The next day ended and everyone started to come home. Kyouhei lagged through the door while Ranmaru and Yuki followed after, chattering happily. Nee- chan watched all of them migrate into the living room then asked where Sunako and Takenaga were.
"Takenaga has a date with Noi- chi- chan so they might be gone all night." Yuki said.
"Sunako- chan has an after school cooking class believe it or not." Ranmaru added afterwards, chuckling a little at the end.
"A cooking class?" Nee- chan asked.
"Yeah, it's been going on for about a month now. She won't be home till dinner."
Nee- chan smiled walking into the kitchen. The boys eyes followed after her then they shrugged, turning on their television. After a few minutes, Nee- chan came out with one of Sunako's cookbooks. "I think I'm going to make one of Sunako- chan's recipes. Would any of you guys mind going to the market to get me some ingredients?"
Yuki volunteered happily as did Ranmaru. Kyouhei however stayed silent, his eyes glued to the T.V. After discussing what she needed Nee- chan asked what Kyouhei's problem was. The others said he usually was grumpy after school and to not bother him. He's been like that for almost a month. Nee- chan shrugged then ushered the two out the door so she could start cooking. Good, now he wouldn't bother her while she was cooking.
Once she started one dish, the smell of food entered Kyouhei's nose and he lingered to the kitchen, slouching against the wall as he watched Nee- chan cook.
Nee- chan saw him out of the corner of her eye but didn't turn her head to look at him. "So what's your problem? You were pretty voiced yesterday and now you suddenly have gone quiet. Cat got your tongue?"
"It's nothing. Just tired of school." Kyouhei mumbled, running a hand through his hair.
"Already?"
Kyouhei didn't answer; he just walked over and looked at the pan in Nee- chan's hand. "What are you cooking?"
"It's a surprise." Nee- chan said with a smile as she glanced up at him. "I just didn't want Sunako- chan to have to cook for me. I mean… since all she does here is housework. It's nice to have a break once in a while don't you think?" There was a little tone in her voice that edged Kyouhei but decided to ignore it. Suddenly, a sign of movement made him yelp.
"Watch out!"
That was when Nee- chan's now naked hand, that before had been covered by an oven mitt, instinctively went to the pan to turn it around and began to burn. Nee- chan screamed and let go, the pan jolting and toppling to the floor. Kyouhei grabbed Nee- chan's arm before she could get her foot burned or broken by the falling pan. Both of them were breathing heavily of the surprise, Kyouhei clutching Nee- chan close. Then he heard sniffling. He looked down, seeing Nee- chan clutching her damaged hand to her chest, tears falling down her face. Kyouhei slowly knelt to the floor with her and took her hand, taking a sharp intake of breath when he saw her hand.
It was all red, some white blisters beginning to form. The smell of bruning flesh made him shudder, but he helped Nee- chan up, bringing her to the bathroom. He turned the sink on, getting a negative reaction from Nee- chan. She started to pull away, whimpering about pain, but Kyouhei grumbled and tugged her forward to the running water. "It's okay dammit! You'll be fine."
Finally after a few minutes of struggling, Nee- chan finally gave up but held close to Kyouhei. She was at a loss for words. The pain was too much for her. It reminded her of… … forget it, she thought. It's over, there's no need to worry. Nothing like that will ever happen again. Unexpectedly she screamed again at the cool water that was stinging her skin. It was unbearable. Again she started to pull away but Kyouhei was persistent and kept a good grip on her arm. "The only way you'd get away was if you chewed your arm off. Now calm down!"
"You burn your hand and put it in water then tell me if you'd scream and cry out it hurts!" As much as she tried to pull, Nee- chan could not get away. And after what felt like forever, Kyouhei finally turned the faucet off.
"I do admit I've never been burned but trust me, I've been through more than you would think." Kyouhei swung Nee- chan to the toilet and set her down, looking into her eyes. "Now stay here. If I come back and you aren't sitting your butt down here then the shit will fly."
"I may be handicapped now but it doesn't mean that I can't kick your ass." Nee- chan said coldly. Kyouhei didn't move, staring intently. "Fine," she sighed, "I won't move."
"For reason I don't trust you." Kyouhei grumbled, standing and walking out of the bathroom.
Nee- chan looked at her hand. It looked worse now that the damage was almost done. Personally she thought that he should have the decency of bringing her to a hospital but no, men can always do everything. Her whole hand was red and her blisters got worse. Gingerly she grazed her hand with her other pinky but jumped, gritting her teeth and bending over in pain. Damn it hurt!
Kyouhei finally came back, holding a box of medicines. He set it down on the tile in front of her then squatted, taking out a tube and gauze.
"How do you know it won't stick to my hand!" Nee- chan backed up to the back of the toilet. "I am not putting gauze on this and then having my new skin heal on it!"
"Sunako watched a movie that had someone burning their foot and the doctor did the same thing." Kyouhei said, a little preoccupied.
"They're acting!" Nee- chan said, enunciating the word 'acting,' "It's their job to pretend to be doctors! Doesn't mean that what they really do will heal something!"
"Do you really think they're going to do a doctor segment and make it fake?" Kyouhei growled, wrenching Nee- chan's hand from her other. "Now gimme your hand! It'll be over quick!" First he applied the gel that made Nee- chan scream and start pulling away again.
"Just take me to a damn hospital!" She cried over and over, but Kyouhei ignored her and continued to nurse her hand. He could feel his blood pressure rising and he really just wanted to leave this girl on the tile floor with her stupid hand but Sunako would not be happy. She would go off blaming him and it truthfully would be his fault.
Finally he finished and the screaming ceased. He looked up at Nee- chan, a smile quirking on his lips. "See? All done."
"Yeah, not without pain first." Nee- chan mumbled, inspecting the mediocre job. Finally she stood and helped Kyouhei pick up scraps of gauze, throwing them away. "Thanks."
"Hm?"
"I said thank you." Nee- chan turned to face Kyouhei who was looking at her half surprised, half smug.
Kyouhei shrugged, "Whatever." Before he could turn away, Nee- chan pecked his cheek then walked away before he could. That left him standing there and dropping the box to the floor. He felt like Sunako- chan. That must've been how she felt when he did stuff like that to her. Dumbfounded. Wondering why they did it. Snapping out of his confusion, Kyouhei picked up the box and put some fallen items back in, then put the box away.
The rest of the night was full of confusion, worry and laughs. Everyone wanted to know what happened to Nee- chan's hand. Ranmaru blamed Kyouhei, Takenaga inspected the wrap- up job and Sunako gave Kyouhei a big smile as a thank you. Kyouhei noticed Nee- chan's glance at Sunako. She looked like a mother watching her child have fun. Then she glanced at Kyouhei and her expression changed, into something he hadn't seen before.