Once at the airport’s parking lot, Takehiko was still sound asleep on his seat, his long locks covering most of his face. Ocean, careful to not make too much noise, killed the engine and slowly got out. He took from his pocket a soft pack of cigarettes, tapped one out and placed it right between his lips. He leaned against the car’s bonnet, cupped his hand to protect the flame from the light air and lit the cigarette. His chest happily filled with much-needed nicotine as trails of smoke escaped his nostrils. 

This rare moment of stillness was absolutely necessary, the day had already been way too troublesome. The nightmare that had taken his quiet sleep away, Ayaka being the usual headache with an extra dose of madness for today’s trip, and now this: the unexpected sleeping teen in the passenger’s seat of his Mini. 

He turned around to have a good look. Long brown hair, not quite curly but with a certain kink to it, was framing Takehiko’s slim face, flooding up to shoulders, big round eyes and high cheekbones were neatly decorating his five o’clock shadow. Smashed pimples and tiny moles galore. Thin, heart-shaped lips. Unlike his nearly transparent and elfin sister, Takehiko was tanned and of respectable height, somewhere around 5’7’’, give or take. Definitely not a bad sight for Ocean’s weary eyes.

When his smoke was over, he tapped lively on the window. "Oi, sleepyhead. Wake up!" Takehiko almost immediately reacted by opening his dark brown eyes and looked around, still half asleep. When he noticed Ocean waving, he opened the door and got out.

"Shall we?" Ocean said and locked the car with a single click of his key. He started speeding up towards the entrance, Takehiko following him closely. 

As per usual for this time of the day, there were so many people in the plaza and the departures, not all of them necessarily preparing for a flight. Families hugging, couples kissing, small children running and people chasing right after them. After several minutes of frantically looking around, Ocean stopped without notice, making Takehiko prang with him.

"What happened?" 

"I found her!"

At a distance, there was a petite young girl with a short black bob and a strictly-cut fringe, standing and nervously staring at a departures board, her red suitcase right next to her impatiently tapping Mary Janes. Her knitted red cardigan was loosely hanging over her shoulders, while her wrinkly, flowery sundress was swaying around to the rhythm of her feet. The thin lines between her sparse eyebrows were telltales of her agitation.

"We should probably not let her wait any longer, like. Come and don't let her see ya!" Ocean instructed and headed towards the girl, addressing her with a suggestive voice. "My, my, Aya, what’s with that puss?"

"I’ve got no time for you, you prick!" Ayaka hooted in distress, craned her neck and looked daggers at Ocean. "Where have you been? What took you so long? Where's my fucking package? The plane leaves in less than an hour, I have to go and check in right at this very moment! I’ll never get through security on time at this point! What if I miss my flight?"

"Ah, here, listen, you’ll be grand. There was a wee bit of traffic on the way. Your package is right here, isn't it?" Ocean said and moved out of the way, revealing a very-hard-trying-to-hide-his-chuckles Takehiko.

"Také!” Ayaka shouted astonished. “What in the world are you doing here?" 

"Surprise!" said Takehiko with a wide smile and a shy ta-dah.

"Oh, Také, you wanker, you're supposed to be home!"

"Supposed to? I'm not supposed to be doing anything! I'm on bloody holidays!"

"You idiot! You were supposed to be home because I was supposed to be the one surprising you! Not the other way around! What am I going to do now?"

"Change the date of the flight?" Ocean asked, interrupting the eventful reunion of the two siblings.

After a brief moment of pause, Ayaka replied, "Well… I suppose I could give it a go, not that I have much of a choice anyway… Také, how long will you be staying?"

"Umm," Takehiko began, "I planned on staying for a couple of days... I know you must be terribly busy with your projects and all, so I don't want to be too much of a bother-"

Ayaka scoffed at him loudly. "You went through all of this trouble just for a couple of days? Listen, how about you stay until the end of the week and we fly back together on Saturday?"

"What are you talking about, Aya? Last-minute weekend plane tickets are way too expensive. Mum’s going to be furious when she finds out how much money we’ve both spent!" Takehiko protested. "If you want, we can take the train, just like I was going to. I can change my ticket for free and yours won’t be more than fifty quid."

"The train? You mean the new one that goes directly to London?”

“Yeah, that’s how I came.”

“How long did that take?”

Takehiko gave this a moment of thought. “Well, Brighton to London was the usual hour, then one hour for the security lines in St Pancras. Then about four hours to Rotterdam, which was quite cool I must say, and about another half for Leiden. Don’t know from here though, probably fas-”

“Six bloody hours of sitting on your arse?” Ayaka shouted from the top of her lungs. Then, seeing several heads turning, she cleared her throat and added in a normal manner, “Are you seriously considering making me go through that sort of terror? What kind of brother are you?"

"A reasonable one. It's not that bad, really. Flying’s about the same when you think about it. If only I could get a proper motorbike though, travelling across Europe would be a total game-changer, but with dad being the way he is, I'd never get that."

"A motorbike? Why? Do you think you'll look like a cool movie star or something? Most of those things are at least double your size, you shrimp!"

"Like you're the one to talk, you freaking hobbit-"

The siblings kept on quarrelling for a good three minutes, a flood of curses and insults, most of them referring to each other’s height or eating habits. Ocean was watching closely, his efforts of keeping a straight face meaningless. He knew very well that Ayaka was a handful on her own, but now, seeing her with her brother, he could only imagine the horror their parents would have to go through whenever both of them were around.

"I've decided, you’re staying until Saturday and we’re going to at least ask for plane tickets! You can't say no! Don't make me angry!" the young girl demanded, raising her finger in front of her brother's nose, leaving him no further option.

"Fine," Takehiko grunted and pushed his sister's slim finger away indifferently.

"Oh, come on! Be a little enthusiastic! We’ll be going on a trip together, for fuck’s sake. Let's go!"

❦

It didn't take long for the siblings to return. It seemed that everything had worked out between them as well since both were looking very content and were vividly talking to each other.

"And what did she put in there? Please, please, please tell me there's cake! Pleeeaaase!" Ayaka shrieked, shaking her brother's arm.

"Dunno, probably," Takehiko replied. "We could figure it out once we get back to your place, yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess... But that can wait for a little bit longer. I'm far too excited to go back right now. Ocean," said Ayaka, addressing her blond friend. "Since we’re all here, would you mind joining us for coffee?"

"Coffee?” Ocean snickered. “I thought you were the tea type of gal."

"Coffee, tea, whatever! Just hang out for a bit, you know what I mean!"

"Jesus, my ears will need some rest after today! But, please. I’m game. I’d kill for a cuppa right now, like. Especially with such a fine company! So go ahead and order anything you want. It's on me."

"See? You can be sweet sometimes,” Ayaka said with a subtle smile. “You should try that more often. Girls appreciate it. Especially a certain someone..."

"Duly noted,” he quickly dismissed her and proposed, “Now, how about the shop near the front exit of the plaza? It looks rather snug."

And so it was decided. They stepped into the café, ordered their drinks and by the time they sat down, a lively conversation had already taken place. Takehiko was sitting close to Ayaka, a hot steamy cup of hazelnut-smelling coffee warming his palms, watching his sister chatting with her friend. 

"Oh, I'm very proud of you Ocean," said Ayaka with a soft voice, patting her friend's arm. "You managed to be a proper human today. So good for you. I’ll text Miranda tonight about your heroic adventures."

"Ah sure, you know yourself," Ocean said and let his arm dangle behind the chair. "It's too much for today, d’y’know like? I'm knackered. Can I go back to being an arse, please? I'll try again tomorrow. You have my word."

"See what I'm going through every single day?" Ayaka complained to Takehiko, shaking her head. "Oh brother, if only you were here to put some sense in his empty head!"

"Oh yes, please, laddie," added Ocean in a high-pitched voice, trying to imitate Ayaka’s accent. "Hurry up and throw this shitehead bastard to the bottomless depths of hell!"

Takehiko was trying his best to follow, confused with whether to laugh at Ocean's spot-on impersonation or get angry and defend his sister. His widened eyes were bouncing from one person to the other like a table tennis ball. He opened his mouth, tried to reply, but no sound managed to come out. Amused by his reaction, Ocean cracked up, raising Ayaka's fury just a little bit higher.

"As you can see, little brother," said Ayaka close to Takehiko's ear after cutting her eyes at Ocean, "this guy right here is a complete mess. A proper raggamuffin. All gangly and scruffy, I do wonder what all those girls he brings over at his place see in him. He drinks, he parties, he stays up all night making sure the whole block hears him and all of his floozies. Never appreciating the good ones. Poor Miranda... Have you ever had a steady relationship in your entire life, you bozo?" she raised her voice, clearly addressing Ocean.

"Who cares about steady when you have Tinder?" said Ocean with a sneer. “I don’t need such a thing, like. Perhaps one day so, if it’s worth enough. For now, I mostly prefer simple, rampant one-night stands, like. What can I say? I'm a complicated lad myself."

"Complicated my arse!" the young girl cried and let out an irritated puff, making Ocean laugh with great satisfaction. "You're nothing but a Casanova!" Her delicate face had turned a deep shade of red.

Takehiko was surprised by his sister’s words. He had never heard her talk like that to anyone, let alone the people she considered friends. He wondered why but decided to let it slip. They would have the whole night to themselves to gossip after all. He rubbed her shoulder to comfort her instead. "Calm down, sis. That's pretty harsh words to say," and turning to Ocean, “He looks like an alright chap to me. He paid for this brew, he’s alright in my books.” 

Ocean listened calmly while Takehiko was singing his praises, but gradually gave out a guilty half-smile and awkwardly ran his skinny long fingers through his greasy hair, in a desperate effort to comb them. "Harsh words for the average peeps, my skin is thicker than your sister's tiny head. Generally speaking... yeah, I do tend to treat people very poorly. Never called Miranda back and probably never will, for example. But your sister… No. I would never harm her. Right, Ayaka? You're my one and only beloved princess."

"My head is not tiny," Ayaka mouthed and squeezed her brother’s arm tight. "You suck. I will never like you."

"Well, I hopes you won't! If you start feckin liking me, I'll end up with no life goals!" Ocean said and pulled her chair closer with his foot. "What am I going to do without you?"

"Choke and die, you ugly fuck."

"That is... probably true. But what will you do without me? Won't you cry?"

"I will live happily ever after!"

"Not even one single tear?"

"Not one!"

"Then I will die a very peaceful death," said Ocean and smiled widely.