She obviously loves him. The way that she fawns over him is just plain gross. He totally wants me. Not her. Why else would he still be around? Why else would he come to her stupid house anyway?

I crossed my arms. She'll get what's coming to her. I'll make sure of it.

"Keiko? Come on, we're in Hokkaido already."

I turned quickly, prepared to scold whoever was telling me what to do. I stopped short when Uhei and his wonderful smile warmed me, quelling my irate inner workings. I inspected his teeth, his eyes, his face, his mouth, his cheeks, his chin, his golden hair, and everything else above the neck. And I knew that he had always been different. He was like me.

His light blue eyes said: I want to get to know you better. Not: I want to get to know your vajayjay better.

I smiled: "Sorry, I was deep in thought."

Seiji scoffed, "How weird."

He rolled his eyes before smiling and taking my hand. I took it and stood. I knew that I didn't need his help to get out of the car, he knew it too. But I would allow this. I would allow myself to indulge in Uhei's friendship. It was the least I could do, after all, he's the only boy who has ever looked at me with sincere eyes.

We will always remain friends.

Because there's only one person that I want.

…

Kyouhei smiled to himself; the sunshine was warm, but the air was cool. It was a perfect Summer day. Not too hot, and definitely not cold. There clouds here and there, but to top it all off, Sunako was walking right next to him. He could hear her breathe as they trudged from the airport to her car. Her hair blew onto his arm because of the relaxing winds. All was right with the world.

Sunako reached into her bag before twirling her keys on her left pointer. She opened the driver's side and slid in almost professionally. Sunako smiled, she turned the key in the ignition and revved. She rubbed the wheel lovingly; adorning a wicked grin and sparkling eyes. She was basically molesting her car:

"I missed you, Hiroshi."

…

Sunako was still a crazy driver. But he loved that about her, too.

Her eyes glistened as she sped down the rural roads of Hokkaido, Japan. Kyouhei mused that she had broken at least four laws already. The kids were continuously shrieking and or crying; except Seiji. He was still an icicle. Her rock music was loud enough overtake Keiko and Etsu's shrills of terror.

After around twenty minutes of driving, everyone had finally gotten used to being jerked here and there. The car was silent besides an electric guitar and musky man voice striking into their ears like lightning.

"I didn't know that it would only take an hour and 11 minutes to get here," he half yelled as middle aged men continued to scream and sing.

Sunako still had the best hearing: "Yeah. Japan is big until you see it from the world above."

He nodded. He was listening to the music comfortably after a while. He was doing a good job of keeping his hands to himself, but he couldn't stop his eyes; they journeyed from her silky black hair, to her purple eyes, to her perfect body, to her pink lips: Not too thin, not too full.

They're begging to be assaulted.

He's always wanted her like this. He remembers liking her subconsciously during the mansion days. They had been two peas in a pod. Both equally playful and violent. Even if it always took a bit of force/convincing to get Sunako out of her darn "dark sanctuary," she would always give in and have fun. She would never admit to enjoying herself of course. She was a "creature of the darkness" and "angels don't hang out with demons."

They both had pride; too much of it sometimes. He reasons that he never "sorted out his feelings" because he was unable to get on his knees and beg her to stay and never leave again. He had naturally empathized with Sunako, and empathy soon turned into strong want and need; it was so powerful that he blamed his psycho visions of her on "hunger" and his love for her "fried shrimp." His friends never bought it, and honestly, he hadn't either.

Kyouhei was leaning closer and closer to Sunako as his thoughts continued to speed down "Nakahara Lane." His eyes were intense; if anyone looked into his eyes in that moment, he was sure Sunako would be the one staring back; swallowing his identity entirely. He was biting his lip. His hands twitched as he watched her turn the wheel and press other buttons.

Retain. Control.

He forced his gaze away from her; he forced his senses away from her scented shampoo, from her lips, and from her everything. He sighed, annoyed. His frustration would get the best of him before he ever confessed that she had turned him into a love-sick loser. There was an order to things and he had to follow the rules; especially with Sunako. He laughed almost evilly, earning looks from Sunako and Seiji (the only two who noticed), when a nice thought crossed his unravelling mind:

I'll taste those lips before this torturous day is over.

…

Seiji rolled his eyes at Sunako's driving; typical. He watched as Kyouhei twitched nervously. Even "special" people could recognize it. He was hungry, but only for the "Nakahara Special." His parents had explained it after Keiko was grounded for reading Kyouhei's text messages without permission: "They've always been in love, but they've also always been too dumb to do anything about it." He almost laughed, remembering how his parents had nodded in sync at that moment.

I guess that's why Keiko hasn't figured it out yet; she's pretty shallow and self-righteous. She's probably convinced herself that Kyouhei only agreed to come along for her.

Or perhaps she had seen it. Perhaps her womanly instincts were telling her what she didn't want to hear. He smirked to himself as his sister glowered at Sunako. She was still driving as if a pack of zombies were hotly pursuing them (only a horror reference would suit an exaggerated description of the older woman's actions). But it slowly faded as she beheld Kyouhei atrociously; it was a look that only slutty smut queens would ever manage to pull out and wear.

Disgusting.

Honestly, his sister freaked him out. Her obsession with their family friend even scared him. And he doesn't scare easily. What was he supposed to do? Kyouhei would never approach Keiko with such intentions in mind. Nevertheless every time both of their names were mentioned in the same sentence, a putrid aftertaste would storm his mouth; his stomach would curl and wretch. He would fall victim to a temporary stomach flu whenever he remembered how she acted on that day at the beach. They had only touched his freaking arms. What if they touched something else?

When he observed his identical twin and her interactions with men, he felt gross. Her college boyfriends and lovers nauseated him. Her promiscuous exchanges with their sensei revolted him beyond description.

That was the first time he had ever punched a grown man.

It had happened so fast. He waited until it was dark and jumped the pervert from the shadowed alleyway behind the gym. He was only thirteen; it had been executed without craft and was so clumsy that Seiji, every time he thought about it, could hardly believe that the man lost consciousness after one punch. But he did. The school never figured out who it was. Of course, they would never suspect the student council president. Only a month later, the man had been caught doing the inappropriate with a 13 year old. A jobless existence and handcuffs embraced the little freak immediately; Seiji hadn't been more satisfied with a person's misery in his entire life.

He would do it again, too.

He ruin anyone who ever messed with his vulnerable sister. Because that's what she was: confused. She wanted something so desperately that she believed only grown men could give it to her. That's why he never talked to her about it. That's why he would beat the crap out of her boyfriends in the dark when no one was looking, when she wasn't looking. It was all he could do. But he would never tell anyone, ever. Uhei knew because he'd come to be Seiji's partner in crime; bloodying up one college dunce after another like the Red and Blue power rangers. But no one else would be allowed to step into his violent double life; no one would know that he was his sister's keeper. Especially not Keiko.

He could hide his overprotective nature with his taunts and his insults. He would conceal it because Keiko didn't possess enough faculty to understand why he did what he did: why he does what he does. Because even he, of all people, protects those that he loves…

"Seiji?"

"Seiji?"

"Seiji?"

Seiji slowly opened his eyes, he could see the outline of an attractive woman standing over him. "Come on, we're here," a feminine voice rang. Seiji looked up front and then to his right; everyone else had already exited the vehicle.

Seiji's thoughts blurred away and reality came into focus. He finally recognized the "hot silhouette" as Sunako.

"And he says I'm the slow one," Keiko remarked with a smirk.

He smirked back.

…

Kyouhei and the kids could only gawk at the diverged house that stuck out like a pregnant teenager when contrasted with the green wood all around it. It totally clashed with its opaque, profuse, and viridescent environment. A European home with black pillars, black window shutters, and red everything else was their final destination. It was a smaller and blacker version of Auntie's mansion.

"When Aunty and I made up, she gave me this."

The house had three stories and a large front porch, which was cluttered with Kyouhei's crap. The garage was fairly large and closed. White roses littered the front lawn strategically, enhancing the mansion's dark colors. They made the house a bit easier to comprehend and accept as "normal." But really, what was the definition of "normal" in this day and age?

This is so Sunako.

It was the only phrase Kyouhei's brain could muster. It was the only cessation to his reverie that made sense. Since when did a house make him lose himself in all things Sunako? He didn't know, and he for once didn't actually bother "meditating" on it. He knew the "philosophical" answer that would "explain" his unexpected deportment towards the ex-Goth:

He was deliriously in love with her.

He wasn't insane or psyche ward worthy, but one could say that she made him crazy. It was crazy how often he indulged in thoughts full of her and possible sacrifices he would most definitely make just to be with her: I'll live in Hokkaido; I'll quit my job; I'll do whatever she tells me to do. He would do anything just to let his ears ring after she finally said: "I love you."

He frowned as brown cardboard blocked his eyes when they tried to follow Sunako to the front door: Stupid friends. Their ability to disregard another person's circumstances and feelings still amazed him. If he was still 15, he would've thrown a proper fit. But, he's 33 now. So he has to at least pretend to be mature.

He finally made it to Sunako's ajar front door. He stepped in and wasn't surprised at all by what he saw: dark red drapes, black furniture made to imitate the Victorian era, candles; black, white, and red throw rugs, paintings of ruins, pictures of ruins…

This is so Sunako.

A dining room was located to his left, a lounge area to his right. He spotted a family room further down the hall, a small library across from it.

"Kyouhei, you're blocking the way," Uhei mentioned from behind.

"Anyone would be shocked by the decorum, Uhei," Seiji surprisingly defended.

He turned around with a smirk: "Shocked? This was expected."

Uhei and Seiji gawked at the older man; almost reading his mind:

I know the woman that I love.

They sighed dejectedly: I wish I could say that.

Kyouhei turned around, snickering before stepping inside and standing close to Sunako. She had been waiting by the dumb-waiter in the kitchen.

"You can put your things in here as we walk up the stairs."

One by one her guests placed their suitcases in the dumb-waiter before following her to the stairs; they were next to the first floor bathroom. Four rooms were soon in sight. A small bit of floor disconnected the first set of the stairs from the second, which led to a shut doorway at the top; the third floor.

"The girls' rooms are on the left, the boys' rooms are on the right. Kyouhei and I will be staying on the last floor."

Kyouhei fought his wide smile.

Keiko's eyes dashed from the door to Sunako, and then to Kyouhei, dangerously. Seiji sighed, far from surprised, and Uhei smirked at Kyouhei: Way to go, bro. Etsu, as always, was pretty robotic as everything from the events in the mansion to now transpired.

I just want to go home.