Their eyes were trained on the small deck of cards at the very center of the small coffee table that stood in the middle of the living room. Both wills could not be shaken as they gripped the deck in their hands tighter and tighter in anticipation. One pair of eyes, roaring blue, and the other pair, blazing gold.
As soon as Kindaichi Nao placed her card on the table, flipping it over with a flourish, her eyes widened and she slammed the table, knocking the deck from her hands, over. Nao hollered in achievement, cheering with her hands in the air. She'd finally won a game of Snap against her boyfriend.
The male rolled his eyes and his hand went to his hair, running through it with a smile. "And I thought I was going to win again too!" he whined, "You did something, didn't you?!"
"Oh, be quiet, loser! Losers don't get to speak. They only obey! And no, I didn't cheat!" She yelled furiously. "Go get me some Coke!" Nao ordered demandingly, as she continued to shake her butt off, dancing all throughout the living room and on the couches too. Usually, her mom would be astonishingly angry at this.
The golden haired basketball prodigy stood up, stretching backwards before trudging off to the kitchen, in search of two bottles of Coke that the Kindaichi household always seemed to have. A reason he liked coming over to his girlfriend's house; the endless Cokes.
As Nao was still moonwalking across the bamboo flooring, she heard the sound of keys at the door and suddenly, it flew open. Revealing her younger brother and his friend. Their mouths dropped open, gawking at the female who froze, still in dancing pose. Not to mention she was in her bare pyjamas.
Nao finally found the ability to react. "YUTARO! What the heck are you doing here?!" Nao quickly jumped up straight, as she pointed at her little brother rudely, "You should've at least told me you were bringing a friend over! I wasn't ready, dumbass! Look at me, will you?! Look at me! Do you think I want your..." she paused, "MIddle-parted friend to see me in my pyjamas?!"
"Geh?! How is this my fault, Nee-chan?!" Kindaichi Yutaro yelled, annoyed as invisible smoke erupted from his ears. "You shouldn't be waltzing around the house in your pyjamas anyway! Plus, you know Kunimi always comes over before the exams to study! You're the dumbass!"
Instantaneously, a certain college aged male poked his head into the living room, his golden hair swaying slightly. "Eh? Yutarocchi? You're home from school already? Gosh, I haven't been at high school long enough to remember the times. Makes me feel like an old man," he remarked, oblivious to the tense atmosphere. "Why do you guys look so disheveled?"
Nao rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly. "Alright!" she announced, "I'm going. And you're coming with me, Ryo-kun!" The older female turned around and stomped away, dragging her boyfriend with her who stumbled along in confusion.
^v^
"Why were so awkward with your nee-san today?" Kunimi asked bluntly, slurping up Coke as he dropped a pencil on the floor. But he was too lazy to pick it up. It might as well be an excuse for him to take a break from all the constant studying.
Yutaro sighed. "Pick up your pencil, Kunimi."
Caught. The hunched boy rolled his eyes and bent down reluctantly to pick up the pencil. Yutaro didn't usually care about schoolwork or academics, he was fully devoted to volleyball. But the times before exams was when he would actually study. His sister liked to beat the crap out of him if he didn't pass, even by one point.
His mum wasn't around much to lecture him or do all the usual beatings and scolding mums usually did. So Nao normally took up the role of torturing Yutaro like any mother would. She was probably stricter than his actual mum too.
Kunimi looked around the bedroom. It was probably why his bedroom was so clean, compared to most... He sighed again. "Come on, man. You weren't the same around your sister before. It's kinda annoying me actually," he commented.
"How is it annoying you?!" Yutaro threw his hands up in the air.
Kunimi shrugged. "You kinda annoy me when you do that, onion head."
The mentioned onion head glared at the puppy looking boy in front of him. "Shut up, pup. Me and my Nee-chan are fine. Nothing happened. Nope. Absolutely nothing. And I suggest you shut up now."
"I won't until you tell me what happened. Plus, I am bored. I don't mind listening to some gossip right now," Kunimi replied bluntly. Yutaro stared at his friend. Who knew Kunimi had this side to him?
He gritted his teeth and glared his blank worksheet. "Our grandma died a week ago. I wasn't that close to her but Nee-chan loved her more than our own mother. She was always the closest to Baa-chan. When Nee-chan heard about the news, I guess she went crazy. She started getting ticked off and angry a lot. And shouting at me for no reason too. I don't know how to deal with her anymore. Of course she's sad and upset, but she doesn't have to take it out on me!"
Kunimi scratched his head. "So it's not your fault, I'm hoping."
"Well, yeah."
His friend put his pencil on the table. "Then there's nothing you can do about it. Don't forget that she's a girl. I may not speak for you, but I don't understand girls much," he answered wisely.
Yutaro couldn't help but nod. "After all these years of living with her, I don't really know the relationship she has with Baa-chan... So I guess I can't interfere," Yutaro realised.
Kunimi nodded. "You should go talk to her."
^v^
Nao slammed the doors shut behind her, glowering as she remained at the doorway. He stared at her from the middle of her tidy room, unsure of how to react. His eyes softened and his shoulders relaxed as he reached out to her shoulders, touching her gently.
"Naocchi?" His voice floated to her ears and she stopped squeezing the door handle as if she was trying to choke it to death. Nao slowly turned around and gazed up to his eyes, letting herself drop into his arms.
"I'm so tired, Ryo-kun," she murmured into his warm chest. "I'm so tired of getting angry at Yu-kun and crying myself to sleep every night. I wake up and all I see in the mirror... is this ugly tear stained face. And then Yu-kun..." she choked out a sob.
He held her in tighter. "You don't have to act so tough in front of me."
Nao's eyes smiled and a tear leaked down her cheek. "All I see in Yu-kun is Baa-chan."
^v^
He eased himself out of the tense room and then slipped down the corridor towards Yutaro's room, where the pair were studying. The image of Nao blinked in his mind again and he found himself tighten; he hated seeing Nao like that. She was always so bright, colourful, cheerful, loud, funny, smart, insightful... maybe a bit annoying at time. But now she was just a mess of tears and sadness that he detested to see in her.
Pushing open the door, he was met with a clean room similar to Naocchi's and two male teenagers, watching him, stunned. His hands weaved to the back of his neck sheepishly, not having thought of anything to say. "Uh, your sister needs to see you," he blurted out. "You... You should go to her room." He looked at Kunimi pointedly, "You and I can stay here and wait. None of them needs us in there."
Kunimi nodded in agreement as he friend stood up and left the room stiffly. He watched him go and smiled. "That was a smart move," he nodded.
"So you noticed too?"
"Of course. Kindaichi can't hide much from me," Kunimi shrugged.
The golden haired male grinned and nodded. "Nao can't hide anything from me either. You think it's the family?"
"Maybe."
^v^
Yutaro burst into his sister's room. It was right next to his parents' bedroom, but they were never here so that door was mostly forgotten. The boy stood awkwardly at the doorway as he waited for his sister to react. In all these years he'd lived with her, Yutaro had only seen his sister break down a few times. She was a tough girl who almost never showed weakness. Even when she was bleeding to death, you wouldn't see a tear escape her eye.
Nao finally turned around from the corner she'd burrowed herself in. Her red eyes were bloodshot and took Yutaro by surprise. "Nee-chan..." he took a deep breath, 'I'm sorr-"
Before he could finish, Nao had flew to him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into an embrace. Something they had no done in a long time. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Yu-kun! This is all my fault," she sobbed, "Baa-chan's death has nothing to do with you but I took it all out on you. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me!" Nao cried.
Yutaro hugged her back. "I forgive you. But it's not all your fault. It must've been something I did. Anything to make you this mad. Did I miss a night of cooking or something?"
"Shut up! I would never cry over something as petty as that! It's just that - you looked so much like Baa-chan!" Nao's voice cracked. Yutaro stared a single misty tear dripped on to his shoulder, soaking his blue shirt. He was frozen for a minute, as Nao continued.
"I'm sorry! It's not your fault but whenever I see you I can only see Baa-chan! A-and... It feels like she died right in front of me. And I couldn't save her. I feel so guilty. I know I didn't do anything, but whenever I see your face you remind me of her because you look so much like her! I can only ever see Baa-chan's disapproving face and I just want to scream and yell and get angry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be taking this out on you. I wish Baa-chan- I want to see her smile at me again," her voice reached barely above a whisper, hoarse and strained with every painful breath she took.
Yutaro pulled her away from his chest and lifted her head to face his own. Then he smiled. "If that's what you want, then I'll give it you. You said I look like Baa-chan, right? Well then if I smile, then it will look like Baa-chan is smiling. Right? Now stop crying. Tears only blur your beautiful face," Yutaro said.
Nao stopped and started laughing, choking with happy tears. "That's what Baa-chan used to say too."
^v^
(Sorry if this chapter was a bit cringe. Anyway, Nao's boyfriend was Kise Ryota from Kuroko No Basket. If you haven't watched it; go and do so now.)