Fate - Blessings and Curses

Chapter 2 - Birthday Boy

I returned back inside of the house and ran into kuzu, my little sister. She is 14 years old. 5'3 and a chill personality. Not the type to piss off, and really organized when it comes to school and her hobbies. We use to clash a lot as kids, however we sort of came to an agreement on a lot of things. We usually don't hang out much, but she has been making a big effort to making this birthday better than my last since my parents are coming home to spend the day with us. She was wearing a grey sweater and jogging pants. She must have just finished her work out. 

My parents are always away on business trips and usually stay inside the downtown area in an separate apartment since we live further out into the suburbs in my grandma's house. Although she has long passed away while we we're children, we still live here since she put the house in my mother's name in her will. My parent's usually leave the food shopping to Kuzu and we have been living like this for the past few years.

I sat inside of my room staring out the window waiting for my parent's to pick us up. There isn't very many rooms inside my house, and the only thing inside of mine is my gaming computer setup, and my bed. I usually don't leave out of it very much unless I want to eat, but i have had days where I bring snacks inside for the weekend and don't come out till Monday. Yeah times has been depressing like that very much, however Kuzu has stayed with me and helped me get out of this sort of stage I was in. I would like to one day say thank you to her for everything she has done for me.

"Renzu! Mom and Dad is here and they are ready to go!" Kuzu yelled from downstairs.

"Alright here I come." I yelled back.

I started to gather my things and came across a message that popped up on my computer screen. It was a text from my dad, I can see and reply either through my phone or the computer.

"Make your way downstairs to the basement. I have a surprise for you." It read.

I didn't reply as I shut off the monitor, grabbed my bag, keys, and phone and went down stairs. Kuzu sat at the bottom of the stairs and pointed towards the basement door, I could see the light was on and my dad moving some things around. My dad is a scientist. However he doesn't usually speak very much of exactly he researches. He seems sort of dis-trustful when I ask him if his line of work is safe or not.

He only spoke to me about it once. He mentioned a project called fate, and how I would understand it when I'm older. Of Course me being a child I didn't really pay attention to what he meant at the time. I didn't even know the dictionary meaning of fate. I guess I never got time to speak to him about it. Probably never will.

I went down stairs into the basement.

"Close the door." He said from the bottom of the stairs.

I turned back and closed it as he said. I made it downstairs into the basement. Not very much to see but a small room with a washer, dryer, and old dusty boxes. He was digging through one of the boxes, searching for something.

My dad is a very serious man. Always have been. He is pretty difficult to approach and only speaks really on important matters only. When it comes to daily things he is sometimes hard to have conversations with. Me and him don't have very much in common, which always made the relationship sort of distant.

"Hey dad." I said.

"My son, you've grown a lot." He said.

"Well it's almost been a year since you've seen me. How is work?" I asked.

"Work is...tiresome. However that is not the focus today. Happy Birthday son. You are 16 years old, I expect you to do great things as the years go by." He said.

"Thanks Dad. So what are we doing down here anyway?" I asked.

"You asked me about work?" He said.

I thought about it. Him being down here in the basement alone with me. Just what was he about to show me?

"Yes." I said.

Suddenly we heard Kuzu knocking on the door. She asked what was keeping us.

"Not here." He said.

I saw him reach inside the box and put something in pocket. He did it so fast I couldn't make out what it was exactly. We both went upstairs and entered the living room. Our living room was big and spacious. It was completely furnished and was the main area Kuzu hung out at throughout the day watching TV. The kitchen was right beside it to the right. It was small, but a completed kitchen. All of our appliances were up to date because of my parents. Whatever work field their in makes a lot, they just haven't spoke too much on the subject. We had four bed rooms total all upstairs. The living room, kitchen, garage, and back patio on the first floor and basement with laundry below. We had two bathrooms one upstairs and another one at the base level of our house. A lot of work was done onto the house when we was younger, so we all got to have our rooms painted different colors. I painted mines a dark blue to match the bed set. Kuzu's room was painted a dark purple, and my parent's room a light brown. However we was never allowed to go in there while they was away unless it was an emergency and we needed to reach the gun my dad had bought for our protection. We were both trained how to use it and knew exactly where it was along with the bullets. However we never got a chance to ever use it, thankfully we lived in a peaceful neighborhood.

We sat down and chatted with each other for a few minutes before leaving out. Once we left we had went out to eat at one of my favorite restaurants and spent the rest of the day at the movies. Kuzu enjoyed the movie more than I did, however I was still happy that we got spend some quality time with each other. We came back home late that night and opened presents. My mother had brought me some new clothes and a new video game I've wanted for a while. She also gave me a new book about drawing and the sequel to one of my favorite authors of all time. It was a horror/thriller book with a really interesting story. I'm glad I will be able to see what happens next.

I thanked her as Kuzu gave her present next. It a black trench coat in preparation for the winter.

"I figured you would need one since it gets cold around this time." She said.

"Thanks Kuzu." I said with a smile.

"It's time for your father's gift." My mother said.

We all looked over to him as he sat quietly and looked at us.

"I didn't bring a present." He said.

"What do you mean you didn't bring a present?" My mother asked. 

The room grew awkward at that moment. It's not like he didn't have a chance to get one, but we all know him to always bring something. Even if it was something from around the house. However I didn't mind really if he brought one or not. Him being here right now mean't the world to me. He could never really be here in person on my birthdays in the past. I'm only glad I am getting to see him now. 

"It's not a physical present. I put it on his computer." He said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Something only for you to see." He said.

He stood up. 

"Renzu. Follow me." He said.

I stood up and followed him to the back patio. He has always been sort of quiet when it came to speaking with me, but something didn't feel right. The look in his face worried me. 

Just what was he about to tell me?