Notes: Dagron drew the cover for this fic! She is also the French translator for this fic; you can find her translation under my Favorite Stories. Please support it if you read French!


shriek; shout

-x-

Hearing a smack and a groan, Rei looked to his left and caught the basketball bouncing toward him. His classmate was sitting on the park bench, wincing and rubbing his right cheek. "Sera-kun," Rei greeted, walking up to his classmate. "What are you doing?"

Shuukichi straightened his glasses and said, "Oh, hello, Furuya-kun." He threw a furtive glance to his right before he bent down to pick up the book on the ground. "I'm trying to read," he mumbled.

Rei raised an eyebrow but redirected his gaze at the movement behind the bench. Someone jumped out and whacked the ball out of his hands.

"But as you can see," Shuukichi continued in a glum voice. "My sister isn't letting me."

"That's your sister?" Rei asked, watching the boyish figure chase after the basketball.

"More like a wild monkey," Shuukichi murmured. "Big brother left for college, so she decided to abuse me instead. God, why did he teach her martial arts? Little girls shouldn't be so violent. Please save me, Furuya-kun."

"Kichi-nii! Catch!"

Shuukichi yelped and hid behind his paperback, flinching when Rei snatched the ball from the air in front of him.

"That's not how you play catch, Sera-kun," Rei said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Yeah, well, you're the athletic one," Shuukichi grumbled.

"Kichi-nii! You bookworm!" the tomboy shouted as she ran up to the bench and slapped her brother's shoulder. "You're no fun!"

"Ow, geez, I'm sorry. Can't you leave me alone? Go play with your friends or something."

The girl made an exasperated noise and turned to Rei, her eyes flickering between his face and the basketball in his hands. She blinked in surprise when he tossed the ball to her with a smile. Holding his gaze, she hesitated, wavering between trust and mistrust, before she chucked the ball to the side and aimed a punch at his crotch, shocked when he grabbed her fist and stopped her strike.

"Not there," Rei said, suppressing a chuckle.

"Masumi!" Shuukichi scolded. "You're shameless! Apologize to Furuya-kun right now!"

Pulling her hand out of Rei's grip, she folded her arms and looked away. "I was just testing him," she muttered.

"What?" Shuukichi blurted out.

"You're quite impressive," Rei remarked, and the frown on Masumi's face faded away. She looked at him, her eyes wide and curious.

"Don't flatter her," Shuukichi said, but he paled and dropped his book again when his sister kicked his shin in response. "Furuya-kun, could you please do something about this?" he squeaked, hugging his leg.

Letting out a soft laugh, Rei met Masumi's skeptical gaze and nodded to the basketball resting on the grass. "How about a one-on-one?"

Masumi broke into a grin. "You're on."