Finaaalllllyyy… Another update. :D Its been a while since I managed to make another chapter. .

But worry not… for I am here…. Bwahaha! 3:D Here goes another chapter. ^_^

Enjoy!

Chapter 21

As I was quickly walking away from the creepy giant, a familiar shriek bolted up from behind me.

"GYAHHH! Come back here! Don't ruin Sushi-kun's moment!"

I immediately swung my head towards the direction of the voice. It was Hito-nii. She was busy pulling and clinging Himuro-kun's arm towards the opposite direction he is going. Himuro-kun just continued strutting forward, towing Hito-nii along with him in the process. I wonder what happened to that huge paper fan of Hito-nii…

"STOOOP!" Hito-nii whined even more, her voice was so loud that it attracted attention from all around the darn campus. "How ungentlemanly of you to disobey a young girl's plea!" She shouted, obviously trying to get more attention from the people around her.

The students around us suddenly whispered to each other, probably starting awful rumors about Himuro-kun and my sister.

"Who is that girl? I've never seen her around here before…", "Wah, that black-haired guy surely is rude, just look at the poor girl!", "Is that a new student? She really looks cute!", "What is that girl doing to my poor Himuro-kun!"

Everyone was murmuring nonsense, each one of them drawing closer towards the commotion. Himuro-kun stopped dragging Hito-nii and instead, looked down on her with anger-driven eyes. Hitomi just continued to whine and clamor profusely about how rude Himuro-kun is.

I facepalmed myself and shook my head furiously. This would have been embarrassing if they knew that I am related to that gremlin and including the fact that she is trespassing, I would be in a big trouble… I have to put a stop to this, somehow…

"Hey! Doesn't that girl resemble the first year representative?"A random guy bolted out of the blue. And then with just that single statement, everyone's gaze averted towards me, causing my whole body to tense up.

"Oh yeah, they do look quite similar", "Are they siblings?"

My eyes just widened like an owl, my ears turned red in embarrassment. Great, now their attention is directed to me. I was trying so hard to have a good reputation in this school, trying to avoid mistakes and now Hito-nii is just going to break it. Gosh, I'm so going to CRUSH THAT GREMLIN.

More and more people came by and surrounded them, gradually blocking my view of them. Balling my hands into a fist while gritting my teeth, I decided to end my eccentric sister's silliness right here right now. But how? I just can't waltz right in there and drag Hito-nii away, it would be more suspicious.

Panicking slightly as more and more people gathered around Hito-nii and Himuro-kun, a teacher suddenly came into view.

"What is all this commotion about?" Ms. Takanashi, our homeroom teacher, asked as she pushes her way into the small crowd. All the students ignored her and kept on murmuring gossips. Alarmed by the teacher's sudden appearance, I quickly tried my best to approach my sister before the teacher does. We have to get out of here or we're both dead!

I pushed towards the crowd as well; Hito-nii's complains are so loud, that it's easy to find the source of the noise. Pressing forward, the students just wouldn't budge, and knowing that I'm just girl with a small build, it was quite a hassle pushing through the mob.

Just as I was about to reach my sister, Hito-nii's whine suddenly disappeared and went silent. Feeling my heart beat anxiously, I picked up my pace to see if the teacher got there ahead of me.

To my surprise, the creepy giant was already at the scene and pulled Hito-nii by the back of her collar to separate her and Himuro-kun. The creepy giant said something to my sister, probably to calm her down, before he lets go of her.

I stopped in my tracks. There's no need to go there and stop them. Murasakibara-kun already did that for me. After Hito-nii has calmed down, the crowd slowly dispersed, giving more and more opportunity for Ms. Takanashi to approach them even further.

"Darn, I need to hide Hito-nii, right now!" I said to myself in panic and ran towards her.

"Hito-nii!" I unconsciously shouted at her with rage. Seeing this, my eccentric sister yelped and ran away quickly.

"You're dead!" I exclaimed once more before running after her. At least it's better like this. If we are going to stay on the same place, I'm pretty sure the teacher will see her.

Hito-nii ran away with tremendous speed, heading for the school gate. She's planning to escape alright… that's so typical of her.

"I was just trying to help Kasu-nii! Don't kill me!" She cried out before she reached the gate. She climbed up on the gate and leapt out of it with such ease that it makes me think that she has been doing this for a while now.

"I'm really sorry!" She said as she performed a 90 degree bow right after she landed on the ground and faced me.

I stopped chasing after her of course, there was no way I would jump out of the gate like that while wearing a short skirt and a cast on my arm. I shot her a scornful glare, the fiercest and daunting glare that I could muster.

Shaking quite considerably, Hito-nii dashed away from the school. I watched her from a distance making sure she won't come back and only looked away when she turned to a corner.

Heaving a big sigh, I facepalmed yet again at my sister's stupidity.

"Mattaku, she's such a pain in the neck…"

"Kasu-chin, you scared her away…" someone from behind spoke.

"Well, she deserves it; she was making too much fuss…" I replied, facing the creepy giant behind.

"You're mean to you sister…"

"Well, what do you care? I'm not mean to her if she did not do anything wrong…"

"Nishino-san is right," Himuro-kun joined in the conversation. "And no offense, Nishino-san… Your sister may be cute but… she's frustratingly… annoying."

"It's okay I understand how you feel, I'm sorry for my sister's attitude towards you though… It must've hurt being hit by that huge fan of hers…"

"Well it does hurt a little… but … here" He said as he handed me Hito-nii's harisen "I think she left this… tell her I hope we won't have any bad feelings towards each other…"

Receiving the item I just couldn't stop but wonder why he seems cool with all of this. If I were him I would have knocked the living daylights out of her, her whine is just the most annoying thing in the world.

"Thank you, for being kind enough not to harness any ill will against my eccentric otaku sister… "I formally bowed at him.

"I'll make sure she gets what she deserves when I reach home…" I muttered lowly while cracking my knuckles violently. Himuro might be cool with what she did, but I'm not… I'm not going to let her off the hook that easily.

"Ah, Nishino-san, don't be so hard on your sibling…" Himuro-kun uttered, flashing me a soft smile.

"Yeah… but the rumors are surely going to follow… she ruined your name… and then she was almost caught by Ms. Takanashi... That was a very close call… I MUST TEACH HER A LESSON"

"Bah, you think too much Nishino-san, let's forget all about it and go back to the gymnasium… I've already explained everything to Ms. Takanashi"

"You did?!" I asked in surprise. Oh, I do hope that he didn't say anything about Hito-nii trespassing…

"Yes, don't worry, Ms. Takanashi won't punish you, she doesn't know that the trespasser was your twin…"

"Wah! Thank you very much Himuro-kun! You just lifted a huge load off of my shoulders!" I said as I unconsciously gave him a very heavy slap at the back which made him wince and cough due to the suddenness.

"O-oh! I'm sorry!" I immediately apologized as soon as I realized what I did. "D-does it hurt?"

"A-ah no…A-anyway, let's go back to the game?" Himuro-kun extended an arm towards me with a smile.

He's really such a cool person, no wonder he has fans all over the campus. Sonozaki-senpai really has good taste. However, I don't feel like watching the game; I already know who will win the match anyway. I just want to go home and rest…

But before I could open my mouth to say my reply, Murasakibara-kun butted in.

"Enough Muro-chin… Kasu-chin wants to go home." He said as he grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me towards him.

"Atsushi…" Himuro-kun said lowly "You don't need to answer for her, stop interrupting."

"But Kasu-chin wants to go home… right Kasu-chin?" The creepy giant looked down at me, still holding my shoulder.

"W-well, yeah… I'm quite tired actually, I need rest… I'm sorry Himuro-kun..." I muttered out as I swatted the creepy giant's hand from my shoulder.

"Oh I see…I'll just walk you home then…" Himuro-kun suggested.

"Well oka-"

"I'll walk her home…" Murasakibara-kun interrupted my statement. "Muro-chin, just go back to the gym…"

"NO, Atsushi… they'll be alright without me… Let's go Nishino-san…" he said as he gently tugged my sleeve.

"Ah… a-alright…" I stuttered out as I silently followed Himuro-kun. Shooting a glance up at the creepy giant, he just stood there, emotionless, but his eyes never left my form. Shuddering at his creepy action, I decided to at least let him join us too, he did cry because of me.

"M-murasakibara-kun… Y-you could join u-us… But it's not like I want you to, okay… It's just that… your house is n-not too far away f-from mine… and we go to the same p-path...so...Uh… yeah, But if you don't want to then… I don't care…" I mumbled before facing away, and to my surprise, I was beet red. I can't believe I was blushing because of that simple statement. I hope they won't notice…

Then as expected, the creepy giant walked towards me and Himuro-kun.

"Okay… let's go home…" he said, still looking at me. I turned my head away, in order for him not to see my flustered face.

"Y-yeah…"

We then started walking with deafening silence, no one dared to talk. Himuro-kun stared at my face, as if he was scrutinizing it. His eyes suddenly widened before his lips drew into a slight smile. But somehow, his smile looks kind of sad.

"Nishino-san, are blus-"

"DON'T SAY IT!" I cut his question off and looked at him angrily.

Himuro-kun's widened even more. "So was I right?" he asked one more time.

"N-no…" I replied as I looked down. "J-just shut up!"

"Kasu-chin, [1]doushite?" The creepy giant asked me as he took a peep at my flustered face. "Your face is red… "

The creepy giant then extended his right arm to reach my forehead, feeling my temperature and comparing it to his own.

"Hm.." He mumbled as he tilted his head to his side. "Kasu-chin doesn't have a fever though…"

His actions only made me feel as if more heat had rose towards my face. I hurriedly whacked his hand away from me and turned my back to them.

"D-don't touch me!"

"But Kasu-chi—"

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

I then picked up my pace, walking ahead of the two. Ugh… my face feels so warm. I hate it. I hate everything… I slapped my cheeks a dozen of times with my two hands as I grumpily stomped on the ground.

"Stop blushing. Stop blushing. Stop blushing." I whispered to myself over and over again. I think I'm already going crazy because of this.

"W-woah, Nishino-san! Stop that, you're hurting yourself!" Himuro-kun said as he hurriedly approached me and stopped me from what I was doing.

Halting after I felt Himuro-kun grabbed my shoulders, I realized that a number of passersby have been staring at me. Embarrassed, I immediately looked away to hide my face.

"Gosh, looks like I caught some of Hito-nii's weirdness virus…" I mumbled to myself, finding a way to gain my composure.

"Just calm down..." Himuro said while walking towards me.

"Kasu-chin…" The creepy giant muttered as well. Taking in a deep breath, I turned around to face the duo. All this blushing won't stop unless I get a break from this creepy giant… I feel really awkward around him, now that he has already told me how he feels…

"Uhm… Murasakibara-kun, you want sweets right? H-how about you go buy some, o-over…" I stuttered out before spotting a candy store right at the corner of the street. "Ah! O-over there! Hurry up and buy candies!"

"Huh…?" The creepy giant uttered lazily, "But I don't want to leave Kasu-chin with Muro-chin…"

"C-cut that out! Himuro-kun isn't a bad person so there's no need to worry! Now go and buy candies!" I said as I pushed him away.

"Kasu-chin… I don't wa—"

"Come on just go! Please! Buy some candies! Just do as I say!" I yelled, pushing him even harder to the direction of the store.

"But Kasu—"

"JUST GO AND BUY SOME FREAKING CANDIES!" I growled at him "AND D-DON'T COME BACK UNTIL I TELL YOU SO!"

And with that, the creepy giant followed my orders as he immediately dashed away towards the candy store. A sigh of relief escaped from my mouth.

"Finally, he's gone…"

"What was that all about?" Himuro-kun asked from beside me, "Did something happen between the two of you? You've been blushing for a while now."

"W-what?! Nonsense! N-nothing absolutely h-happened…"

"Oh? But your face says otherwise…" Himuro-kun stated seriously. "Come on, you can tell me anything…"

"Th-there's nothing to tell!"

"Did Atsushi do something to you?"

"…No…"

"Did he do something bad?"

"No…"

"Did he do something weird?"

"… uh…no…"

"Did he…" Himuro-kun paused for a while before he continued. "Perhaps, did he confess to you?"

"…"

Being shocked at how he guessed it, I was just rendered speechless. I don't want to tell anyone about that silly childish confession, especially not Himuro-kun.

"Ah, so I was right after all…" Himuro-kun let out a soft smile. "So… what did you tell him?"

"I…i… I told you nothing happened!" I insisted, glaring at Himuro-kun. "S-stop pushing that idea!"

"You like him too… right?"

"I!" I immediately paused. Do I really like him? The answer for that question, I probably still don't know… But why do I feel… like there really is something about that creepy giant that makes my heart jump out? Gosh, who am I kidding? I already know the answer to that simple question! I'm just too afraid to let everyone know…

I looked down and nibbled on my bottom lip. "Please… just stop … Himuro-kun…"

Himuro looked at me; his eyes were somehow emotionless… "Okay… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry…"

He then lifted his chin and looked up above into the crimson colored sky. Doing this, I got a clearer view of his face. He looks kind of sad if you ask me… I wonder if he's jealous of me and Murasakibara-kun?

"Etto[2], Himuro-kun? Are you… uhm… are you jealous?"

"Jealous? …Why would you say that?" Himuro-kun asked as his eyes widened.

"Well, I was just thinking, because you look really gloomy…"

Himuro-kun then softly smiled at me and looked at me straight in the eyes.

"Is it really that obvious? And here I was thinking that I hid my emotions pretty well…"

My body froze in surprise. He really is jealous! It was just a small hunch, but it turns out it was the truth…

"R-really!?" I asked, almost choking at my own words. Himuro-kun just nodded in response. "O-oh my, I'm terribly sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I mean, you're a nice guy and all, but I didn't realize you felt this way…" I muttered as I looked down.

"Nishino-san, It's oka—"

"No, it's not okay… I should've realized earlier…" I averted my gaze back at him, with a serious expression on my face. "Don't worry Himuro-kun, I'll keep my distance from Murasakibara-kun from now on…"

"W-what? What are you saying?" Himuro-kun asked in a shock. "Why would you do that?"

"It's because… I respect you Himuro-kun… And you've been together with Murasakibara-kun longer… And you're always together with him…"

"W-wait, Nishino-san… I don't understand where this conversation is going…"

"I didn't know you had a thing for him…"

"N-nishino-san, what are you—"

"I mean, why didn't you tell me you were gay?!"

Himuro-kun's eyes widened even more. A look of disbelief was written all over his face. He instantly approached me and firmly took hold of both of my shoulders before pulling me closer to him. He then stared at me with serious and piercing eyes, his hold getting tighter every second. Did I say something wrong? I thought that was the most plausible reason for him to be jealous…

"N-nishino-san… Is that really how you think of me?" His voice sounded calm and gentle, but there was no doubt that it sounds like he was upset. His hold on my shoulders is getting tighter and tighter every second.

"H-himuro-kun?" I muttered out. "Was my hunch wrong?"

"OF COURSE IT'S WRONG" Himuro-kun answered angrily. His hold getting even tighter. "Can't you see Nishino-san? Don't you get it at all? The reason why I always follow you, why I always look after you, the reason why I try my very best to keep up with you even though it hurts so much to do so…" he shook my shoulders roughly with every word he said, hurt reflected in his eyes.

"It… hurts too much…" He mumbled as his looked down, his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes. "Seeing you together with him…But… I endure all of it… just for you…"

A pang of pain suddenly surges in my heart. What is this I feel? Hearing those words made my heart break. Is this guilt? Sympathy? I really can't pinpoint what it is exactly. I still don't understand all this…

"H-himuro-kun…" I spoke softly, I feel truly feel sorry for him… But what should I do? I can't think of anything…

"I'm sorry…" Himuro-kun said as he slowly lets go of my shoulders. "I didn't mean to be harsh on you…"

"A-ah, no! It's fine! Heh..heheh…" I answered him, giving him a small grin, trying to cheer him up. I don't want him to look really sad.

Himuro-kun smiled back at me. Although it looks like it was a forced one. "I won't give up easily, Nishino-san… Not until I've done my very best."

And with that, he unexpectedly hugged me. My breath hitched and my eyes opened wide. Well this is surprising… After a matter of seconds, he stops embracing me.

"I hope that this won't ruin our friendship…" Himuro-kun said calmly.

'U-uh, yeah, of course..." I don't really get what he is talking about though..I'm still confused. Does he like Murasakibara-kun or what?

(A/N: NOOOO Kasumi, you IDIOT... He likes youuu... Your'Tsundereness' is blinding you from the truth! .)

"Ne, Kasu-chin… the shop's out of candy…" The creepy giant popped out from behind me without a warning.

I averted my gaze towards the creepy giant. "Really? Too ba—WOAH THAT'S A LOT OF CANDIES."

The creepy giant was munching unto a lot of candies and he was carrying a mountain of boxes with the name 'maiubo'

"Did you actually buy all these?!" I asked in shock. "And are you planning to eat them all by yourself?!"

Murasakibara-kun looked at the pile that he was holding and nodded.

"Don't you think that's a bit too much?" Himuro-kun joined the conversation.

"Hmm… I don't mind sharing it with Kasu-chin… You can have some too Muro-chin…"

*ring* *ring*

Murasakibara's phone rang out of the blue, causng me and Himuro-kun to look at him.

*ring* *ring*

The creepy giant reached for his phone with one hand and balanced the pile of boxes with the other. Flipping it open, he immediately answered the call.

"Moshi, moshi… ah, Aka-chin…"

My heart suddenly beats faster as I heard the word 'Aka-chin'. Is that Akashi?

"Message? I didn't send you one…" Murasakibara-kun asked in confusion.

Oh my goodness… I just remembered that I sent him a pretty awful message. Looks like the scissors-wielding psychopath received it… I bet he's mad…

"Aka-chin, I don't know anything about the message…"

In a panic I quickly snatched away the phone from the creepy giant."Kasu-chin, what are you doing?" Murasakibara-kun asked.

"D-don't answer his calls!" I retorted at him as I flipped the phone shut, ending the red-head's call.

"But Aka-chin will be mad…"

"Who cares? He's already mad anyway…" I uttered as I slowly walked away from him. "Let's go home, it's already pretty late…"

Without any hesitation, the creepy giant and Himuro-kun followed me and soon enough, they caught up with my pace. Looking up at the crimson sky, I silently wished that all of this problem made by that scissors-wielding psychopath would end and at least let me have a peaceful high school life… But then again, I cant back down from a game… 'I still have to win the game against him' I thought to myself, knowing that I have to cross paths again with him sooner or later. But when that happens, I'm going to promise myself, that I won't EVER back down.

~end of chapter 21~

[1] "Doushite" means "What's wrong?" in English.

[2] "etto" is a Japanese expression for "um"

I must say, that was a long chapter minna~san! O_O But as usual, how was it? :3 A lot of things happened in this chapter, and I hope I did'nt bore you out…. Gomene if it was boring for you….. . Next stop, AKASHI.. I'll promise to make it a great chapter next time… till' then!