The winter had really come. Yamada Ryosuke thought while watching the first snow of the season fell slowly. He loved snow. It gave him the impression of purity, something he treasured but failed to find. He saw from his window on the second floor people started to walk faster, eager to reach their home as soon as possible as the air was getting colder in every second. The twilight had come a couple hours ago, and the darkness of the night had taken over. He placed his hand on the window glass surface, and blew his breath. Seeing the result of his action, he smiled. The thought to wear a thicker scarf floated in his mind when a voice called him.

“Ryosuke, come down soon.“ It’s his mother.

“A minute!” He grabbed his dark brown coat and red-strip black scarf from his closet.

When he arrived at the living room, he saw his family members had been waited.

“You’re so slow, Nii-chan,” his sister complained. He rolled his eyes at her. Sharp tongue as ever, he thought.

“Don’t begin arguing you two,” his mother reprimanded before Ryosuke could say anything. “Come on, your Dad has been waiting in the car.”

Soon, the Yamada family left. During the ride, Ryosuke did not talk much. He enjoyed watching his family converse and only gave answer when a question was pointed at him. He eyed each of them attentively. His father sat on the driver seat, looked cool as ever. He was neither a high office employee like Yuto’s dad, an Olympic athlete like Chinen’s nor a well-known musician as Keito’s. His dad was an ordinary and simple salary man.

“Don’t do thing like that again,” his mother’s voice interrupted his thought.

To his right front, he saw his mother pouted at his dad, muttering something that his father should not do. His mother was strict, he noted. Whenever he got slacking, she would never stop to lecture him until he did what he was told to.

“Mom, did you receive any letter for me this morning?” His older sister chirped in from his left side.

“Ah, I did. It’s a letter from a talent agency.”

This took his attention. Another letter from a talent agency meant that the offer for his sisters kept coming. Yamada Chihiro had made a name of herself somehow. An effect of his star-shine perhaps, he wondered. He found out, or more of informed by staff, awhile ago that some of his fans had become fond of her. Her pictures scattered all around the fans’ blog, noted as his sibling.

“Will you accept the offer this time?” from his right side, his little sister asked. The girl was a year younger than him, named as Yamada Mika. “As for me, I won’t.”

“What do you think, Ryosuke?” Chihiro looked at him. He blinked his eyes, thought that he heard it wrong. His sister was always independent and stubborn, so he never expected her to ask for his opinion.

He scratched his head, trying to gather his thought. “Eh, I don’t know. “

His sister seemed a bit disappointed, so he added, “I mean… the decision is yours, nee-chan. If you want to do it, then just do it.”

“But nee-chan,” Mika made a serious face. “If you want to do that, you have to be as bold as Ryosuke, you know.”

“Did you just say that I am bold?” Mika started to get to his nerves.

“You seemed so confident when you said ‘I love you’ during your song, despite your true-self are shy. Isn’t it bold, nii-chan?”

“It’s called professional, you know, not bold!” He pouted at Mika.

“Okay, being professionally bold then.”

“Oi, don’t insult my idol charm!”

“Enough you two,” Chihiro rubbed her temple. “You didn’t help me at all.”

Ryosuke and Mika lowered her head, “Sorry.”

His mother chuckled.

“What’s so funny, Mom?” the three of them said in unison.

“How old are you?”

The three siblings looked at each other.

“Eh… I am 20, nee-chan is 23, and Mika-chan is 19. Why?” Ryosuke answered innocently.

“That’s not what your mom meant, Ryosuke.” This time his father spoke while glancing at them trough the rear mirror. He could see the amusement on his dad’s face.

“Do you mean that we have to act our age?” Chihiro voiced out.

“Of course,” his mother turned and looked at each of them. She did not say anything for a minute.

“Mom, you creep me out,” Mika held Ryosuke’s arm.

“Ups, sorry,” she let out a chuckle once more. After awhile, she looked at them again, this time with solemn face. “I just realize that my children have grown up now. Ah, I missed your younger days.”

Ryosuke wanted to say something when his father stopped the car, “We’ve arrived.”

Ryosuke looked outside. Truth be told, he did not know where the trip headed before. Just this morning his mother told him that they would have family dinner outside later tonight. Since this was his day-off, he thought to just tag along. It seemed that they would dine at a yakiniku restaurant, a traditional one exactly. It was not too fancy, but indeed grander than the place his family usually go.

A waiter led them to a reserved table, the one with kotatsu.

“Dad, why are we eating here? Isn’t it expensive?” Ryosuke muttered his question so that the waiter did not hear him.

His father who sat at the table head, which is at Rysouke’s left side, gave him a knowing smile, “Just enjoy it.”

Their menu has arrived when his mother cleared .

“Before we eat, your dad wants to say something.”

Mr. Yamada directed his eyes to Ryosuke. “Ryosuke,” he called.

“Eh? Wh- what is it Dad?” Ryosuke saw that all eyes were directed to him. He started to get nervous.

“Actually, this dinner is for you.”

“For me?” Ryosuke’s eyes widened. “But… what is it for?”

“We haven’t celebrated your coming of age properly, so although it’s very late, our families want to make it up to you.”

Ryosuke was stunned. He was not expecting anything from his family for his birthday which was more than six months ago. Moreover, his schedule for the past months was so tight that he barely had time for his family. So if anyone had to make it up, it should be him, right?

“But…you have given me the birthday gift before,” he said at last.

Yes, he had received a bottle of wine from his father and a photo-book from his mother and sisters. The messages they wrote rendered him speechless at that exact moment. That was indeed more than enough for him.

“Ne, Ryosuke, the birthday gift is another thing, but celebrating your turning adult is a must, you know,” Chihiro replied.

“We have planned it for a long time. So nii-chan, what do you think?” Mika looked at him expectantly.

Ryosuke could not say anything. He looked at his family, each one of them.

His Dad. He just noticed the wrinkle on his face had become more prominent. He might be an ordinary man for the world, but he was a loving and caring man. When he dealt with hard times, his father would take him for an idly walk, offering a silent reassurance.

His Mom. She looked strict, but it always about his own goodness. He remembered how she would never stop blaming herself every time his works getting difficult. He could not forget how her teary eyes look at his exhausted form.

Chihiro, his older sister. They had so many fights over anything, but she was a hard worker. She never once used his idol-career for her advantage. She even defended him when her friend badmouthed Ryosuke. He would never know that if not for his mother. She protected him without him knowing.

Mika, his little sister. A person he wanted to pamper, but she was too independent that he was worried about losing his role as her older brother. A boyish and sharp-tongue girl, but whenever he was down, she never failed to lift him up by sending him encouragement messages.

Yamada family, his family. The family that…

“Nii-chan? At least say something,” Mika pouted.

The feeling overwhelmed him. The words stuck in his throat. So instead saying, he was showing his gratefulness. He bowed his head as low as he could. Tears started to pour from his eyes.

“Ryosuke!”

“Nii-chan!”

He could hear their surprised gasped. He could hear his father asked him to rise himself. When he did not move, the silence took over.

A certain question from his previous interview floated back.

What is the thing you treasure most?

The answer was always been clear.

“Thank you for everything.” Ryosuke managed to utter the words.

My family.