His Sister's Complex
By:Stupiak Kitty
VII
xXx
The moment I opened my eyes, I knew by instinct that I was late again. I chanced a glance at my clock on the side table and it read…
7:59 am
I sat up on my bed with a lighting fast speed that it got me giddy for a moment. Shaking my head, I headed to the bathroom to do my morning ritual.
This is getting worse. I don't know if falling in love with Takao-kun is a good thing.
Last night I dreamt of him. He was here again because he wanted to visit me instead of my brother. He was holding a bouquet of chocolate flowers in his right hand, if I remembered it well. He was talking about something I can't remember, then the scene changed and he was kneeling in front of me.
He held my hands; he was looking straight at me. I was mesmerized to say anything, or even move. His eyes were like pool of moonstone — like crystals sparkling in daylight. His pale blue orbs had a hint of silver in it, perfectly blending his beautiful chinky eyes.
Before he could move his mouth to say something, reality pulled me back.
There's a shrill voice inside my head that was pestering me to wake up. I knew it was the automated alarm clock inside my system.
Once I was done bathing, I hurried on putting my clothes on and grabbed my bag. I didn't bother looking at the mirror to fix myself as I ran to the stairs, but I stopped when I remembered something.
Do Takao-kun fetch my brother every day? If he is, then there's a chance that my yesterday's dream might come true.
Well, most of it.
Still, I might see him again if I wait for a little longer, but that only means that I would be skipping my first two subjects for today…again. I promised our teacher that I wouldn't do it for the second time.
Doing that meant I wouldn't be able to catch Takao-kun inside our house.
You're doing it only for today. Surely two absents wouldn't affect your grades that much. Some affected part of my brain whispered to me.
Don't let any human being affect your studies. The other part of my brain countered.
Shut it bitch. Itwas the reply of the affected part of my brain.
It made me sigh. There's one thing I was certain now.
Mayumi-chan had managed to rub her virus on me.
After a series of deep thinking, I chose to obey the damaged part of my brain. Recalling the events of my dream was tempting me to wait for Takao-kun. I'm sure this choice of mine is a gamble. I don't even know if Takao-kun would really sacrifice his reputation and dedicate himself by fetching my brother every single day.
I hope this decision is the right one.
Going back to my room, I fished my phone out of my pocket and waited for the time to read 8:19.
Fifty seven…
Fifty eight…
Fifty nine…
I stood up once it reached the time and almost ran toward the stairs. My heart drummed inside me as my mind entertained the idea of seeing my guardian angel again. Every step that I made was synchronizing the beats of my heart. Once I reached the end of the stairs, I felt as if my heart dived into my feet when I saw that nii-san was all alone.
Perhaps Takao-kun would come later. My mind reasoned.
When nii-san noticed me, chills tickled my whole system. He was glaring at me — the glare that says…
"What are you still doing here?"
"I…I o-overslept," was the only thing that I can say.
"Again?" When he raised a brow, I gulped.
"Y-yeah?" Then I stilled when I remember what happened the other night. "Shin-nii-san, whatever it is that I did to make you cross the other night, I apologize,"
He pushed his glasses up, before continuing his breakfast. "Just forget about it."
"Okay. As you say."
"You have homework to pass today, is that right?" He said when I sat next him to him to have my breakfast. "It's late already."
I looked at him as if saying, I know that, but I remained silent. Thinking of the reason why Takao-kun was not here yet occupied my mind.
And how to ask nii-san about it without being obvious.
"W-where's Takao-kun?" I blinked when my voice sounded as if someone just killed a mouse, so I cleared my throat and tried again. "I mean…that teammate of yours. Takao-kun is his name right? Why isn't he here yet? He should be fetching you today…shouldn't he?"
He pushed his glasses up before answering, "He was only required to do that whenever we have early practice or an open match. We don't have any practice game today."
His words made me gasp. "You're joking!"
"I do not see the reason why you think of that," He said. When he looked at me, I froze. "Do you have any problem regarding Takao's absence, Sayuri?"
I gape with that, feeling my heart quivered inside my cavity. For some reasons, I feel as if he was interrogating me. To evade the further awkward feelings, I glanced at my watch and pretend that I was shocked by how late the time was already.
"Goodness! I didn't notice how late it is now," I said, before turning to nii-san. He was only looking at me. "Sorry to cut this short, nii-san. I need to be at school quick; else I won't be able to submit my homework."
"You should have realized it sooner," He said, then he squint his eyes at him, as if he was scrutinizing me. "Lately, you're acting strange."
I froze again. My heartbeat increased with that. Did he notice it already? Avoiding his piercing stare, I stood up and tried to laugh it off. "Whatever do you say, nii-san? You're the strange one between the two of us."
"Wha—"
"See you later!" Cutting him was not a good idea, but I need to do this before he could ask anything about my strange behavior, Takao-kun and me. That combination will be the death of me.
I strode toward the door, almost running just to run away from him.
A sigh of relief escaped my lips once I was far enough from our house. I knew my decision of complying with my damage brain was a wrong idea.
Then I sighed — in disappointment, in frustration or in regret, which I'm uncertain — once I remembered my failed plan. Maybe I felt them all inside me. I should have known; dreams are supposed to exist only inside the dream world.
What did I tell you? You must hurry before you regret everything. My mind chided.
That is a wise decision to make, obviously.
At least you learned something about your guardian angel. The corrupted side of my brain countered.
I know that both of them have a point. I should just move on and forget that my plan was an epic failure.
Takao-kun only pulled my brother to school whenever they have a practice game then.
I sighed. How am I supposed to know that? I don't even care about my brother's basketball life before. I can't just ask my brother about it, more so as to ask him about Takao-kun's number. It might spark his curiosity if I were to ask him the schedule of their practice.
I don't like how he has been noticing my strange behavior. However, knowing my brother's obliviousness toward love and whatnot was a relief for me. He might not guess that I'm attracted with his best friend.
Well then, I must get going or I won't be able to pass my homework in Math.
xXx
The moment I reached our school, our teacher bombarded me with different types of why again. Generally, I answered with the same alibi that I said the other day. What can I say? I can't think of anything besides the dream that I had with Takao-kun in it.
School went by slowly, as though someone froze the clock and delayed it for three hours. Different kind of plans on how to know Takao-kun more occupied my mind; such as bribing my brother with his daily lucky items to spill the schedule of their practice game, or asking Takao-kun's private number. That would be nice.
I asked Mayumi-chan about it, in case she has Takao-kun's number, but she told me that she doesn't have his number anymore.
Well, she first bribed me to give my nii-chan's number to her in exchange of my guardian angel's contact. In the end, she confessed it was his old number registered on her phone.
Wicked, wicked girl.
She called me wicked too, by the way. And a terrible friend.
Snort. I just can't understand why she had chosen my brother, the horoscope freak, of all the boys that she knows. She has weird taste.
The way home was boring. I walked with a sigh accompanying me. Despite telling my own self to move on with my epic fail plan, I just can't sweep it away from my brain. I stared at the contour of my house with glassy eyes, I never felt so apathetic until now.
I shrugged it off when I saw an out-of-date yet familiar bike with an attached wooden carriage on its back parked on the side of our house, and went to open the gate instead.
"I'm home," I called, at the same as I opened the front door. When I make a turn toward the stairs, I froze.
Paralyzed, if I may say specifically.
What greeted me inside made my heart jumped off my chest — immediately remembering the person who owned the familiar rickshaw parked outside.
How did it go pass me, anyway?
Sitting next to my brother was Takao-kun. They were in the dining room. Nii-san was sitting on one of our dining chairs and my guardian angel was on his left. Even when their back was facing me, I knew it was he.
I just knew it.
In my brother's entire high school life, Takao-kun is the only person he had invited to our home without any force so I'm certain that it was him.
I observed for a while, noting how close Takao-kun was to nii-san — he was almost leaning on my brother's arms. They were staring at something, or browsing a photo perhaps? I knew how sensitive my nii-san is in regards to touching. He would always become cross whenever I graze his skin by accident — especially the hands.
Oh no. Not the hands.
If nii-san allowed this kind of proximity with Takao-kun, they really were that close then.
This is truly a gift of heavens. I thought. In retrospect, I think my brother is the blessings of heaven instead.
Blessings in disguise, though.
Nii-san must have sensed that somebody was looking at them so he turned around. He greeted me with a frown when he saw me, before looking back as if he never saw anything — who turns out to be me.
I saw how he jerked his arms away from Takao-kun. He looked at my brother in question, then for some reasons he turned around. I saw how his sharp eyes stared at me, then his face transformed into a big friendly smile once he recognized me.
"Oh. Look, Shin-chan. Your cute sister is now home," He grinned, tapping my brother's arms twice. I can feel the warmth gushed on my cheeks when I heard that. "Aren't you going to greet her?"
"I saw her already. I'm not blind," was my nii-san's polite reply.
"Someone's being tsun tsun again~"
"Hmph."
I tried not to sneer because Takao-kun was in front of me. Instead, I gave him my sweetest smile.
"I-it's fine," I tried to answer in a normal way. My heart was beating like a hysterical drum at the moment. My voice aren't participating either. Bowing, I said, "Forgive my brother for his bad manners. To tell you honestly, I have no idea where he got that."
"Pft. What are you saying? It's fine. It's fine," When I straightened up, I saw that he was waving his hands at me. Perhaps telling me that it's not a big deal. "I'm used with Shin-chan's tsundere fits already, so don't worry about it."
"Would you please stop calling me 'tsundere' all the time?" Nii-san interjected. "It's unfitting."
It confused me when Takao-kun answered him with a hearty laugh, before adding, "But that fits you so perfectly, Shin-chan~"
"Stop calling me with that pet name too," Nii-san said. "I've told you—"
"Hai~ Hai~ I'll stop calling you 'Shin-chan' in front of your sister. Got it."
"Takao," said nii-san. His voice held something between warning and annoyance.
To be honest I feel a little left out. This is the first time I saw my brother having a normal conversation with a friend. Or was it normal? I noticed that Takao-kun was keen on teasing my brother, and it's a miracle that he allowed him to do that to him.
Clearing my throat, I said, "A-allow me to greet you instead, Takao-kun. Welcome to our house. Ah – now that I mentioned it, this was the first time I've seen nii-san bringing a friend at home."
"Really then?" Takao-kun answered. After turning around and straddling the chair, he rested his arms on the back chair and turned to nii-san. His eyes were holding that playful look. "Is that true? Am I really the only one?"
I saw nii-san pushing his glasses with that. I knew that movement; he was refusing to answer the question. So I answered instead.
"Unprompted, yes. Against his will, no."
"Hmm…Who might that be, I wonder?"
"Those people with colorful hairs," I answered. "I suppose you are familiar with nii-san's former teammates in middle school."
"Oh. You're talking about Kuroko, Kise, and the others, right?" He grinned. "Of course I am familiar with them. I've met some of them too. Apparently, most of Shin-chan's—" Takao-kun paused when he saw my brother's warning glare. "I mean, most of your brother's teammates went to a strong school just like Shuutoku. Err…are you familiar with Seirin?"
"I…I heard about it, yeah."
"Kuroko's studying there. We've played with them once," He answered. When I only looked at him, he continued, "You know. The small guy with that light blue hair,"
I tried to offer him a smile. "R-really? That's…that's great then."
"It was," Takao-kun agreed. "But it'd be nicer if we won."
"Y-yeah. That would be…be great."
To be honest, I don't really have any interest with basketball, or the people that Takao-kun was talking about. But thinking that I am having a normal conversation with him right now was like a dream come true.
I didn't even expect this.
"So what's the issue?"
Confused, I looked at Takao-kun when he said that. I turned to nii-san quickly when I saw that he was looking at me. I frowned when I saw that nii-san was fidgeting with his glasses. What? Is he nervous or something?
"Between the both of you," Takao-kun went on when nobody spoke. "Tsun-tsun-san here is a lot more prickly than usual. I thought that maybe it has something to do with 'certain' situations inside your household or something. You know. Sibling misunderstandings and whatnot,"
What? He can tell that there's something's off just by observing nii-san's temperament?
"It's…I'm not quite sure, really," I answered. That's true. I don't even know why nii-san was so crossed at me yesterday.
"Hmm… Tsun-tsun-san doesn't want—"
"Stop calling me with that terrible nickname," Said nii-san. He was frowning, and looking as if he wanted to hide from something.
From whom, that's beyond me.
"As you wish," Takao-kun replied with a grin. "So Shin-chan—"
"Stop."
"Okay. Tsun-tsun-san—"
"Takao."
"Shin-chan, then."
Nii-san heaved a very deep sigh. "You're a very stubborn man."
"Thank you," Said Takao-kun, then he followed it with a laugh when nii-san made an annoyed grunt. "I don't see the reason why you're so embarrassed when I call you Shin-chan in front of your sister. I mean, Shin-chan's name is a very cute name, and it best suits the owner. Right, Sayu-chan?"
I froze when I heard that cute unique name that he made especially for me. It made my heart dance with a strange, beautiful beat.
Unsure what to say, I just nodded in response.
"See?" Takao-kun nudged nii-san on his arms. In response, he only moved one chair apart from Takao-kun and pulled a very annoyed face. "Awww. Shin-chan's being tsun tsun again. Ahaha~"
"Tch. Shut up, Takao."
If I may say what's on my mind, I find the nickname unfitting for a person like my brother. It best suited a cute little kid, whereas my brother was nothing like that. Also, if I may add, I find their friendship a bit strange as well. I'm surprised Takao-kun was still inside our home, considering that he's been shooting nii-san with endless teasing the moment that I arrived. If a random person did that to my brother, I doubt if he was still breathing air.
It proves that their bond is deeper than I thought.
"What's the deal between the two of you?" Takao-kun said after a while. I felt my heart skipped again when I saw his silverish moonstone-like eyes staring at me. I was mesmerized with his gaze I almost forgot that he was talking at me.
I can't believe he can see it through.
"Just…just a random dispute between siblings is all," I said once I found my voice. I looked at my brother before continuing. "I don't remember us arguing, though. He was just cross at me out of the sudden. I pissed him off for some reasons I don't even know," I sighed. "Nii-san is always like that — like a girl suffering with extreme PMS. He's even worse than me!"
"Heh. So I'm not the only one who thinks of Shin-chan as a girl then," Takao-kun mused. "This is a good revelation. Heheh. I need to visit here more often to know new amusing Shin-chan secrets."
"Oi, both of you. Don't talk about me as if I'm not here," Nii-san interjected, crossing his arms. When he looked at me, I froze. His gaze was so hard I felt I was melting at that moment. "While you, Sayuri, I don't believe you are not aware of the reason why I'm disappointed at you. I have no idea what's been keeping you entertained these days, but if those were the cause of your unusual tardiness lately, then I suggest you stop it before it can affect your studies."
I tried not to pout and talk back, obviously because Takao-kun is before us. I just can't believe my brother was lecturing me in front of my guardian angel. Talk about embarrassment here.
Despite that, I find it amusing though. Nii-san doesn't know that, the one that was entertaining me these days was there, in front us, at the moment.
Even if nii-san said to stop it, I just can't.
"This wouldn't reach our parents for now," nii-san continued. "But if you persist on doing it, then they must be aware of this."
For normal circumstances, my answer would be, "You don't have to tell me that, protective brother of mine. You just can't understand what I've been going through."
But since Takao-kun is there, I only said, "Of course, nii-san. I'm sorry for worrying you. I won't do it again."
Brother looked surprised with my answer. Takao-kun chose that chance to speak.
"Whatever it was that Sayu-chan's been doing, I bet it was a teenager thing. How can you tell that a person is tardy if she was only late for the second time in her entire school life?"
Can I take back all the brownie points that I gave to nii-san and hand it to Takao-kun instead? He really is my guardian angel. He's currently trying to make my brother understand what I've been going through, even without him knowing that he's the entire reason of this.
As expected, Takao-kun is amazing.
However, his words bothered me for some reasons. How did he know that it was my second time for being late? Perhaps nii-san had told him about it.
"Late means you're tardy, even when you do it only once," Nii-san countered, his glare was now directed to Takao-kun. "Do you even know what tardy means?"
"Of course, who do you take me for?" Takao-kun said. "Being late is an inevitable occurrence for a student, you know."
"That's where you're wrong," He frowned. "It is preventable if you are responsible enough."
"You don't have to be so hard to your sister."
"Why not? I am her older brother. It's a natural thing," When nii-san said that, I sneered at him inside my mind. "And she did it for the second time now."
Wait. What was happening? Are they arguing now? Even though they look as if they're bickering, their topic was about me being late.
For some reasons, they're amusing to look at.
"You're really heartless!" Takao-kun said. "And here I am trying to defend your sister, have a little bit of consideration Shin-chan,"
My heart did a back flip with that. Hearing that is a sweet music to my ears. He's arguing with nii-san for my behalf.
"You're defending her? Why don't you just tell that the both of you are on the same boat?"
"What!? I've been late for only four times in my high school life, I tell you. That's an improvement if you compare it with middle school."
"Hmph," Nii-san looked at Takao-kun with a smug tilt of his lips. "So you wanted to put your name on 'the number one tardiest student' then?"
My butterflies in my stomach went crazy when I saw Takao-kun's pout.
"I'm a responsible student, you know. I was only late because of you—" Takao-kun stopped himself, looking as if he realized something. Then he looked at me. When he smiled a knowing smile, I was mesmerized again. "Sayu-chan~ could it be that someone's been occupying your mind?"
I gasped with that, my heart rising so hard it felt as if it was knocking its way out of my chest. I looked at nii-san and back to Takao-kun again.
TBC
xXx
A/N: If some of the information were wrong, please do tell. My observation tells me that Takao only fetch Midorima whenever they have practice match. Might be wrong, who knows.