My Per-...Not So Perfect Brother?

Sunday.

Konnichiwa Ki-kun,

Okaa-san and Otou-san are gone. They decided to attend a brunch with Otou-san's colleagues at a golf resort. Onii-chan muttered that Otou-san was probably trying to get a promotion. Aniki chastised him for thinking so negatively. So Onii-chan left in a huff. I don't know why he attempts to act so macho; it can't be because he's so girly. Older brothers. ~Rolls eyes~ I'd say why couldn't I have older sisters, but apparently I already have one.

Don't worry Ki-kun. I'm not alone. Aniki is here. No, stop, before you say that doesn't count. You'll never guess what! He invited a friend over! Hai, he brought over an actual living breathing human, well I think he's human, friend over. Not just an acquaintance or a classmate for an assignment. I couldn't believe it either Ki-kun!

Ikeda is going to be so angry he missed this to go play soccer with his friends…Then again, I don't think Ikeda would like Aniki's friend. Actually, he would probably try and throw him out. Remind me not to tell Ikeda about this Ki-kun. In thirteen years, I don't think Aniki has ever brought over a friend. No way am I interfering in him discovering a social life. But it is kind of odd. I figured if Aniki ever did find a friend, he would be the quiet polite intelligent type of person too. Not…a loud, bleach haired, rude, frank guy. The complete opposite of Aniki. Hai Ki-kun, I'm sure he's Aniki's friend. I'll tell you what happened.

So Ikeda stormed off after Okaa-san and Otou-san had left. Aniki was making himself tea, having just come down stairs from finishing his homework. I was bored, so I decided to turn on the television to watch a drama. Okaa-san had forbid me from going to Rika-chan's house and I'm not talking to Keiko-chan, so Otou-san had told Aniki to watch me. Aniki agreed, but I don't think he wanted to watch me. Lately, he's been leaving the house for half the day on Sunday after he finishes his homework. Today he was stuck because of me. I felt a bit bad. Seriously, I'm ten years old. I think I can walk to a friend's house alone so my brother's don't have to watch me.

Of course, Okaa-san does not see it that way. She and Otou-san expect me to be the perfect daughter. Obedient, docile, well-mannered, educated with a perfectly cultivated appearance too! Just so they can marry me off to one of Aniki's coworker's in the future. So forbid that one of my acquaintances, never friends in the business world, should taint that expectation of me. When I'm sixteen I'm going to study abroad to become 'cultured', then mysteriously disappear one day and never return. I like England or France; they would get suspicious if I tried the United States.

Anyways, Aniki came into the living room and joined me in watching the drama. Peeking at him because of his uncharacteristic action, I relented.

"You can go do whatever it is you usually do, Aniki. I can take care of myself and I won't tell Okaa-san or Otou-san that you left."

He sighed looking over at me. A small frown on his lips.

"Now Kaede-chan I couldn't do that. What if you were to get injured? It is only tennis practice, so it can wait until tomorrow."

I nodded not very surprised. Why are my onii-san so insistent that I cannot watch myself? While I went back to pouting at the drama, Aniki uncharacteristically fidgeted a bit, glancing at the clock on the wall. Sighing, he had set his teacup down and regarded me before speaking.

"Would it disturb you if I invited one of my teammates over Kaede-chan?"

I had turned to look at him in shock. Aniki had never even invited one of his golf teammates over, but he was willing to invite a member of the tennis team?! Snapping my jaw shut that had dropped, I shook my head. He nodded in relief back at me, before he rose and went into the kitchen. The beep, beep of buttons being pressed came from the kitchen, and a few seconds later I could hear him speaking to someone.

"Hello, Niou-kun? Hai, I know…I will not respond to that…of course……Now that you are done ranting, may I speak?...Arigato, that is kind of you…No, I cannot tell you then…About practice, I will not be able to make it…………………Are you done yet?....If you are sure then………I suppose there is no reason to invite you over so we can discuss the strategy for the next tournament……Oh, you forgive me? Then I will see you in?....Hello, Niou-kun?"

The phone clicked as it was returned to the receiver. So I might have been 'eavesdropping' on Aniki's conversation Ki-kun…I was bored and had already seen the drama that was playing. It so is a good excuse! And you know you want to hear it! So short time skip later, there was a loud banging on the door. Aniki had motioned he would get it, while I was relieved Okaa-san and otou-san were gone. Otherwise, they might have sent Aniki's teammate away for being a delinquent. Forgot to tell you Ki-kun, but I'm pretty sure he has a record. Oh, stop over reacting, if Aniki is friends with him then I'm pretty sure we can trust him. Mostly sure. Okay, fifty-fifty. Don't tell Ikeda-nii I said that though! Getting back to what happened.

In strolled Aniki's friend like he owned the place, carefully examining the house, snorting.

"Heh. Figures you would live in this kind of place. Nice, neat, neutral. I'm going to have nightmares 'bout this place Hiroshi. Thanks a bunch."

He drawled arrogantly.

As usual Aniki wasn't rude in his response, but unusually, he did not attempt to correct his friend's rude remark. First clue they were friends.

"I am glad you like it Niou-kun."

A shrug was all he received in response, as 'Niou-kun' continued observing the house eventually catching sight of me. I really did not like the smirk that grew on his face.

"Hey squirt's here! Is mini-Hiroshi here too?"

Suddenly, I remembered him from the time we had gone to Aniki's practice. He'd given us the wrong directions. Knowing better than to offend Aniki by glaring at him, I took to giving him the blank stare Ikeda-nii hates.

"No. Onii-san had to go practice soccer."

I think his eye might have twitched. He glared at Aniki.

"Shit Hiroshi. Are your parents brain washing all of you? If she weren't a girl, I'd say she was your clone. All prissy and proper. Think I like mini-you better. Least that one reacts like a person."

Aniki frowned at him tightly.

"Please keep your language clean in front of Kaede-chan, Niou-kun. She does not need to be hearing those kind of words. Kaede-chan ignore what he just said."

I had nodded, not that surprised with Aniki's words. He and Ikeda are so weird about what I hear or see. One would think they would have realized by now I do go to school and listen to what other people say. Then again, it suits my interests if they think I'm innocent. This Niou could be a problem to that image though.

So Niou-san just smirked, shrugging his shoulders at Aniki.

"If mini-Hiroshi's gone why exactly can't we practice too? We almost lost to Bubblegum and Baldie in the last match. Or did you not finish some homework or other? 'So we're going to practice or Yukimura's going to murder us. Slowly Hiroshi."

Scarily, Ki-kun. I don't think he was kidding. Aniki had started to rub the bridge of his nose, eyes unreadable through his impenetrable glasses as he returned Niou-san's menacing stare. I think I saw Niou-kun's fingers twitch as if he wanted to snatch off the glasses.

"Otou-san and Okaa-san had an event to attend. They told me to watch Kaede-chan, and that I was not allowed to let her go to a friend's house, so we cannot go to practice. We can practice after team practice tomorrow evening though, and at the moment, we can plan a strategy that will work against the team we play against next weekend."

'Niou-san' threw a dirty glare at me, before nodding at Aniki.

"Whatever. I blame you if Sanada kills us for Yukimura though."

Aniki had nodded.

"Understood. I will go get a notebook so we can show the strategy to Renji-san."

Finishing that sentence, Aniki went upstairs to his room. Once he was out of sight, 'Niou-san' regarded me like an ant.

"How old are you squirt?"

Yep, he was annoyed that I was the cause for his and Aniki's practice being cancelled. But I wasn't going to let him think he irritated me Ki-kun. I mean I've only been living been living with Aniki, Okaa-san and Otou-san my whole life.

"I already told Aniki that I would be fine by myself if he needed to go to practice, but he wouldn't listen to me."

That earned a blink from Niou-san that led to a snarl.

"That baka would do what he's told. Ugh! Need to work on that…"

Then he came and plopped down, sprawling out on the floor in front of the TV. Apparently my comment had made everything alright between the two of us. He glanced at the TV then turned to me. Snorting, he drawled,

"I suppose you never watch anime."

A rhetorical question, but I shook my head responding,

"Otou-san says it's unhealthy, and only promotes failure."

Another snort from him.

"This explains why you're all so booorring."

I had grimaced at him.

" 'S cause you're all forced to endure classic old-fogey stuff like novels, never experiencing the genius of shonen manga or anime. Eh. This house is like one of those creepy black and white shows where it's always the perfect houses being a cover for some sort of alien takeover or something."

"I've read manga."

I stated, irritated with his remarks. He had just stared at me disbelievingly.

"Yeah, sure squirt. Prove it."

"We aren't allowed to have manga, but Ikeda-nii likes to read it, so sometimes he brings them home. My friends like to read shoujo."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you read it if you're not allowed to have it?"

"They said we can't have it, not that we couldn't read it."

A feral grin grew on his lips. Which is creepy Ki-kun.

""Does Hiroshi read manga?"

I shook my head.

"I don't think so."

He rolled his eyes.

"Figures. So what kind do you like?"

"Shonen-ai."

I think I'd caught him off guard again. Just as he was about to say something, Aniki had stealthily appeared behind him.

"What are the two of you talking about?"

That time I clearly caught suspicion in his voice. Niou-san smirked.

"Books."

"I am sure."

Evidently, he didn't believe Niou-san.

"I think we should sit in the kitchen so Kaede-chan can watch her drama."

I shrugged as Niou-san winked at me. Aniki frowned a bit at my action.

"Ah…trying to get me in a room alone…just the two of us….Hiro-chan…Why didn't you just ask sooner?"

I couldn't help but wonder if Niou-kun read shonen-ai too, but I shrugged it off. Too fluffy for him. I decided he probably read something like 'yaoi' like the collection Keiko-chan has. One of these days I really need to try it. Ikeda-nii is a baka Ki-kun. There's no reason I can't read it.

I think I must have looked surprised Ki-kun, because Aniki sighed and told me to ignore 'Niou-kun' while fidgeting with his glasses. They moved into the kitchen, Niou-san smirking and Aniki staring at him with irritation. After they went in there I watched the drama a little while longer before I became to bored, so I decided to come talk to you, Ki-kun. I was contemplating doing my homework, but decided to wait until later. Hearing Aniki and Niou-san's voices as they left the kitchen, I came down stairs. Niou-san was grinning maniacally from the foot of the stairs. I felt like a mouse being chased by a wily cat from the comedies Otou-san likes to watch. If Aniki hadn't been standing behind him grimacing, I think I might have ran back to my room.

"Hey squirt! Get your coat and shoes, we're going!"

I stood still, watching him suspiciously before giving Aniki a questioning glance.

"Aniki?"

Aniki came out from behind Niou-san and started climbing the stairs up to me.

"Gomenasai Kaede-chan. Niou-kun and I are really in need of practice for next week's match, so I decided to go practice. But I am not going to leave you alone, so I was hoping you would come with us. You can bring some homework or a book to read if you think you will be bored."

Nodding, I watched Aniki continue climbing the stairs going to get his equipment, before turning to look at Niou-san. He was staring at me very seriously.

"There will be no homework being done on this outing, got that squirt?"

I nodded hurriedly, glad that you didn't count Ki-kun.

"At least you're not as goodie-two- shoes as Hiroshi. There's hope for you yet. Start acting like a munchkin already."

Staring blankly at him, I think I should be glad Aniki started to come down the stairs. I finished hopping down and went to slip on my shoes while Niou-san glared at Aniki.

"You- Yagyuu Hiroshi- are a bad example to your siblings."

That has to be the first time anyone has ever said that to Aniki. But I can't help but agree a little. Sometimes Aniki is a bit to perfect.

It shows you how well they knew each other that Aniki didn't ask what he was talking about. We preceded to go out, with me trailing doggedly behind Niou-san and Aniki. One thing is for sure Ki-kun, I have no idea how Niou-san became Aniki's friend. He is loud, energetic and the touchy feely type who is always hanging onto someone, Aniki in this case, or gesturing crazily as he spoke. And he is so rude. Prone to spewing out curses and insults to every passerby. On several occasions, Aniki told him to behave and stop cursing in front of me, but it would only deter him for a moment. As soon as we reached the tennis courts Niou-san snatched an open court while Aniki found an open bench for me to sit at where I would still be in his line of vision.

Over protective Onii-san! And don't you go agreeing with them Ki-kun!

As Aniki went to warm up, Niou-san came and dropped his bag near me pulling out his rackets, and pulled out a…Book!

"Hey squirt, why don't you try this."

He tossed the book to me, and I realized that it was actually a manga I hadn't read before. It's called "Boy Princess". It seems really girly from the colors all over it. I wonder why he was reading it…I set it down to watch Aniki and Niou-san practice. Golf and soccer are both clear to me, but I don't understand tennis as well. From the way they played, I could tell they are good though. Niou-san won the first game, but surprisingly he didn't rub it in Aniki's face like I assumed he would. Instead he just told Aniki how to do better. Then they challenged two other people to a match, which was when I decided to talk to you Ki-kun.

The two-on-two game isn't nearly as interesting. Niou-san and Aniki aren't even trying. I think I'll read the manga Niou-san handed me, so I'll talk to you later Ki-kun. Don't miss me too much!

Ikeda-nii never finds out about Aniki's friend or I'll know you told,

Kaede

Finally Another Chapter!

So Sorry For Not Posting! I Really Didn't Expect It To Be More Than Two Months…

Aren't you glad you ignored the chapter title?

I hope this chapter was worth it. Back in the first chapter I mentioned I might try out a different point of view, and I finally found a place to fit it in. Plus I was stuck on what to do with Ikeda next, so I decided Kaede's POV would be easier. I think I'll do one more chapter with a different POV then Ikeda, before I get back to him.

Note:

Kaede kept referring to Ki-kun which is her diary, I decided she would be the type to name her diary. Just in case you were wondering who Ki-kun was. But who knows, I might bring Ki-kun back as a pen pal…

Twilight Zone was my focus when Niou commented that "This house is like one of those creepy black and white shows where it's always the perfect houses being a cover for some sort of alien takeover or something."

I am working on the next chapter so I will definitely try to have it up before the end of the month.

Thanks For Reading,

False Sourires