Entry 40: The World Begins With You

April 2nd: Morning

Today's the day that we settle this. I kept staring at the text on my phone from Miku, saying she'd drag Nino here sometime around five. I glanced at the clock in my room to confirm the time, ten am. About seven hours. What to do in the mea-

"Haaaaaappy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you~ You look like a donkeyyyyyyy, aaaaaaaand you smell like one too!" My brother sang as he barged into my apartment. Oh I do not need this, today of all days. The young man was wearing a party hat and a broth purple colored suit. "Come on, little bro. Turn the frown upside down! You're officially eighteen now! Well, since yesterday, but still! You know what that means! You're officially an adult! Wooo yeah! Let's party! Want some beer?" I'm still underaged, asshole.

"Shiro. Not today. I'm not in the mood." Surprisingly, he actually listened to what I said. His foolish mood dampened and he actually took a look at me. "What?" He suddenly looked worried.

"You alright there, brother?" Deciding to take me seriously now that I'm 18, huh? "You look like you haven't slept a wink."

"Something happened on the trip and I'm a bit stressed trying to figure out how to figure it out." He slowly took off his party hat and closed my door. With a sigh, he took a seat next to me and wrapped an arm around me. "Oh come on."

"What, I can't hug my brother?" I wanted so badly to yell at him, but... that'd just be taking it out on him. "Listen... I didn't just come here to celebrate. I... I also wanted to ask something of you."

"Great. When it rains it pours, I guess."

"Hey, at least give me a chance." Shiro took in a deep breath and nodded to himself. "Kuro, before you graduate, you should leave Library."

"...what?"

"You don't want to be a part of us anymore, right? Honestly I'm glad. Finally you-"

"Woah woah woah! Who the hell do you think you are?!'' I jumped off of my bed and glared at my brother. The desire to punch him square in the face building. "You bring me into your stupid organization, molding me into becoming your perfect replacement and now you want me to leave?!"

"Mold you?" He seemed genuinely confused by that. "The hell are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me asshole! I know that you were just using me to keep your baby organization alive! Yuu..." Wait... what? What the fuck? Did I actually take that bitch seriously?! No... it's only because it made sense. "You think I can just forget the Black Rose incident?! It became obvious to me since then that you've just been using me!"

"..." He became silent after that accusation. "Look... that wasn't what you think."

"Save it! I won't... wait what?"

My brother was looking down at the ground with an expression I didn't expect to see on him. Regret... or was he just pretending. No... if anything these past few days taught me that my preconceived notions of people aren't always right. "What did you mean by that?"

"Nothing, nothing! I was just-"

"Answer me now before I punch you in the nuts."

He shook his head in an exaggerated manner before letting out a defeated chuckle. "Come on, man. I was fine with this, never getting out..." He stared at the floor for a second, then another, then a minute. It took him a good five minutes to finally start talking. "I... sorta faked being an asshole?"

"You took five minutes to think of your words and that's what you came up with? Does your brain work?" Shrio's shoulders shrugged and he put on a pathetic smile.

"Look, I don't know what to say. Even if I explain it, I don't think you'd believe me, little bro."

"Try me."

With a sigh, he began talking. "Fine. Well... the real reason why I never told you about Lady headph- I mean Lady Miku's bullying situations was because I was told not to, by the lady herself."

"That's... that's not-"

"Oh yeah, the reason why she trusted me to do so was because I was a bit of a confidant of hers during her first year of high school."

"YOU WHAT?!" My voice was so loud that he covered his ears in surprise.

"Is it that surprising... I would have told you had I thought that it would go that far but... look, I'm sorry. I didn't want to betray the little lady's trust and making you mad at me would help make you not want to stay in Library. So that's why I did what I did."

"..." I just stood in front of him, drinking in the information. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my entire life!" How idiotic does someone have to be to think that doing something like that would even make sense?! Such a stupid self-sacrificing plan would never work. "Is your brain broken or are you actually that dumb?"

"Hey! Look, I know you're all mad and stressed, but don't take it out on me! I'm just trying to explain my thought process. Look, was it smart? No. Did I come up with it on the spot when you asked me about the bullying? Yes. But it worked out, didn't it? You and the little lady are as close as can be and I bet you've been thinking about leaving Library, right?"

"Well..." No way. I refused to believe that my stupid brother's stupid ass plan ended up working in his favor. "...maybe."

"Hehehehehe! See, ain't your big brother so smart?" His bright green eyes shone with pride as he puffed out his chest. "All it took was making you hate me for a year and it allllll worked out! Sure I might have cried a bit- well a lot, but it worked out for the best!" I hate this man.

"Fine, I get it. You weren't an asshole who intentionally let Miku almost get stabbed just for a show. Instead, you're a smooth-brained idiot who accidentally almost let Miku get hurt, causing myself to get stabbed and took advantage of that situation to further your agenda of getting me out of Library. Did I sum it up correctly?"

Sweat began to fall from his brow. "When you say it like that... it sounds almost mean.'' You idiotic fool.

"But something doesn't make sense. As much as I want to make fun of you for you're dumb plan, why do you want me to leave Library?"

"Well... would you look at the ti- please don't hit meee!" My raised fist was enough to make the standing Shiro sit back down on my bed. "Okay, okay. I got it, sheesh. Why do you always have to resort to violence? Isn't peace the better option, little brother?" All I did in response was crack my knuckles. "Sooooo mean. Anyway, I just thought it was the best option. Being stuck in this world... I don't want that for you. I know You might have thought that I didn't care about you but I do. I don't want this life for you." This life...

While yes, we technically aren't a part of the underworld, it'd be stupid to think that we don't have a foot in it. Library was created and advertised as a way to deal with the Yakuza. We've gone to war with families before and it'd probably happen again. Someone in the organization, even someone as low in the totem pole as an intern will never truly be safe. I'm not safe and neither are any of the Sentinels. But it's not like I'm not used to it. I've been stuck in this world since I could form memories. What's wrong with me staying?

But isn't that the point then? Shiro, my brother, doesn't want that for me. Just like... how I didn't want W- Sora to be stuck in this life either. It's the same feeling, isn't it? He... just wants to protect me, doesn't he? Why'd it take me so long to realize? God, I hate myself.

Taking a deep breath, I glanced at the clock in my room. Ten thirty... I've got time. "Shiro, get out of my room."

"...yeah sorry."

"Wait for me outside, alright? I need to get changed." His face brightened and he turned to me.

"Am I finally getting through?"

"Shut up, asshole. It'll take a while for me to actually let go of this, okay? For now, just buy me breakfast. Call it a late birthday present." A wide smile came across my brother's face. A genuine one. One that... I haven't seen for a while.

"Hehehe! I can't wait! I'll buy you anything you want!" He marched out of my room with a spring in his step. Jeez, I'll never understand why that man's popular with women. As I began to get changed, I replayed the conversation in my head. I don't know why I'm surprised. I'm not exactly the best at being able to read people's intentions. Not to mention I let myself get played by a certain piece of human garbage. Why did I even trust what she said? Was it because it fit my own bias or... was it something else? And does that mean that she knew what his plan was? No, that wouldn't make any sense. I'm just reading too much into it.

My thoughts drifted back to the ribbon wearing girl. How long have I been misunderstanding her intentions? Her words? Her expressions? Same thing goes for Miku as well. I... I'm really not worth all of this. Why do they put in so much effort for a guy like me? Why would my brother go so far as to force me to hate him just to take care of me? Why would Nino lie so often? Why would Miku treat me so well? I don't get it. I'm... I'm just Kuro. A failure of a human being. My brother was no demon, I was the only one. Just burn me to the ground already.

"Ready, little bro?" The older man opened the door with a wide smile, clearly too excited to wait. Luckly for him, I just put on my hoodie.

"Yup. Let's go." I resisted the urge to force a smile. No one would have been fooled by that.

Same Day: Afternoon

By the time I got home, it was already close to the meeting time. The meeting should be in a few minutes actually. "..." I stared at the table in the center of my room. I... I could just leave. As soon as that thought showed up, I shook my head. Trying to get rid of it. No. As scary as it is, I shouldn't just run away. Brother had the balls to sit here and explain himself to me, so I should take a page from his book. Don't be such a coward.

In an attempt to keep my mind busy, I began making snacks and tea for the guests that I knew would be coming soon. When I finished, it was already 5:01. Any time now... My heart began slamming into my chest, so loud that I could hear it in my ears. "Okay, just calm down. Take a deep breath, deep breath... Deep breath." I took a seat at the table, facing the door and waited.

And waited...

And waited. An hour had passed before I had the courage to look at the clock. Looks like I wasn't the only one who got cold feet. I didn't know to be relieved or horrified. While on one hand, the uncomfortable conversation hadn't started. On the other, all it was doing was delaying the inevitable and leaving my heart racing. "Whatever... I guess it won't be to-

*Ding dong~*

Oh no what do I do, what do I do?! I looked at the window my bed was resting under and contemplated jumping out of it. What did we just say about not being a coward? Taking my two hundred and fifty sixth deep breath of the day, I steeled myself and walked over to the door. Sure enough, on the other side was Miku and... "MPFF! LEMMTGO!" A tied up Nino with her mouth covered in duct tape. Should I report this?

"..." I was absolutely flabbergasted to see her being carried by a clearly pissed Maki. "What?"

"Don't... don't ask." Miku sounded completely exhausted as she walked into my apartment and parked herself at the table, taking a drink from the already set up cups of tea. "Oh, it's cold... sorry. We weren't supposed to be late but..."

"I can imagine what happened." I said as Maki dropped Nino on the ground like a sack of bricks next to Miku. "Didn't expect to see you help out."

"Anything that would let me hurt this poor excuse for a human being is great." She waved to Miku, ignored the pissed off mumbles of Nino and left my room without another word.

"Hey wait a minute, where's my cat?! You were supposed to give her back yesterday!" All I got back was a slam of my door. Damn cat-napper! "Whatever..." I looked back at my two guests. Well, my single guest and my...hostage? "Is it safe to get her out of that?" Most of her body was wrapped up in duct tape, so much so I doubt she'd even be able to move her fingers.

"Yeah... we should get started on this. Don't start with her mouth though, she'll bite us."

"MPHIFUCK" And so, after grabbing some scissors, we began slowly freeing the Nakano. It took us a good thirty minutes to get her free. After which, she was sitting in the corner of the room, arms crossed and glaring at us with her mouth still covered.

"...Kuro, you do it."

"I feel like if i get close, she'll kick me in my weak spot." The duct tape victim nodded their head in agreement. "See! What even brought this along?"

"Well... first was the fact that she was missing when I woke up this morning." My soft spoken girlfriend was now glaring at her sister. "After we discussed this till late into the night no less... I think that was her plan all along. After I couldn't find her, I asked Miss Maki for help. I don't think I need to explain any more."

"Yeah, I can imagine how the rest went. Maki sure does take her grudges pretty far. What did you do to her to make her hate you for life, Nino?"

"Puckyou" Not even duct tape can stop that from being hearable. I turned back to Miku and sure enough she was inching her way away from the elephant in the room.

"Don't worry, I'll soothe you afterwards."

"Fine. Please be gentle, Nino." I slowly walked my way to the girl. As soon as I got within her agro range, her foot lurched forward. "EEP!" But it stopped a few inches before my weak point. "Oh thank god." I carefully took off the duct tape. "S-Sorry?"

"Miku... I'll never forget this slight." She stood up and dusted herself off. "I'm heading home now. Go fuck yourselves."

"Ni-"

"Nino, don't you have more to say?" Miku's words seemed to stop the girl in her tracks. "You did confess to my boyfriend of five months after all." It's been that long, eh? Oh, I should start planning our six- you know, this is definitely not the time.

"W-What are you talking about?" Nino turned around to us but was looking at the sides. "I did n-no such thing! Who would ever fall for such a strange disgusting guy like him! I'm seriously worried about your taste in men, little sis!"

Why does she have to be so mean to me, even in this situation? Her obvious fake deflection didn't fool Miku or I. So we just stared her down until the ribbon wearing girl let out a defeated sigh. "Fine. Sorry. Is that all?"

"What I was asking for wasn't an apology." Miku obviously took the role of the bigger person here. Something that I was glad she did because I was not suited for that. She sat down once more and patted the seat next to her, signaling to me to sit down. I did so and looked back at Nino, who was still standing near the door. "Nino... if you don't sit..." Her face became uncharacteristically dark. Miku can be really scary sometimes...

"I got it! Sheesh!" She clumsily sat down in front of Miku, making me in the center. "I miss when you barely spoke."

"How rude." But she smiled at her sister anyway. "Now then, how shall we start... Kuro."

"Y-Yes?" She just gave me a nod, making me understand what she meant. "Ah... Nino. When you told me that, I was happy." Nakano's eyes widened as she heard that. She turned to Miku who just gave her a curt nod. "But... I don't know. I'm still so confused about this whole situation. I thought that I finally knew what was up with my feelings, but this whole situation shows me I don't really know much about myself yet. Let alone anyone else's feelings of me. Even so..."

I stopped talking and turned to Miku. I had an idea of what I wanted to say but... saying it felt- no, it was a betrayal to her. To the... one of the girls I love. "It's alright. You can say it." She gave me a small smile, one that was genuinely reassuring. One that I couldn't see any sadness behind. A smile that truly confused me.

"I love Miku Nakano. But I'm pretty sure that I love you as well, Nino."

An awkward silence filled the room after I confessed my feelings. I kept glancing at both of the girls for their reactions. Miku nodded her head while Nino stared at me like I had grown a second head. "... that's so?" The butterfly loving girl stood up, walked over to me and kicked me right in the nads!

"AGHHHH!"

"Kuro!"

"Who the hell do you think you are, dumbass?! Trying to two time my little sister right in front of me?!" My balls...my feelings... it hurts so much... It took me a few minutes before the pain could mostly fade. "Done being a little baby? Jeez, it was one little love tap."

"I can taste iron..."

"I didn't hit you THAT hard." She sat back down with a wide grin on her face. "Hey, all I was doing was fulfilling my promise. I told you if you tried to hurt my sister, I'd make you regret it."

"Nino... I don't even know what to say." My girlfriend said as she lay my head on her lap. Thigh- stop. "Since you got that out of your system, now think about what he said."

"What's there to think about? He just spouted some useless nonsense. As this sorry excuse for a boyfriend said, he barely understands his own feelings. He's just confusing lust or something for love. Who's to say that he even does love you, little sis?"

"..." Am I really that-

"Take back what you said right now." Stopping my self-destructive thoughts was an honestly scary voice that came out of the girl who's lap I was laying on. I looked up at her face to see a real honest and genuine look of pure hatred and anger. "Even I have my limits of how patient I can be. Don't mock us just because you want to run away from what's happening. What you-" Don't!

"Stop, this isn't Nino's fault." I quickly sat up from my position, ignoring the pain I was still feeling and turning to the legitimately scary Miku. She's almost like another person! I've never seen her this pissed! "Let's all just calm down here, okay? Deep breaths, Miku." The reason why I had to stop this was obvious. This was what Nino was so scared of, wasn't it? The talk that Nino and I had before the trip replayed in my mind. Her fear that she would cause some sort of rift and destroy our relationship... How did I not figure this out beforehand? Are there any other synonyms for stupid that I have yet to call myself?

I seemed to get through to her though, because after a few deep breaths, Miku's neutral face returned, though she was wearing an obviously fake smile. "Sorry. I almost punched my sister there." These girls are too quick to violence.

"..." Nino just let out a sigh. "I'm sorry."

"You should really take this more seriously, Nino. I don't know how much I can hold her back."

"Don't treat me like I'm some sort of danger." I didn't have the courage to tell her that she wasn't. "Kuro, why're you so quiet?!"

"L-Let's get back on topic. And let's try not to start any fights here, alright? So I said my piece, what next?"

"Well, who else but the home wrecker herself?"

"Don't call me that!" Said homewrecker yelled, face red. "But what the hell am I supposed to say? I already apologized for my actions. I knew it was wrong to confess. But I just couldn't hold it in anymore. I'm sorry, alright?" Her mood quickly went from anger to guilt. She was looking at her hands as she spoke and she sounded on the brink of tears.

"Nino..."

I was about to stand and comfort her only to be stopped by Miku's hand grabbing my shoulder. "That's not what I wanted to hear at all. It's not like I'm chastising you or anything. I'd probably do the same if I was in your shoes.. I know why you did it, but Kuro isn't the sharpest tool in the shed." Can't argue with that.

"..." Nino looked up from her hands and gave me a surprisingly fierce glare. "I've felt this way for a long time... since I met you."

"WAIT WHAT?" That makes no sense though! "But you were the meanest and cruelest to me when I first met you!"

"Don't you know about the cliché that kids can't show their feelings well, so they bully the ones they like?" I thought that was just a myth that people used to sell manga and romance novels. "Oi, don't think of something so inconvenient! You'll make Otakus all over the world sad." I was getting really tired of everyone reading my mind now. Can't even play the straight man anymore.

The 2nd oldest Nakano began to scratch her cheek nervously. "So yeah... I was really mean to you because I didn't really know what else to do. Plus it was fun to see you always so annoyed." You truly are a sadist.

"Anyway, I'm surprised though. I didn't think it went back that far."

"As ashamed as it makes me to say it, Nino was the first to have feelings for you... not fair." Miku gave a pout at this info coming to light. "Beat me by three years..."

"Alright, I think I got it but... why? Am I just that cool?"

"Ew. No." So mean. "If I tell you why right now, I'm sure you're going to get a big head so I'll just leave it to your imagination. Poor Kuro." Maybe I'm just that handsome? "You're not that hot."

"So I am a little hot?" She grit her teeth and a small hint of a blush came across her face. "Hehehe." Maybe my brother was right. Hanging around him did make me handsome! Wait, no. That's dumb.

"Kuro's the cutest guy in the world."

"And Miku's the cutest girl in the world!"

"Oi, what does that make me? I thought you liked me too?"

"Well, you two are quintuplets. So technically, so are you. You are super duper cute." That got me a kick in the shin under the table. "W-Well, now it's your turn, Miku. Please be gentle with your deconstruction of my mistakes."

"I'm not going that far." She coughed into her hand as she got ready to speak. It was a bit strange to me that Miku was the calmest of us all. While yes, she's always been the most level headed of the sisters, I expected this situation to be an exception to that rule. It... made me feel a bit sad that I seemed to be the only one out of us two who was taking this seriously. She didn't even flinch yesterday when I told her that Nino's confession made me happy either.

But I'm not Miku. I can't read people very well either, obviously. So I just assumed it was because she had a hard time expressing emotions. I was glad to see her so mad earlier, because that told me that I wasn't the only one taking this seriously. But even so... I can't help but be scared of what she's going to say. What if she's truly disgusted by me? What if she hates her sister now? What if she does something stupidly self sacrificial like Nino?

So, as Miku opened her mouth to speak, my heart raced. "Nino, I'm not giving Kuro to you. The two of us are in a loving relationship and as much as I love you, I won't sacrifice my own happiness for you." She still cares about me... jeez, I'm such an idiot. While I was happy to hear her feelings, Nino clearly didn't feel the same. Given the frown she had.

"Yeah, can't say I'm surprised there. So what? You just wanted us to get our feelings out so we can get over it or something?"

"Something like that." A small smirk came on her face. "No need to get so mad, precious sister." Uh oh... I have a bad feeling right now... "Obviously I won't just stop my relationship. But, luckily for you, I am willing to share!"

"Wait what?"

"Huh?" My brain could barely understand what she had just said. "S-Share? Darling, what do you-"

With a knowing smile, Miku went into her bag that she had and took out a book, intentionally hiding the title from us. "Well, first I want to apologize to you, Nino. I should have known that you were lying when you told me you got over Kuro a few months ago. But I didn't realize until you two cut your hair..."

"W-Wait, I'm kinda lost here."

Miku ignored me as she went on. "But since then, I had a feeling something like this would happen. So, I've done research!" Like it was some twist in a movie, Miku showed us the title of the book in her hand.

"Polygamy For Dummies"

"You've got to be kidding me." Both Nino and I said, in stunned unison.

"Miku.. you're fucking with me, right?" I slowly took the book from her hand and flipped through it. Woah, that's some graphic details! "Polygamy? That's a bit much, isn't it?"

"Well, I didn't just come to this idea out of nowhere, Kuro. It didn't take a dummy to know that you really cared about my sister, going by how well you two got along. Trust me, I've been jealous about it for years."

I guess we do get along well but, what did that have to do with anything? That was when it hit me. "D-Did you know I had feelings for her before I did?"

"You can't hide anything from your girlfriend, even if you don't get it." Amazing. I really should get lessons for her on how to rea- "Also you saying you couldn't see her as a sister was really obvious." I'm just a... what's another word for stupid? Dull-witted fool! That's too much of a mouth full. She turned her attention to her sister. "If it means hurting two of the most important people in my life, then I can't be so selfish."

"...You don't have to go so far for me. I'm fine." Nino responded.

"Is that why you couldn't hold it back anymore?"

"It's whatever! It doesn't matter!"

"Nino, you're my sister. Your happiness is important to me. As much as mine."

"But... I was being selfish."

"So was I."

"But..."

"Nino." Miku stopped her sister from speaking anymore with a hug. "I love you too, you know?"

I watched as the two of them embraced each other, smiling and comforting each other. It was a happy sight but...a small part of me questioned it. Why me? Why someone like me? A dense, idiotic piece of human garbage like me doesn't deserve to even be in the same room as them. Let alone have their- My line of thinking was interrupted by two fists making contact with my face!

"Um, I'm gonna go with Ouch! What the hell?!" I said as I grabbed my nose. Their punch didn't hurt that bad but it was enough to make me fall onto my back. "What was that for?"

"Well, I could tell you were thinking something stupid!" Nino said with a grin on her face.

"I bet it was something really stupid that would make me really mad..." Miku on the other hand was wearing a small glare. "Ku~Ro~ What did I tell you about thinking too much?"

"S-Sorry." As I sat up, I was surprised to see I was flanked on both sides. "Epp!"

"Such a girly response. I've seriously got to get my head checked out since you're the guy I fell for." Nino said as she grabbed my right arm.

"I think it's cute. Trust me, you'll realize soon." Miku said as she took my left. What should I do? Both girls looked at me with expectation in their eyes. Polygamy? Really? I never would have thought about something like that. Now I'm just going to be devoured by two people instead of one.

"P-Please be gentle with me."

"Okay, I see what you mean. Makes me want to gobble him up." My ribbon wearing girlfriend said as she licked her lips.

"...I suppose I do owe you for having a head start." Wait what? "You can have his first." Wait what?!

"Sweet~"

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you two talking about?! Don't I have any say in this?!"

With a smile, both sisters said in unison, "Nope!"

AN: Hello once again. How are you all doing? I've been well this past week and I hope so have you all. First off, apologies for the late update. I was very busy yesterday and it completely slipped my mind. Sorry! With this update comes a VERY large change in the story and the end of the Nino arc, as I like to call it in my head. I've got to say I'm pretty surprised with myself that I was able to get this far into the story and pretty proud if I do say so myself! Sure there are a few things I wish I could have done better but I like how its going so far. I hope so do you all as well. Thanks for reading once again.

The next arc is one that I've been looking forward to, but I still can't think of a cool name for it! It's annoying... hopefully by next update I will have one thought up.

TheMist33: Hopefully you like how I went about this situation. I've thought of multiple ways of going about this but I felt like this was the most in character that I could think of. I always thought that each of the Nakano sisters would go to impossible lengths for each other. Of course with the changes that's happened as well, I hope this was well enough. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Guest: Hello. I hope you like the resolution to this arc. As well as look forward to the next one. Thanks for reading and reviewing.