Almost Forgot - Calum Hood

XXIV - Slur

Chapter 24 – Slur

"Nii-chan!" a three-year-old Airee abandoned her toys in the sand as soon as she saw her brother in a distance, carrying with him two large parfaits.

They were having a family outing by the beach since their parents were given a week off of work after such a long time and they rented a small kiosk to put their things in, rest or sleep in and to eat in. They were planning to spend the whole day at the beach. Currently, the seven-year-old Keith was asked by his parents to go to one of the stores to buy themselves parfaits to rival the sun's heat while they watched the young Airee playing in the sand just nearby, making sure she won't run off on her own to the water.

As soon as he saw his sister running towards him, he grinned and put down the parfaits on the wooden table in the center of the kiosk and knelt down but frowned when he saw Airee trip down and landed on her face. Airee recovered from the shock of tripping down and she looked up at her brother. Keith stared at his sister, waiting for her to cry and he internally groaned when she did. Her face started to scrunch up and tears started welling up in the corners of her eyes then... a high-pitched cry echoed throughout the beach causing Keith to sigh and shake his head as he walked closer to his sister.

"Now, now..." He pulled up Airee and let her sit on his lap. "Stop crying, Nii-chan's here."

He continued to comfort his sister until her sobs turned to sniffles and when she completely stopped, Keith smiled down at her while Airee mustered a small smile towards her brother.

"Let's go eat that parfait."

She nodded.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Nii-chan!"

Keith shifted his eyes to the sound of the voice and he found his sister running towards him, her hands intertwined and her eyes sparkling as she let out small giggles.

"What is it, Ai?" Keith knelt down on one knee, waiting for his sister to stop in front of him but before anything could happen, she tripped on her own foot and landed face first on the ground causing her hands to unlace and for the dragonfly to fly away. Keith hurriedly ran towards his sister and helped her up.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his voice laced with worry.

Airee smiled and nodded. "What about the dragonfly?"

Keith blinked upon her question and smiled.

"The dragonfly is fine, it flew away." he answered.

Airee smiled. "I'm glad."

"Let's go treat that wound." Keith stood up and offered her a hand which she took and they both went into their house.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"You're going to Japan?" a five-year-old Airee asked her nine-year-old brother.

"Yep."

"Why can't you just stay here?"

"Ai, you know I can't. As much as I want to." He smiled sadly down at her.

She bit her lip to stop herself from crying but to no avail. And when her brother patted the top of her head, she couldn't stop the tears anymore.