By the time they got home with FIVE shopping bags, TWELVE items Harumi didn't remember buying, and ZERO remaining physical strength, the sun had already disappeared behind the mountains.The little house was warm, cozy, smelling of wood… and absolutely silent.
Harumi placed her hand on the doorknob, twisted it—
PLOP.
"…Huh?"
The light flickered once… twice…
And died.
"…Izumi?" Harumi whispered, as if afraid to scare the house itself.
Izumi turned on the flashlight under her face like a horror movie ghost, revealing an expression that said I warned you.
"Harumi… did you pay the electric bill?"
Silence.
Harumi blinked.Izumi crossed her arms.
The kids watched them like they were observing a documentary about irresponsible adults.
"…I…" Harumi pushed her bangs back. "I didn't know you… had to pay it in the first week…"
Izumi sighed like an exhausted mother of four.
"OF COURSE YOU HAVE TO! Electricity doesn't run on love and positive vibes!"
Harumi inhaled deeply, inhaled again, and then:
"IT'S FINE! We'll light some candles. Rustic vibes! Samurai-movie aesthetic!"
"Harumi, that's not 'aesthetic.' That's energy poverty."
Before Harumi could answer, she tripped over a grocery bag.
THUMP.
"Aaaugh!"
"Harumi!" Izumi shined the flashlight on her. "Did you fall?"
"NO, I'M JUST… STRETCHING MY SPINE!" Harumi shouted from the floor with her last scraps of dignity.
Mei ran over, worried.
"Auntie Haru, are you alive?"
"Only my pride died."
Takeru sighed—a long, heavy sigh belonging to someone who had lived far too much for his age.
"I'm… gonna go home."
"Huh?" Harumi lifted one eye. "'Home' where?"
"Grandpa's house. We don't need to sleep here tonight."
Harumi nearly had a heart attack.
"Y-Y-YOU'RE LEAVING????"
"Nooo!!!" Mei burst into tears.
Harumi panicked and tried to grab Mei in the dark, but tripped over everything and found nothing.Takeru, seeing his sister get desperate the same way she had in the supermarket, softened.
"There are blankets there. I'll just bring more."
That calmed the storm.
"OH—so you do have extra blankets, huh?" Harumi said dramatically. "Is the house warm? Cozy?"
Takeru paused.
"…It's a house."
"But is it nice?"
"…It's a house."
"But does it have electricity?"
"…Technically…"
"TAKERU THAT ANSWERS NOTHING!!"
He sighed. Mei was suddenly cheerful again.
"Let's go. It's close."
The "grandpa's house" (also known as: where hope goes to die) was the same place where they found Kuma-chan—but of course Harumi didn't remember that.
The road was dark and windy.Mei held Harumi's hand tightly.Izumi followed with 3% battery left—disaster imminent.
Finally, they stopped in front of an old house.
Old.
OLD.
The kind of old that would make a ghost ask for a renovation.
Takeru opened the door, which creaked like a horror movie sound effect.
Harumi's eyes widened.
"Takeru…"
"…What."
"YOU LIVED HERE?!"
"…Yeah."
"But—but—" she pointed at the wall, which had enough mold to start its own ecosystem. "You… breathed this?!"
"There was nowhere else."
"OH MY GOD YOU'RE GOING TO GET DISEASES—"
"Harumi… sweetie… calm down…" Izumi tried grabbing her arm.
"CALM DOWN??"
Mei looked around shyly.
"It was dark… but Takeru let us stay really close together."
Takeru went red. Red enough to warm the whole house.
Harumi's heart melted like hot pudding.
"…Okay." She took a deep breath. "We'll take what we can… and you two are NEVER sleeping here again. Understood?"
"Tch." Takeru looked away, like someone who secretly liked sleeping there.
Mei opened an old trunk and found:
Two blankets.One very odd-shaped pillow.And a patched-up old teddy bear.
Kura-chan.
"There you are!" Mei grabbed him and hugged tight. "YOU. ARE. NEVER. RUNNING. AWAY. AGAIN."
Kura-chan remained silent, as teddy bears do.
"His name is Kura-chan?" Harumi asked, already confused.
"Yes!"
"Okaaay, I CANNOT mix up KUMA-chan with KURA-chan HAHAHA—"
Back at Harumi's house, darkness still reigned. Izumi set candles on the table.
Harumi immediately tripped on one.
"HARUMI, ARE YOU TRYING TO SET THE HOUSE ON FIRE??"
"The floor hates me!"
"STOP BLAMING THE FLOOR!"
Takeru spread the blankets on the tatami.Mei sat hugging Kuma-chan and Kura-chan.
Harumi sighed and dropped beside them.
"…Okay… no one's taking a bath tonight."
Izumi lit up, way too happy.
"Great!"
Harumi turned to her, suspicious.
Izumi, seventeen years old, absolutely hated bathing.Harumi was right.
Harumi put her hands together.
"Guys… I'm sorry. I messed up the whole day…"
"You didn't mess up." Mei said softly, resting her head on Harumi's shoulder.
"Yeah." Takeru muttered, turning away. "You… tried."
Harumi smiled, emotional.
"So…" she made a terrifying face, even worse in the dark. "Let's all sleep together?"
Izumi answered:
"No. BUUUT we have no option. The house is freezing."
"EXACTLY!" Harumi pulled the blankets. "We're becoming a human burrito!"
Mei giggled.
Takeru hated it.But sat close anyway.
Izumi blew out the candle.
And in the total darkness, four different breaths blended together.
The house had no electricity.
But it felt brighter than ever.
"Goodnight, everyone," Harumi whispered.
"Goodnight…" Mei replied.
"Hm." Takeru grumbled.
"Goodnight. And if anyone snores, I kick." Izumi added.
Harumi smiled and fell asleep—holding the teddy bears,and holding the beginning of a home she never expected to have.
Nota importante:Five minutes later, the grumpy little samurai who insisted he wasn't lying down… was snoring inside the "human burrito."