You know what's worse than getting up at the ass-crack of dawn: doing it on a Saturday to go to school two days early because your over-achiever brother wants to make a good impression. 

Speaking of which, as much as I love Mikaela, his calling me at six-fifty-seven was not making my Saturday any better. The whole point of not setting an alarm was that I didn't want to nearly shit myself first thing in the morning because of my ringer. I mean honestly...if he wanted to talk to me so badly this morning, he should have just slept over last night like I offered. It's not like mom and dad would have minded—they loved Mikaela nearly as much as they loved me (and I've been their kid for several years now).

When I picked up on the second to last ring, I was met with the same groggy-but-cheerful voice I was forced (not really) to hear every morning. 

"Good morning, Yuu-chan! Did you sleep well? You're done packing, right?" Mikaela asked. His sink turned off in the background, and I heard the clicking of his stove starting. Stupid early birds. He'd probably been awake for half an hour already.

"I was before you called me, and yeah, you've been bugging me about it all week."

"Don't be like that. If you start the morning sour, you'll upset Mrs. Furui."

I swung out of bed and onto my feet. My head buzzed with a slight headrush as I went to open my drawers. "I'm gonna tell mom you called her that again. She'll cry, you know."

"Yeah, sure. We both know that as much as you love to seem like a hardass, you'd never make your mom cry on purpose."

I don't have many peeves about Mikaela, but his insistance that he wasn't a part of 'my' family pissed me off. I shut my pants drawer a little louder than I needed to. "Whatever. How're you getting to the station? Bus?"

"'Doesn't start running until eight. I got my neighbor downstairs to agree to drive me. He even gave me a discount!"

"He's charging you for a favor? What a tool."

"Yuu-chan, she's a taxi driver. I already told you: she's starting an hour late to take me." Mikaela sighed. I hummed, grabbing a sweatshirt for the train ride.  

Really looking at my room has always been weird. It looks too normal...too much like my current life and not enough like my old one. I don't have any pictures of the other orphanage kids or any of the kids we were close to in Sanguiem. I've got a picture of me and Mika from the day he showed up to my class part of the way through third year, but it doesn't tell much. Honestly, on the rare occasions I've had people over, they've ended thinking I'm a fan of his whose school got visited. 

Downstairs, I can hear mom rustling around the kitchen and Hyaku stomping around. I'm supposed to take him out before I leave, but I usually just let him out in the yard. You'd think he'd need to burn more energy, but Hyaku's just a giant bum. 

I shut my door behind me and head downstairs. As I walk out at the bottom towards the kitchen, I pass my bags. 

"Morning, Yuu. How'd you sleep?" She's setting stuff out on the table. I pick up the tupperwear container with left over rice and put it in the center of the table. 

"Pretty good. Mikaela woke me up."

"We know, Yuichiro. If your phone wasn't loud enough, you certainly were. For a kid your size, you walk and talk like an elephant." Dad patted me on the back before sitting in my usual seat. I frowned.

"Good morning to you too, dad. Why are you sitting there?" He smiled, but it didn't meet his eyes. Mom suddenly wore a similar expression, sitting across from him.

"We're celebrating you being a man...men sit at the head of the table."

I down heavily in the chair. The cushion is worn from dad eating, sitting, and working here every day. "I'm the man of the house?" He gives me a look. "Okay, sorry. But seriously, what do you mean? I'm fifteen."

"You're basically moving out, Yuu. That's pretty grown up. Before we know it you'll have a job and a place of your own...it's only a matter of time at this point."

"Maybe you'll even get a girlfriend. You obviously didn't my good looks, but there's still hope, probably!" I give him a look this time. "Oh, come on. You could ask Mikaela for some tips. The two of you could be real killers if you tried more."

"Don't be mean, Asao."

"It's not a problem. Besides, I'm lucky that I didn't get his ugly mug."

"Yuu!"

Dad's smile seems to meet his eyes a little more. "Relax, Tomoko. We're just playing."

"Maybe you two should just eat instead."

Dad takes an exaggerated bite of his portion of tai, and I do the same. We eat in silence, basking in the calm of the early morning in our neighborhood. It usually ends by seven, less than an hour from now. Our street connects the heart of the suburbs to the city, so it's busy during morning and evening rush hour.

Hyaku walks into the room, steps heavy. He flops down by the table leg between me and mom. He breathes loudly as mom's spoon lightly taps against her bowl. Outside, a furniture truck drives by. Something rustles in the bushes under our windows, and there's a light scratching sound at the door.

I get up to answer the door, and dad starts to clear the dishes. I greet Hime as she comes in silently. She brushes against my leg before going to bury herself in Hyaku. 

The first time we saw her, we thought she was a kitten, so we took her to vet to see if she had a chip. She didn't, and it turned out she wasn't actually a baby, so we took her back to our neighborhood and let her go. The vet said that she probably was an outdoor cat with a home, since she'd been fixed. We're not so sure. She regularly comes to visit us and several of our neighbors, and never seems to sleep in the same home at night.

"Oh, hello Hime! Are you hungry?" Mom asks. She gets up from the table gets a can of tuna from the cabinet. "Yuu, I did some research the other day and I think Hime is a singapura cat. That might be why she's so small."

Mom showed me a picture from Google. It did look like her.

"And why she looks like an alien."

Mom gasps exageratedly. "Don't listen to him, Hime. You are beautiful just the way you are."

"You know, you're actually not supposed to give cats a lot of canned fish. If you're going to feed her when she comes over, maybe we should get some cat food."

"Hime's basically a street cat, Yuichiro. I'm sure she's had worse." Dad taps Hime's head as he passes by, and Hime rolls onto her back. He open the window by the door before standing in the foyer. "Speaking of which... if Hime's a purebred, she probably actually did have a home at some point. Maybe she used to belong to old Mrs. Minamoto before she moved. It's hard to believe she stayed living alone." 

"That's depressing."

"What would really be depressing is Mikaela getting on the train without you. Let's go. Come, Hyaku."

Mom grabs the keys, and Hyaku rolls onto his feet. Hime looks up curiously, but stays put. I go back to the bottom of the stairs to grab my bags before heading out to the car. Dad makes me put all of my own stuff away (something about practicing for if I ever travel with a girl). Hime's head is poking through window. She stares as Mom helps Hyaku into the backseat. I slam the trunk, and slide into the back seat. Dad adjusts his seat, taking advantage of Hyaku not needing leg room.

"I'm grown up enough to sit at the head of the table, but not enough to get the front seat?"

"Don't push it, Yuichiro."

"If you really want to be that grown up, you should start learning how to drive. I'll happily let you sit in the front, then."

I sigh and fasten my seatbelt. As the car starts, one of the little kids across the street comes out to walk to daycamp. I turn away from the window. As long as I've lived here, this neighborhood has always felt too domestic. I don't think I'll ever fit exactly right, here. That's one thing I'm looking forward to about this year: everyone at Hope's Peak Academy is supposed to be so different, so maybe I'll fit in.

We pass by the old church as we leave the neighborhood. There are some older guys playing basketball on the hoop in the parking lot. A couple of girls, one their age and one younger watch. I don't understand how they can be up this early to hang out when they have the whole day ahead of them. I'd sleep in if it were up to me. That's probably why I don't know them.

As mom pulls up to the train station, I see Mikaela outside (of course) talking to some generic-looking kid. Honestly, the guy looks like his name should be Hime. Or maybe Hana... that's prettier.

Mikaela and his friend come up to the car when I get out. Hyaku's tail thumps heavily against the seat, but he doesn't move. 

"Yuu-chan! Good morning, mister and Mrs. Furui! Hi Hyaku," Mikaela greets us. He taps at the window where Hyaku lays. "This is my friend Yoichi! He's not heading there until tomorrow, but it turns out he's in Hope's Peak's general admission program!"

"Good morning, it's a pleasure to meet you..." He scratches at his elbow. He turns slightly and raises his hand. "I've got to finish running some errands... I hope to meet you all again."

"Morning! Nice to meet you too, Yoichi! Have a good day!" Mom waves back at him, and Yoichi smiles softly as he leaves. Mikaela watches him go for a moment.

"Sorry about that. Yoichi's really nice, just super timid."

"How d'you even know him? He didn't go to school with us last year."

"Yoichi was actually on my resistance squad during the occupation. He doesn't live too far from you. In fact, I think Guren personally asisted in his adoption as well!"

"That's nice. It's cool that Guren's still helping people."

"Yuu, Mikaela, can you get the stuff out of the trunk? We still have to say our goodbyes, and the train comes in ten minutes."

Mikaela ditches his stuff on the curb and goes to help me get my bags after I pop the trunk open. When my stuff's out, I slam the trunk door and go to stand to the side. Mikaela follows, and my parents come up to us, looking sad. 

"Boys, be good at school this year. Work hard, make connections, and each of you bring someone home to meet us during break—alright?" Dad hugs each of tightly, he stuffs a couple large bills into each of our hands. Mikaela starts to object, but my mom hugs him before he can say anything.

"Have fun, you too. We're proud of you." She pinches both of our cheeks. "Make sure to call, and Mikaela, don't be a stranger."

"Of course..."

"We'll see you two in a few weeks. Try to make lots of friends. Hyaku, say 'bye'!"

Hyaku barks, and I go to pet him one last time. He wriggles, but doesn't get up when open the car door. His face looks whiter than the rest of him, and I try not to make a face. He'll be here when I get back. Mikaela reaches in and roughly tousels Hyaku's hair, much to his pleasure. Maybe I should have walked him this morning... 

"Well boys, go on in! You've got five minutes! Bye!"

"Bye!"

"See ya!"

Mikaela and I turn to the station behind us and walk towards our train's platform. He's quiet, which isn't like him. The train pulls us just as we get there, and we're two of the maybe twelve people that get on. We put out bags into the car's storage and sit in the back corner. Mikaela is tense as he sits in the window. His brow is creased. As the train starts to pull off, he turns to look at me. He's still gripping the money from my dad in his hand.

"I didn't actually think you'd really make a big deal of what I call your mom to her."

"What? I didn't."

"Sure."

Something ugly rises in my chest. Moments like these have become more common over the past couple months. We're past the honeymoon phase of our reunition.

"If you're going to randomly accuse me of things, I'm sitting somewhere else. I don't have energy for this this morning."

"What was that whole 'don't be a stranger' thing about?" 

"Maybe it's 'cus you insist on being as distant from them as possible."

"We've talked about this, Yuu-chan. They're not my parents. Just because we're brothers doesn't mean they're responsible for me as well."

"They're not trying to be your parents."

"It sure feels like it."

"God, Mikaela. They see you as family, maybe they just want to see them the same way."

"...That's not fair. You know I love your parents."

"Do you? You make it pretty damn clear that you wanna hold on to any separation from us that you can get."

"I don't want to be separated from you."

"Yeah? You seem pretty content with who was in your life for the whole time I wasn't in it."

"Maybe you should go sit somewhere else, Yuichiro." Mikaela looks bitter. He won't look at me. I wait for a moment, then get up. 

"Maybe you should removed whatever died up your ass while I'm gone." 

We get off the train in silence, but Mikaela isn't nearly as tense. He hands me my backpack from the storage before dragging out his last suitcase. We leave the station side by side, making our way to the tall brick building down the street. A few people give us looks. We're the only people with bags around.

When we get to the front, Mikaela pauses. He sucks in a breath before finally looking me in the eyes again. "...I'm sorry, Yuu-chan. I do see you parents as family, but... it's hard. When I think of family, I can't help but be reminded of Kōta and the girls... and I know you miss them too, but... I don't know. Part of me is sad about Krul, too."

I grab his shoulder and squeeze. I'm not the best at comforting others, but I know Mikaela appreciates touch.

"Let's go inside and get settled, Mikaela. It's been a long morning. We can take naps when we're done."

"What are we, six?"

"I can guarantee we weren't napping much at that age."

"Okay. Wow. Yeah. Let's go inside."

"Too much?" I grin. Mikaela's lips quirk up slightly. I take it as a win. He starts to walk into the gates. I follow eagerly. Mikaela turns to me, and begins to say something...but I can't hear him. My vision begins to black out around the edges, and I see Mikaela's softened expression before everything goes black.