"I'm home!" The familiar phrase echoed through the apartment, and Mary immediately perked up, dropping the paper flowers she was making and trotting to the door to greet her friend.

Seto stood in the doorway, balancing with one hand against the wall while he unlaced his sneakers. But he wasn't alone.

"Oh, hey!" Seto's face lit up as he noticed her in the hallway, and he straightened up, pointing a thumb at their visitor. "This is Takashi. You've heard me talk about him, right?" Mary had heard the name come up once or twice when Seto was talking about work, but not often enough to remember anything specific.

She peered up at the stranger. He was tall, taller than Seto, with brown hair and a confident expression. He wore a shirt with a store's logo on it, one Mary realized she'd seen Seto wear before too. It must be their uniform. Suddenly shy, she found herself unable to speak.

Takashi waved at her. "Hi there! Wow, your little sister is really cute."

She puffed up her cheeks and waited for Seto to correct him, but he just chuckled and slapped him on the shoulder in a joking manner, and said, "are you going to hit on my entire family? Really, now."

It seemed Takashi had a bit of a reputation from the way he said it, but Mary didn't feel at ease. She trailed the two into the kitchen as Seto cupped his hand around his mouth and called out, "Hey, Kido! I brought a friend to eat dinner with us!"

Kano was draped across the couch when they walked in, and he rolled off it in one fluid motion, somehow ending with his boots firmly planted on the carpet. "You have friends?" he said, voice dry, eyes raking up and down the newcomer curiously.

Seto rolled his eyes, and Takashi looked both uncomfortable and intrigued by the attention. "This is my brother Kano. And Mary is the one you've already met, of course."

Takashi shot her a twinkling smile, and Mary felt her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment. He turned back to Seto, lifting an eyebrow. "You talk about them all the time, I feel like I already know them. Now it's just putting faces to the names."

Clearly he didn't talk about them enough if this guy thought Mary was his sister.

Kano, meanwhile, had stepped close, popping his head between the two and putting his arms around them both. It was a comical image, since they were both so much taller than him, but he craned his neck to look at Takashi. "We don't usually get guests," he stated, obviously waiting for an explanation.

Seto peeled Kano's arm off his shoulders. "Takashi's apartment is getting some work done, so he can't use his stove. I offered to let him come eat with us. Behave, okay?" His voice was lighthearted, and Kano wasn't the sort you could order around, but he seemed to listen, quickly releasing Takashi from his grasp.

"Dinner's ready," Kido said from the doorway, and Takashi jumped a foot in the air, not having noticed her come in. The other three were used to it by now, and just moved into the kitchen to eat. Kido stopped Mary as she walked past, and gave her a searching look. She seemed to be the only one aware that Mary had been on edge since they'd come into the room. But she just adjusted the small girl's ribbon and then shooed her after the others.

During dinner, it only seemed to get worst. Takashi seemed to have a sunny personality, but he only really talked to Seto and ignored the others, despite Kano doing his best to be strange and distracting. At one point, Takashi was laughing at something Seto said, and he grabbed the black haired boy's wrist where it sat on the table. Mary felt a bit lightheaded.

She looked up, and Kano was watching her from across the table. He waggled his eyebrows, but somehow Mary didn't feel like he was making fun of her. She breathed deeply, shifting her posture, and then froze as she realized everyone else was looking at her.

"H-huh?" she asked, tearing her eyes from Kano's amused expression.

"I asked you how your day was," Seto prompted, smiling at her, and she suddenly felt selfish and rude.

"It was okay. I worked on my flowers," she replied her voice quiet. Kano kicked her under the table, and her head flew up to stare at him, eyes wide. He jerked his head at Takashi, challenging her. She swallowed, then squared her shoulders. "Also, I'm not your sister," she told Seto sternly.

He laughed, reaching over to ruffle her bangs, and the world snapped into place, everything moving properly again. "I know that," he said, teasing.

The rest of dinner was uneventful, though by the end of it Takashi had touched Seto's arm no less than eight times, and once had punched his shoulder, which if Mary's observations of Kido and Kano were any indication, was a sign of Great Romance. Mary was putting most of her energy into being quietly miserable.

When Takashi finally stood up to go, they followed him to the door to say goodbye. He shook Kido's hand very seriously, clapped Kano on the shoulder, and came over to rest his hand on Mary's shoulder.

"It was good to meet you, not-sister," he said, cheerful, before turning to say goodbye to Seto, which seemed to take a good deal longer than it really should. They waved, and shut the door after him when he was out of sight.

"Wow," Kano said immediately, sliding up next to Seto. "When's the wedding?"

Seto frowned at him, lost. "What do you mean?"

Kido groaned, her capacity for stupidity already exceeded for the day. "He was hanging over you all evening. Did you tell him we were going to be there, or did he think it was going to be just you two?"

Finally getting it, Seto laughed, scratching at the back of his head. "I think you guys have it all wrong. Takashi's just an affectionate guy. He's like that with everyone at work, you know."

Kido didn't seem convinced, and Mary finally found the courage to speak up. "He kept touching you," she complained, and Seto shifted from one foot to the other, doubtful.

"You could find out for sure, you know," Kano teased, and they all knew what he meant, but Seto shook his head.

"It doesn't matter," he said, "we're friends. If he has feelings for me, he'll tell me. And that's the end of it, okay?" he looked at his friends until Mary, at least, looked down in shame. The other two just shrugged and left the room.

Seto sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Are you going to bed?" he asked Mary. She hadn't been thinking of it, but she nodded. "Wanna join me? I'm exhausted."

"Yeah!" she replied, "let me go dressed." She hurried off to get her pajamas, trying hard not to think about how this might have to change.

…

Later that night as she was trying to fall asleep, nestled against his chest, she began to wonder if Seto's word on Takashi really meant anything. He thought that his intentions were purely platonic, and he seemed convinced of it, but… Mary frowned as it came together in her mind. He thought this was completely platonic, somehow, though she had no idea how he was still able to maintain that idea.

"Seto," she whispered in the dark, and he must have been half asleep because he shifted and made a confused sound, feeling around in front of him until he located her as the source of the noise.

"Hm?" he said finally, fully awake.

She wasn't sure what she wanted to ask, and she bit her lip, pressing her forehead against his shirt as she thought. He ran his hands through his hair idly, maybe trying to calm her. "I think he does have a crush on you," she said finally, remembering the other boy's bright smile at dinner.

He breathed out, a deep sigh that stirred the hair on the top of her head, and she shivered. "Would that be bad? He's just a person. Mary, you read those books all the time. It's not wrong for a boy to like another boy." His voice was gentle, like he was explaining simple math to a child.

Mary wanted to shout, to scream, to pull out her hair. Was that what he was rejecting? Of course none of them were bothered by that, by the fact that Takashi was a boy. They just didn't want some outsider to take him away.

And that was the truth of the matter, of course. Takashi had never had to deal with the harsh world that they had, and the others resented him for it. Mary knew she was jealous, jealous that anyone might ever be as important to Seto as she was. But Kido and Kano had looked at him suspiciously too, so she wasn't alone. All of them clung to each other, depending on the shared experience of past pain to hold them close. Seto, somehow, amazingly, always seemed okay in the rest of the world in ways that the others couldn't manage. And they were afraid of losing him.

Mary wasn't aware she'd said the last part out loud until he crushed her against his chest in a hug. "You're not gonna lose me," he replied fiercely, "none of you are. You're my family, right?"

Mary felt her heart sink, but it was better than nothing. "Right," she whispered.

"And I'm not going anywhere," he said, as if that settled the matter. It didn't, but Mary felt a little bit better. After a few more minutes, it seemed like he'd fallen back asleep, and she let her eyes close as well.

…

Days later, and Kano was still asking Seto about 'dear Takashi' every day when he came home from work. Mary was trying to forget about the entire thing, so she was already prickly and irritated when Seto replied midly, "actually, I'm hanging out with him tomorrow after our shift."

Kano put his hand over his mouth in an exaggerated 'oh my' fashion, and Mary gripped the table's edge. "He's coming here?" she asked, indignant.

"No, we're going out to eat I think," he reassured her.

"Going out, or going out out?" Kano teased, recovering quickly, but Seto was already getting up to put his plate by the sink.

Mary didn't feel very reassured.

…

In fact, Mary was on edge for most of the next day. The time that Seto would have come home came and went, and she planted herself in the couch by the door. She tried to concentrate on making her flowers, but the blossoms kept going wrong under her fingers, making mockeries of the pretty plants they were supposed to resemble.

She dropped yet another failure onto her lap, her eyes burning bright with tears, and pressed her palms against her eye sockets, trying to chase away the feeling. It was stupid to cry over a paper flower. She was such an idiot.

She was taking deep breaths to calm herself when she heard footsteps on the path, and sprung to her feet, forcing herself to walk slowly to the door. Outside she could hear voices.

"Thanks for comin' out with me."

That was Takashi, and Mary felt her nose wrinkle in distaste. He was nothing but kind, and yet his voice made her stomach curdle in dislike.

"Yeah, it was fun! You know, we should—ah—"

There was a dull thud, like someone punching the door but heavier, and Seto's voice was cut off. Mary's head snapped up and she stared at the door, not sure what she'd just heard. Had he tripped? Had something fallen, had—

She didn't realize she'd crept close to the door until she was all but pressed against it, and it was only because she was so close that she heard the gasp. Her mind filled in the rest; she'd read enough comics to picture it, Seto's back probably pressed against the door as Takashi kissed him. Her face went red at the thought and she seized the doorknob, though she couldn't make herself turn it.

The seconds stretched on, and then she heard Seto's voice, more panicky than she'd heard him since the last time she'd cried. "Wait, wait," he gasped, and she hadn't noticed the door being pushed inward with his weight, but it moved slightly as he pushed off of it.

Instantly apologetic, Takashi was speaking. "Was that too fast? Or, I guess this is kinda public, I'm sorry…"

"No, it's not that, I—" Seto drew in a deep breath, and Mary clung to the doorknob. "I didn't think you felt that way about me. I would have been more clear if I'd known." It sounded like he'd had time to think over what he'd wanted to say, and Mary hoped it wasn't too obvious that he'd at least suspected.

Relief coursed through her, and she felt mean, so she released the doorknob and made her way back to the couch, collapsing onto it and picking up the failed flower from before. She couldn't concentrate, but she couldn't hear what they were saying either, so she tried to tune out the murmur of voices for the next few minutes.

Soon than expected, the door opened, and Seto came in alone, dropping down next to her with a sigh. Seeing the tired lines around his eyes, Mary knew she couldn't admit to eavesdropping. She put down the flower and climbed into his lap, dimly aware that he always sought contact with her when he needed comfort. "Was work bad today?" she asked finally, fighting to keep her voice neutral. She stared at her knees.

"Something like that," he mumbled, grinding the heel of one palm into his eye. After a second, he lowered his hand. "Mary, do you think I'm clueless?"

She took her time to reply, playing with the fabric of her skirt. Did she? Well, yes. But that wasn't something that was easy to say. While she thought, he was speaking again.

"I don't know if Takashi will want to be my friend anymore. I didn't want to bring it up in case that happened, so I just pretended like it didn't exist." He paused, then added quietly, "I keep thinking, what if we fight? What if it's not the same afterwards? What if I lose one of my best friends?"

Mary frowned, pinching down on the fabric so hard she pinched the skin of her leg as well. "Takashi's one of you're best friends?"

He laughed, a little wildly. "No, he's not." It took Mary a moment to catch up, a moment to patch together that he wasn't talking about Takashi anymore. "We can't do this forever," he told her as she perched on his lap like a child, and he sounded tired.

Mary pinched herself harder, looking up to make eye contact with him. "You can't be afraid to try," she said finally. It was vague enough that if he wasn't talking about her, if he wasn't talking about the two of them, she could still back out of it.

The words seem to reach him though, and the corner of his mouth tilted up, not one of his wide smiles that she loved, but close enough. "Guess I gotta be brave, huh?"

He took one of her hands, squeezing it, and she struggled to breathe evenly. "I don't want you to just be my sister," he confessed, and it wasn't much, but she nodded.

"I don't want that either. I don't want you to go on dates with other people. I don't want— I don't want other people to kiss you." Now that she'd started talking, the words were tumbling out of her mouth, and there was no way he didn't know she had been eavesdropping.

He frowned. "You heard that."

She nodded, trying not to let any more unintended words fall out. He sighed, and let go of her hand, and for one second the world screeched to a halt before his hand was on the side of her face, his thumb rubbing her cheek.

"I don't really want anyone else to kiss me either," he confessed.

"Oh," seemed to be all she could say, but then he was leaning down to kiss her and she didn't have to say anything at all. It was such a little thing, when they'd spent so much time together, but Mary couldn't breathe, and curled her toes against the fabric of the couch, twisting her hands in the collar of his shirt to hold on.

It was true that they couldn't do this forever, but they could do this for now, and they could even fool themselves into thinking it was enough.