Sister Pri 03

Rin Rin was looking at him from besides one of the pillars. Behind her Kaho was cheering with the squad. Wataru was about to tell her how angry he was, and reasonably demand that she change him back, but when he opened his mouth something else came out.

"Evil has a new name and it's Rin Rin…" he said dragging those last two syllables out for all they were worth.

She blushed. Holding her hands up to her face to try and hide it, and swinging from side to side, "Oh Bro, you're so mean!" she lamented.

He snapped too. "Rin Rin, I keep saying all these weird things, what was in that drink this morning?"

"I told you then it was Cupid's Arrow, Beverage extraordinaire."

"No you didn't."

"Well I added that last part when I saw it working just now. Bro you party animal you."

Wataru gritted his teeth as the very acids of his stomach curdled over. "Party animal? Rin Rin what makes you think that I want to be a party animal? And not just that, what makes you think I'm alright with you doing it against my will?"

"Gosh Bro, don't get angry, it'll wear off in a couple of days… I think…"

"Rin Rin!" he moaned in mortal anguish. He didn't want to get mad, but this was a special case. However, he had been biding his time too much, and the Playboy within was rarin to go.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do, but if you just let this thing run it's course, then I'm sure you'll find if very educational."

She was trying to make a joke, at least he thought she was, but this was no time to laugh. "Education? What do you mean?"

She looked at him quizzically. "Just that…"

"Because you know… Rin Rin, was it?" he said taking a step closer to her, she didn't step back. "I don't think a good girl like you should be walking around talking about an 'education' when bad boys like me are walking around."

Rin Rin smiled. "Bro, are you messing with me?"

He smiled back, and took a step closer, their faces were almost touching. "Would I do that? I'm just saying that," he started playing with a lock of here hair, "if you really wanted to get crazy, I know a little fellow by the name of Yamada who…"

"What!"

He stopped playing with her hair, "What?"

"Come on Bro, you think that me and Yamada…?"

He smiled that cheep cologne again and nodded.

"Yeah right."

"Well I guess he doesn't know how to play chess, but still…"

"You ARE messing with me aren't you?"

"Hey, at least I'm not gluing your skirt to a bench and pouring crazy juice down your throat."

"Oh, I only did that once…"

"Yeah, this morning."

Rin Rin started shaking her head. "Of course, it's not you it's the Concoction. Darn, for half a second there…"

"For half a second there what?"

"Nothing, look there's the bell I have to get to class."

"Okay, Rin Rin." He dragged himself back to class.

It was a slow day, but every time he looked at the clock it seemed to double it's pace. How was he going to afford an ice cream party on his budget? He could always cut corners on his textbook consumption. Oh, who was he kidding, if he didn't get that new Epistemology resource book he just die! What to do…

Before he knew it the class was over. He shrunk in his chair and contemplated running for the door, but Mami came up.

"Bud, are you feeling alright?"

He gave her a glum look and got up, brushing himself off.

"Big Brother, may I please come to the ice cream store?" Karen asked.

He sighed. "Yes, everyone's invited."

Mami smiled and pointed at her face. He nodded. Suddenly Yamada slung his arm around him.

"Zat a fact? You're such a good friend Wa-Ta-Ru."

"Yamada! I didn't even know you were listening!"

"Does that mean… does that mean I'm not invited?" he asked, his voice cracking, and eyes watering, all inches from Wataru's face.

Not knowing what to do, something in his gut flared up. "Sure, buddy… You can come… You just have to carry my case…"

"No problem!" he said cheering up. In half a second he had taken his hand back and was holding the two cases with one hand.

"And her case," he said, pointing to Karen. "And her case," to Mami.

A large sweat mark grew behind his head. "Ummm… No problem, it's no problem really, but… Am I going to have to carry all the briefcases?"

"Unless you'd rather buy the ice cream…"

"Holy! Look at the time, I forgot about the all night Garbon line up starting this evening. If I'm not there I'll miss it, my VCR's broken, I'd bet."

"Don't you want to see Yotsuba?"

The sweat mark grew larger. He did, but thirteen objects, not counting his own, at ten pounds apiece… he'd never make it, and better to look like a Garbon freak than a wimp.

"Maybe I'll stop by after I've fired up the good old camcorder, but better safe than sorry, right Wataru?"

"Right," he said, the bubbling in his gut subsiding.

Yamada made his exit and left Karen and Mami staring wide-eyed and jaws dropped at Wataru. "Well done Bud!"

"You don't want me to carry the briefcases do you?" Karen asked sounding anxious. "Big Brother?"

"Of course not," he said.

"He was just getting rid of a free loader. But remember bud, I never asked. You invited me."

Like a waves of the sea it bubbled up again, man these things were uneven in distribution! "I'll try hard to make sure it's never any other way. Mami…"

She laughed. Not being an actual sister, or devotee, which seem to be the same thing in this series, she just laughed. It was a nice thing to say, but this was Wataru. The one time nobody made lunch he went hungry till dinner. The one time they were in a play he only spoke five words. The day she was charmed off her feet by this clown fish would fly and birds would swim.

"You know you really should get that laugh fixed, it wasn't that funny really."

She stopped laughing immediately. How long had she been at it?

Karin was looking at her with a subsidiary smile.

"Oh dear, now I've gone and embarrassed you. I guess I can't do anything right when my heart's all a flutter."

The two girls looked on. Mami pointed at herself again, brows furrowed.

"Karin, you know how hard it is for me, why don't you go standing the hall whilst I try to insult Mami here."

"What!" they shouted.

"Or you could just kiss me…"

"What!" they shouted again.

Now he laughed. "Just kidding, you can kiss me when we get home, but right now," he said grabbing their hands, "We're off!"

It was an odd sensation when Wataru came back too. He was holding two cute girls hands (even if they were his sisters) and they were just smiling back. He always thought the opposite gender would be more likely to scream in terror, give him a 'good one' upside the head, and run like the Dickens' for the proverbial horizon but maybe he was wrong. However he soon had these crazy thoughts reaffirmed when Sakuya saw him coming down the stairs outside.

"Dear Brother!"

Instinctively he let go and turned the Cream of Us candidate. "Ahhh, I see you're all ready for ice cream."

"Don't change the subject, you were holding their hands."

"Now, now, Sakuya," Karin said, getting between the two.

"Karin…" Sakuya said, pushing her aside, "this is big person time, you can participate in this conversation when you're this tall." She held her hand an inch above her head.

"I'm that tall," Mami said.

"Oh, the I'm sorry, I meant this tall," she said raising it an inch above Mami's basic height.

Mami wrapped her arm around Wataru in a defensive maneuver and said, "Well Bud here just said people over this height," raising her hand to an inch below Sakuya's height, "can't come for ice cream."

"That's right," he said through a tuft of Mami's hair, the playboy in him having returned when his arm was grabbed. She gave it a squeeze and the feeling upsurged.

"What? Big Brother!"

"We'll you're being so difficult Sakuya. I don't think Karin would be angry with me for holding your hand. Maybe angry with you… well, knowing me, probably angry with you, but not with me."

Sakuya looked heart broken. "Then I can't come?"

The four stood in quiet.

"I… I understand… I'll just…" Big tears were welling up in her eyes.

"Are you going to be any more trouble?" he asked.

She took a large handkerchief and bit it, shaking her head. Wow she looked cute.

"How high did I say you had to be, Mami?"

She put her hand up again. He looked at her, and she looked at him. She raised it again, to just Sakuya's height. He looked at it disdainfully.

"You know, I just realized something. I'm not tall enough to go! See ya, Suckers!" he said, pulling loosed, marching down the steps and waiving backwards at them.

"What! Wait! Hold on there!" were the cries.

He laughed and ran for the ice cream shop, they all followed, trying to catch up. Most of the sisters were already there when they arrived, and for a second it looked like it was going to erupt into one great big game of pile on Wataru, but someone was missing… Aria.

He shrugged the girls off, it was the normality him again, shrugging them off without any genius ideas was hard, but not impossible, and asked, "Hey, has anybody seen Aria or Rin Rin?"

"I saw Aria walking home a minute ago," Hina said.

"Did anybody invite her?"

They all looked at each other.

"What about Rin Rin?"

"Rin Rin said she'd be back as soon as she got something from the lab. Brother dearest…" Chikage whispered. "You're not in trouble are you?"

"No… Why?'

"You look pale. And you've been acting funny."

Wataru looked on. "What do you mean? I haven't seen you since breakfast have I?"

She held up a crystal ball. "Future, Present, Past. A vision seen at last."

"Okay… well look, you all go in and decide what you want but don't get anything. I'm going to go get her."

"I'll come with you," Mamoru said.

"No, I can do this on my own, I'll be right back."

They all waived goodbye, and entered the store.

Inside they started looking over the dozen's of flavors when Rin Rin entered and shouted "Hey!" They all looked up. "There's something important I need to tell you." Quietly Mecha Rin Rin slid in behind her.