VII.

"Nature gave man two ends: one to sit on, and one to think with. Ever since then, man's success or failure has been dependent on the one he used most." – George R. Kirkpatrick

Unlike their newest addition to their strange little rag-tag group of "global security" professionals, Steve actually knew how to react as his training had taught him, at all times. So even when Souta stood up and caused the entirety of the café's patronage to stare at their table, he didn't even flinch. Instead he put down his menu with the deliberateness of an oblivious man about to walk into a trap. Except he wasn't. He knew exactly what he was doing.

And when the other patrons saw just how unaffected Sam and he were, they began to doubt their own curiosity toward what was happening. Sometimes Steve found it utterly sad just how easy it was to mislead and trick groups of people. Individuals were harder. People were too easy.

And now that that was one problem taken care of, he focused his attention on the woman who had been their usual waiter for the past few weeks without focusing his attention on her. He looked at her as if she was still just their normal, not-wanting-to-be-there-like-usual waitress. Which, if Souta really did know her, could quite possibly explain why she was the only one in this little place that never truly wanted to serve them. She never made eye contact or chit-chatted with them like he had noticed her doing to other customers all the time. It was as though she was trying to avoid them.

Which meant she was actually trying to avoid Souta, and that meant she knew exactly who they were and their involvement. Possibly. He wasn't a gambling man in the slightest, yet he was willing to bet money on that.

But when she finally did make eye contact and Steve saw her full face up-close for the very first time, he understood.

It was in the shape of their eyes and jawline, the nervous tapping their fingers did against their arms or whatever available surface; it was even in their sigh. He had heard Souta sigh in that exasperated, yet defeated tone enough over the last week to immediately know he had learned it from the woman in front of them. Or taught it to her, given the ages they appeared to seem.

"Nee-chan," Souta said, this time reaching toward her. He didn't know what it meant, but he could guess given everything.

Sarah – or rather, Kagome, as he supposed that was her actual name – sighed that sigh before looking away from them again.

"Sit down, Souta," she said. And Souta did as he was told. Perhaps it was the tone that siblings used with each other, but he never had any to know. "I take it you both will have your regulars?"

Sam nodded one too many times, caught off-guard. So Steve answered for them. "Yeah, and I'm sure he'll want—"

"His normal disgusting concoction of sugared coffee water." She smiled, and he realized it was the first time he had ever seen her smile despite being in here near every day. "I know. I'll be back with your orders and on break."

"But nee-chan," Souta started.

But she smiled again and adjusted her name tag. "Watashi wa Sarah to iimasu."

Again, he had no idea what was said, but Souta seemed to. Kagome/Sarah, whoever she was, walked away only after seeing him nod. That would give both Sam and him a good ten-to-twenty to get an understanding on the situation.

"So…" It was Sam who broke the uneasy silence first. And Souta almost wanted to cringe. He took it to mean Steve was planning and going over everything. The super-soldier serum was almost too good, in Souta's opinion, it made him even smarter and able to pick up on the smallest details. It just wasn't fair, especially in this instance.

"Hm?" He glanced at Sam and Steve as if nothing was wrong. If they wanted answers, they had to ask questions first.

"You're related to her, aren't you?" He glanced at Steve before nodding.

"Yeah. She's nee-chan. Um, my…" he paused for a moment, trying to think if he should be general or specific. Then he sighed; this would reach Hill's ears one way or another, and then everyone involved in the group would know. "My older sister."

Sam whistled lowly before leaning forward to stare at him. It was unnerving and made Souta feel like he had a lot more to hide than he did. "Just how old are you two then?"

Instead of answering that directly, he shrugged. "We just look young. Our mom always did, too. No one believed she had two kids and was in her fifties with her aging. We just got lucky, my sister more so than me." And that wasn't a lie. His sister was lucky, he just didn't specify the kind.

Steve leaned back and looked toward the counter, probably trying to figure out how much longer they had. "How long has it been since you've seen her?"

And at that Souta sighed. Way too long and not long enough, in his opinion. "We last spoke a few years ago, when she moved to Peru. But I haven't actually seen her in like, five or so." He chanced to look at them and grimaced at the skepticism play lightly in their eyes. "Our jobs… I guess you could say we had jobs that had really conflicting schedules."

And if that wasn't the truth, Souta wasn't a guy. (Despite his sister's teasing to the contrary, Souta was completely positive he was one.)

Sam opened his mouth to ask another question, but his sister's impeccable timing cropped up again. He almost sighed in relief when he saw both men quieten and wait for her to join them before saying anything more. And all Souta really knew it was this: if there was one thing he was sure he would learn from today, it was to never go jogging with coworkers.

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