We Are Family

Houseguests

Yuya woke up to find his room in darkness, but feeling very well rested. He blinked a little and glanced up at the clock on his headboard. It was 4:12 AM. Yuya sat up and reached for the lamp on his headboard, switching it on.

The moment the light turned on, Yuya noticed a tray of food sitting on his headboard between the clock and the lamp. There was a bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup, some pickled radishes and cucumbers, some grilled mackerel, and some steamed vegetables as well as a cup of Yuya's favorite jasmine tea. No doubt Zarc left the tray there for him to eat when he woke up. It was all cold by now, but Yuya was still very grateful to his brother, and began eating.

As Yuya ate, he heard the sound of soft music coming from downstairs. He was curious, but decided to finish his meal first before investigating. As soon as he finished, he picked up his tray and went to wash his dishes.

Hopping onto the firepole, Yuya held onto it with one hand and kept a firm grip on his tray with the other hand as he slid down. His sudden arrival seemed to startle the houseguests in the living room, as they jumped and quickly stopped playing their musical instruments. Yuto was also in the living room, playing a guitar with his back to the firepole. "Morning, Yuya! Sleep well?"

"Yep! Much better than last night!" Yuya said cheerfully. One of the houseguests looked surprised. "Wait, how did you know which one it was coming down the pole without looking?" he asked.

"Oh, Yuya's the only one who regularly uses the pole, other than Yugo," Yuto said. "And Yugo never gets out of bed before 7 AM. Yuri occasionally uses the pole, but not before he's had his morning tea. He doesn't want to risk falling off because he's not awake and alert enough to hold onto it. And Zarc is bigger and heavier than the rest of us, so the sound of him reaching the bottom sounds different than when the rest of us use the pole. Besides, I could hear the dishes rattling on Yuya's tray. The only reason he had them in his room in the first place was because he was too exhausted to wake up for dinner last night."

"Ah," his guest said. "I suppose that makes sense."

"Yuya, this is Kurosaki Shun and Ruri," Yuto said. "They're in our class at our new school."

"It's nice to meet you!" Yuya said, smiling at the houseguests. "Your music sounded pretty good!"

"Yuya's our resident performer," Yuto said, smiling fondly as his brother went into the kitchen to wash his dishes. "He plays more musical instruments than I can keep track of, and he's both a theater kid and an athlete. His gymnastics training really comes in handy when he's performing. The only other one of us who's as avid an entertainer as him is Zarc."

"Didn't you mention that your dad is a famous magician?" Shun asked. Yuto nodded, "Yeah, but he doesn't really do many other performing skills, apart from playing the piano. Yuya and Zarc both do magic tricks, acrobatics, acting, playing musical instruments, singing, dancing, and I'm definitely forgetting a few other performing talents they have cuz they just have too many to count. Yuya, what am I forgetting?"

"DJing, fencing, archery," Yuya said after a moment of thinking. "Zarc does mixology, I make 3D animations. Heck, I'm probably forgetting a few of our skills."

Ruri giggled. "Sounds like you two are really talented! What about you, Yuto? What skills do you have?"

"I'm an artist," Yuto said, smiling happily at being able to talk about his hobbies. "I draw, paint, make sculptures, write, and do bookbinding. Our other brothers have skills too. Yuri has the ultimate green thumb, he can bring any plant back from the brink of death to healthy and thriving and he can make any plant flourish in even the worst soil and even in environments where they shouldn't be able to grow. And he's also really good at sewing and making jewelry and shoes. He's actually made all of our clothes. And Yugo's got a knack for mechanical stuff. He built his own motorcycle, and he's been restoring classic cars and selling them since we were twelve."

"Oh wow!" Ruri said as Shun whistled in admiration. "Your family is so talented! I bet my friend Rin would love to meet Yugo! She's been working on building a motorcycle for a while."

"I'm sure Yugo would love to meet her," Yuya said as he came back from the kitchen and sat down on the sofa. "He's always happy to meet a fellow mechanic!"