My Brother, Hayato

"Ah, I want to go home," Ichinose Tokiya sighed as he walked along the path, the heels of his boots clicking on the concrete and with hands stuffed into the pockets of the jacket he was wearing.

Another spring has come and gone; it would soon be summer in a few weeks. Before he would know it, he would he a young man of twenty-a fully grown and responsible adult in the eyes of society; a child no more.

The past week had been a hectic week for him and the other members of STARISH, just like it always has been every year. It was the long awaited Golden Week, after all. Even if almost the entire working population of Japan was on holiday, the entertainment industry never rests. Television interviews, live performances, variety shows, radio broadcasts... you name it, STARISH had probably done it during the past week.

Work in the entertainment industry is always busy, but Tokiya didn't mind. He's living his dream, after all.

Though he barely has time for himself nowadays, he still loves his job. Of course, the rest of the gang has a habit of crashing somebody's apartment -usually his, for some reason- and hanging out there the whole evening. Sometimes they even sleep over and make a mess of his living room.

And since it's the last day of the Golden Week holidays, they'd probably drop in tonight as well; that inconsiderate bunch of people.

The sound of children laughing distracted Tokiya from his thoughts.

"Big Brother! Wait for me!"

"No way! You're just too slow!"

Tokiya stopped in his tracks, right in front of a small park, where a pair of brothers -twins, even- were playing together.

It felt nostalgic, Tokiya thought, as he watched them play. He used to play with his brother, too, back when they were still little kids... and when he was still alive.

Yet it was strange. For a long, long time, he hadn't thought about his brother nor of his childhood. It was as if he was trying to forget about the painful memories that would pop up every time he thought of them.

"Ah!" The younger of the two boys cried out as he tripped, crashing onto the ground beneath him.

As if it was by instinct, Tokiya moved a foot forward to help the child, but paused in his tracks when he spotted the older boy bending down next to his younger brother, who was starting to sob.

"Are you okay?" The boy asked, offering a hand to help his brother to get back on his feet.

"Big Brother... I..." The younger boy started to burst into tears.

"Hey, don't cry! You're a man, aren't ya?" The older boy chided. "Men are strong! And Papa says that a real man has to be strong and not cry! So you must be strong too!"

Those words struck Tokiya. It was as if he had been told those same words a long, long time ago...

"-kiya?"

It was many a spring ago. That day, I had been resting under the large cherry tree that grew in our backyard, feeling the passing spring breeze on my face and the soft grass tickling my back.

"Tokiya?"

Someone's calling my name. Who is it?

"Oi, Tokiya! Wake up already! How long are you gonna sleep out here? You're gonna catch a big cold, ya know?"

That voice... Hayato?

"Seriously! We'll start dinner without you if you don't wake up soon!"

"I'm already awake, actually."