"Look at it!" Eri wailed, snot drizzling down from her nose as she pointed her finger. "I..I..It got all squashed!" 

Both myself and the scruffy man next to me sighed loudly, our movements mirrored as we each swept a hand through our unruly hair. 
"Storm did a number on it alright…" Aizawa muttered, walking forward to try and see if the little girl's cubby house could be salvaged. There was no way. Each plank of timber had been snapped and splintered beyond repair. 

"If someone had actually listened and cut down that damn tree five months ago, this wouldn't have happened…" I grouched, picking my little sister up and feeling her wipe her gunky nose on my chest. "Thanks, kid…" Aizawa nodded in agreement, nudging a detached branch with his boot. 
"Yeah, well, what did you expect from that Nishiya? Tree-hugging son of a…" His eyes flickered to Eri as he trailed off. 

"I..it isn't fair...Your studio got all messed up too…" The child whimpered, resting her head on my shoulder. "All your paintings got squashed...Why did that storm knock so many trees over?" Chuckling, I set her down beside me, ruffling her platinum hair. 
"Eh, it's nature. Plus, I can always paint more pictures. What's important now is getting all this mess sorted." 

I'm gonna get my ass beat by my client for missing the deadline though… 

"So, rock paper scissors on who gets to go deal with Mr. Tree Lover and get his insurance info?" I glanced over to my dad, and he just deadpanned, answering my question with a strong silence. "Ugh, fine…" Leaving them to keep looking at the wreck, I wandered up the bank of the lake and across the lawn, wading my way through thick, unkempt bushes so I could face off with the neighbour. 

Nishiya Shinji was young for a home owner, but that didn't make him mature. At twenty seven, he acted the part, being serious and diligent, but that only came to his work. His work as an environmental lawyer. We often had issues with him regarding low-hanging branches and vines reaching their way over to our property. 

"Son of a fucking bitch ass fucker..!" Strained curses met my ears as I shimmied my way through a thicket, my eyes landing on the man in question. He was trying to strangle a chainsaw. Yes, strangle a chainsaw. He had the pull cord crapped around the motor, pulling tightly as he verbally abused the machine.

"Ahem…" When I cleared my throat to make my presence known, Nishiya froze, slowly turning to me and lowering his victim. 
"Oh...uh...Shinso…" He nodded to me cautiously, narrowing his eyes. "Some storm last night, huh..?" 

Yep. Good. Let's pretend you didn't run over my cat last summer. 

"Yeah, it was a killer. Your big-ass tree came down and crushed my sister's cubby." I explained casually, shoving my hands into my pockets so I wouldn't fidget. Aizawa was always onto me about that. I could tell he was already aware of it, and he bit his lip, lowering the chainsaw further so it sat upon the trunk he was trying to cut up. 

Not once had I ever expected to see him holding one. Even knowing he owned one at all came as a shock. 
"My insurance guy is gonna hate me…" I groaned, glancing over to his right. Following his gaze, I outwardly cringed, understanding what he meant. His car was completely totalled, cracked and dented beneath yet another large tree. Absolute write off. 

"Shit, man…" I exhaled as I pulled one of my hands free, rubbing the back of my head. "Sorry to see that…" Things were awkward. I obviously didn't want to be there, and he obviously didn't want to talk to me. I'd never been good at confrontation. "Look, I-" 

"Shinji, your insurance guy is gonna hate your guts, cuz the solar panels got cr-" My head whipped up when I heard a slightly familiar voice as it trailed off, and my eyes met with bright (E/C). "-acked...Shinso, right?"

(L/N) (F/N). Also known as the girl I had crushed on hard during my middle school years. There she was, standing not ten feet away from me, in the middle of wiping her hands down with a frayed washcloth. 
"U..uh...yeah…" I coughed, praying my cheeks weren't flaring up. "Nice to, um, see you again, (L/N)..." 

Are they dating? There's no way they're dating. He's a complete dick! She's too nice for that… 

"You've gotta be shitting me!" Nishiya wailed, nearly throwing the chainsaw. "Dad's gonna rip me a new one!" Confused, I glanced to (Y/N), who chuckled lightly. 
"Dad plays golf with aforementioned insurance guy." 

Oh thank god, they're related...Wait, they're related?! 

"So...you two are brother and sister..?" I questioned, immediately regretting it because I didn't want her to think I was prying into their business. Nodding, she tossed the cloth over her shoulder and thumbed towards herself, a goofy grin on her face. 
"Yup! I'm what the cool kids call illegitimate!" A few seconds of awkward silence later, she coughed, shuffling her feet. "Um, yeah, half siblings. Anyway! I saw the tree go over to your yard last night! I'm so sorry! Shinji said he'd go talk to you about it, but obviously he hasn't gotten around to it!" 

Her brother grumbled a little under his breath, but eventually he turned to me, heaving a defeated sigh. 
"Listen, I'll get my insurance info together and swing by later to talk to your old man, okay?" It was better than nothing, and I nodded as I began to walk backwards. 
"That's fine. I'll see you later, then. Bye, (L/N)." 

Now that she was there, I didn't really want to go, but at the same time, I was metaphorically shitting my pants. She sure had grown up, and that silly smile before had my heart doing all kinds of crazy acrobatics in my chest. 
"H..hey, Shinso, wait..!" She called out to me, and I lifted my head, forcing myself to immediately recover from hearing her say my name so urgently. "You wouldn't happen to be heading into town today, would you? We need to get some stuff from the market, but as you can see…" 

She nodded over to the totalled car, and I chewed my lip. Sure, I wanted to give her a ride, but that would also mean being stuck in my Jeep Wagoneer with Nishiya for half an hour each way. 
"Give me a bit and I'll let you know when I'm heading off." 

Can't be a dickhead when she's involved. 

Once I had returned to my house, I found Aizawa in the kitchen with Eri, pouring her a bowl of cereal. 
"You scoundrel. Milk goes after the cereal. I can't believe we're related." I gagged in jest, passing by him to get to my precious coffee pot. 
"Son, I don't know how to break this to you, but you're adopted." Our eyes locked across the room, and we glared at each other for at least a solid minute before we both snorted. 

"It's funny how you and daddy look the same, but you're adopted, and I don't look like him at all and I'm not." Eri mused as she crunched on her Her'O's. The ravonet and I shared another look, this time in secret, and a little more serious. Aizawa had adopted me when I was ten, after I'd been pinballed from home to home, and Eri had joined the family as an infant, seven years ago. My parents had been absolute pieces of shit, but her mother had passed during labor. Neither of us had the heart to tell her that. 

'Yup, it's crazy." I laughed, blowing into my favourite mug to get a few flecks of dust out before setting it down to pour. "Oh, I'm heading into town later. Nishiya and (L/N) asked if I could give them a ride. After that he said he'd bring his info over." Scratching at his stubble, Aizawa tilted his head, leaving Eri to chomp her breakfast to stand by me near the sink. 
"(L/N), huh? That girl you went all slackjawed over in middle?" 

Spluttering, I nearly overpoured, glaring back at him with wide eyes. 
"I..I totally didn't do that! We barely even spoke back then…" I muttered, bitter that he'd gone and brought it up. Sure, maybe sometimes I'd gush about her a little here and there, but it had been nothing more than a stupid, unrequited crush. 

"Oooo, Toshi loves a girl!~" My little sister sang teasingly, swinging her legs back and forth under the table, and I shook my fist in her direction. 
"Do not!" Aizawa snickered and patted my shoulder as he passed, on his way back towards his paper. 
"Do too." He joshed in a rare show of playfulness, and I groaned loudly, picking up my coffee and making my way out of the room. 
"This is illegal! Quit ragging on me, I'm a protected species! Hitoshi rights!" 

Puffing out a sigh, I decided to really inspect the damage that had been done to my studio. I was really starting to hate living around so many trees, especially after having one crash through the window and single-branchedly destroy my career. Canvases were strewn all around, some dented, some torn, and some snapped in half completely. Paint splattered the floor and walls, and all I could do was stare at it as I passed through. 

Maybe this is the sign I needed for a career change… 

Glass crunched underfoot as I slowed to gaze out the shattered window, the steam of my coffee whipping into my face thanks to the breeze. Out over the still water, in the far distance, something caught my eye. 
"Toshi, are you okay? Are you sad?" Blinking out of my daze, I turned to find Eri carefully stepping around the shards of glass that littered the ground, and I immediately went into protection mode. 

"O..oi, careful, squirt! It's dangerous in here!" I grunted as I scooped her up in one arm, holding my mug further out to my opposite side, settling her on my hip. 
"Sorry, I just didn't want you to be sad on your own. Also daddy is getting grumpy over the ecomoly." Chuckling, I turned us back around to face the window, quickly taking a sip. 
"I think you mean economy. And thanks. I feel better now." 

Smiling, Eri was quiet for a few moments before she pointed out to the lake, using her other hand to tug on my hair. 
"What's that? Smoke?" Following her finger, I studied her observation for a second. A huge cloud was rolling in, spilling out over the waters surface. 
"I was looking at that when you came in. I think it's mist. Kind of weird at this time of day." 

Why the hell is it coming down from the mountain..? 

"Like what's coming off your drink?" Eri asked curiously, almost leaning a little too far forward. 
"No, silly. That's steam, because it's hot. Mist is like, teenie tiny water droplets that gather and float in the air. Something like that. Kinda cool, huh?" I explained, and she nodded, mesmerized by the pretty sight. "Hey, I've got an idea." I had her attention again, and she looked back to me, looping her arms loosely around my neck. 
"What is it?" 

"How about you come with us to the market? It'd be a lot safer than hanging here with all this broken glass around."  

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***Watch me suffer and regret publishing this before I finish any of my other stories. 

If you didn't read the entirety of the book description, this story will contain horror, violence, gore (written only), and character death. If there are any sexual scenes, they will not be labelled. This is a story with a mature rating. Please don't complain. 

Also, in this, Shinso and (Y/N) are 20/21.

Next Time: This Little Eri Went to Market***