02|| Special

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When I was just a small and naive child... I used to think I was special.

I was a happy child. I was a brunette with golden brown eyes. I had two smaller siblings. I had a mother and a father. I would go to the park and have picnics with them. We would have dinner together every night. We would go out to festivals together. We would watch movies together.

But one day, when me and my father visited the BAM stadium to watch a baseball game... I saw many people and I asked my father...

"Father... How many people are here in this stadium?"

"Uh... I think it's about 40,000 people."

"How many people are in the world?" I ask.

"About 7 billion."

That's when I realised... I wasn't special... All those people at the stadium didn't even compare to how many people there actually was in the world.

Almost all of them had the same brown hair as me. There were other people that had siblings, a mother and a father, would go to the park and have picnics with with their families. Would have dinner together every night, would go out to festivals together and even watch movies together.

I had a thought; How boring was I? How boring is this world? Am I just going to be another passing person that no one knows about?

I wanted to stand out, leave an impression on someone just at a glance of looking at me.

I wanted to be special.

"Onee-chan~! Onee-chan~! Wake up! Wake up!"

The couch creaked louder and louder as they jumped over my body.

"Five more minutes."

"No! No! No!" The bouncing stopped and I felt a small sting on my cheek.

"You have to wake up onee-chan! You've been sleeping ever since you came back from school!!!"

"Yeah! Come on onee-chan! You said you'd take us to the festival!"

They both start to whine.

"Tch." I sit up and they start cheering.

I rub my eyes and watch them as they jump up and down.

"Festival! Festival!"

I shake my head and smile.

"Good morning ama..." I greet my mother as I walk into the kitchen.

"Morning?! It's 6pm!" My mother pinches my cheek. "What time did you sleep last night?" She asks and I take a seat and rest my head on the table.

I yawn. "Uh...2am." I answer and she clicks her tongue.

"You have to stop sleeping late and waking up late! Reading those mangos 24/7!"

"Manga." I correct.

"You know that you have to start at the new school next week!" She places the plate of food in front of me.

"Thanks." I say as I start eating.

I hear my mum sigh. "...Sorry..." My mother says and I look up at her.

"Huh?" I place my fork down.

"I wouldn't have given you anything to eat so that you could eat all you want at the festival but I only have enough money for those bozu's." She says as she looks down and starts to wash the dishes.

"Ama..."

It's been hard ever since father died. Mother had to work two jobs in order to have enough money to support us. Cleaner at day and waitress by night. It's rare she ever gets to stay home and have some time to herself. She's always putting us first.

My super mum.

I also have a job, at the local maid cafe, but luckily, I got the day off today and came straight back home after school.

I stand up and hug her from behind. "It's okay... Besides..." I look up and she turns around. "I don't really like festival food." I say and she smiles.

"I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter." She hugs me.

"Ama..." I pull away. "You should go to work. I'll clean the rest up and we'll be on our way." I say and her smile widens.

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"Okay i'm going now!" My mother announces. I wipe my hands and walk over to the front door.

After kissing Ota and Ageha she gives me a kiss on the forehead and gives us one last wave before closing the door behind her.

"So when do we get to go onee-chan?!" Ota says and they both look up at me.

"Uh..." I look up at the clock. "We can go, let me get ready. Get your stuff." I say and they both cheer before running up to their rooms.

I chuckle and go to my room slash living room.

You see we only have one bedroom. Ota, Ageha and mother share it. It wasn't big enough for the four of us so I volunteered to sleep on the couch. I do get neck pains quite a few times but it's not so bad I guess.

I carefully put my rainbow wig on, covering my now short, caramel brown hair. I look at myself and scrunch up my nose.

After getting ready I grab the money my mother left on the table.

"Seventy dollars. Ama... That's too much." I sigh and grab the keys.

"We're ready!" I see Ageha and Ota waiting for me at the front door.

Ageha holds up my bag and Ota holds up my skateboard.

"Thank you." I ruffle their hair and put my shoes on. "Alright. Let's go."

Ota and Ageha open the door and skip out.

"Hey don't go anywhere!" I rush out and lock the door behind me.

I briskly walk down the staircase and see Ota and Ageha fighting over the bicycle.

I let out a relieved sigh. "Ota! Ageha!" I scold and put my board down. I separate the two and give them a stern look. "No fighting."

"But onee-chan! I said I wanted the bike!" Ageha whines.

"No! I said it first!" Ota protests and they start trying to claw at each other.

One minute their the best of siblings and the next their like cat and dog.

"Tch. Stop." I sigh. "How about you both share the bike?"

"Ota's too heavy!" Ageha pouts.

"Am not!"

"Fine. No one gets the bike." I huff and start to take the bike back inside.

"Okay we'll share!" They say in unison. I smirk and turn back around.

"Ageha gets the bike on our way there." I say and Ota pouts. "When we come back Ota gets the bike." His face brightens and I ruffle their hair.

I hand the scooter over to Ota.

I wait as Ageha gets on the bike. They start riding and I follow behind them on my skateboard.

"Onee-chan..." Ageha speaks up.

"Yeah?"

"Am I ugly?" She asks and Ota looks back at me sadly.

"No! Why would you say that?"

She keeps quite.

"There are these bullies in school..." Ota says and Ageha stops.

"Ota you promised!" She punches his arm.

"You're getting bullied?" I get off my board and peer at her face.

I place my hand on her shoulder but she starts riding.

"Ageha wait!" I quickly get on my board.

Just as she was about to cross the road, I see a car up ahead. "AGEHA!"

I jump off my board and sprint after her. I pull her by her shirt and she falls off of the bike.

"Onee-chan!" I blink and see Ota and Ageha peering at my face worriedly.

"Ota... Ageha?" I sit up and hug them both.

"What's wrong onee-chan?" Ota asks as I feel him bury his head into my shirt.

"The car..." I say and they both pull away and look at me with confused expressions.

"What car onee-chan?"

I look up and see an empty road.

"Ah... Sorry..." They help me up and brush off my board shorts. "Thanks."

Ever since I saw father get hit by a truck right in front of me, i've been seeing things like cars and trucks on the road when there actually aren't any.

I blink and they both squeeze my hand.

I smile down at them and squeeze their hand back.

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Isn't she such a good onee-chan?

- Luca