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

Growing Up

Exams came and went. Kirika helped Amber to study for her exams. And surprisingly, Amber managed to scrape through her exams.

"Mom and Dad are going to be proud!" said Amber. "And we get to stay together."

Regina came to the others. "My parents are taking me and my siblings to the waterpark this summer. They said that I could invite anyone I liked."

"That's great!" said Mike happily.

"Yeah. I must say, they have been treating us a lot more fairly lately. They even started disciplining my siblings."

Kirika smiled. After hearing Regina's story, she had told Shu, and he had a conversation with Regina's parents and told them that they should treat their kids fairly.

"I would love to come," said Kirika. "My brother has never taken me to a waterpark. He seems scared of swimming for some reason."

"Kirika, have you heard from your parents?" asked Isabella.

"No," said Kirika. "And to be honest, I don't want to. I was very sad when I heard about how they treated Shu."

"Who does a thing like that to their child?" asked Amber.

Kirika sighed. "Well, it doesn't matter. Shu cut them out of his life, and I'm not surprised."

Kirika took the bus back home, and she found it quite fun. Shu was in his room working.

"Hi Shu," said Kirika.

Shu ruffled Kirika's hair. "How was school?"

"Great!" said Kirika. "Regina invited me for an outing at the waterpark."

"Oh, that's nice," said Shu.

"Shu, why are you so scared of swimming? Did you never learn how?"

Shu turned a little pink. "That's... A story for another time."

"But why?" asked Kirika.

"I don't feel like talking about this," said Shu.

Kirika sighed. Shu had started going to therapy, but it seemed like he still had a ton of issues he wasn't ready to speak about yet.

Kirika looked at her notebook. At the beginning of the school year, her class had been told to write what did they want to be when they grow up in their notebooks. Back then, Kirika had wanted to be a fashion designer.

That was weirdly ambitious for a nine-year-old, but Kirika had always been an ambitious child.

Now Kirika erased the fashion designer part out of her notebook and wrote something else in its place.

Shu came into her room to tell her that dinner was ready and was surprised by what she was writing. "Kirika, you have homework at the end of the school year?"

"It's not exactly homework," said Kirika.

"Then what is it?" asked Shu.

"Shu, I want to be a teacher when I grow up."

Shu looked asthonished. "Really?" he asked.

"Yes. Everyone told me that I'm smart, so I might just as well put that intelligence to good use."

"Kirika, I know you too well. There is more that you're not saying."

"Okay, the main reason is because I want to help children. I know how hard some kids have it, and I want to help them. If being a teacher doesn't work out, then I could run an orphanage or raise money to help the poor."

Shu smiled. "You are such a kindhearted person. I'm very proud of you."

"Thanks," said Kirika. "By the way, what did you want to be? I'm pretty sure running a Beyblade team isn't your first choice."

"You're right," said Shu. "I was kind of forced into it when I was twelve. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a scientist like our Mom. But after... You know what, I decided that I didn't want anything to do with Science or experiments. I think that I would have probably become a chef, a daycare worker, or a teacher."

Kirika giggled. "Maybe it's a good thing you didn't become a teacher. Your female students would spend their time flirting with you instead of learning."

Shu rolled his eyes. "Sis, wait until you become a teenager and all those teenage hormones kick in. Boys will be constantly going after you and you won't get a moment's peace."

Kirika giggled. "Don't worry. My boyfriend Mike will drive them all away... Oops!"

Shu's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "B... Boyfriend? But I thought that he was... Just your friend?"

"I'm joking!" said Kirika. "We're not actually dating, we just like to pretend that we are."

"Thank goodness," said Shu. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

Kirika giggled. "Sorry. I won't do that again. But I am growing up, and I am not a little girl anymore. After all, I am starting to enter puberty."

Shu sighed. "I know. But no matter what, you're always going to be my baby sister."

Kirika smiled. "I can handle that," she said.