Kunimi Aiko, the only younger sister of Kunimi Akira, gently brushed her shoulder length dark hair as she tugged at knotted ends. Giving up immediately once she thought her hair looked good enough, Aiko slung her school bag over his shoulder and made her way down stairs where she could smell food cooking.

Her family was an unusually large one; including five older brothers and sisters including Akira, but most of them had already graduated high school and was either looking for a job or studying in university. Because of this, barely any of her brothers or sisters were ever home since they lived in a university dorm or had already moved out of the house. Her mother was also an early-riser, going to work at the crack of dawn. Aiko only ever saw her at dinner time, if she made it home before midnight. Her father was dead.

The house now mainly consisted of Aiko and Akira, both whom were the only ones left in school. Even then, her brother was often practicing volleyball and so that gave her the house to herself, though she hated it. Even though she didn't particularly contribute to the once chaotic chatter of home, Aiko had enjoyed the noise.

As she arrived in the kitchen, Aiko spied a plate of rice and eggs, and a bowl of miso soup of the kitchen table and made her way to a seat before diving into her breakfast. Amidst her eating, Aiko finally remembered to look up and nod at her older brother, who sat on the opposite side of the table, eating his own breakfast.

"No problem," Akira murmured in response. Nodding was Aiko's silent way of saying thanks, and he had gotten used to it.

The siblings finished their breakfast in the mutual silence before Aiko picked up her bag and left the home. Akira's school usually started later than Aiko's middle school so he started to tidy the house a little before he left for school. As he started packing up the dishes and washing them, a piece of paper caught his eye. It wasn't on the table before.

When he was done with the dishes, Akira turned to the table and took the paper in his hand. It was a letter. Without a moment of hesitation, Akira started reading the letter. When he was done, Akira blinked and sighed. He would ask his sister about it later.

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"Kunimi-kun~!" Oikawa's voice rang out in the gym as Akira approached the school gym with his normal expressionless face. Oikawa smiled predatorily at his young kohai, "Could you explain to me why you're late to after-school practice today? Nearly fifteen minutes late?"

Akira blinked, "I had to do something, family related." Even though texting his sister had only taken about five minutes, he could use the excuse to cover up how he had fallen asleep in class and only woken up ten minutes after the dismissal bell.

His volleyball captain pursed his lips and gave him a sour look. "I'll let you pass, this time."

Five minutes ago...

Akira slammed his locker door shut and listened for the click of the lock before he walked away, pulling out his phone. It had almost become habit to check his messages right after he was done with cleaning out his locker with the stuff he would need. After Akira was done replying to the messages he had deemed important, as well as snapping those who had snapped him so that they wouldn't get mad and blow up his Snapchat again, Akira finally remembered about his sister.

Akira: I read the letter.

She replied a minute later.

Aiko: What letter?

Akira: The letter about tonight's performance. I've signed it so you can give it to your teacher later.

Aiko: No.

Akira: What. They asked you to sing, right?

Akira knew Aiko's teachers well because he used to go to her middle school. He also knew that her music teacher loved her voice, when she used to sing. Now, Akira knew that Aiko hated her music teacher.

Aiko: You're stupid to think that I'm going to actually sing. I'm not going.

Akira: I know you want to.

There was no answer from his younger sister. Akira only sighed. If he had to admit, he had never tried to pry into his younger sister's private life. If she didn't want to talk, that was her choice and he couldn't do anything about it. Akira had never even thought about why. Though, perhaps it was because of his father's death. He knew that Aiko had taken a hard hit when he died, but never made the connection between his father's death and the his sister's refusal to talk.

Despite it all, Akira was determined to make her sing tonight. She had the best voice he knew as well as being the most passionate person about music and singing. Akira would not let her go like that. So he sent a quick message to her music teacher, reassuring her that Aiko would perform that night.

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Aiko stared at the messages over and over again, as she locked herself in a bathroom cubicle. Her brother, classmates, music teacher. Everyone was forcing her to sing once more, and no one was listening to her desperate refusals. No one got it. Not even her closest brother. Aiko's breath caught in her throat and she let out a strangled hiccup-y noise, trying to stop her oncoming tears.

She didn't want to sing. She couldn't sing. There was no point in using her voice anymore, because all it had caused was nothing but death. Aiko was the worst person on earth and she knew it.

"I hate you," Aiko whispered to herself.

Flashback...

It was performance night and Aiko was next up on stage. When they finally called her up on stage, her face and smile were bright as she beamed at the audience. On the right side of the front row, Aiko could see her father who was the only one who had been able to make time for her performance that night. It didn't matter anyway because her father had always been the one who had appreciated her singing the most.

Still smiling, Aiko opened her mouth and began to sing. The melody flowed out of her mouth like pure honey and completely enchanted the audience. Her singing was the best anyone had ever heard and it was completely innocent and joyful, reflecting her own heart that moment. Aiko was the sight of a perfect angel.

~
Gather up all of the crew!
It's time to ship out Bink's brew!
Sea wind blows. To where?
Who knows?
The waves will be our guide!
O'er across the ocean's tide,
Rays of sunshine far and wide,
Birds they sing of cheerful things, in circles passing by!

~

After the performance, Aiko had stayed back for a sleepover with the performance crew at school. There was nothing that could've ceased her happiness that night because the performance had gone better than expected. The whole performance team had praised her on her singing and she had felt that nothing could ruin the night. Until she checked her phone just before she went to bed.

Aiko's eyes read the text from Akira quickly, but the news did not sink in until a minute later. Aiko felt her heart beat stop and her face pale. Her lips were frozen over, unable to speak. The overwhelming fear and grief was so strong that she just couldn't react, even when her friends shook her and asked her what was wrong.

The last time she ever saw her father was from the stage.

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Kunimi Akira's light feet pounded the concrete as his bag thumped wildly over his shoulder. Running to his younger sister's school all the way from his own school was something that he had never done, because both of them had always walked home on their own. Now, he would have to run with all his remaining strength from volleyball practice if he wanted to reach Aiko before she left the school.

There was still hope - Akira knew he could persuade Aiko into singing. She just had to remember their father's words.

Finally, his old middle school came into view and with that assurance, Akira ran even faster. Well, he tried to be faster but he was sure that he was actually still running at the same slow speed he'd been sustaining for the entire journey.

When he arrive at the gates of Kitagawa Daiichi Middle School, a wave of unexpected nostalgia hit him. Akira didn't exactly have extremely memorable times at the school, but it still felt strange to be here when he knew that the school was no longer his. Kicking these thoughts away, Akira charged into the school and looked for the auditorium, where he was sure the performance would be held.

Akira headed to the back door of the auditorium and immediately spotted Aiko hanging around the closed door. "Aiko," he called out. "Aiko, wait."

The younger girl turned to him abruptly, shocked and then turned away quickly so that he wouldn't see the guilty look in her eyes. Aiko put a hand out in front of her, stopping him in his tracks. "Aiko. Please sing. They're all waiting for you."

Aiko bit her lip and looked at him. A wild spark flashed in her eyes, but then, it was as if the light broke and tears began to drip down her fair cheek. Aiko broke down like a lost puppy. "Akira," she sobbed, "I don't want to."

Akira widened his eyes. Hearing her voice for the first time in three years definitely came as a shock to him. "Aiko..." he found the courage to ask, "Why? You're amazing."

"I killed dad!" Aiko screamed at him, crying. The tears didn't stop coming down. "You of all people know! I hate myself Akira! I hate my voice!"

"You didn't kill him," Akira said matter-of-factly. He advanced towards her and put both hands on her quaking shoulders. "Don't blame yourself Aiko. You didn't kill him. He was killed in a car crash."

Aiko looked down at her feet, her hair covering her eyes as the tears dripped down, creating dark circle patterns on the concrete floor. "But he wouldn't have been killed if he didn't come to my performance. I should never sing again."

"You're being stupid. Look at me." Aiko obeyed him. "You didn't kill him. You should be happy that you got to sing for him, before he died. Now, I want you to go and sing for him again," Akira paused, "Because I already told your teacher that you would."

That night, Aiko sang again, for the first time since her father died, and she felt good. Aiko felt happy, for some weird reason she couldn't understand. Perhaps it was because Akira had reassured that she wasn't just singing for anyone - Aiko was singing for her father and no one else. Keeping this in mind, it felt like he was in the audience somewhere, alive.

First chapter in agess!! Thank you so much AnAkatsukiFan for requesting this! I did make a few tweaks, as I usually do. I hope that you liked it!! Also, does anyone recognise the song that Aiko sang in her flashback? One of my favourite songs ngl.

Requests are always open! I love requests and the only reason that this fanfiction stays on hiatus is because there are no requests. So if there a scenario or scene that you've always wanted to read for a specific character, please just tell me and I will make it happen! Thank you everyone.