The bell rang for a few more times before Tsubaki opened the door from the inside. Satsuki"s youthful face was smiling widely to her once he saw his sister."Sister!"
"I already gave you our pa.s.sword. Why did you not open the door yourself?" Tsubaki nagged a bit as she welcomed her brother inside their home.
"Aiya, I don"t want to be rude," Satsuki answered nonchalantly. His eyes landed on Ren who was standing behind Tsubaki. "h.e.l.lo, Brother!"
"You sure love to make my wife worry about you, you brat," Ren said in dissatisfaction. He had even crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows as he stared at Satsuki.
"I"m not even here for a minute, you two have already want to nag at me?" Satsuki felt incredulous. "Wow! You"re really a match made in heaven! Always want to bully me!"
Tsubaki and Ren looked at each other before they broke into laughter. Satsuki smiled coyly before he joined in the fun. Tsubaki quickly gestured to the young man to follow them inside. Satsuki didn"t stand on ceremony anymore. He put down his backpack and jacket on the couch before he walked into the dining room. His eyes brightened once he saw the scrumptious feasts laid on the table.
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"Wow! Sis! These are all my favorites!" Satsuki was obviously delighted.
"Go and wash your hands first," Tsubaki pointed to the kitchen. "You can eat everything you want then. I"ve already packed some for you to bring home."
"Yes!"
Satsuki quickly went to wash his hands. Ren and Tsubaki were already sitting at the dining table. Satsuki joined them shortly. He sat opposite Tsubaki, facing the couple.
"How"s work?" Tsubaki scooped some rice and placed it into a bowl. She gave the bowl first to Ren before she continued scooping for Satsuki and herself.
"It"s going smoothly, I think," Satsuki answered, he took a gla.s.s of barley tea from his brother-in-law"s hand. He muttered his thanks before he added, "Besides from some couple of minor problems, we didn"t have any difficulty."
"That"s good to hear," Tsubaki said with a pleasant smile. "At least you"ve found what you want to do. So you"re preparing for the entrance exams too, right?"
Satsuki nodded profusely. "Working in the field is different than learning formally, both of them have the pros and cons so I just want to do both."
"Enough, you two," Ren chuckled from his seat. "Let"s eat first before the dishes get cold."
Tsubaki and Satsuki agreed. The three of them began eating.
The three of them chat amicably over dinner. They exchanged their stories and the couple had even told Satsuki about their wedding plans. The young man agreed when his brother-in-law said his sister deserved the best wedding.
One could say it was like nothing would happen later.
Ren helped Tsubaki to bring the dishes to the sink. Satsuki was sitting lazily on the couch, his stomach slightly bloated after a hearty meal. When Tsubaki wanted to throw the bones into a waste basket, Ren stopped her.
"I"ll handle this," Ren said softly. "You should go and talk to Satsuki. I think it"s best if I don"t stick around this time."
Tsubaki pursed her lips. She was thinking for a moment before she nodded her head in agreement. This was her family matter involving their late parents. It would be better if she faced Satsuki alone.
"Thank you, dear," Tsubaki smiled in grat.i.tude.
Ren pecked her lips. He looked into her eyes, his thin lips curved upwards. "My sweetheart is a strong lady. I believe you could go through it."
"En!"
Tsubaki returned the peck. She turned around and walked over to Satsuki. Ren watched her disappearing figure. He could just hope that his brother-in-law could accept what his wife would be relaying soon.
"Satsuki," Tsubaki called out to him. "I have something to tell you."
Satsuki instantly sat up right when he saw the serious look on his sister"s face. "What it is?"
"Let"s go in there," Tsubaki gestured to the sun room near the living room. She had already left him behind before he could ask anything.
It was full moon outside the gla.s.s walls overlooking the night sky. Satsuki quietly entered the room. This part of the duplex condominium unit was cozy. His sister was staring at what it seemed like two paper envelopes in her hands. She was sitting on the white couch facing the gla.s.s walls.
"What"s wrong, Sister?" Satsuki walked over to her.
Tsubaki raised her eyes from the envelopes, she stared at Satsuki"s young face. She silently scrutinized him, taking in all of his facial features.
She knew that the both of them didn"t really have any similarity between how most siblings should be but the thoughts of them weren"t even related had never occurred in her mind. It took more than two decades of her life to finally know the truth.
"You agreed when your brother-in-law wanted to do a DNA test between us, right?" Tsubaki asked straightforwardly.
If she didn"t mean business now, her composure might crumble.
Satsuki"s face fell. His eyes landed on the envelopes. With a quiet voice, he asked, "So, those are the results?"
Tsubaki reluctantly nodded. With a heavy heart, she handed the envelopes to Satsuki.
Satsuki took a deep breath. His fingers trembled slightly when he was taking out the papers from the envelopes. The shock of reading what was written on the paper made him almost stumbled backwards. Satsuki jolted as he looked back at his sister.
"These... are true?"
Tsubaki closed her eyes. She was unable to see his expression right now without crying herself out. She nodded, silently answering his question.
"Ha..."
Satsuki suddenly chuckled. He pressed his palm against his face, his laughter sounded painful and exasperated. The papers slightly crumpled in his hands. Tsubaki bit her lower lip. She didn"t know how to face him.
"So... All these have been a secret?" Satsuki asked with a hoa.r.s.e voice. There was a hint of disappointment in his voice. "And I... was actually burdening you for almost our lives when you shouldn"t even be bothered with me?"
"Satsuki!" Tsubaki immediately stood up from her seat. She stared incredulously at Satsuki. "What are you saying?"
"It"s true, right?" Satsuki almost yelled in his frustration. "All this while you"ve sacrificed so much for me! Almost all of your money went to my medical bills! And now... We aren"t related? I was living off someone who shouldn"t be burdened by me?"
"Whatever the results are, you"re still my brother!" Tsubaki answered furiously. Her tears were threatening to fall down as she saw the look on Satsuki"s face. It was so heart-wrenching. Her voice turned into a whisper, "We might not be related by blood but... you"re my brother, my family. How could you say something like that?"
Tsubaki understood why Satsuki said something like that. During the time when he was still sick, her dear brother would always feel apologetic to her. He felt like he was troubling her with his health problems but Tsubaki never thought of forsaking him.
They were family.
"You still want me as your brother?" Satsuki wiped the tears that were already trickling down his face. In just a few minutes, he had turned to the little boy from their childhood.
"En." Tsubaki managed to smile even though she too had started crying. She took slow steps towards her brother. "You"re my brother."
Satsuki wailed loudly before he suddenly hugged his sister"s pet.i.te frame. The papers fell on the floor. Tsubaki choked on her sob. She raised her hand and gently patted the young man"s head.
"I know... I know I should have expected this but..." Satsuki cried again. "I really hoped what Brother would find out wasn"t this. This... I really hoped it wasn"t true..."
Satsuki knew there would be something his sister wanted to tell him after dinner. He could tell from the way his brother-in-law refused to disclose the results of the tests.
But, to actually know the results was far from what he was praying for, it was like his life crumbled in front of him.
The sound of their crying echoed in the room. Neither Tsubaki nor Satsuki talked. They were comforting each other with a silent hug. From the slight opening of the door, Ren was watching them with a forlorn expression. He sighed deeply.
There would be more mysteries needed to be resolved. How much longer should he watched his dearest love being thrown into heartbreaking moments?