"Toya-kun, would you please take this up to Sakura-chan? She didn't come down for dinner," Fujitoka asked, holding out a plate of fried rice. Toya looked up from his magazine and groaned.
"I don't think she deserves dinner if she won't come down to get it," he replied, turning a page.
"Toya," his father warned.
"Fine," he said with a sigh. "I'll take it up to the little monster." He pushed his chair out from the table and flipped his magazine shut. He took the plate and made his way upstairs to his little sister's room and knocked on the door.
When there was no answer he knocked more loudly.
"Oi, Sakura," he said irritably. When he still heard no reply he rolled his eyes and opened the door.
"I've brought you dinner, monster." He caught sight of her, then. She was sitting on her bed hugging a teddy-bear to her chest. Her eyes were red and watery, and her lips trembled slightly as he watched. "Hey, Sakura. What's the matter?" he asked tenderly.
She just shook her head sadly and ducked her head, pressing her face into the teddy-bear.
Toya put the plate down on her desk, then sat down next to her on the bed. He tousled her hair a little.
"What's wrong, imouto?"
She determinedly kept her head down, and Toya gathered her up onto his lap. He rubbed her back slowly as she moved herself to get more comfortable. She sat facing him, legs to the side of his, her face turned into the crook of his neck, and one arm wrapped around his back, the other still clutching the teddy-bear.
Toya was at a loss as to what to say or do. His little sister so rarely cried, or was even unhappy around him. It was even more rare for her to allow herself to be vulnerable like this in front of him. He simply continued rubbing her back until her sobs began to subside, at which point she pulled back and looked up at him.
She looked so forlorn that Toya had a sudden conviction to punch whoever had made his little sister cry.
"Thank you, nii-san," she said softly.
Without really realising what he was doing, he leant forward and kissed her forehead. He put a little pressure on her shoulders, and she hugged him close again, her head turned to the side.
"Why were you crying, Sakura?"
She sniffed quietly and hugged him tighter. "Syaoran-kun," she whispered, barely loud enough for Toya to catch what she said.
"Mm," was the only reply Toya made. He should've known. After all, the brat had only left a few days ago, it was natural that Sakura should be missing him by now. He wondered briefly if she had cried herself to sleep for the past few nights, neither he nor their father any the wiser for all their only being a couple of walls away.
"I won't be able to see him for a long time. Maybe I'll never see him again," she said. Her voice was the smallest, most fragile he'd ever heard it.
"What are you saying? Of course you'll see him again," he replied, then added with a chuckle, "even if I have to go to Hong Kong and drag him back myself."
He felt her laugh lightly, and was glad to have made her feel better, even if it was only a little bit.
"Anyway, didn't the brat promise you that he'd be back once he finished with what he was doing in Hong Kong? That was all you were talking about on the way home from the bus stop."
"Yes," she replied. After a slight pause, she asked, "Nii-san?"
"Mm?"
"You don't like Syaoran-kun, do you?"
Toya stopped his circular motion on her back for a moment before beginning again.
"What do you mean? Of course I like him," he said.
Sakura pulled back and looked him in the eye. He was pleased to see that some of her usual spark was present on her features.
"No, you don't. I can tell."
"I..." Toya trailed off, seeing that she wouldn't take anything but the truth for an answer. "You're right, I don't. Do you know why?"
Sakura shook her head, and looked expectant.
"It's because he wants to take my little sister from me, and I want to keep her for as long as I can." He touched his nose to hers and shook his head a few times, letting his nose slide to each side of hers. She giggled, and hugged him around the neck when he sat back.
"That's stupid, nii-san. You'll always have me. No one could take me away, I'd miss you too much!" She reached up and kissed his cheek, and Toya felt his face get warm.
"Ah, you say that now, but what will you do when Syaoran-kun wants to marry you and take you away to Hong Kong?"
"Um... you and Dad could come with us!"
Toya laughed at that. "But what about Yukito and Tomoyo-chan and all your other friends? Won't you miss them?"
"They could come, too!"
"So, you want everyone you love to come to Hong Kong with you so that you can move there with Syaoran-kun?"
Sakura looked hard at thought, and Toya saved her from answering by laughing.
"Never mind, imouto. The truth is, someday you will be with someone, and maybe it'll be Syaoran-kun and maybe it won't, but you'll be willing to leave everyone else behind because you'll love them more than anyone else, even me and Dad."
Sakura considered this, and seemed to accept it easily enough. She gave him a happy smile and hugged him tight again. When she sat back Toya looked at his watch.
"It's late, you should go to sleep. Sorry about your dinner. It must be cold by now."
Sakura slipped off his lap and sat beside him on the bed.
"That's okay. I'm not hungry."
"I'll take it back downstairs then." He stood and grabbed the plate on his way to the door. "See you in the morning, little monster."
Sakura, who had crawled into bed by that point, tossed a pillow in his general direction. He moved out of the way and it hit the door frame.
"Good night, imouto."
"Good night, nii-san." Just as Toya was closing the door he heard a soft, "Thank you," from his little sister's room.
Toya smiled, glad that, if only just, he was still among the top contenders vying for Sakura's affections.
A/N: I had my sister beta this for me, and she said that it people would perceive the fic as being Toya/Sakura. It's not. This fic is in no way meant to be sexual, romantic, or anything other than evidence of the platonic affection between Sakura and Toya, and just how much he cares about her. I hope there are still people out there in the fandom that can read a fic about affectionate siblings and not immediately assume there's something going on between them.
But then again, my sister just may have made me unduly paranoid, as she tends to be rather cynical about these things. Heh.
By the way, 'imouto' means 'little sister'.