In the Stars

Minato

"For my part, I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream."
— Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch Post-Impressionist painter

School was boring as usual. For fuck's sake, I don't want to be there, but Otou-san would have my hide if I skipped. But I itched to move and get out. Especially when Kiara is at a different school than me. 

I can't protect her from there.

She was tired when we got home, so she laid down for a nap. I did my homework and played Call of Duty with my buddies. Shinji's pretty good as a sniper. 

It's almost impressive.

Or it would be if I didn't know how good he was in real life. 

Kumazawa Shinji was the best sniper in the yakuza. And our enemies still underestimated him. 

When Sota called me, I told them to fuck off and turned my console off. On my way down, I paused at Kiara's door. It was slightly ajar, so I peeked inside and froze. The bed was empty, no Kiara, no pillow, and no blankets. Nudging the door fully open with my toe, I stated careful steps into the room. Round the bed was when I saw her, curled up in a nest of blankets, pillows, and the stuffed tiger Kenzi insisted on buying her when we went shopping. 

He'd surprised her with it after we got home.

I still think its ridiculous. 

I may have taken a quick picture before I woke her for dinner. She stared up at me with bleary, blinking eyes. Glancing to the right, I realized why she wasn't using her futon. The western style bed was still in the way. I shook my head at my brothers' idiocy. 

That was something we'll have to fix.

I helped her hobble down the stairs. Once we reached the bottom level, I let go so she could walk to her seat. Sota grinned at her as I took my seat. I sent them the picture of our sister looking cute while we waited for our food.

"How was school?" Father asked after the food was put on the table. No one responded right away. Kiara seemed to keep her eyes on her plate as she played with her food.

"The usual," I said, shoving rice into my mouth. "The teachers don't give a fuck what I do as long as I'm not fighting."

Father offered me a glare. I smiled in response. He turned his attention to Kiara. "What about you, Kiara?"

She glanced up at him before lowering her eyes back to her food. "It was okay. I... I think I may have made friends?"

"Sugoi ne," Father responded, his eyes on his plate as he ate. Kiara finally picked up a small piece of fish. "And how were your classes?"

[That's good.]

"They were okay. I think I could probably sit out the English classes..." she trailed off before taking another small bite. She kept looking around, almost like a skittish animal who thought their food might be stolen at any time. I flick my eyes to Kenzi.

"Kanojo wa jibun no tabemono wa mamotsu te iru yoi," I muttered, my eyes moving back to Kiara. 

[She's protecting her food.]

"Kanojo wa watashi tachi ga sore wa nusumu to omotsu te iru no daro u ka?" Sota asked, staring at her as well. She tensed. 

[Does she think we're going to steal it?]

Can... she understand us?

"Kiara," I said, bringing her attention to me. "You should eat more."

She looked back down. "I'm not hungry anymore."

I tilted my head. She asked to be excused and when Father gave her permission. She rushed out of the dining room as fast as she could. I looked between my brothers and father.

"She's lying," I said, taking another bite. "She can understand us."

"Why would she?"

"I don't know," I said, looking down at my food. Getting up, I headed back up to my bedroom to go to sleep.

***

When I got up the next morning, I noticed Kiara already in the kitchen. She looked like she was packing up her lunch. I watched her for a moment, noticing just the sandwich. A few moments later, she carefully put the food in a brown bag. The bag went into her bag. 

Kiara froze when she saw me.

"Good morning, Minato," she whispered. A tremor went through her body. 

"Hey, Imouto-san," I said, pulling her into a hug. She hugged me back after a moment.

Sota came down as we pulled apart. "Ready to go?"

We nodded and headed to school.