Namesake

Faithful

When I can't feel you,

I have learned to reach out just the same

When I can't hear you,

I know you still hear every word I pray

And I want you,

More than I want to live another day

And as I wait for you maybe I'm made more faithful

-Taken from Brooke Fraser's 'Faithful'

~K27~

The wind blows more harshly now.

I wrap the scarf closer into my frosted face. The snow continues to fall from the grey sky as I close the door. My cellphone then began to beep once more.

I hold it close.

"Hello?" I call out on the other line, the voice I remembered from three years ago now gone from memory.

"Kyoko? You still okay out there?"

"Onii-chan…"

I couldn't mask the emptiness lost in my voice. My brother for the years gone in Italy for sumo matches still hadn't known what had happened when he left.

"Yes… don't worry…I…" Onii-chan should really stop being too protective of me. I'm already seventeen.

"Okay." Onii-chan somehow understands it when needed. "Goodbye then. I'll call you soon."

"Bye…" I whisper, as the receiver went dead. There was something else that I had to take care of. My homework was already finished last night. The bentos I made for Haru and myself were already prepared. My mechanical pencils were already bought the day before. I should be doing my part time job later after class until seven o'clock. I look at my watch. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

"Kyoko-chan!" someone calls outside. As usual, Haru was already on cue to pick me up. Slinging my bag on my shoulder? Check. My shoes polished? Check. Hair clipped? Check. Another extra comb? Check. Double check on my books, notebooks, etc.? Triple check.

I open the door. Also check.

As usual, since the three years that we were together at high school she waves at me.

"Hey, guess what?"

"What?" I ask, doing a mental check that my voice sounds energetic and on par with the zest my friend was displaying.

"I'm dating Touya-kun! Can you believe it? I was just ogling at him on English class and now we're going out! Aww, Kyoko-chan! Jealous?" She eggs me, her eyes awaiting evilly my reaction.

"Oh. Right." I reply, doing another mental check at my reaction. "Haha. I'm jealous. Right."

"Why not make a more believable jelly-jelly face, Kyoko-chan? You are sooo looking that way again… So, anyway it just happened we were watching this movie last Saturday when…"

I did a mental check to make myself look like I was listening to Haru. Since what happened three years ago, I never really had the time to be on matters that involved crushes and stuff like that. I've been too busy feeding myself without the help of onii-chan. I don't want him to worry and let that thing happen again.

Since three years ago, when I received that call.

In honesty, without onii-chan and my other friends, things… they're just not like what it used to be.

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and wonder why I couldn't hear my brother training or screaming 'Fight!' all the while hitting something. I wonder why I couldn't see any terror in the bullies' faces whenever Hibari-san was around. Why I cannot hear Gokudera-kun's and Yamamoto-kun's bickering and Tsuna-kun's…