章 20: Aiko's Surprise Visit, All According To Plan

That night, Riku sat in front of the doorway, eagerly waiting for his brother to arrive home. While he thought of going home with his brother, he assumed that they probably have club activities after classes.

Since he didn't want to pressure his brother, he decided to go home first. Instead, he would wait for his brother's arrival and congratulate him once again.

"What are you doing?" Their mom curiously asked upon noticing his stillness by the doorway.

"Waiting for Sota-nii." With a simple response, he discouraged his mom from asking more questions. 'I hope he gets home soon. I have so much to tell him.' He told himself.

Shrugging her shoulders, her mom headed to the kitchen with a smile on her face. Although she had no idea why her two sons were acting that way, she was just elated to see their vibrant and high-spirited expressions that day.

"Now that I think about it... didn't he bring his sling bag to school? I wonder why..." She asked herself, making a mental note to indirectly ask her son about it.

Cling~!

As the sound of the gate echoed from outside, Riku perked up, standing in front of the door. Then the sliding wooden door opened, and in came Sota with a hint of exhaustion evident on his face.

"Welcome back, Sota-nii!" His brother greeted.

"Ah, Riku, what are you doing by the door?" Sota casually asked as he removed his shoes.

"I was waiting for you! I want to show you something." Riku excitedly said as he pulled out his phone. He then unlocked it and showed Sota a video.

At the thumbnail, Sota already knew what his brother was going to show him. Then again, he wasn't surprised. He was more curious to see his form rather than scolding his brother for invading his privacy.

"Here, look! I think your form was even more solid. But you're using your shoulders too much. If you activate your back more, you'll get more power." Riku pointed out. "Still, your strength alone is enough for your crazy bullet pass."

"I see... yeah, you're right," Sota muttered to himself. "But I have to use more of my shoulders so I wouldn't put too much pressure on my legs... then again, I don't need to improve my form, I'm not joining the flag football club anyway." He said to his brother.

Upon saying that, Sota excused himself and retired to his room. "I guess I could just... yeah, let's just join the art or drama club or something," Sota muttered to himself.

Notwithstanding his resolve, Sota's mind kept repeating the throw that he did during the match. It was such a satisfying throw that brought the touchdown. A miracle that gave Seiryuu High a fighting chance.

"Sota, dinner's ready!"

Sota's thoughts were interrupted by his mom calling him downstairs. After bolting upright, he answered. "Coming Mom!"

"Now that I think about it... I didn't go to the gym today..." Sota trailed off, wondering if he could go later or something.

— — — — —

The next morning,

Sota woke up to the sound of his alarm clock, causing him to stir as he pulled himself up from his bed. After his morning routine, he decided to go down to brush his teeth first before eating breakfast.

It was a miracle that he woke up to his alarm today, so he had enough time to prepare for school.

Groggily, he walked downstairs, almost missing a step but he managed to catch himself before completely falling over. He headed to the restroom without saying good morning to his mom.

Then again, he was still in his pajamas. If he were to go to the dining area, he knew he wouldn't be able to resist the urge to eat breakfast right then and there.

When he reached the door leading to the bathroom, he noticed that his mom was happily laughing while cooking. It was early in the morning, and this was the first time he heard his mom laugh heartily like that.

"It's probably Riku... wait, he's usually jogging at this time, right? Did he decide to help Mom with breakfast?" Sota asked. Still, that didn't explain why her mom was laughing.

Additionally, he knew that her mom didn't usually call someone during this time, so it was impossible that she was talking with someone over the phone. "Besides, Dad should still be asleep. I wonder why she's laughing." He told himself, shrugging his shoulders.

After brushing his teeth, he decided to sneakily go to the kitchen, curious as to why his mom was talking and laughing. The sun had just risen, so having a visitor is out of the question.

As he approached the kitchen, he heard voices. He could tell that his mom was definitely talking to someone, and it certainly wasn't Riku since he was usually out jogging at this time. Curiosity piqued, and Sota peeked into the kitchen.

That's when he noticed a familiar figure, cooking pancakes beside his mother. Her vibrant nature still leaked out albeit at an early time of day. It was hard to pick up what they were talking about, but what was even harder to accept was the fact that she was right there!

"Aiko?! What are you doing here?" Sota's soul almost leaped out of his body as he revealed himself. His hair was still stuck on top of his head, and his oversized baggy pajamas were poorly wrapped around his lean body.

His grogginess vanished in an instant, but he still rubbed his eyes just in case he was still in the middle of a dream. But after pinching himself for the third time, he realized that what he was seeing right now wasn't a dream.

"Ah, er... good morning, Sota! Hehe~" Aiko let out an awkward chuckle before flipping another pancake.

"She was waiting outside, so I invited her for breakfast, provided she helped me prepare, of course." Sota's mom winked. She couldn't believe that the two of them were already on a first-name basis. For starters, she would just keep her composure for now and then interrogate her son later.

"I wanted to catch you before school... and I live nearby... so I dropped by." Aiko let out. Well, her original plan was to wait for him so they could go to school together. Who'd have thought that she'd get a free breakfast in the process.

Speechless, Sota just stared at Aiko and his mom. There were a hundred questions in his mind and he had no idea where to start.

"Uh... surprise? Ahaha~" Aiko tried to break the silence, making it even more awkward.