It happened a week or so after the annual new year representation of the theatre club.

"A scout?" Etsuko echoed, her voice tinted with excitement as she served her youngest son some salad.

Akihito gave a mute nod. He brought a tomato to his mouth. If not for the gleam in his eyes, no one would have known how excited he was.

"Oh my, isn't that great, honey?" she cheered, happily beaming at her husband, who sat beside her. "Why didn't you tell us sooner? You must have received his card after the representation, right?" she fired away, leaving her dish for later as she eagerly awaited her oldest's answer.

Akihito hummed, he swallowed before rinsing his mouth. "I wanted to make sure, Mako-chan said that it might be a scam," he paused. "Aunty agreed."

Etsuko pursed her lip in a pout. She was about to complain when her husband interrupted her.

"It's good that you made friends, but you should tell us first when it comes to important things," Shigeru reminded, carefully wiping his mouth off the sauce.

Etsuko gave a firm nod at her husband's words.

"Nevertheless, I'm happy for you, Akihito," he congratulated, a ghost of a smile hovering his usually blank face. "Do you still have the man's card?"

Akihito mutely nodded. "Should I bring it now? Or after dinner?" he questioned. The fact that he needed to ask whether or not he could bring it out now showed just how excited the teen was.

Nonetheless, Shigeru shook his head. "We should eat first, we don't want to dirty it and," he paused, his gaze resting on his wife's restless figure. His eyes considerably softened, he chuckled. "If we bring it out now, I know some people who will wake up in the middle of the night to snack."

Both Akihito and Tetsuya's eyes slid to look at their mother's reddening cheeks.

"I-I wouldn't!"

Shigeru hummed. "Of course you wouldn't, I was only saying," he readily complied.

Etsuko huffed, she rolled her eyes, before helping herself to another serving of lamb stew. "Someone else wants some?"

Tetsuya mutely drew his plate closer to her. He gave a small nod. "Please," he politely agreed. Tetsuya's sweet tooth was well known by the family. It came as no surprise that Apicius styled dishes were his favorite.

Seeing her youngest son eat her cooking with gusto, Etsuko simpered. "Sure, Tetsuya," she said, pulling his plate to give him another serving. "Mother? Honey? Akihito?" she asked, looking at her stepmother, husband, and son in turn.

The retired woman silently shook her head at the offer. Shigeru gave a silent nod of approval while Akihito thanked his mother for the offer but refused nonetheless.

The dinner time resumed in peaceful silence.

"What about you, Tetsuya-kun?" the older woman asked as she set her cutlery aside. "Has anything happened at school?" she inquired, discreetly asking her oldest grandson for some more water.

Tetsuya's hands paused mid-air before he set his fork down. He wiped his greasy lips, rinsed his mouth before looking at his interlocutor.

"Well, we qualified for the preliminaries," he began, his eyes darting to look at his older brother for any repulsed reaction. After all, it was no secret that basketball was the source of their quarrel and estranged relationship. If possible, Tetsuya wanted to avoid plummeting the atmosphere with his brother around.

Seeing that Akihito calmly ate and cut his meat, unconcerned, Tetsuya resumed. He felt mildly discouraged by the lack of interest his brother displayed. It was kind of lonely, but he brushed it off.

"Also, Head Coach Shirogane— the First String's coach," Tetsuya's eyes keenly caught the disgusted light in his brother's eyes at the mention of the First String. He felt his heart swell with some kind of indescribable joy, Akihito wasn't ignoring him after all. "Said he would retire, we should welcome our new coach tomorrow, I think," he explained.

"Oh my, Coach Shirogane is retiring?" Etsuko exclaimed. "That's a shame. He was a great coach from what I saw," she lamented.

Tetsuya gave a nod of agreement. "He fell ill not long after we won our second championship. It will be hard for him to return to coaching."

Granny Kuroko nodded along with the youngest's words. "Well, he isn't young anymore, us elderly need to be careful, lest we break a bone or two," she joked before sipping on her water cup.

Tetsuya hummed. "You're probably right, grandma," he agreed. "So you have to be careful, we don't want you to break anything," he reminded, his lips gently curling up into a light smile as he gazed at the older woman.

"Now, now, Tetsuya-kun, no need to worry about this old lady, I can take care of myself," she dismissed with a careless wave of her hand. "If anything, Etsuko-chan's the one who needs to be careful!" she joked.

"Wha— why me, Mother?"

Granny Kuroko looked at Etsuko up and down. "Well, you're always running around, taking care of us and the house while I, this old woman, am lying around doing nothing," she answered matter of factly.

"Don't say that Mother, you are making yourself seem like a burden," Shigure corrected, his voice a bit frostier than usual.

Etsuko nodded along. "That's right, Mother. You always help me around the house!" she protested.

Akihito half-heartedly listened to his family's banter. His focus was elsewhere. On one hand, he thought of the offer the scout had made, on the other, he thought back on Hanamiya's request.

Mildly lost in his daydream, Akihito soon finished his plate. He was only 90% full, but he had grown up learning that he shouldn't eat until he was fully satiated. Silently wiping his lips and folding his paper napkin, he habitually rinsed his mouth with water before clearing the table of his plate and eating utensils.

Looking around, it seemed like he was the last one. His brother's plate was missing, showing that Tetsuya had already cleared his place, and the dishes were stored away.

He mutely walked to the sink. From the living room, he heard his mother call out to him, most probably because she wanted to see the scout's card.

His eyes met Tetsuya's blue irises. He silently rinsed his plate off the sauce before storing it in the dishwashing machine. As usual, when both siblings were alone, silence permeated the air.

And as usual, although Akihito was the oldest, he made no effort to start up the conversation.

Tetsuya mutely emptied his plate in the trash can. He wasn't a fan of salad, and his mother had given him more than the amount his body could tolerate on a daily basis. Following Akihito's movement, he rinsed the plate before putting it in the dishwasher.

His blue eyes followed Akihito's figure as he went to wash his hands before drying them with one of the kitchen rags.

Tetsuya took in a deep breath, quickly wiping his wet hands against his pants, he went to tug on his brother's sleeve.

Their eyes met, silence.

"Congratulation, Akihito-nii-san."

Akihito's eyes minutely narrowed in confusion, before they flashed with understanding. His lips curled up in a ghost of a smile and his gaze on the slightly shorter boy softened.

He hummed, his hand automatically reaching out to rest on Tetsuya's similarly colored hair.

"Thanks, Tetsuya," he acknowledged.

Tetsuya's heart swelled with joy. How long had it been since Akihito spoke to him with so much tenderness? He simpered.

Akihito's eyes fell on Tetsuya's hands as he stepped back. "You should wash your hands before joining us in the living room," he said, not noticing how normal, courteous, their talk was compared to usual.

Tetsuya nodded. "Okay, Nii-san."

Akihito's eyes crinkled. As he walked to the living room, he felt much lighter than usual, as if a weight was momentarily taken off his shoulders.

He wondered if he could always feel as light and happy one day.