This isn't meant to be gloomy. The theme of this particular instalment extends beyond the genres explicitly listed for this series.

Cheating on Her

Momoshiro Takeshi

They have long been walking on a narrow tightrope, but An had still wished.

Wished that they would somehow overcome the hurdle of staying in different prefectures, and prove to her brother that them getting together wasn't the result of teenage hormone overrun during their middle school days, and they will make it; wished that a day like today would never arrive.

But he rendered all her wishful thinking wishful.

An had been ready to lose it when she saw Momoshiro laughing and walking out of the tennis equipment shop with a girl she wasn't unfamiliar with; she had seen her photos –with Momoshiro – not quite infrequently on her newsfeed during recent times; but Kippei shook his head and gripped her arm.

"An, don't."

He said.

"Why not?" An turned around, navy blue eyes narrowed and seething with unaccounted anger that she wasn't sure was directed at Momoshiro or herself, "he dared to cheat on me, onii-chan!"

"What are you going to do if you confront him face to face now?" Kippei asked, calmly appraising the dark-haired boy who stood a distance away. Only the sudden dearth of warmth in the air spoke of his newfound hostility towards the now-vice-captain of Seigaku. "An." Kippei pat her head. "You're still young."

She was 17 for goodness' sake.

"I'm not young! Not too young to not know what's good for myself, at least," She bit down on her lower lip. "I'm 17, cleaned my own room, worked part-time before, and dated even…" Her voice trailed off when she found herself rambling off a childish list of her "adult" achievements.

Kippei must have caught on to it; the reason why she was so insistent on maintaining her threadbare relationship with Momoshiro.

An looked up to see the knowing shine in Kippei's gentle eyes, his eyes so resplendent that she felt flustered.

"W-what I mean, onii-chan, is that I can take care of myself!" She managed to huff out.

"I'm aware, An," Kippei smiled fondly at her. "Everything that we encounter in life is a learning experience. Likewise, An, I'm certain you'll grow – have grown." He corrected himself. "You need not prove to me anything. I know better than anyone that you've grown up."

An swallowed her lips. She didn't think that Kippei sounded sincere at all.

"An, you've never troubled me," said Kippei. "From young, you have always taken care of yourself brilliantly. But just let me do my part, alright?" He chuckled. "After all… I'm the older sibling."

An could tell that his words were genuine, as the way he always was. Her brother was never one to lie or engage in anything even remotely dishonourable.

When he said it, he meant it.

And An loved, loved the warm feeling in her chest that transcended love, friendship – enmity even and everything in between.

"… Okay," An shuffled, feeling a little bashful.

To which Kippei laughed and ruffled An's hair, and An thought that it didn't matter whether she would confront Momoshiro at a later time.