It was one of those muggy summer days. The air vibrated with heat and the sound of cicadas was nearly deafening. Akaito stood by the curb and watched as his and Kaito's belongings were carried out from the apartment complex and divided into two separate moving trucks. The division of their mutual possessions had been fairly straightforward. Akaito got to take most of the furniture since Kaito wouldn't be needing it at his new place. In return, Kaito took all of their collective memorabilia, all those photos, souvenirs and various trinkets that Akaito saw no practical use for. The only thing of sentimental value he was bringing to his house was the electric guitar that Kaito had given him for his 17th birthday. This was, in part, because it was a really nice guitar, but also because he knew it would've broken his brother's heart if he'd refused to take it.

The two of them had hardly talked to each other for the past few days. Kaito didn't understand why Akaito was so upset, and Akaito had grown tired of trying to explain it to him. He knew he was acting juvenile, he knew he was being unfair, but he couldn't help the fact that he felt abandoned by his older brother. Unlike Kaito, he didn't have anyone else in his life who cared for him. There was no-one waiting for him at his new house, there was no-one who would call him, or come check up on him, or even wonder to themselves how he was doing these days. Kaito was already busy enough as it was and it would only get worse from here on. Once they moved apart, he simply wouldn't have any time left over for Akaito. That was nothing but the cold, hard truth.

"Akaito!" Kaito called, looking winded and flustered as he came out of the building. Akaito turned around and met his brother with an inimical glare.

"What?" he snapped. Kaito started back a little, but wasn't deterred.

"I've called a cab to come pick you up", he said. "They're almost done here so…"

"Right." Akaito turned again, his jaw set as he stubbornly stared into the distance.

"Akaito?"

He didn't answer.

"Akaito, please look at me."

He didn't turn back.

"It's not like we're never going to see each other again. I'm still your brother. You can come over to my place whenever you want. You can call you whenever you need anything. I'm not going to just forget about you. Can't you see that… I'm trying my best here?"

Akaito gave an unimpressed grunt and glanced over his shoulder. He let his eyes sweep over Kaito's pleading expression and jeered.

"You've made your choice", he said. "Just go already."

And there it was, that defeated, mournful look in his Kaito's eyes that he had gotten so accustomed to lately. It almost made him want to take it back, hug his brother goodbye, put the bad blood aside and apologize for being so utterly insufferable… but he didn't. Instead, he just stood there and scowled, making Kaito wither and shrink under his relentless gaze until that daft idiot finally got the message.

"Alright, I'll get going then. Call me when you get settled, okay?" he said and managed a pale smile, his voice trembling on the verge of tears. Then he left.

—

The bright rays of sun dragged him out of his slumber. Akaito opened his eyes and the first thing he caught sight of was his lover. Rin slept on her stomach, her face half-buried in the pillow, one slender hand curled against his chest. The comforter had slid down to her waist, exposing the smooth, just about flawless skin of her back. He noticed a couple of bruises though, probably from when those brutes slammed her into that wall last night. He thanked the gods that he'd decided to follow his instincts and gone after her. Frankly, it was one of the best choices he'd made his entire life.

Careful not to disturb her, he sat up and regarded her adoringly. He relished the memory of last night, of holding her and kissing her, giving himself to her and vice versa. He couldn't prevent the giddy grin from spreading across his face. He felt stupid happy, there were no other words to describe it. Rin had declared her love for him, she'd chosen him, over Kaito of all people. He could barely believe it himself, even as she lied there in bed next to him, the entire room brimming with her scent.

He leaned towards her, brushing her hair aside as he pressed his lips to the nape of her neck. She stirred a bit and opened her eyes, smiling sleepily at him while he ran his fingers over the slopes of her shoulder blades, enjoying the warm feeling of her skin. She turned over to her back and he leaned in to kiss her gently. Her dainty touch, the flutter of her eyelashes, the soft sighs she emitted when he caressed her body. He drank it all in, wishing he could let this moment go on forever and ever.

"Am I dreaming?" Rin murmured, still half-asleep from the sounds of it.

"Not if I have anything to say about it", Akaito said with a smile. "But you can go back to sleep for a while if you want to."

She nodded and yawned, turning to the side as she closed her eyes again. He supposed the previous day had been quite eventful. No wonder she was tired.

Still smiling, he turned away from her and reached for his phone on the bedside table. The screen lit up and his insides went cold. His phone had been on mute so he hadn't noticed, but Kaito had been calling and texting him insistently since last night. He scrolled through the texts, sensing the increasing tone of agitation in Kaito's words when he didn't get a response. The latest one read: "I'm coming over".

"Shit", Akaito hissed and immediately turned looked to Rin. She was still asleep. At least that was something. He got out of bed and got dressed quickly but quietly, keeping his eyes on the bed the whole time. He couldn't let Kaito ruin this for him. Not now. Not when he'd finally found happiness again.

He left the room, gliding out on the landing, and just as he was making way down the stairs, he saw a silhouette in the window by the front door. He skipped over the last few steps and bolted to the door, jerking it open before Kaito had the chance to ring the doorbell. Kaito looked at him with a startled expression, but he gathered himself soon enough and his face turned somber.

"I've been trying get a hold of you", he said. "Why didn't you answer me?"

"My phone was on mute", Akaito responded. "What do you want?"

"Rin-chan. She's here, isn't she? I've come to take her home."

Kaito tried to enter the house but Akaito didn't move aside. He felt a rush of fear when he noticed the phone in Kaito's hand, recalling the unsavory content it held.

What if he shows that to Rin?

"Kaito, I know what this seems like, but it's not what you think", he said. "Please, give me a chance to explain."

Kaito's eyes darkened and he pressed forth, literally pushing Akaito away from the doorframe. Akaito's socks slipped and slid on on the floor. He couldn't get enough of a grip to push back.

"I don't want to hear it", Kaito said. "Enough of these childish games already. I'm putting an end to it today. You're not going to use her as your plaything anymore."

He closed the door behind him and started to take off his shoes. Akaito flinched as he felt a dull, pulsing pain creeping in on one side of his head, making waves, growing stronger. He gritted his teeth, repressing the discomfort as he grabbed onto Kaito's arm, determined to keep his brother at bay.

"I told you, it's not like that", he growled. "If you would just listen to me I would—"

Kaito's shook his arm free and was just about to say something in response when there was a creaking sound coming from the stairs. They both turned their head to the sound and Rin stared back at them, frowning as she took in the scene before her. She proceeded down the stairs until she reached the floor, setting her gaze on Kaito.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Why are you here?"

Kaito took a straightened up and stepped a bit closer to her. "Rin-chan, there's something I've been wanting to tell you for some time now. I'm aware that you've been seeing my brother for these pasts months, and I think you should know that he's been using you to… to hurt me, because he know how much I care about you. The truth is, he's been sending me some… not so nice texts about you."

Rin's frown deepened and she glanced at Akaito, looking to him for an explanation.

"What is he talking about?" she wondered, before turning to Kaito again. "What do you mean?"

Kaito sighed, hesitating a few seconds before handed over his phone to her. Akaito looked on helplessly as Rin's eyes scanned the screen. At first, she seemed inquisitive, unguarded, as if she didn't actually believe Kaito's caution. Then, she gave a shocked gasp, a look of repulsion and disbelief on her face as she swayed on her feet. Kaito's phone fell from her hands and dropped to the floor with a loud thump. She didn't seem to notice.

"No", she whispered, shaking her head. "No. This can't be true. It's not true. This isn't you, right?"

She stared at Akaito, her eyes glassy and fraught with betrayal, and his chest tightened painfully as he stood there, paralyzed. All he could do was stare back at her and watch her innocence shatter before his very eyes. She saw it now, clear as daylight. He wasn't the kind of person she'd thought he was.

"Say something!" she yelled, her voice reedy and brittle. "Don't just stand there! Tell me it's not true! Please, Akaito!"

Kaito extended a hand towards her, probably in an attempt to comfort her, but she spun and batted it away, directing her fury at him instead.

"And you! You knew all this time and you didn't tell me?!" she cried. "Why would you hide something like this from me?!"

"I'm sorry, Rin-chan", Kaito said. "I wanted to, but I just… I didn't know if it was the right thing to do…"

Rin clamped her hands over her ears, shaking her head again, her breathing turning more and more frantic. Her eyes flitted between the two of them as she backed away, mumbling deliriously to herself.

"No, no, no, no. This isn't happening. I'm so stupid. I'm so stupid. I'm so stupid."

Kaito reached for her again but she cringed and scrambled out of his range. She turned around, fled down the hallway to the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her. The resulting bang reverberated through the hallway and Akaito doubled over, clutching his head as the sudden pain, blinding and jagged, caught him completely off guard. It felt like his skull was splitting in half.

His stomach lurched and he stumbled to the kitchen, draping himself over the sink as he retched. He gagged, coughed and spat, blinking away tears, trying to keep steady while the pain kept exploding behind his eyes. His hands quivered as he turned on the faucet and rinsed away the foul taste in his mouth, washing the sick down the drain in the process. Sightlessly, he twisted around and tore through the cupboard, found the painkillers and swallowed two of them dry before the vertigo overpowered him. He keeled over, dropping to his hands and knees while the floor wobbled nauseatingly underneath him. It took all of his willpower not to throw up again.

As from somewhere far away, he heard Kaito come into the living room. He was on the phone with someone.

"Hey, I'm having a bit of an emergency and I could really use your help. If I send you an address, do you think you could come over? Yeah… It's about Rin. No, just you. I think it's best if the others don't know about this. Please take the car if you can. Okay. Thank you so much."

He ended the call and Akaito heard him pace anxiously through the room, muttering under his breath in a manner that was entirely unlike him. He continued as such for several minutes, before his footsteps changed direction and approached Akaito with a newfound resolve.

"Is this what you wanted?" Kaito asked, his tone one of a false, dangerous calm. "I can't even get her to come out of the bathroom, that's how upset she is. And yes, I feel absolutely horrible too. I assume that's why you did this, to get back at me. What did I do to you that was so awful? I honestly can't think of anything that would justify this. You need to grow up, start taking some responsibility for your own life. This person you've become… I don't even know who you are anymore."

Those last words stung and Kaito knew it. Akaito struggled to lift his head, straining to ignore the pain in his head even though it made every sensory impression excruciating.

"I know you won't believe me", he said, "but this is not what I wanted. I… I made a mistake. I never wanted to hurt her. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Don't tell me you're sorry", Kaito said, his face unyieldingly frigid. Akaito nodded, biting his lip.

"Can I talk to her? Please? Just let me try?"

Kaito fell quiet for a while, contemplating the question as he gnawed at the nail of his thumb (a nervous tick he'd had since their childhood). Akaito had just enough time to get his hopes up before Kaito shook his head.

"No. I think you've done enough damage already", he muttered. He tried to walk away but Akaito grabbed onto his trouser leg, too desperate to care about how pathetic he must've looked in that moment.

"Please", he said again. "I want to apologize to her. Let me do that at least. You were right. I shouldn't have used her like that. I… really care about her."

"You don't care about her", Kaito snapped, his eyes practically black. "Don't you dare tell me that after what you did! I told you to leave her be! That was the only thing I asked of you! But still, you went ahead and—"

He cut himself off, grimaced with disgust and turned his head away. His hands shook with anger and then — as if he didn't know what else to do with himself — he slammed his fist into the cupboard, wincing and hissing at the pain it undoubtedly caused him. He brought the same hand to his face, running his fingers through his bangs while he shut his eyes tight, taking deep breaths as he tried to cool down. When he looked back to Akaito, the anger appeared to have seeped away, replaced by the presence of a profound sorrow.

"Why are you like this?" he asked softly. "What… happened to you?"

Akaito made an attempt to answer, but the doorbell rang suddenly and Kaito left the room without another word. Akaito heard how he opened and close the door again, before he started talking to someone in the hallway. It sounded like a young woman, but Akaito failed to place her voice in his impaired condition. He couldn't help but to get curious and forced himself up from the floor, slowly and cautiously making his way to the hallway on unsteady legs. She passed by just as he reached the door, her long teal hair billowing behind her as she strode forth with an air of well-nigh regality.

Hatsune Miku cast him a very brief, sidelong glance before she continued down the hallway, Kaito following close behind her. Standing by at a safe distance, Akaito watched as she stood in front of the bathroom door, looking to Kaito. He nodded at her and she gave the door a light knock.

"Rin-chan", she said. "It's me, Miku. Do you think you could open the door?"

Nothing happened at first and Kaito and Miku exchanged uneasy looks, holding their breaths as they waited. But then lock turned, the door opened slightly and Rin peeked through the gap. Once she'd made sure that Miku really was there, she stepped into the hallway, holding her arms around herself. She sniffled and shivered, looking much too fragile and small, as though a gust of wind could sweep her off her feet without even trying.

Miku immediately wrapped her arms around her pitiful friend and Rin erupted into a high-pitched, piercing wail that made both Kaito and Akaito recoil, but Miku only held her tighter. Rin clung onto her as if her life depended on it, weeping inconsolably while her tiny body convulsed with sharp, gasping sobs.

"Oh, Rin-chan…. It's okay, it's okay", Miku whispered, her own eyes filling with tears as she spoke. "Everything will be okay. Let's get out of here, alright? Let's go home. We can make hot chocolate and watch your favorite movie, just me and you. You'd like that, wouldn't you? Nothing bad will ever happen to you again. I promise."

Keeping one arm secure around Rin, Miku started to lead her down the hallway and Kaito came after them, his gaze meeting Akaito's when he passed by. Don't do anything stupid, his eyes seemed to say. But when Akaito saw Rin standing by the door, realizing just how close he was to losing her, he couldn't stop himself from making one last-ditch effort to reach out to her.

"Rin! Wait!" he called, taking a few, awkward steps towards her. She didn't look at him. She didn't even react to his voice. Miku, on the other hand, spun on her heel. The rage cracked across her face as she lunged and shoved him backwards. She was stronger than she looked and he nearly fell over from the sheer ferocity of her assault, but he managed to catch himself on the wall, jerking back when she came at him again.

"Miku!" Kaito yelled, his hand gripping her shoulder. "Come on. Let's just go."

Miku clenched her jaw, breathing through her nose as she glared contemptuously at Akaito. Kaito pulled her back and she conceded, returning to Rin's side while keeping Akaito within her line of sight. Rin's crying had quietened, but her teardrops still broke through the silence by plummeting noisily to the floor. She stood staring at her feet while Miku and Kaito took on their shoes, both of them stiff and close-bitten. Kaito opened the door, letting Rin and Miku exit the house first. He cast one final, vaguely remorseful look at Akaito before he followed them outside. The door closed heavily behind him.

—

Rin fell asleep in the car on the way home. Kaito didn't want to wake her, so he picked her up and carried her into the house. He was surprised by how light she still was, even after all these years. Back when she was still a teenager, he'd carried her to the bed sometimes when she had fallen asleep on the couch. Kaito held her now the same as then, cradling her head to his shoulder so that she wouldn't hurt her neck, and he thought idly that she looked younger somehow, so delicate in his arms. He almost forgot she wasn't that little girl anymore, the one he'd come to see as his own sister, someone he'd wanted to look after and protect. Today, he figured, he'd failed to do just that.

Len sat at bottom of the staircase when they entered the house. He'd been the first one to notice that Rin was gone that morning and he'd understandably been worried. He appeared relieved to see them at first, but he quickly became upset when neither Kaito or Miku would tell him what had happened. He stormed off and Miku went after him, doing whatever she could to calm him down, though without much success.

Kaito took Rin upstairs to her room and placed her carefully onto her bed. She stirred a bit, mumbling in her sleep, but she didn't wake up. Kaito knelt by her side and listened to her steady stream of breaths, watching her ribcage rise and fall. He wished she could continue to sleep so peacefully for the rest of the day then she wouldn't have to wake up and remember the events that had transpired.

In hindsight, Kaito knew he should've handled things differently. He shouldn't have shown her the texts like that, certainly not in front of Akaito, but his thoughts had been muddled by anger and he'd gone over to this brother's house without any distinct idea of how to deal with the situation. He should've realized how Rin would react after reading those nasty things that had been written about her. He'd made messed it all up, as he'd known he would, and it had ended with the worst possible outcome for the person he cherished to most.

Then, there was the matter of his brother. It was hard to believe he actually regretted his actions, but Kaito supposed that after spending so much time with Rin, it was plausible that Akaito had genuinely grown to like her. If Kaito had been aware of that, he might've chosen another approach and not confronted his brother the way he had. But there was nothing he could do to change that now.

"Please forgive me, Rin-chan", he murmured. "I didn't mean for things to turn out like this."

He leaned in briefly, kissing her forehead before he stood back up and left the room, quietly closing the door behind him. He was just about to head downstairs when a hand gripped onto his shirt and he was dragged into the room adjacent to Rin's. Miku glowered at him, her eyes flashing like lightning bolts as she backed him against the wall. Kaito had never thought of her as particularly scary (especially not compared to Meiko), but he felt hat he might have to reevaluate his perception of her from now on.

"Kaito, what the hell was all of that about?" she hissed. "What did he do to her?"

"I… um… Honestly, I don't know all the details myself", he muttered, avoiding her daunting glare. He'd been hoping to postpone this for later, for when he'd had time to calm down and get his thoughts straight. But Miku wasn't about to let him slip.

"That's not good enough. I came to help you without asking any questions, didn't I? So now you need to tell me what's going on. You owe me that much."

Kaito sighed. She was right. Of course she was. So he told her, as much of the story he actually knew, though he was aware there were a few pieces missing. He told her where Rin had been disappearing off to for the past months, about the phone call and all the texts from Akaito, and how he'd finally lost his patience and gone to Akaito's house to put an end to the whole thing, which had turned out disastrously.

"I don't think he was actually trying to hurt Rin though", he explained. "He was just trying to hurt me. I shouldn't have shown her those texts. I just made everything worse."

"No", Miku said. "You did the right thing, but you should've showed them to her sooner."

Kaito sagged. "Yeah… you're right."

"Also, why are you trying to excuse his behavior? It doesn't matter why he did it, he still did a horrible thing. I'm sorry Kaito, I know he's your brother, but he doesn't seem to be a very nice person."

"I know, I know! It's just… He hasn't always been like this. I don't know what went wrong…"

Miku's shook her head and gave a sigh of her own. "This wouldn't have happened if you'd just confessed to Rin already."

Kaito stared at her, totally speechless, and she rolled her eyes. Then, her expression softened and she gave him a gracious smile.

"Did you really think I didn't know? Be a little less obvious, would you?"

"Ah, w-well… I guess I thought you might but…" Kaito stammered, feeling the blood rise to the surface of his face. "Was it really that obvious?"

"It was. You stare at her a lot, probably more than you realize."

He nodded. It wasn't as if he hadn't suspected it, but it still came as a bit of a shock. Admittedly, it was also a relief to know that he had someone he could confide in. He leaned his back to the wall, suddenly overcome by exhaustion.

"I did ask her out", he muttered, "during our last concert."

Now it was Miku's turn to stare. "Wait, what? You did? What did she say?"

"She said she wanted time to think about it."

"Huh." She frowned, looking thoroughly bemused. "That's… odd. I was so certain she'd say yes."

Kaito raised his eyebrows. "How come?"

Miku fell silent, chewing her lip as she wandered around the room, one hand resting on her lower back, the other held thoughtfully by her chin. Kaito could tell there was something she wanted to say to him, but she wasn't sure whether she really ought to. Finally, she came to a stop and looked at him from across the the other side of the room, her eyes stricken with a sense of solid determination.

"Rin-chan is in love with you too", she said, outright, without any frills whatsoever. "I know what you're going to ask and no, she didn't tell me, but I know her. She's been fawning over you for years. I think it probably started when she was 15 and you bought her that barrette with the sunflower on it, and you told her it reminded you of her because—"

"She always turns her face towards the sun", he said numbly. She sighed again.

"Sunflowers symbolize adoration and loyalty. She was 15 years old, you idiot! Of course she was going to read into it too much! She never looked at you the same way after that."

"How was I supposed to know that?" Kaito mumbled. Five years? Rin had been in love with him for five years and he'd been completely oblivious of her feelings? He wondered what that must've been like for her. Painful, probably. There was no way he could've returned her affection back then, she must've understood that. But even so, she remained in love with him, until…

...until someone else came along.

"Look", Miku said, "whatever happened between her and your brother, it's over now. She's going to need some time to get over this, but she'll come to her senses soon. If you ask her out again then, she's going to say yes, without a doubt."

Kaito thought of his brother, otherwise so proud, bordering on arrogant, literally on his knees, claiming that he cared for her. And Rin, that look she'd given him, how she'd begged him to tell her it wasn't true, how she'd cried over him like Kaito had never seen her cry over anything before.

What if there was more to their relationship than he'd thought?