Composed by Akane
Translated by Yuki Neco
The doorbell rang as if breaking the silence. I told Sakura to answer the door and check who it was, though I knew who it would be.
“Hi, Sakura, how are you?” said Yukito who had come to the front door.
“Oh, hi, Yukito. Um, I'm fine, thank you.”
It was last spring; it was that Yuki visited me... no, to be exact, that I invited him to surprise Sakura, because it was a very special day...
“Go get some tea, squirt,” I said to Sakura.
“Yeah, just a moment.” Sakura trotted into the kitchen.
She looked happy every time she saw him, but otherwise, she
would have tried to reject, “You do it yourself, bro.”
Seeing Yukito made her act totally different—being a good girl.
“Touya, you invited me today because... of Sakura, huh?
I see you truly cherish her, don't you?” Yuki playfully whispered.
“Oh, shut up.”
“Hey, you remember the day when Sakura was born?”
“Yeah, I do. It was when I was in the first grade,” I replied.
“You mean you remember it clearly. Why don't you tell me about it?”
“She can hear.”
At this time, Sakura's voice came across from the front door,
“We are out of tea, and I'll get some. I'll be right back, Touya.
See ya!” She left home for the unexpected errand.
“Good timing. Well, go ahead,” Yuki demanded.
“OK, alright... That happned in one afternoon.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I was playing soccer with my friends in the park as usual, but then I saw Dad running up to me. He looked really upset, staggering in haste, nearly tripped.
“Touya, we gotta see Mom in the hospital!” he said out of breath.
He took me in a taxi before I could answer him... well, of course, I wanted to agree with him, though.
Lots of things came aross my mind during the short jouney in the taxi to the hospital—like thinking about the soccer match I was to take part in, and of course I was thinking about Mom.
On our arriving at the hospital, a nurse walked up to us and told something to Dad for a little while, and gone in the room. I could hear her talk to Mom, “Mrs. Kinomoto, here comes your husband.”
The door opened, and I could see Mom inside. She said, “Honey, Touya, I'm glad you came to see me.”
Just after the glance I could see Mom wave at me with her
usual warm smile, the door shut away. Dad talked to me
gently the next minute,
“Touya, you have your sibling from today on, so take
tender care of your brother or sister, whichever it is, OK?”
“Sister...”
“Huh?”
“Never mind,” I ate my words.
“Let's welcome the new member of our family. Will you help your Dad and
Mom take care of the baby?”
“Sure,” I replied.
I knew it was she who was being born. That's why I could stay calm unlike my dad. Besides, I was so annoyed by the spirits of dead people walking up and down the hall that I wanted to get out of the place. Seemed like there was a mortuary around there; there's no wonder that I could see lefeless old men and women wandering around. But I didn't so much as foresee my mom would be sleeping in the mortuary a few years away... Anyway, a hospital is where there're a lot of restless spirits remain; they have someting left undone. Those spirits annoyed and distracted me from my baby sister.
It was a week later that I held the baby in my arms for the first time, and I found her so precious that I promised myself to protect her if something ever happened.
“A baby is light, Touya. This is your sister.” Dad whispered.
Then I asked, “What's her name?”
“Nadeshiko named her a beautiful name. I don't have a sense of naming,”
Dad replied with a shy smile.
Mom continued the reply with a smile, “I wanted to name my baby like this, if it's a girl...”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“So it's 10 years,” Yuki ensured.
“That's right.”
Talk about perfect timing, Sakura came back home at this moment,
saying “I'm home.”
“Uh! Welcome home, Sakura,” Yuki answered with a gentle smile.
Letting Sakura make some tea, I took out a birthday cake, when I
say, “Dad said he was gonna work late tonight, and told us to
have dinner not waiting for him to come back.”
“OK, let's eat!” Sakura was setting the table with a happy smile.
Some of my prediction brought me to warn, “There'll be a lot
happening to you, but don't push yourself too hard.”
“Hoe?” She took on a puzzled look.
“Never mind. Let's start the party.”
Happy birthday, my sis, thinking to myself, I lit the candles, which were lit brilliantly on the cake, when there's cherry trees full of bloom.
Fin.
This is Touya's POV; he's recalling the day Sakura was born.
It is Sakura's 10th birthday, just before she stumbled aross the Clow Cards.