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 that could convince him that it wasn't because I was not happy living with them. While Hikaru-nii had understood my reasons for moving out, he, along with Kaori-nee, had still asked me to stay and not worry about being a burden to them at all. In the end though, they had given no further protest to my stepping out to go check the houses that Hiro-san had said that he would show me.

“And? What do you think?” Hiro-san asked me after giving me a tour of the house personally. He had said that the builder was a friend but, in reality, they were a client. In fact, the very apartment building and vacant flat that he had shown me were his design. It was no wonder that he was so gung-ho about showing me around. In fact, this was the third one that he was showing me just that evening.

“I think it’s nice.” I nodded, glancing at the balcony that overlooked the street below. It wasn’t the best view but I could at least see the sky properly.

“Satisfied with this one?” He enquired.

It was a 15-minute walk from Hikaru-nii’s place too. “Compared to the other two, I like this one better.” I admitted. “The rent is reasonable too.”

“Right? I thought you’d say that.” Hiro-san grinned. “Ah, don’t decide yet though. There are two more places that I would like to show you. Probably the day after tomorrow. You can make up your mind after that too.”

Knowing Hiro-san personally did make things a lot easier for me. “Ah. At least, I know that I can trust you, Hiro-san. Thank you very much.” I said, genuinely feeling grateful.

“Don’t mention it. I want you to get the best buy. I’m your Hiro-san here before being a professional. You can take my word for it.”

I knew that. “Then... shall we go back? You’re coming home, right?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “How did your chat with Hikaru go though? He had told me that he would be talking to you."

"Mm. We talked. He is actively making me feel bad about it too." I rolled my eyes, then shook my head and chuckled. "No. He's just that kind of guy. He wants to look out for me, I guess. Everything's so good at home already. It probably feels like it came out of nowhere when I said it. I do get where he is coming from too. I might have done the same thing had I been in his place but, then, he would have done what I am doing had he been in my place too."

"Yes, I can see that happening too." He laughed lightly. "You brothers are rather troublesome this way."

I frowned. "Then don't bother with us."

"I can't do that, no, can I?" He ruffled up my hair. 

I grunted at him and looked away. "Geez."

"But, Kakeru, is it really not because of a girl?"

"Wha-" I frowned. "I don't have a girl to start with." 

He shrugged. "I just asked. Since you want to suddenly be independent, I just thought that it could be a possibility. I mean, I already knew that you weren't seeing anyone but, who knows? What if you were being sneaky about it?"

"You know better than to think that."

"Right." He chuckled. "After you move out though, what will it be like? Will you visit every day?”

“I will definitely try to.” I spoke. “It will depend on the situation but I won’t make excuses.”

“It will be weird without you home, Kake-chan. If you aren’t going to be there, then I won’t go either.”

“The hell is that?” I chuckled. “As if you’ll choose to stay home and cook for yourself!”

“Well, that’s also true.” He gave in. "The one person who is really going to feel your absence is Aki-chan though." 

I sighed. "I think that the one person I might end up missing unbearably is her too."

"She is a very lively little thing, yes." He laughed. "It might get lonely, Kakeru."

"Stop. You aren't helping."

"I'm stating facts."

"You're still not helping, so don't. This is hard enough as it is."

"Alright. I'll stop here for today. It's not fun teasing you when you get serious." 

“Lets just go home for now.” I shook my head and led the way out. Once Hiro-san had locked up, we took the bus to Hikaru-nii’s place just because it had conveniently pulled up when we were near the bus stop. Hiro-san did not bring up the topic again and we made pleasant small talk all the way home. When I thought about it, I realised that the whole process of looking for a place of my on not only became easier but less painful because I had someone I knew with me throughout it. Hiro-san was just the kind of person who made someone feel comfortable that way too. Maybe I owed him more than I thought I did.

The night was a little chilly but it wasn’t to a point where it actually bothered me.

There, in that line of thought, I paused. I ended up looking at Hiro-san. I vaguely remembered thinking that he was warm enough to beat the cold but I couldn’t quite place when and why I had come to that conclusion. Not only was it trivial a matter but it was also too embarrassing for me to ponder on and so, I instantly tossed the thought out of the moving bus's window.