HA1 16.4 - Big Brother and Little Sister
Hand in hand, Hide and Aizawa entered Sakura Shopping District. Like any other Saturday, it was full of visitors, but Hide and Aizawa enjoyed their shopping.
'It's good that she is always cheerful every time we shop here,' Hide muttered before saying, "Aizawa, tomorrow we will visit Emily. So we will also buy offering for her."
"We will visit Mommy tomorrow?" Aizawa asked as she looked at Hide with her clear eyes.
"Yeah."
"Is Daddy going to visit Mommy with us too?"
"Maybe not, but I will ask him to confirm it."
"Okay."
It seemed that Aizawa really wished her father could visit Emily with them. Unfortunately, Hide knew for sure that his father would not come along with them. Of course, he couldn't just tell the truth to Aizawa.
To distract Aizawa, Hide asked, "Do you remember Emily's favorite fruit?"
"Mhm." Aizawa nodded vigorously before starting to count using her finger, "Apple, Orange, and Pear."
Hide smiled before asking another question, "How about her favorite snack?"
"Assorted fish's skin crackers, steamed hopia stuffed with crushed peanuts and sugar, roasted melon seed, beef jerky, and light golden beer."
"Alright, let's buy fish's skin crackers along with mackerel for our dinner first."
"Mhm."
Aizawa nodded firmly, and Hide immediately took her to his regular fishmonger.
---
Speaking about fish's skin crackers, the most popular one at Nichiko was salmon’s skin. It was the most expensive and sold in uniform shapes and sizes.
However, Emily's favorite fish's skin crackers were the cheap assorted type which was a mix of various fish's skins. Some of it was crispy, while some others were very hard so that you had to soak it in soup or it would break your teeth.
Happily, the fishmonger confirmed Hide's order, "Two packs of 150 gr assorted fish's skin crackers, three fillets of mackerel, and two fillets of Chinook."
Hide slightly nodded and said, "Yes."
"Wait for a moment."
The fishmonger then swiftly wrapped Hide's order, and as he added a mackerel and a salmon fillet, Hide immediately said, "Uncle, this shopping district has back to normal. I'm sure you will have no leftovers."
"Indeed, this shopping district has return to normal. Therefore, to celebrate it I will give you a bonus." The fishmonger smiled widely before continuing, "Also, you had helped some shop owners repair their cash machines, including the one in my son's shop. So, this is a small gratitude from me and my wife."
"Thank you then, Uncle."
"It's not a big deal. After Sakura Project is canceled this shopping district became twice as crowded."
"So, in the end the project is canceled."
"Yeah, I heard from a member of Nichiko Metro that Toruma Mafia touched the wrong person and as a result one of their top brass was assassinated."
Hide calmly said, "I see. I believed he deserved it."
"Absolutely," The Fishmonger replied firmly.
After paying for his shopping and once again thanking the fishmonger, Hide took Aizawa to the next shop. In addition to offerings for Emily, he also had to buy offerings for his own mother.
---
Oldman Sano looked at the groceries in Hide and Aizawa's hands as he confirmed their order, "Two steamed hopia filled with crushed peanuts and sugar, and a package of assorted steamed hopia."
"Yes," Hide replied.
Oldman Sano looked at the groceries in Hide and Aizawa's hands once more before saying, "If I remember correctly, those are Emily's favorite snacks, right?"
Hide slightly nodded, "Yes, they are."
Aizawa then cheerfully added, "We are going to visit Mommy tomorrow."
"I see." Oldman Sano pondered while looking at Hide and Aizawa, and then he asked, "Can you wait for a moment? I will make a special steamed hopia for Emily."
In reflex Hide replied, "Of course we can, and thank you for making special steamed hopia for Emily."
"It's not a big deal."
After inviting Hide and Aizawa into living room, Oldman Sano rushed to the kitchen. He clearly remembered that Emily died on November 4th, and he always asked Hide to stop by in his shop before visiting Emily because he had prepared a special steamed hopia for her.
However, Hide never once visited his shop to pick up the special steamed hopia for Emily. In the later day, when he went to the church where Emily's ashes were placed, he found out from the caretaker of the final resting house that after the first anniversary of her death, no one else had ever visited Emily.
'It seems he really has changed.'
In reflex, a smile grew on Oldman Sano's lips.
---
While the TV in front of him showed the world in the news, Hide sat pensively looking at the three tickets for Yuko Mountain’s match in his hands. Then, slowly but surely a memory emerged from the deepest part of his soul.
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In his previous life, Aizawa became a big fan of Nobuyuki Masamura, the new and young star players at Yuko Mountain. For her, Nobuyuki was her hero, idol, and source of inspiration. And of course, she had a dream to watch his play up close.
One night, Aizawa approached Hide who was watching a movie in the living room. Brimming with enthusiasm and hope, she asked Hide to accompany her to watch Yuko Mountain’s match. Proudly, she showed the money to buy the tickets for the match and subway tickets which she collected from her pocket money little by little.
However, Hide flatly refused her request. Aizawa didn't give up and tried to persuade Hide with a cheerful mindset. But Hide kept rejecting her. He even went as far as threatening to send her to orphanage if she kept bothering him.
In the end, Aizawa couldn't control her tears, and while she was sobbing she asked,
Why did her mother leave her so early?
Why did her father not care about her anymore?
and
Why did her only big brother hate her so much?
Then, her sobbing turned into loud crying, but Hide coldly ignored her and left the house.
In the early morning, when he returned home Hide found Aizawa curled up on the sofa sobbing, but he ignored her again and went straight to his room.
Surprisingly, in the morning Aizawa did her routine like any other day. She took shower, changed her clothes, had breakfast, and then went to school. It was as if her loud crying last night had never happened. Also, since that day she never talked to Hide anymore and her face became expressionless.
However, in the later years, the social service officer who handled his father's final service told Hide that when Aizawa knew his father had been killed in a robbery, in an instant her expressionless face crumbled.
Then, as she heavily sobbed she asked, 'Where is Big Brother? Why does he not come home?'
When the social service officer informed her that they had lost contact with Hide after he was told that his father had died, Aizawa's sobs turned into loud cries. The social service officer said that in all of his life, he never saw a child who cried so despairingly.
A few days later, with a resigned and expressionless face, Aizawa moved to orphanage. At this point, what was left on her heart was only pure hatred for Hide, and until the day of her death, that hatred had not diminished in the slightest.
Without realizing it, a single tear fell from Hide's eyes. At the same time, Aizawa who had just finished her homework approached Hide.
"Big Bro, why are you crying?" Aizawa asked while confused and worried were clearly visible on her face.
"Nothing, everything is okay."
Wasting no time, Hide took a tissue from the table and wiped his tear. Then, as he smiled he showed the three tickets in his hand to Aizawa.
"As Big Bro promised, next Friday we will watch Yuko Mountain’s match."
"Mhm." In reflex, Aizawa nodded while her face brimmed with happiness.
"Hanna will be watching with us too."
"Big Sis Hanna?" Aizawa asked as she tilted her head.
Aizawa knew Hanna. She was the beautiful Big Sis who taught her how to swim, when she went to Beauty & the Beast for morning exercise. She was kind and gave her a lot of delicious diet crackers, so Aizawa liked her a lot.
"Yup, these tickets are from her. So, after the match we will treat her to a meal."
"Okay." Aizawa nodded vigorously, and then she showed her piggy savings to Hide, "Big Bro, can Kana and Kaede Sensei watch the match with us too? Aizawa wants to treat them because Kana gave Aizawa a Yuko Mountain’s jersey. Aizawa will pay their tickets."
As he accepted Aizawa's piggy saving Hide said, "Of course they can."
"Aizawa super-duper loves Big Bro." As a smile as bright as the morning sun bloomed on her lips, Aizawa hugged Hide tightly.
Without delay, Hide kissed Aizawa cheek. "Big Bro also super-duper loves Aizawa."
---
After breakfast, Hide and Aizawa immediately changed into all-black formal clothes. Then, they sat in the kitchen. Not long after that, the door to their father's room opened, and with listless steps their father walked into kitchen. He looked old, battered, still in his working clothes, and a thick smell of alcohol wafted from him. He glanced at Hide and Aizawa for a moment before rushing off to make a cup of tea.
Aizawa slightly flinched when her father looked at her, while Hide calmly looked back at him.
"Dad, we are going to visit mother and Emily, are you coming?"
"No." Hide’s father gave an instant reply.
"Okay," Hide replied briefly.
Then, as Hide grabbed a paper bag containing offerings for his mother and Emily, his father turned his head to him.
"Wait."
"Yeah."
"A few weeks ago, someone from Kitaro Music School contacted me and told me that you had transferred Aizawa there. She also asked me to come, but I'm busy with the work."
Hide replied calmly, "I'll go there. You don't need to worry about it."
"Good." Wasting no time, Hide's father then went back to his room.
Meanwhile, Hide turned his gaze to Aizawa. "Let's go."
Aizawa nodded silently, and Hide immediately took her hand.
---
St. Mary Church, a small catholic church located in downtown Nichiko. In addition to the nursing home and orphanage, St. Mary also had a final resting house located next to the main building.
As soon as they arrived at St. Mary, Hide and Aizawa immediately rushed to receptionist at the final resting house to buy candles, borrow a folding table, and a wooden tray.
Not long after that, he and Aizawa had arrived at the second corridor on the second floor of the final resting house. Wasting no time, Hide opened eternal resting slots 2212 and 2313.
The first slot was where Hide's biological mother's ashes were placed. Hide never knew her because she died right after giving birth to him. He only knew her name was Mayumi Hibiki and she was a genius medical researcher. Meanwhile, the second slot was where Emily's ashes were placed.
'Mother, Mom, sorry I'm only visiting you now.'
Hide then lifted and held Aizawa in his chest, so she could see the urn where Emily's ashes were placed along with her picture when she was smiling cheerfully.
After that, they arranged the offerings they brought for their mother. Hide arranged offerings for her mother, while Aizawa, which somehow became very quiet, arranged offerings for Emily. Then, candles were lit next to the two offerings and prayers were said in silence.
Calmly, Hide put his hands together in front of his chest, closed his eyes, and then lowered his head.
'Mother, thank you for bringing me to this world safely, and please forgive me for the time when I hate you because you were never by my side. Also, please believe me, I will become someone you can be proud of. So, please rest in peace.'
After being silent for a moment, Hide continued his prayer.
'Mom, I've let you down once. But please believe me, in this life I will do anything at any cost for Aizawa's happiness. So please rest in peace.'
Then, Hide was silent for a while before opening his eyes. When he turned his eyes to Aizawa, he found she was crying silently.
When she first came to place Emily's ashes, she also cried and her father gently comforted her. When she came back on the first anniversary of Emily's death, she also sobbed. But her father who was already deep in sorrow did not calm her or comfort her at all, while Hide completely ignored her.
Of course, right now Hide would not make the same mistake. He gently rubbed Aizawa's head and then hugged her tightly.
"It's only the two of us now, but we have each other. So everything will be fine."
"Mhm." Aizawa nodded, and somehow she was able to stop her tears.
Thirty-minute later, Hide and Aizawa left the final resting house hand in hand. Aizawa seemed a little more cheerful, because right now she knew for sure her Big Brother would never leave her and she would never be lonely again.
Meanwhile, Hide stepped steadily. He realized that he had a lot to do for the sake of Aizawa's happiness and future, but he believed that he would be able to get through it all.
'Step by step,' Hide muttered as he smiled at Aizawa who was looking up at him.
*****