1"Kanae Onee-chan!"
"KANAE ONEE-CHAN!"
Kanae grimaced as she ran to the door of her separate room in the Kotonami household, before the horde descended upon her. As she glanced to her left, she quickly threw the candy she had been holding as her younger brothers came barreling up on her side. Momentarily distracted, they ran after the candy and left her to continue her dash.
Coming upon the door, she desperately tried to unlock it with her key card, cursing the LME president as she did so.
"Damn you, president. Making me come home to my family for New Years as one of my LoveMe jobs!"
With the door opened, the last of her comment was picked up by her eldest brother who had been snacking at the table near the door.
"Ah, Kanae. Welcome! If this is a LoveMe job, does that mean we get to see you in that pink jumpsuit?"
Kanae glared at him as she barred the door behind her.
"How'd you get in? I changed the locks the last time I was home!"
"I have my ways, besides the main house is too full for everyone."
"Uggh."
"Look! We even got you a present! An electric fireplace to keep your room nice and cozy." He added, pointing at the little heater beside him, fake flames flickering behind the glass.
"You mean you were cold and installed a fireplace without letting me know."
"Maybe." He responded, shrugging.
"Sigh. Are mom and dad away again?"
"Yeah. They had to work this evening. They'll be devastated they missed you again."
"Maybe next time." Kanae muttered as she turned to go put her bag away.
As she stepped past the table there was a big SQUELCH as she felt her sock become damp from whatever it was she had stepped on.
"Uggh, what is this?" She asked, turning back to her brother.
"Oh! That's just the mittens. The kids were playing in the bit of snow that had fallen earlier and got them all wet. So I thought they could dry out in here near the fire."
"Could you at least hang them up? Why are they lying on the floor?"
"I didn't really think that far."
Shaking her head, Kanae proceeded to pick up the several pairs of mittens and lay them on hangers near the fire, as well as clean up the mess near the table and her bed. After putting away her things, she took a deep breath and went to brave the mob, knowing Lory had issued her an order to interact with her family while she was there. She also had to take pictures to prove it.
Several hours later, Kanae laid down exhausted after playing with her younger siblings, nieces and nephews until they were worn out, and then later a round of cards with her older siblings. Pulling up the pictures that she had taken on her phone, she thought about the night. While it had been crazy, a part of her had missed the crazy loud mess that was her family when she was alone in her apartment. As she lay in bed and listened to the sounds of her family moving about the house she thought, "As much as I hate being here, maybe family isn't so bad sometimes."
A/N: Here's my mini one-shot for the Winter Writing Challenge organized by ncisduckie! My words were mittens, family and fireplace. I hope you enjoyed it, I decided to challenge myself to write a non-KyokoRen story for once. Wishing everyone all the best for 2021, hopefully you have had a good January so far!