Kaito was confused. Of course, he wasn't about to admit this to anyone but he desperately needed help. He had approached whom he thought seemed like the love of his 18-years of life and she had decided not to break his heart. But now what? What did one do on a date with the Ice Queen, Rio Kamishiro? He had promised to be waiting for her just outside of Heartland Academy at exactly 7:30 in the night which gave him about 5 hours to prepare himself. And at this rate, he would most likely waste them all wondering.
At this moment, a young boy wandered into the room, his blue hair tousled from rough play and his body sweaty. Frisbee was a hard game to play! He had gotten his Father to play with him since Kaito had seemed just a bit preoccupied. "Nii-san?"
"Mmhmm…" The boy began to jot things down on the tablet in front of him with a long stylus. It was then that Haruto noticed that Orbital 7 was nowhere to be seen. That was strange, Orbital was more of a constant companion to his brother than the robot he actually was.
"Nii-san!" He said, louder this time, poking his older brother's hand. This time, the older boy noticed, slapping his hand over the screen to hide whatever he had been writing. As keen as usual, Haruto did not allow the action to go unnoticed and tried to hold back the goofy grin that threatened to split across his face. Instead, he put on the expression, originally his Father's that he had labeled his "serious look". Whenever he was making a call or talking in a conference, he used that expression. It seemed to symbolize a no-nonsense kind of personality, which was exactly what Haruto wanted to convey at the moment.
"I thought that you were playing with Tou-san Haruto…" Kaito ventured cautiously. He knew full well what Haruto's expression meant and yet, it scared him to some extent. If you could call that uneasy feeling being scared. Was it so obvious that even his younger brother understood what was going on?
"I was but he had to take a call," Haruto replied maturely. "And what about you Nii-san? Were you working on something?"
Only the years that it had taken for Kaito to train himself against emotions saved him as he faced the young boy. "Nothing important. Did you need something?"
"Doesn't planning a first date count as something important?" Haruto would definitely make for a good interrogator if he ever decided to go down that path in the future. Kaito debated whether or not to tell another speed-lie or give in. The second option made much more sense as he removed his hand from over the tablet and sighed.
"You're a smart kid Haruto," In truth, it really wasn't surprising that Haruto had already heard about his and Rio's relationship. Finally exposed once more to the outside world after such a long period of time in the darkness, Haruto craved novelty and somehow managed to grasp ahold of most of the gossip that flew around the city. His own brother would be an easy task. "You're big brother is just a little confused right now," Kaito adopted the usual gentle tone that he usually took with his brother.
"Because of Kamishiro Rio-san?" The boy abandoned his seriousness for a grin, "She's really nice!"
"Yes she is…" Kaito ventured, knowing that Haruto was leading him on.
"Then you have to be super nice to her on your date and make everything perfect!" He had fallen right into Haruto's trap. Jumping up on the chair next to Kaito's, the young boy peeked over at the tablet that Kaito had previously been writing on and sighed. The only things there were a title and a single blank bullet point. It was then that it occurred to him that though his older brother was in fact 18 years of age, he had really never been on a date before. In fact, Kaito seemed to keep his interaction with people, specifically females at a minimum. "Nii-san… You need help!"
Kaito's eyes widened. "Help?" There was no way that he was going to ask someone for help! Especially on a topic as embarrassing as this!
"I know exactly who to call!" Haruto beamed and pulled a light blue tinted duel gazer out of his pocket. It had been a present from his Father when both he and Kaito had begun to teach the younger boy how to duel. Quickly scrolling through his contact list and finding the proper code, Haruto clicked the call button before his brother was able to talk him out of it.
"Hello?" The voice that responded at the other end was deep and yet, not rough. Just the opposite in fact as it seemed smooth and rolling in a calming kind of way. Moving the device farther away from him so that his whole face was visable, Haruto beamed.
"Hi Chris-san!"
"Oh Haruto-kun! It's nice to see you. Did you need something?"
Haruto shook his head. "I don't but Nii-san does! Can you give him some relationship advice Chris-san?" There was a period of silence in which Haruto continued to grin and Christopher stared at him, blinking somewhat rapidly in surprise. As characteristic of him however, he quickly recovered, clearing his throat once.
"Well Haruto-kun that is an unusual request that I am not well suited to answer. However allow me to get my brothers. Perhaps they will be able to answer it," His face moved away from the camera and he raised his voice just a bit. "Thomas! Michael!"
There was a bit of a crackling sound as a boy with red and yellow hair burst onto the screen. "I heard everything Kaito! I will teach you the art of fanservice!"
