Chapter Eight:

"Just what is going on in here?"

Sadie, still caught up in the strange mind-buzz Murasakibara's bizarre declaration had brought about, quickly snapped out of her haze to diffuse the building tension. "Uh… Nothing, nii-san. We were just – goofing around."

Link scowled at her like she'd sprouted cat-ears. "'Nii-san'…?" His sharp hazel eyes narrowed even more. "Is that right? And who are these guys?"

Very subtly removing her head from underneath Murasakibara's gigantic hand, she gestured to both him and Himuro. "This is Himuro-san, a classmate of mine who has kindly offered to bring me the homework I've been missing at school. This is my brother, Link."

Himuro nodded in greeting at her older brother. "Nice to meet you. I didn't want Sadie-san falling behind on any important schoolwork – after all, final exams are coming up very soon. I've offered to bring her my notes and keep her up to date on any work she misses out on."

Link blatantly looked the boy up and down, earning him a stern glare from his younger sibling, before releasing an unimpressed humph. "Awful nice of you. But I'm afraid Sae-chan won't be needing your helpful notes; she's not sure when she will be attending high school again, if ever."

Sadie didn't even get a chance to retort; above her, Murasakibara's posture hardened at the words, and he let out a small rumble that made her spine straighten alertly. Oh, no… I so don't need this right now. Mura-kun, please don't say –

Too late, Link's eyes caught the movement – the overly-large boy was standing much too close to his little sister for his own good. "Do I know you?"

When there was no response, Sadie hurriedly supplied, "This is Murasakibara. You met him yesterday in the shop, remember? He's working here, starting today…"

The two males stared each other down from opposite sides of the room – Link with a less-than-impressed scowl on his face, and Mura-kun with a firm yet 'you're-an-insect-under-my-shoe' expression that was slowly but surely having a negative effect on Link. As they stared, conversations from the customers in the seating area could be heard, adding to the awkward atmosphere surrounding the four. Himuro looked plain uncomfortable; even Sadie was beginning to sweat from the tension…

Link's wrinkled brow twitched once. "You got a problem?"

"Huh?" came the purple-haired giant's reply.

"You're a bit slow. I said, do you got a problem?"

Now it was Mura-kun's turn to be annoyed. "No. You're the one being annoying…"

At this, her brother's chest swelled with unsuppressed anger. "What are you going on about, baka? Show some respect for older people! Just because you work here, doesn't mean you get to say whatever you want all of a sudden! Get on your knees and apologise, or I swear I won't forgive you –!"

"That's enough, Link!" Sadie cut in, but it was too late. Murasakibara, who had been clasping his ears tightly the whole time, finally snapped.

"Ahh, shut up! It's annoying! Go away before I crush you!" His hands made huge fists at his side.

Link pointed a threatening finger at the Yosen basketball ace. "Watch your mouth. If you're not careful, I'll teach you the true meaning of respect myself –"

Sadie had had enough. "Link, would you shut the hell up?"

Her brother finally stopped speaking, but he didn't take his eyes off the boy across the room. While Sadie frantically tried to think up something to say to diffuse the situation, Himuro made to move towards Mura-kun, like he was about to take him and leave. But that didn't sit right with Sadie. Taking my new employee away on the first day? Don't mess with me.

~'Aw, are we defending our new employee now? Cuuute! And here I was convinced you were going to try and get him fired. Oh well, I like this idea better.'~

You shut up, too.

She picked up the knife on the counter and pointed it menacingly at her brother. "Link, outside. Now. We've got some things to talk about." Link glared at her like he might argue, but quickly thought better of it when he saw the crazy-little-sister twist to her brow. While he grumbled his way out the door, she heard a derisive snicker emerge from her new employee – so she fixed her knife on him next. "You." She pointed to the dishes. "Start washing. When I get back in here there had better be a clean benchtop where those dirty plates are now."

She made to follow her brother, but stopped short when Himuro grabbed her arm. "What is it, Himuro-san?"

"I just want to give you some advice," he explained as his friend grumbled his way toward the dishes. "Atsushi doesn't… respond well to force. Trust me, I know this very well. If he feels there's nothing in it for him, no matter the circumstance, he won't do it. While your food is obviously very tempting for him, I would advise you not to overstep his boundaries; rather, entice him carefully." She mulled his words over for a moment, and then nodded at him in understanding. "I'm glad you get it. I'll leave now, I think." He chuckled once. "Don't work him too hard."

Sadie snorted at that. "Ha! This job is no joke. If he thinks hospitality is anything like school, he's got a nasty surprise coming."

She waved goodbye to Himuro as he exited through the front door. Before hastening to the exit leading to a back alley where her brother was waiting, she quickly put together the spring rolls and threw them in the oven on high. When she finally emerged, Sadie found him leaning up against the opposite wall with a deceptively casual stance. She sighed. I'm about to cop it big time…

"So."

She crossed her arms and repeated, "So."

"You gonna explain to me what happened in there?"

"I think you're the one who owes me an explanation," she retorted shortly. She was fast becoming sick of his childish attitude. "Mura-kun is my friend; plus, Dad hired him, so there's no use trying to pick a fight with him. It'll just reflect badly on you."

He studied her for a moment, noting her implacable stance. "That's why you're defending him? Because he's your friend?" When she nodded stiffly, his eyes left hers to settle on the ground by her feet. "I'm your brother. Doesn't that make me worth defending, too?"

Silence ensued. Under any normal circumstance, Sadie would have responded to her brother's vulnerable question with guilt and reassurances. But instead of these things, all she felt was a fury that was rapidly rising to cloud her senses. For the first time, she knew what it was like to see red.

How dare he, of all people, say such a thing to her.

Sadie tried clenching her fists to still the burning rage, but some of it leaked out anyway. "Are you serious? After everything you've done? After what you – you put me through? I'm in hell right now because of you! I've had my freedom taken from me, my private life is no longer private, and my own family won't look me in the eye most of the time." He tried to interrupt, but by this point Sadie was more than done; she opened one trembling fist to point her finger accusingly at his chest. "This is your fault! Don't come crying to me with that I'm-your-family bullshit! It's not gonna work this time." Thoroughly caught up in the moment, she squeezed her eyes shut against the sudden tears that threatened to leak out and shrieked, "I was your family, too! You… were supposed to… protect me. Help me. Like I have always done with you! The cars, the money, the secret meetings with suspicious people – I kept all your secrets for you! How could you do this…!"

"Sadie!" Link exclaimed in alarm, but she was past caring – because suddenly she was finding it very difficult to breathe. What the…? Very carefully, she felt behind her for some sort of ledge, a wall – anything. But there was nothing; her body met the ground before she could even fathom that she'd started to fall. While she sprawled sideways on the concrete, Link raced to her side with a panicked look on his face. In her slow-minded state, she dimly noted that she'd seen that exact face somewhere before… But where…?

Oh, right. The night a fire had claimed the lives of both their mother and Lily, their dog.

Link had been making the exact same face the time he rushed out of their old burning house, carrying her in his arms. Hazel eyes filled with helpless fright. Arms locked tight around her with a grip that left bruises for a week afterward. The only thing different was the mouth; it had been gaping wide in a soundless scream that night.

She knew this, because she hadn't once looked away from her saviours features until the ambulance arrived.

While Link sat there shaking her and bellowing something incoherently, the back door flew open and a huge figure emerged. Murasakibara took one look at her slumped form and reached down to grip her brother's collar; with a grunt, he hoisted him away from her body and took his place. His movements surprisingly swift, Mura-kun pressed his fingers to her wrist to check her pulse. Her brother looked like he wanted to interfere, but upon realisation of what the purple-haired boy was trying to accomplish, stood back and watched helplessly from behind.

He sat still for a few seconds, counting the rate of her pulse, and then reached forward to place his large hand over her forehead. What is it with you and heads? Sadie thought to herself in amusement. He frowned at something before reaching to envelop her hand in his.

That managed to pierce through her grogginess.

She blushed furiously as he felt each of her fingers individually between his, frowning again when he saw her reddened features. He felt her forehead one more time.

Link finally snapped. "What's going on?"

Murasakibara glanced at him over his shoulder with a bored expression – which Sadie was beginning to think was his go-to response to people in general. "Would you mind speaking more clearly and in a language I can understand? Baka."

Link didn't even react to the taunt. "Is she going to be alright?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. I think so."

"You think so?" her brother repeated incredulously, eyes wide. "How can you not know? After all that – that touching stuff you did!"

"I was just checking her body for clues," he explained slowly, as though conversing with a child.

"And what clues did you pick up?" Link growled through gritted teeth.

"I dunno… I guess she isn't feeling too good."

"WHAT –!"

"Link," Sadie spoke up suddenly. "Calm down. I'm fine now."

"Oh, look," Murasakibara observed in that monotone voice. "She's alright. Guess I was wrong."

"I'm gonna kill you, bastard –"

"Link, please! Enough…" Sadie groaned and clutched her forehead.

Immediately her brother ceased speaking, instead leaning close to peer at her face. "Geez, you're really pale. Maybe I should get Dad –"

"No!" she practically shouted. Gripping his forearm, she gave him a hard stare and said, "I swear I'll never forgive you if you tell him."

He quailed beneath that fierce glare. "Alright… I won't… say anything."

"Good." Sadie took a few deep breaths before getting her legs under her to stand; Link made to help her, but Mura-kun got there first. She nodded appreciatively at him before turning to her brother again. "It's okay. I'm sorry I freaked you out; I didn't get much sleep last night and haven't stopped working since this morning. I guess my body just can't keep up sometimes." When he still looked concerned, she sighed and took his hand. "I'm fine, okay? I promise. Please stop worrying."

"But… Sadie, you're not well. It doesn't take a genius –" he glanced up at Mura-kun once "– or an air-head giant to see that. You don't need to keep pretending to be okay."

"I'm not pretending," she said in a low tone. "I've got work to do, Link, so could you please just let me get back to it?"

Without waiting for a response, she turned and went back into the shop, Murasakibara close behind. Instead of following, Link cursed to himself and stalked away down the alley without a backward glance. Sadie felt her heart growing heavier with every step he took.

~'Very nicely handled. Perhaps a little on the dramatic side, but an all-round applause-worthy performance on your part. Bravo.'~

"Would you shut up!"

Kimiko, who chose that exact moment to walk through the door, blinked in shock at her daughter's outburst. "Sadie-chan! I understand Murasakibara might be a little slow, but it is his first day in training! Try and have a little patience with him, please!"

... I don't even know what to say to that.

Sadie exhaled tiredly as Murasakibara's low grumbling echoed from behind her. Can't this day just end already? "Sorry. I'll try and be more patient."

Her mother appeared satisfied. "Good. Now, can you please make a start on these orders? They're piling up quickly!"

"Hai…"

Kimiko left her to it, and in the silence, she turned to face Mura-kun. "Hey, I'm… sorry about what I said. I didn't mean it about you, I just thought I heard –" She broke off as she realised that he was looking at something across the room, and therefore wasn't processing a word she was saying. "Mura-kun, are you even listening to me?"

"Hey, Sae-chan. Are the spring rolls supposed to do that?"

Sadie followed his eyes – and almost shouted at what she found. Smoke was rising from the oven seams, painting the walls behind a charcoal colour. She immediately snapped into action. "Mura-kun, open the back door and turn on the overhead vents! Quickly, quickly!"

While he rushed to obey her orders, she raced to the oven and gripped the handle to yank it open. "Ouch!" She hissed and recoiled from the burning-hot surface, but refused to dwell on the pain; instead she turned the temperature dial to zero and flicked the off switch. That should reduce the burning. Next she donned a pair of thick mittens and tried the door again; it swung wide and emitted a cloud of more thick smoke. She coughed over and over, and had to back up before she could breathe again.

"Did you… Did you turn on the vents?" she choked out.

"Yep. Did you save the spring rolls?"

"N-Nope."

He threw back his head and groaned. "Argh, I'm hungry!"

"I know, I know. Just hold on a little longer, Mura-kun."

She waited until most of the smoke had cleared before reaching in to grab the tray; what emerged was something so ghastly it made her nose scrunch. The 'food' had greatly surpassed anything remotely related to the word. Man, what a waste… Sadie turned to place them on the counter, but was met with Murasakibara's sulking form. He was staring at his former snack in dismay.

She offered up the tray to him. "Did someone order a double-platter of extra-crispy spring rolls?"

"No," he groused.

She giggled at his petulant expression. "I'm really sorry, Mura-kun. I'll fix it up right away."

He grunted once and scrubbed the back of his head. "But you can't, right? You have orders to make. Forget about it…" But the purple-haired giant looked less than pleased with the prospect.

Guilt ate at her; while there was another alternative, she hadn't wanted to let him take it. But the way this afternoon was going, he'd be lucky to get his food within a half hour… She sighed and gave in. Desperate times, I suppose…

"Here." Snagging a plate from the pile, she pointed in the direction of her prized take-away cabinet. "Go pick whatever you want from the cabinet; take it as a personal apology for keeping you waiting."

Despite her words, he still seemed unimpressed. "I don't want packaged food… I want Sae-chan's cooking…"

Blood suffused Sadie's cheeks for the millionth time that day. Clearing her throat once – twice – she carefully explained, "Mura-kun, I made everything in that cabinet from scratch, so it's okay –"

Before she'd even finished her sentence, Murasakibara snatched the plate from her fingers and was out the door faster than she could've imagined. She blinked at the sudden vacuum of air occupying his space. Wow, he can really move those legs, huh? But then Sadie got with the program. Right. Stuff to do!

Sadie threw out the monstrosity that had been her attempt at a snack before finding a cool cloth to wrap around her stinging palm. She cleared her benchtop in preparation for the upcoming orders, fired up four of the stove-tops and switched on the second oven – she didn't want to put the first one under any more stress…

While she bustled around the kitchen collecting ingredients, the door to the kitchen opened and then closed, and she could make out the large shape of Murasakibara in her periphery. He was humming something – which reminded her that she was missing a very important ingredient in her cooking.

Music!

"Geez…" she muttered to herself and she hurried over to the speakers, quickly selecting a separate playlist – something more upbeat this time, to match the speed of her movements, but still mentally stimulating… Ah, yes of course. Animenz will do nicely. He was one of her favourite pianists, and his natural talent was always inspiring.

Music sorted, she returned to the stove, where she quickly placed three chops of marinated pork on a sizzling pan to sauté. After that, it was quick work with the vegetables, chopping them into pieces before adding them to a separate fry pan. The noodles she had prepared earlier were almost ready; Sadie surveyed her work with satisfaction before moving on to the next set of dishes. She sighed when she saw the orders. Man, that new Katsudon dish is seriously popular. Her father had reinvented this traditional Japanese cuisine by first sizzling the pork with a variety of imported spices, before wrapping them in a western-style puff pastry to be deep fried. It was then topped with thin noodles and drizzled in the customer's choice of curry, soy or Worcestershire sauce, overtop a bowl of cooked rice.

Across the room, Murasakibara let out a small moan of appreciation, causing Sadie's lips to curl upwards a little. "Is it all right, Mura-kun?"

"Hmm," was his muffled reply.

She giggled and glanced up. "Well, I'm glad to hear – What's with that massive plate?!"

The purple-haired giant frowned at her outburst, mumbling an indignant "What?" around a mouth filled to the brim with food.

Sadie gaped at the amount of food in front of him. "What in God's name – who said you could just – Mura-kun, that's way too much food!"

His frown intensified. "You said I could pick whatever I wanted."

"Yeah, but I didn't mean the whole damn cabinet! Seriously, what is wrong with you? How can you possibly eat that much?!"

He harrumphed at her and returned to his plate – feeding trough? – without answering, chewing merrily. From her take-away cabinet, Murasakibara had chosen to eat a full slice of sugar-coated chocolate brownie, four varying savoury pastries, a cinnamon scroll, a red bean paste-filled fish cake, and three sweet-bean paste-filled sweet breads. She watched in dazed horror as he chowed down on her meticulous creations like they were no more than potato chips.

Her hands curled into tight fists of fury. "Don't you think you're going a bit overboard?"

"Why would you say that?" he mumbled with a bored expression, still munching away.

"You've barely done any hard work at all!" Sadie pointed a finger at him warningly. "You'd better get your butt moving when you've finished eating all that, alright?"

"Hai, hai…" He went back to munching, effectively dismissing her presence.

Just as she returned grousing to her work, Kimiko wandered in with a broad smile. "Sadie-chan, I'm glad to see you're back on top of things. We just had three customers compliment your food, one after the other! Your father said to keep up the good work. He also wanted me to check and see how Murasakibara-kun is doing…" She paused as her eyes wandered to his hunching form, taking in the size of his 'afternoon snack' and the swiftness with which he was eating it. "Um, Mura-kun…"

He didn't reply; she said his name again and his head jerked up. "Hmm? What is it?"

Kimiko looked distinctly uncomfortable. "What's… all that you have there?"

"Hmm? This?" He glanced down at the food in puzzlement, like he couldn't figure out what that had to do with anything. His face was totally clueless when he looked up again. Kimiko clearly had no idea where to begin.

Sadie sighed in resignation. "He was hungry."

Kimiko blinked between them both. "Is… Is that so? But still, are you really going to eat all of that, Mura-kun?"

When her mother's question was again met with a brick wall of obliviousness, Sadie amended, "He was really hungry."

"… Okay. Just so long as you do your duties before you leave, Mura-kun…"

She smiled reassuringly at her mother. "It's alright. I won't let him slack off."

Kimiko nodded, satisfied, and then retreated into the shop. Silence reigned while Mura-kun ate his way through the meal, the rhythmic sound of Sadie's chopping keeping in time with the piano composition filling the space. She felt herself slowly coming down from the events of the afternoon; even after her little panic attack in the alley, she still felt shaky and uncoordinated. But her limbs were beginning to calm again as she fell into a habitual pace.

Reflecting on her sudden panic attack made her realise something. "Hey, Mura-kun. How did you know… to do that stuff in the alley before?"

He looked her in the eyes. "I didn't know."

Even she found that hard to believe. "Oh, come on. You really helped me; you had to know a little about what you were doing…"

"Your hands were cold. So I warmed them." He shrugged. "And your eyes were all sluggish, so I got that floundering idiot out of the way 'cause he was just making you more confused by yelling at you…"

Sadie gaped at him in disbelief. "S-Seriously? But… You did it all so fast! It's like you had training in this sort of thing."

He shrugged again and returned to his food. "I have good reflexes."

"I'll say," she agreed. This seemingly ignorant giant had alleviated her panic attack in less than a minute.

"Hey, Sae-chan."

She glanced up in surprise and replied automatically, "Yes?"

Mura-kun was studying the plate in front of him with a sullen expression. "What's that kid's problem, anyway?"

"That kid…? Oh, you mean my brother?" He nodded once. "Uh… What exactly do you mean?"

"Is he always such an ass?" he asked without preamble.

She paused her chopping to answer carefully. "Not really. He's just like that, you know? He likes to… challenge people as soon as he meets them. He's usually a little more subtle than that, though…" Sadie paused, carefully considering how to phrase the next part. "He just gets a little possessive of me sometimes; I think he freaked out when he saw you guys standing over me before."

He mulled over her words for a moment, and then an abrupt twitch started up in his brow. "Ah, that's why he annoyed me so much… He reminds me of that guy…"

Sadie gazed at him curiously. "What guy?"

Another brow twitch. "Bushy-Brows…"

"… My brother reminds you of Guy-Sensei?"

His purple head shook impatiently. "Not that Bushy-Brows…"

Now Sadie was just confused. "Okay…" Does link have bushy brows? Sure, they were dark, but they weren't overly hairy…

Somehow, thinking of him made her feel simultaneously angry and guilty. As much as she should have kept her opinions to herself earlier, Sadie had felt so good finally to let some of her inner fury out on him – fury at the situation he had caused. And while it was easy for him to just leave the house at any time of the day, she was stuck here with no freedom at all…

I wonder if he's with that girl…

"Mura-kun."

"Yeah?"

"I need you to do something for me."


Author's Note:

Hello readers! Hope you're liking my story so far.

For all those who have reviewed, I extend my utmost gratitude. Your regular feedback is what keeps me going. Without the support of your encouraging words, I doubt I would have the motivation to continue writing this fanfic every day!

~'Pfft, that's a lie. You have voices in your head, too. And without an outlet, things get really… Messy.'~

… Touché.

But enough of that; back to the story. In this chapter, things have started to heat up… (pun intended). I'm talkin' 'bout that character-building and plot-widening, yo. Mura-kun is officially permanently in the picture – much to Link's dismay. Along with her hovering family/friends, Sadie now has to deal with a 'very hungry caterpillar'!

And had anybody noticed how strangely absent Momoi-chan has been recently? I mean, Sadie has seen all her friends except one. Is it just stubborn pride in the way…?

Aside from this, the biggest question on my mind… 'What is dearest older brother hiding?'