4 Letters Long [OHSHC]

10| Akane

It was Friday afternoon, and the final bell just rang.

"I'll see you later, okay?" Kaoru says.

"Yeah." I pack up my things and head out to the elementary to pick up Chirou.

When we get home, I start on my homework for the weekend.

"
"When is your date going to be, Nii-san?" Chirou pokes his head in my room.

"Soon, in about thirty minutes." I say just as I finish my last math problem.

"Okay." He closes the door. I had told him about this yesterday, but I never mentioned "date" in anything. The little guy can figure out anything by learning only basic knowledge. That's why he excelled in most of the extra-curriculars he took.

I stretch for a little bit after about an hour of sitting down. I took off my thick-framed glasses-- which I only wore at home-- and rubbed my eyes.Then, head to my closet and observed my options.

I immediately decided to wear my usual comfort clothes-- a white hoodie, deep red skinny jeans, and black sneakers.

I made a beeline for the bathroom to fix my hair. I look in the mirror and see my hair-- short brown with long side-bangs. It was neatly combed and pulled back with barrettes.

So, I took out the barrettes and grabbed my shower towel and rubbed it roughly against my hair. When I was done, it was back to its natural style-- wild. But I used a comb to make it less of a fiasco.

Then, I grab my small, black backpack and throw some things in there-- gum, a swiss-army knife, twenty bucks, my house key, my ID, and my phone.

Ten minutes left.

I head to the kitchen to snack on a granola bar when I see Chirou make a bento. He extended the box,

"Share." We sit down at the table and picked at the bento.

"You sure you're okay with this?"

"Yeah, not like I have anything better to do."

"You could be doing lots of other things right now, yet you decide to stay inside? You used to love going outside." He props his head up with his elbow on the table.

"I guess going outside hasn't been the same anymore." I don't say anything else.

"We should go, Nii-san." He says, his mellow voice trying to stay in a monotone.

"A-Alright." Chirou heads to his room and grabs his own backpack-- he'd been waiting to do his homework until we got to the Hitachiins.

I put on my sneakers and he puts on his and we walk out, locking the door behind us.

"

Was this the right place? If so-- what the hell?

It takes up like, a block of the neighborhood! Okay, an exaggeration, but I'm sure you would think so too at first glance.

"I'm staying here?" Chirou gapes.

"Yeah...?" Even I was uncertain. Chirou looks at me.

"Now I think you might be under-dressed for your date."

"It's only a casual outing." I insist.

"You sure about that? Now that I keep looking at this house, I feel so... different, somewhat."

"It'll be fine," I assure, hoping he didn't hear the uncertainty in my voice-- he probably did.