Chapter 2: Could this Work?
"Kirino, Kyousuke," called their mother from the kitchen. "Get down here for breakfast already."
Hearing that, Kyousuke went down the stairs and sat at the table where he usually did. "Hey mom, sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night."
"Oh . . . how come?" asked his mother.
"Um, nothing, just a bad dream," answered Kyousuke. '
If only it were,' he real reason he hadn't been able to sleep was because he was conflicted. He was happy that he was in a relationship with Kirino again, but he had the feeling that it wouldn't work. That it could end much more painfully for the both of them this time.
'Ugh! Why couldn't I have just acted naturally around her?' Kyousuke asked himself. 'If I had, then she wouldn't have gotten upset over our lack of closeness.'
While Kyousuke pondered about what he should have done, Kirino walked in. She was wearing the gray school uniform of Kyousuke's old high school, which she now attended.
'Wow, she looks really cute in that,' he thought. Although he looked away immediately and tried to act normal.
Kyousuke enjoyed their breakfast. It was the first one he'd had with his family in a while, since he'd arrived in the afternoon the night before. He'd really missed them, especially Kirino. She was so amazing with how she juggled her good grades, modeling job, and athletic career all at the same time. Everything about her was so outstanding it made him feel that, as a normal guy, he wasn't worthy of her.
A few moments later, he guessed that he would have to add her acting skills to the list too, since she gave no hint of how she felt about him in front of their parents. All that showed was her usual, bright cheerful mood.
Their mother noticed something different though. Kirino was happier than she'd been for a while. Even if she was trying to hide it, Yoshino could see that Kyousuke was the reason why her mood had improved.
"Thanks for the meal," said Kyousuke as he always did. He put his plate away and walked back up toward his room. As he reached the last step of the stairs, someone called out to him.
"Hey!" Kirino stood at the base of the stairs, looking up at him.
"Huh? What?"
"Walk me to school," she ordered. "I need to talk with you."
He hesitated at first. She wasn't planning on doing anything that would make other people suspicious, was she? "F-fine then." He went down the stairs and out the door with her. Once they were on the street, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards with her.
Kyousuke blushed, he hadn't held Kirino's hand in a while. It was so warm and soft, and it fit his so neatly.
"Hey, where are you going? This isn't the way to the high school!"
"We're taking a different route," explained Kirino. "There aren't a lot of people that go this way, so we won't have to hide the way we feel about each other."
"Are you sure?" Kyousuke looked around, true, there were no other around them. But it would only took one person to start a rumor and ruin things for them.
"Of course I'm sure," answered Kirino. "Now shut up and enjoy this." She let go of his hand and this time wrapped her arms around his left arm tightly.
He blushed even deeper. Even though he was still nervous about other people seeing them, he knew it would be easier to just give in to her. "Okay." After a few moments, maing sure there was no one nearby, he neared his face to hers and spoke.
"I love you."
Now Kirino's face turned red. "I love you too," she replied sincerely.
"Now what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Oh, nothing." Kirino smiled mischievously, "I just wanted you to come with me without arguing."
"Y-you, don't you remember we have to keep this a secret?! Walking to school together is fine, but we have to be careful! In fact, you probably shouldn't be doing this." He gestured over to his arm, which Kirino was eagerly holding on to.
Kirino sighed but didn't let go of his arm. "I know, but . . . I just want you with me right now, okay?"
"Look, I'm already walking with you to school. Just walk side by side with me until then."
"Fine." Kirino pouted as she released his arm. "It's not like I was going to hold onto you like that for that long anyway. That's probably what you really wanted, isn't it you siscon?"
She didn't even really know why she called him that, Kyousuke was in love with her, so what did it matter? A force of habit, she guessed.
"Sure," said Kyousuke. "Now come on."
"Wait."
Kirino looked around carefully before turning her eyes toward Kyousuke. "Come here," she motioned. When he got close enough, she reached behind him and pulled his head down. Briefly kissing him.
"Wha-what the ! Did you just- that was too dangerous!" Kyousuke frantically scanned around just in case there were any witnesses. He sighed in relief to find that there was nobody else. "We really can't-
"Shut up. If I can't do something as little as hold your arm, I'll do that instead." Kirino turned around, her sudden courage leaving her. "Now follow me."
After a few minutes of silence, Kirino managed to regain some control over her emotions. She looked back on their conversation last night and smiled.
"Thank you," she said softly. "For agreeing to try again, and for dealing with my selfishness. I know I'm not the easiest or nicest person to deal with."
"Well, maybe."
'Maybe? What kind of boyfriend are you?' thought Kirino. 'You're supposed to disagree with me and say "no no, that's not true at all" . . . even if it is,' she added remorsefully.
"But I love you regardless, so don't worry about it," added Kyousuke.
"G-good then." Kirino felt her face heat up as her heart started racing. When they reached the gate, she turned to Kyousuke. "This is close enough, I'll see you at home later, right?" she asked expectantly.
"Sure," assured Kyousuke. "Bye." He waved before going on his way back home.
"Was that . . . Onii-san?" someone asked behind Kirino.
Kirino turned around, it was her black-haired friend Ayase. She seemed nervous, but also . . . wistful in a way. "Yeah, remember? I told you that he's back home for a visit," she answered.
"Ah, right." Ayase nodded.
"Is something wrong?" asked Kirino. "Why are you looking at my brother like that?"
"N-no reason!" Ayase lied, she hated doing so, but she had to. She didn't want to share how she still felt about Kirino's brother.
Kirino narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Really?"
"Y-yes!"
Kirino sighed in disappointment. "Ayase, I thought you hated lies."
"I do," she answered guiltily.
"Well then, why are you lying to me? Come on, we're friends, you can tell me anything." 'Besides,' added Kirino, 'it's not fair how you overreact when someone else lies to you.'
"I . . . I'm sorry Kirino, you're right." Ayase took a deep breath. "The truth is . . . I'm in love with your brother."
'What? Not you too! Damn it, why does he have to attract all these girls?!'
"But I thought you hated him!" Kirino yelled, but she didn't care. Now that she had Kyousuke back, she wouldn't lose him to anyone. "Isn't that why you didn't even talk to him after you took care of him for a month?"
"No, I avoided him because he rejected me," said Ayase shamefully. The memory still brought her pain.
"What did he say after you confessed to him?" Kyousuke had never told her about this! What the hell was wrong with that idiot?!
"He-he said that there was someone else he loved."
That made Kirino stop in her tracks. ". . . oh." It took a moment for her to realize that Kyousuke must have meant her. The thought made her giddy. Ayase was a cute, smart, and kind girl. Not to mention that a relationship with her wasn't taboo. But even though Ayase had confessedher feelings to him, Kyousuke had still chosen Kirino.
Her,his own sister who had pretended to be disgusted by him for the past few years. Who he had to hide his love for.
"Kirino, how come you're smiling like that?" asked Ayase.
Kirino wiped the ecstatic grin off of her face and got mad at herself for doing something that would reveal her feelings so obviously. "I'm just glad that he rejected you," replied Kirino. Then, realizing how Ayase would take it continued, "I mean, you'd be wasted on a guy like him! Seriously, you need better taste in men! My brother, that idiotic pervert? Come on, you can do way better than him!"
Ayase's cheeks flushed as she felt the need to defend Kyousuke. "Kirino, I know you don't exactly look up to your brother, but he's not as bad as you think. He's really kind in fact. Especially to you, I mean, he's willing to drag other people's opinion of him through the dirt for you. Like when he lied about being a pervert who was in love with his sister, just so he could get us to make up!
"And not only that, I saw how he studied so hard for the exams to get back home! He's amazing when he actually tries, and you're the one who he tries the most for! After all he's done for you, Kirino, don't you think he deserves some kindness from you by now?" Ayase blushed, then looked away, embarrassed by her sudden outburst.
"I-I guess." Kirino was surprised by how passionate Ayase was, and she started to wonder:
'If Ayase had confessed to Kyousuke sooner, would he still have rejected her and fallen for me?'
Ayase obviously felt strongly about him too, and she brought up a good point, Kyousuke did deserve to be treated better. Which he hadn't gotten much of from Kirino. But Kirino didn't need Ayase to tell her to be kind to him, she'd do that on her own.
After all, Kyousuke had agreed to try their relationship again; Kirino doubted that she could ever fully show how grateful she was to him for that. Especially since she could tell that he still had some doubts, but he was willing to go along with her selfish desires once more.
"Anyway, let's go. We're going to be late otherwise," said Kirino in a subdued voice. She walked to her classroom with Ayase, thinking about all the times Kyousuke had gone out of his way for her.
'When have I ever done something like that for him?' Kirino wondered, and sadly realized that she couldn't think of anything.
Kyousuke walked back home quickly. 'That could have been awkward.' He was sure that had been Ayase who'd appeared just before he'd turned around. He hadn't seen her since the day she'd confessed to him. He didn't want to think about how weird it would have been to try to talk to her normally, not to mention the fact that Kirino had been there as well. She had no idea about Ayase's confession, and Kyousuke wanted to keep it that way. Their new relationship was very fragile, and he didn't want her to think that dating one of her friends was an option for him.
It was strange, the way Kirino was acting. She had really surprised him last night. His insistent, confident little sister had been so desperate and upset that he'd had to do something to comfort her. Even break their promise. Which, to be honest, he wasn't sure he could have kept for much longer anyway.
He entered the house, and gave his habitual greeting. "I'm home."
No reply, so he was by himself. Well, that would be nice, a relaxing day all by himself. He yawned, maybe he'd catch up on some sleep first, since he hadn't really been able to last night.
He took off his shoes and walked upstairs to his bedroom. He practically collapsed into his bed and fell asleep almost immediately.
. . .
*ring ring*
Kyousuke's phone started ringing, which quickly woke him up. He got up and brought his phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Kyou-chan? It's me, Manami."
"Oh, hey Manami. What's going on?" he asked.
"Well, I was wondering . . . since I've been trying to make some sweets, could you come over so I could get your opinion on them? And, umm, I thought that we could also just hang out and eat lunch together too, if you don't mind."
"Sure, when should I get there?" asked Kyousuke.
"Oh, umm, whenever it's convenient for you," answered Manami. "I'll just be waiting."
"Alright, I'll be there soon, bye." Even if he wasn't sure what time it was, he didn't want to make her wait for long.
"Bye."
Kyousuke hung up the phone and looked at the time, it was 10:52, so he'd slept for a couple of hours. That had been a good nap, now he felt completely refreshed.
"Thanks, that was a great lunch. You always have been good at cooking," Kyousuke said to Manami.
"Well, I guess so." Manami's face reddened in embarrassment.
The two of them were in the park. Since it had been a bit . . . difficult to have serious conversations when Manami's grandparents were bothering them. Keeping up their routine of trying to bring them together. It was much more relaxing and calm here, like the old days, when they'd spend everyday just talking and hanging out as normal friends.
Which was certainly a nice change of pace from the hectic interactions Kyousuke would usually have with Kirino. Although it wasn't as if those moments actually bothered him. In fact, they could be fun in their own way, but he'd missed times like these too.
"Though, one of the main reasons why I got so good at cooking was because I thought of how great it would be to cook for my future husband on a daily basis," added Manami.
"Ah," he answered awkwardly. What else could he say to that? He got the hint, it wasn't like he was a total idiot. "So, um, hey look it's some ducklings!" Kyousuke pointed at several ducklings following their mother. 'Was this really the best thing I could come up with?' he thought disappointedly.
"Oh, how cute!" Manami walked over to them. Leaving Kyousuke surprised by the fact that he'd managed to escape an awkward situation in such a ridiculous way.
After she was done looking at them, they decided to continue walking around the park and talk. Since they'd come here often when they were younger, most of their conversations were just of them reminiscing about their childhood here. It was all so comfortable and familiar to Kyousuke. The trees all around them, he saw the one that he'd climbed to the top of when he was . . . how old? Seven? And the playground over to the right, he'd played there often with Manami for hours.
Kyousuke started to remember something. 'What was it?' he wondered. He wasn't sure, but he knew it was something important.
"Ohh!" he said out loud after a few moments of concentration. That was right! Kirino had played with him here too. Before their cold war.
"Kyou-chan? What is it?" asked Manami, a bit confused by his abrupt shout.
"Sorry," answered Kyousuke. "It's nothing."
He started to remember one incident in particular. He and Kirino had been in the park by themselves, he must have been around ten years old, which meant she'd only been seven. They'd been playing tag, she'd been chasing him and he'd been easily avoiding her. It had gotten obvious pretty quickly that she wasn't going to catch him, but she'd still tried anyway. Even then she'd been stubborn, she'd even told him that he couldn't let her win, that she'd catch him all on her own. Now, she could probably do so easily.
He smiled as he remembered her determined expression, it was still the same. Those bright, dedicated eyes and that excited smile. He loved her so much.
After a while, Kirino had still been chasing him, although rather slowly as a result of the effort she'd expended. Even though she'd been hardly more than walking, she'd tripped and skinned her knee. After that, Kyousuke had immediately ended the game and rushed over to her. She'd tried to hide her tears and claim that it wasn't that bad, but he'd ignored all that, deciding to pick her up on his back and go home to get a Band-Aid for it.
That night, she'd treated him like he was a superhero. Telling him with vibrant, admiring eyes how fast and strong he'd been, and how lucky she was to have such an amazing older brother.
Kyousuke chuckled a bit. There was no way Kirino would do anything like that now. She was the amazing one, and she knew it. To her, he was now the stupid, perverted older brother. But still the one she loved, so their roles really had been reversed, now he was the lucky one.
"Is something funny?" asked Manami. Kyousuke was acting a bit weird right now, it was like he was off in his own world. Which bothered her, whenever they'd spent time together before, he'd always been in the moment. It was embarrassing, but she . . . she wanted his attention.
"Just thinking," replied Kyousuke. "Sorry, again." And he truly was, he hadn't meant to space out like that. Maybe thinking of happy memories with Kirino made him more of an idiot than usual.
"It's fine." Manami noticed how his smile had faded when he'd been brought back to reality.
Kyousuke looked over at her, if her expression was any sign, it wasn't fine. He had no idea what kind of expression he'd had when he'd blanked out, but it seemed like it had troubled Manami. What could he say to explain? That he was thinking of Kirino? That wouldn't be a good idea, to say the least. But what then?
Before he could say anything, Manami spoke up again. "You're leaving tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah."
"Before you go, can you tell me . . . is there something wrong with me?"
Kyousuke halted. "What do you mean? Why would there be anything wrong with you?" he asked, confused.
"I mean," Manami's face flushed red.
'What stopped you from falling in love with me?' she wanted to ask so badly. 'Even without Kirino, you probably wouldn't think of me that way at all. Why? What's wrong with me?'
But she decided against it. It would ruin the moment, Kyousuke would just feel guilty and do his best to make her feel better, and she knew that nothing he would try would work, because he was in love with someone else.
"Never mind, it's nothing," lied Manami. "Don't worry about it."
"Oh, alright then." answered Kyousuke as if he'd understood. While in truth he had no idea what was going on with her. "Well, I'll answer you anyway. There's nothing wrong with you Manami. You've always been a great friend."
'A great friend, huh . . .'
"You too, Kyou-chan," she replied sincerely. As they continued walking and idly chatting, Manami realized something about their friendship, this was the furthest their relationship could possibly go.
'And I'll have to be fine with that.'
But this time, the thought didn't make her as sad as it once did. She still felt the same way for Kyousuke as she always had, but now she'd fully accepted that he would never return her feelings. It still made her feel horrible, even so . . . she managed to find some joy in the fact that he would still be her friend, that she hadn't completely pushed him away after what she'd said after he'd told her how he'd felt about Kirino.
"Hey, Ayase!" Kanako called out to her friend. "Do you want to . . ."
Kanako sat down at a desk next to Ayase, seeing her upset expression. What was going on?
"Hey," she said, getting Ayase's attention. "What's wrong?" Kanako wondered what could possibly be bothering her and reached a conclusion. "Did you and Kirino have a fight or something?"
"Huh?" asked Ayase innocently. "Why would you think that?"
"Come on." Kanako wasn't fooled at all. "Kirino's been avoiding you all day, and you're acting all depressed because of it. Why's she upset with you?"
"Well . . . I might have said something that might have upset her," admitted Ayase.
This was interesting. "Really? What?" asked Kanako curiously.
"I-I can't tell you!" Ayase blushed. "It's too embarrassing," she mumbled.
"Come on, that's not fair!" cried Kanako. "I'm just as much your friend as Kirino!"
"I'm sorry, but-
"You know," interrupted Kanko mischievously. "If you won't tell me, then I'll just ask Kirino."
"Okay! Okay!" Ayase sighed in defeat. "I-I told Kirino that I like *murmur *murmur*.
"What was that? Who do you like? Speak up!"
"Okay, I will! Just be quiet!" Ayase was mortified, Kanako was way too loud. Ayase waited until everyone shifted their attention away from them. "I like . . . Onii-san."
"You too?" Kanako tsked in annoyance. Just how many girls were attracted to him?
"Kanako, what do you mean by that?" asked Ayase, confused by her response. "Do you . . . feel the same way about him?"
"Yeah, but he rejected me," Kanako answered casually. "But good luck anyway. He told me that he was in love with someone else."
"He already rejected me too," admitted Ayase. Kanako felt a strange sort of connection with her friend, being rejected by the same guy.
"Anyway, why would you liking Kyousuke bother Kirino?"
"Well . . . she is really close to him," answered Ayase. "And I know that she doesn't want him to date anybody yet. But still, even though I promised her that he wasn't interested in me, she's been cold to me." Ayase looked over at Kirino, who was a few desks in front of her talking to some other girls.
Kanako followed her gaze. "Seriously? How selfish of her," she said, amused by how Kirino felt so strongly for her brother, but acted so unfriendly to him at times. Kanako smiled and grabbed Ayase by the wrist. "Come on, let's go see if I can't force you guys to make up!"
"Wait! Wait!" Ayase didn't have much of a chance to respond before being pulled towards Kirino.
Kirino saw two of her best friends coming towards her. Even though she wasn't feeling especially friendly to Ayase right now, Kirino still decided to excuse herself from the girls she was talking to and go towards Kanako and Ayase. "Kanako, what are you doing?" she asked
Kanako stopped in front of Kirino and asked her directly. "What's wrong with Ayase liking Kyousuke?"
Luckily, she said it quietly enough that only the three of them would hear. Kanako didn't even want to think about what Ayase would have done to her if she'd said it out loud.
"Wh-what? Nothing." Kirino lied and grit her teeth. What else could she say? That she was mad at Ayase for betraying her? It wasn't like Ayase had actually done anything wrong, and Kirino knew that feeling as if she had was stupid. But she couldn't help it. Kyousuke . . . she wouldn't let anyone else have him, especially not now, they were finally dating again.
Kanako sighed in annoyance. "Really? Then why have you been so cold to Ayase?"
"I just have," answered Kirino unconvincingly. She wanted to avoid this conversation as much as possible.
Kanako snorted in disbelief. "Yeah that makes sense." Her voice was dripping in sarcasm. "'I just have', who do you think you're fooling?"
"Whatever!" Kirino responded, irritated. "I don't have to explain myself to you! Leave me alone!" She sat down back at her desk with an annoyed huff.
"That girl," Kanako muttered under her breath. "There's no point talking to her when she's angry like that. Sorry Ayase, I probably could have handled that better."
Ayase shook her head. "No, it's alright. Kirino wasn't acting like herself either, I guess she really doesn't like the idea of me liking Onii-san. I'll just wait for her to calm down and talk to her by myself."
Kanako shrugged. "Well . . . good luck with that, I guess."
"Thanks." Ayase sat down and began to wait until she felt that Kirino would be comfortable to talk with her again.
It took a lot longer for Kirino to calm down than Ayase had thought it would. After a few minutes of watching her, Ayase started to wonder more deeply about why Kirino would be so upset. Kirino had mentioned a few times before that Kyousuke had moved away for college, and thinking back, Ayase had noticed the shift in her mood that had appeared then.
It hadn't been very obvious, to everyone else Kirino probably seemed like her usual amazing self, but Ayase had noticed the small, subtle behaviors. Sometimes Kirino would look at her phone longingly, and when Ayase had peeked at it once the screen had shown Kyousuke's contact information. Another time, it had been a picture of the two of them. Kirino was probably too embarrassed to call her brother just because she missed him. In fact, Ayase believed that not that long ago, Kirino wouldn't have even been able to admit feeling that way to herself.
Ayase remembered how Kirino had been when she'd said that her "idiot brother" was coming back home for a visit. The change in her mood had been obvious, Ayase only had to look at the bright smile on her face to see it. Yes, it was obvious how close Kirino was with her brother.
'How could I have been so stupid?' thought Ayase. Kirino had wanted to be the most important person in Onii-san's eyes, Ayase guessed that she still did.
'It is a little selfish though.' But what did it matter to Ayase really? If Onii-san had returned her feelings, perhaps she'd have much stronger feelings about it. He didn't though, so the way Kirino felt about Ayase liking him didn't really make a huge difference. Except in the way Kirino was treating her now.
She had to try one more time. Go up to Kirino, and promise her from the bottom of her heart that she wouldn't try to take her brother away. That Ayase wouldn't try to take her place as the person he most treasured. Eventually, when Onii-san found the one he loved, he'd have to help Kirino deal with this. But that was between the two of them.
However, Kirino still looked annoyed. Maybe she should wait until school was over. Until then, Ayase decided to monitor Kirino's mood. Kirino had seemed to calm down about an hour before dismissal. But for some strange reason she'd kept looking at the clock and frowning impatiently.
Did Kirino need to go somewhere? If so, Ayase would have to talk to her quickly to avoid bothering her further.
. . .
School was over, now was the time to go and reassure Kirino.
Ayase caught up to Kirino just before she left the gate. That had been close, Kirino had been walking as quickly as possible, practically jogging. 'Where does she need to go?'
"What is it Ayase?" Kirino was making no effort to hide her impatience.
"Wait, before you go, I know why you were so upset when I said I liked Onii-san."
Kirino's heart froze. Did Ayase know about her and Kyousuke's relationship? Oh no, what was she going to do? Damn it, maybe she should have listened to him about being more careful.
"You still don't want Onii-san to date anyone else, right?" asked Ayase, certain she'd gotten it right.
Kirino sighed in relief, so Ayase still didn't know. "Right."
"I promise, I won't try to chase after him," Ayase swore. "You don't need to worry about that anyway, he likes someone else. But . . . Kirino, please don't try to stop him from being with the one he loves. If it bothers you that much, I'll be here for you." Ayase brought her hand to her chest earnestly, to prove that she'd support her friend when the time came.
"Thank you." Kirino bowed slightly to show her gratitude. "Really, really, thank you." Ayase would have no idea how much that meant to her, not pursuing Kyousuke even though she wanted to.
And all because she believed that it was so Kirino would maintain her relationship with him as a brother.
"I don't deserve a friend like you."
"It's-it's fine," Ayase waved off Kirino's last remark. "Umm . . . so you need to go somewhere, don't you?"
Kirino nodded. "Yeah."
"Is it something important?"
"Well . . . it's just something I've been looking forward to," admitted Kirino shyly.
"I see, I should probably get out of the way then." Ayase moved to the side to let Kirino go.
"Yeah." Kirino walked forward a few steps, but then turned to Ayase. "Seriously, thank you," she said sincerely, and walked off excitedly to meet with Kyousuke.
Author's Note:
The next chapter will be up in two or three weeks.
Thanks for reading and please leave a Review!