Entry 63: Home Sweet Home

July 14th: Afternoon

"Sorry I'm late, Kuro!" Was what Itsuki said as she walked into my apartment. Immediately, she froze upon seeing my predicament. "...huh?" At this very moment, my hair and face was completely covered in powdered sugar, along with most of my bed. Laying on the floor was the culprit. Yotsuba had tripped and fell while moving around the baggage of sugar, causing the entire bag to explode. "Um...are you alright?"

"I'm good!" Jumping onto her feet, the sugar covered girl had an embarrassed smile as she looked at the mess she made. "Uhhhh...sorry?"

I just let out a sigh and wiped my face with my blanket. "It's fine as long as you're okay." The happy go lucky girl laughed before she started to sloppily clean up her mess. I forced myself to stand up and pulled the covers off of my bed.

"Kuro! You shouldn't-"

"Relax, I can stand up just fine." While walking was a real chore, standing still was fine...as long as it was for less than five minutes. But, it definitely was hard to change my bed sheets without moving around. Thankfully, Itsuki came over and started to help. After about ten minutes of cleaning, the red head let out a sigh as she looked between Yotsuba and I.

"What could have happened to make that kind of scenario possible?" Her judging eyes piercing though both myself and Yotsu. "...Kuro..."

"I-It's not Kuroro's fault! I wanted to make some cookies and he was helping me through it! I got confused about the sugar and... yeah." The ribbon wearing sisters rubbed the back of her head and laughed off the awkwardness. "Sorry."

The youngest, yet most mature Nakano sister just sighed at her sister's hijinks. "It's fine. But leave the cooking to Nino." She then seemed to realize something and looked around the room. "Is she not here tod- oh.

My heart sank at that. It's been two days since I've seen Miku and Nino in person. It seemed like even though my talk with Ichika went well, she still went on with her 'Ban' on those two visiting me. Sure I get that she's worried about her sisters but... I feel like I'm gonna die if I don't see them soon! I miss those two like I haven't missed anyone else in my entire life! "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

"Wow! That's the longest sigh I've ever heard from Kurororororo." Way too many ros. I didn't even have the energy to play along with my adorable sister's antics anymore. Is this what all those anime and manga meant by their partner battery is low? The two sisters looked at each other in worry. "Hmmm, Ichika's being kinda mean, isn't she, Itsuki?"

"I... understand where she's coming from. She'll come around sooner or later. But for now-" The long haired girl stood up and brushed powdered sugar off of her black skirt. "Let's figure out what we'll eat for lunch."

"You're just hungry..."

"N-Not true!" I just let out a sigh and shrugged my shoulders. "A-Anyway, are you going to stay for lunch, Yotsuba?"

"I would buuuuut, Nino asked for my help with somethin, so Imma head out! See ya, Kurorororororororo! See ya, Itsuki!"

With that, the energetic girl grabbed her overnight bag and left. She's honestly a better caregiver than I give her credit for. But she sure can cause a mess. I thought back to the toilet incident from last night and shivered. "Anyway, what kind of take out do you want?"

"Huh? You don't want me to cook, Kuro?"

"You and I both know your talents don't match with cooking." Although I got a cute pout and a light punch in response to that, she still sat down on my bed, grabbed her phone and started looking for what we'll eat for lunch. "So... you went to visit your mom, right?" Flinching, she turned to me with a surprised expression. "It's the fourteenth."

"A-Ah, I forgot you knew about that..." Placing down her phone, she took in a deep breath and let it out. "I don't really know how to talk about this... but yes, I went. Next month's the real anniversary so... I'd appreciate it if you'd come with us."

"Of course. Even if I have to crawl my way there, I'd still be there." A small smile came back and she nodded her head.

"You don't have to go that far..."

"Of course I do. What kind of Son in Law would I be if I didn't. Oh, I have to make sure to get the best bouquet too. Maybe some chocolate... oh I could go for some chocolate right now."

"Hehe! Did you really just make yourself hungry?!" Seeing her laugh was a bit refreshing. She can really be too serious sometimes. "...I think Mom would have liked you."

"You think so? I mean, this is me we're talking about. Guy who was more robot than human until a few months ago."

"Kuro, I think you're too hard on yourself. Sure, you were a little... rough around the edges, but you were more expressive than you thought. Don't be such a dummy." Well, we're all our own worst critics. "And even if you were still like that, she'd still like you. Mom... really wanted us to stick together, you know. She said that what's important is that we're all together, no matter what. You said something similar didn't you?"

"Huh? I did?" Thinking back on it, I suppose that was something that I said. I remember it. All I wanted was for them to live a peaceful life together. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

She giggled to herself and gave me another light punch. "You're way more altruistic than you'd think. Hmmm, maybe mom would tell you not to do that. But, knowing you, you wouldn't listen." It was my job. "I know it wasn't just a job for you. If it was... you wouldn't have saved me, right?"

A pit formed in my stomach hearing that. "Itsuki, you aren't-"

"I know you said not to worry but... if I didn't go there, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. I..." Stopping herself, she took a few deep breaths and seemed to calm herself down. "I'm sorry. I know you'll never accept my apology, but I have to say it. Okay? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what happened." I stayed silent as I took in what she said. "I just want you to know that. You're... important to me. And it's because you are that I know mom would like you. Plus, he might not admit it, but dad has a soft spot for you too." I'm pretty sure that man is planning my murder right now, so I doubt that.

"Aright, I'll take your word for it." I never knew Rena Nakano. But if Itsuki says so, who am I to disagree? "But, seriously. Please don't feel bad about what happened, okay? I chose to shield you, and I would do it again. One million times if I have to. I accept your apology, but I don't want you to feel like you owe me or anything."

The serious girl fidgets with her phone but nodded nonetheless. "Fine. I'll do that... eventually." I let out a sigh. Baby Steps. "Thank you, Big bro."

"I told you not to call me that." Giving her a chop in the head, I was able to check out what my sister in law was looking to eat. "...fuck it. I can go for some katsu."

"I-I'll pay for my own share! Promise."

"Don't worry about it. " Wow, the only sister who's offered to pay. But I'd really feel like an asshole if I did make her.

July 15th: Afternoon

Subaru Ogata, Or... Subaru Natsuki is a good friend of mine. While we may have had a rough start, with him being an asshole to W back in the orphanage, we were able to get past that. Well, to be fair, it was mostly him getting past the fact that I broke his nose once or twice. But, that was just childhood squabbles. Now, I'm proud to say he's a good friend of mine. Sure he can be annoying sometimes and get on my nerves, but that's what makes him Subaru. So, when he was prostrating himself in front of me, I was kind of surprised. "...what did you do this time?"

"N-Nothing!"

"I'm not giving you money for gacha."

"It's not that either!" The raven haired young man coughed into his hand and sat up. While I was still mostly bound to my bed, seeing Subaru purposely sit on the ground in such a way was kind of strange. "Look. Umm... I kind of need advice." While I doubt that I could help in any meaningful way, I motioned for him to continue. "Um...I'm thinking of confessing to Iki soon. Do you have any tips?"

Uh oh. The memory of Itsuki vigorously denying any feelings for Subaru popped in my head. While I knew that he had no chance, that doesn't mean that I'm happy about it. Subaru's a good guy. Sure he can be loud, annoying, says things without thinking... let me stop. He's also a great person. He's loyal, is fun to be around, smart, has interesting hobbies, etc. But, it seems like Itsuki just doesn't like him that way. Unfortunately, it isn't my place to say that. So all I could say was, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Huh?! What the hell, Brogata? Oh, I see. You want to be the only one in Sentinels in a relationship! I see how it is!" Standing up, he faced away from me with a huff. "So mean."

"First off, that's not even accurate. Red's got a boyfriend, remember?"

"Doesn't count!" Fuck you.

"Secondly, how the hell am I supposed to give you advice? Not only am I not the best at expressing emotions, but I was lucky enough to be confused to. Plus they were in pretty unique ways, remember? You helped Miku, after all." The sentinel sighed but nodded his head.

"Okay, I get it but still. Also, there was no need to flex like that." I did no such thing. But saying that outloud wouldn't have convinced him. The strategist sighedagain before sitting on the floor. "I just... I can't hold these feelings in anymore, ya know?"

"I... suppose I do. Look, I know you and Itsuki are friends now, but don't push things too far. You two just started getting to know each other. You don't want to creep her out by confessing too early, right?"

He shivered and hugged himself. "N-No! Of course not! Oh god, do you think she would really think I'm creepy?"

"If there's one thing I know about Itsuki, it's that she doesn't really care for love. Especially now." Man, Nino and Miku's reaction to what she said the other day will never not be funny. "She's trying really hard right now to become a teacher. Even if, hypothetically, she had feelings for you. I don't think she would accept your confession. So just... take it easy for now. Alright?" I felt like shit. I know for a fact that Itsuki doesn't hold those kinds of feelings for my friend. But... maybe she will like him? I highly doubt that though... But it's still possible, maybe, perhaps, possibly. Who am I kidding? I just don't want to break the otaku's poor heart.

It seems like my ramblings seem to have gone through, however. Because the otaku reluctantly nodded his head as he fell onto the floor. As he stared at the ceiling, he seemed to be deep in thought. A couple minutes later, he began to speak his mind. "You have a point, bro. But, then what? Wait until she gets accepted into a college and confess? Then if she accepts we only have a couple months together before she has to leave. I don't..." Suddenly, he sat up and stared at me. "I'm serious about her, you know. Sure, it all started because I thought she was cute, but I think I really love her!"

"Then just try to get into the same college as her." Sitting up, I grabbed the book from my bedrest and opened it to my bookmark. "You're smart, so you'll be able to get into any college if you try hard enough. So, why not?" Actually, that seems a bit like stalking doesn't it. Maybe that isn't-

"You're right!" Jumping onto his feet, Subaru's smile was so bright that I almost couldn't look straight at him. "I'll follow her and support her all the way! I'll help her along her journey of becoming queen of the teachers!" Ah fuck. I did it now. I won't be able to stop him now. Ah well, it'll work out, somehow.

July 16th: Afternoon

"Nya~ Nya~"

"Meow~ Meow~" Recently, I've been thinking that I may have slipped into an alternate universe with how often things that I never thought would happen, happened. In front of me, the young woman who I always saw as one of the scariest people in the world was playing with a bluish gray cat on the floor. Maki was lying on the ground, the small cat resting on her chest and looking at her. Honestly I didn't really know what to do at the moment. Maki was wearing her pajamas, just a red T-shirt and gray sweatpants, and she seemed quite comfortable. But, knowing her, if I did a single thing to distract either her or Rosmontis, then my life could be forfeit. However, I was afraid of also watching her play with Ros, because it seems like kind of an intimate moment as well. Plus, I don't want her thinking that I'm staring at her chest. Though she doesn't' really have much of on-

"Kuro..." Instantly, her relaxed mood shifted to her normal, angry one. "Why do I feel like you just thought something that'll piss me off. Do you need some... re-education?" Bloodlust felt like it was wafting off of her as she sat up. Rosmontis just jumped off of her and onto the table, as if it was a completely normal event for her.

"Nope! I was just thinking how cute Ros and you are! Hahaha...ha..."

"You know that fall under that umbrella, right?" I really can't win when it comes to her, huh? She stood up and walked over to me. She's honestly not very tall, but at this moment, she was truly towering over me. Didn't help that I was sitting in my bed still. "Plus, I still owe you a good beating for that shit you said during the fireworks festival."

"You're still holding onto that?!" That was over 10 months ago! What the hell?! "You really hate me that much?"

"Eh, I wouldn't call it hate per say... would you call it hate if I do it for everyone?" Considering you said that you hate the world and you have wanted to punch multiple infants? Yes. "So, grit your teeth, asshole."

"Y-You know I'm injured right?"

"We're not in the hospital are we?"

"You can't be serious."

"I am." I glanced at the small cat, holding onto some sort of hope that she could somehow stop this from happening. Somehow, the cute and adorable cat just turned its head and lay down on the table. WHAT?!

"Fine... be gentle."

"I won't." Closing my eyes, I had hoped, somewhere in the back of my mind, that she would show mercy. And for a second, I thought she had. As the distinct sound of the wind being disrupted by the flow of a punch was heard, but the punch never came. It was because of her supposed hesitation that I hesitantly opened my eyes. As soon as I did, she slapped me across the face. "HA! Classic!"

"Okay, I'm gonna go with, Ow." Honestly, the slap wasn't too painful, but whether that was because of my natural pain tolerance or she went soft on me, was lost on me. Nevertheless, I rubbed my cheek as I felt it begin to swell. "Was it really necessary to slap me?"

"Nope~ But I felt like you needed it. You know what they say, nothing brings you back to earth like a punch to the face." Who the hell says that? With a prideful smile, the meanie pants turned back to Ros and picked her up and began blowing the cat kisses. She really just smacked me and then began flirting with a cat. Fucking hell. "That's what you get for getting in between me and Rosey-chan." The cat snuggled up into the girl's embrace and purred.

"Honestly, I didn't expect you to be a cat whisperer. You always seemed more of a..." What's the best way to say I never thought she'd like animals? "Wolf person."

"Wolves? Fuck off."" I just shrugged and grabbed my Tv remote. Turning it on and flipping through the channels. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Boss."

"Don't call me that after you just hit me." But, I suppose she had a point. "To be fair, if there's anyone who talks about themselves less than me, it's you. Didn't you tell me that the less people know about you, the better your advantages are?"

"Well, yeah. Duh. With the line of work we're in, it's better for even your allies to know nothing about you." petting her- my- No, she's her cat now. Petting HER cat, Maki sat down on the floor, leaning her back on my bed. "You never know when someone will betray you."

Shaking my head, I disagreed with her comment there. "That's not necessary with us. Not only are we Library, but we're the Sentinels. We all went through the same shit and want the same things. I doubt that anyone here would do anything like betray each other. Why would we?"

My friend just turned her head up to me and scoffed. "You and I both know that people will do stupid shit if they feel like it's the only option they have. Sora's the perfect example of that. Isn't she?"

"Don't..."

Letting out a sigh, the dorm mother turned her head away from me and started playing with her cat again. "Sorry." Our conversation died and an awkward silence filled the air. Well... if you ignored the game show being played on the television. "Want me to air out my dirty laundry?"

"Huh?"

She met my confused stare with an annoyed one. "Look, maybe I'm starting to feel a little bad for hitting you and reminding you of your idiot sister." Wow, even when apologizing, you have to insult her. But she did look like she felt bad. "Look, it's the only time this'll ever happen. Take it or leave it."

I turned down the Tv and gave her my full attention. "Sure. Whatever horror you're about to impart on me should be more interesting than watching some guy lose ten million yen for picking the wrong number." Honestly, they need to come up with better ideas for game shows. It's always just childhood game but for millions. Why not do something interesting. Like... ask trivia? I don't know. I'm not a tv producer for a reason. Shaking my head to get rid of the strange tangent I went on in my head, I made sure to pay Maki my full attention.

She began to play with her long black hair after she let go of Ros. "Okay, where to start...Okay. I actually don't hate that Nino Bitch as much as I seem to."

"Really? Could have fooled me. You two get at each other's throats every single time you see each other."

"Well, she's annoying, duh."

"You know that's my girlfriend you're talking about, right?"

"So? You gonna do something about it? You can't even walk five feet." Fuck you. Smirking at me, she lightly slapped my foot. "Anyway, the real problem was... how she treated you." Now I was confused, so I waited for her to elaborate. "Remember the shit she would do to you? Trash your clothes, mess with your work docs, water down your juice?" Honestly, the last one was the worst one. "Then she had the gall to have a crush on you? Disgusting. Who the hell does she think she is? Actually, I do hate her again, now."

"But why single out Nino? Not only did everyone else do similar things, but Miku even confessed to me. You never acted differently around her."

"Cuz the brat actually changed. Plus, when you got yourself stabbed by a high school girl, hilarious by the way, she looked like a wounded puppy. I can't hate her after seeing that." Ah, so your weaknesses are animals in general, not just cats. "That bitch still acted...like a bitch! Oh, I'm gonna punch her."

"If you try it, I'll have to fight you."

Uh Oh. She actually looked excited by that prospect. "On god? It's been a while since we spared. Ah, it'll be great to fight someone who can actually throw a punch!" God, she's scary. And they call me the Demon Brawler. I tried my best to ignore her demon-like smile, but it was getting hard to. "Anyway, fuck her. Didn't help that she came to me asking for advice, like I wasn't crushing on you too."

"...Eh?" She said it in such a matter of fact tone, that it took me a second to fully process it. Am I... popular?

"Yeah, but it was a while ago. God, I had horrible taste in men. Honestly... still do." WHAT?! That was actually the most interesting thing she had said all day, but I had to go about this carefully. This is the only time I'll ever get this kind of info out of her. And if I say something bad... I might die. For real.

So, knowing that this was a sensitive subject, my brain farted. "Huh, guess I'm just too coo- OOF!"

"Don't even think that, asshole. I was a kid and the choices to have a crush on someone was either you, Shiro or Subaru. If only I was lesbian, I'd have better choices." That somehow hurts even more than getting punched in the leg. "Plus, I been over you. Unlike those idiots, I knew society itself would have to change before you understood human emotions. Surprisingly, it did, sorta. I'm honestly still astonished that you changed so much." God, I'm an idiot, huh? "Yup. You're dumb as shit."

"I really hate that I'm that easy to read now." Her snarky laugh grated on my nerves but I couldn't really get mad. To think that in just a few months, my entire life would change so much. "Life comes at you fast, huh?"

"That's one way of saying it."

"So that was why you have a lifelong hatred for Nino? Because you used to like me?"

Her face... I don't know if it was willingly or not, but she made the most disgusted face I've ever ever seen on a person. "Don't get ahead of yourself." Sorry, damn. "No, the reason why I hate her, is because she was mean to my friend." Friend... really? That's why? For some reason, that was hard to believe, coming from someone like Maki. "Look, I get that I just said to not trust anyone, but I do care about you guys. Even you, especially you. Whether I liked you or not, no one gets to treat you like that. Expect for me, of course." Wow, what a wonderful friend. "That's why what that actress bitch did pissed me off to no end. You seriously should have let me drop-kick her."

"Stop trying to fight the Nakano sisters!"

"Ugh, FINE."

After calming her down, a comfortable silence befell us, but a single question was still occupying my mind. "So... who is it? The guy you like now?"

"You really think-"

"I promise not to tell." Putting my hands together, I made a praying motion to the young girl. But all I got was her motioning me to continue on. Ugh. "When I fully recover, I'll give you your fight too."

"Perfect! On top of a volcano, right? Winner gets to throw the loser into the lava."

"This isn't Tekken, you idiot!" Plus, I'm pretty sure there aren't any active volcanoes in Japan... I hope.

With a smile, she turned fully to me and rested her head on my bed. "If you tell anyone, I'll kill you~" Crossing my heart, I hoped this was all it would take. "Fine. laugh and you'll die too."

"How many more stipulations do you need to hit me with?"

"Fine. It's Subaru."

"..."

"..."

"...no fucking way. OW! YOU HIT MY WOUND!"