A Brother's Sacrifice

After giving my advice for training to be strong, I've been wanting to ask him a question when I first entered his house.

"Kinoshita, if you don't mind me asking, where's your dad?"

After a moment of silence, he replied with a saddened face.

"...He's...dead."

"Ah. I'm sorry for asking you this painful question. But that's all the more reason to be strong. You're the only male member in this family, so you must be able to protect them."

He stared at me for a few seconds then replied,

"...You're right."

I came near him and patted his shoulder while showing a sincere smile to him.

"I carved a path for you to change yourself. The rest depends on you."

With these words, I turned towards the door and grabbed the knob. But before opening the door, I glanced in the direction of Kinoshita.

"Ah. I actually forgot to say something to you. It's about the accusations for the bullying and fighting outside."

"..."

"Tell our homeroom teacher, Mr Kimura, that you were not bullied. And about the fights, tell him that it was not Aki who was fighting but a girl named Funabashi Masaki who goes to Chiba High School."

Kinoshita's eyelids twitched a little when he heard that girl's name. He felt that the name was familiar.

He then realized that it was the name of the girl who was with that guy, who tried to take their seats in the café.

"You helped us from those guys so that you could save yourself from the punishments of your actions?"

"Indeed. Do you have any problem with that?"

Kinoshita was angry but at the same time helpless. He knew that I saved him and his sister for my selfish reasons. But I really did save them from that couple.

"Tell Mr Kimura also that Funabashi has the same hoodie as Aki and you've mistaken Funabashi to be Aki. Tell that and my problems will be resolved."

I exited his room with these last words and walked downstairs. I passed through the living room where the twins were both watching t.v.

They noticed me and ran quickly near me. I was worried about them a little bit knowing how Mai is, it's pointless.

"Weren't you two supposed to do your homework? Or are you slacking off in your studies?"

"Oh come on, we already did it ages ago. You were the ones taking your time. Did you find a solution to help big brother Ken?"

"I already solved his problems. He's not the big brother Ken that you know of."

Mai and Machi were confused about what am I saying. I came near Mai's ear to whisper something interesting to her.

"Ken won't be swayed by your little mischievous plays. He's different now, so you need to tease him with a different and stronger method."

After I said that, I moved away and tried to look at her face. She was definitely taken aback but also was interested in what I just said.

"But are you sure that big brother Ken changed that much after just some minutes of talking to him?"

Machi was the one who didn't believe me. She had a really worried expression on her face. Although she was a bit happy about that fact, she was just being realistic.

"Well, just wait patiently and see how he has changed. Anyways, I'm going home because I'm tired. It was fun talking with you two. If we meet again, let's take our time and chat together."

"It was also fun talking with you big brother Tenma. Hope we'll meet soon."

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye."

After I finished talking with them, I went to find Kinoshita's mother so that I could inform her that I was leaving. She insisted on staying longer but I politely refused her.

I wasn't able to see Kinoshita's sister, Anzu when leaving the house. Maybe she went out and still hasn't returned yet.

I was really tired so I decided that it was time to go home now. I set off with a smirk on my face.

'It went just as I planned.'

.....

I opened the door and took off my shoes so as to not dirty the floor.

"I'm home."

These words echoed in the house but no one responded back. I sighed and was putting on my indoor slippers.

"Welcome back."

Those words flowed into my ears and calmed my mind. As I knew who was standing in front of me, I was very happy. Without looking up and still wearing my slippers, I said,

"What a surprise. I didn't know that you would talk to me, Reika."

I looked at the person and as I expected, it was Reika. She has an indifferent face when staring at me.

"Why?"

"Recently you are not interactive at all with me."

She was quiet. I wasn't able to completely understand what was the matter with her. In the first place, why did she talk to me? Did she want anything from me?

"Anyway, what do you want?"

She was starting to blush when I asked her this particular question. But she didn't say anything. Perhaps she wanted to discuss it with me privately.

"Let's go into my room. You can take your time to discuss the matter with me."

I walked casually to my room and Reika followed me without having any objections.

Arriving at my room, I sat on my chair which was near the window of my room. The refreshing air came through the windows and I felt its chillness.

That feeling soothes my mind and made it feel like a big burden has been lifted. Reika, without asking me, sat on my bed.

She still seemed stiff around me after our little fight. She's always on alert when she sees me.

"You don't have to be so tough now. Relax and say what's on your mind."

She listened to me and tried to loosen up. But she sure is taking her time to talk. After a while, she finally opened her mouth.

"I need your advice."

"Hmm? For what?"

Her ears were red. She was very embarrassed right now.

"For my...d-date with my b-boyfriend."

"Oohhh, so now you want to talk to me about your boyfriend."

"I can ask another person for advice if you want."

"...Wait!"

As Reika was about to stand up, I stopped her for a reason. I want to know who is the person Reika fell in love with.

"I will help you but first, do you have any picture of him?"

"Yeah, it's on my phone."

She took out her phone and looked for his photo. She then lend me her phone. I took a good look at the screen of the phone.

His appearance is way above average. You could say that he is better than me in every way. He was wearing the same school uniform as me.

"What's his name?"

"It's Imai Murasaki."

"What do you like about him?"

"Well...he's kind, reliable, caring and most of all, a gentle person."

"Is he a first-year, like us?"

"Yes."

Imai Murasaki. I must see if he is worthy to be by the side of my beloved Reika.