☆★☆★☆★

Reina decided to text Yuri that she would not be dropping by to the latter's club room. Her energy was already depleted from the confrontation earlier with the boys' volleyball club.

REINA: Yuri, gomen I can't drop by to your club today. My head hurts and I need some time to recharge.

She was already putting on her outdoor shoes when her phone vibrated from her school's blazer. Yuri must've replied. Reina adjusted her leg as she fished for her phone.

YURIPPE: Don't worry! Rest well, Rei-chan, I'll update you on what's going on. But do tell me, did something happen in your usual transaction that caused your head to hurt?

Only Yuri who would've guessed something must have gone wrong. Sometimes it was just plain scary how Yuri could easily read Reina so well.

Reina heaved a sigh as she texted Yuri back. Not to mention her weekly phone call with her grandfather. Oh God, he would definitely be interested to listen. Grandpa Aaron would not want her to force herself into something she was not mentally stable enough for.

Especially not after what had happened all those years ago.

REINA: I'll call you later. Gotta pick up Makoto from the modelling agency and well... you know how it goes in my house.

Or rather, what did not happen in her house. Her father would be busy with his job with the Japanese Volleyball Association and her paternal grandparents were having their regular meetup with fellow elderly people in the neighborhood. Nobody would be around to pick up Makoto and the job fell on Reina's shoulders.

It was fine anyway, Makoto may be the baby of the bunch, but she already made enough money to move out and rent a small room to live on her own. And they usually stayed out of each other's business.

Reina was used to it, living in a separate world from others where she was the one on the outside looking in. And Makoto was destined to be the star of every stage she was on. Just like their older brother used to be and just like Mai.

As she adjusted her school bag, Reina let out her breath, a method of calming herself when an upcoming panic attack almost seized her from the inside. As she walked out from the locker room towards the exit door, Reina looked up to watch the blue sky stretched across the horizon.

She could not help but to think of Hirugami Sachiro and the peaceful air of Nagano every time she saw the blue skies, reminded of the peaceful days of her life when she did not have to bear the heavy weight on her shoulders. The days when she and Sachiro would lie down together in his house's backyard to watch the clouds after school and just talk.

Although she knew it would be futile to find peace from a past that no longer existed, Reina could not help but to think what would be of her and Sachiro, if her family never moved away to the USA all those years ago.

Reina felt her phone vibrate again and she took it from her school blazer's pocket and squinted. A message from Makoto.

DNA SHARER: Reina, you don't have to pick me up from the agency, I still have some job to do with the talent manager. I'll be home late.

It took her several seconds to process, but it seemed Makoto did not want Reina to pick her up from the agency (which was not that far from Inarizaki) to go home together. They were not close by any long shot, but Reina sensed something a little fishy that her younger sister did not want her to pick her up. Oh well, maybe Makoto was trying to rebel a little from their father's mandate to always wait for Reina to pick her up before going home.

Reina would not blame Makoto for doing so. Their father was barely around, too busy drowning himself in work to even realize that he got two daughters under his custody. At the same time, he was trying to grapple with whatever control he had left over his living children by putting a mandate that Makoto should always be with Reina whenever they were commuting.

Maybe she really should've chosen to go back to Nagano back in the beginning of middle school when her parents returned to Japan. A new start in a new place when nobody knew her or could ask her probing questions was only tempting in the beginning when the newness had yet to fade away.

***

"Tadaima!" Reina greeted as she opened the door. As she took off her shoes and slotted it to the shoe rack, Reina expected to be responded with silence. But to her surprise, she heard laughter from the kitchen.

Most likely her grandparents were already back home from their daily meet up with the old people community in her neighborhood.

She approached the kitchen with a little bit caution, even though knowing that her neighborhood was not exactly crime ridden. But still, better safe than sorry.

"Rei-chan," her grandmother, or to be precise, her father's mother, greeted with a kind smile. "Gomen, I'm just heating up the green tea for our guest here. "

Guest? Reina was too point blank focused on making sure there was no obvious intruder to the point she did not see there was a stranger (albeit an invited one) in her house. Her gaze shifted to a fellow old woman with a kind eyes who nodded at her.

It took Reina almost five seconds before she remembered that she had to bow and introduce herself. "Ano...my name is Shibazeki Reina."

"Ah, you got a very nice granddaughter here, Motoko-san," the old lady commented. "My name is Kita Yumie. My grandson also attends the same high school as you do, Inarizaki High, right?"

Reina gulped, but at the same time she almost wanted to laugh at how funny the universe was playing with her. Kita-san's grandmother was also in the same elderly community of the neighborhood as her grandparents do. "Yes, indeed. Gomen, I have to go up to my room, there is still lots of homework to do."

At least that part was not a lie. And the fact she had to do her weekly video call with her other grandfather who was in Nagano.

"Rei-chan, where is Makoto?" her grandmother asked, causing Reina to almost stop dead in her tracks. "Aren't you supposed to pick her up from her agency?"

There was this weird balance of hovering and neglect when it came to her father's side of family. Most of the time, her grandparents and her father let both Makoto and Reina do their own thing. She never really developed a close familial relationship with them, her walls already building up when she moved to Hyogo to live with them. But occasionally when they chose to play the parental guidance card, it was the time Reina would use her endless list of excuses to evade their questioning.

It was as if they could not decide to be completely attentive or being outright neglectful, but also wanted to ease up their guilt for not understanding what to do with having two teenage girls under their custody.

Reina took a deep breath before turning her body to face her grandmother. At least Reina knew that her grandmother was not the type to make a big deal out of a small situation. She was just curious why Makoto was not with Reina. And probably to show in front of the guest that she was an attentive grandparent.

"She told me that I didn't have to pick her up. She would be home late. And Makoto is already fifteen, I'm sure she can handle it," Reina answered.

"You see, Yumie-san, my other granddaughter Makoto is also an aspiring teen model," Motoko Oba-san, explained. If Kita-san's grandmother was anything like him (read: could see through bullshit with ease), then she did not show it.

"Gomen, once again please excuse my leave. I still have a lot of responsibilities to attend to."

Once again she bowed at both of the elderly women who smiled at her before peacefully chatting about their day and routine. Or talk about their respective grandchildren. Reina knew it was supposedly the time to pick up some intel on Kita Shinsuke, but if she was being honest to herself, he did not seem the type to even have a hair breadth of weakness.

She carefully walked up the staircase and the corridor that would lead her to her bedroom. At least in this house Reina did not need to share a room with Makoto. Their father's salary was more than enough to afford a separate bedroom for them, along with gifts and presents to make up for his lack of presence at home. Or his sick need to still maintain a semblance of control to the household while not being around.

At least Reina knew who to go to if she was running out of funds that she got from her side business. Or she should try playing the trumpet in the streets for some cash.

Opening up her room, Reina walked towards her desk to put down her school bag and sat on the chair right across it. Somehow on the back of her head since she consciously chose to escape Nagano, Reina knew that she was going to have this conversation with her grandfather soon enough.

She just did not expect it right when her high school club days were over before it could ever begin. Kudos to Inarizaki High's Brass Band Club.

Turning on her laptop, she waited for the screen to load before clicking on the Skype icon. Hopefully Grandpa Aaron would not notice the inner turmoil within her soul. But Reina could never hide anything from him, even if she wanted to. And the old man had keen eyes to see even the littlest signs of mental fatigue.

After what had happened to Reina and Makoto's older brother, everyone in the current Shibazeki household should've been keen to watch the signs of a mental breakdown. But their lack of attentiveness was honestly what Reina needed to retreat back into her shell and contently stay there. Choosing to live with her mother in Nagano back when her parents processed their divorce meant that Reina would be under constant scrutiny, especially from the people who had known her for years.

Including Sachiro, her mother, her maternal grandparents. Reina could not bear it, to be put on a surgical table for everyone to slice her into ribbons just to see there was nothing wrong with her. Even if they meant well. Hence, she chose a completely foreign and new place for a start, where she was just a nobody. Not a person with a dead brother.

"Finally," Reina mumbled as she adjusted her brightness screen as she chose to accept her grandfather's incoming Skype call. She took a deep breath before putting on a smile. "Hey, Gramps, took you long enough to understand how to use Skype."

Aaron Murphy, Reina's grandfather, smiled as he adjusted the screen. "Hey, Reina. Took you long enough to answer my phone call."

"That's because I am busy with school."

"How's Inarizaki? Have you joined another club after quitting the brass band club? Surely you won't be joining the volleyball club anytime soon, that would be treason," he ended it with a laugh. "Just joking, kid. You know that this is your life to lead."

Reina's mouth clamped shut and she was out of words. Her silence only gave her away to her grandfather, who already raised both of his eyebrows.

"I sense something fishy is going on. By the way, wouldn't you want to watch my students in Kamomedai practice? I'll turn the laptop so you can see, especially Sachiro here. He got real good with jump floaters, you know? You hadn't talked to him for how long, almost seven years?"

"Gramps, no," Reina deadpanned, putting on her usual poker face. This again, she had to deal with her grandfather, who was the coach in Sachiro's high school Kamomedai (a knowledge she involuntarily got from him), who constantly tried to get her to contact Sachiro. "I'm sure he won't remember me. It's been too long."

Not going to happen anytime soon. Not if she wanted to deal with an abundance of shame of him seeing just how much she had changed from all those years ago. Reina had to gather her shit together before she could even entertain the idea of facing Sachiro ever again.

And why would he even remember her? She was just his old childhood friend who went missing from his life without a trace because she was too much of a coward to tell him that she had to move away.

"He remembers you clearly, Rei-chan," Gramps said as he rubbed his chin. "I keep him updated too about you and your life, but you forbid me from giving him your contact details."

"Or that is just you trying to play matchmaker to both of us," Reina rolled her eyes. "Gramps, I love you, but really, if he is the hotshot you said he is now, he wouldn't want anything to do with me."

"You should give yourself more credit, Rei-chan."

He was right, but there had always been the voice in the back of her head, telling her that she should gather her shit together before even entertaining the idea of Sachiro getting to know her all over again.

"I know, but I'm more than sure he deserves someone better. And we're still in high school, gramps, we are too busy to even indulge ourselves beyond academic problems and of course him with volleyball."

It had truly been a long time since Reina last talked to Sachiro. But if her memory of him still serves, then he was way more passionate about animals than the sport.

"Wouldn't hurt to get you a headstart on finding a perfect match," Grandpa Aaron retorted with a wink. Before Reina could even muster a reply, there was a loud voice from her grandfather's end of the line.

"Oi, Coach, did you just see that I basically broke my own vertical jump record?!" a loud and boisterous voice that was loud enough to cause Reina's ears to hurt, interrupted. "Wait, who are you talking to in your laptop?"

Of course her grandfather had zero problems adjusting his laptop so Reina was faced with a white haired guy and his facial features reminded her of a seagull. But he was not the one who caught her attention. Beside Shuttlecock dude, there stood a very tall and familiar teenage boy with slightly curly brown hair.

That must've been Sachiro, who else. Even though he stood rather far away, but still close enough for her to examine his face. Reina could see the moment recognition hit him as it was reflected on his eyes.

Their eyes locked for several seconds and he was walking closer to the screen before Reina slammed down her laptop. "GRAMPS, WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Ah, Rei-chan, don't turn off your screen!"

Reina could feel blood rushing to her face. If that really was Sachiro, who was way taller than her (but he had always been a tall kid too), then yes he was the hotshot her grandfather always telling her about. She opened up her laptop's screen again as she was greeted yet again with her grandfather's cheeky smile. "Gramps, you really just turned the screen towards him like that."

"Yes, yes I did. And no, I don't feel guilty about it. You gotta admit that he has grown a lot since his primary school days."

"Ew, gramps, that is what we would call puberty and everyone experiences that including him. And you sound like Phineas Flynn!"

Several years living in the USA caused Reina to reference some of American cartoons that sometimes none of her friends in Japan could recognize. Even though Reina was not sure that her grandfather even knows what gibberish she was talking about.

"Is that the red headed character from a cartoon about two brothers who invent pretty cool stuff and have adventures while their older sister is trying to bust them? But anyways, do tell me about your high school, I heard that the boys' volleyball club earned second place in the Inter High, but lost to Itachiyama in the finals."

Reina was at loss of words. "Gramps, what else did you and Mom talk about? There is no way you know about that by sheer googling alone. Or the fact that you keep pushing Hirugami-san and I to talk again."

"I'm worried about you, Rei, especially about your mental wellbeing," finally her grandfather spilled the real beans. "I know I am all for you to go back to Japan after what had happened to your brother in the States, but the downfall is that...you're in Hyogo now. You choose to live with your father and so does your sister. But are you getting the help you need there? I don't want history to repeat itself again. I can't exactly force you to go back to Nagano, that is going to be detrimental for you."

"Gramps..." Reina trailed off. Maybe she really should talk to him about the offer of becoming a manager. "I was offered to be the manager for the boys' volleyball club in my school," she announced in a low voice, making sure that her voice would not crack. "I...don't know, I don't know if I have to accept it. But at the same time, turning it down means I am a coward and..."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Admitting to herself that she had real problems and owed it to herself to move past it was hard enough. Admitting it to the person she looked up to the most like her grandfather, was especially harder.

"If you ask me, this is the right opportunity for you to get over Takato's death," Grandpa Aaron replied, his voice soft and Reina could see the underlying sadness in his eyes. Of course, Taka-nii was the eldest son her father wished to have. The perfect heir to be the golden boy of volleyball. The space he left in the wake of his death was too big for either Reina or Makoto to fill. "Your younger sister must be doing a better job than you, sometimes being loud about something helps to channel that frustration out."

"Makoto is stronger than me."

"I won't say that is the case, but you have always been more the type to quietly endure everything until you decide that enough is enough, your sister is just louder than you about that," Grandpa Aaron conceded. Reina saw his screen blurred a little before revealing his face again. Only this time, there was Shuttlecock's face on screen. "Kourai-kun, let me introduce me to my granddaughter, Shibazeki Reina."

Reina only responded with her jaw dropped. "Gramps, you really just..."

"Oh, so you're the girl who Sachiro has been talking about," Shuttlecock said.

Reina almost wanted to bash her head in shame. "Grandpa, please..."

"Okay I think that's enough embarrassment for her, Kourai-kun, you may go," Grandpa Aaron said as he made the shooing gesture. The screen managed to capture Shuttlecock's face who was ready to protest before focusing back on her grandfather. "Anyways, Rei-chan..." his voice took a serious turn. "This is just my take, Reina, but I think it will be good for your mental wellbeing to be a manager. You're going to reacquainted yourself with volleyball beyond the shadows of Taka's death. But once again, make sure that you know what you're getting into. It won't be easy."

"How did you make peace with Taka-nii's death?" Reina asked out of the blue. The question that always rings in the deepest corner of her mind. "Otou-san is still having a hard time even to admit that Taka-nii's gone. Makoto is not as close as I am to Taka-nii. And Oka-san..." Reina stopped talking as she remembered her mother, a kind woman who had to pay the price of losing her children in one fell swoop. None of it was her fault, but Reina admitted that choosing to live with her father in the aftermath of the divorce for a fresh start was a selfish choice. "I hope she is doing okay."

"I've already talked about it with your father, but you and your sister are welcome to visit Nagano during the Winter Break, right before Spring High. Your mother would definitely love to hear from you."

"Would she, though?" Reina quietly asked.

There was sympathy in Grandpa Aaron's eyes. "The only thing that will help you sleep at night is to see it for yourself. Just like the way I tried to reach you out, Rei-chan."

"Gramps..." Reina said as she cleared her throat. "I promise I'll try my best."

"No problem, just that you should really talk to Sachiro, I'm sure he can help you, but only if you let him."

"Ha...you caught me right there, but no."

Her grandfather let out a hearty laugh. "Anyways, I think I'm holding you back from doing your homework. I still have practice to watch over, but this week is so hectic that I almost can't find the time to call you, especially after Sachiro continuously picks up random animals from the street to the gym."

"You're only saying that to make me intrigued and ask more about him," Reina deadpanned, but she let out a smile. "Alright, thanks gramps. It is always nice to talk to you. Even if you're always trying to play matchmaker to my non-existent love life."

"Precisely the reason why I am so gung ho about you reconnecting with him!:

Reina only heaved a sigh but she still smiled nonetheless. Her grandfather meant well and it was honestly becoming a running gag, the fact he was shipping her with Sachiro. Not that an old man would know the term 'ship' is.

"Alright, I'll let you off the hook. Bye, gramps."

"Bye, Reina, remember what I said to you." Grandpa Aaron ended the Skype call with a wink as they both hung up.

Reina looked up to her bedroom's ceilings, her mind mulling over the choices she had to make. She pointedly ignored the piling up homework and essays she had to complete by the end of the week. Or maybe they could serve as the distraction she needed from making a decision.

But no, Reina owed it to herself to stop running away.

This time , she could give the right answer to Ojiro-san with finality. She still needed the time to prepare herself mentally to face the dumbassery of the club like blondie and his twin brother and of course, Suna, who knew about her side business.

Becoming a circus manager certainly would make her resume for college application getting even more interesting. 

☆★☆★☆★