1 Commencement

A warm feeling caressed the eyes of a boy. The thin eyebrows twitched in response to the sensation. Disturbing his good sleep with such an endearing method, the boy got up slowly. The mattress cover was getting messier as he tried to sit on the edge of the bed.

*Yawn*

A naive and lazy sound exited that boy's dry lips. Gently rubbing his watery eyes and drenching both his upper and lower lip with his tongue, he stood up. He glanced at the clock and he was a little surprised.

It was 5:05 am.

"...Waking up earlier than usual..... Something good is about to happen?"

A bit of a girlish voice faded as he started to walk.

Being doubtful and kind of expectant of the day to come, he approached the window. Since the curtains were in the way, he grabbed on one side and swept the orange cloth aside. A citrus yellow light with a tinge of darkness enshrouded the room.

As he opened the window, he stuck his head out to embrace the breeze of spring more. His black hair flutter due to the light wind.

"Good morning, Japan. You are the same as usual."

A gentle greeting to the scenery in front of him was accompanied with a thin smile on that boy's face.

He inhaled a big amount of air before releasing the carbon dioxide. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, feeling the gentle stroke of air simultaneously. Then a loud sound resounded in his own room.

*Slaps*

"Time to get working!"

As he determined himself, he started to follow his own order. But he had to first and foremost, take care of himself.

He went to the washroom to brush his teeth, splash some water on his face to make him get rid of his drowsiness and take a shower.

Taking a shower seems really important to this boy. Not many Japanese people would take showers in the morning, but he regularly takes one, even if it is not summer. It was spring yet this boy does not care about that as he liked cleanliness with a passion.

Finishing washing his body, he started to clean his room. After completing the chore, he went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. It was quiet in this house. Only the sizzling sound from the frying pan and the sharp noise of a knife cutting vegetables could be heard.

It was about 5:45 am. He was in the living room, placing plates, chopsticks and tissues. Breakfast was already prepared. Today he had completed it earlier as he woke up at a different time than usual. Another task he did was he took out some clothes from the cupboard and ironed them because they were creased from all over the places.

At 5:55 am, he completed yet another task. In the bathroom, he placed the ironed clothes to its respective places as he always do it every day. This was the last chore he would do before 6:00 am. Since his room was upstairs, he took the stairs to arrive at the corridor.

The door to his room was in sight. But besides his, there were other two doors. His room's door was in the middle. He went to the furthest one and entered without knocking.

The dark room was messy, messier than his before he even cleaned. Various objects were laying on the floor disorderly so he carefully approached the window without stepping on any of it. The curtains sailed off to one end and windows were wide opened.

Compared to the one that he witnessed, a brighter yellow light intruded this room. It was approximately 6:00 am. So it was time.

On the mussy bed layed a middle-aged woman, who was drooling saliva from those slightly opened rosy lips. Her black silky hairs were scattered all over the mattress.

He walked near her and poked her cheek.

"Oi Nee-chan. Wake up."

"...Hm~"

"Wake up!"

He raised his voice as he put more pressure into that smooth cheek.

".....Hehe~...My boyfrie....."

She then grabbed his hand and brought it down near her drooling mouth. Her sneering made more saliva flow out of her mouth. Even more, the fluid was now soaking his palm.

'Tch'

He brought the fingers of his other hand and flicked it on her forehead as hard as he could.

*Pak*

"Ouch!!"

Her eyes widely opened as her hands both clasped her forehead. Her watery eyes became even more moist as she started to rub the part where she got hit.

Her face became clearer as the light bathe in her light brown skins. While her chubby cheeks had no wrinkles and her small nose was perfectly positioned, she did not look middle-aged at all. This was without makeup or any sorts of accessories that would later on tamper with that face.

"Wake up idiot. It's 6:00 am."

She looked at him and pouted as she stroked her long black hair.

"You just had to wake me up at that timing. Haaaa...My boyfriend was about to kiss me."

The droplets in her eyes got swept by the back of her hands. She got up and stood.

"It is pointless to do these kinds of actions with your imaginary boyfriends in your dreams."

The boy stroke his palm on the pajama that she was wearing so as to get rid of that saliva.

'Gross.'

"What are you doing Harue?"

Harue.

That was the boy's name. A name that could be misunderstood to that of a girl. Not only his name but even because of his face, he could be misunderstood as a girl. In other words, he had an androgynous face. Smooth white arms and a small slender body further supports the assertion that he is a girl.

"I'm wiping this disgusting fluid."

"Harue! You are so cute!!"

"Get off me!!"

After Harue got off her elder sister's embrace, he walked near the door. He stopped as he remembered something and turned around to look at his drowsy sister.

"What colour for today?"

"Hmm. Blood."

He exited the room after getting a response. He was now walking to the other door. Harue opened the door to find a clean room. He could walk safely in this room without ever worrying about stepping onto something.

Repeating the same procedure, he got the light of the sun to invade this clean room. He turned around to see a small figure sleeping on the bed. He leaned near this small creature when suddenly,

"Don't touch me. I'm awake."

An indifferent girl's voice stopped his movements. Harue was astonished. Even with her eyes closed, she still could know what he was trying to do.

"I-I'm surprised. How did you know?"

The boy was curious about the little girl's action. He stepped back from the bed to give her space to sit. As she got up, she stayed silent before glancing at Harue.

"Your presence."

The boy was rendered silent after the little girl's reply.

'Presence...'

Harue wryly smiled at the girl.

"8th-grade syndrome at such a stage?"

"..."

The way she looked at Harue was enough for him to back away. She sat on the edge of the bed. Although her cheeks were not as chubby as Harue's elder sister, she still looked cute, especially with her bob hairstyle that covered her cheeks partially. The ends of the hairs were dyed into the colour of a rusty red. It was combined well with that facial expression that she had, which can be portrayed as a cool person.

Anyway, Harue's job was done here so he was about to leave. But not before informing her.

"By the way, I already ironed your school uniform, the blazer, the skirt and the tie. Also, I put them near the bath, so you just need to fetch your underwears when going to the bathroom."

He exited after telling her all these things. She did not change her expression or even budge from her position. Only looking at Harue's back as the door closes were being stared at.

The boy walked down the stairs. He heard the waters from the shower coming out.

'Nee-chan said blood, didn't she?'

With that thought on his mind, Harue opened a drawer with a lot of panties and bras in their respective sides. He picked up a red panty and a red bra to match it up. He then dropped them off to where he had previously placed the clothes.

After some time, both of the girls were entering the living room. Harue was filling the plates with steamed rice and side dishes with miso soup and some vegetables.

Both of the girls stared at Harue before he finished serving.

"The food's ready."

Harue beckoned those two to sit. He was already seated on one of the chairs.

The little girl stared at Harue before muttering, "As meticulous as ever." That no one heard except herself.

"Harue! Be my wife!"

"Proposal rejected"

Harue's refusal made the middle-aged woman even more irritating as she ate some more of his food.

Ignoring the middle-aged woman, Harue turned towards the little girl who wore a school uniform without the blazer.

"You are now a high school student. Unlike in middle school, this time, make some friends."

Harue wore a gentle thin smile which faced the girl. She was not looking at him but she replied to him.

"What is the point of having friends who would desert someone when they are in dire situations?"

The cruel words that came out of her mouth met Harue and the middle-aged woman. He glanced at the middle-aged woman worriedly as he stopped eating.

"Kana."

The appeasing voice made the little girl, named Kana, to concentrate on that source of sound. The middle-aged woman equipped a motherly smile as she gazed at Kana.

"Then find someone worthy of being called a friend. A true friend."

The table was surrounded by silence and it was waiting for Kana to say something. She looked down at her food and relaxed her gaze.

"I will..."

Harue and Harue's elder sister looked at each other then smiled in response.

"Go on eat the food. It will go cold."

Harue changed the topic and beckoned Kana to eat the food. She then thinly smiled at Harue and at the middle-aged woman.

"I'm thankful to have such good older sisters."

Harue stared blankly at Kana whereas the middle-aged woman was kind of accepting the fact that Kana stated such absurd lie to him.

"Kana. I'm a boy. So I'm older brother. Kay?"

He wryly grinned at Kana and reaffirmed his gender. But as if Kana did not hear, she continued to slander him.

"Okay. Nee-chan."

Harue's eyebrows twitched heavily at that. But his voice did not help in defending his sexuality.

"I'm Nii-chan!! Not Nee-chan!!"

"Harue! You are cute when you are angry!"

The middle-aged woman butted in the argument and Harue was annoyed at those two. But he did not hate this kind of atmosphere. Kana was secretly having fun with teasing him and the other woman was also doing the same.

It was like this every day in the Fukuyama household. Such kind energy filled and tantalized the house with such happiness. This house contained only 3 people, yet the big ambience was enough that it could fill the house completely.

Fukuyama Kana, the youngest one out of the 3 siblings. Fukuyama Harue, the only boy of the 3 siblings. Last but not least, the eldest daughter of the Fukuyama household, Fukuyama Akane. All three of them got such happy expressions on their face.

But those three individual did not know, the reality that would bombard them in the near future. The gentle and lively atmosphere that they created and established, would be destroyed completely.

Just because of a certain someone.

Just because to satisfy that certain someone's gluttony for more sufferings.

Just because to follow that certain someone's childish thoughts and ideals.

Just because of that certain someone's.....

.....Insidious pleasures