Sibling Love (Sequel to I Just Want To Be Loved)

Generosity

No matter how many times Kirika visited the Raging Bulls training centre, the building never ceased to amaze her.

There were advanced training equipment everywhere. Kirika wasn't allowed to use them unless she was being supervised. When she had asked why, Shu had said, "I don't want you to hurt yourself. You're really young, so it can be dangerous for a little girl like you."

Kirika's favourite was the rock climbing, which she wasn't allowed to try out at all, supervised or not. The safety equipment was too big for her anyway.

Almost all of the Raging Bulls members knew her. How could they not, when her brother was the manager and she was such a social butterfly?

"Hi Kirika," said Fubuki Sumiye.

"Hey Fubuki," said Kirika.

"How was school, Kirika?" asked Jeffrey Abbot.

"Great!" said Kirika.

A little hedgehog came up to the girl. "Hi Harry," she said. "I have a snack for you." She gave it a biscuit, which the hedgehog ate happily.

"Now you should be getting back to Lain," said Kirika. "You know how jealous he gets when he sees you with anyone else."

Thank the heavens Joshua Burns isn't here, thought Kirika. That arrogant actor drove her nuts.

She went straight to Shu's office and knocked on the door. Technically she didn't have to, but Kirika knew that some of the Raging Bulls members may complain that she didn't have to knock while everyone else did.

"Come in," came Shu's voice. Kirika opened the door.

"Hi big brother," she said and ran to hug him.

Shu patted Kirika's head, which was a bit of a challenging task as he had been working on his laptop. "Hi there sis. How was school?"

"It was fun," said Kirika. "It was so much fun taking the bus! I counted the cars all the way there and back."

"That's nice," said Shu.

"Shu, what are Mom and Dad's names?" asked Kirika.

Shu almost fainted with shock. "Why do you want to know?" he asked his sister, looking at her with asthonished red eyes.

"Because we're doing a project in English. I have to draw our family tree and talk about our family. Can you tell me about Mom and Dad?"

Shu grew uncomfortable. "Er... Why don't we work on the family tree first?"

"Ok, I guess," said Kirika. She knew that Shu was purposely avoiding talking about their parents.

"Okay, Mom's name is Masumi, and Dad's name is Hiroaki. And we have a maternal aunt called Hinata. Hinata Ishida."

"We have an aunt?" asked Kirika. "You never told me that!"

"She passed away when I was little," said Shu.

"What happened?" asked Kirika.

"She just got sick one day," said Shu. "I'm not sure what the illness was. I was too young to understand."

"And our parents? What do you know about them?"

"Dad was a businessman and Mom was a scientist."

"And?" asked Kirika, still hoping for more.

"Listen, I don't want to talk about this now," said Shu. "I... I just can't."

Kirika looked at Shu. He sounded close to tears. Had she said something wrong? Shu wasn't really an emotional person.

"Did I upset you?" asked Kirika.

"Huh? No, why don't we check out your birthday party location?" asked Shu. "The invitations are ready, so you can give them to your friends tomorrow."

Kirika felt certain that Shu was trying to distract her from discussing their parents. But she didn't want to pressure him. Besides, she was looking forward to her party.

Kirika's eyes lit up when she saw the play area. There was a bouncy castle with an attached slide which led straight into a ball pit. There were rocking horses, a playhouse and swings. There was even a trampoline!

Just then, Kirika saw a little boy tugging on his mother's arm. "Mommy, why can't I play there?"

"Because you know we can't afford to pay for you to play," said his mother sadly. "You know that we're poor now."

"That's not fair!" complained the little boy. Tears were running down his cheeks.

Kirika felt sad for this boy. She had watched quite a number of movies which showed how hard poverty could be. Her favourite movie was the one involving a blonde princess and a brunette pauper (she forgot the movie's name). She wondered what would happen if she suddenly met a girl who looked like her but had none of the luxury she had. Would she be able to cope if she got thrown into a terrible situation?

Just then, Kirika knew what she had to do. "Shu, give me an invitation," she said.

"Why?" asked Shu.

"Just trust me," said Kirika.

So Shu gave Kirika an invitation. She went to the little boy.

"Hi, what's your name?" she asked.

The little boy gasped. He wasn't accustomed to seeing a girl with pink hair. "Billy," he said.

"Well, Billy, my name is Kirika."

"That's a funny name."

"It's Japanese for natural beauty," said Kirika. "I'm having a birthday party here in two days. Would you like to attend?"

Billy looked at his mother. "Mommy, can I go?" he asked.

"Are your parents okay with this?" asked Billy's mother.

"Actually, my big brother is doing the preparations for the party. You can ask him," she said.

After some conversation, it was settled. Billy would be attending Kirika's party.