𝐉𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 // 𝐒𝐏𝐘 𝐱 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘

Chapter 17

Kei was mere seconds away from tearing her hair out. At this point, she just wanted to scream. She would probably be shrieking, if it weren't for the fact that she was mute. Her brows furrowed as she glared down at the object of her latest ire. The perfectly polished wood made her want to throw something. Or rather, the thing itself.

She thought it couldn't be too hard. Kei was pretty good at most things. In fact, she was effortlessly good at most things.

At the moment though? She felt stupid. And dumb. Petty; spiteful. And also; simple, plain frustration. Oh, and a good handful of rage too.

And she was just this close to smashing her brand new acoustic guitar.

Obviously, she wasn't going to.

It was good quality! It costed money! It was a gift!

...And she really, really wanted to destroy it. Punch it. Kick it. Tear off its neck and pluck out every one of its strings. Chop it into itty bitty pieces. Or burn it. That would be immensely satisfying too. The problem? She was very sorely tempted. Incredibly so.

Kei closed her eyes and heaved a breath. Peace. Think of happy things. Books. Books. Yes. (It would look so nice as a pile of splinters) No. Shush. (But imagine it... the flames...) Nope. Bad Kei.

She curled her fists. This was not working at all. Kei counted to ten before opening her eyes again. With great reluctance, she curled her fingers around the instrument, gently, and shifted to a better position.

It was heavy. And big. And her clumsy fingers wouldn't stay where they were supposed to. Kei understood the theory well enough. It's just her little childish body couldn't seem to handle it.

The pads of her fingers were sore from the strings digging into her skin and all the useless strumming she'd unsuccessfully attempted. And any sound she managed to make was still a garbled mess.

Kei hated it. She hated not being good at something. She despised it a lot.

For a moment, she considered carelessly tossing the wooden guitar on the floor, imagining the clang! and its shattered remains. Kei shook those thoughts away. Anyhow, the guitar seemed sturdy enough that it wouldn't burst into dust upon coming into contact with another surface.

She went back to trying to get her fingers to press down on the rights placed and stay, wincing a bit as the strings bit into her already raw skin.

A few minutes later found Kei curled up on her bed, bundled in blankets with a book perched on her lap.

The guitar lay discarded on the floor among other items. (Kei didn't care much for her room —saying it's messy would honestly be rather generous.)

::

There was a hollow knock on her door and Kei refused to acknowledge.

She kept her thoughts solely on her book, eyes tracing over each deliberately inked line. It was when she realized she was reading the same sentence for the fifth time that she finally sighed.

What do you want, Anya?

Kei narrowed her eyes on the door of her bedroom. Beyond it, she knew that Anya would be hovering tentatively; uncertain. She could practically hear the anxiety in her thoughts (oh wait—).

Anya spoke aloud in response. "Can I come in?"

Kei scoffed, burrowing further into her nest of blankets and pillows. Whatever.

She was being mean. She didn't care.

The bedroom door creaked open, and it struck Kei rather suddenly, how tiny Anya was. She ignored the part of her which hissed that they were both tiny.

Anya's pale pink locks peeked out from underneath her nightcap, and her wide, soulful green eyes were sweeter than ever. Kei crumbled as usual under that gaze. What are you waiting for? She thought gruffly, patting the bed beside her.

Anya smiled a bit, and the girl padded her way to Kei, stepping delicately over the scattered mess. "Kei."

The six year old girl crawled under the cover, snuggling into Kei's warmth. The latter welcomed it. Cherry blossom and rosy dusk tangled as the two sisters lay together. One with eyes of jade and the other with eyes of steel.

Anya didn't speak for a while and the girl leaned against Kei listening to the steady rhythm of their heartbeats.

Kei noticed that Anya was unusually quiet. Her normal energy was absent, and there was something in her expression... sad.

"What's wrong?" Kei shifted a little so that she could show her hands.

Anya shook her head, burying her face on Kei's stomach. "It's nuthin'" The answering mumble tickled at her side.

Kei sighed before forcing Anya to sit up so that she could sign out, "It was a nightmare, wasn't it? You're only this clingy after a bad dream."

Anya's little mouth twisted, stubbornly shut.

Kei nudged at her. "Come on. I'm here for you." Her attempts at cheer fell miserably short.

Kei suppressed another sigh, petting Anya's head.

Finally, her little sister spoke once more, albeit haltingly. "Kei... I... I'm sorry! Dun' be mad at me!" Anya stared pleadingly at Kei, tears pooling in her jade eyes and salty liquid threatening to spill down her cheeks:

Kei frowned. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"When I left you..." Anya blubbered out, looking deeply ashamed. "An' I was playin' wid Becky."

Honestly, Kei was terribly bewildered. Her thoughts must have conveyed so because Anya hastily elaborated.

"Egh'made a promis before." She softly murmured, her words tumbling out in a jumble. Anya hesitated. "An' I kno' I hurt you. A lot. You were sad... thinkin abou' Re-"

Kei closed her eyes tightly. No.

"Kei?" Anya meekly inquired, more tears splashing. "I'm sorry! I'm dumb and I'm not an adult and— dun' be mad!"

Kei jolted at that. She thought to herself, a little petulantly, I'm not mad. It sounded weak, even to her. She paused, and then corrected herself. I'm mad but I could never be mad at you.

And I don't care about Becky. You're right. We both need other friends too.

She gently used a corner of her blanket to wipe away Anya's tears. She smiled kindly.

Anya sniffed. "Becky isn' even thad great."

The other girl raised an eyebrow in amusement, recalling the way Anya hung onto Becky's every word at school. Is that so?

Her sister nodded solemnly. "You're better than anyone else... the greatest." Kei laughed internally, a fuzzy and warm feeling in her chest; she'd been feeling that an awful lot recently.

Kei put on a smile, dragging Anya closer and throwing the blanket over the both of them. So, how have you been?

Anya's eyes lit up and she chirped enthusiastically. "Great! Though the classes are boring." She makes a face then.

How's your world-peace-apology going? Kei slyly asked, a grin on her face.

"Papa's being so silly. He keeps spying on me. And he changed my textbook the other day! And my omelet for lunch said sorry in ketchup!" Anya giggled. Kei's answering smile was fond. That sounded like something Loid would do.

Anya then wiggled closer, dozing sleepily on her side, tired from her earlier emotional outburst. The girl fell asleep quickly.

But Kei lingered wide awake, her thoughts continuing to buzz endlessly. And she just couldn't stop remembering Anya's earlier words.

A promise, huh?

::

A/n: HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!!! I realize I have been neglecting this story for a bit... um sorry. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter —it's kinda short and a little bit of a filler but sweet nevertheless :D