Reiki stared at both of them for a few seconds and said. "An explanation? What should I explain? Just so I'm sure we're both on the same page." Arashi narrowed her eyes while Kiru beside her said. "We want an explanation for why you shifted the blame towards us?" After she finished speaking she was right in front of him looking down to make eye contact. Reiki didn't even flinch as he said. "Oh, that. If you want an explanation I just didn't want either of you in my home." He started to walk towards the nearest convenience store around the block.

Arashi suddenly appeared next to him as she tried to pinch his cheek, Reiki moved his head a few inches away and said. "Nee-san, what are you doing?" Seeing him avoid her pinch she frowned as she said. "Nee-san? A few minutes ago you were calling me Arashi-san again." As the two of them started to walk with Kiru on Reiki's right. Reiki kept his gaze in front and said. "That one... Onee-chan doesn't tolerate me calling other girls Nee-san."

Arashi narrowed her eyes as she stared at him as Reiki ignored her piercing glare. Kiru keeping her smile said. "It's been a long time since I was forced to leave the house." Reiki stopped walking making both of them abruptly stopping, he turned his head to face her and said. "Has someone ever interrupted you mid-sentence by saying I don't care?"

As everyone started to walk again, Kiru proudly said. "No one has. Now about me being kicked out-." Reiki interrupted her and said. "I don't care." Making her stop in place as Arashi was laughing next to him with the side of her head facing her as she said. "You dug that yourself." As she continued to laugh.

Kiru let out a sigh and reappeared on Reiki's right again. She said. "Little brother, shouldn't you be listening to your elders?" Reiki took a left and said. "Onee-chan also doesn't tolerate girls calling me little brother either." The corner of Kiru's eye slightly twitched as Arashi was watching with a smirk on her face. Kiru, who was about to say something, took a deep breath and said. "Fine, fine. It doesn't change the fact you called her."

As she pointed at Arashi with a smirk on her face. She continued. "Nee-san. But in her presence, you called her Arashi. So meaning as long as Ketsueki, your sister doesn't find out everything is fair game." Reiki made a right and the convenience store was a few blocks away. Still keeping his eyes in front, he said. "You make it sound like I'm cheating on her with another older sister."

The door slid open as a soft breeze of cold air covered all three of them as they went inside. The man at the counter saw both Kiru and Arashi and was dazed for a few good seconds before saying. "Welcome." Reiki ignored him as he went to the large freezer filled with dozens of different ice cream all neatly placed. He picked out three medium-sized H*agen Daz tubs of ice cream with the flavors of strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla. Holding all three of them with one hand he closed the large freezer and went straight to the counter.

As the three of them got closer the man behind the counter was checking out both Kiru and Arashi, he stared at Kiru and noticed her noble-like bearing and turned his head to face Arashi with a laid back aura. Reiki placed the three tubs of premium ice cream down in front of him and was about to bring out the tattered pouch, But Kiru placed down a family serving of premium matcha flavored ice cream on the counter with Arashi placing a couple of popsicles and a large tub of coffee-flavored ice cream down on the counter with the same brand as Reiki picked.

Kiru pulled out her credit card and placed it on the counter. She said. "Everything in one purchase." The man was daunted at the amount she had to pay and respectfully said. "Yes, ma'am." As he started to scan all the items one by one. Kiru ruffled his hair and said. "You're lucky I decided to take the high road. So consider this a gift from me moving into the neighborhood..." Trailing off she stared at Arashi who also picked up ice cream for herself. Kiru continued. "Not unlike someone."

Arashi rolled her eyes and said. "What's the difference of ¥30,000 added to the price for you?" Placing her hand on Reiki's left shoulder, she said. "See how cheap she is, despite having more than enough money for 7 family generations to retire even if they had a gambling addiction." The man put the items each of them brought on the counter and had three plastic bags. Reiki got his three medium-sized pints of ice cream, Kiru with her family serving ice cream, and Arashi with her two popsicles and a large tub of ice cream.

The man said. "Your total is-." Kiru let out a sigh to interrupt him and said. "Just swipe the card." While pointing at her credit card on the counter. The man quickly did one swipe but did it on the wrong side making the machine beep, with another try the payment he returned it to Kiru using both his hands with a hint of nervousness on his face and a single cold sweat on his forehead. All of them took their plastic bag filled with the ice cream as they left the store. The man said. "P-Please come again."

As the door slid shut he let out a sigh of relief and sank on his chair. Arashi quickly opened up one popsicle and took a couple of bites of it as she bit on the stick as she took the large pint of ice cream using her right hand. She used her left hand to take the popsicle out of her mouth and said. "How much were these anyway?" Kiru on her right said. "You didn't even take a look at the price?" Arashi took two more bites of her popsicle and placed the stick in her plastic bag and said. "Not really, Lil bro selected this brand, I just followed suit."

As she started to open the second popsicle and took a bite of it. Poking Reiki's cheek, she said. "Now... Lil bro about that pizza." With her hand being a bit colder when she touched his cheek, Reiki rubbed it as he said. "Just buy some flour and I'll visit when I have the time tomorrow." Arashi took a couple of more bites of her popsicle and said. "Tomorrow? But, I want to eat pizza at the same time you do." Reiki stopped walking for a second and walked again while facing her, he said. "So you were serious about what your mother said."

Arashi's hand quickly pinched his cheek as she tried to pull it as far as she could without seriously hurting him. She said. "Yes, and so was I." Reiki tapped her hand a few quick times, Arashi let go of his cheek as Reiki rubbed it he said. "You do understand you have to wait for a whole 8 years before you can legally date me." Arashi took one last bite of her popsicle as a red line of juice trickled down on the edge of her lip. She said. "During those 8 years, I'll be sure to whip you into shape. Don't be too worried about our age gap, back over there you could already be considered my SO and people won't even bat an eyelid."

Making a left Reiki said. "The more I learn about the mainland, the more I know there are some weird rules." Arashi grabbed his shoulder with just enough force to make him stop and grab his attention as his pupil slightly widen. She said. "Deal?" As she reached her hand for a handshake. He said. "You guys were watching... Fine, deal. If in 8 years you still want me to be your significant other..." Arashi made a small fist bump as she turned her head with a smug look towards Kiru who had an indifferent expression. He continued. "Now maybe your tail won't be frazzled every time I speak with other girls."

Arashi's eyes widen as Kiru chuckled. Arashi said. "Who's tail gets frazzled?!" Kiru said. "He is right you know." Arashi glared at her and said. "Huh?! Say that again!" Reiki said. "Kids these days don't know when to stop fighting." As they made a right turn and walked a couple of more blocks while Arashi and Kiru kept on arguing along the way neither of them noticed Reiki had a warm smile on his face. Getting close to his house he said. "This is where we part ways, sort of. Not really, since we live 2 minutes away from each other." 

As he looked at the modern condo next to his house and across the street was the modern three-stories tall building. Walking to the front of his home he lazily waved his hand behind him as he opened the front door and said. "I'm back." Something bashed into his stomach as it's arms wrapped above his waist. Shiro looked up to face him and said. "Welcome back." With her eyes shining bright as she stared at him with a hopeful expression.

With a chuckle, Reiki gave her the chocolate-flavored pint of ice cream as she excitedly held it with both her hands as she jumped in place a couple of times before grabbing his arm and started to drag him to the kitchen. Ketsueki was watching a movie as she kept her eyes on it she said. "Welcome back, Reiki." Reiki said. "I'm back, Onee-chan."

Shiro was getting impatient as she started to tug on his clothes with more force as he walked towards the kitchen for some spoons, he took out the pint of strawberry-flavored ice cream and brushed it against Ketsueki's cheek. She didn't overreact as she turned her head and saw Reiki handing her some ice cream. As she took the pint she continued to watch her show as Reiki and Shiro went to the kitchen.

Reading the writing on the pint she said. "What the..." As a spoon was being handed to her, she saw the pint of ice cream in his hand and noticed it was the same premium brand like hers. Shiro sat on her left on the couch as she happily started to eat, Ketsueki easily noticed the same designs on her pint of ice cream as well. Reiki sat down on her right and started to watch as he took a big spoonful of vanilla ice cream.

With a frown on her face, Ketsueki said. "Reiki... How much did this cost?" He answered. "Most of what Ojii-san gave me for helping around." Her frown deepens as she said. "Then couldn't you save it for the future?" Reiki had a small smile and said. "Then I'll let future me carry the regret of spending all of my money on ice cream for the three of us, but he'll also have the memory of all of us enjoying ourselves." Softly caressing his hair with a warm look on her face, she said. "Well..."

She trailed off and turned her head on her left to see Shiro happily eating next to her. She continued. "Maybe moments like this are needed every once in a while. But next time save all the money you can." Reiki let out a chuckle and said. "You sound just like him. Fine, I'll try to save all the money I can, Obachan." As she was about to open up her pint of ice cream she pinched his cheek and sweetly said. "Can you say that again? I couldn't hear you because of the tv."

With his cheek being pulled he felt her hand slowly adding force as he immediately said. "Onee-chan. I said Onee-chan." Shiro giggle as she was enjoying Reiki being reprimanded by Ketsueki. Rubbing his cheek he let out a chuckle as he watched what was on the tv. With a small smile on her face, Ketsueki laid back on the couch and watched the tv in silence.

While watching the tv, the voice said. [Shouldn't you be doing something productive with your time.] Reiki's expression didn't change as he thought. Let me just enjoy their presence a little longer. The voice said. [I was talking about your 'magic' school. Did in your previous life that school had anything that stood out?] Reiki ate a spoonful of vanilla ice cream and thought. Not really it was average. A few groups of delinquents here and there and the facilities just met the bare minimum, the school itself just barely were able to get a permit. I didn't see some of the delinquents on the first day, but they could have gotten to a better school due to their affinity.

The voice kept silent for a few seconds and said. [I would recommend starting your plan soon.] Reiki thought. What do you mean by that? The voice didn't answer as Reiki waited for a couple of seconds as Ketsueki changed the channel and said. "I'll draw a bath, Shiro make sure you do your homework and Reiki it doesn't mean that tomorrow is Friday and you just got home that you're not going."

As he mixed the pint of somewhat melted ice cream he looked like he was about to stare a hole into it. Ketsueki tapped his shoulder and said. "Reiki, is anything wrong?" Reiki shook his head and with a smile he said. "I just didn't feel like going tomorrow." Shiro was changing the channels with her ice cream in one hand, Shiro placed the remote on the coffee table as she turned around to face Ketsueki. Shiro said. "If Onii-chan isn't going to school tomorrow can I also not go?" As she stared at her with puppy eyes that were filled with hope.

Ketsueki made a helpless smile and placed her hands on her hips as she faced Reiki and said. "Now look what you've done. Your infecting Shiro with your laziness." Reiki gently stroked Shiro's head and said. "I tried Shiro, you know she makes the rules." Shiro puffed her cheeks as she pouted and picked the remote from the coffee table and started to browse through the channels. Ketsueki let out a chuckle and said. "Now for a relaxing warm bath."

Reiki who kept his eyes on the tv said. "I already draw the bath, the water should be ready by now." Ketsueki stopped walking and turned around to face Reiki sitting on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table. She said. "Already?" Reiki turned his head to face her and said. "I did say I would be doing the chores, and I know how much you love an early warm bath."

With a warm smile on her face, she went to the bathroom on the other end of the hallway. Shiro finished browsing through the channels as she watched a documentary about pandas day to day lives. Chugging down the rest of the ice cream in one go Reiki went to his room with the empty pint of ice cream in hand. He said. "Good night, Shiro." As he let out a yawn. Shiro turned her head and said. "Good night, Onii-chan... Wait! Onii-chan it's only 18:45 and-." She stopped when Reiki went up the stairs. With her cheeks puffed up, she turned her head to watch the pandas and looked at her ice cream in delight.

...

Walking up the stairs Reiki passed by Ketsueki and Shiro's room as he went to the end of the hallway and entered his room. Inside was a bed that could fit a teenager by the window that was draped over a thick black curtain to prevent any sunlight from getting in, a simple work desk on the other side of the bed, greyish white walls, a closet filled with his clothes, a nightstand that had a lamp and a picture of all three of them in a wooden frame, and a blue flip phone next to the picture frame.

The voice said. [Your room is odd.] Reiki thought. It used to be the storage room. I found out when I was older and kept finding old pictures of mom and... Him here and there. At first, I thought it was normal to have pictures of people when they're young but, after a few years, I was able to connect the dots.

The voice said. [It took you that long to figure this out?] Reiki thought. I had a lot of things going on. As he let out another yawn and lied down on the bed without using the blanket and started sleeping. The voice said. [How can a person fall asleep so fast.] A few seconds passed as Reiki's eyes were still closed. The voice said. [Now, where was I?]

______________________________________________________

Inside Reiki's Mind

Everything was dark, the only visible things were a silhouette of someone and some sort of large black round mass next to it. There was a large screen floating in front of them as the voice said. Not that... I've seen that already and... Here we go. A figure of a woman in a military uniform holding a clipboard was shown on the screen. Her head wasn't being shown, the only detail you could see was her black hair reaching to her shoulders.

She was reporting something to a man who had the back of his chair facing her, as a trail of smoke came out of a Cuban cigar. The woman said. "Major, there was an incident regarding the boy she recommended... Again." A large puff of smoke went above the chair as the man kept looking at the window behind him. Letting out a sigh he said. "Again?... She claimed this boy would kill without question without a care for his own life." The woman quickly said. "Major!" The man let out another puff of smoke and said. "It's fine, don't worry. I already made sure the wires are all turned off, I already have too many on my tail waiting to see any form of evidence. But enough about that, what did the boy do again?"

The woman stared at the chair for a few seconds before looking at the clipboard in hand, she said. "At the crack of dawn, a group of 8 privates who's been training for a longer period decided to beat him up because of his attitude." The man said. "Now he's at the clinic with injuries all over his body?" The woman said. "No..." As she trailed off for a few seconds and continued. "When four of them saw him just sitting on his bed half of them went inside while the other half kept watch of the surroundings... One of them who woke up from being knocked out said he was staring at the floor as he was quietly crying with tears on his face with most whites of his eyes..." As she brought the clipboard closer to her face and said. "Having dozens of red cracks that made him look like an animal. The other four who heard the sound of muffled screams entered and saw his eyes looked bloody red from afar and the other four were on the ground groaning in pain.

They decided to continue with their plan but failed and were beaten an inch from death with at least a dozen broken bones. Another private heard the sound of something being repeatedly punched and saw his back with all 8 soldiers on the ground with blood all over the floor. We took samples and was surprised to see he was negative on all the tests, so we can confirm he wasn't in the influence of any substance..." As she placed the clipboard above the chair, the man grabbed it and saw all the results of all the tests, x-rays, and all the names and pictures of who were involved.

The man said. "Did she give us a knife or a time bomb?" Another puff of smoke went above the chair, a few seconds passed as he read the documents. He said. "Give him a dishonorable discharge." The woman said. "Sir! I don't think that's a good idea-." The man raised his hand as an indicator for her to listen. He continued. "Let 24 hours pass and then recruit him... But make sure to keep a close eye on him and discharge those he pulverized, we don't need to waste any more time and effort on them. Your dismissed." As he kept on looking at the clipboard.

______________________________________________________

In The Middle Of The Night

Reiki turned his body and moved his hand on the nightstand and grabbed the flip phone to see what time it was, using his left hand to flip it, and with a press of a button, he saw it was 02:30. With a small groan, he got up from his bed and went downstairs to wash his face in the bathroom. Walking to the bathroom the voice said. [You still have a good three hours before they wake up.] Reiki thought. I still need to exercise, prepare both the breakfast and Bentos, wash and dry the laundry using the machine and then fold them, draw a bath and take a shower-. The voice said. [Alright, I get it. I didn't ask for your to-do list.] He opened the door and went to the sink and washed his face with multiple splashes of cold water.

Going to the living room he did his usual routine as an hour and 15 minutes pass he wore his old shoes and was about to start sprinting. As Arashi suddenly slapped his back and said. "Morning, Lil bro!" As she didn't mind his clothes drenched in sweat. Keeping his balance he said. "Morning." As he started to sprint without warning, Arashi followed him again as the two didn't notice a curtain across the street moved slightly.

~1 Hour Later~

Reiki and Arashi returned to the front of his house as both of their clothes were sticking to their body. Arashi's curves were tempting as her clothes stuck to her, Reiki on the other hand was panting and sweating as he looked like he could pass out any moment. She said. "Good hustle Lil bro!" As she slapped his back again making a loud wet slapping sound. She continued. "Now how can I make your sister... Hate me less?" Reiki, who was trying to control his breathing, said. "Give it some time, three days tops. The more you try to be nice the more likely Onee-chan will think you're up to something. See you around late afternoon."

Arashi was thinking of something and said. "Aren't you going to cook breakfast?!" Reiki chuckled and said. "You're going to have to put up with it until you and Onee-chan have a better relationship. I still have to do all the chores, later." As they went to their ways. Reiki immediately took a cold shower and wore new clothes, did the preparation of the ingredients for breakfast, machine washed and dried most of the clothes, and put the hand wash on a different basket. The sound of two footsteps was coming from the living room, Reiki went to the source of the sound and said. "Good morning, Shiro, Onee-chan."