At Nicole's place-
After finally making it back after a day out with my friends, I walk down my street, heading towards our house as I look back on today.
"Luna sure is somethin'."
It's no wonder Midori has taken such a liking to her. I will admit a part of me is a bit jealous of how much Midori talks about her, but I know I can't just deny her of that. It'd too hypocritical of me, especially after everything that happened with Kai. But even still... Luna really is sure of herself. Every time I see her, she looks like she knows exactly what she needs to do in order to get the things she wants. Hell that even led to her reuniting with her twin sister. It does give me some satisfaction that I helped in that regard... If Kai and I didn't stumbled upon Reina at that train station, it's possible that none of this would've happened.
Thinking about all this, I arrive at the house, not long after the sun had set.
"I'm hom-"
"-of shit!"
However, I'm greeted by something quite unexpected as I quickly shut my mouth as I listen to my mom's yelling.
"It's a Sunday!"
"Honey. My colleagues and I just wanted to go out for a few drinks. That's all. We've been working overtime for weeks and we finally wanted to celebrate."
My dad's voice sounds muffled in comparison to mom.
"I needed you here! Do you expect me to work and also take care of the kids?!"
"You have the option to work from home, right?"
"I don't care about that!"
Ouch... This really seems like it's not dying down for a while. Thinking so, I gently close the front door before sneaking my way upstairs, trying my best to ignore the yelling and screaming from the living room.
"Big sis!"
"S-sis..."
"Hey heyyy~"
As soon as I pry open my door, I'm greeted by both my younger brother and sister as I kneel down to their height, wrapping them both in my arms. I have no idea how long our parents have been arguing but I'm sure it would've felt like an eternity for these two.
"It's okay. It's okay."
Their arms wrap around me shakily as I try my best to comfort them. If I knew that another fight like this would happen, I would've left Midori and the others earlier.
"-you want to go out with your friends so badly, then just go! Go have fun!"
We're unable to hear our dad's voice as only our mom's screams could be heard as their echo throughout the house. Not long later, we hear a door shut, sounding the end of the fight.
"I-Is dad okay?"
"I'm sure he's okay- ah, see?"
The moment I say that, I hear a buzz from my phone as a message has been sent from our dad.
Dad: "How's your brother and sister?"
Even if he's drunk, he still manages to figure out that I'm home. He must've seen my shoes by the door but didn't say anything. I can't help but smile at the fact before typing out a reply.
Nicole: "They're okay now."
Dad: "Your mother has had too much wine it seems. I'll bring back something by the morning for you kids to take to school."
Looks like dad isn't coming back tonight... I don't blame him.
Nicole: "Okay. Thanks dad. Stay safe."
Dad: "You too <3"
My brother and sister read the messages with me as both of them seem to calm down even more. Haah~ I don't know how you did it Midori. Even at my age I couldn't do what you did when you were little. But it's not like our parents fight all the time, but I do feel like it's getting more frequent. I guess Christmas is coming up soon and I guess mom just wants to spend as much time with dad as possible, I get that. Still...
"Right! How about we do something, hmm?"
"Like what?"
"How 'bout you show me how far you've gotten with your game."
"Mhmm!"
"And how 'bout I paint your nail again hmm?"
"R-really?"
"Yup! Which colors would you like?"
"Pink! And blue!"
"Alright~"
I proceed to pull out my makeup kit which also housed everything else. Meanwhile my younger brother proceeded to move his console into my room, plugging it up to my tv. At times like these when our parents fight, all three of us tend to stay together, and today looks like a night that we'll all be sharing a bed. I know full well that my younger sister wouldn't be able to get to sleep tonight after everything that happened. It'll be a squeeze for sure, but I'll manage. I might not be the center of attention anymore with these two being part of the family, but there's no way in hell I'm abandoning them when they need me.
Next morning, back at Luna's apartment-
Waking up, I begin the usual routine of going to school, warming up with few stretches and light exercise as Reina ends up following suit. Although it's a light exercise, only lasting 15 minutes, Reina already seemed like she just went double that.
"Pfft. You know if you sweat that much, you'll need to shower again."
"Ehehe~"
"Plus didn't you say you wanted to walk back to Kanon's place? Wouldn't that serve as your warm up?"
"Yes, but... I wanted to do it with you, sis..."
"Alright I get it~"
Yeah, I can't say no to her like that. Plus it's not like she put on her uniform yet. I guess she saw herself sweating from the exercise and held off from it.
As much as we wanted to walk to school together, we part ways as Reina walks off towards Kanon's place to pick up Anna, meanwhile I began walking to my own school. With all my school stuff basically already there at school, I made sure to pack a few extra pens and stuff in Reina's bag just in case. Eventually, I made my way to school as I move over to the lockers.
"Luna!~"
And the first person to greet me is none other than Midori herself as she hastily makes her way by my side.
"Hey, Midori."
She's still wearing her hair straight with not an ounce of jewelery on her. Guess she really is spending another week with her dad.
"You made sure not to pack any lunch, right?"
"Yes~ Although I did bring money just in case like usual."
"Hey, I've gotten better, okay!"
"Hehe."
It's not a lie that I do bring money to school, but that's in case of emergencies, not to buy food from the cafeteria or random vending machines. It's true that Midori has gotten a lot better at cooking, even if it's still simple stuff. It's better to start simple before working your way up.
"What did you make today?"
"You already know I'll say that it's a surprise~"
"Fine."
"Ah- Luna! Midori~"
"Hey Shin!"
Now Shin and- what was is name again? The transfer student? Those two are also making their way here. Although-
"Funny. You don't show up this early. Is the world on the brink of collapse or something?"
"Haha, very funny. Nah I actually stayed over at Zhen's place for the weekend."
Ah, that's his name...
"Your parents are so lenient~ I'd kill to spend the whole weekend at Luna's."
"Hmm? Mine? Hehe, don't let Nicole hear that."
"Oh please, I hang out at her place all the time."
"Funny, 'cause it seems like all you've been doing is hanging out with me. How suspicious~"
"..."
Huh? I meant that as a joke, trying to follow the carefree atmosphere we have going on, so then why does Midori all of a sudden seem a bit... embarrassed?
"Uhm-"
Just then, breaking the silence, a buzz sound came from Midori as she quickly pulls out her phone, as if trying to find a way out of this. But the moment she opens her phone-
"Haah~ Again, Nicole?"
"Hmm?"
Both Shin and I look back over at Midori who seems a bit down now compared to before.
"Is everything okay?"
"I guess? But it looks like Nicole got sick again. She just sent me this-"
She proceed to show the contents of her phone to us as we all read over it.
Nicole: "Sorry, but could you write up notes for me? I woke up to a sudden cold. Haha, maybe I shouldn't have been out so late last night. Pretty please?~ <3"
"Right when I'm meant to be turning in my presidential form as well... Hahh~"
"Oh right! I forgot you've going for student council president! You think you can win?"
I actually forgot about that as well, but I do recall the current counsil president coming up to us one day at the cafeteria... I guess Midori's still busy despite the end of year exams are now finished...
"Well there's not many people going for the position. Even the president seems to want the role to be passed down to me so I'm not that worried. But still-"
"I'll take notes for Nicole."
"Eh?"
So I choose to butt into the conversation.
"You're still busy like you said. Let me handle the notes."
"But-"
"It's not like there's much today, right? Just focus on yourself. I can handle it."
"M-mm... Th-thank you, Luna."
"No problem."
Phew... I'm glad Midori crumbled easily. I don't take notes often as more or less everything I can just remember quite easily, but I guess I'll need to pay a bit more attention in class it seems today.
"Hmmmm..."
However it seems like Shin seems to be eyeing up both Midori and I for some reason; in particular, me.
"Shin?"
"Nothing. Just surprising seeing you jumping in like that."
"Oh. Well I'm not just gonna leave Midori hanging when she's stressed with important matters."
"Woah... You sure melted all that ice off of her, huh, Midori?"
"I... I guess, hehe. But I can't take all the credit. Reina also plays a big part of it."
"Huh?"
Both Shin and Zhen look at the two of us with puzzled looks for some reason- Oh! Wait I completely forgot that they're still out of the loop! It was mainly Midori who was helping me out and Nicole found out abruptly while on call with her. I completely forgot Shin doesn't know! Noticing this, Midori looks over at me before I face back towards Shin.
"Ah well... Reina is my twin sister."
"Right?"
"And well she's... Living with me now."
"WHAT?!"
On the other side-
"Thanks for coming with me, Reina."
"Mm! Not a problem~"
Anna and I have just said goodbye to her mother as we both head out to school. My smile that I've tried to keep hidden is now growing more and more with each step I take. Sis didn't notice, right?
"Woah~ I've never seen someone so happy to go to school before."
"Fufufu. Well it's true I'm excited to see what the school is like, but that's not why I'm excited."
"Oh? Then what is it? Is it just that you managed to weasel your way out of taking the exams?"
"Fufufu~ Nope~"
"Then what?"
"Secret~"
"Mmmm. Fine. But are we still walking back home together?"
"Mm! But I guess we are in different years... Maybe with the exams now finished like you said, maybe we finish school at different times?"
At least that seemed to be how it was at my previous school. Ah... Yume. Haah~ I really screwed that one up. I could've been doing this with her all this time, walking to school back then, and here I am doing it so easily with Anna. No! I won't let that ruin this moment! Stay positive, Reina!
"Hmmm... I'm not sure. But seriously, why do we even need to go to school? Winter break will be in a couple weeks. Can't we just start now?"
"Fufufu. You just want to sit around and game all day, huh."
"Yup!"
"Fufu. Oh! Anna. Sis and I bought the same game console as yours! Maybe we can still play together?"
"Wait for real?!"
"Mhmm!"
"But my console is super expensive! It's like the latest model that came out a few months ago."
"Really?"
"Yeah! Don't tell me you used up all your paychecks for that!"
"Fufu. I did offer to pay for it, but sis demanded that she pay for it. Apparently she's loaded."
"She's your twin, right?"
"Mm."
"How can she have so much money when she's still in school?"
"Well..."
Just thinking about it is just making me even more happy, knowing that she saved up all that money just to try and find me. She's honestly so cool...
"She's been working part-time for a while, so yeah."
"While still in school? Seriously? I'd love to work, but screw workin and ALSO going to school. Sounds like something only a masochist would do."
"Masochist?"
"Hmm? Ah- wait... You don't know what it means?"
"Mm."
"Ah- uhmm... How do I explain this..."
From the look on her face it doesn't seem like it's a normal word... Even face her expression makes it seem like it's something bad with how red she's getting.
"Ah-ahem! To put it simply. It's someone who takes pleasure with- uhm... being in pain?"
"...Pain? Like being punched and stuff?"
I immediately think back to when I got cut that time in the alleyways, where I was almost abducted. The cut on my shoulder has more or less healed now, but just the thought of it makes it tingle a bit in pain.
"Uhm, not really like that! It's more- uhm. More like err. S... se- AHHH! Oh my god! Do I really have to say it?"
"Yes! I'd very much appreicate it!"
It's rare for me nowadays to hear a word I'm not aware of. Even when I was little, my sister and I would compete using dictionaries to see who knew the most words. It was actually our mom's idea on one random afternoon but for some reason sis and I was hooked by it, probably because of how close we were. So hearing a new word sprung up on me like this has more or less reignited my competitive drive.
"Mmmm, okay fine! It's more like se-sexual pain!"
"...Huh?"
"Oh don't you dare say you don't know what that-"
"No no, I know what that means. But really?"
"Yes really! Haaah!~"
Sexual pain? So a masochist is someone who likes pain in a sexual manner? The only thing I can think of is when it's someone's first time. I hear sometimes you can even bleed down there when losing your virginity depending on certain circumstances, but for some reason I don't think Anna is talking about it like that... But I need to make sure...
"...You're not talking about like when losing one's virginity, right?"
"...Wow. Reina. You're so pure, you know that?"
"I take it that it's not?"
"No, definitely not. Listen."
With a sigh, Anna continues to talk as we continue to chat while going to school as I found myself learning quite some... Interesting things from Anna.