Toman's Little Sister

39 | New Years

"Aw, that's cute!" Your mom said when she saw you. "Where'd you get it?"

You grinned,, showing off your kimono. "Tsu-chan gave it to me! The one with violet hair and stuff."

"Ah, he gave you a lot of those kinds of gifts!"

You twirled your hair around your finger. "I kind of wish I could do cool things with my hair like Emma-chan and Hina-chan."

"Sorry, but I'm not that good at hair either."

You combed through your hair a bit and sighed. "Anyways, I'll stop by juvie to greet Pah-chin and Tora-chan." Tora brushed up against your leg and you sighed. "Not you, Tora. Thanks for letting me adopt him, by the way." Your mom smiled. "You're a bit like your father."

"Huh? In what way?"

"He'd always have some sort of animal following him when we walked home together. There was a cat that looked a lot like Tora."

"Hm." You picked up the small cat and looked him in the eye. "You're not following me because I look like my dad, are you?"

"Meow."

"Thought so." You put him down and tightened the knot of your belt. "Come on, we better hurry if we want to catch the others at the shrine."

You got into your mom's car and inhaled. "What's wrong?" She asked, turning to you from the driver's seat. "I like the fact that I'm driving somewhere without th esmell of fumes and a guy's deodorant in my face."

"Pah-chin!" You jumped into his arms and hugged him tight. "It's been too long!"

"It hasn't even been a year."

"So what? It feels like a long time. They're only allowing visits from friends during holidays." You spread out your arms. "Look what Tsu-chan got me!"

"Seems like something he'd give."

You sighed. "At Tora-chan's place, they don't let them out for visiting." You clasped your hands together. "Sorry I can't visit for long, but Happy New Year!" You gave Pah one last hug and stepped back. "Bye!"

He waved and grinned. "See you in a year!"

"Yep! See you!" You ran out of the juvie and into the car. "I'm finished." Your mom noticed your expression. "You seem happy."

"Of course! It's been half a year since I last saw Pah-chin since his juvie only allows visits from parents year-round. To Tora-chan!"

Once you walked in, you saw Tora's head lift and he jumped onto the counter. "Looks like Tora likes you, Tora-chan." You said with a chuckle. You sat down and smiled. "Sucks you have to spend New Year's in here. We would've loved for you to join us to the shrine."

"That's my own fault."

Your smile faded a bit. "I won't argue with that. Have you made any friends?"

"Juvie isn't kindergarten, Y/N." He laughed a bit. "Of course, I'm sure you'd get along with the people in here."

Tora pawed at the glass separating the two of you and you put him on the floor. "I'm not paying for the damage you do in here." Kazutora smiled down at the cat. "When'd you get a cat, anyway?"

"He used to come through Keisuke's window when we'd hang out."

"It's been a while since I've heard you call him Keisuke."

You put your hand over your mouth. "Sorry, I didn't mean-" "It's fine." Kazutora looked at his lap. "The fact that you had to stop calling him Keisuke really sucked. He liked it when you called him that since.. You know, family calls each other by their first name, right?"

Tears filled your eyes and you quickly wiped them away. "Yeah... But, you know, my step dad tried to get me to cut ties with him, and I didn't want him to do anything to Keis– Baji. He beat up Shi-nii-chan once since he was the leader of the Black Dragons and was taking care of me."

"When'd you stop calling him Keisuke?"

"9 years old." You put your head on your hand. "It was kind of funny how he reacted when I first called him Baji again."

"...Why do you do that?"

"Huh? Do what?"

"You say something really depressing and then say something to make it seem like it's not a big deal, or even change the topic entirely."

You stared in silence for a moment. "No reason. Happy New Years, Tora-chan." You picked up Tora, the cat, and left the room with a wave.

"Y/N?" Your mom saw you slouch in the front seat, your hand slowly stroking Tora. "Let's go. We'll be late."

Watching the road rush by, you had a silent thought. Why did you always do that. Downgrade pain. And it was always your pain. You never noticed it until it was called out.

The car came to a halt and the engine turned off. "Alright, let's go." Your mom said, opening the door. You followed her to the shrine and spotted the others.

"Y/N!" Mitsuya's little sisters ran over to you and you knelt down with your arms outstretched. "Whoa, whoa!" You were nearly knocked over as the two crashed into you. "Hey you two. It's been a while!"

"Yeah! Onii-chan always says that you're busy, but... are you really too busy for us?"

"What? Tsu-chan said that? Well, isn't that dumb. I'm never too busy for you two." You picked up Mana and held Runa's hand, walking to Mitsuya. "Sorry, I couldn't help it."

He rolled his eyes with a smile. "Alright, you two. We did an Ema. Do you want to do it?" You nodded and put Mana down. You turned around and asked, "Mom, do you want to do an Ema with me?"

"A-Alright."

Hina put her hand over her mouth. "That's your mom? She's so pretty! I see where you get your looks from."

"H-Hina-chan!"

"Speaking of looks." Emma began, looking you up and down while walking up to the group with Draken following. "Is that new?" She pointed at your kimono and you nodded. "Tsu-chan gave it to me!"

"Really? You're really good at sewing, Mitsuya!"

You went to the stand with the Emas with your mom and bought two. While writing yours, you looked at your mom's Ema. "Be a better mother." You smiled a bit and pressed your against your chest to hide the text. "Alright, let's hang it up!"

Yuzuha suddenly put her hands on your shoulders. "How come you haven't done anything cute with your hair?"

"I don't know how to do it to myself! Just... other people."

"You should've asked me! Right Hakkai?"

You laughed a bit at the flustered looking boy. "Is there 'too many girls' for you?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Y-You're different, Y/N."

"Why? Cuz we met when you were eight?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Mikey looked at the time. "It's almost time. We should jump together at 12:00."

You smiled. "That's make quite a picture, won't it? Too bad no one will take it." Everyone gathered together, and once the clock struck twelve...

"Happy New Year!"