Little Sister
Author: Shirodachi
E-mail: shirodachi@hotmail.com
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Feedback: Very much appreciated, can range from constructive criticism to just plain "Nice!" ^^; Although I would like to know what parts you really liked. Flames, or any other kind of criticism are only taken into consideration if the flamer signs in/is not an anonymous reviewer.
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CHAPTER 4
//Time flies very fast.//
"Kiyota-kun," Shiori shyly began one fine afternoon, her fingers laced over her lap, "how was today's sandwich?"
"Ah, ah, perfect of course! As always!" The young man with longish hair beside her gave her a thumbs-up. Shiori's smile was like the sun coming up.
She closed her eyes, indulging in the beautiful situation she found herself in. He coughed. She opened them.
To her shock she saw herself reflected in the dark pools of his very serious eyes. "But what's perfect of course, Shiori-chan, is sitting here, beside you…"
//Nani!? Shiori-chan!?// She gasped and almost staggered forward. //He NEVER calls me that!// Her eyes went wide as saucers and her face heated up like a furnace.
"As a matter of fact…" He inched towards her. "I don't think…" Another inch. "I've ever told you…" He leaned closer. "Since we met…" He was so close that she was afraid he could hear her heart thudding like horses gone wild. "That I…"
His mouth opened to formed those timeless words she longed to hear.
"DINNER'S READY!" Maki yelled at her from her open doorway.
"AAAAAH!" Shiori screamed, jumping from her seat. The dream vanished like a snuffed candle, and she returned to the real world, where she had fallen asleep while studying.
Maki blinked. Shiori stared at her brother, breathing heavily. After a few seconds he tiptoed into the room. "What'd you scream for?" he asked cautiously.
"You - you scared me," she replied, looking away to hide her coming blush.
Sidestepping the bed, the tall point guard stood beside his little sister and stared at her. "Are you all right? Did anything happen in school today? You look sick!" he said worriedly.
"NO!" she raised her voice, "I mean… no. I'm all right."
"Are you sure?" He moved closer to feel her forehead and check her temperature. "Maybe you're coming down with something. You're all red!" he observed.
Shiori gasped and felt her cheeks. "Me? Red?" Immediately she stood up and ran to the bathroom connecting to her brother's room.
"Oi!" Maki called for her as she slammed the bathroom door. "Shiori! What's wrong?" He knocked frantically and tried to turn the doorknob. It was locked.
"What…how…I…" Shiori stammered. She examined her face at the mirror. Her brother was right, she was all red. "Oh no! He knows! Oniichan knows! How can I face him now? What if he tells this to--"
"Shiori?! Are you all right?" Maki continued to knock. "I don't know if I did or say anything wrong, but, I'm sorry, okay? Hey…"
She clasped her hands on her chest. "Yes…I'm all right. It's nothing." She watched as her face slowly returned to its normal color.
Maki felt relieved. "Good, why don't we go downstairs now and eat dinner."
"O-okay. You go ahead. I'll be right there."
He looked at the door and nodded. "Maybe it's just one of those days." He scratched his head, shrugging.
***
Next morning Shiori got up from a dreamless sleep, thankfully, to find a note for her magnetized to the refrigerator. She shuddered. All her troubles seemed to be caused by notes lately.
Shiori, please do the groceries for me. I've got basketball practice. ~Shin'ichi
She read it again, just to make sure. Shiori was normally a docile girl, and usually obeyed orders coming from older people. Today, however, she felt instant refusal upon reading the note.
//Why do I have to do this?// she asked, although she herself thought it was a stupid question. The shop bell tinkled as she pushed the door open and entered the nearest family-run convenience store in their area.
"Thank you for shopping with us." A friendly voice came from the counter. A young woman in her late teens, an blue apron tied around her for purposes of style rather than function, neatly packed a customer's shopping into a bag. The customer, a thirty-something businessman, was obviously impressed by this show of warmth and tipped his hat as he left the store. The young woman waved back, smiling.
"Chisa-san," Shiori walked towards the counter.
The smile grew brighter. "Shiori-chan!"
Chisa's family owned the store which Shiori had known and shopped at for almost three years now. As it was close to her house, she had often stopped by and chatted with its owners. A certain kind of closeness developed between the pleasant Chisa and the shy Shiori. She had always admired Chisa for her confidence, and when she was younger, she confided some of her heartaches to the storekeeper.
Looking at the older girl, a wave of relief sort of flowed into her. The past days, turned into weeks, had been pretty hectic. And she didn't even know the exact reason. No…she knew, but just couldn't admit it. She needed an outlet.
The errand could wait.
"It's been a while, hasn't it? You never come here anymore, even just to talk with me."
"Oniichan…he's been taking care of stocking our pantry, but today he's out for basketball practice. And the other reason is school, you know…"
By going to Kainan University, a prestigious school, she had been swamped by enormous loads of schoolwork. Shiori, determined to get to the top without any help, didn't want to take any chances. This particular problem concerning basketball players seemed to be quite a side trip she didn't expect, however.
"Oh yes, Shin'ichi-san is our loyal customer. But you're always welcome here yourself. I heard the championship is coming. Did his team get in?"
"Uh…well…I think so." Shiori never bothered to ask her brother about the games. She didn't approve of it, anyway.
"Good for him."
Chisa opened the cash register and started to count the bills. Shiori watched intently, but her eyes were on Chisa's dark brown hair. Her once shoulder-length locks had been reduced to a bob. It made her look much more mature. And the perfect person to talk to. She coughed uncomfortably, trying to search for an opening line.
"Chisa-san? If it's not too much a bother…would you have lunch with me?"
The cash register closed with a soft chink.
"Ee? Lunch will be very nice, Shiori-san. We need to catch up on each other's news, ne?" She faced the younger girl, a teasing grin on her face. "Has a pretty girl like you gotten a boyfriend now?"
Shiori went scarlet. "Chisa-san! I--never--" She paled and reddened once more. Warm, chiming laughter came from the keeper of the store. Shiori looked down on the floor, mumbling to herself.
"And besides, you don't have one yourself, so how can I…get one before you?" she sulked.
It sent Chisa to chuckles again. "Don't be so defensive, dear, it shows. Now, kindly wait here while I tell Ojisan that I'm going out." She blew her a kiss before disappearing to the door behind her.
***
"Do you remember last springtime? We went to watch the sakura fall, and we had a small picnic with Ken-kun?"
The straw lazily made movements in Chisa's drink.
"Uh-huh…" Shiori glanced at her senior from the tops of her eyes.
"That was the last time we really saw each other, ne?" The straw continued to draw rippling circles.
"Chisa-san, school…"
"I know, I know Shiori." Her smile radiated, before her pink lips pursed on the straw to sip. "Do you know what happened after that?" She paused, but didn't wait for an answer. "Of course you don't know. Well, Ken-kun and I broke up."
Shiori dropped the fork she was using. "You…Chisa-san!" //Why? What happened?// Curiosity gnawed on her, yet she didn't try to speak, not wanting to relive any bad memories.
"It wasn't that bad…it was like I was almost expecting it." Her shoulders shrugged. "Anyway, I still see him in the motorcycle shop. He's got a new girlfriend now."
Shiori wasn't really close to Chisa's ex-boyfriend, and instead was worried for her friend. And the fact that she had dragged her off to lunch to talk about her particular problem. Would Chisa be emotionally equipped to handle such matters? And would she even bother to listen to Shiori's trivial problems…of the heart? All of these questions raced through her mind as she pondered on a piece of steak.
Sensing the silence she brought, Chisa broke into a smile once more. Almost as if she had read the younger one's mind, she said, "Well now, that was in the past. We don't need to dwell on it, ne?" She stopped drawing and sipped her drink, finishing it. "I should stop talking about myself. The focus should be on you, Shiori. What was it you wanted to talk about?"
"I…um…"
"How is school?"
"It's fine…but…" When she was little, she used to wring the hem of her shirt when she was nervous, but her hand was too busy gripping the fork.
"Notice any cute boys around?"
"Huh?! Er…"
"One of them asked you out? Showed any interest in you?"
"No! I…" Shiori felt faint.
"You're not sure if he's really showing interest in you? If the interest in genuine?" Chisa tapped a knowing finger on her bottom lip. "Well, you could always ignore those kinds." She looked at Shiori and smiled at the girl's pale face. "But of course, why wouldn't anyone notice someone as pretty as you, ne? And what's more important is, what do you feel for him?"
"What? I'm not--"
"What about you? You must be honest with your feelings. They're the ones that can tell you, not me. What do you think of him, Shiori-chan?"
"I think he's--" She found herself blurting out, when she noticed the triumphant grin light up Chisa's face. Her mouth quickly shut tight, and her face drained white.
"Oh, so we are talking about someone…"
***
"Chisa-san!" Shiori wailed plaintively.
She chuckled. Chisa knew how to deal with young people like Shiori - shy, someone who beat around the bush too much and would never admit things directly. Shiori had to be forced into a corner, and she had done just that. "Well now…" she leaned back on her seat to look at her, "who is this lucky guy we are talking about?"
The girl remained silent, sulking. Chisa sighed aloud.
"If you won't tell me the name, then you can just describe him to me. What were you saying before you stopped yourself?"
She shook her head.
"He's cute? He's dashing? He's your ultimate dream guy?"
"I think he's nice, that's all!" Shiori finally let out, a touch of anger sharpening her tone.
Chisa's eyebrows raised. She had almost forgotten about Shiori's hidden temper. Shiori heaved slightly, looking at her from downcast eyes. She decided to test her further. "And…? I'm sure that's not all..."
Shiori groaned.
//There's no point trying to evade the issue, dear. You were the one who wanted to talk to me.//
"He's just one of Oniichan's friends, who happens to be in the same class as mine." This was by far the longest sentence she had said.
"Um…that's why he calls me Imouto-san."
"Imouto-san?" Chisa echoed. //Men these days…// "That's respectful, but not very flattering. Tell him you have a name."
"I don't know…I'm not sure…" Shiori was beginning to mumble to herself again. Then she recounted the different events that had happened in the past.
"He what!? And you WHAT?"
Shiori nodded sadly. "And then, I did a stupid thing. He plays basketball…"
"I gathered as much. You told me he was one of Shin'ichi-san's friends."
She continued to nod her head although her eyes were cloudy in remembering. "I told him I hated basketball."
It was Chisa's turn to look sadly at the girl. She reached out and patted her hand. "I see."
"He asked…"
"Well, there's no point in lying to yourself, Shiori-chan. Don't fret on it." She tried to infect her with some cheer. Shiori didn't even return the smile. Chisa mused in the silence, recalling everything she had confessed. This guy, this basketball player, whoever he was, sounded very obnoxious to her. Shin'ichi Maki wasn't, but there was still this twinge of pride that almost every athlete had. She wondered if Shiori's he would bring any good to her. Maybe she needed to step in and put a stop to it.
"Forgive me, Shiori-chan, if I ask this…but…do you like him? After all that he's done…" Chisa clucked her tongue.
Shiori looked up, paling again after being asked such a question. She seemed to lodge into silence again, when she swallowed and answered in her very soft voice,
"I don't know…I thought it would be impossible too, but…somehow, even though I don't talk to him that much, even though I clam up when I'm with him, I still feel sort of…happy." She shook her head. "I don't know, Chisa-san. Maybe it's because no one really talks to me, in class, except for him." Her lip trembled. "Since the first day of school."
Chisa's heart lurched into compassion for the shy, brown-haired girl. "Shiori-chan…" //Is that the reason? You were really lonely, weren't you, dear?//
"So I guess…I guess I could say…that I…I do like him."
A smile formed on the corners of the older girl's lips.
Shiori turned red. "Just for that." she added hurriedly.
"Well now, that wasn't too hard to admit, was it?" Chisa clapped her hands together, beaming at the depressed Shiori. //At least we have progress…!//
The younger Maki smiled weakly, and looked at her with woeful eyes.
"But…what should I do, Chisa-san?" she asked, obvious distress in her voice.
//Yet we still have a long way to go…//
***
*cries* Where did the time go? Why have I been so bad, and so slow in updating? I don't know…maybe it's part of my nature. Oh well. No sense to cry over lost time. I do hope I still fit the bill. Thank you for continuing to read this.
And if you have time, read my other story, a Fukuda x OC *grin* called "My Fair Lady".