2

[A/N: I'm esl have patience with me :(]

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"Welcome back, Onii-chan"

A young woman holding a broom with whitish blonde hair tied behind her head in a ponytail greets Ren as he comes through the door.

She was wearing a school uniform with a black design for a prestigious middle school with a red ribbon on her collar signifying her third year. This elegant uniform was contrasted with the dusty apron she was wearing on top of her uniform and the old decrepit broom in her hands.

"I'm back, Leah."

"You came back pretty late, did something happen at school?"

"No, nothing like that; there were two guys who were fighting in the middle of the road while I was walking back. So, I got caught up for a while."

Leah looks at Ren with concern in her eyes and tone.

"Eh?! Are you alright? Did you get hurt?"

"I'm fine, I just talked with them for a bit and calmed them down."

Leah breathes a sigh of relief before slightly pouting.

"You always tell me to not get involved in fights... And yet you keep getting involved yourself..."

"I don't get myself involved... I just convince them to stop."

Leah looks at her brother, intrigued.

"Oh? Well, how do you convince them then?"

Ren looks at Leah teasingly, before he gives her a smug smirk while ruffling her hair.

"That's a secret."

"Ah! Onii-chan!"

Ren effortlessly dodges Lea's weak little punches as he retreats to the upstairs of the bakery.

The bakery they lived in was a small 2 story building. The 1st floor was split in half, with the kitchen in one half and the counter, displays, and tables in the other half. The second floor was also split in half for both the sibling's rooms and a small bathroom in the middle.

Ren opened up the door to his room and collapsed in his bed.

His room was small, barely able to fit his bed; his small desk and closet were all crammed together in the room. But surprisingly, his room was incredibly clean, without a spot of dirt in sight, with the scent of disinfectant spray in the air.

The room also lacked any decorations to speak of, the only thing that could be called a decoration was a small picture frame of him and his sister when they were young hanging by the wall next to his desk.

*sigh* I'm tired... Today's been exhausting... Hopefully, tomorrow I'll get to at least sleep on seats of the tram...

But any hope of that was quickly erased as Ren's phone vibrated from a message he had received. Ren grabs his phone and checks his notifications

'Sender: Unknown

'11:00 PM BEHIND CARLO STUDIO'

Ren deletes the message while letting out a self-deprecating sigh at the message.

Hah...So much for sleeping tomorrow...

Ren decided to put this matter behind him for now as he closed his tired eyes and fell asleep.

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Ren's phone blares its alarm at 4 in the morning.

The sun hadn't risen yet at this time; the outside was still dark and cold without a person in sight, with an eerie silence that was only broken by the chirping of crickets.

Ren weakly reaches his hand out to his phone, turning off the loud alarm.

"Ughhhhh."

He gets up from his bed like a zombie, limping his legs out of his room to downstairs and into the kitchen. 

The lights of the bakery turn on, acting like a lantern in the night that illuminates the dark world.

Ren with sleepy eyes, fires up the furnace and the oven in the kitchen. At the same time, he sets down a bag of flour on the table.

Cracking his knuckles, Ren prepares to begin his usual morning routine.

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The sunrise's warm morning rays shine through Leah's curtains, gently waking the sleeping beauty as birds chirp outside, her beautiful blonde hair spread out on the bed like a beautiful tapestry with the scent of honey lingering in the air.

She gently rises out of her bed, stretching her body, causing her pajamas to lift up and reveal her flat and smooth midriff.

She then gets up with a spring on her step and makes her way to her desk right next to her bed.

Her room might seem smaller compared to her older brother's room, but in reality, their rooms were the same size. It only seems smaller because, unlike her big brother, Leah likes to decorate her room. 

Stuff toys were lined up neatly on her bed with posters of idols and anime on her walls. Her desk had a mirror, with detective books, and makeup tools beside it. Unlike her older brother, who only had a comb and hair gel (which his sister urged him to buy). 

Leah combs her hair while her phone buzzes as messages start to pop out of her notifications. Most of the messages are from people she knew at school. Some messages were just normal good mornings, and some were about student council business.

After combing her hair Leah changes to her school uniform. She always works hard to ensure her uniforms always look the best they can, befitting the student council president of her school, even with her family's dire monetary situation.

As Leah finishes putting on the last few buttons on her uniform, she takes her bag and picks up a walking cane with a silver handle and a wooden shaft that feels rough to touch due to its increasing age.

Leah admires herself in the mirror. Her long and wavy blonde whitish hair sort of resembles butter reaching down to her waist with a small and slim body that lets out an aura of 'must protect'. Her grey eyes, the only way anyone could tell she and Ren were siblings, were shining bright despite the contrasting darkness of the color. And the elegant black uniform she works hard to maintain with the red armband on her right arm showing her status as student council president. The silver cane in her hand only added more to her already-established elegance.

Leah smiles proudly at the beautiful young lady in the reflection.

As Leah was about to leave, a picture frame caught her attention hanging on the wall.

A picture of her and her brother when they were much younger, with an older woman with the same hair color as Leah beside them, holding the small infant Leah in her arms and her older brother beside her reaching his arms out, wanting to also hold his little sister.

With a warmth pulsating in her chest, Leah lets out a bittersweet smile.

"Mama... I'm off now."

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Leah makes her way down the stairs and to the kitchen. The sound of her cane clicking on the ground can be heard as she walks.

There, her brother was already wearing his uniform and jacket, with several paper bags filled with orders to be delivered and the smell of freshly baked bread everywhere.

In the middle of the room, there was also some buttered toast laid out on the table for breakfast.

Leah surveys the room, feeling the warmth of the recently used oven. And also sees the stains of white caused by the flour littering the table.

Leah brings her hand that was not holding on to the cane to scratch her chin as she thinks.

The warmth of the oven... the mess with the flour... He probably woke up early again to bake all the orders, and he just finished getting ready for school at around 5 or 3 minutes after I got here...

Leah sighs at her big brother's work unhealthy work ethic, and willingness to spoil her.

"You know... You could have at least left it to me to make breakfast. I could have done that much at least."

Her brother was chewing on a piece of buttered toast, giving out a nonchalant answer.

"I had some time to kill, so I decided to get a head start on making breakfast."

Ren waves his hand like it is no big deal.

Leah walks over to the table to grab a piece of buttered toast, examining it.

...This one doesn't have as much butter compared to the other ones... And another toast has significantly more butter compared to the rest... This could be just chalked up as a coincidence but to my stingy older brother? That's highly unlikely.

Leah lets out a defeated sigh, smiling at her brother's hardwork before she takes a bite out of her toast.

Leah knows once her big brother is set on something, she won't be able to stop him. Especially if that something involves taking care of her, even if she doesn't want to become a burden to him.

After thoroughly eating the toast that had the most butter on. She turns around and faces Ren.

"Onii-chan."

"Hm? What's up?"

"Today, can you leave the deliveries to me?"

Leah points at the paper bags with a determined smile.

Ren looks at Leah with a concerned look.

"Are you sure? I mean... You know."

Ren looks at Leah's cane in her hand. He knows that his sister has more trouble than most when performing physical activities. But that doesn't stop her.

"All these orders are pretty close to my usual route to school. So, you don't have to worry about me. It will be unhealthier if I completely stop doing any exercises just because of my condition right?"

Leah uses reasoning, reassurance, and a soft threat. But it still wasn't effective enough for Ren.

"Hmmmm... Still, though, I'm not sure... What if something bad happens..."

Ren uses hesitation and what-if scenarios. It was ineffective at stopping his sister.

Leah prepares her ultimate skill against her brother.

Leah comes closer to Ren and clasps her hands together as she looks up at him with her puppy dog eyes with her head tilted at a slight angle.

"Please... Onii-chan... I'll be careful... I want to be helpful to my Onii-chan..."

Leah uses the ultimate little sister attack against her brother. Act cute.

And it was very effective as what felt like a 50-ton truck just rammed into his heart.

Ren sighs in defeat.

"...Alright, you win. But be careful, all right?"

Leah steps back and lets out a proud smile at her victory, winking back at her brother.

"Of course, my dear Onii-chan."