When He's Gone

"…wake..up…" Kyousuke heard lightly, turning in his bed to escape the noise only to be jerked back. "I SAID WAKE UP!" He felt his cheeks writhe in pain as the shout brought him to full alertness. "What the hell are you doing, Kirino!?" Kyousuke yelled while rubbing his sore cheeks. Atop him sat a pair of teal colored eyes, and long light brown hair falling off to the side. "Life consultation, now."

Most guys might think it weird to feel comfortable in their little sister's room. Not Kyousuke, after all, nights like these are all too common for him. "So, what is it?" he yawned while sitting in the floor infront of his sister. "Hmm, well it's not so much a consultation as it is a request." Kirino replied with an awkward laugh. "Well whatever it is just tell me, it's already past 10. And the sooner we get done, the sooner I can get back to bed."

"Yeah, yeah. I wouldn't be asking this if it wasn't important." Kirino replied slightly irritated. Sensing this Kyousuke lightened up a little on her. "Okay, so what's up Kirino, what do you need me to do?" Kyousuke asked with a slight smile. Flustered Kirino turns her face away. "W-well..there's this game…called Stardust MeruMeru: Imouto Paradise edition, coming out tonight an-." Quietly laughing at his stammering sister. "You wanted me to go and get it for you?" he asked before she could finish talking. "Mm." she shook her hed up and down.

'Well there's no way I can say no to her, after all tomorrow's her special day', Kyousuke thought to himself. "Alright, I'll do it." Kyousuke declared with a fist on his chest. "Will you really!? Ohh my darling Meru-chan~~, you'll be mine soon." Kirino squealed in excitement. Watching how happy he just made her made Kyousuke smile. "Well then I should probably get going, Akihabara is an hour both ways, guess I'll see you around 1am. Try not to fall asleep now." He said playfully. "What? Your still here? Get going, baka!" As Kyousuke turned to leave he felt something soft hit the back of his head. "What's this? A scarf?" he turned and asked Kirino. "I-it's nothing special, it's just snowing and cold outside. I wouldn't want you freezing before you delivered my game." A smile formed across his face. "Thank you, Kirino. I'll take good care of it" He said, then turned and left. "Your welcome." Kirino whispered with a smile.

The train ride to Akihabara was an easy one. Normally packed full during the day, it was quite spacious this time of night. About 20 minutes later he arrived at the usual store Kirino buys her otaku merchandise from. "Yo, that you Aniki?" A man with an afro yelled from behind the counter. "Ahh, Toshi-san, how are you?" Kyousuke replied. "Haha, I'm doing great, what about yourself? Here for another pick-up?" the man grinned. "Yeah, I promised Kirino I'd come get the newest Meru game that came out today." Kyousuke said. "Man, what a great brother that little ojou-san has, willing to go through the freezing cold late at night to make his sister happy." The afro man cried into a tissue. "Ha..ha, well it's true. I would do anything for her if it made her happy." Kyousuke said solemnly. "Oh, wow its getting late. I'll see ya later Toshi-san." Kyousuke said, quickly paying for the game and left.

"Wow, by the time I get back the date will have already changed." Kyousuke said to himself. "I wonder if there's a confectionery shop still open." He said while looking for shops on his phone. About half an hour later Kyousuke was on his way to the train station with a game in one hand, and Kirino's favorite cake in the other. 'Hope this will make her happy.' He thought to himself. BUZZ..BUZZ, he felt his pocket vibrate. His phone was getting a text, so he reached in his pocket while balancing his other items with one hand. "Hurry it up you idiot! I want to play with Meru-chan sometime this year. And you better be using that scarf, but it's not like I can if you don't, baka!" the text read. Pulling his scarf up a little closer Kyousuke laughed. "It's her own way of showing concern I guess, better reply." Kyousuke began his response while the stop walk sign turned green and he continued to walk. But that would be the last thing he sent, for he nor the car approaching saw each other.

3am, read the pink digital clock. Kirino sat nervously, watching as time went on. Wondering where her brother was, and why he wasn't home. Eventually sleep got the better of her, as she began to doze off. "Kyousuke…hurry back." She mouthed before sleep overcame her. Beep…Beep…Beep, the sound of the pink alarm clock filled Kirino's ears. She rose up feeling groggy, remembering waiting all night for her brother to return. She looked around her room and saw there were no signs of him coming in while she slept. Anxiously she went to her brother's door and knocked. Normally she would just enter, but this time. She was scared. Scared it would be empty. No answer came from her knocking, so she opened the door. She looked into her brother's room. Starting from the right side, she saw his desk, followed by his dresser. And lastly, his bed. His empty bed. 'This could mean anything she thought. He could have stayed at a friend's house, or maybe just fell asleep on the couch from being tired when he got back.' Kirino tried reassuring herself.

Checking her phone, she found no new calls or messages. "That still doesn't mean anything." She told herself. For now, she would go downstairs and see her brother eating at the table. But he wasn't, he wasn't sitting at the table. He wasn't asleep on the couch. Kirino's mind began to race with worrisome thoughts. "Kirino, could you call your brother down for breakfast?" her mom asked. "Ah, he's not here, I already checked. Maybe he had cram school today?" Kirino was surprised when her father spoke up. "Oh well, guess we'll have to start without him. Her mom said. 'No, we can't! We have to find him!' Kirino thought to herself. But she couldn't say that. Because then they would know about her secret. .Ring the sound of the phone rang through the house. "Oh, who could that be this early?" Kirino's mom said while she went to answer it. 'Ok, after breakfast I can call Ayase. She knows about my secret and will help me find him, there's only so many places he could be.' Kirino was running through her plan, when "AAAAAHHHHHH" she heard her mother cry. Immediately both her and her father ran to her. She was collapsed on the floor with the phone in her hand crying. "What's wrong? What's the matter honey!?" Kirino's father said trying to comfort her. "Kyousuke! H-he!" Failing to finish her sentence she began to sob deeply. Kirino just stood there with a blank expression on her face.

"Onii-chan." She whispered, and fell to her knees.

AN: Hello all! I thank you for reading my first story. I've had this idea in my head for months, but never thought of myself as someone to make a story of it. This will likely be filled with grammar/punctuation mistakes. I apologies for it, I am running this through Microsoft Word, so hopefully it's not too bad. Please leave a review, contractual criticism is welcome. I planned this to be a One Shot, but figured I'd split it up and hopefully learn on any mistakes from this first one. Anyways thanks again for reading, and have a wonderful day! :)