"Sigh! I'm only saying this one more time. If the five of you don't get up from your bed yet... I'll make sure to splash lots of hot water on you guys!" Mrs. Irisa's shouts startling her five children from their deep slumbering.

Ren, her eldest daughter who is also an easy-to-wake-up person instantly sits upright on her bed, yawning out loud. She took a glance towards the single bed next to her wherein her only sister, Rina was still asleep, cradled in her sweet dreamland. Reaching out her hands for her red towels and school uniform, she moved to walk towards the bathroom quietly, not wanting her other siblings to wake up and snatch away the bathroom.

There's only one rule you need to know in the Fujioka house and that is "whoever's faster will get it first." Almost everything that occurs in the house involves that rule.

It does sound weird for other people about living in a house that has only three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It's not an easy fit, especially when it involves a family of 7 people. Plus, it becomes a problem whenever the bathroom issues come up. There will always be some fighting between the five siblings.

Nonetheless, for the Fujioka family, it has somewhat become the norm for them every single day, fighting over the bathroom and such. That just makes their sibling's bond more strong... and stable, perhaps.

"Ren, have your other siblings woken up yet?", asked Mr. Rintarou as he is busy preparing his youngest son's school bag, making sure that there's nothing that will be left out.

Ren threw a glance at her father, her fingers skillfully tying the red tie on her shirt's collar. "Nope," she replied emphasizing the ‘p's sound.

"Go wake them four-"

"Make it two. Rina is already awake, she's in the bathroom," Rai said as he went down the stairs. A dark blue blazer was slung over his shoulder.

"Ren?"

"I know," she replied shortly before going upstairs.

As she climbed the stairs, she heard the alarm sound reaching her ears from the second room on her right. Her eyebrows furrowed as she let out a deep sigh. Kicking the door hard, Ren crossed her arms and looked at her two younger brothers in displeasure. The third room is much bigger than her room next door, so it has enough space to accommodate three boys. One single brown and a white bunk beds. It is so much larger as it can fit one desk for a computer, unlike her room.

Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!

Her eyes shifted to the smartphone on the table, clicking her tongue. "What's the point of setting an alarm if it doesn't wake them up." She pressed the small button displayed on the phone screen, shutting off the alarm. She then turned her head and approached the bunk bed before banging the wood hard causing the bed to shake. "Get up before I beat you two like last week. Don't get me upset, you know that"

Seeing that she didn't get any response, she combed her hair back roughly. "I will count to three. One... two"

"We're up! We're up! Don't hit us..." They both said simultaneously.

"Tch! Coward." She rolled her eyes. "Go and get ready. I'll give you only 15 minutes to get everything done."

"15 minutes?!" Ichiyo, his fourth younger brother shouted. "We're not robots. We're going to need more time than that to get ready"

"How funny" She chuckles. "I'm sure you don't need extra time to get ready, do you? After all, this wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you both waking up late. Well, it's not like we can turn back time." As soon as she finished her talks, the sound of the door opening was heard, giving Ren the signal that her little sister had done using the bathroom.

"Right in time. All right, my job here is done. Go get ready and then, go down for breakfast. Just, don't make mom goes late to her workplace, you understand?" Ren shot a sharp look at the two of them.

Feeling scared by the overwhelming aura that their sister radiates, the boys nodded their heads aggressively. "Good," she said, exiting the room and take a turn towards downstairs. "They're getting ready!"

"Thank you, Ren. I know I can count on you." Mr. Rintarou smiled as he gave a gentle pat on his eldest daughter's head.

"Yeah... Yeah, whatever" She muttered softly.

- ✦

As the daily routine of the Fujioka family goes, as usual, Ren had already finished with her breakfast. "Rai, let's go," she said, tapping his brother's shoulder. Later, she picked up her school bag and slung it over her shoulder, her feet sheathed in her black school shoes. Both of them then bid goodbye to the rest of the family before setting off to school.

It has always been like that for them to walk to school back and forth as the distance between their school and the house is not that far, unlike the other siblings. Since their school is much closer to their mother’s place of work, the three of them would be sent by car every day while their father would ride the red motorcycle that he bought about 5 years ago since he started working in the social section of a hospital.

Even so, it’s not a big deal considering Ren’s relationship is much closer to Rai than her other siblings. Likely due to the gap of a year between their ages that the two of them rarely at all, quarreling with each other and also, the fact that they are both have the same interests in some stuff.

"Ne, nee-chan" Rai began to talk. His voice wailed in hesitation as if he was afraid that the things that he will ask will make his sister goes furious.

Ren could see that though, she just dismissed it. She didn't want her brother to feel more anxious than he is right now. "What is it?" She asked softly.

"I want to ask you a question but I hope you won't be angry with it. Is that okay?"

Ren cast a glance before she hummed in response. She adjusted the bag strap on her shoulder, trying to make herself feel more comfortable.

"Do you... happen to know... a student named Tsunashi Ryunosuke?"

𝘱/𝘴: 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴! 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴... 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬. 𝘈 𝘛𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪 𝘙𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵!

-𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒆