Uncertainty

Attraction

Sometimes when he was bored or lonely at the university, he would take his car and go home, not the apartment he had lived in since he had started his higher education but the house he had grown up in. There at least he could entertain himself with his younger sister who was always happy to see him.

That semester he didn't have classes on Fridays, so it was quite usual that on Thursday afternoons, after organizing what he had to do for the following week, he would go and spend the whole weekend with his family. Her mother was a stern and very strict woman, so keeping good grades was mandatory if he didn't want to have her on the phone lecturing him about responsibility and not to make him feel bad when he went to see her and her sister.

When he arrived he parked his car in one of the available spaces and went to a nearby bakery to buy something to snack, he walked around the neighborhood thinking that although he was not exactly a lone wolf, the truth is that he did not always fully enjoy the company of his classmates.

That's why he didn't share so much with them, to talk about his future and the direction the family's business would take he already had his own mother.

Did they have nothing else on their minds but to think about money or ways to make more? Yes sure, they all studied finance and were sort of heirs to big companies not only in the country, but that didn't mean that was the only topic available.

He clicked his tongue and wanted to think of something else, like the fact that the place was more secluded than he remembered but he was closer to getting there than turning around just to go back in the car. The smell of chocolate and other desserts invaded his nose as soon as he walked in, so he ordered some chocolate muffins for himself, some cinnamon rolls for his sister, and for his mother a couple of éclairs.

He was trying to hold back his urge to eat one of the pastries as he resumed heading home when he saw that young woman looking everywhere with tears in her eyes.

He approached her and it was then that he knew she was lost, recognizing she studied at the same school as his sister and from which he was a graduate, and surprising him by leaving him with his hand outstretched after saying his name. He shrugged, the world was full of crazy people.

When he got home, he left the box on the hall table and knew something was wrong when he heard the loud banging on one of the doors as well as his mother shouting. It was rare for his mother and sister to argue, more so in that way, yelling was usually reserved for him exclusively so he went upstairs at once ready to intervene on Hana's behalf.

"You're being ridiculous!" Shouted their mother and gave another couple of knocks on the door of his sister's room. "Open the door at once!" more knocking. "Hana I'm telling you to open the door!"

"NO! Why won't you let me have that friend?!"

"What's going on?" the woman's hand stopped just before knocked again.

"Good," was the greeting, "you are going to convince your sister to stop this nonsense she is involved in."

"IT'S NOT NONSENSE! YOU ARE BEING IRRATIONAL!" Shouted the younger one from the other side.

"What did she do?"

"Do you remember what the principal Ōnoki did?"

"The scholarships he offered to underprivileged students and for which you were ranting for almost a month at all the dinners threatening to change Hana to another school?" He asked with irony. "No, I don't remember."

"Yes, that situation." Said the woman ignoring the sarcasm.

"What about it?"

"Your sister not only befriended one of the beggars, but also had the crazy idea of bringing one home." She emphasized her words. "She brought a lousy girl into the house!"