-Chapter Three-

Realize

Hibari sat in her room, dressed in plain black shorts and a dark blue sleeveless shirt. It was a weekend, and she was doing her best to finish up the report she had been assigned for history class. The blinds of her window were open, letting pale afternoon sunlight spill through the transparent glass onto the carpet of her room. A sudden knock on the door interrupted the quietness.

"Hibari, can I come in?" called her brother's voice from the other side of the door.

"Sure. The door's unlocked."

Her brother waltzed in, also wearing casual jeans and a collared shirt. "It's really nice outside. I thought maybe you'd like to go somewhere. All you've really been doing lately is homework and going to the public courts to train," he said to her, a sympathetic tone in his voice. "Why not try just walking around town with me for today?"

The young girl sighed, and then said, "Fine. I'll be downstairs in about ten minutes." This seemed to satisfy Haru, who smiled, then walked back out the door.

Ten minutes later, Hibari arrived down in the living to meet her brother. He had also changed into more suitable, everyday clothes. With a smirk, Haru opened the door, and allowed Hibari to walk out first before exiting and closing the door behind him.

"So, where exactly are we going?"

Haru looked back at his sister with a sly smirk. "Oh, you'll see."

*****

They soon arrived at one of their favorite cafés in town. Before, when they had only just moved to Kanagawa, the twins loved to go there. However, the café seemed dark today; no lights were on and it seemed as though there was no one inside.

"Haru, I think this place is closed for today. Maybe we should leave," Hibari said as her brother began to open the door to the café. Miraculously, the door was unlocked.

Her brother gestured her into the café. "Don't worry about it. You trust me don't you?"

Even as she walked in, Hibari was still suspicious. However, just as she walked in, the lights flew on to reveal the other Rikkai Dai regulars shouting out, "Surprise!" with delighted smiles on their faces. Even Sanada was smiling.

Haru placed a hand on her sister's shoulder and then gave her a quick hug, saying, "Happy birthday, Hibari-chan."

Hibari laughed, "Happy birthday to you too, Brother. But I still don't get why you knew about this, when it's still your birthday." They were, after all, twins.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time at the café. Apparently, Haru had convinced their father to rent out the place for the day. Having a rich father had its perks. Then, he'd invited all the regulars to come celebrate. There were balloons and cake and anything else you would typically find at a party.

When they were enjoying their cake, Haru suddenly walked up to Kirihara, and put his arm around him in a friendly, teasing manner. "So, Kirihara-san, when are you going to tell her?"

"What do you mean?"

Haru smirked. "You know very well what and who I mean. My sister. When are you going to tell her you like her?"

Kirihara looked shocked as he said, "That's not true!"

This earned him a questioningly look from Haru. "Is it?"

The once threatening and bold boy before him now looked timid and defeated. "I… you caught me. "

*****

The party had ended, so the twins, along with Sanada and Kirihara, were cleaning up at the café. Many had protested to the twins' cleaning, since it was their birthday, but the two wouldn't hear of it.

With the last stray napkin thrown away and the crumbs swept, everything was finished. Hibari began to walk out of the café while Haru stayed just to make sure everything was truly in order. For once, she would be able to walk home without her brother at her side. To be honest, she felt rather liberated. Her brother wouldn't be there to criticize her every action.

"It's dangerous for you to be walking alone this late."

Hibari turned her head to see Sanada Genchirou walking up from behind her. "What are you doing here?" she asked him curiously. Before, he had still been at the café with Haru and Kirihara. She stopped to look back and face him. "I'm perfectly fine on my own, thank you very much. Besides, it's only eight in the evening." Why am I being so rude? Hibari then thought. Normally, she was the quiet and polite one.

The third-year in front of her walked a little closer to her, but then spoke, "Is it alright if I walk you home?" It was also unusual for Sanada to be acting this nice. He wanted to walk her home? It couldn't possibly be that…

Hibari was about to say something, when Sanada suddenly wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lips. After one surprised moment, Hibari jumped away with a look of astonishment on her face.

Even worse, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kirihara standing on the block opposite them, staring with a look of equal astonishment, and seemed almost hurt. With that expression, he began running back towards the café. Despite herself, Hibari could not help but call out his name. "Kirihara, wait!" She began to run after him, but was held back by Sanada, who just stayed silent. What was happening?

*****

When Haru finally got back at the house, he didn't see Hibari in the kitchen or the living. This was odd; she would usually be having a small dinner right about now. The only other place to look for her would be her room. And when he opened the door that was where she was. Only his sister wasn't acting as she normally would. Hibari hadn't changed out of her day clothes, and she was lying on her bed.

"Hibari, are you alright?" As he walked over to his sister, he saw that her eyes were slightly red; she had been crying. "What's wrong?" he asked with a sudden urgency in his voice.

The girl sat up in bed to face her brother. "I don't know… but Sanada and Kirihara…" She couldn't go on without bursting into tears again.

Something major must have happened. She's a lot more composed than this; I would know. Using all his brotherly abilities, Haru was able to get his sister to explain more calmly and intelligibly until he understood the whole story. It was, to be honest, a very surprising story. He had known about Kirihara, but Sanada? And for Sanada to be so sudden was… almost offensive, really. And they had caused Hibari to have some rare nervous breakdown. The next time they met, he would have to talk to them.

Sure that his sister would be fine without him, he gently kissed her forehead after hearing the story, then told her to get some rest. Once he had shut the door to her room, Haru himself leaned on the wall and sighed. His poor little sister had found herself in a love triangle. Normally, he would have laughed, but this was his sister, and that obviously made a difference.

He remembered the continued conversation he had with Kirihara:

"I really do like her, but... I don't know how to tell her. Besides, I think some others on the team like her a little, too."

"Others?" Until then, Haru hadn't considered the other regulars to fall for Hibari. "Well, to me, it doesn't matter who she likes or who likes her. I just don't want to see her get hurt."

"Hey, Haru, if you don't mind me asking, why are you always so protective? Well, you told me about how your mom died when you were still little, and your father doesn't care for anything but money. But what's your reason?"

"My reason? If I don't protect her, no one else will, Kirihara. At least until she realizes… until she finds that one person that can protect her much more than I can."

*****

Back in her room, Hibari lay back on her pillow with her hands folded beneath her head. Everything felt so confusing, so immensely incomprehensive. She did, admittedly, like Kirihara to a certain extent. But then Sanada just had to come into the picture… and made everything complex. Was it possible that she had feelings for the third-year? But one thing was for sure; Hibari realized that since she came to Kanagawa, her life had taken an immense turn. But the truth that she absolutely refused to realize was that she was in love… but with whom?