Oh, Brother!

in bloom

Sho's POV

A month has passed since the so-called incident between Reina, Takumi, and Shogo occurred and my break between JO1's group activities will be coming to a close soon enough. That would mean that I would have to return to my shared dorm with my members and leave my family behind once again. It saddens me that I'll be leaving them again, and for how long this time? It's only been four years since JO1 debuted, but I've been away from my family for almost six months since JO1 debuted. I missed them, that's for sure. Yet, I wasn't able to spend enough time with my younger sister Reina. The whole time, she's been constantly getting mad at me for what I had done concerning her tutoring session with Takumi. Little does she know, seeing her this way bothers me as well.

"Sho, are you alright?" my mom asked of me as I stood there, hovering over the dirty dishes in the sink. It appears that I might have been zoning out, caught up in all my various thoughts concerning what had occurred a month prior.

Reina slightly turned to face the two of us, as if to figure out why the faucet water wasn't running as per usual when it comes to washing the dishes, rolled her eyes, then went back to watching YouTube videos on our TV.

"Sho, my son... I know it's taking a toll on you as well..." Mom began again, motioning me to move over so she can wash the dishes. As she applied some dish soap onto a sponge, she turned again to face me, then whispered, "I know that the idol life is hard for you... I know that it's your dream to be a singer... I hope you know that it's taken a toll on Reina as well..." Silently, I nodded in response. Although I did know what she had meant, I didn't know that Reina's been keeping my being an idol a secret from her friends. It wasn't until I went to her school with the rest of my group mates to perform for her school festival that I finally realized I wasn't there for my sister when she needed me the most.

"There's no way that Yonashiro Reina girl is THE Yonashiro Sho's younger sister, is there?" I heard a teenage girl, around the same age as my younger sister Reina, state as she turned the corner from the big outdoor stage and helped a fellow student get me and the rest of JO1 ready for soundcheck.

The male student, whom she was talking to, simply gave her a shake of the head. "I'm not sure, Reika... We can't base everything on a couple of rumors, 'ya know?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Haruto..." the girl, whom I'm assuming was named Reika, stated back in response. "Well, anyways, I'm surprised a big group like JO1 is performing at our school! Can you believe it?"

Haruto smiled. "It makes me proud! After all, we're one of the only schools that got chosen for them to perform at by Lapone themselves!"

As our final soundcheck came to a close, I sat backstage, taking a sip of water from a plastic water bottle and fanning myself with a handheld fan, in order to cool off from the heat. Summer was just around the corner, but for these kids, summer seemed like a couple more weeks away. It's been a while since I was in high school, but I always remembered the school festivals were what made most of my high school days fun. I wonder if Reina is feeling that same feeling of fun I used to have as a student. With a sigh, I finished drinking my water and had some more makeup applied to my face.

"You guys are on in a few!" Manager-san stated, hoping to get everyone to quiet down before we made it to the stage. I felt the nerves get to me a little, but they quickly subsided after having done some vocal exercises with my fellow members.

"This just feels so surreal!" my fellow member Kimata Syoya stated, taking another sip from his water bottle. "I mean, it's our first time performing at a high school. I mean, we've performed at bigger venues before but this just feels really cool. I mean, doesn't your younger sister go to this school, Sho-kun?"