Chapter 6

With brows furrowed with the mixture of bewilderment, curiosity, and a little pinch of uneasiness from already knowing what her big brother was going to make her do, she stared at the karaoke set with a connected television on top of it.

"Karaoke?" Tina uttered.

"Yes, karaoke!" Betoy's hands folded, not even trying to hide his excitement.

While the kids were playing inside the tent, Kanor had set up the karaoke machine alongside the fat television they had brought from home. He had tested the thing out for a spin. The songbook had the latest songs and the wired mic was working great. With all those "Onii-chans" coming from inside the tent, the kids didn't hear Kanor singing 'You Raise Me Up' in the background. Now Kanor was sitting on a stool at the corner with his tired vocal cords and a small smile on his face, watching his children about to have fun with the karaoke machine.

"Isn't this illegal?" Tina asked, genuinely worried, "Wouldn't ama get imprisoned if we get too rowdy at this time of day?" It was past dinner time and most of the residents nearby might be already gone sleeping. Making a racket would definitely get them in trouble.

"Not if nobody complained and if we don't get caught." Betoy uttered confidently as he places a finger on his lips.

Tina was disgusted at Betoy's stubborn confidence. She scoffed, "And what if we do get caught?"

"Then we have to say bye to dad, isn't it worth the risk?" Betoy said in a joking, yet somehow could be taken as a sincere way.

The little sister eased as she goes along with the joke. Getting use to his stubbornness wouldn't be easy, might as well start now. Knowing more about her big brother made her feel relaxed. As a fish, she really wanted to know more about the family that didn't care much about her. Now that she's a little girl, her dreams were coming true.

"Yes, it's definitely worth the risk." Tina replied with that smug look on her face. The two glanced at Kanor's direction, who was barely seen from the darkness, turned to each other again and giggled. Kanor wasn't sure what his kids were up to but seeing his two kids having fun, giggling. He smiles from the familiar, satisfying feeling, he continued watching from the shadows.

"In all seriousness." Tina ended their laughter with a clap, "We should turn down the volume, the neighbors would complain if we don't."

Betoy nudged her with his elbow, "You just didn't want anyone to hear your singing voice." He said, imitating his little sister's usual smug smile. Singing during a prayer is different from singing in karaoke. If anyone is singing for the sake of God, no one will judge you, singing in any other cases would make the singer be weary and left criticized by those around them.

"Yep, that exactly is the case." Tina said with a slight blush on her cheeks.

Admitting that someone is embarrassed wasn't the cutest way to handle it. It's waaay cuter to deny it!

"Baka nee-chan, I'm not embarrassed or anything else like that!" was what Betoy wanted to hear from her.

Perhaps this girl in front of him could never be the little sister he expected her to be, but there's still a chance for her to be a real little sister. Betoy needs to make the necessary precautions in order to force that "inner little sister" of hers to come out. Her voice was already identified to be not fitting for the role but her singing voice, while being flustered, might still be qualified for it.

With the little girl patiently waiting from her stool, Betoy went to the karaoke machine, grabbed the wired mic, went back straight and pointed it to his little sister's mouth.

"I picked a song that is fitting for you." Betoy uttered. Reading the title, anyone can tell that the song is lively and cutesy, something so fitting to Betoy's ideal image of a little sister.

Tina was disgusted.

"��The Star-Spangled Banner'? Really?" Tina gently pushed away the mic with the tip of her hand, "Maybe you should go first, you looked so excited the moment you saw the karaoke machine." She said attempting to not give what her brother what he wants. She already knew what he was planning. This perverted big brother of hers shouldn't be given any satisfaction coming from his lowly schemes.

"You go first, I insist!" Betoy pointed the mic again.

Knowing that at the end it would only go his way, Tina sighed as she grabs the mic from his hand.

"I can't sing…" She uttered softly.

"Everyone in the Rayuno family has musical talent, it's in our veins! You were singing a while ago during the family prayer, you sounded waaay better than those mediocre popstars." Betoy insisted.

"But I'm adopted."

"So what?"

"Can't argue with that."

Concluding the useless discussion with a quip, she gulped, trying to moisturize her dry throat. Her hands were shaking and her head was heating up. No, she wasn't nervous about singing, she was nervous about what was Betoy was planning. Betoy wanted her to sing for his own satisfaction and to feed his lust. One wrong move and she'll give her brother what he wanted.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The song started rolling and what came out of her mouth was a voice not really fitting her small image. The voice was different to when she was singing during the family prayer, it was more powerful and it can be described as "sexy" by some others, which in Betoy's ears, was disgusting.

Still observing from afar, Kanor shed a tear, thinking that this was the most beautiful thing that his undeserving ears had ever heard.

"God bless America."

He mumbled to himself. As Tina continues to sing in the background, he stood up and saluted at the imaginary flag in front of him with manly tears flowing down his cheeks.

Betoy clicked his tongue in disappointment for real this time. Grumbling on the way to the karaoke machine and unplugged everything in an overreacting manner.

"You weren't expecting that were you?" Tina smirked.

"I did, I just hoped the earlier parts would come out as weak." Betoy grimaced.

There was a camera shutter. Kanor stepped out from the shadows and gave Tina an ovation. Both the siblings mouths flung open in confusion. Their dad was wearing a yukata.

"Jolly good show!" Kanor gave another set of claps while the siblings couldn't look away from the man in front of them. Nobody expected this man to come out from the shadows wearing a damn yukata. Nobody.

Kanor noticed their stares and looked at his own clothing, "Oh, this?" He shifted back to his children, "We're going to watch a firework display at the Japanese district in celebration to the Americans letting Japanese refugees inside this state."

A gasp came out from the little girl, "Fireworks… I love fireworks!" Her face was lit up.

Seeing his sister finally acting like her age, his quest to seek the inner little sister inside this reincarnated little girl came to a close. The Rayuno family loved fireworks, and she fitted right into that category as well, it's like she was destined to die as a fish and reincarnate to be part of the family.

"Why aren't you excited Betoy?" Kanor asked, "Don't you remember that it was today? You used to jump in excitement when fireworks are mentioned, especially when mentioned together with 'Japanese' in the same sentence!"

Betoy didn't reply as if he was thinking of something else entirely.