Chapter Two: The Siblings Title: Chronicles of Time (Book One)
“So, what is up with your...um...plain cooking?” The boy looked at the dishes in front of him with distaste. “It’s so...basic.”
The scrambled eggs tasted so bland, it made him feel peeved. Why was this girl so useless? First she started teasing him, and now she serves this tasteless dish. Is she trying to make him pissed off?
‘Is this the best she could cook?’ One look at her depressed expression made him sigh. ‘They engaged me with a horrible chef.’
“Well...I can’t cook anything else besides scrambled eggs, and I forgot to buy groceries yesterday.” She said with a small “te-he!” which just made him even more irritated. “It’s not that bad!”
She took the chopsticks from him and picked up some of the dish and placed it in her mouth.
“Does it not taste flavorless to you?” He let out a deep breath.
She gulped it down and averted his eyes. “I-it tastes fine. Besides, children shouldn’t be too picky!”
He groaned, tired of her calling him a child. “How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not a child!”
“Alright, alright,” she rolled her eyes, “if you’re not going to eat then go take a bath.”
“What? Why–?” He was pushed into the bath before he could even finish his sentence and he was left alone to strip off his own clothes. “I-I think I’ve just lost my sanity.”
***
Natsumi went to fetch extra clothes for him, and dug around her drawers for a “cool shirt” as the commanding boy ordered before he was left deserted in the bathroom. She pulled out a large hoodie that was hidden all the way underneath her clothes and she nodded with satisfaction to herself.
The hoodie itself was cool(?), with its dark black color and small red mist hovering at the bottom. It seemed awfully large, but since there were no pants available for him due to his small size, having him wear an oversized shirt was fine.
She quietly entered the bathroom and looked away from the tub, and set the clothes on the toilet cap. “There’s some clothes here.”
“Okay...thanks.”
She blinked, confused. Why did his voice sound deeper? Was something messing with her mind? She shook it off, blaming it on her fatigue and exited the bathroom. She made herself a cup of hot cocoa and stirred it with a small teaspoon, exhausted and famished.
“When will the food arrive?” In the meantime, she headed toward her homework, glaring at the textbooks and restrained her hands from stabbing it and ripping it to shreds. She’ll be punished if she did that. After a few minutes, a loud knock on the door made her smile widely with her dark eyes sagging; glad to be lured away from the books that tormented her mind.
“Yo, Natsu–” he jumped back and almost stumbled over a big white ball of fur when he saw her face. “Why are you so tired? Did you not rest well? I swear you didn’t look a day over twelve when I saw you this morning, and now you look like you’re sick of life. Did something happen?”
“Thank you for your compliments, and if you didn’t bring food–please end me.” She rubbed her eyes, feeling them burn.
“Well...good thing is I did bring food.” He held up a bag and her expression turned to relief. They headed inside with the door slamming behind them and her dog rubbing against her legs. He separated the food he brought into plates and handed it to a groaning Natsumi.
“I was so hungry!” She whined, chomping on a piece of meat. “Oo no ow mukh ah’ve been waising?”
“I can’t understand your language, finish eating then talk.” The boy snickered, his hand ruffling up his messy dark blue hair.
“Sora, why didn’t Himari come along too?”
“Hm? Himari? She’s–”
“Hey, do you have any other shirts?” Natsumi choked on her food and coughed when her eyes saw the boy walking into the room. The boy who was pestering her an hour ago suddenly became taller. No–that wasn’t the only change. He looked...much more mature, but as usual, his beauty was stunning. A towel was wrapped around his waist, and...man! Those muscles! It captured her interest and she was practically drooling!
“Natsumi, who is that?” Sora’s sharp voice brought her back to reality.
“Huh? Wha?” She slammed down her chopsticks. “Um...thi-this is my cousin! H-he ran away from home because my aunt was too strict!”
Both of them looked equally as astounded as she was, not understanding what she just sputtered out. She prayed that he would take the hint and follow along with her story.
“...yes, I am her cousin who ran away from home because I was a disobedient child…” he held back his laugh at her amusing story. “You can call me Yuu.”
Sora glanced at him warily. “Really? Alright…nice to meet you.” He scanned Natsumi’s face skeptically to find a trace of guilt on her face which gave it away. “...I’ll be right back.”
He stood up from his seat, pushed in his chair, then with a loud slam, he left, but not before he bumped into Yuu and shot him a threatening look.
“Tch, he just had to leave me to do the dishes.” Natsumi shook her head and glared at the spot where Sora sat just then. “It was supposed to be his job!”
“Um, hello? I need another shirt, remember?” Yuu said, waving the black hoodie around. “I need a cooler one. A hotter one. Don’t you have any capes, or like, loose black chiffons?”
“No, we don’t. So put that on, and stop complaining.” She said airily, and cleaned up her dishes after losing her appetite. She looked away from Yuu, not used to his new appearance yet. “Geez, you’re so troublesome. Why did you have to come out at such a bad timing too? It would’ve been better if you still looked like a child; Sora loves kids.”
“I fell asleep in the bath since it was so warm, and I woke up to find this large shirt. What else can I do?”
“You could’ve just waited until he left! Couldn’t you hear someone else’s voice in the house? That should be a red flag itself.”
“Well, tell me that earlier next time,” he scoffed. “I can do whatever I want.”
“You moron!” She muttered, agitated. Even though he looked different, his personality didn’t change at all. “I don’t get why you make such a big deal out of clothes.”
Noticing that her eyes avoided him, he smirked playfully. “Why? Don’t you think that I’ll look good in a chiffon, or even cooler in a cape? Unless...you prefer me nude like this?” He put a hand to his hip and gave a little tug on the towel. She gaped, flustered.
“Y-you! What are you trying to do?” The dishes in her hands almost slipped but, thankfully, she caught them in time. “And, h-how did you suddenly grow so tall?”
If taking a bath would make people become taller, then everybody would’ve tried that technique.
“Magic, duh!” He waved his hands, bored of her questions. “Whatever. I’ll just summon up some clothes for myself.”
With a snap, his towel around his waist was replaced with comfortable silk black pants, and his exposed chest was covered with a flowy black chiffon and a red latin ribbon wrapped around his neck.
“Whoa!” She exclaimed, dropping the dishes into the sink. “That’s amazing! You look so...cool!”
He grinned, tying his long smooth and shiny black hair with a ruby hair stick which made his eyes glow faintly. “Right? I have a better sense of taste than you.”
“That’s just wrong. I have awesome tastes in clothes, thank you very much.”
“By the way, who was that boy just then?”
“Huh? Sora?” Natsumi thought about how to explain their relationship to him. “He’s...like a big brother I never had, basically. He has a sister too. Just wait ’till you meet her. She’s really energetic.”
They talked a bit more and it wasn’t until almost half an hour passed that a commotion stirred up.
“We’re here!” A loud shout made her jump, and they both peeked into the hallway.
“Himari…?” Her brows furrowed when she saw the blue haired girl who shimmered under the moonlight with a bright smile.
“Yes! It’s me! I’ve come to sleep over!” Himari waved cheerfully with a big duffel bag behind her. Natsumi shot Sora a look, but he turned away.
‘He probably brought along Himari on purpose.’
She sighed deeply and waved them in. When they all settled down, she started to reintroduce Yuu again.
“Any questions?” she asked when she finished explaining her story.
“Yes, why is the boy so handsome?” Himari said, awestruck.
“I’m just like that.” Yuu grinned proudfully.
“...moving on,” Natsumi rolled her eyes. “So, Yuu will be staying here from now on. You’ll be staying in the guest room next to Sora’s, he’ll show you.”
They nodded and she went up to her room along with Himari who kept on glancing at Yuu until Natsumi took her by the hand and dragged her up. The first thing she said the second she got to her room was–
“Don’t trust him.” She warned Himari who was a little taken back by her sudden words.
“What?”
“Don’t trust him. Don’t be fooled by his handsome looks. He isn’t as nice as he seems. He’s an arrogant, handsome, annoying, handsome, irritating, handsome fellow.”
“You know you just said–”
“Yes, I know. He’s a very wicked boy.” Natsumi said, nodding understandingly, ignoring what Himari was trying to point out.
“...yes? Get straight to the point.”
Natsumi took a deep breath then spoke without hesitation. “He’s my fiance that I found locked up for eight whole years in a safe in my parent’s room, and big plus - he’s a powerful magician that can blow up the whole planet if he wished to.”
“Huh?” She had a blank expression, not understanding what her best friend was talking about and deemed it as nonsense. “Magician? Aren’t they in fairytales?”
She snorted and handed her the paper that she was given before. “Yeah and somehow one of them appeared into our world, and specifically–living under the same roof as us.”
“You’re...kidding, right?” she said incredulously, the sheet dropping from her hands after she glanced through it.
“No, I’m not.” Natusmi said firmly. Himari gaped at her, not sure what to say.
“What?” she exclaimed excitedly. “I’m going right now! I gotta go ask him to get rid of all my worries and exterminate the money system, so we can get things for free! It’s such a hassle to pull out my wallet every time I need to pay for something.”
“Hold on!” Natsumi grabbed her friend who was about to rush out the door. “I’ve got a plan. Just listen to me for a bit.”
She whispered into her ear and smiled inwardly, pumping her fists inside.
‘Ha! I’m going to get back at him so bad for showing me that rude attitude, that he's gonna bawl like a child!’
Himari thought about it for a moment. “If we’re going to do that, then we’ll need to get some snacks and beverages. I’ll go fetch some with Sora in the convenience store nearby, you prepare things. This will be a great way to celebrate the new arrival!”
They gave each other a salute and laughed wickedly.
“This is going to be so much fun!”