The cicadas were chirping a deafening tune on this late summers eve as they silently made their trip to Umi's grave. Thankfully for Junko, the cemetery was completely barren of the living aside from those she came with. Her naturally light green eyes peered below a looming black hood, coming in direct contact with the lettering scrolled along the stone marker; Umi Tateyama.

It had been a year already, but in that moment Junko took to close her eyes, it was as if no time had passed, and nothing changed at all. She could still hear her older sisters voice as clear as ever, calling out in that sweet tone she always had.

"Jun-chan, let's play a game together~!"

The thought brought a solemn smile to her face, thinking back on the fun they used to have as kids, everything was always lively, everything was always a game. She remembered how Umi would always convince everyone to play hide and go seek when Junko was feeling down, knowing full well it was a game she could always win with a power like hers.

Gripping tightly on the bouquet of wild flowers - Umi's favorite, Junko fought to stay composed, feeling a rising pain in her throat. But as the boys came up behind her, she choked down any rising tears, not wanting to be the crybaby they would surely call her.

It was never the same since she had passed. Umi was the stitching that held the kids together. Keisuke learned a lot from her growing up. The two could spend hours on the hard wood floor, clutching crayons and coming up with the most vibrant combination of colors possible. This creativity impacted Keisuke and inspired his colorful fashion sense. The boy with the multicolored hair looked like a rainbow next to his grey brother and sister.

Per usual, Keisuke trailed slightly behind the two. His eyes darting like a mad man taking in all the scenery around him. The emerald trees and deep blue sky with small blotches of white clouds eased the Tsuchiya boy's mind and awoke an inner peace that brought a small smile to his face.

"You're not crying are you?" Keisuke asked as he placed a hand on Junko's shoulder.

It's been a full year. One year since Umi left this world and onto the next. None of them could believe it was actually true until they stood in front of her grave. Junko lead the group, as usual to the grave. Keeping his head down Kantaro placed his scarf over his mouth and just touching the tip of his nose as they walked closer and closer to their beloved sister. Looking off to the sides as he walked he could just barely read the names on the graves. " Yuji Konishi. Akeno Higashiyama. Hideki Otomo. Fujimaro Takara." Kantaro read the names on the graves in his head, wondering how every single one of them had died, and if they were still visited by the ones they loved.

Junko had eventually stopped and bent down with flowers in hand. That could only mean one thing. They arrived. Keeping his head down, he shifted his eyes up towards the grave reading Umi Tateyama. "Umi Tateyama. Umi Tateyama. Umi Tateyama..." Kantaro kept repeating the name in his head. Putting his hands in his pockets and clenching his fists, the dark haired boy looked back down to the dirt trail once more remembering one of the memories with Umi. It was Kantaro and Keisuke in the living room, Kantaro had taken away the teddy bear that Keisuke was holding and when Keisuke started demanding it back Kantaro got annoyed and slowly began freezing the poor stuffed bear with his hands. In the corner of young Kantaro's eyes he could see Junko run out of the room and slam the door behind her, which quickly after led to Umi bursting open the door and scolding Kantaro for stealing the bear Keisuke was playing with. "Taro-kun give back that toy! It's not nice to take things away from others, remember?" It annoyed Kantaro how quickly Umi was to take the side of Keisuke but he let go not wanting to upset his older sister and walked out of the room only to see Junko behind Umi's back. Was it Kantaro's fault Umi had died? Was it again his fault another life was taken? Kantaro clenched his fist just a while long before easing up.

Kantaro let out a faint sigh under his scarf looking back up again to see Keisuke putting his arm on Junko's shoulder. "Was she crying?" Kantaro thought. She had every right to cry, the world had taken away their sister without a word. Just one day vanished and announced dead. It wasn't fair, it never would be fair. Is this the will of the so called mighty God? If so, God couldn't be a good God, to just ruin the lives of everyone that person surrounded. Kantaro opened his mouth, wanting to say something comforting but nothing came to mind, just a faint noise that led to another sigh as he looked on at his other two siblings.

The sudden warmth of a hand placed on her shoulder was enough to make the snowy haired girl tense. Afraid to show her face quite yet, she turned her head and rubbed her eyes on the sleeve of her sweater. "N-no...." Junko muttered in reply in a not so convincing tone. Keeping her head lowered, she reached out to brush a hand across the dirtied stone. "I just miss her..." What a selfish thing to say, she thought. It wasn't only Junko that missed her, they all did, they were all feeling the pain of such a loss.

Finally turning her face toward Keisuke, those cheeks of hers a bit red from getting worked up so quickly, she offered him a faint smile. "I'm glad we came." Batting away any residing tears from the corner of her eyes, Junko stepped to the side and knelt down beside the grave. Folding her legs beneath her she let her head rest against the cold stone, watching the boys deliver their offerings to Umi as well.

"I wonder if she's here... watching us now?" She asked lightly, looking around in all directions as if maybe to catch a glimpse. It wasn't like she had gotten her hopes up, but somehow Junko felt disappointed that she couldn't sense a presence of their older sister. But trying not to become swept up in it, she averted her attention to Kantaro. "You made her food, didn't you?" She guessed, assessing the expressions on his solemn face. She had been so busy all morning picking wildflowers in the forest that she hadn't arrived back at home until it was time to go, so she wasn't sure what the others brought as offerings. But it was just an assumption with Kantaro, simply because Umi would encourage his cooking so often in the past.

Keisuke watched as his sister placed the assortment of flowers down at the grave and shortly after added his own offering. It was a small jade figure carved in the shape of a bird. It was something that caught his eye while the trio were in town one evening. He wasn't sure why but something about it really caught his eye. There was an aura about it that kept the attention of the boy who found it hard to focus on anything for more than a few seconds. The little jade bird rested next to the flowers, resting on one of it's outstretched wings while the other pointed to the sky. A cool breeze swiftly rushed by the siblings, Keisuke felt that it was Umi's way of saying thank you.

"She's always with us. As long as we remember she'll always be right behind us, making sure we behave." Keisuke assured his sister. The boy stood back up and stretched his arms to the sky with a small yawn. He had gotten plenty of sleep but something about the world around them made him want to lay down and dream. He focused his attention back to the headstone. Though the three of them had all lost someone near to their heart, their half sister's departure seemed to have more of an impact, at least on Keisuke. His attention focused to his golden hair that began to sway gently with the breeze. Umi was telling him to smile.

Lost in his own thoughts Kantaro had completely spaced out thinking about the past. Looking back up again Junko was directing her attention towards him. "You made her food, didn't you?" the white haired girl asked. That was right, Kantaro got caught up and completely forgot that he had brought Umi's favorite dish along with him as an offering, even knowing it wouldn't be eaten Kantaro would return in a few days to clean the dish and return home with it. "Mmm." Kantaro responded, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a covered up green bowl with the face of a frog on it. It was Umi's favorite along with it being her rice bowl. Inside the bowl was curry. Umi's favorite thing that Kantaro made. To most you wouldn't notice but it was made a special way, the potatoes were cut into smaller pieces and shaped into little hearts. Kantaro did this for nobody but Umi.

Bending down, he placed the little frog bowl by the grave, which he then followed up with a prayer by putting his hands together near his face and closing his eyes. "Don't forget your prayer before and after eating, huh? Taking a few steps back, Kantaro looked over the grave. A little bird statue, flowers, and a bowl of curry still warm and ready to eat sat at her grave. It still killed Kantaro inside to read the name Umi Tateyama on the headstone. Putting his hands back into his pockets he directed his attention at the other two. "Ready to leave whenever you two are." he said in a lowered voice.

Silently she watched the boys, observing their every move and registering every struggle and emotion in their eyes. It was almost hard to watch Taro pray before her headstone, the tremor in his hands clearly noticeable. He was holding back...

... they all were.

Nobody knew how to wear their emotions since Umi left, and it was impossible to tell how the three were handling it. Junko was one to take it the worst, playing her disappearing act for nearly two months before finally showing herself to the rest of the household. "Upset" wasn't even a word to describe Junko's feeling when tragedy fell, she was a wreck and completely withdrew from the whole family - only occasionally heard, but never seen.

When Taro mention leaving, Junko grew tense. "Already?" Her voice a bit defensive. But from the looks on the boys faces she knew they didn't want to dally in a place like this. "Could we maybe take the long way home...?" She asked cautiously while coming to her feet and dusting off her backside.

It was likely they would know why she would make such a request. The long way home passed right through the park, the park they used to play in on summer days such as this. Walking over to Keisuke, she tugged on the end of his shirt, giving him a sad look with her big aqua green eyes. "Please?"

Kantaro was a bit shocked the way Junko had responded. He didn't want to sound impatient or bored, he just didn't want to see the others in as much pain as he was. "Sorry..." Kantaro whispered shifting his eyes towards the ground and to the right. This wasn't the usual behavior of the boy, he usually would speak his mind more clearly and isn't afraid to speak the truth no matter how harsh it would be, but it was like he was an entirely different person when it came to Umi, and even worse after her passing.

"The park? It's been a while since we've all went there." Kantaro thought. Even though he'd prefer making the trip back home to move on to the next day, he didn't want to bring the mood down from everyone even more. "I don't mind." Kantaro spoke clearly. Turning his attention to the entrance, then back to the others. "I'll be waiting by the gate... once it's decided I'll just follow along." he said. "As usual..." he said into his scarf so nobody could hear and began walking towards the gate, once again keeping his head down.

As he passed once more he read the names in his head once again " Fujimaro Takara. Hideki Otomo. Akeno Higashiyama. Yuji Konishi." This time the boy had stopped after that last grave and gave them all a quick prayer. Kantaro had no idea who any of those people were, let alone if they were good or bad people. The dead has earned their respect and Kantaro made sure they got it, at least from somebody. After quickly praying it was long before he reached the gate. Pressing his back up against the iron bars, he shoved his hands back into his pockets and waited for the others to arrive.

A soft smile ran across Keisuke's face. "Of course we can." the two siblings began retracing their steps back to the gate where Kantaro was waiting for them. Keisuke watched the sky while Junko trailed along as closely as possible. Keisuke placed his arm around Junko's shoulder as the two met up with Kantaro at the gate. "Maybe you two should lead. You know I'll just get us lost." Keisuke laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. It was true though, for all his intelligence, he was awful with directions and could never remember his way home. It was embarrassing so he would tell everyone he was merely wandering when in actuality, he was completely lost.