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Serene Days | Chapter 9: The First Day (Part 3)

Kirino:

A routine visit to my brother's residence quickly turned into a very unexpected encounter as Kyousuke stared down Okada-kun, my high school classmate, with fierce intensity. The two men continued to stare down each other as if they were rivals about to get into their final fight.

"Let go of her hand!" Kyousuke yelled. He already looked quite annoyed when he asked Okada-kun what he was doing here, but now he looks even more agitated. Was he angry about the fact that Okada-kun was grabbing my wrist?

Okada-kun reluctantly let go of my wrist, still panting from the excessive running he had seemed to be doing earlier. He ruffled his hand through his curly, brown hair which was wet from sweat. I couldn't help but notice the holes in his earlobes as he swept his hair up.

"No need to get so peeved man. I just wanted to ask her something" Okada-kun said, moving his hands further away from my body.

I looked on in confusion as the two continued their staring war. It definitely seemed as if this isn't the first time they've met which intrigued me greatly. If Kyousuke knows who he is, is it possible that I've also met him before and forgotten?

"You didn't have to grab her wrist so strongly if you just wanted to ask her something. Besides, don't act like you've forgotten what happened the first time we met" Kyousuke replied, still seething.

Time seemed to be frozen as my brother and my classmate continued to lock on to each other with their gazes. The only two things that seemed to be moving were the sweat trickling down the side of Okada-kun's face and my pounding heart.

I couldn't help but notice my heartbeat getting faster and faster as I watched this interaction continue. It wasn't common to see Kyousuke as angry as he seemed now, and even though I should be worried that I don't know what's angering him, I can't help but be absolutely captivated right now…

Seeing Kyousuke this mad was really hot for some reason, especially because of the way he told Okada-kun to let go of my hand. There seemed to be hints of jealousy emanating from his anger, and I can't help but feel this scenario is playing out more and more like an otome game plot.

Ah, what is wrong with me? Even though all he did was just yell at someone to let go of me, I can't help but swoon so hard…

Kyousuke

Seeing his sweaty hand firmly latched on my precious girlfriend's wrist really lit a fuse in me. It ignited a rather rare flame, one that I struggled to control. The audacity of this man to show up in front of me, and especially in front of Kirino was baffling considering what occurred the first time we met.

It was during the spring break, and I was on the way back home from the magazine store by myself. I had gone there for a very important mission, and that was to purchase a magazine with my very own sister's pictures in it.

At first, I hesitated and hesitated, wondering whether it would be a good idea to have a magazine in my room that contained such attractive pictures of my sister. As a boyfriend, it would be completely normal to have such beautiful pictures of a significant other, but as an older brother, it could be pushing the boundaries.

Nonetheless, I was able to come to a decision, and that decision was I had to see Kirino in her spring edition outfit no matter the consequences. She had been hyping it up to me after all, that the costume designer had outdone themselves and that she couldn't wait to model the clothes they made for her. Arguably as her biggest fan, there is no way I can not look forward to that, can I?

So in the end, I bought the magazine, and whilst I was returning home daydreaming about how good Kirino will look when I read the magazine at home, I bumped into someone on the sidewalk like a grand idiot.

I immediately got up, apologized, and offered to help them up, but then, I noticed that the plastic bag containing my magazine fell onto the floor, in front of the boy I knocked into. As I looked down to go grab the fashion magazine, I realized that as the magazine fell down, the pages somehow flipped to the section Kirino's photos were.

As I looked at the photos of my girlfriend in sheer disbelief, my attention turned to the boy I knocked down to the ground as he started to mutter to himself.

"No way, that orange hair, that athletic build, and that name! That's-"

Before I knew it, the boy grabbed the magazine and made a run for it in the direction I was coming from. I barely had any time to react as he got up really quickly and sprinted like an athlete. The thief's slightly curly, brown hair swayed in the wind, exposing his black earrings.

"Hey, come back here!" I shouted as I made a run for it as well. No way in hell was I going to let some magazine thief run off with that special edition fashion magazine. They deliberately stole that magazine because they saw Kirino's photos, and no way was I going to let that slide.

I desperately chased the brown-haired boy down the road, not caring about the gazes of the masses as I sprinted down the sidewalk. The boy seemed to be younger than me, and an athlete at that, and as I ran after him, I rued the fact that I didn't exercise enough.

After several minutes of hardcore chasing, the boy suddenly turned right into a small alleyway. I noticed that in front of the boy there was a locked gate blocking his path. Seeing the obstacle in his way, I smiled. I'll make you regret stealing my precious magazine, you thief!

As I was thinking of how I was going to nab the book back from the thief after I eventually corner him against the iron gate, the unexpected happened. With great strides, the boy jumped right over the iron gates and landed safely on his two feet, with his red and white sneakers barely grazing the top of the gate. Without looking back, he continued to run out of the alleyway on the other side, and out on another road with the magazine in his hands.

I looked on helplessly as the boy ran out of sight. There was absolutely no way I could jump over the gate, and I didn't find any key to unlock it either. It was a sad day, and I returned back home frustrated, after all, my precious treasure was stolen right in front of my very eyes.

I didn't think I would be fortunate enough to run into the magazine thief again, but this time, he's managed to make me angrier than the first time we met. Before I could give him another piece of my mind though, he spoke up first.

"I know what I did the first time we met was despicable, but listen. I really had to, after all, I've been looking to meet Kousaka Kirino for a long, long time. All I knew was her name, nationality, hair color, and the fact that she was a track and field athlete. I had to take any leads I could get!"

"That's no reason to-" I shouted, but mid-sentence, I was cut off by Kirino.

"Who told you about me? What made you go to such lengths to find out about me?" she asked, rather desperately. I turned over to see she was slightly blushing and had a confused expression on her face. I never told her the story about the magazine, so it makes perfect sense as to why she must be so puzzled right now.

"I heard about you when I was in America. At the time, I went there because I was invited to participate in a basketball training camp alongside my childhood friend."

America? He was in America? That means he must've heard of Kirino when she had her track and field training camp, the one I brought her back from.

"I thought me and my childhood friend were the only Japanese people attending that camp area" Okada continued, "but one day, I was told that there was another Japanese athlete in the area at that time and that she was a track and field athlete with gorgeous orange hair who ran and ran and never gave up. That caught my attention, but by the end of my stay in America, I never found her, but I too never gave up."

Okada then clutched the area of his shirt where his heart was and continued speaking with passion. "Once I got back to Japan, I knew I couldn't give up, so I searched and searched, and in the end, that magazine lead me to you."

Before he could continue, I intervened with haste. There was something in that sentence that really irritated me. "Are you saying you stalked her after stealing my magazine? I bet you stalked her so much you found out what school she was going into and enrolled so you could get closer to her didn't you?" I yelled angrily.

As soon as I said that, Okada winced, but then regained his composure moments later. "I'm not a coward, so I'll be honest. I enrolled in that school only because I found out Kirino was enrolling there, and so what? Is it shameful to enroll in a school for the purpose of meeting a special someone?"

"It's shameful to steal my magazine and stalk someone from it!" I shouted. "No matter how much you try to justify your actions, you're just a creep!"

"What does it matter to you anyway? You're just her brother!"

I flinched. Those words hit me harder than I thought they would. As much as I'd like to tell him he's wrong and that Kirino was so much more to me than a sister, it wouldn't be wise to reveal that. I gritted my teeth, there was nothing I could say to that.

Upon realizing I've chosen to stay silent, Okada shot me a smug smile, noticing he had won the verbal war. Kirino stood where she was as she looked at my defeated self with concern. She must've also realized that fact that I couldn't say anything more to rebut.

As I cursed Okada in my head, he headed closer and closer to Kirino. Before I could go and stop him, I sensed incredible blood lust coming from behind me which made me pause immediately. It was so strong the air felt like it turned ice-cold as a result.

"Take-kun, I heard everything you know…" an incredibly scary voice spoke out.

I watched as Okada's smug face transformed into an expression of pure horror and fear as he slowly turned around to see the owner of the voice behind me. I too, out of curiosity, turned around.

Behind me was a girl who seemed to be around Kirino's age with light magenta hair tied up into a ponytail. She also had the same school uniform. What was also hard not to notice though, was that she had a vicious smile on her face, but the thing that worried me more was the steel baseball bat in her hands. It looked so deadly it was almost as if it was emanating a red, murderous aura.

"I hear you've stolen a magazine, stalked a girl, and joined a school only because of her? I thought you said you wanted to join because you liked their basketball team?"

Not only was the tone of her voice terrifying, she giggled at the end as well, not in a cute way, but in a way that tells you that someone is going to die imminently. Sure reminds me of a certain someone...

"I wasn't lying Suzume, I really-"

Before Okada could finish his excuse, the girl he called Suzume immediately sprinted forward to position herself right in front of his face and without hesitance, hit him in the stomach with the tip of her steel baseball bat. I swear I could see his soul departing his body from his mouth, and right then and there I thought maybe there was an ounce of pity in me for this thief after all.

As I clapped my hands together and paid my respects, Kirino walked over to greet the baseball-wielding girl. "You're my classmate, right? The one who helped me earlier today?"

"That's right, I'm Kitagawa Suzume. Sorry about this hopeless idiot by the way, he's always like this when he has a goal on his mind. I hope you can forgive him though."

"I'm sure he didn't mean any harm" Kirino laughed nervously. She seemed slightly intimidated by the murder weapon still in her hands. "I hope we can get along in class!"

"Me too! I'll see you tomorrow at school then" Kitagawa said in a cute tone. She then bowed in apology towards me and then walked away, dragging Okada's lifeless corpse behind her.

"What a classmate huh?" I laughed, also nervously. "I guess if you hang out with her, you'll be fine no matter where you go."

Suddenly, I felt a soft sensation around my shoulder. I turned to see Kirino had started clinging to it, still blushing.

"Onii-chan, you were jealous of him touching me like that weren't you?"

She looked up at me and I gulped immediately. Her face was flushed red, yet, she still managed such a smug smile.

"Of course, after all, I'm the only one who can touch you like that right?"

My supposedly cool reply was met with awkward silence as we both looked away from each other in embarrassment. So right for sounding cool, that was so lame…

To break the awkward mood, I ruffled my shirt's collar and started to walk back home. I grabbed Kirino's hand as she followed me from behind. "Say, it's such a hot day isn't it, want some ice cream? I should have some in my fridge."

After a few seconds of silence, she replied. "Sure, I'd love some."

I didn't see her face as she said those words, but something about the way she said them made me feel like she was smiling from ear to ear, but I guess I'll never know.

Kirino and I then climbed up the stairs of the apartment, entered my room, and kicked off our shoes. I immediately went to turn on the air conditioning as Kirino walked past me to find the aforementioned ice cream in my fridge.

As the heavenly air conditioning cooled the outside of our bodies, the chilly ice cream cooled the inside of our bodies as we lounged around in my room, enjoying the cold. As she bit into the crunchy chocolate exterior of her ice cream, she was telling me all about her first day at my former high school.

She sounded really happy as she recalled the events that transpired, and I couldn't help but be happy alongside her. Although I wasn't too pleased to find out Okada was in her class as well, I'm sure that Kitagawa can hopefully keep him in check. Besides, Kirino has the Games Research club as well.

"You seem really happy, are you reminiscing about your own high school days?" Kirino asked. She probably noticed how much I was smiling listening to her.

"No, I'm smiling because I'm glad you're already settling in for what seems to be a fun high school life. Mine was a bit boring, so I'm glad yours isn't."

Upon finishing my sentence, Kirino got up from my bed and approached me. She then gestured for me to scoot over as she sat down on my beanbag beside me.

"Was your first day of university not that fun?" she asked. Her ocean-blue eyes were brimming with curiosity.

"I wouldn't say it wasn't fun, but it wasn't exciting either. I guess I could say I met quite an interesting person, but aside from that, it wasn't really special."

"Hmmm? An interesting person?" Kirino asked, in a rather mocking tone.

As soon as she said that, I immediately realized my mistake. Damn it, the heavenly feel of the air conditioning lowered my guard.

"It wasn't anything like that I swear! By interesting, I didn't mean there was anything special between me and her" I desperately insisted.

"Her?"

I shuddered as Kirino immediately replied back to me. I made another deadly blunder, and because of it, images of the carnage Okada went through entered my mind but this time, I was the victim, and my girlfriend, the murderer.

As I imagined the many ways Kirino could kill me right now, she let out a very cute laugh. Upon realizing she wasn't really mad, I exhaled in relief. Jeez, how much does she enjoy teasing me like this...

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just that scaring you is so fun," She said as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I don't suspect you, after all, you were so angry for my sake today, that was really cool."

She then leaned her head and body closer into mine as her blush returned. "It made me feel like you really treasured me, so… thank you, onii-chan."

Kirino said those words in such a soft and loving tone it struck an arrow through my heart. Onii-chan? How cute can she be?

"Say, I think it's my turn to do the treasuring now."

As she said that, she ate the last bite of her ice cream and placed both of her hands on my chest. She then leaned forward and kissed me. Her tongue that had just licked ice cream was now twirling around mine affectionately, spreading a sweet taste across my taste buds.

After a few seconds, she released the kiss and looked at me smugly with her hands still placed on my chest. "Delicious, right?"

I smiled tenderly and replied.

"Very."

AN: It's been 323 days since the last chapter came out, but finally, Chapter 9 has arrived! For readers who have been diligently waiting for a new chapter, I thank you for still having an interest in this story and hope that this new chapter has made the wait worth it. I apologize for the uncertain, unspecified schedule, but unfortunately, it will have to remain like this until the story is over. However, I have no intention of not finishing this story, so no matter how long it may take, please know that as of now I still have plans to continue the story until its rightful end.

I'd also like to thank those who left reviews asking for Serene Days to be continued and those who gave feedback. I'm really thankful, especially for the latter, as any advice that can help me better this story and my future works is much appreciated. I'll try my best to implement the feedback as much as I can so that I can make Serene Days even better as the chapters go by. Like before, I can't promise when the next chapter will come out, but I hope you all look forward to it and stay interested in this fanfiction!