Valentine's special...
Months earlier...
Elie stood by the threshold, mouth slightly open and two plastic bags on the ground by her feet with their contents rolling out.
Elie : " come again..."
Ban, who was cleaning the dishes looked back at her with a roll of his eyes.
Ban: " I've asked Lilyan out for dinner tonight. This is the third time I repeat it."
Elie: " come again..."
Ban: " oh, come on Elie!"
Elie shook her head to wake up from the trance. It was a shock to hear that her brother asked a girl out.
Elie: " you're not trying to play a joke on me or something?"
She gauged him carefully as she waited for his answer.
Ban: " why would I? Anyway, that means you will stay by your own tonight. Would you be fine?"
Elie rolled her eyes this time.
Elie: " Onii-chan, I'm almost 19, you don't need to worry about me."
Suddenly something went through her mind as she eyed her brother.
Elie: " when are you both meeting?"
Ban: " at 8 in the restaurant by the bay."
Elie" 8!"
Her eyes quickly flew to the clock hanging in the kitchen.
Elie: " that's basically two hours later! And you're still cleaning the kitchen!"
Ban: " it's fine, I will get ready in 15 minutes."
Elie slapped her forehead as she gave a desperate sigh.
Elie: " for god's sake. How did Lilyan-san fall in love with you!"
She promptly propped all of the grocery on the kitchen's counter before whirling around and rolling up her sleeves.
Elie: " time for work."
Ban: " eh!"
Before he knew it he was grasped by the collar and pulled to his bedroom. His closet's doors flew wide open as Elie rummaged through his clothes. Shirts, sweaters, pants and a lot more clothings were flying above his head as she digged through the whole wardrobe.
Elie: " we have to pick you a nice outfit and we're running out of time!"
She said pulling him in front of the mirror and holding up a t-shirt in front of him.
Ban: " um... I thought it's okay to wear what I usually wear. Even Lilyan said so."
Elie: " argh! Everyone says so but it's important to have a nice outfit on you! This is a date you're going to! You mustn't take it slightly! It's of most importance that you have a good impression on her!"
Seeing her outburst, he thought it seemed familiar to some friend of his.
Elie was tearing her eyes from one outfit to another.
Elie: " hm, I think I've found what would suit you the most. Here! Take a shower and put those on! And hurry!"
She said pushing the clothes to his chest.
Ban: " but I took a shower this morning!"
Elie: " do it again! And hurry up so we have time to deal with you hair!"
She said exiting the room. Ban whirled his head to the mirror and sweat dropped.
Ban: " my hair she says..."...
Elie was walking back and forth in front of her brother's room, waiting for him to finish dressing up. Her eyes were frequently flicking back to the clock. 8 o'clock was nearing too fast she thought.
Finally the knob turned and her brother stepped out, scratching the back of his head uneasily.
Ban: " so... What do you think?"
He was wearing a black shirt, unzipped crimson vest with strips of white and grey across the chest and grey pants.
Elie clapped her hands together with sparkling eyes. The corners of her lips pulled back into a wide grin.
Elie: " you're awesome! Now to the hair!"
She pulled him on a chair in front of the mirror and stared at his reflection.
Elie: " this will be a challenge for me."
Ban gave a weak chuckle at that as he sank slightly in the chair. He always had a hard time taming his hair, especially at the back where it stack upwards and refused by no mean to smoothen down.
After half an hour of trying to get the brush through the curly locks, which failed, Elie threw her hands up in exasperation.
Elie: " fine! I give up!"
Ban: " just leave it. I like my hair the way it's."
Elie puffed her cheeks. But she had to admit that her brother's hair was out of control and if she wanted to subdue it she would need more than two hours.
Ban: " I think I'm ready to go. And there is no much time left."
He said glancing down at the time on his CCM.
Elie tapped her chin as she eyed her brother one more time before it came to her.
Elie: " right! You need a bouquet of flowers!"
Ban: " eh?"
Elie: " you wouldn't want to go to your first date empty handed."
Ban rubbed his head.
Ban: " alright then, I will buy her one on the way there."
And he made it for his night stand where his LBX was deposited.
Elie: " hold on! What do you think you're doing!"
Ban: " um... Taking my LBX..."
He shrugged and Elie badly wanted to bang her head against the wall.
Elie: " Onii-chan ! This is a date! You don't take your LBX to a date!"
Ban: " bu-"
Elie: " also no talking about LBXs, about battles, about anything that has to do with LBX!"
Ban: " alright, alright, I got it!"
Elie nodded her head in satisfaction.
Elie: " good! Now go and make me proud! "
She pointed her finger at the door and Ban trudged his way there with a wary chuckle. But as he was putting on he shoes, something went through his mind.
Ban: " ne, Elie..."
Elie stopped marveling at her brother's appearance from behind him and smiled when he turned to face her.
Elie: " what, Onii-chan?"
Ban: " maybe you should... You know, call Jin. It's been months since you've last seen him."
Elie frowned slightly at that.
Elie: " I don't know. He didn't call me. And I don't want to cling so much to him when he wants to get over things on his own."
Ban: " I don't think it's like that. Just give it a try. Maybe you can talk things out."
Elie looked at his bright smile and then averted her eyes.
Elie: " I'll think about it."
Ban: " that's enough for me then. See you later."
Elie: " enjoy your first date."
Ban stopped on the threshold and looked back at her with a red face.
Ban: " um... I think I'm getting nervous all of a sudden."
Elie bit her bottom lip as to not laugh at his expression.
Elie: " it will be fine. You've been hanging out with Lilyan-san for so long now. It won't be any different. Act normal. Just, no LBX."
Ban chuckled at her pointing look.
Ban: " ok, ok. I'm off."
When he closed the door, Elie chuckled quietly before her face beamed.
Elie: " Onii-chan is getting a date. I never thought this day would come. I'm really happy for him. Do your best, Onii-chan."...
The sound of the waves sloshing on the coast, the sight of the glittering rippling water and the mild nighty breeze of the ocean. All of those made the blonde girl sink deep in thoughts as she admired the beauty of nature.
" Sorry, am I late?"
That voice snapped her out of her dreams and she turned to the person with a wide smile. She was surprised at first seeing his outfit and the bouquet of red flowers in his hand.
Ban: " were you waiting for so long?"
Lilyan shook her head with a smile as she received the bouquet.
Lilyan: " don't worry, I just came a little earlier than you."
Her face beamed at the beautiful roses before she placed them by her side and then looking up at the brunette who took the seat across her.
Lilyan: " your outfit..."
Ban: " I know, Elie insisted I should be nicely dressed."
He sweat dropped while Lilyan giggled quietly.
Lilyan: " I wouldn't mind whatever you were dressed into."
Ban: " try telling her next time and I'm sure she will be glad to force me into a tux."
Lilyan: " I have to admit, that would be interesting to see."
Ban chuckled then admired her. She was wearing an off-shoulders blue sweater, black above the knee skirt, black leggings and boots.
Ban: " you look beautiful."
He blurted and his face was immediately washed over with red as blood rushed up. Lilyan wasn't any better. The waitress came in just then to get their orders. As she left, a heavy silent reigned over them.
Ban: " this is kind of awkward... It's my first time going out on a date and... I don't really know what I should say."
Lilyan brushed back her hair as she tried to not look him in the eye.
Lilyan: " me neither. I'm quite awkward around people, let alone a date."
Her face was flashing bright red as she spoke.
Ban: " we're both not used to this I guess. That's one thing in common."
He grinned broadly, feeling less nervous.
Lilyan: " I think you're right."
She smiled softly.
Ban: " well, then let's talk about whatever we want. Like... Oh no, I can't talk about LBX."
Lilyan blinked.
Lilyan: " why?"
Ban: " Elie said it's not something to talk about in dates."
Lilyan: " well... It's something you love right? And, I really like when you talk about what you like."
Ban smiled at her words before he leaned on the table, getting closer to her.
Ban: " you know, I think you should talk about what you love too."
She could swear her face caught fire.
Lilyan: " me?"
Ban: " I know you like music. I just want to hear you talk more about it."
Lilyan fumbled around with her fingers.
Lilyan: " Um... I have to warn you. Onii-sama always said that I don't shut up once I start talking about music or singing."
Ban: " I don't mind that. We have all night to ourselves already."
He smiled sweetly and she seemed more at ease.
Lilyan: " well, it all started with mom's lullabies..."...
Elie sank in the coach, chewing on a mouthful of popcorn as she was watching a movie on TV.
Elie: " the antagonist and the lead male character alone cleaning the classroom while the protagonist is looking for him. I think all of us know how things would end up."
She shut the TV and sank even down in the coach.
Elie: " man, Valentin day is surely boring when I spend it on my own. I usually have Onii-chan to keep my company and we could be singles together. But now he has a girlfriend and I'm here, on my own, watching boring movies."
She heaved a sigh of boredom before her eyes fell on her pink CCM. Her brother's words rang through her mind and she mulled over it.
Elie: " should I call him. But what if he didn't pick up?Or worse... What if he was angry?"
Another voice spoke in her mind.
" C'mon Elie. Just for how long will you keep ignoring it. You want to call him don't you? At least so you can give him a well deserved scolding for not calling you."
Elie: " I can't do that!"
" Don't you want to know how he had been? It's been a while, and you know how he tends to neglect his health when he is busy with work."
Elie shifted uncomfortably in her spot.
Elie: " yeah, I know. I bet anything he is drinking black coffee in the middle of night these days!"
The thought made her seriously consider calling him right away. She even took her CCM and dialed his number.
Elie: " but... It's been a while since I've last talked to him. What should I say?"
As she was like that, she accidentally pressed the calling button.
Elie: " whaaa!"
Her CCM was thrown up and almost fell down if she didn't fumble to catch it.
Elie: " alright... Alright. Here goes nothing. I'm just going to talk to him as friendly as I could."
But the person on the other end hanged up. Elie stared at her CCM in disbelief.
Elie: " you know! It's my mistake for calling you! I shouldn't have done so! Go ahead and drink as much black coffee as you want! I don't care anymore!"
She said throwing her CCM away to the other end of the sofa. Just at that moment, the doorbell rang and she got up to answer it. Much to her surprise it was Yuuya who beamed at her through the opened door.
Elie: " Yuuya? Why are you-?"
Yuuya: " Ban-kun called me. He said he will be out all night and was worried you would feel lonely so he asked me to keep your company."
Elie: ' seriously Onii-chan...'
Yuuya: " I hope I'm not intruding."
Elie: " nah, you're not. I would appreciate some company while I'm feeling heartbroken on valentine."
She said leading him inside.
Yuuya: " wait? What? What happened?"
Elie smiled at him.
Elie: " nothing, nothing. Just was kidding. Say, you wanna watch a movie?"
Yuuya eyed her for a second, making sure it was really a joke.
Yuuya: " yeah, why not?"
Elie: " cool. Then let's have some fantasy movie, I don't think romance is my type after all."
She said making a disgusted face that made Yuuya chuckle.
Yuuya: " neither do I."...
Back in Japan...
Few moments earlier...
Jin was seating to his laptop, skimming through different documents. He still have to officially vacate his place as a teacher in Kamui Daimon and now he was checking on the paperwork.
By his side was a mug of black coffee which seemed to be freshly prepared.
Basically it was the same usual calm morning until.
Arata: " Jin-san, why don't you battle me!?"
Arata's head popped in between him and the laptop.
Jin: " not now Arata. You can go to the Kitajima shop and battle Kazu and Ami there."
He said pushing Arata's head away.
Arata: " but I wanted to battle you."
He sighed as he walked to the door with heavy steps when Jin's CCM rang on the counter by his side.
Jin: " could you fetch it for me please."
He didn't take his eyes from what he was typing on his computer.
Arata picked the phone and got a glimpse of the caller.
Arata: " oh, it's Elie-san."
Jin's ears perked up at that.
Jin: " Elie?"
As Arata marched up to the older man, he slipped and fell face first on the ground. Worst part, he accidentally hang up on the woman.
Arata: " ops..."
The red head looked up when a shadow was casted on him and he met the eyes of his teacher. He could have sworn Jin was ready to bury him on the spot.
Arata: " My bad..."...
End...
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Evangeline rose an eyebrow.
Evangeline : " and... Why are you hiding in my wardrobe?"
Arata : " so Jin-san doesn't murder me."
Evangeline : " no, seriously why my wardrobe?"...
