"What do you think of my flyer, son?"
While he was outside of their family residence, Asahi felt a tap on his shoulder. He temporarily paused from sweeping the street, he then received a piece of paper from his old man. He glanced at the contents:
Yamagami Consultation Branch
- The one-stop for all of your exorcism needs!
- Offers the following service against:
1. Demons
2. Ghosts
3. Possessed Humans
- Get your free consultation today!
- Bring this flyer and get up to 50% discount!
Made by: Expert Exorcist Shigeru
Contact: +8125-577-7559
"I worked hard all night using the document file," His father gave him a grin and a thumbs-up, "You can definitely call your old man an advertising expert."
Asahi Yamagami looked up from the paper and stared at his father for a good minute. There was a genuine look of pride adorning his old man's face. Could he really be honest and say his thoughts? He bit back a heavy sigh before mustering up the courage to speak, "I think it's—"
"Dad, I'm home! What's that?" A voice called out cheerily from afar.
Asahi looked behind him and saw Ryuusei was heading towards them, and he was not alone. He was with his friends from university and included among them was Akane. Energy sprang up to his veins. His gaze immediately went to the flyers in his father's hand. He could swipe—
There was no time for swiping.
His old man was already half-way near the group, he moved faster than an old man ought to in his age. "Ah, perfect timing! Why don't you young folks tell me what you think of this flyer I made?" He distributed them to Ryuusei and his friends.
Asahi glanced behind him, looking at the door of their house with longing, he wondered if he could sneak back in already. And yet somehow, he stayed rooted in place as he waited for the turn of events.
"Hmm, what's this dad?" Ryuusei's brows furrowed as he read the paper, "A discount?" It seemed like that was the only thing his older brother noticed.
Although he made a good point.
Asahi glanced at the flyer and noted that detail once more. That was another point to be mentioned, really—all their work was practically free of charge! How much more discount could they even get?
Akane coughed lightly and smiled at his father, "Um… I think it could use some more designing, Mister Shigeru?" She mentioned nothing about the offered services. Well, nobody would do that.
His old man rubbed his chin, "I guess I'll have Daichi look over this. You guys can keep the flyers! Be sure to come here if you ever get problems, alright? It's best to talk to an expert."
A few sounds emanated from the group. It was far from enthusiastic, but his old man seemed satisfied. And yet Asahi saw some students already crumple their flyers. Another bolt of energy ran up his veins. He held back himself from speaking up. He didn't want to make any scene.
"Well, if you guys do have problems—I think we'll also do our best to reach out before you guys can even call for help," Ryuusei remarked with a chuckle.
But Ryuusei would take a more diplomatic and charming approach.
The girls accompanying his brother made their chorus of approval. One of them even looked like they were about to pass out from the prospect of Ryuusei 'saving' them. While the guys gave their shrugs and nods. Maybe they took it as some joke?
Sometimes, Asahi wondered if he was the only one who noticed the uncomfortable emotions that the others were spouting. His father was too oblivious to care… and as for Ryuusei, he probably didn't notice it. The people surrounding him would often go their way to make sure that Ryuusei was the one who felt comfortable.
His brother was too respected to even receive any negative feedback from others. He was the ace student, part of the student council and the all-around helpful guy. As for him, he wanted to go back into their home before they could see him. Asahi started to creep back inside—
"Oh, it's your younger brother, hi Asahi!"
The voice of a goddess called him. It was an exaggeration, but he stopped midway from entering the door at Akane's voice. He glanced back to wave at his older brother's friend.
Akane was really nice.
She was probably around here to get closer to his brother, though. Speaking of which, the man called out to him as well, "Hey, Asahi! Keep up the good work!" Ryuusei grinned at him.
Keep up what work?
Asahi looked down and found that he was still holding the broom in his hands. There was no use hiding it behind his back and he wasn't sure what exactly he could reply to his brother though, 'Yeah, I will!'—that was a bit pitiful. Nodding his head, Asahi went back inside the house and took off his shoes at the door and left the broom as well. He passed by the reception area and consultation office of the Yamagami Branch. He clambered upstairs.
He soon found a younger man lounging down on the couch. Daichi's attention was on the gadget he had in hand, and surrounding him was a pile of assorted snacks and some bottled drinks.
Asahi glanced at their wall clock before turning to him again, "Did you skip classes again, Daichi?"
"Who needs to go to school, anyway?" The boy muttered as he opened a bag of chips and somehow kept playing. "I'll be passing all the subjects."
He couldn't make a rebut on that statement.
Shaking his head, Asahi dropped by the kitchen instead and soon found another figure. It was Hanako; she was already making dinner preparations. He coughed, "Do you need any help—"
A knife flew towards him.
Asahi barely dodged as it hit against the wall behind him. Hanako looked up at him with widened eyes before she looked away, "You scared me."
"And you nearly cut my head off."
"S-sorry… can you get back the knife and wash it please?"
There was no use arguing with his sister. Asahi would pick up the knife and found it splattered with blood… he looked back into the kitchen and saw that she was cutting off some fresh meat. Asahi bit back a sigh of relief until he heard steps—
"Big brother!" A figure dove towards him.
Asahi lifted the knife above his head as the younger girl tackled him back into the ground, "Yuu, welcome back home." He greeted his little sister and patted her head with his free hand, "How was school?" He had been worried that Ryuusei and his classmates would have been the ones who arrived.
"I learned a lot of things today!" She gave him a grin.
"Get off Asahi and wash up, Yuu." Hanako called out to her. "We're having beef skewers tonight!"
"Big brother, can you help me with my homework later?" Yuu mustered the puppy dog eyes look… it was hard to say no to that.
"How about you ask your big brother Daichi for help?" His father suddenly spoke up.
Asahi looked up and found the man leaning by the staircase, he was already on the second floor without even making a single sound. The old man gave him a look, "Your big brother Asahi needs to do a mission for me."
He blinked and stared at his father. Did he really mean what he said?