1 The Calm Before the Storm

It was a rainy day, and on a cold, dark, decrepit street, a tired man was walking towards a small rundown house.

'I'm finally done with work today! I hope my sister is doing better…'

From a nearby house, an old Chinese man walked out and yelled out, "Hey Leonard!" The old man walked with his cane towards Leonard.

"Hm?" This caught Leonard's attention. "Elder Zhou, you shouldn't be out in the cold rain like this, you'll catch a cold!"

Elder Zhou grinned, "Nonsense boy, I'm still in my prime!" He then frowned and gestured with his cane, "I'm more worried about you, boy! Give me those hands!" Elder Zhou reached out and grabbed Leonard's hands. "Look at that, full of calluses and blisters. I can still see the scar from when you cut yourself on those bricks! You need to learn to take care of yourself better!."

Leonard sighed, "I try, Elder Zhou, but with my level of education I can't get any job that isn't hard labor! I can't afford to slack off, either, I still need to pay for my younger sister's education so that she doesn't have to work as I do. I can't imagine a frail girl like her could even get a labor job."

"How long do you think you can keep working like this, Leonard! If nothing else, buy some proper equipment. A pair of tough gloves to protect your hands, at least!" Elder Zhou looked at Leonard's hands. "Wait right there, let me get some ointment for you."

Leonard knew that Elder Zhou doesn't live much better than him, and so he quickly shook his head, "No, no, Elder Zhou, I couldn't possibly waste your ointment like that, you rely on selling it, I wouldn't want to inconvenience you like that."

Elder Zhou frowned, "Shut it boy. I see you're the same as ever, thinking about others when you can't even take care of yourself! You won't refuse this!"

Leonard sighed. Any more insisting would just make Elder Zhou mad. "Alright, Elder Zhou, but I will make sure to repay this favor someday."

"It's just one small bottle of ointment, what are you getting so worked up about, favors and all that nonsense. Here!" Elder Zhou passed Leonard a bottle. "Thank you, Elder Zhou!" he replied to the kind gesture.

Elder Zhou, grinned, "That's more like it, now get back home to your sister. I heard she's been feeling sick. Maybe next time I'll make medicine for her." This time, Leonard didn't object. Anything for his sister.

Leonard reached his home and opened the door. "Hey, Yukki! Where are you?"

"Leo! You're back!" A pale young girl ran towards Leonard. "Calm down Yuyu, you've been rather weak recently, I already hear you breathing hard from that one short run."

Yukki looked up at her brother. "Leo, I'm fine. It must just be a cold or something. It'll be gone soon!"

Leonard frowned. "A cold? For weeks? I don't believe it's something as simple as a cold. Today I got my paycheck, and I'm gathering our money up. I'm taking you to the doctors."

"The doctors!?" Yukki was shocked, "But, the money… they will make us bleed for cash!"

Leonard patted Yukki's head, "Enough, your health is more important than any amount of money. I'll find a way to make enough money."

"But…" Yukki took a look at Leonard's hands. "You're already so overworked and--" Leonard cut Yukki off, "No buts, tomorrow you're coming with me to a doctor's appointment." Yukki thought for a bit and sighed… "Ok..."

"Listen to me, Yukki. You've seen how I work for money. I don't think you could do the labor I do, nor do I want you to. All you have to do is study faithfully and leave everything else to me."

Yukki looked up at her older brother, "I know, but you've been working soooooooooooo hard! When college comes along and the fees keep getting bigger, I can't even imagine how hard you'd have to work! I don't want anything bad to happen to you..."

Leonard patted Yukki's head, "As I said, leave everything to me."

...….

The night passed and as the day approached, beams of light shone through the windows on the siblings' faces, rousing them from sleep.

"Alright, Yukki, the appointment is early at 10 a.m. let's get ready." Yukki still looked reluctant but stayed silent as she left to do her morning routine. Later, Yukki walked into the kitchen where Leonard was. "Ah, Yukki, just in time, I just finished making breakfast." Leonard placed two bowls of soup on the table.

Breakfast took an eternity. Leonard was anxious about the day that laid ahead. Yukki had been sick for three … maybe four weeks already. Not even he had been sick for that long. Nevertheless, he had to be optimistic, at least for Yukki's sake. After around 30 minutes, Leonard picked up the two empty bowls and made his way to the sink, and placed the two bowls on top of the other dirty dishes. He walked to the door and signaled for Yukki to come, and she abruptly followed. He grabbed his coat off the rack and handed Yukki's to her.

"Did you remember to bring the money?" Yukki questioned her brother.

"Oh! Thanks for reminding me.." Leonard said as he hurried to his room. He flicked the light on and the dim light spread throughout the room. He reached under his bed and for a container. He slowly opened the case, revealing some money. He had been saving his money to buy a bike so he wouldn't have to walk to his job every day, but he figured this was more important. He counted enough for a round trip - enough to get to the clinic and enough to get back home. He pushed the box back under his bed, turned off the light, and made his way back to Yukki.

Yukki was sitting at the door waiting. The light from the window made her pale skin and white hair shine. Leonard put on his coat and stuffed the money into his pocket. He opened the door and the blinding light strained his eyes. He put his hand up and blocked the sun.

"Come on, we have to make this bus," Leonard said as he locked the door and put his key away.

"Wait, we should say hi to Elder Zhou before we leave," Yukki said as a smile whipped across her face.

"No. We really need to go ahead and get this over with, you can say hi to him once we get back." He told her firmly. "You wouldn't want to get him sick with whatever you have, right?"

Yukki sighed and shook her head. Leonard put his hands in his pockets as they made their way to the closest bus stop and started to wait. Yukki looked at a white flower that was blossoming in a crack at the bus stop.

Yukki pulled on Leonard's arm. "Hey look at that flower! It's the first time I've seen a white flower around here!" Leonard took a look at the flower and then glanced back at Yukki. "It's beautiful," Leonard replied.

Leonard checked his watch. It was cracked but it still worked - kinda. It was 30 minutes behind but he always kept track of it. The bus arrived after a short wait.

"Come on Yukki let's go." He said as they stood up.