END OF THE LINE.

“You can go to bed whenever you want.” Nanako said, her voice as flat as it was when they had first met what felt like a life time ago.”It’s only 6, and I want to watch cartoons until bed time.”

She seemed to have no give in her voice, like this wasn’t something she was willing to negotiate on. 

“Your room is upstairs, you can go to bed there.” 

“Oh? Well, well, I’m terribly sorry.” He replied sarcastically and shook his head, looking at the girl as he shrugged his shoulders. “I forgot you’re a big girl now. Though, my belief is that watching too much TV will rot your little brain, do whatever you want. It doesn’t concern me.”

The coldness of Yu seemed to finally reach Nanako, and her bubbly joy simmered to nothing, as she turned her attention back to the TV. She just shakes her head, keeping back her tears, much like she did with Dojima. She didnt want to be yelled at, which she felt like Narukami might do.

“I’ll eat later, Im not hungry anymore.” She said, not looking at him. “But if youre hungry you can go out, dad probably wont come home tonight..again.”

She changed the channel again, trying to find something cheerful to watch, to boost the mood.

“I’ll probably go to bed early, so make yourself comfortable…”

Closing the fridge’s door, he dismissed the fact that she looked like she was about to cry and examined the kitchen area for anything that’s edible, but luck wasn’t on his side today. Pitiful, really. How did the two of them live in this place anyway? How did he become comfortable here?

He eventually gave up and sat down at the table, fingers drumming impatiently on the table as he listened to her meek, obviously scared voice. He’d never been this rude to her, so of course, it’s no surprise. “No, I don’t think I will. The shops don’t have any more customers because of the fog, so there’s no point in wasting my time.”

“…tch. As odd as it seems you’re as bad as me in talking with other people about sore spots.” He huffed and mentioned how it was precisely like that and how that work had driven her insane, without her most likely realizing that. The aftermath was this: a runaway son and remaining daughter. Gladion was sure how they both knew the pain yet were reluctant to talk about it in more detail, which he didn’t complain about at all. He’d rather try to deal with this later and get a proper job instead of sales clerk at Junes after graduation.

He mentioned how that did sound risky but he was known for not really following the rules here and didn’t really have any big plans to actually stay here. The only thing he wished he to was to finish his studies here and apply for an university of his choice in somewhere else. “A ghost town wasn’t in my plans at all when running away or changing schools in a whim. How on Earth are you here as well, if you claim it’s insane?”

“Hmph. I’ll take that as a compliment. I’m an introvert, thus, I never speak to people if they don’t initiate a conversation first.” He stuffed a hand in his pocket and looked at the blond teenager. Admittedly, deep inside, he was a bit curious to learn more about his family situation. That is, if he was his old self and didn’t fall into that man’s trap. Now he was forced to live in paranoia, but enough about that for now.

“Dad is always busy…” She comments sadly, but by then Narukami had gone upstairs. So Nanako set herself back up to watch TV. Like she always did.

She was happy her Onii-chan was back, but something about him didnt feel the same. He felt…colder? He wouldnt even smile at her.

Nanako sighs softly, changing the channel to some cartoon she enjoyed, waiting for Yu to return to the downstairs. When he did, she turned and smiled at him.

“Uh-huh!” She smiles widely, answering his question. “Ive done all my chores! And Im getting really good grades! I bet Dad would be proud of me…if he knew. But he’s so busy with work again…But you’re proud of me, right big bro?”

For a moment her tone wavered to that of sadness, but when she directed her question of pride at Yu, it returned to an upbeat happy tone once more.

“My teacher says I might be in the top three of my class this year!”

Souji looked at her, tilting his head at her question as he rested on the sofa. After a long silence filled the room, he spoke, “If you’re good, then yes, I am. I’m sure Dojima-san would say the same.” That came out colder than he anticipated, and he would apologize if it wasn’t true. Overall, he hated rowdy children.

A sigh left his lips as he turned his attention to his watch- 5 PM, in other words, dinner time. “Looks like it’s dinner time. I hope your dad bought something, otherwise... you won’t eat anything at all.”

Things had returned relatively back to normal for Nanako-chan. Though she was sad that her big bro had left without a word, she set herself back to doing the domestic tasks while her father worked himself into an early grave.

“Huh..we aren’t expecting visitors?” Nanako hums, hearing the door bell ring.  The now 9 year old was cautious, of course. But she heard her Onii-chan’s voice, and she couldn’t help but throw the door open.

“Big bro!” She said excitedly, immediately throwing herself to hug Souji. “You came back! We weren’t expecting you.”

He breathed in and braced himself for the worst when Nanako jumped on him, causing him to stumble back a bit. “Thanks.” He patted her head while thinking of a good excuse to explain his surprise visit. “I... like Inaba a lot more than Tokyo, so I came back.” He spoke, not a smile visible on his face as he stepped inside the house and looked around for his uncle.

“Oh, your father is busy again, I see...” Good, he thought if he was here he’d ask all sorts of questions in regards to what happened last year and why any conclusive evidence couldn’t be found. “I’m gonna go unpack my stuff and I’ll be back, okay?”