Project Cupid | Ongoing

17 | a beginning to an end

"HELLO!"

Upon arriving at Naoya's doorstep, prepared to face the wrath of his mother, it was to the least of my expectations to instead be greeted by a small girl. Propping open the front door, which was triple her size mind you, she gazed up at me with wide, cinnamon-brown eyes and a toothless smile. This must've been his youngest sister.

"Hello," I responded. "Is your older brother home?"

Her eyes sparkled. "Yes!"

She dashed back inside, and within seconds, reemerged with another little boy.

I blinked, as did he.

"Er. . . no, I meant. . ." My words trailed. "Is your other older brother home?"

Both children shared a glance, and bobbed their heads in unison.

"He is!"

When they both disappeared, I heaved a sigh. Perhaps, their mom wasn't home. Naoya did mention she often worked late.

Tiny footsteps padded across the floorboards until eventually, the kids returned.

I should've expected they'd bring yet another small child with them.

Gosh. A third one.

On cue, they all stared up at me, as if I were some extraterrestrial creature.

I hunched over once again, putting forth my best smile.

"Let me change my question. Is Naoya home?"

All three of them beamed, bobbing their heads.

"Yes! In his room!"

Man, were they adorable. Still, I prayed they'd return with him this time so that this whole farce could end.

As I milled around the doorstep, waiting for them to reappear, I flitted my focus up to the second floor. It was an unintended gesture, so tell me why I spotted Naoya there, bouldering down the side of the house. My jaw collapsed. Hastily, I sprinted across the lawn and into the yard.

Using tied-up bedsheets, as if straight out of a cartoon, he carefully descended from the window. What the. . . ? Don't tell me he spotted me from the window, or overheard the commotion, and was trying to escape?

"Naoya!"

Shouting was evidently the wrong move. He tossed a glance over his shoulder, and a higher-pitched scream left his mouth. He immediately prepared to climb back up.

"Hey!" I cried. "Don't you dare try to run! Come down here!"

"W-wait, Ann, we can talk this through!"

"How are we supposed to talk if you're avoiding me?"

Left with no choice, I gathered random pebbles and sticks off the ground and chucked them at him.

Unable to dodge my barrage of rocks—my arm put the entire MLB to shame—he soon lost his balance and tumbled right along the ridge on the house and onto the grass. Fortunately, it wasn't too far of a fall, so he didn't sustain major damage. Nevertheless, I scowled down at him, eyebrows twitching uncontrollably. All the while, he sputtered, frantic-eyed.