Every muscle in Ren's body screamed at him to run after his sister, but he knew better. Instead, he gave his mother a withering glare and quietly left the table and went upstairs to shut and lock his door. Mrs. Tachibana was both hurt and confused, and slumped in her chair.

"Am I a bad mother?" she whispered. Both of the remaining men clamored to soothe her.

"You're a wonderful mother, dear! Look how well Makoto turned out!"

"Please don't take it to heart, Mom. They're teenagers, after all. I'll talk to them." Mrs. Tachibana had the delight of getting kissed on both cheeks by her husband and her eldest son, and couldn't help but smile, though her heart still felt uneasy.

The three of them finished their dinner, Makoto resisted the urge to text Haru or Rin. He remembered how difficult it had been to reach Rin. Only Rei was able to get through to him at that time... But Rei would be very busy right now. After all, he was a fitness instructor at a famous gym. As he sat in his room, Makoto couldn't help but think about all the things that had changed. Even this house had changed. Ren and Ran had their own rooms, now. It was only natural, since they were in high school.

But the twins did more than just close and lock the doors in their rooms. They were also shutting everyone – including each other – out. They barely spoke to each other, and were hardly ever home at the same time. When they did speak to each other, Ran spoke harshly and Ren just quietly accepted those words.

What on earth happened? He wondered. His mother's sad face came to mind, and Makoto balled up his fist. That was more than he could take, and he made up his mind to give the two of them a good scolding once Ran got back home. After he told his parents goodnight, Makoto sat in the living room and waited for the front door to quietly open.


When Ran came home, she was surprised to find her oldest brother sitting on the sofa in the living room.

"Mako-nii? What're you-"

"Sit," Makoto said coldly. Ran nearly jumped. She had never heard that tone in his voice before. "I'm getting Ren. Don't move." She sat down obediently, both nervous and scared. What could possibly have made Makoto so angry? He returned, practically dragging Ren with him. "Sit next to your sister and be quiet." Ren stopped his complaining at once.

The twins looked at each other uneasily. What was going on? Makoto crossed his arms and looked down at his siblings.

"I'm surprised at the both of you. How could you make your mother sad like this?" Makoto asked sternly. The twins lowered their heads. Then he continued more softly, "When did things become like this...?" The hurt in his voice broke both of their hearts. Ran and Ren both reached out at the same time to touch their brother.

"I'm sorry that I let my temper get the best of me. Please don't cry, Mako-nii," Ran whispered.

"I'm sorry I ignored you, Mako-nii," Ren said, looking like he might cry himself.

Makoto smiled then, and then began to laugh softly as he knelt down and pulled his siblings close to him.

"I'm so glad...I was worried that you hated me," he said.

"W-What?! We could never hate Mako-nii!" Ran cried, much louder than she intended. She blushed when Ren shushed her.

"So, will you two still come with me? I believe Ren suggested a picnic. That sounds nice."

"Of course we'll go," Ren replied. Makoto stood up and ruffled their hair with both of his big hands. Ran felt like she was a little kid again.

"Good! Now go wash up and get to bed." The twins giggled and then went to sleep.


"I was really worried about you last night," Ren said quietly on the phone. He heard his sister sigh.

"It's something I need to work on. I can just throw a tantrum every time someone mentions me getting married." Ren was silent, but he knew Ran heard every word that he didn't say. If only we weren't siblings. If only we weren't twins. If marriage was the only way to keep her all to himself, Ren wanted to do it. He sighed.

"It's the same for me, you know," Ran said. "I want you to have a lot of friends to talk about games with, but they'd make you go to parties and hit on girls. I'd hate that. It's too late in the semester now, but next year, you should join some clubs. Ah, I've gotta go help with the sports day festival preparations!" She hung up abruptly, and Ren sighed. He didn't want anything to do with any of this, truth be told.

But Ama-chan had made it clear that everyone was to participate in the festival, or suffer a failing grade. Not that I really care about school, he thought. Maybe that was the problem. Ran had other interests, but Ren's only interest was Ran. He thought that it would be nice if he could just drop out of school and find a job so that they could live together where nobody knew them. I'd better not think about that right now...

He made his way towards the library, so he could sleep. He woke up to his phone buzzing.

Mako-nii wants to talk about our outing. Ran didn't ask him where he was, or even mention that it was past the time he usually came home. She never yelled at him – except for when they were in middle school. The two of them yelled at each other so much that eventually something that needed to be said slipped out. As Ren made his way out, he saw that it was almost 5 P.M. The librarian was doing some last-minute filing and told him to hurry up.

When Ren came home, his mother was cooking dinner and the rest of his family was sitting in the living room.

"There you are!" Makoto said brightly. "I have good news!" Ren tried to sit at an appropriate distance away from his sister. That is, not so far away that his entire body would ache for her, but not so close that he'd be tempted to brush his fingers over the back of her hand.

"What is it, Mako-nii?" Ran asked.

"I've gotten permission to be present for the sports festival, to make sure that nobody gets injured." Makoto smiled, and the twins tried to smile back.


"This is terrible!" Ran complained at school the next day, leaning her chin against her desk.

"Your brother will probably be too busy to see you, so why the long face?" Asako asked. "Ah, I get it. You're worried that the daily phone call you have with your sweetie will be discovered!" she smiled, but Ran couldn't bring herself to return it.

"I've already told him not to call me today."

"So, not being able to talk to him makes you moody, eh?"

"...A bit," Ran admitted. "Not only that, but Ren is being forced to participate."

Asako raised an eyebrow.

"It's amazing to think that someone as big as Ren-kun is so clumsy. Especially when Makoto-san is so fit!" Ran rolled her eyes. Since she was little, the girls in her class would always go on and on about how handsome and cool Makoto was. She didn't really understand it. Nor did she understand how she could have such completely different feelings for each of her brothers. She admired and looked up to Makoto, like she supposed many little sisters did of their older brothers. But Ran suspected that if Asako were praising Ren, the reaction would be different.

She would have said something if they hadn't been called outside. It was mid-October, and the chilly air would probably feel good on everyone after their worked up a sweat. Ran was wearing her gym outfit: red bloomers and a white tee with Iwatobi's crest on it.

"Tachibana-san, please line up with the rest of your heat," the gym teacher said.

"Yes, ma'am!" She jogged over to the other girls and did some last minute stretches before getting in position to run.


Though he was trained to treat the injuries of professional athletes, Makoto still enjoyed jobs like this. He loved seeing the enthusiasm of young people, their competitive spirits awakened. It reminded him of Haru and Rin and he couldn't help smiling to himself. More than that, though, he'd really wanted to see what his siblings were like at school.

He went outside to go watch the races. Ran's class was doing sprinting, while Ren's class was doing a three-legged race. It looked like Ran's class was up first, so Makoto slipped in with the rest of the teachers. His sister was surprisingly fast. Makoto scanned the field for his younger brother, and found Ren's class off to his left-hand side. He made his way towards the teen. But something was off. Everyone around Ren was doing something: getting ready for the relay, or stretching. Ren was standing absolutely still, his eyes on the track. On his face was an expression that Makoto knew well: it was the same shining eyes that Haru showed when he saw water, or when Makoto looked at Haru. And that's when he knew.


After the relay, Ren was completely drenched in sweat. At least I only tripped once, he thought to himself. Makoto had come to check up on everyone and wish his team luck before going to congratulate Ran's class for a job well done. Only two students had gotten hurt, so Ren was glad that his brother was able to get a break. He usually sounds so busy. The youngest Tachibana son was on his way to get changed when he heard someone call out to him.

"Good timing, Ren!" Makoto said from behind a stack of things. "Do you think you could help me tidy up the infirmary before we go home?"

"Okay." He had actually wanted to go see Ran, as they hadn't spoken on the phone all day. When he stepped into the infirmary, Ren saw that bandages were laying around and cooling packs that had long since lost their touch of cold were left on beds. He forgot about the upperclassmen. I wonder how many of them got treated in here? The two brothers worked on putting things away and airing out the sheets on the beds.

"Ren." The seriousness of Makoto's voice stilled both Ren's hands and his heart.

"What is it, Mako-nii?" he asked, trying not to sound as nervous as he was.

"You're in love with Ran, aren't you?" Terror seized Ren's heart as he attempted to smooth bedsheets with shaking hands. I don't want to see what kind of expression he has right now, Ren thought.

"Why do you think that?" he asked. He finally turned his eyes up to his brother, forcing himself to smile. His calm facade immediately slipped when he saw his brother's characteristic gentle smile. It was as though Makoto were telling him, "Don't be afraid, Onii-chan is here." And then Ren began to cry.

It started off as soft sniffling that soon became loud sobbing. He had to take off his glasses and sob into his hands. He sank to the floor and felt the large, warm hand of his brother on his back. "I do," he said, voice cracking. "I love her so much that every day it feels like I'm drowning."