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Kidou had come to visit Otonashi today. It was his turn after all. It had been a few months since they found each other again, since Kidou joined Raimon. Since many things happened. He walked up the now familiar house, smiling as he saw his sister sitting on the porch swing, reading a book. Two cups were situated on the table next to the swing. Kidou always found his sister on that swing; it seemed to be the primary place she hung out, no matter what the weather was like. The closer he got, the more he doubted his sister would notice him, her nose almost touching the book. There was a frown on her face, as if she didn't like where the story was going. It was rather cute. He snapped a picture of it for safekeeping.
When she flipped a page, he spoke. “Is the book good?"
Otonashi looked up and grinned upon seeing her brother. “Onii-chan!” She put a bookmark on to mark her spot and put the book down. She then slid to the side a bit and patted the spot next to her. “The book is really good, but the current character we met is really annoying me.”
Kidou sat down. “How so?”
A sigh of frustration left her. “He is too cocky and full of himself. And he's making the main character's quest even harder than it has to be.” She huffed. “Going to an abandoned theme park to retrieve a scarf.”
Her brother blinked a couple of times. “What book are you reading?” Kidou frowned as he looked over at it.
Otonashi picked it up. “Percy Jackson. It's modern Greek mythology.” She showed it to her brother. “I just started the series, but there's a lot of books.” She giggled. “It's from Percy's point of view, and he's really funny and sassy.”
Kidou opened the book and read a bit. His eyebrow rose the more he read. “He's an interesting character.” He snorted at something. “Okay, it's not really my thing to read, but I could try it out.” He closed the book and returned it to his sister.
“I think you'd really like and connect with Annabeth. She's a daughter of Athena and really smart. Among other things.” She put the book back down. Picking up the two cups of what seemed to be ice tea, she gave one to her brother.
They proceeded to talk about everything and nothing. From Otonashi's book to Kidou's private lessons. They talked about Sakuma and Genda and how Teikoku was doing. Otonashi didn't really have to, seeing as she had both Sakuma and Genda's numbers and they had weekly video calls playing Club Penguin (don't tell Kidou). But she still liked hearing how her brother spent time with them.
The ice tea was slowly disappearing from its containers as the siblings talked. Otonashi's mother came out a few times to check on them and to say that she had started preparing dinner. Kidou liked Haruna's adoptive parents. They were kind, protective, and caring. They made sure to give Otonashi everything she could ever want. They also made Kidou feel like he had one more family to come to. Their parents, thankfully, all got along as well. His own father also adored Otonashi, giving her anything she'd want as an apology for separating them. Kidou realized that his sister had everyone wrapped around her little finger. She has had that ability ever since she was born.
Just as they finished the ice tea, Otonashi's father came back from work. He smiled at the siblings and greeted them: Haruna with a hug, Yuuto with a pat on the shoulder. Kidou came to realize quite quickly that they were very affectionate people. Something that he wasn't used to and always felt awkward around. Which, with Endou, was almost always, but that's another thing entirely. The parents still respected Kidou's aversion to physical affection and tried to keep it to a minimum.
They were soon left to talk again. The father promised he'd come out to get them for dinner.
“Anyway, you said you had a movie night with Gouenji and Endou the other day?” Otonashi asked, leaning on the back of the swing.
Kidou sighed but had a fond smile. “Endou ate too many sweets again and got sick. Gouenji apparently had too much tea and was overly sleepy. So when Endou went to throw up in the bathroom, Gouenji followed him and pretended to hold his hair back.”
Otonashi giggled at the image.
“If that's them normally,” Kidou continued to say, “I don't even want to know how it will be when they get drunk when we're older.”
“You'll be the designated driver then?” Otonashi asked.
“Absolutely not.”
“Right, I apologize.” A moment of silence was had. “You'll be the drunken wine aunt.”
“Now listen here-”
They continued to banter like that for the next few minutes, up until Otonashi's dad came to call them for dinner. Dinner was a calm affair. Kidou always enjoyed the warm atmosphere of the Otonashi home. While it wasn't like that in his own home, his father had started to have meals with him on the small kitchen table rather than the big dining room table. He wanted to give his son a better home. And even if it was a long road from there, Kidou thought he was doing a good job so far.
After dinner, while they were waiting for Kidou's driver to come pick him up, they sat again out on the porch swing. There was a comfortable silence for a while. But there was one question on Kidou's mind. He always found his sister on this porch swing when he came. Even when it was a surprise visit.
“Haruna?” he called out.
She turned to him. “Yes, Onii-chan?”
“May I ask you something?”
“You already did, but sure.” She giggled when he sighed and tried to keep a smile off his face from the corny joke.
He schooled his features and cleared his throat. “I was just wondering. I always see you on this swing when I come. Is there a particular reason?”
Otonashi didn't expect that question. She had a thoughtful look on her face. “Well. I guess it's because it brings back memories of... all of us.”
Kidou frowned. “All of us?”
Otonashi nodded. “I don't know if you remember, but...” She took a breath. “Back when we still had mom and dad, when we were still all together. We used to have a porch swing on our own porch.”
Kidou felt memories prick at the back of his mind. “Yeah, but in the back garden.”
“Yeah.” His sister smiled. “Mom and I would always watch you and dad play soccer from it.”
“You would cheer me on to beat dad,” Kidou said, smiling at the memory, no matter how vague and distant it was. “I remember it a bit.”
“I may not remember mom and dad, how they looked like, their voices. But I remember how they used to hold me on that swing.” Otonashi looked around at it. “On cold nights, we'd drink hot chocolate, and all of us would snuggle under blankets. And...”
“On warm nights, we'd put up the fairy lights and drink ice tea." Kidou finished the sentence. “That's why you always drink ice tea or hot chocolate?”
Haruna nodded. “It reminds me of the ones dad used to make.” She pulled her legs up on the swing and wrapped her arms around them. “Mom used to sing us songs as well.”
“And we'd fall asleep right there.” There was a soft smile on Kidou's face. And behind his goggles, there were also tears in his eyes.
“I loved that porch swing. When I came here, they had none,” Otonashi said. “But when they saw how attached I was to them, they saved up money to buy me one.” She looked up at the darkened sky. “This porch swing gave me even more memories with the Otonashi family. And it helped me cherish the memories I had of our parents.”
Kidou turned away to wipe at his eyes a bit, not wanting his sister to see him cry. He had nearly forgotten about those moments up until now.
“I remember we spent our last moments together on that porch swing,” Otonashi said, a gentle smile on her face. A little tear escaped her eye. Kidou turned back just in time to see it.
“I'm sure they're here with us now.” Kidou wrapped his arm around Haruna and pulled her into him. She leaned her head on his shoulder. “They'll always be here.”
They stayed like that, silently reminiscing on their past life, on their loving parents, and on the moments on the porch swing. How it was always filled with laughter and smiles. The late nights cuddling and telling stories. A faint feeling of those warm embraces was felt on their bodies, and they knew Kidou's previous statement held some truth. Especially when the wind felt like a warm caress and kiss on their heads.
Soon, Kidou would have to go home, and Otonashi would hum a forgotten song on that swing. She'd remember her mother's love and the way life was simple.
And when Kidou would get home, he'd greet his father. And Mr. Kidou would be surprised when his son asked if they could build a porch swing in the back garden. And he'd ignore the way his son's voice cracked a bit, not wanting him to feel embarrassed but offering him a squeeze on the shoulder. He'd agree on installing the porch swing.
Anything for his son to be happy.