It's a short one. Promise the next one will be longer. Honest.

I just realised that I made some mistakes with time in the previous chapters...why am I like this when I write stories.

And yes, there will be more banter ( Cooliceprincess and also whoever else was wondering). There is no story if there is no banter between our hacker and Mayuzumi who gets into way too much crap because of her.

Anyways, please enjoy.

Canadian Winter

"Achoo!" Akihito walked through the door of the apartment, and almost fell to his death. Why exactly did his sister prefer to sit in the dark? Also, he was so sure he had someone send her a heater. His hand searched for the light switch, and found it laying in a switch on position. "Mei, what is going on?"

"My back-up generator can only power the computer." Meichō said to him from the dark. "And if I hook it up to anything other than the computer, I will get killed."

"Mei, this is Canada, and its winter right now, at least put the heater on." Akihito really didn't understand his sister sometimes. From god knows where, the electricity came back on. Akihito moved to untangle cords from his feet and looked in the general direction of where Meichō's voice had came from.

Meichō was half buried in a gigantic pile of beanbags, all of which Akihito did not remember her getting. Her fingers were moving on the keyboard, rapidly typing things Akihito didn't have the talent for.

"Happy now?" Meichō asked him. The heater was still off. Akihito pointed at the heater and Meichō sighed. "It's broken."

"Get a new one then."

"I spent this month's budget on these." Meichō nodded at the beanbags that she was buried in. Akihito never wanted to hit his sister more.

"I will get you one." Akihito said.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because being warm takes away my motivation to do work. And I need to work." Meichō deadpanned. And Akihito stayed silent.

"Onii-chan, what are you doing?" Akihito turned and saw his younger sister, who had skipped into his room without knocking. Again. He smiled, at least his sister didn't dislike him as a result of the eight-year age gap.

"Mei, wanna watch a movie with me?" Akihito offered. His five-year-old sister looked at him with her round, amber eyes, and held up a box of condoms.

"I'm here to run an errand. Otou-san told me to give this to Onii-chan." She said. Akihito quickly plucked the box out of her hands and banished it to his drawer. "He said that once Onii-chan finds a girlfriend, you will find a use of it."

"Oyaji, what are you making Mei do?" Akihito yelled, knowing his father would hear. And true enough, his reply came in a hearty laughter. "I'm so going to tell Kaa-san when she gets home."

"Onii-chan, what was it?" Her round amber eyes blinked at him. Akihito sighed.

"You will know when you are older, Mei."

"Is it bad?"

"It's just not for you to know yet, Mei." Akihito told his sister. She seemed to consider it for a while as her face morphed into a frown. And then she looked up at him and smiled brightly.

"I trust Onii-chan, since you told me you will protect Mei from bad things."

"Of course, Mei. I'm your brother."

"Mei, I need your help."

"Onii-chan?" The large amber eyes looked at him with concern.

"Mei, I need your computer knowledge."

"Onii-chan, will the scary people hurt you if Mei doesn't help?"

Silence.

"Onii-chan, Mei doesn't want Onii-chan to die."

"Mei, I'm sorry."

Akihito knew almost too well how the agency treated his sister. But they both knew it was necessary for getting the agency back for the death of their parents. But he was also well aware he should not have put her in that situation. Akihito looked up and saw Meichō staring at him.

"You know, Akihito," Meichō started as she pulled herself out of the beanbags, and made her way to the next room and turned on the kettle. "For someone who once told me ever so confidently you were going to protect me from bad things, you're really a scaredy cat."

"Mei, just because I complained about the cold, does not make me a scaredy cat."

"I wasn't talking about that, and you know it." Meichō returned with a mug of instant mocha and passed it to him. Akihito only knew because it was the only thing that he had seen the last time he looked into her cupboard. He took a sip and discovered that it was instant coffee. He must've looked surprised because Meichō smirked. "I stocked up since the last time you were here."

"On the things in your cupboard?" Akihito asked. Meichō's smirk seemed to become somewhat infuriating when she shrugged.

"Check for yourself, Onii-chan."

"That used to be cute when you were five," Akihito sighed as he set down the mug and made his way to the other room. "Now it just sounds like you're mocking me."

"Say, Onii-chan," Meichō had taken the chance to sit on his back while he was squat, looking through her cupboards. It seemed that Meichō had gotten herself a lot of instant noodles, and, as Akihito quickly noticed, a lot lighter.

"Hold the thought," Akihito interrupted. "But when was the last time you slept?"

"I don't know, I don't think I've slept since the last time Onii-chan was over." Meichō was not sleeping. Again. But before he could say anything, Meichō spoke. "I was going to ask whether Onii-chan thinks Senpai would be happy if I called him Onii-chan."

"That sounds like a kink I really don't want to know Mei." Akihito replied and Meichō stood up. Akihito stood and looked at his sister. "You've gone loopy from the lack of sleep, go sleep."

"I'm not done checking the information." Meichō complained, no, whined.

"You can do that once you've slept." Akihito said as he dragged her to the bedroom which he knew she barely ever used.

"You can't leave until I wake up." Meichō said after a while. "If there's a call from the agency you need to answer them."

"Ok, that's fine, go sleep."

'And hopefully when you wake up, you forget that thought.' Akihito thought to himself, and prayed for the sake of Mayuzumi.

"Say, Senpai?" Mayuzumi turned and looked at the girl who was sitting at the dining table of his house, wearing a black hoodie and a pair of black short shorts. Her long hair now made her look a little like some rich girl that had been kidnapped by mafia, instead of the ghetto girl he had remembered her as.

"What is it?"

"I was just wondering," Meichō took a pause in her sentence and smiled innocently. Mayuzumi felt a chill go down his back. "What if I called Senpai Onii-chan?"

"Do. Not. Do. That."

A mischievous grin. And Meichō slipped out of the chair and made her way to the kitchen, where he was making coffee. She wrapped her arms around his left arm, and looked up at him with her pair of clear amber eyes.

"Onii-chan." Meichō's voice was, cute, but infuriating. It sounded like she was whining.

"I'm debating whether I should strangle you, or throw you out of my house."

"But Onii-chan, Mei's a good girl."

"You know what, I will leave."

"Aww, don't leave." She had stopped the whiny tone. And then in a whisper, she finished her sentence. "You know you love me, Chihiro."

"Goddammit Meichō."

Why am I like this.

Why is Mei like this.

Also I apologise if that Onii-chan thing borderline, or fully, offended people. It's dumb banter because people go loopy when they don't get enough sleep. I think I called someone 'Daddy' once when I didn't sleep from three days. I remember receiving a bottle of sleeping pills the next day.

Good kids should not do what I do.

Sleep is good.

Also if it's cold, get a heater, or your joints will swell up and that hurts.

Really, don't be me.

Murasaki xx