The Fifth Son

Jyuyon

~14~

"Boys," tawag ni Oto-sama sa aming limang magkakapatid. "Meet your Aunt Mikoto, Uncle Daigo and their children- Ichijou-kun, Haruhi-chan and Momiji-kun. Your Aunt Mikoto is my younger sister," introduce ni Oto-sama. Dun ko naalala kung saan ko s'ya nakita. I saw her picture in Oto-sama's desk inside his study nung minsang nacurious ako at pinasok yun.

My jaw fell because of sheer surprise for the existence of Oto-sama's younger sister. Hidi naman kasi s'ya nagku-kwento about his family. Hindi nga namin kilala kung sino ang mga magulang n'ya. Hindi ko alam kung bakit masyadong masikreto si Oto-sama and Oka-sama about sa lolo at lola namin. They never gave any reason at all. In addition to that, they don't entertain any questions about such topic. Ang alam ko nakilala na ni Kuya Kei sina Oji-sama at Oba-sama, lolo and lola, pero maging s'ya ayaw magkwento.

Pinakilala ni Oka-sama ang mga anak nina Tito Daigo at Tita Mikoto. Sa tatlo nilang anak, si Haruhi na kaedad ko ang nag-iisang babae. Si Ichijou naman ay isang taon ang tanda kay Kuya Jyu habang ang bunsong si Momiji na sobrang cute ay seven years old. Lalaki si Momiji, by the way.

Si Tita Mikoto at ang family n'ya ang pinakaunang relatives sa side ni Oto-sama na nakilala ko. Kaya halos wala akong alam about sa buhay ni Oto-sama noong bata pa s'ya. For that reason, mas close ako sa side ni Oka-sama.

"My. My. You really have wonderful sons, Onii-sama. They are really handsome and intelligent-looking," complimented Tita Mikoto. She carried herself with such impeccable refinement. It's as if she was raised like a princess. Her eyes moved and locked her gaze on me before speaking again. "Oh dear, aren't you the prettiest boy I've ever seen?" I can't help but be shy because of the weight of her gaze. She was looking at me like she's scanning me. A smile curved her lips. I smiled back, trying to hide my feeling of intimidation towards her. "You perfectly remind me of someone I know." She talked like she someone from a Disney princess movie. She has that queenly feel to her words and intonations.

"I groomed them to be worthy of being a Mikado," sagot ni Oto-sama na medyo monotonous. By the way I see them, they seem to be not that close. He was like an artist who was proud of showing off his masterpieces which, in this case, us- his sons. And why is it that we have to be worthy of being a Mikado? Ano ba talaga ang meron sa family ni Oto-sama?! Aish!

"Now, you sound like Oto-sa-," hindi na natapos ni Tita Mikoto ang sanang sasabihin n'ya since Oto-sama threw a warning look at her. I have seen such look many times- enough to know that it means shut up.

As I said, Oto-sama don't want to talk about our grandfather. I've long been making guesses as to why he was acting like such. Maybe he and Oji-sama, has some misunderstandings. Such misunderstandings should be huge enough to cause him to act what he's acting. I think I have to dig deeper to know the exact cause of this family issue.

Medyo matagal rin kaming nag-usap. Actually, sila lang talaga ang nag-usap. Bukod kasi sa puro tango at iling lang ako, hindi rin ako nagtatanong nor cultivate a conversation. Same kami ni Kuya Kyu who was just doing the same thing. Minsan naku-curious ako sa kung ano ang tumatakbo sa utak n'ya. Among my other siblings, only Kuya Kyu knows exactly how to fight my potentially manipulative nature. Kaya naman nakakainis s'ya at ang mas nakakainis pa eh he's doing it effortlessly, or maybe it's already natural to him.

So yan ang Kuya Kyu ko- an ass and seemed to be an adept in being such pero sa tingin ko may mabait naman s'ya na side. Hindi ko pa nga lang nakikita. Or baka wala lang talaga s'yang mabait na side. Who knows. I am his brother but I barely know anything about him.

After ng ilang well-cultivated conversations, nagdesisyon na silang pumunta sa main hall ng bahay upang simulan ang party ni Kuya Kei. Since inaantok pa naman ako, didiretso nalang ako sa kwarto ko upang matulog. Sinabihan ko na kasi ang mga maids na ipagtabi ako ng mga ulam kaya kahit hindi na ako lumabas eh sure nang makakakain ako ng mga hinandang pagkain. Pagkain lang naman kasi ang habol ko. Obvious ba? Haha