Hino giggled. Although Shoko seems quiet, she's fun to hang around with.
"Keiichi was really cute. After that he left me on the doorstep.", said Shoko. Shoko had just finished retelling their first date. "It's great to hang out with friends. Usually I'm home alone."
"Really?", exclaimed Kahoko. I got to call her more! "Maybe I can ask my mom if we can do this again. She let me stay over because she went on a business trip. Usually when she goes, she leaves me at home."
"I hope she says yes", replied Shoko. "Kahoko, do you ant to watch some anime?"
"Sure! What do you have?", asked Kahoko.
"I have this good sci-fi one, Paprika. It's really good.", said Shoko. "There's also Spirited Away, Ponyo, and Princess Mononoke."
"How about Paprika. I never saw that one." Shoko put in the DVD. Kahoko tried to take interest in the film, but her troubles were too heavy. Her mind began to wander.
After dinner, the two brothers sat on the couch. They turned on the television to a baseball game.
"Hey, aren't you going to call her?", asked Haruki.
"Who? Don't you see I'm trying to watch TV?", said Kazuki. He stared harder at the game, and tried to concentrate. He didn't want to think about it.
"Ahh…I see", said Haruki. He turned off the television.
"See what", asked Kazuki. I don't like the way this is going...
"You're nervous.", said Haruki. "It's to be expected. This is you we're talking about." He smirked.
I hate his guts, thought Kazuki. "You know what? That's it!" Kazuki threw a punch at his older brother.
Haruki jumped off the couch, barely missing Kazuki's swing. Haruki tackled Kazuki. They began wrestling.
"Lover-boy can't call his girlfriend!", teased Haruki.
Kazuki growled. Usually when they were younger, Haruki would almost always beat up his little brother. Now that they were older, and almost the same height, they were almost even. Almost.
"Is everything okay in there?", called out Mom.
The two boys stopped fighting and quickly sat on the couch.
"We're okay Mom", they called out. Kazuki turned the TV back on, changed the channel to a wrestling match, and put the volume up. They both pretended to watch when Mom came in.
"Try to get along boys. Okay? You two only have each other." Mom laid down her cell phone and a post-it note next to it on the coffee table. "You can use my phone to call her. Don't take too long now, sweetie". She left the room.
Haruki quickly grabbed his little brother into a headlock.
"Ow! Ow, ow, ow ow!", said Kazuki.
"And you almost beat me too", said Haruki.
Kazuki winced. "You're cheating! I thought it was over.", exclaimed Kazuki. Mom couldn't hear them over the TV.
Haruki noticed a floral post it note on the coffee table. "Well, what's this?", asked Haruki. "Is this Hino-sans number?"
I must have left it in my pocket when I put them in the laundry basket. Why do you have to do laundry today? Any other day could have been fine! Kazuki tried to reach for it, but was grabbed back to the couch by Haruki. "Please, don't do it Haruki", he pleaded with his brother. I have a bad feeling about this.
Haruki gave his brother a cunning smile. Kazuki had a knack for openly expressing his weaknesses. He took the phone and slowly began dialing the number, to increase Kazuki's agony. At this rate he'll never get a girl. I'll speed the process up, thought Haruki. It'll be good for him.
Noooooo!, thought Kazuki. Haruki dialed the last number.
[The phone began to ring.]