#koube

Happy Sugar Life

"Look alive, Asahi!" a voice shouted.

Bags were underneath Asahi's eyes. The young man had gone so long without proper sleep. Asahi closed his eyes momentarily almost not hearing what he was being told. He jolts awake o see a large object ricocheting in his direction. Thinking quickly, Asahi held out both of his hands and raised them in the air. The object immediately came to a halt. Asahi opened his eyes to see that it was a frozen tuna. Asahi sighs, presumably out of disappointment. He then placed it in a crate along with the other frozen tunas.

A chubby, burlap man with balding hair and a thick moustache walked up to the young man. "You're falling a bit shorter today, Asahi."

Ever since that incident, Asahi had been working at a fish market. It filled him with dread every day. The fish sometimes easily decayed and had rancid smells to them. Since the market was close to the docks, seagulls were regular "customers" oftentimes eating pieces of the fish and other seafood. It costed a good bit of Asahi's salary, but at the least he was able to make enough to provide for himself and Shio. Through hard work and their extended family chipping in, Asahi was able to acquire a home with his sister with the rent not being too challenging.

"I'm just not really finding enough time to sleep," Asahi lamented.

The fat man rubbed Asahi's shoulder. "I know that it's hard what with your mother being in prison and you being forced to live on your own with your baby sister."

Asahi nodded without saying anything to defend himself. He hated to admit it, but his boss was right: he needs to get his act together. Shio depended on him he thought to himself. He used that as a daily mantra to get him through the day. There was not anything that he would not do for his beloved baby sister, his "moon."

"But I need you to focus," his boss replied, "do you understand where I am implicating?"

"Yes, sir, I understand fully."

Asahi resumed his work and tentatively kept watch when a frozen fish was tossed in his direction. It was a typical 6-hour thankless duty, but Asahi was determined to persevere. After all, he had something special planned once he left the fish market.

Shio placed Mio in her bedroom to keep her occupied while she was orchestrating her scheme. Her room was not much to really write home about. It was a simplistic bed, a tannish one with matching pillowcases. The wallpaper was a dim yellow. Mio looked around the room somewhat desensitized.

"I know it is not the best," Shio admitted, "but with the budget we have, this was the most we could afford."

Mio skimmed the room a few more times. She turned to Shio with a warm smile. "I don't care if it's bad as long as you are there."

Shio's cheeks turned red. Those words. Those were the exact same words that she herself said to Satou all those years ago. It was eerie how much Mio reminded her of herself 7 years ago. Shio pat her head. "You just wait right here, and I will prepare a meal for the two of us."

As Shio was the one who did all the cooking for her and Asahi, she decided that for tonight, she would make curry. She gathered the ingredients for the curry and began to chop the vegetables. Her mind began to wander as she turned on an eye on the stove. Her heart was taking a nosedive. "I wonder if I prepared the curry in a way Satou used to if that would jolt her memories."

The two had so much catching up to do. Shio thought back to when prior to Satou's Aunt instigating the fire that destroyed the upper room of the apartment that they were going to travel the world together. She looked around the kitchen almost as if to sense if anyone was looking. With the coast clear, Shio knelt and pulled open one of the drawers underneath the counter. She sighed in relief: the "wedding" rings were still there. Shio kept hers close to her heart as it represented her "happy sugar life." Along with Satou's ribbon, the ring was the only salvageable part of Satou after she collided with the pavement when she jumped off with Shio. It may not fit Satou anymore now that she was reborn.

With the pot steaming, Shio's eyes darted to the clock. It was just about time for her older brother to return home after riding on the city bus. She had to act quickly. After the curry was made, Shio drew a small pack of tea and placed it into a teapot. Returning to the sink, Shio turned the knob and filled the teapot with cold water. She then placed the teapot on another eye on the stove she activated and waited for it to boil. Whilst waiting, Shio bent on the ground again and opened a cabinet. She wrapped her fingers around a cylinder bottle.

The tea and curry were ready. Shio prepared the table and placed the dishes on the table. She then poured some of the tea into two cups. On the far end of the table was where Asahi typically sat. She took the strange bottle and unscrewed the top. It had a grody smell to it. Tipping the bottle, she cautiously poured it into the cup. With nearly the entire bottle emptied, Shio quickly tossed it in the trash and tied the garbage bag.

"I hate to do this, but at least it should not be too life-threatening" Shio said to herself.

Asahi arrived at the front door smiling slightly. That day he had just received his check. He made more for the week, which was always a delight to hear. He placed the paycheck into his pocket and scrambled to get his keys to the front door. Before he could, the door opened.

"Shio?" Asahi said. "What is going on here?"

"I am just opening the door for my older brother," Shio answered.

"I know, but we hardly ever interact much ever since that whole scene with that pink-haired girl," he pointed out.

Shio's eye twitched slightly. She did understand to an extent that he did not understand her relationship with Satou, but to dismissively demean her as just a "pink-haired girl" enraged her. "Come in, Asahi, you must be exhausted."

Asahi removed his shoes and place them beside the front door. He could not help but notice that Shio was acting stranger than usual, but he could not put his finger on it. He sat down at his side of the table like Shio anticipated. "So, curry tonight?"

Shio smiled. "You are correct. I hope you like it."

Asahi put his hands together. "Thank you for the meal." With that, he started eating. Shio sat down at her end of the table and began eating. As expected, Asahi reached out to grab his cup.

"I spoke with mother today."

Shio raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you have?"

Asahi nodded. "She's saying that the wardens are treating her well. She said that she had no regrets."

Shio tapped her fingers on the table. She did not want to think about her mother any more than she had to. Asahi took the first sip of his tea while he was still conversing. "You know that she loves you, Shio?"

Shio forced a broken smile on her face. "I know, Asahi. I just wish I had fonder memories of her."

Asahi drank some more of the tea. "Strange taste."

Shio was about to say something in response, but Asahi suddenly stood up. "Oh my, Asahi, what is the matter?"

Asahi grabbed his stomach. His cheeks were swelling and turning green. He tried to cover his mouth with his hand, but thick, green vomit erupted from his mouth. He looked at Shio for assistance, only to see that Shio's blue eyes became paler. Asahi collapsed on the ground with more of the thick throw up ejecting from his mouth. His insides were on fire.

"S-Shio…"

Asahi collapsed with a thud. Shio walked over and knelt to him. She lightly tapped his wrist. "Good, that should leave him unconscious for a while."

Shio ran upstairs to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She ran some water into the sink and rinsed her face off by taking handfuls of the water. Her heart was racing again, this time with some guilt sinking into her decision. She took a deep breath and excelled. "Oh, I am happy that you have come! My brother suddenly got sick and he fell unconscious. Please tell me that he will be okay!" She said this to herself a few more times until she mastered it. After repeating the line four times, she dialed 9-1-1.

The ambulance was called in a few minutes later. Asahi was very much still alive, but whatever he had ingested was making him projectile vomit. One of the medics went to relay what they had learned from the situation.

"Ms. Kobe, I assume?" he said.

"Yes," Shio answered, "please tell me my brother will be okay!"

He slipped out a clipboard. "Says here that he ingested a half glass of Syrup of ipecac."

Shio's eyes widened. "Oh no…that sounds terrible!"

The medic tilted his head. "Do you know how it got into his system? It has been discontinued for a reason."

"No officer, I have no idea how he got a hold of it." She bowed her head. "Forgive me for my incompetence."

He nodded. He explained that Asahi would be staying overnight to get his stomach pumped. Give or take, he would likely be down for a good week or so out of fear of sending him home too quickly.

Tears began to form from her eye ducts. She shielded her face with her hands refusing to look at Asahi being wheeled out. Her breathing got quicker and pained. The medics looked at each other with sympathy. "You can visit him anytime of the week," the first medic said.