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Fifty-Two
“Kuronomiya-kun, you’re leaving already?” Yamato-kun asked when I got up from my desk after packing up.
“Yes. I have somewhere to go.” I replied and said goodbye to Shirokawa-san as well who was sitting next to my desk. “Thank you for your good work.”
“Likewise.” They called back.
I dropped by Hamada-san’s cabin and informed him of my progress on the new project that I had been assigned to. He was rather pleased with my progress too.
Conscience clear, I headed out into the 06:00 pm streets of Tokyo.
I checked my phone out of habit. There were no calls or texts from my brother. There was, however, a text message from my boyfriend. ‘Come fast.’
‘Half an hour.’ I replied and po
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Home One
“-eru. Kakeru… Kakeru!” My eyes shot open. I would have sat bolt upright too had my body not been that impossibly paralysed by sleep. I heard a laugh and let my eyes wander till I found a familiar face. I could barely see the man’s grey eyes through the two slits they made when he laughed. He seemed to find my after-sleep distress rather amusing. “Geez, Hiro-san.” I frowned, a little embarrassed but not showing it. I sat up on the couch and massaged the bridge of my nose. “You really aren’t a heavy sleeper, are you?” He calmed himself down and settled for watching me as I desperately tried to chase the sleep away. “If you know that, be a little less loud next time.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’ll try to.” He chuckled and turned towards the dining area. “Come on. Dinner is being served.” “Ah.” I planted both palms on the couch and stared after him. The guy’s so regularly eating with us that he was practically a member of the f
Home Two
“Kuronomiya, hey!” Someone called out to me when I picked up my bag after packing up and stood up from my desk. I turned to find two of my colleagues standing near one of their desks and looking my way. “Yes?” “You’re finally done with your project, aren’t you?” Shirokawa Touma-san asked. He had joined the company around the same time as I had. We had gotten along pretty well from the start. “Yes, I am.” I nodded. “Ah.” Yamato Keiichi-san spoke up. “Then, my client-” “Sorry.” I interjected before he could even place it on the table. “I’ve my regular work to attend to anyway. I’m not going to take up anything new for a while. Please, try to understand.” I smiled, lest it come off as mean. “Fair enough. You deserve the rest too. You seem to be the busiest out of all of us here. To be honest, I’m glad you’re starting to say no.” Yamato-san chuckled. “Well then, since you’re finally free, how about a drink or two tonight? We can invite a c
Home Three
There was a soft voice in my ear. Then, I was shaken lightly by my shoulder. “Kakeru.” Ah… Too tired… “Un.” “Kakeru? Kake-chan~” The voice continued. I was a little unregistering for a while but then, when I slowly opened my eyes, I was compelled to look around. I was alone at the table- the junior had already left. “What?” The voice asked in a small laugh. “Aren’t you happy to see me?” “I am.” I looked towards the person whose grey eyes were trained on me in amusement. “But… why are you here?” “I came to pick you up. Hikaru said that you were drunk and needed assistance.” Hiro-san shrugged and gave me a casual smile. “He… didn’t have to send you.” I sat up and yawned. “Was I alone when you came?” “No. A friend of yours was here but I sent him off in a taxi.” “Is that so? Then…” I stood up and adjusted my clothes. “Shall we go?” Everything was still a little hazy for me. Even after standing up, I just stood ther
Home Four
“Kuronomiya.” A female colleague of mine named Futaba Megumi approached me at my desk. “Yes?” “Hamada-san is looking for you.” “Ah. Thank you for telling me. I’ll go now.” I said, saved the document that I was working on and got up from my chair. Hamada Tetsuo-san was my immediate supervisor. We had a very cordial superior-subordinate relationship and so, it wasn’t odd that he would ask for me often. Being a bit of a workaholic helps me get my work done, at least, and so I had earned my place. I knocked on Hamada-san’s glass door. He waved me in immediately. “Ah, Kuronomiya-kun. I have to say, you’ve done quick and good work on your previous project.” “Thank you, Hamada-san.” I bowed. “It was thanks to your timely guidance.” “Mm. Well, I called you here for another reason though. I know that you have just finished a few major projects, both with your team and individually, but I would like to assign you something.” He would alw
Home Five
Kaori-nee did not look too good but she had been eagerly awaiting our return by the time we had gotten home. Aki-chan and I had stopped by the medical store on our way home and I had bought her her medicine as well. Kaori-nee was more than ready to make me tea as usual too but I drove her out of the kitchen and tasked Aki-chan with keeping her company while I made tea for her and myself and an omelette for Aki-chan knowing that she would be hungry. It made me stop and think, really. Life was really peaceful as it was. I really did not want to move out… However, the fact that I was thinking so much about it was proof enough for me that I actually needed to move. I would be close-by anyway. I could still visit them, at least as regularly as our other “extended family member” did. Said “extended family member” showed up as usual for dinner that night too, just as we were finishing with our tea. “Where’s Hikaru?” Hiro-san enquired as he changed into the indoor sl
Home Six
He had definitely been surprised to hear of it- my brother. It was two days after the chat with Hiro-san in the kitchen that I finally told Hikaru-nii and Kaori-nee about my decision to move. I had even told them about starting to look for my own place. Initially, the both of them had just heard me out and asked me to think about it more seriously. A day later, Hikaru-nii brought the both of us drinks and came into my room after Aki-chan had gone to sleep in her own room. We had a long brother-to-brother talk about a lot of things, starting from the issues we had had to face when we were still staying with our folks to after we had moved out and all that had happened after Kaori-nee too entered our lives. I figured that the point that he had wanted to make clear to me was that we had been by each other's side through a lot of the important things in our lives. He was sentimental. "We're family." It had taken me some time to work my way through the words t
Home Seven
“Kake-jii!” A shrill cry went up the moment that I opened the door to the house with my key. Even before I could announce that I was home, I had a pair of arms thrown around my legs and sobbing filled the entryway. While this shocked both Hiro-san and I into freezing up, my brother just stood there and shook his head in exasperation. Even Kaori-nee peeked around the kitchen doorway, greeted us and disappeared back inside. The little one, however, was practically pouring her heart out to me. “What happened? How come you’re crying?” I pat her head as soothingly as I could in my confusion. Hiro-san too crouched beside me and looked at her closely. “Hey, Aki-chan. What happened? Did your father get angry at you?” “Why is this my fault?” Hikaru-nii asked, coming over and trying to pull Aki-chan off my legs but to no avail. “Aki, you’re getting Kake-jii’s pants dirty. Give him some space. He just got home.” “I don’t want to! I don’t want to let Kake-jii go!
Home Eight
“Kakeru.” Hikaru-nii called softly and lightly shook me awake. “Oi. Wake up. It’s morning.” “Mm.” I turned over on my side. “It’s Sunday. Please let me sleep…” “It’s already late. Wake up.” He said, voice still low. That was weird in itself but I couldn’t really be bothered by it in my state of sleep. “Kakeru.” “I heard you.” I groaned and stretched my arm out a bit in trying to shoo him off. That was when I touched skin. I touched someone… small. I raised myself by my elbows, on my stomach and remembered the three-year-old sleeping next to me in her favourite yellow night dress only when I saw her peaceful features. She was still fast asleep. So that’s why Hikaru-nii was speaking so softly. “How many nights has this been now?” Hikaru-nii shook his head in defeat. “I don’t know… Four?” I slowly sat up and rubbed the sand out of my eyes. Aki-chan had woken me up at around 01:30 am saying that she wanted to sleep with me. This nigh
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