I wanted to write Momo and Shintaro being dork siblings and ended up with this. Kind of more than what I intentionally wanted, but hey, I think this version is better. Now, to write that thing for a certain day in August… /crawls under rock
Kagerou Project belongs to Jin.
"Onii-chan, you're so slow! Hurry up!"
"I'm not as young you are, Momo," Shintaro wheezed, stopping to catch his breath for a bit. They were heading towards the park for a "playdate", as Ayano had described it. She wanted for their siblings to interact, and she basically begged for him to come. He reluctantly caved in, but he wasn't exactly sure as to why. However, they were walking to that location at that moment, and there was no backing out now.
"You're only two years older than me!" His sister pouted, putting her hands on her hips with style. She was a peculiar kid, but he never bothered to think more of it. "Didn't you want to hurry up anyway? Is it because you wanted to see your girlfriend?"
"Ayano's not – she's not my girlfriend!" Shintaro retorted, trying to catch up to his sister. Momo only laughed, a teasing look crossing her face. Quickly, he said, "Besides, we left the house late, and they're probably there by now! We would have been there on time if you didn't take so long to pick some clothes!"
"You have to make an impression on people!" Momo skipped towards the nearing park, which gave Shintaro a bit of relief. They were finally there after a five minute walk. He felt like he was going to collapse! His sister hung onto the fence, waiting for her big brother to catch up. As he passed by, she jumped off, saying, "You know, that red jersey isn't going to get you anywhere in your relationship!"
"For the last time, I'm not going out with Ayano!" This made him angry, of course, but there was some part of him that wished it was kind of true. However, he couldn't say that out loud in front of his sister, so he kept quiet and kept a straight face as they neared the playground.
It was easy to spot her on the bench. Ayano was wearing a sun dress, but she still kept on her signature red scarf and hairclips. It blew softly in the wind as they came closer, and for some reason, Shintaro thought it had a mystical power to sense him. Of course, he dismissed that quickly, because the logic just didn't make sense for his advanced brain.
Her siblings that she always talked about were all running around the playground, and it was quite a sight to see them. It was the beginning of summer, and it was extremely hot, but they played as if the heat did not bother them. The black haired boy – which Shintaro assumed was Kousuke from Ayano's description – was being chased around by the blonde one, who he remembered was Shuuya. Then, out of nowhere, a green haired girl appeared, and Shintaro could only remember her name being Tsubomi before he began questioning where she came from.
"Shintaro, Momo!" Ayano had noticed them and waved, and Shintaro could only give a weak nod. She was smiling as always, and maybe it was the heat getting to his head, but Shintaro found that smile quite nice. As they got near the bench, Ayano called for her three siblings, and almost immediately, they came near.
"Everyone, this is Shintaro!" Ayano gestured to the boy, and he only waved weakly. Then Ayano motioned to Momo, saying, "This is Momo! She's Shintaro's little sister, and she's going to be playing with you. Be nice to her, okay?"
All eyes turned to the girl, and Shintaro could have sworn that his sister's eyes went red for a second before returning to their regular color. She clung onto her brother's arm as she realized what had happened, losing her bright attitude fast as they kept staring.
"Uh…nice to meet you!" The blonde kid quickly extended his hand towards her, hoping to lighten up the mood. Momo shook it slowly, still unsure about the group of kids. "I'm Shuuya! This is my brother Kousuke, and this is my sister Tsubomi!"
"S – sister?!" Momo let out a gasp as she looked at the girl with surprise. "I didn't see you there!"
"Ah, she's been there for a while!" Shuuya replied, watching Tsubomi's eyes go to the ground. Quickly, he added, "Well, since we're at a playground, we might as well play, right? Let's play tag!"
"Tag sounds fun!" Kousuke chimed in, a small growing quickly on his face. Beside him, Tsubomi nodded, signaling that it was okay to start the game.
"Let's see…Momo's it!"
The three siblings ran away quickly, and Momo was quick to register what they had said.
"H – hey! I'm going to get you!" The girl ran towards them rapidly, and loud shrieking and squealing followed.
Shintaro sighed, sitting down next to Ayano. He tried to keep some distance between them, but that wasn't going to happen. Ayano sat closer, and she began to start a conversation as always.
"Ah, your sister's so cute!" Ayano exclaimed, grinning towards the boy. "I can't believe that they're going to start middle school soon!"
"And I can't believe we're starting high school after summer," Shintaro replied, rolling his eyes at the comment. "Really, for a bunch of soon – to – be middle school students, they sure enjoy the playground. And my sister's not cute!"
Ayano chuckled at his response. She knew it was typical for him to be somewhat critical, but the fact that he followed it up with a statement about his sister made him seem a bit more real to her. She tugged on her scarf, the heat getting to her very fast, but she willed herself to keeping it on for the sake of her siblings.
"Let them be kids!" She said, and she received a groan from the boy. "Didn't you spend your time as a kid playing around?"
"No." He said that with such a quick tone, as if it was an automatic response to everything. "I spent my childhood reading and becoming smarter."
"Being smart seems like a natural talent for you, though!"
She was always so optimistic, that girl. It got on his nerves sometimes, but he had to admit that it was kind of relieving, too. While others alienated him for his apathetic nature, she would talk and interact with him on a daily basis. Not only was it surprising to him, but it was also eye – opening. He started to believe that the world wasn't so bad after all.
What am I thinking? Shintaro, come on, think logically!
A small silence occurred, Ayano still smiling as she watched over the kids. They were still playing tag, although Kousuke was "it" that time, and he was having trouble catching up with the others. Shintaro was still in deep thought, especially for his mixed thoughts about the girl. He wasn't sure how to respond to them, and he tried to keep the lid shut as she turned to him with a cheerful tone in her voice.
"Shintaro, I think your jersey suits you well!" Her grin was as dazzling as ever, and for a second he didn't know how to respond.
"Funny you should say that…" He tugged on the collar in disbelief, and he tried to tell himself that it was useless for him to ever think that he and Ayano would ever be a thing. It seemed like such a long shot, but here they were, sitting on a park bench, watching four kids run around and exhausting their own bodies.
No matter how illogical it was, he had to admit that it was a good day.
"Say, Danchou…" Momo paused for a moment, examining Kido's face in deep thought. Although her commander's face was shaded with her hood, she noticed the strand of green hair flowing down, and the look on her face seemed oddly familiar. "Have we met before…?"
"I don't know," Kido replied, scratching her head. "Although, you do seem sort of familiar…"
"Kido, don't you remember?" Kano butted in, which led to Kido rolling her eyes. "When we were younger, we went with nee-chan to the park and we met Kisaragi-chan! Remember that?"
"The park…" Kido looked at Momo, who was starting to recall memories as well. "Oh yeah. I remember nee-chan saying that she had managed to arrange a playdate with the Kisaragis..."
"I remember onii-chan saying something about that, too!" Momo added, her thoughts of that day coming back to her. "He said that Ayano had begged for him to bring me along. That day was fun, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Kido nodded, the memory of that day coming back now. "Well, it seemed like we knew each other long ago. Let's get along now, shall we?"
"Agreed, Danchou!"