The next morning Amane was still in shock about last night's event. He felt really bad for Tsukasa, being exposed to every little thing. He paused though when he put two and two together. He had snuck out the day they fought, he made him breakfast the next day.
He waited for Tsukasa to wake up to ask him an important question. His brother eventually came downstairs and greeted him, something new and yet nice. "Say, Tsu…"
"Hm?"
"The day that we fought, did you happen to see anything the next morning?"
Tsukasa looked at him confused. "See what? The next day I kinda blanked if I'm honest, I didn't even go to Natsuhiko's house, not sure what I was doing- I think it was the day Sakura found me and forced me to art class." He shrugged, his memories were pretty hazy. Although he was sure he tried to commit suicide that day… best not to mention that right now.
At that moment Amane realized Tsukasa never meant to ignore his note or the breakfast he had made. "Oh thank god, I thought you didn't care about the breakfast I made."
"You made breakfast!?" He shrieked. "Please tell me you didn't make chocolate pancakes."
"I did."
Tsukasa immediately hit his head against the wall. "Oh my fucking- I swear I had no idea, otherwise I would have eaten that shit!" He cried at the thought of the wasted breakfast his brother made.
Amane laughed in relief. "Honestly I'm just glad you merely didn't notice, thought you hated me… felt pretty lonely that day." He admitted, he didn't want to assume bad things but Tsukasa was acting weird to be fair.
Tsukasa groaned. "Amane! I feel even worse now." He hugged him again. "I'm so sorry, I swear I'll make it up to you."
Amane patted his head with a smile. "I know you will."
"Heck I'll make it up to you right now!" He declared as he turned on the stove.
Amane immediately panicked and turned it off. "Don't, you'll burn the apartment complex down!"
"No, I won't!"
They shared a mutual laugh they hadn't had in years.
Everything seemed okay now that the Yugi twins had their talk. They still had secrets they were hiding from each other but most of the important ones were now out in the air.
They could start their progress of moving on.
So Tsukasa went back to therapy and has been going for the past few months.
Amane was still trying to find ways to avoid Teru. He knew if he ended his friendship with Kou so suddenly that it would cause problems and questions. Normally he'd tell Akane but he didn't want to involve him and if he told Kou he'd likely get defensive or confront Teru and he didn't want that.
Amane sighed as he thought of his options. He looked at his textbook and couldn't concentrate, he needed to make some progress on his homework after all. Nene who had been hanging out with Amane more these days noticed he had been down for a while now. She figured it was about Tsuchigomori but at this point, it seemed like something else was bothering him.
Was it Tsukasa?
No, Amane said they were getting along again.
Unless they had another fight.
She didn't know, Amane was such a mystery to her if she were honest. She trusts him, a lot. But she's starting to realize Amane probably doesn't trust her as much as she thought he did.
He was so confusing…
"Yashiro, why are you making that face?" He asked as he poked her cheek.
Nene paused and blushed. What kind of face was she making!? "Uh… not sure what you're talking about." She covered her face with a book. She wanted to crawl in a ditch and die.
And she didn't know why!
Amane made her feel too nervous. He was the only boy (aside from Akane and the Minamoto's) that still talked to her and wanted to be her friend and not have some ulterior motive such as trying to get into her pants.
Those damn rumors were annoying even months later.
Didn't matter anyway, she and Amane have a festival to plan since it's coming up very soon. He's been busy with projects and such but always made time for her.
"Once I'm done with this calculus homework we'll go over the details about the games we're going to present at the festival." Amane smiled at her and went back to work to finish it more quickly.
Nene felt so relieved to have Amane. Aoi was busy with decorations, food, and such. There was even going to be a dancing contest with a huge prize. She didn't know the actual prize but she figured it was money.
Aoi was being mysterious.
"Don't worry Yugi-kun, the math homework is a struggle." She laughed nervously, she didn't ditch it or anything.
Amane rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. Yako-sensei needs to calm down with the damn homework." He chuckled while trying to figure out the last equation.
Nene watched over him and tried to memorize what he was doing so she could finish hers in time. Eventually, he figured it out and closed his binder, putting it away in his backpack to start festival planning.
They both spent the day thinking about the different types of activities everyone could do both kids and adults alike. After all, it was a festival, anyone could come!
Amane wondered if Tsukasa would like to come to hang out or something. Maybe he could even ask him to-
"Yashiro-chan… Yugi."
Oh god.
Nene's eyes grew hearts as she practically skipped to Teru's side. Meanwhile, Amane glared at Teru who was practically stabbing him with his eyes. The Minamoto's were prime suspects in Tsuchigomori's death.
If they were involved…
He's going to have them pay.
Big time.
"Minamoto-senpai! I didn't expect to see you today." Nene was shy as always but at the very least she could talk to him properly.
Teru gave her his signature smile that would make millions of girls fall for him in a matter of seconds. "I came to check up on progress, Akane-chan is making some adjustments to the menu."
They began to talk to each other about the festival and the ideas and plans they had for it. Nene had fun trying to explain all the amazing things she and Amane came up with and the cool space facts Amane was going to present. Teru didn't seem too interested in whatever Amane was involved in and honestly, Amane didn't care that he didn't care.
Seeing Teru so close to Nene…
Seeing how happy she looked…
Her eyes-
"Eh! Yugi-kun!?"
Amane didn't know what came over him but he wrapped his arms around Nene and pulled her close to him while staring at Teru. "Sorry but Yashiro and I have so many things to do! It would be nice to sit and talk but you're wasting our time." His passive-aggressiveness didn't go unnoticed by Teru who still smiled but was seething on the inside.
He had to maintain composure in front of Nene after all. "Right, right, well I'll see you later Yashiro-chan… Yugi." He glared at Amane momentarily and proceeded to walk away to try and find his brother.
Amane felt himself relax the further away Teru got. He still hadn't let go of Nene yet who was beginning to turn into a huge mushy red mess the more she realized how close she was with Amane.
"Um… Yugi-kun?" She was a mess, a total mess! Why was she so nervous anyway? To be fair it was the first time a boy has ever been this close to her before in this position that is. Amane wasn't a guy that was looking for something or using her.
So this action was… surprising… yeah…
He's not her type anyway…
So why was her heart beating so much?
Amane blinked and immediately let Nene go trying to hide his blush. "S-Sorry Yashiro, he was taking up your time and I don't want you to turn in your math homework late." He snickered as he proceeded to walk towards one of the booths.
He was being considerate…
Wait… HOW DID HE KNOW!?
--
He felt better.
Better than he's ever had in a million years.
Better than-
"Yugi-kun?"
Ah.
"Shijima-chan?" He looked up at the girl that's been plastering him for the past few months. Her constant presence outside of her mom's art class was something he didn't count on despite them agreeing to investigate the mystery surrounding the death of their respective fathers.
"What are you drawing?" She asked, she was looking at him in an upside-down position. She had the bright idea to hang from a tree to test her endurance at a park.
Why Tsukasa was here in the first place was a question he can't answer. "Nothing in particular."
Mei narrowed her eyes and hummed. "You never tell me anything Yugi-kun."
Tsukasa sighed. "Listen I know you think we're friends but… I don't really see you like that…" He didn't further elaborate on how exactly he views his weird relationship with Mei.
She sat up and jumped off the tree knowing full well she'll lose her balance since she was caught off guard. "Oh? I thought we were friends."
Tsukasa sighed again. "I can't be friends with you right now, it's bad enough that I cause my current friends to worry daily, I don't want to worry you too." While it was true that he merely didn't want to worry her- for some reason he felt like there was more to that.
Mei sat next to him on the bench. "Hey now, I'm going to worry anyway, we're in this mess together now." She nudged his shoulder with hers and smiled. "We can solve this mystery in no time."
He glared at her. "No Shijima-san, we're not going to become discount detectives! Amane and I agreed we'd lay low for the time being before we go through Tsuchigomori's things that were in his apartment." The day Tsukasa had gone to his apartment they had asked him to remove Tsuchigomori's stuff since they wanted the apartment to be vacant as soon as possible.
He had to call Amane for help that day and they both noticed some of his stuff had been tampered with.
Mei whined. "But Yugi-kun! We're never going to know what happened if we don't become discount detectives! Plus your brother is busy with the star festival."
She wasn't wrong, Amane was currently busy helping his classmates with the star festival. Considering it's about stars, Amane is likely having the time of his life. Tsukasa didn't mind at all that he was. He knew he'd likely be invited to the festival anyway.
"I know that! This is the perfect cover-up if anything." He explained. "They'll think he's too busy with the star festival and I'm preoccupied doing this." He showed her his drawing of the park.
Her jaw almost dropped to the ground and how beautiful it was. "You're so talented Yugi-kun."
Tsukasa blushed since he wasn't used to the praise yet. "Ah… thanks?" He felt awkward every time Mei praised anything he did.
"You can't take a compliment can you?"
"No."
Mei sighed and closed her eyes as she pressed her back against the bench and daydreamed. "You know sometimes I wish I had the power to make my drawings become a reality." She looked at Tsukasa who was giving her a confused expression.
"Make your drawings a reality? You mean like…" Before he could continue, Mei took out her sketchbook and quickly drew a portrait of herself.
"Like this! Imagine I could make clones of myself, I can be everywhere and anywhere!" She giggled at the antics she could get herself into. "But most of all I wish I could run away. I love my mom but I hate seeing her suffering so much. Even if teaching art class helps her distract herself it's not enough sometimes… I'm afraid she'll do something… kinda like how you almost did." She looked at him not knowing if he heard what she said or not.
Tsukasa visibly flinched at that.
She knew…?
"Wait…"
"I knew you were going to jump the day we met… I just knew I had to stop you… so I faked interest in your painting at first, but then it was easy because it was a really pretty painting despite the dark hidden message behind it." She placed her head on his shoulder. "I didn't know what you were going through but a part of me kept screaming to help you."
Tsukasa was stunned silent… she knew… she always knew he was suicidal…
Shit.
"I… I'm better now… I talked with Amane a few months ago and we're starting to bond again. I'm slowly moving on and accepting Tsuchigomori's death and I'm going to therapy again and it's finally working." What was he feeling right now? Was he happy? Or was he sad? No this was a positive feeling but he did feel a bit guilty. She was a stranger that constantly asked for his attention and wouldn't leave him alone.
It all made sense now.
"I'm sorry I said I didn't consider you a friend." He felt guilty over that. Nobody asked her to keep him company or look out for him. She just did it out of the kindness of her heart. Because she saw that side of him that he didn't want anyone to know.
The broken side.
She smiled and closed her eyes. "It's okay Tsukasa-kun." She was blissfully unaware that she used his first name instead of his last name.
Tsukasa felt his heart stop and his face grow hot at the realization. She just used his first name… were they close now? Considering everything that happened before this- perhaps they were always close. "Thank you Mei-chan."
Oh god, he just used her first name too. She didn't hear him, did she?
He side-eyed her and noticed she seemed to be sleeping. How she could sleep in such a position was a bit baffling but at least she didn't hear him. It's bad enough that he embarrasses himself daily.
Unbeknownst to him, Mei heard him loud and clear.
It was the day of the festival after long months of planning.
As Amane expected, Tsukasa had invited his friends and even Mei. They were properly introduced this time around.
Amane was hanging out with Akane and Kou by a whack-a-mole station. Why this game was chosen he wasn't sure but Kou seemed to be enjoying himself. He was glad Teru didn't stay long or else he'd be in for it if he saw them hanging out. He hasn't seen Nene anywhere and Aoi has been talking to some fellow committee members. He held Akane back who was having a jealous rage at seeing some of the boys looking at Aoi.
"Calm down."
"I can't!"
Kou who was still playing rolled his eyes and then suddenly noticed Tsukasa and his friends walking over.
"AMANE!"
"Eh!?"
Amane didn't expect his brother to pounce on him as he used to when they were kids. He used to feel embarrassed about it but now it made him feel such immense relief.
"What are you doing!" Tsukasa asked with that childlike glee Amane thought he had lost.
Amane smiled, festivals were always Tsukasa's favorite event. "Not much, Kou is playing whack-a-mole." He shrugged and pointed towards Kou who was close to beating his previous high score.
At this Mitsuba snorted. "Lame ass traffic safety earring being lame? Not surprised." He joked while Natsuhiko gave him a high five.
Kou beat his score and immediately turned to Mitsuba with a glare. "Hey shut up!" He just knew the guy would say something cocky.
He gave that vibe.
"What? Don't tell me to shut up! You shut up!"
Kou rolled his eyes. "Whatever girly."
"Excuse me!?"
Everyone watched as the two began to bicker with each other in complete amusement.
"I didn't expect this development," Akane commented.
"Well, they have been talking these last few months." Amane snickered as Kou and Mitsuba began to argue even louder.
"I'll have you know that I trained and mastered the art of kung fu and I'm not afraid to use it!" Kou exclaimed while getting into a battle stance.
Mitsuba almost choked."What!? You want to hurt cute little me? You want to get rough with me!? You're a fucking pervert!"
At that moment Aoi had walked towards them and stopped when she heard what Mitsuba said. "What's going on?"
"An argument," Akane said, amusement written all over his face.
Amane was trying to hold his laughter while Tsukasa was full-on laughing at Mitsuba's stupid joke. Natsuhiko was practically on the floor rolling with laughter while Sakura and Mei were having a giggling fit.
Kou blushed pure red. "What the fuck are you talking about!? I mention kung fu and suddenly you think I want to fuck you? Listen I'm not interested in guys like you so don't get ahead of yourself."
It felt like the imaginary jazz music had stopped when Kou made that comment. Everyone looked at Mitsuba to see his reaction.
He was angry actually.
"HUH!? NOT INTERESTED IN GUYS LIKE ME!? I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I'M THE ONE THAT'S NOT INTERESTED IN YOU!"
"WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE YOU'RE OFFENDED!?"
"I'M NOT!"
"What the fuck is going on here…" Nene felt like she walked into a battlefield the moment she walked over.
Amane filled her in. "So basically they got into an argument and now it feels like they have some sexual tension going on."
Nene was confused. "Huh? Didn't they barely become friends two months ago?"
"That's why it's hilarious," Tsukasa said while holding back some laughter.
"Oh hey! I don't believe I've ever formally introduced myself." Nene smiled at Tsukasa. "I'm Yashiro Nene."
"Yugi Tsukasa, Amane's younger twin brother." He grinned at her. "You look like your my brother's type, are you two dating?"
They blushed and immediately started getting defensive.
"Tsu shut the fuck up!"
"He's not my type!"
Tsukasa looked at them and narrowed his eyes. He might be naive when it comes to romance but even he knew his brother and Nene were definitely into each other. "Just kiss already." He shook his head and turned his attention back to the Kou and Mitsuba argument that had yet to finish.
Amane and Nene stayed silent while still blushing. Unable to meet the others' gaze. Amane was going to kill Tsukasa later for this.
--
What's this? Another early update?
Yes, yes indeed xD
I had nothing to do for valentines day so decided to update the story since the chapter was done lol
As always if you want to support me and my work (along with future work) check out my !
(Link on my profile)
