came to see what the commotion was about.
"Sosuke, you idiot. Why are you letting men into the bathroom when I'm naked?" Keiko said before opening the door.
"How was I supposed to know you were naked?" He said, scratching his cheek.
Both Shiro and Sosuke flinch when the door flies open.
"It's the bathroom, you moron!" she says, throwing her slipper at the man's head.
"Stupid brother, you're so stupid!"
"Brother?" Shiro breathed a sigh of relief. "So, you two are siblings?"
Sosuke and Keiko turn to face him, Keiko still holding the collar to her brother's shirt.
"Well yeah. Who did you think he was?"
"I-I don't know," he lied. "Y-your boyfriend...maybe"
"WHHAAAT?!" they both yell, clearly disgusted.
Keiko put both hands on the wall. "With him...gag...my reputation is ruined."
"Your reputation wasn't very good to start with."
Shiro listened to them bicker like children. He and Saito didn't get along half the time. There was a time in their lives where they fought like cats and dogs, too.
"HAHAHAHA.. HAHA" he laughed out loud. He couldn't stop himself. He kept laughing as they stood there staring at him.
"Haha...sorry...it's just that..you haven't changed at all,"
"You got some nerve coming here, you jerk!" Keiko turned her aggression toward him and he threw his hand up in surrender.
"Uh sis? Don't you think you should put some clothes on first?"
Sosuke pointed at the girl's body, barely covered in a towel.
Her face turned red, and she hurried to her bedroom.
"I'll wait for you on the porch!" Shiro yelled after the girl, who grumbled something unintelligible before closing the door behind her.
----------------------------------------
She picked whatever clothes she could find. Some jean shorts and a sweater were at the top of the laundry she had yet to fold. She threw them on and ran to the door. Shooting her brother a dirty look before stepping out.
"So, you're still here after all." She said drying of her hair with a towel.
"I'm here."
They stood awkwardly quiet for a few minutes. She wasn't sure what to say or what he came to tell her.
"Kei..." he hesitated.
He bowed his head, pushing a package toward her. "Happy birthday," he said, not looking her in the eye.
"My birthday was weeks ago." She took the package and untied the white ribbon. Tearing open the brown wrapping paper.
She could see the purple journal peeking through.
"How did—"
"Keep looking."
She tore through the rest of the packaging, revealing a batter blue notebook underneath.
"This is..."
"It's the story we wrote together."
She flipped through the pages, looking at her old drawings and Shiro's handwriting.
"Was your handwriting always so terrible?" She snorted.
"Theres more,"
She searched through the wrapping paper. There, hidden between the crumpled paper, was a folded sheet of paper.
She glanced up at Shiro before looking back down at the letter.
She opened the note and read the scribbly handwriting:
Dear Keiko,
It's been a while, huh? Sorry I missed your letters. High school has been a little crazy. I looked for you on the first day, but I couldn't find you. I joined the writers' club for a couple of years and it was fun, but the club president made it unbearable. I'm in a paint club now, it's ok. Not really my thing, you were always more of the artist than I was. I have an idea. Why don't we make an art club together?
"Art club?" She questioned.
She lowered her hands to look at Shiro. His hand was extended toward her. She took his hand, and they shook on it.
"It's a promise." They said in unison.
I promise...
----------------------------------------
image [https://img.wattpad.com/c889f3bda5072816389c3ff7b5c416c894a5a97a/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f537377744964544176444b6862673d3d2d313436363736393238322e313765376665363463363139666537363633393938383731343035392e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]