All My Stars

Chapter 17

I throw myself into school for the entire first day of Natsumi being away and yet the biggest project hangs over my head like a dark cloud. 

The light pollution in our community is minimal so the balcony easily became my favorite spot to stare up at the stars and it's exactly what I'm doing when my phone vibrates with a video call from Sumi. I don't waste any time answering, eager to see her after texting all day.

"Hi" She's sitting at a desk in what I now come to recognize as her childhood bedroom.

"Hey" Natsumi greets back, beginning to brush out her hair, diverting her eyes from the mirror in front of her to look down at me.

"Is everything okay with your brother?"

"Yeah" She sighs tiredly, " He gambled away something very important to my mother and couldn't get it back"

"That's horrible, so what do you plan to do?"

She begins braiding her hair, a devious smile growing on her lips, " There's another game tomorrow and I'm winning it back"

"That's..." I can't formulate a response past that and Natsumi laughs.

"Kinda crazy right? but the owner won't allow me to simply buy it back so I'll win it over. I can't stand to see my mother crying because my brother's a fucking idiot" 

" Are you sure you can win against this guy?"

"Well," she says thoughtfully, " I'm definitely a better poker player than my brother so I just might be able to pull one over on him"

"So what then?" 

"Then I'm spending some time with my parents and then coming home to you" 

coming home to you

The words echo in my chest cavity before finding a resting place deep in my belly.

"Okay" I pray to god that I don't sound as hopeless as I feel.

"How was your day?" Sumi asks, moving on to moisturizing her face. 

"It was alright,  I did some more wedding planning stuff with Amelia and my mother who insists on being a part of everything" Natsumi laughs at how I roll my eyes.

"What about you? What did you do today?"

"I spent most of my day consoling my mother and then trying to locate my brother who has seemingly fled the country"

"What?" A mixture of surprise and amusement coating my reply.

"See before he only had my father to worry about but now that I'm here also..." She trails off, standing and grabbing her phone to move onto her bed and I watch quietly as she does.

Natsumi adjusts her pillows before easing back into a laying position and closing her eyes briefly

"Do you think you'll find him before you leave?"

She hums, seemingly thinking about it deeply. " Not likely, though I have other ways of drawing him out should it really become necessary"

"Like what?"

"Freezing his bank accounts" 

I rear back slightly in surprise, " You would do that?" 

"I would" She confirms immediately and it occurs to me in that moment that I don't really know much about what she would and wouldn't do at all.

"Listen,  the situation with my brother is complicated. I know it might seem harsh from an outsiders perspective but I only do what is absolutely necessary. He's still my younger brother and I love him" 

"Okay" I say eventually because she's right, I am an outsider and yet that realization stings. 

"Hey I just remembered I have a project to finish so I'll talk to you later" 

She looks at me for a minute as if trying to discern if I'm telling the truth before eventually letting it go, " Okay-" 

"I'll talk to you when you get back, bye" I hang up before she can answer and turn my phone off to head to bed.