The Family Secret

By. Tate Icasa

AN: I posted this. . .and realized I forgot the disclaimer. . .yea, they ain't mine. . .do you really think I'd be writing fanfiction if they were?

Chapter One

Taori

"Taori Higurashi!" says an exasperated voice above my head. "Get up!"

I moan and roll over, trying to bury my head in blankets, but they are pulled away.

"Taori!" the voice exclaims.

I open my eyes a slit, just in time to see a figure throw open the blinds. It is my best friend, Amiya. She doesn't have a last name. Neither do her parents, or her older brother, Shoko.

Amiya and I are 14 and 15, respectively, but Shoko is 17. He looks like he's twenty. Our familiy's have been friends since before I was born. They all met when they were younger, and were all exploring the world.

Dad's still an explorer, so are Amiya and Shoko's parents, but they don't travel together. Dad manages to come home once a month, despite all this. Amiya's family is always around when Dad shows up, at least a day before, and at least a day after.

Most of the time they stay in our house. We all live in this house. It's been in our family for generations. By all of us, I mean Mom, Grandma, Great-Grandpa, Uncle S, and me.

A pillow hits me in the side of the head. "Oi! I'm up! I'm up!" I say, lifting my head.

Amiya grins triuphantly at me and tosses me a lilac colored skirt and shirt set. She crosses the room to the mirror and begins to brush her long brown, while I change.

I stop quickly to run a brush through my tangled black hair. I have to look my best, Dad is coming tonight. I blink at my reflection. I'm the mirror image of my mother. That's what everyone tell me. Our faces are similarly set, and we have the same complection. Both of my parents have long black hair and brown eyes, and so do I.

I glance over at Amiya, and I'm startled to see that she's already changed into the pink and green outfit she usually wears. She says it used to be her mothers. I believe her, her mother usually wears an identical outfit.

"C'mon, Taori," she says, "Your mom said breakfast was almost ready!" She grabs me by the arm and starts pulling me out of the room.

"Amiya!" I protest, trying to pull away, but she has a very strong grip and won't let go. Finally, I surrender and just follow her downstairs.

"Good morning, girls!" Mom says cheerfully when we come into the kitchen. She sets two more plates down on the nearly full table. I count them. Six plates. That means Grandma, Great-Grandpa, and Uncle S won't be joining us this morning. I'm kind of disappointed, I love talking to Uncle S, he's really fun.

" 'Morning Mom," I says, sitting down.

Amiya curtsies and murmurs a greeting before she sits down next to me. I roll my eyes.

Amiya's parents come in from the yard. Amiya's mom is wearing an outfit identical to Amiya's, and they look like twins. Her father is wearing his usual black and purple robes. I hardly think anything of it now, but when I was younger I thought it was weird for a grown man to wear robes like that. But mom says that's how lots of people dress where he's from. She's never told me where that is, and I've never asked.

Shoko comes in from the spare bedroom, yawning. He's wearing his usual tan colored shirt and black pants. They look old fashioned, but I don't say anything. It doesn't do any good, I can never get a rise out of Shoko.

"Mom?" I ask. "When's dad going to get here?"

Mom looks at me. "I don't know. You know how your father is."

I roll my eyes again and Amiya elbows me in the ribs.

Once everyone is seated we begin to eat. Mom's made eggs, bacon, and pancakes, so we're all basically silent as we eat.

It's pretty much a lazy day at home, it's summer, so after breakfast Amiya, Shoko and I go for a walk around town.

A few moths ago, I asked Shoko why he didn't just drive us around, and that's when I found out he couldn't drive! His family moves around so much he's never bothered to learn. That's what I was told, but I think it sounds Fishy.

A lot of times I see and hear Fishy Things, though. That's what I've taken to calling them. Things that don't seem right, or something. Sometimes, I think they're all hiding something from me.

Anyway, we're just walking around town. There's nothing particularly interesting about our town, except the Shrine in our back yard, but I'm not allowed to get there.

We walk to the park, and Amiya agrees to teach me how to use a boomerang. She carries two wooden boomerangs tied to her waist. One has a red stripe on it and the other has a blue stripe. She carries them around everywhere, for protection she says. And because, according to her, her mom has a huge boomerang, about the size of a person. I don't believe that, I've never seen a boomerang that big.

Shoko sits on a bench, watching us, all morning. He never says a word. But around noon he snatches the boomerangs out of the air and pints to the sun. He doesn't say a word, he never does. I can't even remember hearing his voice. Amiya says he isn't a Mute, he just doesn't like to talk.

Well, we can all see that the sun is almost as far in the sky as it can get, and I realize we're all probably starving, so, since I'm the only one with any money, I buy us all some snacks. We haven't even finished eating when my cell phone rings.

A few minutes later, I'm barreling up main street towards my house.

AN: Can you tell me who's who? Give me guesses in your reviews. Cookies to those who get them all right! maniacal, slightly unnerving grin.