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Kipo had grown up knowing that she had a long lost brother named Hugo. Lio and Song never tried to hide his existence from her.
She knew that her parents had adopted him before she was born. She knew, when their house had collapsed during a major earthquake, he had been assumed dead. She knew, when she was a baby, he turned back up on their doorstep with scars on his face, but promptly freaked out when he saw her infant-self and ran away.
Although her curiosity peaked whenever the topic of the brother came up, she knew that, realistically, she would probably never meet him.
Then all of that changed when she was 12 and her family got a call telling them that Hugo was in jail. Kipo had wanted to go, but Lio and Song had insisted that it just be them for the first visit. Then, maybe Kipo could come, if it all went over well.
So Kipo had hoped and prayed that the first meeting would go well. But as soon as she saw her parent’s faces when they got home, she knew that it hadn’t. They said that Hugo didn’t want any visitors and that it might be better for them to leave him alone for now.
Kipo’s disappointment was immeasurable. She had accepted a long time ago that she’d probably never meet her brother, but that was when he was her long lost brother. Now he was just her brother, and it was at that moment that she realized just how much she wanted to meet him.
So she waited. A year passed and Kipo turned thirteen. When her parents asked her what she wanted, she automatically told them that she wanted to meet her brother.
Both Lio and Song were hesitant. But Kipo somehow managed to convince them that one visit wouldn’t be the end of the world.
It was agreed that a few days after she turned 13, Lio and Kipo would go on this visit, and Song would stay behind since too many people was not ideal. But they warned her that during their visit Hugo would hardly talk to them, and when he did talk, he was yelling, so she shouldn’t get her hopes up.
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To say that Hugo (or Scarlamange, as he preferred to be called) was surprised when he heard that his parents wanted to visit him would have been an understatement. To say that he was angry would have been an even bigger understatement.
He thought he managed to rid himself of them last year! He was planning on not showing up to the visit at all and just taking whatever punishment would come his way. But his curiosity peaked when he heard that Song wouldn’t be coming and instead it would be his long lost little sister, Kipo.
Hugo was intrigued. He hadn’t seen her since she was just a baby. Aware that this opportunity would never come again if he missed it, Hugo agreed to the meeting.
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Kipo was buzzing with excitement and nervousness when her brother sat down at their table. She did her best not to stare at the scars on her face and give him her friendliest smile.
Lio tried to speak, “Hugo we-”
“Ahp, bup, bup! If you must address me, Lio , then you may call me Scarlamange.”
“Scarlamange?” Kipo cocked her head to the side, “How’d you come up with that name?”
This must have been the right thing to say, because Hugo seemed delighted to explain the origin of his alias, “Oh! It’s a combination of the word scar and Charlemagne, a former king. I’ve always had a fondness for the times of kings and queens, you see.”
Her brother’s attention was now focused on her, “So tell me, dear sister. What compelled you to come all the way out here, just to visit me?”
“Well, I’ve always been curious about you, but you were nowhere to be found.”
“Yes, my apologies, I was in the process of becoming royalty.”
“You were running a gang,” Lio interrupted.
“And what of it?” Hugo snapped back.
They glared at each other and Kipo knew she had to diffuse the tension.
“Do you still like music?” she blurted out.
“Pardon?” Hugo asked, surprised by the outburst.
“Mom and Dad said that you used to play piano a lot. So I thought maybe we could play this together.” Kipo brought out the melodica that she had been holding in her lap. “Sorry, I couldn’t bring a whole piano in here.”
Hugo eyed the instrument suspiciously, “What is that minuscule clavichord?”
Kipo wasn’t sure what he just said, but she understood enough to elaborate, “It’s a melodica. You blow into it and play the keys. Here, I’ll blow into it, and you just play it like a normal piano.” She set out the piano part in front of him, put the piece in her mouth, and waited for her brother to start playing.
Hugo looked down tentatively at the keys. Then he nodded to Kipo to start blowing. He played Für Elise as best as he could on the tiny keyboard. He certainly hadn’t gotten rusty. Kipo had to admit she was impressed. But she was also getting tired from all the blowing as the song went on.
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As he hit the last notes, Hugo could see that his sister was fatigued. He wanted to play more, but he tried to hide his disappointment and pushed the melodica back in her direction. He didn’t want to ruin this no matter how overjoyed he had been to play again.
“Oh come on! I’m sure I got one more song in me,” Kipo objected.
“My sincerest apologies, but I’m afraid it’s not a good look if the guards find you passed out at the table.”
Hugo had to force back a laugh at his sister’s indignant look. But the urge quickly faded when he heard his fath-, when he heard Lio say, “I wouldn’t mind helping you out with just one more song.”
Hugo opened his mouth to say no, but Kipo piped up, “Hey, yeah, that’s a good idea! You probably have more breath anyways.”
Hugo had half a mind to tell her to not interrupt, that it was rude. But he had a decision to make, because Lio was looking at him, silently asking for permission.
Hugo knew that he wouldn’t get the chance to play again. He couldn’t pass up this opportunity, even if it wasn’t optional. He nodded, and Lio and Kipo switched places, while Hugo closed his eyes and wondered what song he should play.
When he did there was one little melody that sprung up from the recesses of his mind. It had been so long since he’d heard it. He didn’t want Lio to get the wrong idea, but now that he had thought of it, he felt compelled to play it.
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Lio nearly did the breathing equivalent of a spit take when he heard those first notes come out of the melodica, but forced himself to keep blowing evenly into the instrument.
He looked over to Kipo who was clearly overjoyed when she recognized the song. So she started to quietly sing along too.
We may not have sunshine,
Or starlight or weather,
But we've got each other,
And that's even better,
You don't need the sun to keep you warm,
When you've got arms,
Wishes come from you,
And not a random shooting star,
We may not have storm clouds,
But the sky's always blue,
We've got something special here,
And what we have is you,
What we have is you,
What we have is you.
When the song finished Hugo seemed to purposefully not look at Lio and instead looked at Kipo who was smiling brightly, “I can’t believe you remember that song!”
Lio shared that same sentiment. He couldn’t help but feel like he was looking at Hugo with an entirely set of new eyes now. But all good things must come to an end, because a glance at the clock informed them that it was time to go.
Hugo gave Lio a nod and Lio returned it, knowing not to push the precious progress that they had made today.
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Hugo is still sceptical, but he had to admit he had fun today. Kipo was definitely full of surprises, and managed to surprise him once more by hugging him goodbye. He froze upon the contact, but tentatively put his arms around her to reciprocate.
“I’ll see you soon,” she told him while pulling away.
“Y-you plan to come and visit me again?” Hugo didn’t even try to hide the surprise in his voice.
“Of course, you can’t get rid of me that easily!” Kipo smiled cheekily and went with Lio to the exit.
That night, Hugo looked up at the ceiling of his cell and smiled, because for the first time in a long time, he had something to look forward to.