Come Home!

Episode 2: The Tension

Summary: Despite missing you deeply, tension rises.

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A battle between siblings happening is low but never zero. Add this to the fact that the Matsuno household having seven children, one measly fight can always lead to bloodshed until one of them ends in tears and snot on their face. For example, the Matsuno children would fight to the death about who is going first in the toilet or a simple competition about sharing dorayaki during lunch. Worse of all, all the six sons will not hesitate to tear each other apart, even as simple as who will be sleeping beside you during nights.

You can't entirely blame your mother for giving birth to you first as much as it kept you wondering how your parents had the audacity to bear more children. There was no memory of you asking for a sibling in the first place!

Going back, as the eldest and sanest of them all, you unwillingly became the family mediator. Always the reliable and level-headed Matsuno daughter, your wisdom was unreachable to your brothers and intelligence was always being praised by your parents. No wonder your younger self was always ambitious, you were raised with the mindset of being the chosen one!

Sadly, as much as stressful it is, you missed being relied on after moving out from your family home. It is chaotic as it is lively at that house, the warmth of having a big family is already carved into your existence. Never really fond of being alone in your small apartment, barely clean from all the dirty laundry and disposed of half-eaten take-outs and your companion is that old chunky television you bought from a thrift store. A pinnacle of being an independent adult!

Despite how overbearingly lonely and busy it is, you still love the freedom it gives you. While doing part-time jobs to support yourself and your family back home, each step comforts the idea that you are useful in society. Even in the nights where you barely sleep and eat, your soul is warm enough on the thought of being able to support your family enough, even if it costs your own mentality.

You are doing all of this for them, after all. Now, after a heavy decision to make, you are excited to be finally back home after nine years!

What was once a youthful and ambitious teenager now is an older woman who is now exhausted but still hopeful for her future. Excited to hug her parents and see her brothers once again, you said goodbye to your cold apartment and began to skip out of the building to wait for your taxi. Humming absentmindedly and ignoring the foreboding reason on why you're going back in the first place.

Choromatsu was lost in his own mind, no amount of chatter and annoyance from his brothers could wake him up from the news his mother eagerly shared. Hollow, he feels hollow, as his mother's words echoed repeatedly.

"Your sister is coming home!"

Wooden chopsticks hitting on the ceramic plates and bowls being placed down to their table. Different conversations and insults being thrown in and out of his ear, a mindless noise that he doesn't care at the moment.

"Your sister is coming home!"

He remembers how it has been nine years since he saw his older sister, all radiant and enthusiastic with the warmest smile. Despite focusing more on her studies, the eighteen year old Choromatsu eagerly worships the ground she walks on. In his mind, everything his sister does is perfect and if he just copies her every move then he'll be successful like her. Accomplished with enough money to buy his Nyaa-chan merchandise and out of his parents' home, away from his annoying brothers.

Now with the perfect opportunity to get advice from his reliable sister, he becomes excited to have another sane member in the family. Finally! A perfect mentor he can rely on and hopefully boost his own sewer-level confidence in being a well grounded member of the society. Deep in his heart, he also craves to hug his sister again.