On the way home, Tsukiko's mind seemed to be preoccupied with a lot of things. Her brother being the most prominent one. It's been quite a while since she's seen him. He also left home before she woke and came back after she'd fallen asleep. She missed him.
Tsukiko waved goodbye to Miyuki and Mr. Tachibana and walked towards the main gates of her home. It automatically opened for her as they were also magic operated. She walked in slowly, taking in the beauty of the night, a tune hanging on her lips. She pushed open the door and walked in.
"I'm home", she said, not expecting anyone to respond. You could imagine her surprise when she heard someone's voice follow after hers.
"Welcome back Tsukiko, did you have fun at Jae-sung's house?", the person said.
Tsukiko jumped in surprise. Hirano was home!
"Brother!", she yelled as she ran and hugged him, "I missed you!"
Hirano chuckled as he hugged her back, "I missed you too. So how was your visit to Jae-sung's house?"
Tsukiko widened her eyes in shock and forcefully separated herself from Hirano.
"How did you know I went to Jae-sung's house??", she asked.
Hirano felt a little after that forceful shake but still explained.
"Well, I received a phone call from his mom a while ago, though I'm not sure how she got my number..."
Tsukiko sweat dropped. She could almost imagine Jae-sung's mom laughing in the background.
Putting all that aside, Tsukiko found it strange to see her bother home so early. It was only a little past 6:00PM, he was usually home later than this.
She stared at him hard, trying to get some answers through his eyes. Hirano looked back at her and simply smiled. He walked towards a couch in the expansive living room and sat down. He motioned for her to sit next to him which she did.
He started, "Tsuki, you wanna know why I'm here early today?"
Tsukiko nodded slightly.
Hirano, "Well, I took some time off work to be with you more. It's been a while since I last saw you, I'm starting to forget my baby sister's face."
He looked sad even with a smile on his face. Hirano wanted to spend as much time as he could with his sister before...
Tsukiko looked at him worriedly, "You really didn't have to do that just for me"
Hirano chuckled lightly as he ruffled her hair, "Of course I did, don't worry about me I'll be fine. Now, tell me all about your week."
Tsukiko still felt concerned but pushed it down. She really wanted to believe that he was fine, so she'd have to trust him if he says he is. Hirano never really wanted to burden her with his worries and feelings, but she so wished he would.
"Well, Jae-sung's mum was really nice and she even gave Miyuki and I presents", she said.
"Presents? Can I see?", Hirano asked, laughter in his eyes.
Tsukiko hurriedly took out the bag of goodies and the giant teddy bear.
Hirano exclaimed, "Wow! That's a lot of presents. I'll have to make sure I thank Mrs. Kim"
The siblings talked and talked about everything though it was mainly Tsukiko that served as the main topic. That didn't stop her from trying to make Hirano talk about himself. At first, he was a bit reluctant but soon enough, she managed to squeeze out a couple of things.
"Well at work, I have this boss and we're the closest of friends, we've been so for quite a while now. He's simply the most talented person I've ever met. Though we're around the same age, he's much better at designing than I am. I really hope we can stay the best of friends."
Tsukiko never knew he had such a friend in his life. He worked a graphics design company that's co-owned by this lovely couple that always gave her candy and Onigiri when she visited them with her brother. He never mentioned having a friend, so Tsukiko became very intrigued.
She asked, "Could you tell me more about him, please?"
Hirano replied, "Alright. Hmm, let's see..."
Tsukiko listened attentively as he described this mystery bestie who she learned was named Harry Caspian Ken'ichi Fujinami. His father's English and his mother's Japanese which kind of explains his name. He speaks Japanese and fluent English and says you could call him any of his names be it the English or the Japanese ones. Hirano calls him Fuji and sometimes Caspian which he studied how to pronounce properly because he couldn't get it right the first time. He was quite a bit taller than Hirano, possibly around 6'3. He was a beautiful kind of handsome with his straight legs, light blue eyes and dark hair that wasn't long or short. He looked more English than Japanese to be honest so natives would always be shocked when he spoke it so fluently.
He was, like Hirano, a normie. He hadn't even known about magic until Hirano told him about it. He would always get so fascinated about it and even asked Hirano to tell him more on the topic, which Hirano happily did.
He also had a breezy personality. Nothing ever bothered him; he was fine with anything...except from TV cables.
"TV cables?", asked a befuddled Tsukiko.
"Yup", Hirano replied.
He explained that Harry got tangled in them frequently as a child and ended up developing PTSD from it.
Tsukiko didn't laugh because that would be mean. But she really wanted to. Hirano could see it too and laughed at her attempt.
Tsukiko looked at the face that resembled hers so much. Like her, he had white hair, however they stopped at his shoulders. His had a blue left eye and a green right one. The doctors said it was a dysfunction from birth, but their mom and dad always called it a gift. His skin was a healthy pale with rosy undertones. His lips were always naturally curled up which made it seem like he was always smiling. Coupled with his soft personality, he was always admired by both males and females throughout his life. Though he only ever paid attention to Tsukiko, and some called this behavior to be like that of a "Sis-con" but he never cared about that, he loved his sister dearly and still does.
Tsukiko listened to Hirano go on and on about this person for quite a while. At some point, she asked if she could see a picture of him.
Hirano leisurely took out his phone, scrolled for a while and showed her a picture. In it were Harry and Hirano in casual wear. He really was quite taller than her brother and had his arm around Hirano's shoulders. They both did a downward V pose at the camera with huge smiles on their faces. Tsukiko really loved seeing her brother smile so happily.
"Tsuki, you're sending the photo to yourself??", asked an alarmed Hirano. Tsukiko laughed after being caught red-handed but still sent to herself anyway.
"Yeah, I'm borrowing this picture!", she said laughing.
Hirano sighed resignedly and shook his head, though a smile had found its way to his face.
"Can I meet him someday?", she asked with pleading eyes. Hirano patted her head and said she could.
"Yess!!", thought Tsukiko.
They talked some more until finally; Hirano told her it was time to go to sleep. She didn't want to at first, but Hirano talked her into it at the end of the day.
She was now in bed and Hirano sat next to her, stroking her head. Tsukiko fell asleep soon after and Hirano exited the room after pecking her forehead and adjusting the blankets.
He went into his own room and prepared for bed. He sat down and took a framed picture from his bedside cabinet. It was one of a younger Hirano and Tsukiko, both smiling. Their parents hugged them in a warmth filled embrace. It was perfectly captured, the happiness they all felt. Hirano stroked the faces of his parents.
"Mom, dad..."
"Where did you go?"