Welcome to the Family

Welcome to the Family




School was starting in a few days, and Raiden couldn't believe that he was finally starting this chapter of his life.  He was finally going to be a shinobi.  He was finally going to live his dream, even if he couldn't share it with his family.  In fact, it still pained him as much as it excited him that he was going to be a shinobi.  This was his dream, yes, but at the same time, it was also the dream of his siblings.  They would've been the proudest of him right now...

His mind was starting to wander back to a time of darkness and because it was still daylight out, Raiden didn't want to resort to his first option of drowning his mind.  So instead, he decided to pay a certain person a visit.  While on his way to the Kobiru compound, the lightning user realized that this would be the first time he'd be meeting his friend's family.  They'd been friends for a while now, yet whenever they got together, it was always for training or picking up girls.  A small part of him was kind of anxious to meet the Kobiru clan while another part was devastated and telling him that another family's happiness would just crumble what little happiness he had left.

Upon approaching the compound, the blue haired man was now debating on whether he wanted to bother Hikaru or not.  Too bad for him, he was close enough for his friend to spot him.

"Raiden!  Hey!" Hikaru's voice traveled far as he got Raiden's attention.

'Well, guess I can't back out now.' he shrugged and walked on over to the Kobiru.

"What are you doing here?" Hikaru asked.  He was a bit surprised by the sudden drop in of his friend, though it wouldn't be like him to tell him to go away.

"Well, I was in the neighborhood and was wondering where I could get some free food." He flashed his toothy grin at his friend who simply sighed.

He gave a soft chuckle and rolled his eyes.  "You have impeccable timing." He sighed, "Alright, I'm sure there will be enough.  My older brother is out on a mission, so you can have his portion."

Hikaru brought Raiden in.  It wasn't called a compound for nothing.  There were a lot of rooms, all of which were beautifully decorated.  Raiden couldn't help but to reflect upon his own apartment.  It was only big enough for one person with an additional small kitchen and tiny sitting area, but it was enough for him.  Seeing the inside of Hikaru's home had him questioning exactly how many people lived here.  He'd never asked his friend how many siblings he had for that matter.

They finally entered the kitchen which was a pretty decent size.  There was a pot of something delicious cooking on the stove while a man with short brown hair sat at the table chopping up potatoes.  He looked up as the duo entered the room.

"Hade-nii isn't going to be too happy about another mouth to feed." The man said as he continued to chop the potatoes.

Hikaru smirked and waved at him.  "No, no, no, Raiden's just visiting.  How's lunch coming along?" He asked.

"Still working on it.  There are carrots that need tending to." He pointed to the untouched carrots left on the counter.

Something flashed in Hikaru's eyes as he turned to face his friend.  "Hey, Raiden, you know how you thought you'd eat here for free?"

"Yeah," he slowly nodded.  "Wait, don't tell me there's a fee?  I promise, whatever it is, I'll pay ya back."

At that, both Kobirus in the room couldn't help but to laugh.  Hikaru recovered first and said, "No, there's no fee.  All we're asking is for some manual labor."

Raiden wiped the back of his hand across his forehead dramatically while releasing a giant sigh.  "Whew, oh man, you had me sweating there for a minute." He cracked a smile.  "Sure, I'll help."

"Great, I'm just gonna go see who's here for lunch." And with that, Hikaru left the room.

Raiden sat down next to the man who was still chopping potatoes.  He didn't know what Hikaru meant by seeing who was there for lunch.  He thought that the guy would know who was in his house or not.

Now there was only silence.  It appeared that the man he was sitting next to wasn't much of a talker, but come on!  Raiden couldn't stand silence, especially if his mind was wandering too often like it was today.  He needed something to break the rhythm of the chopping.

"So..." He spoke up, and still the guy didn't say anything.  "I don't think I caught your name."

"It's Haru." He said and continued to chop the remaining potatoes that he had left.

"Hey, Haru, have you seen Aki?" Hikaru entered the kitchen.

"Last I saw her, she was outside training.  I'll go and check." Haru got up, after finishing his last potato, and went out of the kitchen in search for their sister.

Hikaru turned to his friend.  "Hey, you'll be okay while I go search for the others, right?" He asked.

Raiden looked around at the lunch that was brewing and shrugged.  "You've got a big family, huh?"

Hikaru nodded.  "Yeah, and they never seem to be in the same place as each other."

Raiden kind of understood having younger siblings and how they were never around when you needed them.  Being the oldest in his family, he was the one that cooked and cleaned and made sure that his brothers and sisters were okay.  Though, that was a long time ago.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine.  Go ahead." He gave his friend a thumbs up and continued to chop away.  Hikaru gave him a smile and went in search of his other siblings.

Raiden wasn't left alone long, though, because as soon as Hikaru left another Kobiru came in right after him.  This time, though, it was a girl.  She was about his age with long sandy-blonde hair which was tousled around from a hard training session.  Her eyes were the same as Haru's, though hers had a sense of intensity hidden within.

This girl went straight to the fridge to grab a bottle of water and immediately guzzled it down.  Raiden had stopped his chopping as he watched her every move.  He seemed fascinated with her as she didn't even pay him any mind.  That was okay, though, because he was distracted with another thing about her.  The way she was dressed.  Now, anyone who's trained would understand that it gets hotter than hell at times which would cause clothes to be shed.  Well, from what she was wearing, it seemed that the clothes were apart of her skin, thus making them shed be impossible.  It was as if she was completely exposed in front of him without showing anything at all.

When she turned around, that's when she took notice of his presence.  He recovered and shot her toothy grin before getting up and meeting her next to the counter.  Raiden could smell sweat, metal, and a hint of something else on her skin from the closeness.

"And you are?" She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Your dream come true," he smirked.

She matched his smirk, "Funny 'cause I usually don't have dreams of blue haired, overconfident men unless they're of my older brother being defeated by my hand."

"Ouch," he made a hissing noise, out of pure fun, "perhaps we started off on the wrong foot.  My name's Raiden, and you are...?"

"Aki-chan!  Hikaru-nii is—"

Another girl came running into the kitchen.  She had snow white hair and dazzling blue eyes, which seemed to be the common theme among this family.  Unlike her sister, though, she seemed to be a bit more well kept.  Her clothes were also modest as they didn't reveal too much.

"Oh, hello." The girl acknowledged Raiden's presence.  Looking at her now, she seemed to be a few years younger than he was.

"Yes, Ayumi?  What does Hikaru want?" Aki, the sandy-blonde girl, spoke up.  It was as if she was avoiding her current conversation with him.

"Oh, uh, Hikaru-nii is looking for you." She said while shuffling her feet.  "He wanted you to help out with lunch."

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Alright, go tell him I'm here."

"Okay!" And with that, Ayumi had left the kitchen.

"Cute sister," he commented on the Kobiru who had just left.

Aki turned on her heel to glare at him.  "Watch what you say, Raiden." She hissed.

That look in her eye was both threatening and somehow attractive.  Maybe it was perhaps he was a glutton for punishment, but just getting that reaction seemed to fuel his motives even more.  "Calm down.  Don't worry, I won't do anything.  In fact, she reminds me of my younger sister, Aki-hime." He had accidentally let slip the fact he once had a family, something he never talked about even after four years.

"What did you just call me?" She hissed again.

He smirked.  "What, you don't like to be called a princess, Aki-hime?" Now, this was fun.

Her face was getting red and her eyes were becoming more and more like daggers.  Thank Kami, though, for the arrival of yet another of the Kobiru clan.  This time it was a very small girl about eight years old.  She had short brown hair and impressionable blue eyes.  She looked up at her sister and the stranger in front of her, cocking her head to the side.

Aki sighed at the sight of her sister, "Hanako..."

She was so small and innocent which Raiden couldn't help but relate to his own youngest sister.  Of course, Azuna was loud and boisterous while this girl seemed more reserved and silent, yet she shared the same eyes.  They were eyes that seemed to understand everything yet they wouldn't reveal anything even if you wanted them to.

Raiden crouched down and smiled.  "Hey there.  I'm Raiden."

Still Hanako didn't say anything.  She simply held out her hand in response.  Seeing this, he took the opportunity and shook with her, as if conveying that he understood what she wanted.  After their contact ended, Hanako walked out of the kitchen in the same direction that she came from.  Her footsteps were just as quiet as she was.

"Hey, is lunch ready?" A different voice came into the kitchen then as he turned around.  They were two more girls.  The one who spoke had short blonde hair and a cheery disposition while the other seemed to stay silently by the other girl's side.  She shared all the Kobirus' blue eyes, yet her mouth was covered by a mask, making her emotions hard to decipher.

"Just about, Yoake." Aki answered, her tone was more even now.

"Alright, we'll be back then." She smiled and both her and her sister walked out of the room.

Raiden had lost count at how many siblings Hikaru had and simply gave up.  It was obvious as to why he'd never came over seeing as how crazy as it was.  Yet, Raiden was a bit disappointed that he wasn't introduced to them earlier.  He had missed this family setting, and seeing it here again made him want it even more.  That little voice inside his head was telling him to move on, yet his heart remained in the past.  He would never be able to get over what happened, but perhaps he could replace it.

Speaking of the devil, and the devil shall come.

Hikaru had come back to the kitchen and seemed out of breath.  "Sorry about all of this, Raiden, but it's usually busy around meal time." He smirked.  "I don't know how Hade-nii handles all of us."

"Just out of curiosity, Hikaru, but how many of you are there?" Raiden was curious as to how they were all going to fit around that single table that they had.

"Well, there's Hade-nii who takes care of us.  Then there's Aki and Haru—the twins—me," he started to count on his fingers, "Ayumi, Yoake, Tento, Hanako, Jouki, Aoi, and Gin."

"Wow, eleven?" He was amazed.  This was the biggest family he'd ever seen.  "Always being surrounded by family...You're parents must be very happy."

At the mention of the words "parents", Raiden saw a sadness in his friend's eyes, though the smile was still on his face.  Hikaru gave a small nod, "Yeah, they were."

"Oh, uh, I'm so sorry.  I didn't know..." Raiden awkwardly trailed off, not really knowing why he was apologizing.

Hikaru shook his head.  "Nah, it's fine.  I mean, I know you understand."  It was true.  Hikaru did know that he went through something traumatic a few years ago, though he didn't know the details.  That's why they were the best of friends.  They just understood each other without any further means of communication.

Suddenly, the kitchen was engulfed in a cloud of pink smoke.  Everything seemed to glitter as it the smoke cleared and a grown man stood in the middle of the room with a large smile plastered on his face.  He was tall, a good five inches taller than Raiden, and had dark blue hair.  His eyes were a dark blue that held maturity and responsibility as well as a sort of playfulness.  He smiled down on Hikaru, seeing as he was the first in the man's sights.

"I guess I made it back just in time, huh?  What are you making?" He asked.

"Welcome back, Hade-nii.  Just making some curry is all." Hikaru responded.

Hade turned to see Raiden standing there.  "Oh well, well, well.  Who are you?" He turned around to his younger sister who was trying to stay clear of the conversations.  "Does he belong to you, Aki dear?  I wouldn't be surprised, you know, if you came home with a boy while I was away.  You are always trying to get back at me, huh?"

The vein in her forehead started to throb but she continued to stir the curry while adding in the chopped carrots and potatoes.  Clearly, she was ignoring him.

"Oh no, you see, he's with me." Hikaru said.

"Hikaru, really?  Hm, I never pictured you like that, but you know, you take after your big brother better than anyone else so it wouldn't be that surprising..." Hade trailed off.

"As much as I admire you, Hade-nii, it's not like that." He smiled and scratched the back of his head.  "You see, Raiden was in the neighborhood and popped in for lunch..."

Hade waved at him and smiled.  "No need to explain.  Guests are always welcomed in the Kobiru clan, even if it is just for a meal.  So then, Raiden, welcome to the family."