37

Chapter 37

12 years later...

When Fuyumi woke up on that morning, the first thing she noticed was that the sun seemed to shine brighter than usual. She sat up in bed and looked around. Everything looked familiar. Her bedroom ceiling was painted white with blue stars decorating it, and the walls surrounding her bed had light brown paint job. It looked like the bedroom had been decorated for her birthday. Fuyumi smiled slightly as she reached out to grab the phone next to the pillow and turned off the alarm before turning her attention to the screen. She looked at the notification on her message app.

From: Unknown Number

Happy birthday!!! Sorry we can't come over today since we're busy celebrating your birthday with our families. We promise to come tomorrow!

She smiled at the text and started typing a reply.

To: Unknown number

It's fine. Thanks for telling me. Have fun celebrating my birthday, and remember to take pictures of your presents for me when you get there. See you later :)

The door to her room opened suddenly, causing Fuyumi to jump. When she looked to the source of the noise, she saw her brother standing in the doorway, dressed in pyjamas.

"Good Morning, Fuyumi! Did you sleep well? Can I come inside?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah, it looks like it." She pointed at the open space beside her. "Come sit down." Izuku walked inside as Fuyumi closed her phone. The two siblings sat side by side on her bed as Fuyumi wrapped her arms around Izuku's waist. Both of them enjoyed holding each other close. They had never been particularly good at expressing themselves through words, so they usually just cuddled and hugged each other, letting their emotions flow naturally. Izuku nuzzled his face against the top of her head and rested his chin atop her blonde hair.

"Izu?" Fuyumi called out softly after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"Hmmm?" he responded.

"Can you sing for me? Please?"

"Alright." Izuku lifted his head up from her head as he pulled back to look directly at her face, a small frown etched on his forehead. He placed a soft kiss on her lips and whispered to her. "I love you."

"And I love you too," Fuyumi replied as she kissed him on the cheek.

When they broke away from each other, Fuyumi looked at her brother with a sweet smile. Her brother always looked happy to see her. Whenever they visited each other's homes, they would stay in each other's rooms and read books and watch movies. It might have been boring and predictable, but neither of them minded at all. They loved being together.

"I've got a present for you, do you want to open it now?" Izuku asked as he stood up from the bed. He took a step towards a nearby wardrobe, opened it, and took out a dark grey hoodie with a red skull design on it. He then held it out to her expectantly.

"What is it? How does it fit me?" Fuyumi giggled.

"You'll see when you put it on."

She got up from the bed and walked over to Izuku, who handed her the hoodie with an eager grin. Once she slipped her arms inside the sleeves, she pulled her arms forward slowly. The sleeve fell past her fingertips, covering her whole forearm completely. She was surprised at how snug the hoodie was. When she pulled it tighter, she couldn't help but feel as if her entire body had shrunk.

"How does it fit? Is it too big? Do you need more?" Izuku asked in excitement.

"It fits perfectly," Fuyumi confirmed with a smile. "Thanks for taking such good care of me, Izuku. This is the nicest present I've ever gotten."

"You're welcome. Now, shall we play hide and seek again? Or, do you want to bake cake?" Izuku asked hopefully.

"Baking will do! And let me just change first." She headed towards her bathroom and changed clothes quickly. Once she was done, she met Izuku in her bedroom and he helped her put her hoodie on, buttoning it up all the way until she could breathe normally again. When she was satisfied that everything was tucked safely inside the hood, he led the way to the kitchen. Fuyumi sat on a chair while Izuku took the ingredients he needed for their baking and began chopping vegetables. She smiled and watched him work quietly for a little while until she finally spoke up.

"So, how has it been since we talked yesterday?" she wondered curiously. Izuku froze momentarily, then shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Fine."

"Are you sure?" she pressed further. "Because you didn't seem fine."

"Nothing's wrong. Besides, you've known me longer than you think, and it's hard to keep things a secret from me." Fuyumi huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"That doesn't make any sense. If anything, I should be the one asking questions." She said seriously.

"Fair enough," Izuku sighed