after a few hours of driving, i had finally made it back to my hometown. i settled into the familiarity of the streets and various shops surrounding me. the neighborhoods were familiar and i made my way to my own street.

my house hasn't anything big or gracious, but it had housed me and my mom for years and for that i was thankful.

i pulled into the driveway, next to my mom's car. my mom must've been waiting for me, watching for a window or hearing my car pull in, because she had greeted me outside of the house.

"welcome home, sweetheart." she held her arms open and i hugged her.

there was something so comforting about being with her, back in her presence.

"let's hurry up inside and get you some dinner. you look like you haven't eaten a good meal in a while." she hurried me into the house, ignoring all of the luggage in my car.

my mom hadn't know about the late night food runs with mina and denki or how often i ate out with the squad, but i was constantly on the move as a dancer at Yuuei.

the thought of that sent a pang of guilt, a dancer but my mom didn't know.

"mom, what about my bags?"

"i'll help you bring those in after dinner! come on, don't think i'll let you off so easy. i'm going to put you to work in this kitchen."

dinner was made to music and conversation, with my mom and i working in our yellow lit kitchen. spices filled the air and the sizzling of oil slick pans served as the background noise for us.

a small radio, one that my mom treasured, provided the music and when a song my mom liked came on, she dropped what she was doing and pulled me to dance with her.

this was how it had started, playful dancing in the kitchen with my mom had sparked my love for dance. it was something intimate to me, something i only shared with her.

maybe it was the fact that it had just been me and her growing up.

the song ended and we got back to cooking the food. i hurried her with a laugh, reminding her of my bags in the car.

-

dinner like always was good, no complaints about my mom's food. like she promised, my mom helped me bring my things up to my room.

my room hadn't changed much since i had left it. my old bed was still pushed to the corner of the room, with the window seats joining the mattress.

the few posters i had left taped to my walls were still there, along with the fairy lights strung against top of the walls.

all of my things were placed on the made bed, so i could sort things out into the closet and lone drawer in my room.

the memory of the promise to mina quickly crossed my mind and i pulled out my phone to send her a quick text.

i busied myself with folding clothes into the drawer but gave up halfway and just shoved my suitcase and bags onto a corner in the room and laid in the now unoccupied bed.

i scrolled on my phone for a while, popping my head up when i heard some sort of commotion. i crawled onto the seat and looked down out my window. someone's car was pulling up, parking behind my car in the driveway.

the sun was setting outside but i could make out a few figures getting out of the car. a woman was getting a small child out of her car seat, with a little boy pulling at the woman's pants. there was older, taller boy who picked up the boy, slinging him over his shoulder. i could hear the faint giggles and shrieking of the kid, slightly tuned out through the glass. i watched the figures come towards the house and heard the bell ring, when it finally hit me.

that was shinso's family.

shinso in which i told that i wouldn't come home today, but i was home today...

fuck

i could only hope that my mom wouldn't mention i was already here.

unfortunately, that was pathetic and hopeful thinking. because evidently, my phone lit up in my hand and displayed my mom's contact.

"sweetheart? come downstairs, we have company."

"mom," i whispered," tell them i'm not here. don't tell them i'm here!"

my mom made a noise of confusion. "what?" i could picture her eyebrows contorting. "but i already mentioned you. and i know you and hitoshi don't get along but act civil for today, please sweetie."

i groaned, throwing myself onto the bed behind me. "yeah, i'll be down in a bit."

"okay!"

i could hear muted voices downstairs and i allowed myself only a few more seconds of staring at the ceiling. my brain racked for ways to get out of the house as quickly as possible, going from climbing out my window or hiding in my closet and hoping that my mom wouldn't call for me again.

i rolled off the bed, landing on my hands and feet and went downstairs.

throwing on a small smile as i saw the little one first.

"hey, tai." i greeted as the little boy ran across the room and clung to my legs.

"y/n! you're back," he yelled, "i have so much to tell you, come sit down."

his small hands grabbed onto the bottom of my sweater, pulling me towards my living room.

"tai, i have to say hi to your mom too." i said, protesting weakly but still followed him, thankful for an excuse to not see shinso so soon.

speaking of which, even though shinso and i hated each other, his mom was still my mom's friend and when she had tai, she brought him around.

there was no ounce of hate in my body for this small boy, the embodiment of pure and innocent love.

him and i grew close for some reason, and even to this day, have a close bond. i love him like my own brother.

"y/n, we learned about turkey in my class before break! and we even got to trace our hands and make turkey cutouts! mommy hung it up on the fridge because she says it was pretty." tai rambled on, crawling on the couch and sitting me in front of him.

"that's so cool, tai! did you give the turkey a name?" i asked, finding the boy's excitement endearing.

tai frowned. "oh no, i didn't name him!"

"don't worry, tai. you can name him right now. what kind of name are you thinking?" i reassured, feeling bad for worrying him.

"i want a cool name! maybe something like mako! that's cool, right?"

"mako," i repeated, "yeah, i think that's super awesome."

"hmmm, i'm not sure. maybe i can find something cooler." tai brought a small hand to his chin, falling deep in thought.

my mom called my name once more from the kitchen. "i'll be right back, tai. let me go say hi to your mom, okay?"

tai, too distracted with finding a name for his turkey, nodded.

i couldn't do anything but cross my fingers by my sides and hope that things went well in this kitchen.

"hi, hoshi." i greeted and shinso's mom approached me, arms open.

"hi, sweetheart." she wrapped her arms around me and pressed a kiss into my forehead. "how have you been?"

she shook me a little bit in the hug and i smiled. "i've been good, how are you?"

"tired, but glad to have my kid back home."

"speaking of kids," i stepped out of the hug and walked over to my mom, who was cradling a little girl in her arms. "how's this little baby?"

the baby reached out a small hand, grabbing onto my pointer finger.

"dosei's the best behaved kid i've had. either i mastered this mothering thing or she's a blessing." hoshi chuckled softly.

i noticed the lack of a certain boy's presence but bit my tongue, it wasn't my place to ask where shinso was.

hoshi took dosei back into her arms, walking towards the dining room, and my mother spoke up. "y/n, serve hoshi some of the food we made earlier. hitoshi went to go buy ice cream but he'll be back soon, get him a plate too."

my eyes widened. "shinso's not here right now?"

my mom rolled her eyes but nodded.

"oh my gosh. mom! you can't tell him i'm here, let me go back upstairs and don't mention that i came home yet."

"what on earth are you talking about?" my mom asked, confusion wrinkling her eyebrows.

"i'll explain later, just-"

the rustling of plastic bags gained my mom's and i's attention, a shinso standing at the entrance of the kitchen.

"i'm back, miss mai." his jaw tightened, lips drawn in a hard line.

"enough with the miss, hitoshi." my mom waved a hand in the hand. "you left so soon after dropping off your mother, let me get a good look at you."

shinso's hands were at his side, bags brushing his black sweats. his gaze soften at my mother's hands cupping his face, turning it side to side.

"you feeling better, now?" she asked softly, probably hearing about his hospitalization.

"yeah, don't worry about me." he chuckled off.

while he was distracted, i slipped back to serve two plates of food. maybe if i finished that quickly, i could go hide in my room for the rest of the night.

"alright, get that ice cream in small cups for your siblings dear." my mom told him. "if you need help finding anything, y/n can help you."

i froze under the sudden attention and cursed under my breath. my mom walked off into the dining room and it was just shinso and i in the kitchen.

i continued plating up the food, done with one plate. my movements were the only noise heard in the quietness.

"where are the cups?" shinso asked, moving towards the kitchen island. i pointed up at the cupboards next the fridge.

he set down the bags, with what i'm assuming is the ice cream he bought, next to me and he moved to said cupboard. i heard him picking up a few cups and then he appeared next to me.

i had reached to open a drawer, looking for forks and my hand collided with shinso's.

"oh, sorry." i murmured and pulled the drawer open.

i pulled two forks out and left it open so that he could grab whatever he needed too.

the silence between us was awkward but that was a given.

he worked the scooper in the tub of ice cream and filled two cups up with it. i glanced over at him, noticing how comedic a third, small cup looked in his hand.

i was grabbed the plates and took them into the dining room, asking if anything else was needed from me before i left to my room.

as i made my way back through the kitchen, i saw shinso washing the ice cream scooper, his back turned to me.

i was about to head up the stairs before a voice called for me.

"l/n."

it was just a simple statement, really, but it caused me to freeze in my tracks.

i turned around slowly, "yes?"

shinso was at the archway of the kitchen and he seemed conflicted. he opened his mouth once before closing it again, only to open it once more.

he didn't seem what to say but he settled on a question. "do you want any ice cream?"

i shook my head and he nodded back. he disappeared back into the kitchen and tai came trotting in out the living room.

"was that toshi? did he bring ice cream?!" tai ran into the kitchen and i finally made my way back to my room.

-

when it came time for the shinso family to leave, i pretended to be asleep to avoid having to say goodbye to them.

sure, guilt ate at me but when wasn't it nowadays? i felt bad getting hoshi, dosei and tai tied up in this but i was too set to let myself get caught in awkward positions.

the first night in my old bed brought back memories of my childhood. old recitals, my mom's dancing, a mean boy and bad school events.

but despite all that, it was still one of the best sleeps i've had in a while.

~

a/n: like always,, i'm up writing this instead of sleeping 🙄😩 n e ways! what do u guys think? i'm not sure if i like how i wrote this chapter and i always start things off with ideas in mind but change them last second so idk how i feel about them :// but yeah,, a quick recap!

hoshi is shinso's mom, dosei is shinso's youngest siblings/baby sister and tai is shinso's younger brother/the middle child.

they'll probably come up in other chapters so i just wanted to clear up any confusion! and like always,, thank u sm for reading and take care and stay safe!!! :)) <3