31 Home 3

Both Tatsuya and Hanabi were visibly confused, I could tell by the look on their faces. They had changed a lot in those two years, but they still looked like the siblings I knew.

Mom, on the other hand, had her hands covering her mouth as she stared wide eyed at me.

"Hello father, who's that in front of you?" Hanabi, oblivious to her mother's condition, asked politely.

"Do you really not recognize him?" My dad sighed as he threw me a quick glance to which I didn't respond.

"Hmm no I don't think so. Is he one of those promising new recruits? Could it be th-"

"Is it… really you?" My mom said with a quivering voice.

"It's me. I'm here, mom"

"Thank god…" She said, her voice barely a whisper as she began to break down into a full fit of tears.

She hurled herself towards me, embracing me in a suffocatingly tight hug.

"Where… sob… where were you all this time? I was so worried."

Her arms wrapped around my whole body, trapping my arms to my side so that I couldn't move.

"I thought…I thought-" 

"I know. I'm sorry…" I gently said while trying to wiggle my arms free.

She didn't say anything after that. She just continued crying like that on my shoulder. I tried returning the hug, but my arms were still fully restrained.

My dad looked at the whole scene with a smile on his face. Perhaps he was happy his family was finally back together, or maybe he was happy because his wife could finally stop worrying. Whatever it was, he looked truly happy.

Hanabi, on the other hand, had a slightly different reaction. Her brows were knit tightly in a frown while at the same time she tried holding back some tears, resulting in a confusing mix of emotions. She certainly looked like she had a lot to say.

Tatsuya was just being himself and only stared wide eyed at me with a look of disbelief plastered all over his face, his brain struggling to process what was happening. I could literally see the progress bar behind those green eyes of his.

Finally, my mom let go of me and backed up a bit so she could face me.

"I'm so glad you're back." She smiled while sniffling and wiping away the tears.

I lowered my head so my long hair could cover my face. The only thing I could think of was to apologize, I saw no other way to make things right.

"I'm sorry, I am so sorry. I know I should've come back right away, I know I shouldn't have been away for so long without sending any sort of message, it's just that-" My voice started breaking.

'Shit, not now.' I thought while trying to restrain my tears.

"It's just that… I" I struggled to get my words back. It felt like they were stuck at the back of my throat, refusing to come out. "I-" 

"It was tough, wasn't it?" My mother interrupted.

I was taken off guard. I had expected her to be mad, or at least be upset with me. I instantly raised my head to look at her.

And when I did, I looked her in the eye. She just had the warmest, kindest smile on her face. I couldn't explain it. Never before that point, in either of my two lives, had I seen anyone make that kind of face, the kind that a mother makes towards her own children. A smile that only held one meaning. 'I love you.' A meaning which it so effortlessly communicated. It felt like someone had finally cracked open my thick skull and opened up my brian up to jam that notion in there. Without my consent or acknowledgement, the idea that I was loved by someone, truly loved, had been carefully inserted into the deepest corner of my brian. I couldn't refuse or fight, so instead, I accepted it.

'Oh, I'm not alone.'

At that moment, everything broke apart. I couldn't keep it together anymore for any longer. Tears, real tears, not of loneliness, not of frustration, not of pain or of longing, but of relief started flowing out of my red eyes.

"I'm sorry. I am so sorry. Please I…" I continuously, desperately apologized, I didn't care anymore. I just wanted my one and only family to forgive me, just this once. 

"Get up Yukiko. It isn't your fault. We know. So please… get up." My mother said,

"Yuki… Come on now. What kind of man cries like that?" Tatsuya said with a soft laugh. "Come on, get up." 

He walked up to me and grabbed my arm, helping me up from my bowing position. Soon, my dad and mom joined him as they all helped me up to my feet and embraced me again.

"I love you.." I said in a soft voice.

"We know. We know." My mom replied while ruffling my hair.

"Hanabi, you come here too. Stop sitting there, you're gonna miss out on this one in a lifetime opportunity." Tatsuya said, making me chuckle.

'God, I'm acting like such a kid right now.' I thought while sniffling.

Hanabi held her confusing expression the best she could, struggling really hard for her tears to not overpower her anger. Eventually though, she gave in and joined us.

*

After everyone had calmed down, we sat back down at the table and waited until dinner arrived.

"We're all glad you're back." Tatsuya said.

"You missed me didn't you? I bet you're so excited to get your ass handed to you again." I jokingly said.

"No way, I trained really hard, you know? That old geezer is relentless." 

"Tell me about it." 

"Oh right, in other news regarding our resident red haired wannabe samurai, did you hear about the Ashikaga massacre?" Hanabi asked.

"Dad told me about it. How does it relate to the wannabe samurai though?" 

"I'm not a wannabe! I'll take you both on at the same time, just try me." Tatsuya said, outraged.

"Anyway, guess what." She said, ignoring him completely.

"What?"

"The new head used to be one of Tatsuya's marriage prospects. Can you believe it?" Hanabi laughed heartily while Tatsuya glared daggers at her.

"No way." 

"I'm being serious. So now, dad is considering whether he should push through a marriage proposal." 

"Isn't she my age though? And Tatsuya's basically an old man at this point." I said, concerned about the age gap more so than the potential murderer joining our family.

"Hm? Does that matter?" 

'I forgot they don't care about that kind of stuff. She should be 14 while Tatsuya should be around 19, maybe. Weird times.'

"Not really, just wondering if she's not too young." 

"Young? You're around the same age and you're almost as tall as Tatsuya. Actually, if you took that hair out of your face, you'd look quite handsome."

"I've only been away for two years, no way I changed that much." I argued, remembering my brat-ish face.

"Two years is a long time, you know?" My mom added.

"Oh right, what did you do during those two years?" Tatsuya asked while still chewing on his food.

That question caused worried gazes to turn towards me and angry gazes to turn towards him.

"Sorry, if you don't mind me asking." He added while swallowing the rest of his food.

"It's no problem." I simply said.

I thought about just how much information I should divulge. 

'Telling them I lost an arm is off the table. Then I'd have to address the glaring question of why I'm sitting there with both arms intact. The encounter with a demon is also off the table.'

"To sum it up, I got lost on a mountain." 

They all stared at me as though I had grown a second head.

"What, what are you looking at me like that for?" 

"Sorry, that was just super anti-climactic." Hanabi said.

'Motherfu-' 

"I'm sorry I didn't come back with a missing arm or a few battle scars. You people are insane." I said while pointing my chopsticks at Hanabi

"Fine, I will go into more detail then." I sighed.

"Basically, it started off with me…."

*

I recounted all the parts of my journey I felt comfortable sharing. Like how I had gotten lost and almost died multiple times from the elements. I also replaced the demon with some mountain bandits. Finally, I told them about the house and how I trained non-stop for years.

"Secret mountain training, cool." Tatsuya said, earning himself a slap against the back of the head.

"Not 'cool'. I'm so sorry Yuki, that must've been horrible. Just know that we're here if you ever need help." Mom said.

"Thank you, really. But I'm fine. I'm just glad to be back home." 

"We're glad to have you back."