ZANE, MEET THE ASHIDA FAMILY

CHAPTER 5 / POST-DAWN

ZANE

I placed down my phone, sighing. Them and their fangirling... glancing back at Nana I carried her upstairs and put her into her bed upstairs. I'd left her house, locking the door behind me, crossed the unusual eerie road, avoiding Garroth (who was sitting in the main room) as I got home, and began packing for the next week. 

I have to say, Garroth is too nosy. He honestly doesn't take simple things seriously, he chooses to over-complicate to an extent that messes everything up. Once I'd finished, I rolled my suitcase behind me, down the stairs, walked over to the kitchen, made two sandwiches and covered them in foil for the time being. Meanwhile, Laurance (who must've swapped places with Garroth) was watching me, probably bored or something like that. 

"Zane...what's the suitcase for?" Laurance asked, to my surprise, drawing his face away from his beloved phone, his hands were guarding. 

I shrugged, keeping my eyes on what I was doing. "Nana asked me to join her to see her family for Christmas. I packed my suitcase, so we can leave tomorrow." I answered, swinging my backpack on my back, grabbing my coat, and getting ready to leave the house.

"Okay, good luck with her parents then," Laurance said turning to his phone, "How many siblings does she have?" he asked.

"She has 11 siblings," I said without thinking, I honestly knew I shouldn't have told him that.

He shifted in his seat, and then made eye contact with me. "11? And I thought two was a lot! But 11!? Have you met them before?" Laurance, he practically screeched.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head violently. "Why do you think we're going?" I said sarcastically. "So, okay, bye." He gave a slight wave to me, and I closed the door behind me, pulling my suitcase across the road. 

The street seemed eerily quiet, as if there were countless pairs of eyes, watching me as I walked, back to Nana's place.

NANA

I woke up, finding Zane asleep next to me, early the next morning. Although he was fast asleep, he looked so peaceful. I could've stayed up and packed for tomorrow, or I could go back to sleep. I chose to go back to bed, I'm a meif~wa, and meif~wa can't function without sleep in the first place.

Instead of a bad dream that night, it was a more happy, more cheerful dream. Where Zane and I live happily ever after.

~

I jolted up from my bed, no, not another bad dream or whatever, but just a bad reflex I get. Glancing over to the left side of the bed, Zane was sitting on the edge of the bed, on his phone. I pinched myself to check I wasn't dreaming. And to make sure Zane was real and not my infinite imagination, I flicked him. 

"Oww! Nana!" he yelled, as the pain hit his arm. I giggled and kissed him on the cheek.

"How was your night?" I asked him.

"It was great. That was the best sleep I've had in years. But, I also had a really awkward dream," Zane answered, turning around to glance at me.

I made a face, "You did too? I think I did have that same kind of dream as well. We must've had the same dream." I replied.

"You know... I don't think we were the only ones who had that dream..." he said, pointing to the window, which faced into Aphmau and Aaron's bedroom. I spun my head around, whacking Zane with my hair. At the window, Aphmau and Aaron were waving at us. I pulled down my ears forcefully and slid back into the bed. 

Just before Zane was going to speak, my phone buzzed. "Let's just hope it's not another annoying group chat." Zane sighed.

"What do you mean another?" I asked him, and he made eye contact with me, as he passed my phone over so I could answer it.

"Nothing," he mumbled as I checked through the texts. Such as Aaron's birthday wishes from everyone in the main group chat. Zane kissed me on the cheek and offered to make breakfast as I finished packing my things, and we went to help Aphmau set up Aaron's surprise birthday party. 

Luckily, Zane had already packed his suitcase, the night before, and it was waiting for us in the foyer. Once I'd gotten myself dressed and was chucking my clothes into my suitcase, I got a call from my mum and answered it reluctantly. 

"Hello Mum, how are you?" I asked.

"Hi Nee, it's good to hear from you," my mother, Alanna Ashida replied. "I wanted to know if you were coming for the Christmas dinner. You got the invitation that your sister sent, right? Did she send it through to your place?"

"Yeah, she did. I've got it here. Yes, I'm coming to the dinner. And I'll be bringing my boyfriend. We're leaving tonight."

"Which boyfriend? Dante, Damien?"

"No, none of them. I've been dating another guy for three years now. His name is Zane."

"Okay, it's nice to know you're coming I'll see you tomorrow then. Oh, by the way, does he call you Nana or that other name, Kawaii~Chan was it?" 

"He calls me Nana."

"Have you met his family yet?"

"Yes. He's got two brothers and his parents are kind. His mother is very enthusiastic. My friends and I are very close with the three brothers."

"Anyway, I've gotta go. Zane's making breakfast."

"Lovely. See you tomorrow honey."

"Bye."

Zane was in the kitchen, he was dressed in his daily clothes and he was making blueberry pancakes, his specialty. Yum! Zane's blueberry pancakes are the best, I've never been able to master that recipe. 

"I heard you speaking upstairs. Is everything alright?" Zane asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. My mum called..." I sighed. Just the kind of thing to ruin today, "She called asking if I'm coming to the reunion thingy. Then I mentioned you and she began asking questions, what if she's assuming something bad?"

ZANE

She looked a little sad. Nana, sad? That's an emotion I've always wanted her to avoid. She's never sad. Her mother had called, and she said they were talking about me.

"Then, why do you have a frown on your face, if you were talking about me?" She jumped off the counter and gave me a tight hug.

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANNA LOSE YOU! YOU'RE MY EVERYTHING! I LOVE YOU ZANE!" she cried and began crying in my arms.

After she had calmed down and we had our pancakes and headed over to Aph's place. Once she welcomed us in, there was still a lot to do before 12. She handed us decorations and we quickly and efficiently put them up. 

Melissa had taken Aaron and Alexander to visit their childhood home and visit their parent's grave. Garroth and Laurance arrived a few minutes after Nana and I along with, Lucinda, Kim, Dante, the Shadow Knights, and the Pup Trio - Dottie, Daniel & Rylan. We all worked together to finish setting it up.

When Aaron and Melissa arrived back, we all hid and wished him a happy birthday and celebrated. The many decorations around the place were red and mainly Aaron's favourite things.

Around 6, Nana and I grabbed our stuff, packed our luggage into my car and began the three-hour drive to Nana's hometown.

WORD COUNT: 1217