I'd know that wonderful voice anywhere.
"Nii-chan!" I yell, almost forgetting I'm supposed to be a boy right now.
My brother Akira stands in front of a sleek black limo, sweeping his pitch black hair out of his eyes. The top button of his university uniform is undone and his tie is pulled loose, his jacket draped over his shoulder.
"C'mon kid," he says with one of his signature crooked smiles.
He seems to pick up on my character, so he doesn't hug me. Instead he punches my shoulder playfully and I punch him back. He laughs and pretends like it hurt before smirking and grabbing me by the shoulder. He shoves me into the limo, and by the time he's in beside me and the door is closed we're both laughing.
He ruffles my hair before pulling me into a one armed hug.
"So what are you doing here?" I ask as I slide next to him.
"Well you think the parental units would let you stay in a house by yourself?" he asks as he rests his arm on my shoulder. "They Okayed it because I said I'd pull out of the dorms and look after you."
My smile slips a little. He gave up his freedom for me. Akira's always doing these kinds of things for me, I wonder if he ever regrets it.
"You did?" I ask softly, pulling my hair out of its ponytail.
"Hey," he says, shoving me gently. "I did it because I wanted to. I haven't seen you since I left for the new term. Plus my roommate smoked too much. And there was only one window."
"Well when you put it that way," I sigh, still feeling a little bit guilty. "You're welcome."
"But I was surprised to hear you decided to transfer here," he chuckles before suddenly turning serious. "How's Nayoko-chan taking it?"
All of a sudden I feel like someone's punched me in the stomach. My throat closes up and my eyes burn.
"She couldn't care less," I spit. "Apparently in her eyes we were never really friends. I was just her meal ticket to the world of glitz and glamor. She's probably ecstatic that she actually managed to run me out of the school."
I pull my knees to my chest, clutching them tightly enough that my boney knees begin digging into my chest.
"You were the first person I thought of calling, but I thought you'd be too busy with university, " I whisper. "I've needed someone to talk to so badly these past few weeks."
Akira's blue green eyes widen as I fight to keep myself from crying.
"I'm sorry," he murmurs as he hugs me. "I should have been checking up on you with what goes on in our house."
"No one's even noticed how lonely I've been," I whimper. "They've been so proud of Hana's new modeling job…it's like I'm a piece of furniture now."
Akira slings an arm over my shoulder and rests my head on his shoulder. He strokes my hair as silent sobs rack my body. I bite my lower lip, silently cursing my little sister under my breath with all my might.
"I'm sorry," he repeats. "What happened while I was gone?"
I stammer out my story, feeling like a giant weight has been lifted off my back. Akira looks ready to break a window when I explain what Kiba did to me the night of the concert. I guess I can rest easy knowing Kiba might end up with broken kneecaps by tomorrow.
By the time I finish, we're pulling up in front of the new house.
"Come on," Akira says as he gives me a gentle nudge. "We're here. Try to smile ok? There's someone special I want you to meet"
This throws me off a bit. What does he mean 'someone special'?
My question is soon answered when a girl that looks around Akira's age comes racing down the front steps. She's petite but still a little taller than me, with waist length hair like a bright copper penny and large grey eyes. I can't help but think I've seen her somewhere before. But I can't remember where and feel immediately awkward.
"There you are! Oh..." she skids to a halt as she sees my tear streaked face. "I've interrupted something haven't I?"
I quickly wipe my eyes on the heel of my palm and steady my voice the best that I can.
"No," I reply. "Sorry, but who are you?"
To my surprise, Akira wraps his arm around this girl, pulling her close to him.
"Nao, this is my girlfriend Shoko."
Shoko blushes, but smiles brightly and bows deeply to me.
"It's nice to meet you Nao," she says in a soothing voice. "I've heard a lot about you. I'm really sorry we haven't met sooner."
"Well you probably have," Akira says in a tone I can't quite distinguish. "Shoko is actually Oka-san's assistant. And has been for the last few months."
I grimace, and I don't even try to hide it.
"I feel bad for you," I mutter. "Oka-san's a nightmare."
"I'm not usually one to talk bad about my boss," Shoko says with a sheepish smile. "But...yeah, she kind of is. But I'm dealing with it."
I smile as we walk up the front steps. My first impression of Shoko is that she's sweet and friendly. Not to mention she didn't even give me a weird look when she saw I was wearing a boy's school uniform.
And she seems to make Akira happy, so I can be cautiously optimistic and say I like her a bit already.
"So I don't wanna sound rude or anything," I say as we close the door behind us. "But what are you doing here Shoko?"
"She's going to live here with us," Akira explains a little too quickly.
My jaw drops and I miss the first step on the staircase. They're moving in together? They're that serious?
"Really?" I ask as soon as I can form words again.
"She's meeting the parental units tonight," Akira says as he unconsciously pulls Shoko closer to him.
"But you work for Oka-san..." I point out rather stupidly. "She knows you."
"Well..." Shoko trails off. "She has four other assistants she likes better, so I'm mostly the one that goes and gets everyone else coffee. I've never had the chance to show her what I'm capable of. I don't think she even knows my name..."
"Then what does she call you?" I ask, shifting my bag on my shoulders.
"She switches between Coffee Girl and You There a lot."
I sweat drop. Yup, that's Oka-san all right.
"Well..." Akira interrupts. "They'll be here in a few hours. And they're bringing Hana."
I go ridged at those words. My knuckles go white as my grip on the railing tightens.
"Why?" I snap.
"I dunno, she was supposed to have a shoot tonight," Akira explains. "But you might want to take a while to…prepare yourself."
He doesn't need to elaborate. I know what that means all too well. So I just nod numbly before I charge up the stairs to my suite.
Throwing the door open, I fling my bag on the floor as I try not to slam the heavy door.
Why does Hana have to come at all? I doubt she'll like Shoko anyways. No, I know she won't like Shoko. She hates all of Akira's girlfriends.
I sigh heavily and struggle out of my uniform blazer. I leave it on a nearby chair and loosen my tie as I walk over to my bed. The memory foam is comforting as I flop down onto it, kicking my shoes off as I burrow under the blankets.
Frustration and anger starts to settle in at the thought of Hana and my parents invading my new sanctuary. All they'll do is ridicule me and compare me to Hana.
Akira told me to take some time to prepare myself, but the last thing I want to do is make myself into a doll for my parents. I really don't want to sit through a dinner where they're faker than all the families in the coffee ads.
Even though I'd really rather stay under the covers I stalk to my bathroom, attempting to try and calm myself down with a bubble bath.
It doesn't work, and an hour later the muscles in my shoulders and neck as tense as ever.
I sigh and slip on my Chinese silk robe before flopping back down on my bed, my wet hair plastered to my cheeks and forehead.
I lie there for a while, not really wanting to budge. Maybe if I sleep with my hair wet I'll catch a cold and be able to skip dinner.
A soft knock on the door dashes all my daydreams and forces me to get up off my lazy ass.
I push myself up off my mattress and shuffle to the door. Shoko is standing there in a pretty blue formfitting dress with her hair up in hot rollers, holding a pair of blue and silver stiletto heels in her hands.
"Yes?" I ask.
She looks nervous, but does her best to keep eye contact with me as she wrings her fingers.
"U-um..." she stammers. "Well...I was wondering if you needed help getting ready. I was hoping to get to know you a little better Nao."
I can't help the slight surprise that washes over my face. None of the other girls Akira's been with has ever even tired being this nice to me.
"Um…Sure," I say as I step away from the doorway.
A look of relief passes over her face as she enters my room, setting her heels down by the shoes I kicked off earlier. She follows me over to my vanity table, surveying the lack of makeup products I have lying over the surface.
"The thing I need help the most on is my hair," I explain as I pull open the drawer I have all my extensions stored in. "They still think its waist length."
"Alright," she responds as she grabs a barrel brush and pulls out my blow dryer. "Did you just get tired of having long hair?"
"No. But it's a bit of a long story," I mutter as she puts the dryer on a low setting and starts drying my hair.
"We've got time," she says with a sincere smile as she starts styling my hair.
I don't know if it's just the way she seemed so ready to listen, or if it's just the way I've been longing for the feeling of having someone play with my hair that makes me spill everything to her.
She never interrupted.
She just kept styling my hair, the soothing feeling of her fingers combing over my scalp urging me to spill the things I only thought I'd tell Akira.
By the time she pinned the last lock of hair in place I was crying heavily. And she sat next to me on the bench, rubbing soothing circles on my back and not caring that I could be crying on her dress.
"You've been through a lot in these past few weeks," she says softly. "I feel guilty for having kept Akira away from you."
"It's ok," I hiccup. "I'm just glad he's happy with you. I like you better than any of the other girls he's brought home."
"He's brought other girls home before?"
I feel guilty as soon as I see her face. She's been so nice to me and I do this for her.
"Yes," I reply. "But you're the first girl he's brought of his own free will in years. Mom's been trying to play match maker for him, but all the girls she picks are either really boring or bitchy."
She smiles back at me, a look of relief washing over her.
"You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that," she confesses. "I really like you too Nao."
"Thanks," I sniff as I rub the tears from my eyes. "And Shoko, the way Shota looks at you...I've never seen him look so hopelessly in love before..." I trail off. "So will you help me with my makeup nee-chan?"
She goes red at my words, but smiles and nods none the less.
"You know," she says as she hands me a tissue. "I've always wanted a little sister."
"Well," I laugh. "I hope I'm not too big of a disappointment."
"Far from it."
Half an hour later Shoko puts down her makeup brushes and gives me a satisfied smile. She pulls me up off the bench and arranges some of the extension curls around my face.
"There," she says proudly. "Now we just need to get you a pretty dress to compliment your makeup."
I turn around and look in the mirror.
My hair is pulled into an elegant knot with a few loose curls cascading over my left shoulder. The knot is studded with black pearl and garnet headed pins. She gave me a smoldering smoky eye with hints of mauve in the crease. I bite my cranberry stained lips and turn back to her.
"How come Oka-san ignores you again?" I ask.
She just smiles sadly before walking over to my wardrobe.
"Ugh...there's nothing good in there," I sigh as I follow her. "I can't believe I was talked into buying any of those."
"Would you like to borrow one of my dresses then?" she asks. "We look about the same size."
"If you don't mind," I reply as we make our way over to what I assume is Shoko and Akira's room.
In the next hour, I learned a lot about Shoko.
She was an only child from a middle class family. She was at Ouran University on their lucky scholarship, and was aiming to be a stylist like Oka-san. She met Akira through her internship a few weeks before the start of the new school year, and was surprised that someone like him treated her as if she was a lady with a pedigree as impressive as his own.
She found out they went to the same school, but was always too busy working various jobs around campus to help pay all the extra school expenses to ever really socialize.
Oddly enough after that, Akira began dropping by whenever she was working in the coffee shop and library. They talked on the slow hours and things just sort of fell in place. Suddenly they were just more than friends.
I sigh. I wish my life was that easy and straight forward.
A knock on the door breaks up our conversation. We stand and I smooth out the skirts of my borrowed black lace dress before we walk over to the door.
I open it to see Akira leaning against the wall outside. He's in a casual white button down shirt and black slacks. He still looks sophisticated even though he didn't really comb his hair. He has it good.
"They're here," he says as I step out beside him.
I groan as I curl my toes inside a pair of round toe black pumps that I also borrowed from Shoko.
"Ready?" he asks as I nervously pop my knuckles.
"Not really, but then again I don't really have a choice do I?"
Shoko opens the door steps out with her hair in elegant waves and light airy makeup and Akira's jaw visibly drops. I can't help but smile slightly as I step around them. They're actually cute.
"C'mon," I sigh as I tug on Akira's jacket sleeve. "Hana is gonna be angry of you make her wait."
He cringes, but recovers quickly and offers his arm to Shoko. She suddenly looks pale and wide eyed, having none of the calm confidence of the past few hours in her at all.
"Nervous?" Akira asks as we start walking to the staircase.
She nods as gulps loudly.
"I'll go first," I say before taking a deep breath and running down the stairs as quick as I can in Shoko's heels.
My heart is pounding like crazy and my intestines are Celtic knotting themselves. Each stair is bringing me closer to my impending doom, and I'm willingly walking into it.
"Oh, there you are Naoko."
They are standing in the entryway, wearing their signature disapproving furrowed brow. I can't help but flinch slightly under their unforgiving gaze, watching as they drink in my appearance before finally giving a somewhat approving nod, and I'm suddenly glad I spent a good twenty minutes picking a dress despite myself.
"It's been a while Nee-chan."
My shoulders tense up as I see Hana step out from behind mom.
"Hana..." I greet with a curt nod.
My little sister got all the good genes. While people said I was pretty, she was gorgeous.
Now that my hair is blonde, we look more like twins, but she has Oka-san's blue green eyes like Akira. The only difference is that her eyes look at me with complete loathing even though she's smiling. Her platinum blonde hair is straight as an arrow and falls down to her mid-back. Her dress is pink and puffy, with a giant bow and everything.
She is the perfect portrait of a little princess that was spoiled and rotten to the core. If you take your attention away from her for more than three minutes she throws a hissy fit. Not that she actually has that problem very often.
"Hana, go say hello to your brother," mom commands.
Akira and Shoko finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, and Hana steps up to them. She gives Akira a suffocating hug and a cold calculating stare to Shoko, who goes a few shades paler.
I turn away and walk into the dining room and take my seat at the table, trying to sit as far away from Hana as I could get.
"It's good to meet you..." I hear Oto-san trail off.
"Shoko sir," she answers as she shakes his hand.
So far so good, Oto-san seems to find her passable. To some degree.
"Hello, Shoko, I'm Hana."
She's gotten good at disguising the bitterness in her voice, but you can still hear it if you know to look for it.
Hana has a bit of a brother complex. It's not too extreme, but she hates anyone who gets too close with Akira do to the fact that she doesn't have a strong relationship with him herself. As a kid, our parents never paid much attention to me once Hana was born. I tried to get attention by acting stupid, or vanishing for a few hours.
But all it really did was earn me a reputation of being the problem child. That's all it was to them...middle child syndrome. And maybe it was...But they didn't do anything about it, Akira did.
While they doted on Hana, he was the one to play with me and help me with my homework. He sat through all my thoughts about problems at school, and he was my best friend until he had to leave for college.
Hana was bitter that he never seemed to dote on her like our parents did. And they in turn couldn't understand why he would just fuel my actions and give me attention.
In Hana's eyes she grew up on the other side of a glass wall, watching the relationship between Akira and I grow with increasing envy.
"Naoko!"
My head snaps up.
My parents are looking at me with disapproval, while Hana tries to hide her glee as she delicately nibbles on a dinner roll.
"Yes?" I ask.
"Don't say 'yes' in that tone," Oka-san scolds. "Show some respect to our guest."
"What right do you have to say that?" I ask blandly. "You can't even remember her name."
Oka-san turns scarlet as I realize what I just said. I clap my hands over my mouth quickly, biting down hard on my lip. Shit.
"What did you just say to me?" she asks coldly.
"I-I'm sorry," I stammer. "I wasn't thinking."
"You never think before you open your mouth do you?" she scolds. "It's a good thing you have a pretty face, I'm beginning to believe it's your only redeeming quality."
"Have you ever thought I may want more in life than to just sit next to some stiff and be pretty?" I growl as I clench my hands around my fork. "Sometimes I feel like I'm more of a chess piece than a person."
"Well if you aren't good for making an alliance then what are you good for?" she snaps back. "You haven't given us much else to work with."
"Well if you ever bothered to acknowledge I do have some talents you wouldn't have to ask that!" I retaliate.
"You think that vulgar excuse for art is going to get you anywhere in the world?" she asks icily.
While I'm somewhat surprised she knows I can draw, I don't let it pull me away from the present situation.
"If I work hard enough then it can!" I spit.
"That's a fool's response," Oka-san replies, trying to regain some of her composure. "You'd be much better off with someone who can offer you a future without risks."
"What fun is that?!" I yell. "What is life without some risks? I can already tell you there's no way in the world I can be happy sitting at home knitting dozens of baby sweaters and waiting for the stranger who'll be my husband to come home!"
"You'll have a steady future Naoko," Oto-san finally cuts in. "We'll only chose someone who we know will be a big power in the world."
"You'll have no worries," mom elaborates.
"Yeah, right!" I scoff. "My worries come in the form of a Y chromosome! If you marry me off to someone like that and I don't have a son I'll have to keep trying until I do! And I don't like the idea of having my organs squished up!"
"Not all men are like that Naoko," Oto-san says curtly. "Most of them say they will be happy with any child."
"How do you know that?!" I ask. "You can't even tell when Hana lies you much less some stupid teenage boy!"
"You will NOT talk about your little sister like that," Oka-san scolds. "We are giving you a once in a lifetime chance here Naoko, why can't you just be happy?!"
"You could end up the wife of some British or French aristocracy for all you know," Oto-san adds.
"Bullcrap! You just want me out of the way don't you?!"
The hall goes deathly silent.
I sit there in shock of the words that just came out of my mouth, my ears still ringing with all the yelling. But what hits me like a punch in the gut is that they aren't denying anything...they're just sitting there.
"We're not having this conversation anymore Naoko," Oka-san commands before turning to Shoko. "Please forgive me for not being able to control my child."
I knock my chair back as I jump up from my seat. I only get a minute to see the expressions of the other people at the table before I storm out.
Akira and Shoko are wearing identical looks of shock and pity. And Hana looks like the cat that ate the canary. I shoot her a dirty look before I sprint up the stairs.
I bite my lip as I run down the halls to my bedroom, trying to keep myself from letting out the scream bubbling up in my throat.
I finally reach my room, and in one fluid motion I yank my door open and slam it with all my might. I slip out of my heels and leave them by the coat rack, flopping down on the messy bed and burying my face into my pillows again. It's been ages since we've blown up like this. It should have been predictable.
I lie there for a few minutes before I finally sit up and begin pulling my hair extensions out. But ripping my hair out doesn't help deplete my anger levels, so I walk over to my laptop. Maybe setting monsters on fire and winning a few brawls will make me feel better.
But after an hour I just feel numb.
I guide Falen along a lonely road, not really knowing what to do now. Then another player pops up in front of me.
It's an archer girl with short spikey black hair and light blue eyes. I'm just about to walk past her when a text bubble appears on the screen.
YOU THERE!
There's no one around, so I can only assume she's talking to me. Or uh…Falen.
Ummm yes? I type back.
I CHALLENGE THEE TO A BATTLE!
I feel my eyebrow raise itself. What the hell? But I decide to enter the battle anyways. I really don't have anything better to do.
Are you sure about this? I type.
HELL YEAH! The strange person types back.
She shoots an arrow at Falen, who sidesteps it easily.
HAHAHA I AM AWESOME!
I sigh and Falen charges her. I press three keys and there's an explosion of rock and dust. When it clears, the archer girl is lying on the floor with stars circling her head, completely knocked out.
We exit the battle mode and she's standing in front of me.
D:
Told you I type tiredly.
...YOU THERE
What? I type back.
I CHALLENGE THEE TO A BATTLE!
Didn't I just kick your ass? I ask
Don't objectify me!
Ok...
This battle is even shorter than the first. I have her knocked out in three seconds flat.
You ok there? I ask.
YOU THERE!
What now? I type exasperatedly.
Um...so yea
That's it?
My anger sparks again. This person is just wasting my time
No wait! Please teach me your ways!
My ways? I ask.
Yes sensei! My brother won't teach me and I'm like a level zero! they plead.
No, now go away I type.
I click the arrows and turn Falen around. But as she goes to walk away, I see the archer girl following. Only she's wearing a hat now. What the hell?
What are you doing? I type.
...
Just because you have a hat on doesn't mean I won't recognize you! Your name is floating above your head for god's sake! I type furiously.
...But my hat
Do you think I'm stupid?! I ask.
In what way? She asks *poke*
Don't poke me! I type furiously. I don't even know you! For all you know you could be some creepy old guy!
D: But I'm cute!
That's it. I'm outta here.
I slam my laptop shut and place it on my nightstand.
I slip out of Shoko's dress and throw it over a nearby chair before pulling on my pajamas. I've just curled into a ball under my covers when my door creaks open and two pairs of footsteps make their way over to my bed.
"She's asleep," I hear Shoko whisper. "Let's not wake her up."
"Alright," Akira answers.
But instead of leaving right away, he leans over and kisses the top of my head.
"Good night Nao," he whispers before I hear them walk away.