Chapter 51: Reunion

What do you say to your younger brother when you first find him after he (might have but most definitely) ran away from home?

As I cross the road, the reality of it all crashes down on me. I'm way in over my head. I have no plan on what to do when I see him. I have no idea what to say or what I should do afterward.

Why didn't I ask Internet search in the car???

The only thing keeping me moving is the fact that Natsume is walking beside me. He's slowed his pace to match mine so I can't lag behind or speed ahead. He doesn't even realize he's keeping me grounded. Ignorance can be bliss.

There really is nothing I can do at this point but move forward. Shin's already seen me, so backing out would make it look like I'm the one running away. He'll think I'm abandoning him, and worse, I'd be leaving him alone with Ema.

Sure, she's a really nice person, but Shin barely knows her. She'd probably invite him over to stay at her place if I didn't look after him. She'd do it out of kindness, but I feel like that'd irritate him more.

Or maybe Shin would totally be okay with crashing at the house of a beautiful college girl.

Oho. Just wait until he meets her family.

"Are you ready?" Natsume asks kindly.

I stifle a whimper and nod, slightly ducking my head so he won't see that I'm on the verge of utter chaos. My heart pounds and my breathing quickens. I have to stay calm. If I don't I could set Shin off running again, and this time I'll have no idea where he'll end up.

We approach the parking lot, and each step forward sends a tremor through my body. When the car finally comes within view I slow my pace. Can't come in too strong. It was a good call to re-evaluate starting off mad at Shin. I know I'd be angry if Shin came at me like that.

"Mai-chan!" It's Ema who notices us first. She calls cheerily, but I can tell it's forced. Her hand shoots up in a cutesy wave. She beckons us over, relieved to see us. She and Natsume reconvene, Natsume checking in on her, and her telling him that she's fine. It's a sweet scene, one that makes me wish that is my and Shin's reunion right now.

But it's not.

My younger brother doesn't even look at me. At the sound of my name he flinches. His shoulders hunch, like he's determined to stare at the pavement so hard that it'll open and swallow him whole.

"Hey, Shin." My voice cracks. It's probably the dryness. The heat still hasn't let up. Where did that breeze go?

Shin doesn't answer.

I clear my throat, moving so I stand a good three feet away from him—enough space to appear non-threatening.

"H-How was the ride up here?" I ask.

Really, you're going to ask him how the train was?

But it's all I can think of. I have no idea how to ask him why he ran away from home. I have no idea how to tell him that we were all worried about him without sounding like a mom scolding a kid. It dawns on me that anything I say to him about that will sound like I'm chastising him anyway, so really, there's no good way to start this conversation.

And it seems that Shin feels the same way.

"'How was the ride up here?' Huh?" Shin grunts.

"I-I mean. It's a pretty long way." My hands fidget. My mind whirls. I'm willing this conversation to go peacefully.

Shin scoffs. "That's the first thing you say to me?"

My resolution to be nice to him gains a hairline crack. I swallow the retort I would've given him and smile.

"I did say it's a long way up. I should know."

"You should know? Yeah, I guess you should know."

His icy tone bites, and the cracks widen.

"Have you eaten yet?" I ask. "There's a nice noodle place a few streets down if you want to—"

"You're really going to ask me if I want noodles right now?"

Shin's head shoots up. He finally looks at me. The hostility in his eyes startles me. This is different than any petty argument we've ever had before. I would be afraid of him, but the irritation I tried to squash down only reignites.

Dropping my smile, which I tried oh so hard to maintain, I snap. "Well, what else am I supposed to say? You're the one who ran away from home."

I want to slap myself for leaping into it like that, but it's done. I can't take it back.

With a dismissive laugh, Shin tucks his hands behind his head, a pretty relaxed gesture for someone in boiling hot water.

"Yeah. I ran away from home. So what? You gonna tell Kaasan on me?"

I grit my teeth. "She's the one who told me you'd left."

Shin drops his hands. "Oh, right. Because you two are soooo tight."

"I'm sorry. Since when was that a bad thing?" I close the distance between us. Shin steps back on the defence. "I've been worried about you. We all have. Kaasan's been calling me nonstop, and we had no idea where you were going. We were lucky I guessed you'd come through this station. If I hadn't..."

"Then what? You'd call the police?" Shin smirks.

I want to punch him so badly right now, but I rein it in.

"If it came to that, then yes. I would. You're still a minor, Shin. If a minor runs away from home of course it's a big deal. At least call me to let me know where you are. If you can't talk to our parents about it."

I'm heavily hinting at the root of the problem, stupidly hoping that he'll open up. Obviously, that's not going to happen, and we both know it.

"I've got nothing to say to them," Shin spits. He actually spits on the pavement, like some delinquent from the anime. "And I've got nothing to say to you. I didn't call you because I didn't want you coming here. I didn't ask you to come find me. So just leave. I'm fine."

He tries to push past me, so I grab his upper arm. He grunts as I twist him back to stand in front of me. The two of us tussle a bit before we reach a deadlock. I may be on the shorter side, but at this point in life so is Shin. We're also siblings who did a lot of play fighting in our youth, so I know all of his weak points.

Shin has a spot in his armpit where if you twist hard enough he drops like a fly. It must be humiliating for him to squirm on the pavement like this in front of two strangers he's never met before. I should be nice to him today; I know I should. Yet I'm fed up with this situation and the heat and blood have gone to my head. Rational thought, who?

Natsume and Ema have respectfully backed away to the other side of the car, granting us a bit of privacy. They can hear everything, and Ema keeps shooting me worried looks. She's itching to jump back in on my signal. Natsume is low key holding her back; he shifts so he's standing between us, a reminder that they are outsiders here.

Thankful to the wisdom of older brothers, I let Shin catch his breath before crouching down next to him. I try to soften my gaze, but I'm still fuming. There are so many more things I want to say to him—no, to shout at him. What comes out isn't quite what either of us expect, but we're already this far into the conversation, so what the heck?

"Look, I get that you don't want to talk, but you can't convince me you don't want a meal."

"The hell are you saying—ack!"

He reels back as I flick him in the forehead. Big-sister mode has chosen the worst time to strike.

I sigh. "We can stand here arguing about it all day, but I'm famished from rushing over here to find you, so you owe me a meal for coming out here. Got it?"

I grab his arm in the pressure point again. Shin pitifully yelps as I drag him to his feet.

"Come on," I say gruffly. I drag him over to the Asahina siblings. Ema straightens as we come over to her.

"Thank you for driving me here." I bow my head. I tug Shin's arm, but he doesn't budge. I grit my teeth. "We won't trouble you any more today. Thank you very much for everything."

"You're welcome," Natsume says. "Are you sure you don't want a ride home?"

It's tempting, but we'd better not. I can't imagine being able to shove Shin into a car in this state. He might claim I was trying to kidnap him.

"Thank you, but we'll go out somewhere before going back." I bow to Ema. "Thank you for coming with me. I'm sorry our visit was cut short."

Ema finds her voice and quickly shakes her head. "Iie, iie, it's fine. I'm glad we were able to find your brother. It was nice to meet you, Shin-kun. Please look after Mai-chan for me."

Shin gapes at me, like he can't believe I'm friends with someone so beautiful she's practically wearing a halo.

I fight a scowl, though not very well.

I can have nice friends, too, you know!

Next, to Natsume: "Thank you for having me over. It was great to meet your cats."

"Pft. You went to a guy's place to see cats?" Shin snorts. "No wonder you can't get a boyfriend."

The cracks gape into a chasm and I thwack my younger brother hard on the back of his head. He yells and grasps his scalp, glaring up at me. A look closer reveals that his bangs hide budding tears behind his eyes, though his lips curl into a snarl.

"It's not like I want a boyfriend," I retort. "Like you don't want to tell me anything."

Forget that he's outing me like this in front of my friend and her brother.

And for the record, Tsubaki and Azusa are worth the world. The cats. I mean the cats.

Natsume clears his throat. "It was nice having you over, Tsukiyo-san. I hope you get home safely."

"Yes, please get home safely," Ema adds. To me, she mouths, "Text me when you get back." She's worried something might happen to us. But Shin isn't dangerous. If anything he'll just make excuses not to come back with me. Hence why I'm taking him out to eat first. Hopefully that'll soften things up.

In the brief moment of calm I note that Shin hasn't got much on him. Only his backpack, which can't have much in it: a change of clothes, maybe a tooth brush. I don't know how much money he has on him. He spends a lot on manga and games, so there's no way he could afford two big trips on the train, much less a decent hotel.

Now's a good time to mention that he also hasn't got his phone in hand, the phone he's constantly glued to. What happened to it? I'm thinking it died on him and he forgot his charger.

For a kid who's dropped everything and run away, he sure hasn't planned for it.

"We're going to get food," I say firmly, partly for myself as well as Shin. "Then we're going back to my place. I don't think we'd be able to make it home even if we wanted to." I shoot a meaningful glance at Shin, as though to say that I'm not going to send him back home right away. For some reason he's surprised.

What, you think I'm ready to just go home like this? I actually try to plan you know!

This revelation seems to relax Shin—he shoves his hands in his pockets and doesn't argue. Though he can't help but keep jabbing at me.

"Fine," he mutters. "You and your big stomach."

"Hey, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast." I go to flick him again, and this time he dodges. Right. Now that he's feeling energized again, it's best that we get a move on before Shin changes his mind. If he runs again I don't think I'll have the stamina to catch him.

"I'm feeling like noodles, but if you want something else?" Nodding my goodbye to Ema and Natsume, I sling my bag over my shoulder and nudge Shin's shoulder. "Let's get out of this heat."

Just as the words leave my mouth thunder booms overhead. The four of us jump.

Nervously, I turn back to Shin. "I didn't even bring an umbrella today, so we should hurry before—"

Plick...plick...plick...

The rain comes before I can even finish my sentence.

Shin glares at me and covers his head. "You shoulda just stopped at 'noodles'!"

"It's not my fault it's raining!" I yell back, raising my bag over my head in a feeble attempt to escape it.

Zaaaa, zaaaa sounds the rain. I curse my lack of foresight.

The two of us brace to race back to the station when Natsume's car lights flash.

"Why don't I give you a ride?" Natsume says loudly. "No point in walking in this weather."

Ema and I exchange glances. That look in her eyes... it's like she's willing me to accept his offer. I wouldn't blame her if she secretly wants to see how things go. Nothing like a good bit of drama when you're not in the middle of it.

I want to ask Shin to see what he thinks, but he's already opened the back door.

"Are you coming or not?" He settles in and slams the door shut.

This time the scowl makes it to my face.

That's my line, you jerk!