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Akari had made the worst decision in her life when she had given her older brother, Eiji Okumura, a charm for luck in love.
*
Eiji, her beloved older brother, had come home lighter than he had left; all smiles and bursting laughter. But he seemed as if he was missing something. Occasionally he would look longingly at the planes that flew overhead, or sometimes he would look at the phone longingly. This went on for a few weeks after he got back from his big trip to America. Their parents hadn’t wanted them to go, but Ibe-san had insisted that a change of scenery would, and by that time everyone had been desperate.
Eiji had barely moved since he had left the hospital, suffering a career-ending injury to his ankle. She had always admired Eiji but during the months that had followed, she couldn’t help but pity him. Eiji had isolated himself in his room, not leaving his room. A few days before his trip, Eiji hadn’t manage to even respond to their calls.
It was this desperation that the Okumura family let their son be dragged out of bed by his photography mentor and flown off to the big New York City. The following weeks had been extremely hard, especially after losing contact with Eiji after the first week there.
Now, Akari opened the door to the same man who had taken her brother away in the first place. Ibe-san was different than usual. Last time she had seen him, he had brought home a lighter Eiji and had been beaming and laughing. This time, Ibe-san’s shoulders were sagging, and his eyes were red-rimmed.
“Is Ei-chan home, Akari?” he asked, eyes downcast.
“Yes, he’s in the guest room. Do you want me to go get him?”
“No, I’ll go to him.”
Akari followed Ibe-san upstairs, nervous as to what was impending for her precious older brother.
They reached the top of the stairs and Akari led Ibe-san down the hallway to the guest room, right across from Eiji’s bedroom. Knocking, Akari waited for Eiji. He opened to door with a smile and paint on his face.
“Ibe-san, you are here! I did not expect a visit.” Eiji welcomed, still beaming when he went in for a hug. “Do you want to see the room I am preparing for Ash?”
Ash. Or, more specifically, Ash Lynx, was the boy that Eiji had not stopped talking about since his arrival back home. Their parents didn’t approve of Eiji’s apparent love for a man but, seeing how happy their son was, put aside their discontentment. Akira was so old-fashioned and consequently, was the one Eiji confided in about his best friend, along with the rest of his adventures in New York. Akari didn’t like the immorality of it but couldn’t help but listen to the story-book like stories Eiji would tell her. Ash was her brother’s prince.
“Well, I suppose I would like that Eiji…Why don’t you show me?” Ibe-san replied, a tired lilt to his voice.
Eiji grinned even bigger and practically bounced into the room. Gosh, Akari was so happy he was better. A few months ago, she would never have imagined he would get back to his old, playful self again.
“… and this is a desk I set up for all his studying, I hope he likes it. I even got him a few books from our old apartment!”
Akari watched as Ibe-san’s eyes water and suddenly, she did not want whatever news Ibe-san had to ever reach Eiji’s ears.
“Eiji, A-Ash is dead.”
Silence. Akari couldn’t bear to look at her brother.
“I’m sorry, Ei-chan. I didn’t want to tell you like this but I couldn’t stand to see you so happy for him when he is gone.”
Akari looked back up when she heard a crash. She saw as Ibe-san lurched forward and tried to support a pale Eiji. He was shaking and his eyes were watering.
“No! No, this cannot be true… Who told you this? Remember last time we thought he was dead… maybe it’s like that again! We can’t give up on him, Ibe-san! We can’t!” Eiji exclaimed. His body was jerking in different directions, as if he couldn’t decide what to do, what to feel. His eyes were looking around, looking for him.
“I’m sorry Ei-chan… Sing told me himself. It was Lao, he’s dead now as well.”
Akari regretted ever giving Eiji that good luck charm.