Theo POV:

I pushed the door open and my eyes first shifted to Emilin. She seemed a little upset, which was understandable. I felt sorry that I had made her feel that way, but there was nothing that could be done about it now. ??

Nothing seemed off inside of the room as I scanned around. 'What was that chill I felt?' I reminded myself to take note of this, but it wasn't too important right now.

Emi also seemed to have had some time to cool off.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I'll always want you to improve and be the best you can be. It's just that, sometimes, I'm scared that even with everything, it might not be enough to keep us all safe. Of course, I just want us to live happy lives in peace. I didn't want to go into any of these big industries, the bigger we become the more likely we are to be in danger" Emilin seemed to be really distressed on this matter.

"But without money, power, and influence, we may not be able to stay safe. As for living a simple life? I'm not sure if that's an option anymore. Or if it was even one, to begin with." Emilin finally exposed some of her worries.

Deep down I was glad. Really glad that she would finally share some of her burdens with me. I pull her into a hug to reassure her.

"We'll work through this together, as you said, we can only keep improving ourselves." I just wanted to reassure her so that she could part with some of her burdens.

After packing up to get ready to go home Emilin had remembered to call big brother who had called about his schedule earlier in the day. She had also turned the phone on speaker.

Emilin started off by asking big brother Nathen about how the game went, which I was also curious about.

"Haha, it was interesting. It's a shame I'm taking a leave from soccer. The tournament might have been a real show." I had a bad feeling about this already.

'Where did my kindhearted brother go?'

'Never mind. Dumb question.'

His chuckle was his signature semi-sadistic, semi-friendly one. The one that would make people question themselves time and time again. The sadistic parts were hidden deep. Most people would think that they had heard wrong if it was their first time. Their second time would be no different maybe even their third, fourth, and possibly even fifth. Though not many people would even be able to see this side of him that many times.

They would only see it if Nathen let them, and they would only realize it if Nathen wanted them to.

I think it took me a year or so to realize these changes, though I was still young back then. Not that I'm old now. historical

'He must be scheming again. Should I be sorry for the other team?'

"Since when has the definition of quitting changed to taking a leave? How come I wasn't informed?" Emilin smirked.

"Hm? I don't seem to understand what you mean. I'm sure they would love to have me. Isn't that reason enough? The definition has yet to change, but we can't always be here waiting for the dictionary to catch up with the times. Though it is about time they add a subsection to their definition for me.. Would that be too eye-catching?" Even if big brother wasn't here, I could already see the grin he would have on his face.

I couldn't help but laugh at their little antics. It seems that every time we are together, we regress a few years. I guess in front of our family we're always that kid, but that's okay too.

Whenever I'm with these two my mood swings seem to exceed that of a girl on her period. What's up with that? Emi and brother seem to be able to change the mood of the conversation so quickly yet subtly. Another skill that I seem to have overlooked.

After conversing a bit longer big brother had to hang up. He expressed his disappointment about the fact that he had to leave early. Mainly due to the game they had played that afternoon. He couldn't stay longer to celebrate. Emi and I also had to go back home, or mom and dad might worry, then again, they might not notice.

I would have driven us back home but then I would have to go back to school where I had left my ride. Plus, it was a good chance to digest our food and go for a morning exercise when going to school tomorrow.

After moving we now lived in a modern semidetached house with a black and white theme. Though I was young, I remember how when I first arrived here, it thought we had traveled to the future. It's a little embarrassing thinking about it now, but the appliances here were just too high-tech compared to what we had in our old home.

I'm glad that Emi was only barely one year old and didn't have to see my reaction.

As an energetic 4-year-old, I ran to every single room in the house to turn the lights on and off. The panels here were of glass, so to turn the lights brighter or dimmer, you just had to slide your finger up and down the panel.

I was a little too short at the time to reach the ones in the room, so I had to resort to the one in the living room by standing on a chair.

When I nearly fell, I got prohibited from messing around with the lights alone until I got older... ╮ (. ? ? ?.) ╭.

"We're home." Emi and I said in unison.

We changed into our slippers and walked into the kitchen where our parents were seated. Though we had a large table in the living room, we never ate there. Most things were done in the kitchen, then it became a habit to sit there to talk because normally everyone would have more time to chat about our days around mealtime.

Sometimes I am shocked to think about how mom and dad are already in their 40s because they do not look the part. I don't think I've ever seen them age much. Especially mom. Of course, since I see them every day, I wouldn't be able to tell even if they did change.

Looking back, she always had a really healthy lifestyle and so she has remained as beautiful as ever. Though both seem much calmer, probably due to the effect of time.

We sat down to talk a little about our days. Emilin started off, talking about the events of the morning about brother's appearance.

"I had a call with him earlier and he said that he wanted to come home earlier, but some school stuff cropped up," Emi explained.

"Oh, he must be pretty busy then.. busy enough to not care about his parents. Humph" Mom seemed to be joking, but at the same time, not really. She seemed to be a little upset, or maybe disappointed? I was never really good at reading people.

"Haha, he must have gone to meet his friends, speaking of friends. Do you know if your brother has a girlfriend yet?" Dad has always been interested in his children's love life, which so far, has been nonexistent. Thankfully.

I'm sure mom wouldn't be any less interested in this topic.

"Who would be crazy enough to date him." I felt the need to add.

"I don't think he would get any fewer confessions than you do little Theo" Mom still had to call me little Theo, I swear I'm like a head taller than her, but I can't really say anything either. So, I just have to let her, because she's mom.

"Then just who would be amazing enough for big brother Nathen." I want to say it in a sarcastic way, but I just can't seem to make it sound that way. Even I have to recognize that I have an amazing brother. Not as amazing as Emi though. Hehe. The conversation on that topic seemed to just end there.

We were just having some more idle chat, but then, I don't even know-how, we started talking about university.

Why is it that everyone can direct the conversation so easily? I need Emi to teach me how to do that. I keep getting led on!