The Stray Cat

Chapter 14: Pictures

"Aneue! Aneue!"

Sakura pivoted on her foot, looking back over her shoulders, at the source of the frantic taps of small footsteps in the wide corridor of their traditional wooden house. Her hollow eyes showed a shimmering glint as soon as her sight landed on her scuttling younger brother whose height barely reached her chest when standing.

"Yoshiki..." She gave him a warm smile before crouching and giving him a pat on the head as she ruffled his hair in the process. She could feel the smooth black locks of the boy slide effortlessly at her fingertips — one of the few traits they share as siblings. "Didn't I tell you not to be too formal with me? It's been years ever since you had the lessons about honorifics and you stopped calling me Nee-chan. I'm still not used to it. You're making me sad."

"No! I want to call you aneue because you deserve to be respected this much!" Yoshiki grinned at her, eyes turning into thin crescents and the lone dimple on his left showing.

Sakura had to stop the urge to pinch his mochi cheeks. She chuckled. "Even though Nee-chan sounds more affectionate?"

"...b-but...it sounds cooler..." The young boy started frowning, not wanting to understand whatever her sister meant. Instead of looking at her sister's eyes, he glared at his feet as his own way of refusing.

Sakura hummed while playfully pouting at her brother. "Don't you think calling me Nee-chan is still a lot better?"

"No."

The older girl faked a sigh. "Aneue sounds so stiff and it makes me lonely. Do you want your sister to always feel sad?"

"F-fine!" The young kid grumbled, looking to his side while pursing his lips. "Nee-chan, you're so mean."

The teenager chortled before engulfing her younger brother in a tight hug and kissing the crown of his head affectionately. "Nee-chan just feels distant if you use aneue."

"But..."

"No buts!" Sakura tackled his brother with tickles, attacking his sides while grinning at him. "I won't take a no as an answer!"

"Ah! Nee-chan!" Yoshiki's giggles filled the space they were in. "Stop! Hahahaha! I get it! Please! Hahahahaha! I can't..! Hahahahahah!! S-Saku-nee!"

Sakura looked at her wheezing brother sprawled on the floor with a triumphant smirk on her lips. "Hoho, what did you just call me?"

The young boy burst out in high-pitched laughter. "Saku-nee!"

"That doesn't sound so bad." Sakura smiled brightly. "Hey, do you want to sneak out to the arcade today?"

Yoshiki's eyes sparkled in expectations. "Yes!"

"Then let's go!" She grabbed her brother's hand and snickered, making their way to the secret passage they had discovered years ago.

In her nineteen years of existence back then, the older girl never expected she would be so animated with her expressions in front of her sibling. She had been trying so hard to make others recognize her to the point of her, almost losing her sense of identity from faking her own persona too much just to reach others' expectations. But acting or not, in front of Yoshiki, it didn't matter anymore.

If she was a genius, her brother is on a whole new level. At such a young age of ten, he could understand his surroundings and see through people's intentions — a sly and cunning little devil to a scary degree. He was a child with almost inhumane intelligence, trained to be as cold as ice like everyone else in their household yet he was also as pure as an angel in front of his one and only sister. The young boy would bare his emotions and remain vulnerable to the sole person he trusts, the only one who truly cared for him in their household.