Lesson Learned

In retrospect...

The new apartment was nice, which was expected since she'd helped pay for it instead of going with the original plan of renting, even if mom had needed some convincing. So the new bedroom was nice. The pastel purples were a bit much but they looked cute, and the floorboards were white so that made the whole place look brighter.

Mitsuko sat on the floor of her new room, curling her knees up to her chin as she leant against the inside of her closet; her bags of clothes half-rammed into it, keeping the doors wide open.

The entire room was a mess since she hadn't unpacked and it was already getting late.

"Hey?" Gakushuu peered around the door, struggling to open it with the amount of boxes in the way. "Are you even going to tidy up?!"

She shrugged. "I'm having a break."

Her brother looked around the messy room. "Oh, yes, clearly it was well earned." He sighed and stepped more into the room, moving some bags and boxes out of the way. "I've already unpacked."

"That's because you're a control freak."

"No. You're just lazy."

The corner of her lip curved up. "Exactly what a control freak would say."

He sighed loudly, rubbing his eyes. "I can't deal with you..."

She chuckled. "That's because I'm right."

He fixed her with a look. "If I bury you in here they'll never find you."

"Go ahead." Mitsuko shrugged. "If I suffocate I'll just haunt you for the rest of your days."

Gakushuu groaned in frustration, sitting down next to her. "Just...shut up."

Her smile grew. "Just making conversation." She leant against the wall. "So do you like your new room?"

He shrugged. "A room's a room."

She hummed as they fell into silence for a while.

Gakushuu glanced at her before reaching into his pocket. "Here."

Her eyes widened when she saw the familiar green plastic knife. "How did—"

"Mom said you had to give your weapons back to the government." He replied, handing her it. "I found it in your room a few months back."

She held the knife tightly, holding it close to her chest. "Thanks..."

"It's fine." He looked at her thoughtfully. "...Mom says she wants us to continue our sessions with Dr Yokoyama."

"Will he even take us back?" Mitsuko questioned.

"Well...not dad but mom says he's willing to take the three of us as clients again."

"Oh." She gripped the knife tight. "That could be nice then."

"Yeah." Her brother tapped his finger hesitantly on his knee. "This all still feels..."

"Weird?" She suggested, smiling feebly. "Still wrapping my head around how this is gonna be our new normal."

Gakushuu hummed, looking around the room. "It is strange." He frowned. "I still expect him to come upstairs, or start asking us about our homework." He fidgeted. "I should be studying but...I'm not."

"Yeah...it's weird." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "Like a whole new routine."

Her brother hummed, staying quiet for a while longer. "True..."

"I tried calling him but he was busy," Mitsuko said, shrugging. "He was dealing with another press conference and there was a meeting I think..."

"...He'll probably call later," he brother said. "Then we'll be complaining that he's being overbearing again."