Kurumi Fujioka's Story

It was a long drive to Sakura Square, seeing as it was rather secluded compared to Nemui and Kurumi's previous home. The two girls were both rather silent and kept to themselves as the car moved along the busy street. She had never actually laid eyes on Sakura Square, but she knew where it was located. They were getting close, and she tried to keep her mind off of that fact. Nemui was doing everything in her power to keep her anxiety at bay as she sat in the back of the fancy limousine, but she could only postpone her emotions for so long. Inside of the car, the short haired sister was propped against one of back doors, sitting sideways in her seat as she read yet another romance manga. This one was titled Moe Kare, and it was about a young girl named Hikaru Wakamiya who had her first kiss stolen by a perverted princely looking young man only to later on run into a guy who looks just like him, but is a completely different person entirely. Her heart was pounding as her eyes scanned the pages, a light blush sweeping over her features as she went. Reading Romance Manga was Nemui's guilty pleasure, which she normally kept hidden under lock and key, but she was open about it with Kurumi and their mother. Ever since they were children, Kurumi was always there for her, even though it wasn't always in a positive light. She really appreciated having a sister, so she tried to remind herself that having brothers couldn't be so different. Guys were always nicer to girls, right? Not to mention they would legally become family next week. They would have to get along for the sake of their parents, or so Nemui told herself. She obviously never watched the movie; Cheaper by the dozen.

Nemui wasn't alone on this trip, actually, but the car was quiet enough that she almost thought otherwise. Nemui spot in the car was only about a foot away from her older sister Kurumi. The older sister had long, light blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Everything about Kurumi was vibrant and girly. She was beautiful. Nemui was incredibly jealous, but she knew that she shouldn't be. This was her sister she was letting her inner green eyed monster envy! Kurumi was technically all that she had left, seeing as their mother was barely around. She missed three of Kurumi's birthdays, two Christmases, and two of Nemui's birthdays straight in a row. was technically facing Kurumi, so clearly Nemui neglected to wear a seat belt. It was a bad habit, one her sister often scolded her for. Nemui had respect for her sister, despite the rumors around school that Shiori wasn't very smart, Nemui knew otherwise. Shiori used to be incredibly intelligent, just like her, she just gave up, mostly. Though Kurumi would always study for her tests at Nemui's request, the older sister often refused to even attempt the homework she was given.

Sure, Kurumi wasn't that book smart anymore, but her knowledge lied elsewhere. Just because Kurumi made bad grades now, it didn't make her an imbecile. Being a knowledge enthusiast, Nemui felt she had the right to judge her sister's intelligence. She knew that Kurumi's knowledge was about family and hard work. Nemui was jealous of her sister because she was not only beautiful, but she was also extraordinary when it came to helping others. Nemui knew that Kurumi would make a wonderful Psychiatrist if she put her kind to it, once she got past the Medicine and Chemistry classes, of course.

Nemui's caramel orbs shifted directly to her sister for the first time during the hour long drive, a worried expression overwhelming Nemui's facial features as she gazed upon her sibling. Kurumi had been far too quiet, and the extended silence was beginning to make Nemui worry about her. She flipped to the next page of her manga, smiling a bit as she tried to start up conversation to clear the awkward air, "Are you excited about moving, Onee-chan? You haven't said anything since we left home.. It's okay to be nervous, right?" She spoke up in a soft tone, chewing on her bottom lip as she read the next page of her manga. While she waited for a response, Nemui looked to her sister inquisitively, only glancing down at the contents of her manga every now and then. Sure, Nemui was dying to know what would happened to Wakamiya Hikaru in this chapter, but she knew the story could wait if it meant she needed to console her sister. They'd drove the entire ride in silence and it was starting to bother her more than it would if she had rode along with anyone else. She was now reminded about how nervous that she was as well. Two new brothers she had never met? She didn't even know what her new Step-father's name was, nor were they given the names of their two new brothers-to-be! It was extremely overwhelming, and not to mention it would be the first time she'd ever shared a residence with boys. Though she quickly reprimanded herself for doubting them. They aren't just boys, they are going to be my brothers, so how dangerous could it really be? The dilemma that caused Nemui to feel truly distressed was the fact that regardless of whether or not they got along, the four of them would be tied together by their parent's marriage. She tried to reassure herself that it would all turn out fine, because it wasn't like the boys would behave recklessly, they weren't allowed to treat Nemui and Kurumi like other boys would anymore. They were going to be family, so they all four had to suck it up, but life wasn't that simple and clean. It was easier said on paper than in actual practice. On the bright side, her mother did give her one hint. One of the boys had been in her class. In fact, according to her mother, he was in her class every year since they'd been enrolled in school. Curiosity got the best of her, and she couldn't help but wonder if they ever spoke to each other before. Though as soon as the thought came, she dismissed it. She was practically a nobody to all of her classmates, but the only difference between her and an actual nobody was that nobodies didn't get bullied. Unfortunately she existed enough to experience that service. As long as he wasn't one of her tormentors, she was certain she'd survive this new living arrangement.

"I think this might be a good thing. We always wanted a brother, now we are getting two of them. Lucky us, right?" She smiled in a timid manner, glancing out the window. Then her eyes widened. Nemui quickly removed her glasses, sitting them down in her lap before bookmarking her page in Moe Kare. She closed the book, hoping to return to it once she was settled in her new home. She saw the top of the building before removing her glasses, they were very close to arrival. It was time to put her contacts in, before her new brothers saw her glasses. The last thing she wanted to happen was her new brothers to notice she was blind as a bat. She shuffled through the deep pockets of her coat before pulling out a small white box. She unclasped the container, placing each onto her eyes carefully. She hated the process, it was uncomfortable and made her eyes water.. but what if they decided to pick on her for her glasses too? Brothers weren't always nice.. at least from what she'd read in manga.

"Are you worried about that huge exam coming up?" Nemui did her best to keep track of Kurumi's exams, almost religiously, all in order to help her older sister properly prepare. Kurumi aided her so much everywhere else, she felt incredibly in debt to her sister. So once Nemui was old enough to realize her sister's bad habit of not doing her homework, she started helping her ace exams to keep her from getting kicked out of school. It was the least Nemui could do in return for all the years of protection. "You know I'll help you crunch. Orange juice, apples, we'll stay up all night if we have to. There's no way you'll get bad marks with our studying ritual." She replied sweetly, smiling after she'd arranged her contacts. Sakura Square was closing in on them now. It was a matter of seconds before they'd reach their new home and meet their new family for the first time, officially speaking. I wonder if they will like us..? She thought timidly, shifting her position in the seat back to the standard way, staring ahead at the road. She shuffled around in the seat nervously, definitely irritating the driver since her feet kept tapping against the base of his seat.

I added details and removed details to make this more like the new and improved Kurumi. From now on, all of my posts will be entirely different seeing as Kurumi is different than Shiori due to her illness in this RP. Just letting people who were in the previous RPs know it's got some differences to my post in the past RP.

Kurumi sat facing the front of the limousine, seat belt on, and a bored expression on her face as they continued on their journey to their new residence. She was going to miss their apartment, a lot. They would never have the same amount of privacy again, and that was disappointing enough on it's own.

Kurumi had her pet cat Ryouta sitting freely in her lap, purring away and that slightly brightened her foul mood. He was an extremely obese cat who barely understood how to play, so most of his time was spent napping or laying in Kurumi's lap. The cat was very lazy, so she didn't feel the need for a pet carrier. He wouldn't run far if he escaped. She was kind of curious about whether or not she would have to fight with her new 'brothers' about keeping Ryouta in the house.

To be completely honest, Kurumi wasn't even enthusiastic about having brothers, living with two boys would only prove to be a hassle. She would have to constantly be on defense, constantly on the qui vive. Normally she only had to keep on her toes during school, doing her best to look out for Nemui, especially after the younger sibling almost died, but now she'd have to be alert at home too? She released an exasperated sigh, dreading their impending arrival. I really wish we could just stay on the road forever, I don't want to stop.. I don't want more family.. Though she wasn't going to take out her frustration on the boys, it wasn't their fault that her mother felt the need to get married, again. All of her anger was aimed towards her mother.

She finally caved, pulling out her phone and dialing quickly in a moment of weakness. She needed to hear her mother's voice, needed to vent on someone.. She let out a short breath as she waited through the rings, honestly the real reason she called her mother was reassurance. She wanted her mother to be happy, but sometimes she just needed to be reminded when she had to suck it up and step up as the older sibling. She was only sixteen years old, she wasn't perfect. She still had selfish desires, she was still just a teenage girl at the end of the day. She was vulnerable just like anyone else. She just didn't show it often, because she couldn't afford to appear weak when she had to look after Nemui. Finally, she got her mother's voice mail, so she just chose to hang up. Her mother would call back later, and if her mother wouldn't pick up, Kurumi wouldn't leave her a message either.

Her mind immediately turned to the school exams coming up, she had a lot of studying to do.. Thankfully she could study and keep track of her sister, but for some reason, she remained skeptical. Living this way, it seemed too easy. Families never merged as harmoniously as television portrayed, she had a bad feeling about this move, and she wished that she decided to continue living in her previous home with Nemui. Though it was a little late, Sakura Square was closing in on them, it was almost like every inch the car crept closer to their new home she began to slowly suffocate that much more. She knew she was breathing, she could feel her chest moving, but yet, she continued to feel breathless. It was paradoxical, she couldn't find another way to explain it, yet it didn't stop her from feeling it all the same.

"Are you excited about moving, Onee-chan? You haven't said anything since we left home.. It's okay to be nervous, right?"

"A little. I'm just kind of nervous, don't worry about it, Nemu-chii." She lied, throwing a warm smile in her sister's direction. Kurumi put her phone down, not even realizing she'd kept her phone to her ear all this time until she nearly dropped the device. She was more nervous than she realized.. Nemui didn't seem to notice it, so she didn't scold herself for it too much. On the bright side, Kurumi noticed that Nemui seemed just as nervous as she was, but seemed to have a far more positive outlook on their upcoming experience. Kurumi knew that she had to keep herself together, she was the older sister after all, but it was difficult considering her illness was flaring up again, and she's have to keep an eye out for Nemui.

"I think this might be a good thing. We always wanted a brother, now we are getting two of them. Lucky us, right? Are you worried about that huge exam coming up?"

"Lucky? Yeah, maybe..." She replied, forcing a laugh for the younger girl's sake. She loved that about Nemui, despite what she'd been through, the girl still tried to see the best in people.. Ever since middle school, Kurumi was stuck in a rut, secretly of course. Nemui never would stop pestering if she knew that Kurumi was upset. Ever since that boy, Kurumi had always assumed that boys were out to hurt her. She hasn't given any of them a real chance since then, "I guess I'm thinking about our new family.. Trying to guess who they are and what they're like.. T-test?! I-I forgot." She grinned in a childish manner, a little embarrassed but also a little amused by the fact she'd neglected to study.

"You know I'll help you crunch. Orange juice, apples, we'll stay up all night if we have to. There's no way you'll get bad marks with our studying ritual."

This brought a genuine smile to Kurumi's face. Tonight would be difficult, she could already feel the pain setting in her legs, and she would be up pretty late to crunch with her sister. She'd have to work extra hard if she wanted to make sure that her disease remained hidden from her sister. Nemui wasn't always this altruistic, but Kurumi found it heartwarming to hear that she wasn't the only one ready to pull their weight. It was their arrangement since they were younger, a promise between the sisters really. Although Kurumi originally never expected anything in return for protecting Nemui, the younger girl matured rather fast after the death of their father. She was jealous of this, seeing as she was supposed to be the mature and responsible one. Responsible? That could define Nemui and Kurumi, but when it came to maturity, well, Kurumi drew the short straw. At least she could blame it on being blonde, right?



The limousine drive pulled into Sakura Square rather quickly, after the gate opened up for the limo to enter. With every inch the car drew closer, Kurumi felt her whole body tense up. She wasn't as prepared as she had previously thought. She began adjusting her clothes, tugging here, and pulling there. When she looked up, she was amazed. In the yard, beside of the driveway was several cherry blossom trees, but she shouldn't have been so surprised, it was probably the reason that this place was named Sakura Square. There were more pink trees in the yard than she cared to count, And the sight of them was breathtakingly beautiful. The driver brought the car to a halt, stepping out and opened the door for her and Nemui, more than happy to be rid of the girls. Kurumi hesitantly unbuckled, sliding out and was on her feet for the first time in about an hour. Her legs were so stiff and tender, so she stretched out for a second, smiling at the trees, "Finally! We're here, come on Nemui.. We should probably ring the door bell.. Let's get our bags." She suddenly felt very excited, but she also felt uneasy due to the ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach that still remained. She paid the driver and he returned to his seat, retrieving Kurumi's correct change.

We need to get settled in... They had school in the morning after all, and the sooner they could crash in their rooms, the better. The driver returned and plopped a few bills into Kurumi's hands before he opened the trunk for the girls.

Kurumi removed the two bags from inside, handing Nemui her own bag. Kurumi's bag was light blue and very girly, but Nemui's was plain and tan in color. The bags were complete opposites, but Nemui's was heavier due to the manga inside along with a few days worth of clothes and her school books. Kurumi's bag was much lighter due to only having a few days worth of clothes, her wallet, laptop, necessary school books and headphones.

"Hurry up, Ne-chii! They probably didn't hear us pulling in. I want to unpack and pass out.. Screw studying.." She whined a bit, in a tired tone. She truly was exhausted, considering her body was beginning to ache all over, but that was becoming natural to her these days. It came with the illness at times, but more often than not, Kurumi felt perfectly fine. Most days were normal, but some were really bad..

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Today was the day, isn't it?

Yukito finally woke up from his slumber. Actually, this was the first time in a long while since he had a complete cycle of sleep. His manager was able to give him a day off. He had requested it beforehand since the father of the household had dropped the bomb about the remarrying tidbit which had a package deal of two step-sisters. The said girls would be arriving today. He stood from his bed and stretched his limbs. He was still in pajamas, a rather loose one giving glimpses of the body hidden within. Taking a deep breath, he released a rather annoyed sigh.

He didn't mind the idea of his father dating and all. It was just a hobby, but the knowledge that another woman beside his mother would take the place as the Kitomura matriarch and be given the title as their mother even if they were not related at all. It irritates him which was reflected on his face, cracking the mask he always has on. His eyes of sunset orange sharpened mirroring his anger about it. "Stupid father..." He muttered remembering the discussion they had the other day. What was the use of discussing it when it was already decided and they had no choice in the matter, it was really annoying.

Anyway, he needed to prepare to welcome these sisters. He was certain that his older brother won't be that welcoming. It would be his part and since he is the entertainer, he could think of it as another role he needed to do for everyday. Just like that, he did his morning rituals even if it was not morning anymore. After a while, he was donned in his usual clothes and he has a rather fashionable sense. It was one of his well-liked traits by his fans. It just comes naturally for him and not something he takes with extra effort unlike others. He reached for his phone and could see a lot of messages from various people. There were also missed calls from his manager. Well, he silenced his phone earlier to enjoy his sleep. He would check them later as he placed it inside his pants' pocket. It is his day-off.

He exited his room and went downstairs. Everything was arranged already even the rooms for the girls. He had it done yesterday, so all he had to do for now was fine-tune the meals to be served for dinner. Cooking is not his forte since he is more of a pastry chef, but he was not that bad either. At the living room, he could see the traces of his older brother. The guy must be laying on the couch muttering how horrible this day could be. Well, they have the same thinking on that area. He then heard noises coming from the kitchen. It must be his brother gorging himself with the newly bought strawberries he got. It was not that odd if both of them liked the fruit. Their mother's favorite was also strawberries.

Entering the kitchen, he was welcomed by the sight of Kurou half-naked with a bowl of strawberries. There was no doubt in his mind that any girls or even boys would drool or faint at the view. They would also be surprised seeing him like this. However, it was a different case for Yukito. "Ku-nii, might I remind you we have guests coming." He noted with his rather trademarked devilish smile. His arms crossed over his chest as he leaned at the door frame. He let his words and presence sunk in first, before going towards Kurou. "And don't hog these all by yourself." After saying that, he grabbed some strawberries from the bowl and ate them with delight. "I would have you get them next time." Then, he walked towards the refrigerator and looked at the ingredients.

"Do you have any request for dinner?" Yukito asked him without glancing at his older brother. Ever since their mother had passed away, most of the household duties had been given to him without much bias. Kurou was able to handle a few, but something changed within them since that day. He was not as open with it unlike his older brother who let the whole world see. So, he took most of the responsibility as their father is one called as absentee. Although, there had been a few lapses on him since he has been busy with his career nowadays. "Hmmm...?" Something took his attention as he looked outside the kitchen window and saw a car getting out of the gates. "There they are." He announced as he turned around to look at Kurou.

"Try to get in a good impression by getting a shirt on." He closed the refrigerator and then looked at Kurou with a small smile. "We wouldn't want the poor girls to get nosebleeds now." He playfully winked at Kurou before going towards the main doors. It was time to play his part in this charade he would like to call play house. He opened the doors and was privy to the vision of two girls, one with long blonde hair and another with short hair. They were an interesting pair that much he could say and most of it because, they were going to be his sisters. "Hello there, you must be the Fujioka sisters." His voice reflected an approachable query as he stood before them with a friendly presence, not something one would expect from a famous pop star. "I'm Kitomura Yukito. You can call me whatever you like. I won't mind at all." This was followed by a kind smile, not an ounce of misplaced intention seen, even if in his head there were certainly bad things there.

"I hope the ride was comfortable. Here, let me take care of your bags for you two." Without another word, he immediately took hold of the girls' bags. He didn't let them get a word out from his offer. It was only right to do so in his understanding, this was known as common courtesy. There was no doubt that Yukito was a man even if he was considered a boy through his age. His built and his strength is well-reflected in how he carried the bags with ease. "Come on inside, you two must be tired. My aniki is inside, we've been expecting you." He then led them inside the house with a bright smile on his face. "Ku-nii! They're here!" He announced loudly as he looked at the girls again after closing the doors. "Let's all get along, okay?"

Just like that, the game as he would like to call it begins.

Nemui was a bit surprised when Kurumi finally showed signs of being nervous. She rarely witnessed her sister behaving this way, so she began to fidget as well. The driver was likely fed up with the girls by now, because he quickly opened the door and his facial expression practically bled with irritation. Although when Nemui stepped out of the car, her eyes widened. The house and the yard were both beautiful. The pink cherry blossoms were beautiful, and it calmed her to a certain extent. Unlike Kurumi, Nemui did not stretch. She didn't need to, seeing as her fidgeting and squirming is what had the driver in such a foul mood.

"Finally! We're here, come on Nemui.. We should probably ring the door bell.. Let's get our bags."

"O-of course." Nemui quickly nodded, following her sister to the back of the limousine. Her sister paid the driver, and the two made their way towards the trunk. Nemui could feel her heart pounding faster and faster as she grew closer to meeting her new to-be siblings. Will they like me? Will I just be like a wall decoration in their eyes? What if they are creepy perverts? She was so nervous that she barely noticed when the limo driver popped the trunk open. Thankfully, her sister was more aware and removed their bags before Nemui came across as a spaz or special education..

Nemui accepted her heavy bag, but despite the weight, and her small stature, Nemui held the bag fairly well. She was used to carrying heavy books at her job at the comic book store. The stacks of manga added up, and she had to be able to carry them to stock the shelves. She was a lot stronger than she looked, she was just also quite clumsy. Nemui didn't even note the differences in their bag preferences, because plain and simple was fairly typical in the younger sister's lifestyle. Nemui wore baggy clothes and plain colors, even her school uniform was loose and engulfed her. The oversized clothing hid any possibility of a figure that the girl might have had.

"Hurry up, Ne-chii! They probably didn't hear us pulling in. I want to unpack and pass out.. Screw studying.."

"E-Eh!?" Nemui's eyes widened a bit at her sister's decision. This would be the first time in several years that Kurumi wouldn't study with Nemui before a test, and to be honest the younger sister was concerned, "Y-y-you could fail if we don't study!" She retorted, trying to talk some sense into the older sister. Nemui now felt like a nervous wreck, freaking out about the test and meeting her new siblings. Kurumi's decision released all of Nemui's pent up anxieties.

"Hello there, you must be the Fujioka sisters."

Nemui recognized the boy to be Yukito Kitomura, she didn't need an introduction. Her mother was right, they'd been in the same class for ten consecutive years. What their mother forgot to mention was, moving in with their new siblings would be the ultimate act of suicide!! His fan club at school would annihilate her for this, if his overall fanbase didn't get to her first. Not only was Yukito popular at school, but he was a very well renown pop idol to top it off. Immediately Nemui felt she would faint from the stress, but she forced her knees to lock in place. She didn't want to make a bad first impression, because like it or not, they would be family soon. Just the thought seemed far too surreal. He came across as approachable and extroverted, but just knowing how much her bullying would increase was enough to intimidate her in his current lack of an intimidating quality's stead.

"I'm Kitomura Yukito. You can call me whatever you like. I won't mind at all."

Nemui wasn't sure what to say, so for a while she remained quiet. She let her sister introduce herself first, then Nemui followed suit, "I-I am F-Fujioka, Nemui..." She managed to stutter out, keeping a fearful and timid demeanor.

"I hope the ride was comfortable. Here, let me take care of your bags for you two."

Nemui's eyes widened as a blush crossed her cheeks and she quickly closed the gap that was between herself and Kurumi. T-too close!! She was halfway hidden behind the elder sibling, clinging to her sister's arm for moral support. She didn't mean to be rude, but she also didn't expect Yukito to suddenly approach her. Of course he was simply retrieving her bag, but she was skeptical about getting physically close to celebrity. If she was seen by anyone from school, she'd surely be murdered on the spot, "A-a-arigato... K-kitomura-San..." Nemui responded, chewing on her bottom lip. She was like a small child hiding behind their mother, except she was currently peeking at Yukito, halfway hidden behind Kurumi.

"Come on inside, you two must be tired. My aniki is inside, we've been expecting you."

Kurumi seemed to fit that description, so Nemui nodded her head in agreement, despite feeling rather alert and ready to organize her room. She didn't say anything about it though, considering she'd have plenty of time to arrange things to her liking later on.

"Ku-nii! They're here!"

Ku-nii? They have nicknames for each other too? There was at least one similarity this early in the game, and it brought a small smile across her light pink lips. Nemui pulled a piece of chocolate pocky out of a box that she kept in her jacket's deep left pocket. She gently nibbled on the chocolate coated biscuit stick, following behind Yukito once Kurumi started moving.

"Let's all get along, okay?"

Get along? She had nothing against him.. That wouldn't be that hard, the only obstacle was the girls that chose to make her life a living hell at school. They were incredibly possessive of Yukito, and would be enraged when they realized that Nemui now got to live with him, every day while sharing no blood relation to him whatsoever.

Kurou Kitomura

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"Ku-nii, might I remind you we have guests coming."

Kurou was just minding his own business, eating delicious strawberries when all of the sudden, this punk-ass, idol-ass, brother-looking-ass guy came out of nowhere and interrupted such an important time of his life.

The older sibling was holding a strawberry just above his mouth as Yukito had arrived and took it upon himself to remind Kurou that they would be met with company soon. Kurou gave an unintelligible noise in response, before dropping the fruit down his gullet and taking a moment to appreciate the taste before turning to face his brother, who had the audacity to chastise him and then steal some of the precious fruit. The way things were headed, it was very likely that Kurou would have to dispatch his own sibling if he wanted to keep them all to himself. Fortunately, however, he did not care much for the idea of getting arrested, and murder without being caught would probably require lots of extra effort involved to accomplish, which was definitely against Kurou's nature. People should note that Kurou doesn't just like strawberries.

"Do you have any request for dinner?"

As his younger brother asked this, Kurou had set the bowl of strawberries down on the nearest available surface and had started towards his room. He took a moment to think about what he wanted, but then realized he didn't particularly care what he ate for dinner at the moment. "Something simple sounds good, as I'm sure they'll want to be able to eat quick." Dinner's gunna be awkward regardless, Kurou thought to himself, but refrained from saying aloud. He managed to catch the last couple of comments made by Yukito before disappearing into his room to search for a shirt he could wear.

"Lets see..." the older Kitomura brother took a second to gaze around his room. If one were very observant, they would notice that there was probably more clothes on the floor of his room than in the drawers and closet, and that his bed hadn't look liked it was ever made in the last few years. While some might find this as "messy" or "dirty", he found it "organized", in his own way. He always threw pants on one side of his bed, shirts on another, and underwear at the bottom. Oddly, he found a particular shirt he wanted to wear rather quick despite the horrible state of the room. A plain white tshirt sat atop the small mound made of tops he owned. He picked it up and immediately donned it, feeling a bit restricted, as he disliked being shirted unless it was absolutely necessary.

At least it looked good on him.

He wasted no time heading outside to meet up with his brother and his new "sisters". Whether or not it was intended as genuine, Yukito seemed to be greeting the two girls with a smile and chivalry, which was more than you could ask Kurou for. Honestly, he was much more inclined to just see what they looked like, say "hello", and then disappear back into the house without bothering with them very much. That was ideal, and Kurou had of course predicted that there was a distinct possibility this plan would not go off without a hitch. However.... the way in which he was denied a swift greeting and exit was... well, unexpected to say the least. That was because he caught sight of a really beautiful but unwelcomed face. One that belonged to none other than his 'ex', Kurumi.

About three things one could be absolutely positive. First, Kurou was visibly stunned. Second, there was a part of him - and he wasn't sure just how potent that part may be - that realized the truth. And third, he was unconditionally and irrevocably in denial about the situation.

"....what are they doing here?" he asked his brother, ignoring the girls for the moment. His tone, of course, indicated he was irritated and certainly not happy at all. Ice cold was a good way to put it. At this point, he did not care for first impressions, because he already personally knew one of them, and the other was of no consequence. Plus, they weren't his new sisters anyways. That was impossible! His father must have made a mistake or something, and it wasn't like the man paid attention to anything anyways, so there was definitely some sort of weird mix-up happening.

They were not his sisters.

Please, tell me she's here to confess and this is just her friend or something!

He did not want her to confess in actuality, but it was a much better alternative than facing the truth of this really, really awkward situation. His sight was locked on his brother for a moment, but soon turned to the other sisters, namely the one he was more familiar with. Not a single word was spoken. He just... stared at her, as if he wasn't sure what she was. Perhaps she was a ghost, or a hallucination?

If only.

"Y-y-you could fail if we don't study!"

"Well I am barely passing my classes now, so what does it matter?" Kurumi muttered, feeling more exhausted just for arguing with her sister. She could tell that her decision was causing her younger sister a great deal of stress, when it wasn't even related to Nemui at all in the first place. She didn't understand why Nemui cared about her grades when she could worry about her own instead, "I want to hang out with our brothers.. I'll study with one of them. You should get to know them too." She lied, though for good reason. She didn't want to worry her sister about a disease that no one could cure. Kurumi was taking medicine, and that was the best she could do... The rest she just had to deal with unless she wanted to undergo risky surgeries.

"Hello there, you must be the Fujioka sisters. I'm Kitomura Yukito. You can call me whatever you like. I won't mind at all."

The voice was warm and inviting, causing a big smile to form on Kurumi's lips, "Hai, I'm Fujioka, Kurumi! It's nice to meet you, Yukito-San." She announced, waving to the owner of the voice. She couldn't tell if he was the younger or the older brother, but he was definitely a familiar face... She just couldn't place where she knew this boy's face from. Kurumi began wracking her brain for his name, but nothing came to mind. He was never in her class, but his face was one she saw quite often..

"I-I am F-Fujioka, Nemui..."

She realized her sister was quite nervous, and despite always trying to break Nemui from stuttering so much, the younger girl seemed to do it regardless. Kurumi felt like giving up as far as eradicating Nemui's timidness went. Kurumi was fully convinced that Nemui would become a nun, because she'd never be brave enough to date, get married, or lose her virginity, at least not as she was now. She felt bad for the younger girl, but she was also glad that she was like this. She didn't worry about her sister as much, considering that Nemui was such a good girl.

"I hope the ride was comfortable. Here, let me take care of your bags for you two."

Kurumi was a bit surprised, but released her bag with relatively no struggle. If he wanted to carry it, she would let him. Her limbs felt like egg shells at this point, so it was a relief to have the weight literally lifted off of her shoulders. Nemui wasn't do enthusiastic about it, and quickly retreated behind Kurumi. This caused the blonde haired sibling to laugh, but she allowed Nemui to remain behind her for moral comfort, "Arigato~!" She exclaimed, blinking quite a few times at the feat. She knew what was inside of Nemui's bag, and despite having considerably less in her own, she was still impressed by Yukito's strength, "Sugoi~! Our brother is so strong! Ne, Ne-chii?"

"A-a-arigato... K-kitomura-San..."

Well, at least she thanked him. Kurumi thought to herself regarding Nemui and her nervous reply to Yukito. Kurumi had several appearance insecurities, but unlike Nemui, she was skilled at hiding her self doubt.

"Come on inside, you two must be tired. My aniki is inside, we've been expecting you."

"Expecting us? Lucky.. We just found out yesterday.. We didn't know what to expect." She responded. Though it was just like their mother to wait until the last minute. She was curious, wondering just how long the boys knew about the engagement and their new living arrangements.

"Ku-nii! They're here!"

Well, at least they would get to meet both brothers at once, right? Kurumi was beginning to feel a little more optimistic about their new living arrangements. If the elder brother was as nice as the younger brother, Kurumi felt that the move wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Let's all get along, okay?"

"Of course! We look forward to living with you, Yukito-San~!" She chimed out, in an almost sing-song fashion. Kurumi was definitely the bolder sibling and portrayed herself to be a very energetic and outgoing girl. Sure, this was her most of the time, but she currently felt anything but energetic. Her joints and muscles ached and she just yearned to lay down. She could practically hear her new bed calling her name, "Oh.. I have a cat.. Is that alright? He's here somewhere.. He's too lazy to run too far off." She asked as she followed behind Yukito. She noticed that Nemui was cloning to her like a small child attempting to glue themselves to their mother's skirt. She kept walking behind the younger Kitomura sibling until the trio was intercepted by Kurou at the front door.

"....What are they doing here?"

Kurumi was just as surprised to see Kurou as he was to see her. She had come a long way since the last time that Kurou saw her. (PICTURE LINK HERE!!) She hadn't seen him in a while, barely recognizing him, mostly because she went out of her way to make sure that they were in different classes... She was half tempted to gawk at him the same way he was gawking at her, but that would do nothing to help this family. The physical pain that was setting in was bad enough, she really didn't want to accept that this moment was really happening... but she had to do something to fix the situation. Unlike Kurou, Kurumi snapped out of her shock in time to pretend that she didn't know him, "Expecting us? Doesn't seem like it." She sighed, rolling her eyes pretending his rudeness is what startled her. This was just her luck. What part of her really believed that her life was going to get better? She honestly had herself deluded for a second, for a single moment she actually thought that perhaps she would like this new family... Now, she knew that this family was doomed. Kurou was a boy she asked to pretend to date her back in sixth grade and it was so complicated. He was technically her first boyfriend, but no one else knew it but the two of them. Their false relationship ended abruptly and Kurumi felt bitter about it ever since, and apparently so did Kurou. His expression and behavior spoke volumes.

Don't look at him.. Relax.. Keep a straight face. You can do this, for Mama. Do it for Mama. You've only kissed him one time as kids and it was just a peck.. It was so long ago, he's practically a stranger, so it isn't a complete lie.. Mentally justifying her lie helped her compose herself within a few seconds and she was ready to tell her first lie to her new little brother.

"Who is this, Yukito-San? Your older brother?" She inquired in an innocent tone, a bright smile on her face as she pretended to not recognize Kurou. She blinked a few times, looking Kurou over as if she'd never met him before, keeping a fairly good poker face, but perhaps that was because she didn't know Yukito well enough to feel guilty about lying to him? She knew that her fib could cause an argument between Her and Kurou, either now or possibly even later... but this seemed to be the best line of action for both of their sakes. She wasn't going to deal with explaining it to their siblings and parents... and she'd deny everything if he tried. The wedding was this weekend, and she wasn't going to stress her mother. She was determined to make this work if it killed her.... Even if she wasn't quite over Kurou romantically and her lying angered him.

Kurumi removed her attention from Kurou and placed it back on Yukito, tapping her chin a few times with her left index finger as a light bulb practically lit up above her head, "Yukito-San... Not to change the subject, but are you also the successful Pop Idol Ichigo Fuwa-sama?!" And She asked in a curious tone, tilting her head as she looked at him. The resemblance was phenomenal.. She knew because she had several of Ichigo Fuwa's CD's and two posters. She was completely awe struck. Perhaps Kurou would stop looking at her like she'd killed his dog if she pretended that nothing ever happened? Although it was hard to not call him by first name. That was something she'd gotten used to in the past, and the habit was hard to break now.

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This was rather quaint isn't it? Fujioka Kurumi, the bold one while Fujioka Nemui, the timid one. They were a standard act. It wasn't that unfamiliar. Many had stated that siblings most of the times are opposite of each other. It also applies to him and his older brother. They had different ways of tackling certain matters and he would not elaborate on that much. That wasn't the topic here really. Anyways, he did offer a smile when Kurumi stated that he was strong. The blonde girl seemed to dictate the flow of the conversation since Nemui was literally a deer in headlights.

"It's nothing like that, but thanks." He humbly answered in regards to his strength. Of course, this was but a ruse as inwardly he was thinking of ways to get back at them in his little devilish ways. After all, a devil never reveals himself no matter what as they say. There was then commentary that they were left in the dark about the whole remarrying, living here and having them as brothers. Somehow, he can't help but think that his father and their mother are two peas in a pod. "Is that so? Our father just told us about this the other day before he left for a business trip." He stated with a friendly yet irritating accent to imply empathy in regard to their sudden situation. He even ended it with a sigh but, his eyes were smiling as he looked at the two girls, nothing was out of the ordinary about him.

The atmosphere was for the most part welcoming, but there was one dent to that. Kurumi said that she has a cat. If it was only him, he wouldn't mind at all as long as she would be responsible in taking care of it. If not, he can't assure her that nothing bad will happen to her feline friend, but this was beside him. "A cat?" He had a thoughtful look and continued with a gentle yet factual tone. "I don't know. We don't keep them because my aniki is---" But before he could finish, he heard footsteps coming at the front. That must be Kurou and what he expected was a hello from the older boy. But what cut him off was that very apprehensive question instead.

To say, he was surprised is right, but it would be more fitting to say that he's intrigued. His brother was the kind of man who easily shows negative emotions. He knew that Kurou wasn't agreeable to having girls stay here even more so being family with them. But, the level of coldness wasn't applicable to that kind of distaste. That's why he knew there was something deeper to this as he quirked an eyebrow at this behavior, but inwardly, a devilish smirk was present. "The game just got more interesting." He even heaved a sigh and answered his brother who was still obviously in a state of rude disbelief. "They're the Fujioka sisters who'll be our sisters once the wedding is done."

He then looked at Kurumi who subtly directed words in relation to his older brother's tactless expression. But, he couldn't be fooled easily. Something was up with that tone of hers and his brother's action was enough for him to see it as a fact. "Ah, it might just slipped his mind, he did sleep late, because he did help me prepare your rooms and all. So, don't be too hard on him? Okay?" He ended it with an apologetic tone and a small smile relating his intention to have his older brother's words be forgotten. He flawlessly crafted a story out of nothing to cover for Kurou. It's a necessary trade for him after all. It seemed to work as Kurumi instead asked who Kurou is. "A vixen isn't she..." Yukito played along as he would dig into certain matters at his own pace later. "Yeah, he's my aniki. Kitomura, Kurou." He introduced his brother with a warm smile before turning to look at Kurou.

"This is Kurumi-san and Nemui-san." He pointed to the respective girls as he called out their names for Kurou. His attention then transferred to Kurumi who asked if he was Ichigo Fuwa. That was his stage name. It's better to use it one to avoid a piling of paparazzi at the front doors. He didn't want to them to dirty the yard with their blood if they chanced upon on Kurou's ridiculous bad mood, but he would admit, he is tempted to do that for the fun. "Hmm..." He tilted his head to the side with a thoughtful look on his face. "Let's see..." He then without much warning leaned towards Kurumi and whispered into her ear. The closeness of his lips to her ear was but a hairbreadth. "Yes, I am, but keep it a secret okay?" His breath had such an alluring warmth as it was done in a very gentle manner, before he pulled away and gave her a playful wink, implicating that he was just lightly messing with her or just having plain fun while telling the truth. It could be taken in many ways, but that's how Yukito is.

"Anyway, why don't you two girls get settled in first?" He approached Kurou as he is not terrified of his older brother at all, even if the guy gets murderous. He never backed down. "Ku-nii, why don't you show them to their rooms? I have to prepare dinner." He stated with a bright smile much like that of an angel. His smile was literally blinding as sparkles around Yukito. He then handed Kurou the two bags while creating a smooth motion to be able to isolate themselves without being heard or be seen by the two girls. "You could handle that much, can't you?" His tone was much colder than his brother and his eyes sharpened with such danger as his orange eyes reflected Kurou. After all, it just wasn't Kurou who changed. He then moved away as if that interaction never happened. "You'll be in safe hands with Ku-nii." He stated proudly without a hint of doubt.

"So, go ahead and settle yourselves. I'll call you when dinner is done." Yukito announced with his gentle yet cheery tone as he waved them later and went to the kitchen to make something up. His actions implied that nothing is wrong or he wanted to make sure everything goes smoothly, but really, he couldn't wait for another blow-up or even a slip-up. It's just that he has a very impeccable mask on that no one really sees his truest intentions. He was having a grand time, pulling on certain strings.

"A cat?"

"I-It was our father's cat before he.." Nemui immediately trailed off, unable to talk about it. Her gaze turned away so she could conceal the sad look in her eyes. If she kept talking about her father, she'd likely break down and cry. She still missed her father, and she kept her distance from Ryouta, afraid to get close to animals, especially cats. Ever since her bullies killed the little kitten she had taken care of in Junior High, she steered clear from all animals for their own safety, "K-Kurumi-chan would keep h-him in her room at all times.. She did back home, because I hate animals." She attempted to aid her sister, hoping it would be enough to let the older girl keep her precious animal that reminded both of them of their deceased father.

"I don't know. We don't keep them because my aniki is---"

She was curious about what Yukito was going to say, but he was interrupted by the presence of an older looking boy. She assumed this was the older brother, seeing as Yukito mentioned one. She never knew that Yukito had an older brother until now, and could see a slight resemblance between the two.

"....What are they doing here?"

Something about the way that the older brother responded was definitely strange and didn't add up right. He gazed upon Kurumi as if she were possessed by a demon or as though she had been infected with the plague. This caused Nemui to tilt her head in confusion. Suddenly she felt more anxious than ever. Did no one tell the older boy? He didn't seem to be 'expecting' anyone considering his response.

"They're the Fujioka sisters who'll be our sisters once the wedding is done."

Would this get messy? She didn't want this to be the family's first official argument.. Somehow she felt that Kurou knew Kurumi, but she wasn't sure how. For some reason his gaze was different when he looked at Kurumi compared to when his eyes fell on Nemui herself. This situation is odd.. What is going on...? Nemui asked herself mentally, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but she was drawing blanks.. Kurumi never mentioned knowing this boy before.

"Expecting us? Doesn't seem like it."

"K-Kuru-chii!" Nemui called out in a tone of warning, tugging on her sister's jacket sleeve in attempt to silence her before she made matters worse. Her sister was being equally rude, and Nemui preferred to avoid this confrontation if it was at all possible. She didn't want the family's first encounter to be permanently tarnished, but somehow she felt that she was completely helpless when it came to the issue at hand. Nemui's golden eyes shifted to each person as she nervously chewed on a second piece of chocolate pocky, this time holding the stick in her hand as she anxiously nibbled.

"Ah, it might just slipped his mind, he did sleep late, because he did help me prepare your rooms and all. So, don't be too hard on him? Okay?"

"A-Arigato..." Nemui managed to stutter out, but her eyes were wide in a combination of shock and horror. If they went through her belongings to set up their bedrooms, that meant that one or both of the boys located her extensive collection of shoujo manga. This situation is getting very bad... she was beginning to panic, so she switched her attention to looking over both of her new brothers, this time taking in the finer details. Yukito's casual outfit brought a light blush to her cheeks, admiring his fashion sense for a moment. The older brother's clothes were casual, but he also was a force to be reckoned with. I wonder what our step-father looks like.. Both of our new brothers are attractive, not that something like that matters anymore... But I bet that the father is aesthetically pleasing as well.. They're so lucky.. Suddenly she felt like a chicken amongst a flock of swans. Kurumi, Yukito, and Kurou were all three gorgeous in their own right.. Nemui retreated into baggy clothing because she felt inferior to Kurumi and other girls, but now she felt like not even a trash bag could conceal her subpar physical appearance.

"Who is this, Yukito-San? Your older brother?"

So she doesn't know him..? This is confusing..Nemui frowned as she tried to mentally decipher the problem, letting out an audible sigh as she grew frustrated with herself. She couldn't place her finger on it, but there was definitely something that either Kurou or Kurumi wasn't telling them, and curiosity already began to eat Nemui alive. Though she couldn't doubt her older sister, especially since she seemed so sincere and friendly when she presented her questions about the older brother's identity.

"Yeah, he's my aniki. Kitomura, Kurou. This is Kurumi-san and Nemui-san."

"I-It's nice to meet you, Kitomura-San. We apologize for intruding." Nemui stated with a very formal Japanese bow. She then returned to an upright position, avoiding eye contact with either of the brothers. She was still standing further away than Kurumi, seeing as she was the more timid sister. She didn't want to be surprised by an invasion of her personal space again, so she felt distance was a must.

"Yukito-San... Not to change the subject, but are you also the successful Pop Idol Ichigo Fuwa-sama?!"

Nemui blinked a bit, remembering that her sister did own quite a few of Yukito's posters. She never told the other girl that she knew 'Ichigo Fuwa' because her older sister would have definitely asked to be 'introduced'.. There was no way that could have ever happened, because Nemui didn't know Yukito well enough to do something as bold as that, they were simply classmates until today, nothing more. She never spoke to him once in school, not even to say good morning. She was far too shy to talk to Yukito, and she didn't want to get harsher treatment from her tormentors either.

"Hmm..."

A perplexed look adorned Nemui's features as Yukito seemed to be pondering on the question. Did he suddenly forget who he was? Even Nemui was aware of his occupation, everyone in their class and even quite a few of the girls outside of it were aware.

"Let's see..."

Nemui almost twitched as he toyed with her sister's interest. Was he having fun or something? Building up Kurumi's anticipation? She was almost to the point of admitting it for him, but was too surprised to do anything as Yukito leaned in very close to the older sister.

Nemui visibly freaked out, because it appeared he was leaning in for a kiss from her line of view, although it later became obvious that he was simply whispering. She placed one hand on her chest, attempting to calm her frantic heartbeat. She felt as though she'd almost had a heart attack. The last thing they needed was for one of the siblings to kiss another mere days before the wedding.. That would cause a lot of confusion and unnecessary drama for everyone.. Yukito winked to Kurumi, so Nemui relaxed a bit more. A joke?Well, a little humor never hurt anyone, right? She wasn't sure how true her assumption was, but it was easier to get through the day if she convinced herself that everything would turn out fine.

"Anyway, why don't you two girls get settled in first?"

Nemui felt a sense of relief as he mentioned going to their rooms. This would give Kurou and Kurumi a much needed recess. Perhaps the awkwardness would work itself out? A girl could dream, couldn't she?

"Ku-nii, why don't you show them to their rooms? I have to prepare dinner."

W-what!? Alone with these two?!She wasn't sure if she could referee if Kurou and Kurumi started again.. Either way, she didn't seem to have a choice. Yukito had other responsibilities.. Yukito apparently whispered something to his brother in secret, but Nemui wasn't too concerned by it. They were brothers, perhaps it was something between dudes?

"You'll be in safe hands with Ku-nii."

Nemui wasn't as confident, considering there was definitely an ominous air between Kurumi and Kurou, but she didn't have a say in the matter. She let out another sigh, walking ahead of Kurou because someone would need to open the bedroom doors for him. Both of his hands contained the last two bags of their remaining luggage after all.

"So, go ahead and settle yourselves. I'll call you when dinner is done."

Nemui went up the stairs, noticing five bedrooms and a bathroom. Thankfully all of the bedroom doors had the occupant's name laminated on them. As you come up the stairs, Kurumi's bedroom door was on the main left, and the second door on the left wall was Nemui's. To the immediate right, directly across the hall from Kurumi's bedroom was Kurou's and beside of his was Yukito's. Their parent's room was on the other side of Yukito's bedroom and the bathroom was next to Nemui's bedroom. She opened the door to Kurumi's room and admired the dark blue walls before opening her own. Nemui's room was a pale shade of pink and to her horror, her room was set up. She nearly screamed, but that would look insane, wouldn't it? She'd save it for her pillow, in private. She had to it this short if she wished to hide her mortification.

"I'll take my bag from here.. I.. I have a few things to do before dinner.." To be honest she just needed a bit of scream therapy into her pillow, but she also just made the excuse to escape the awkwardness. She was sure that nothing TOO bad would happen if she left Kurumi and Kurou alone together, "T-Thank you for carrying my bag, Kitomura-San.." She stuttered in a soft, gentle tone as she retrieved it from him. She timidly entered her bedroom, shutting and locking the door behind her before she made a direct sprint for her new bed and let her lungs screech into the fabric of her nearest pillowcase. Which one saw?! Do they both know!? How embarrassing!!

Kurou Kitomura

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When he had finally snapped out of the shocked state he was in, Kurou had immediately regretted even showing interest in the older sister at all. Why? Because his brother would know that something weird had happened between the two, and that could only ever be a bad thing. The man was a sly devil in an angel's clothing, and Kurou was privy to this information, so the outcome could only be horrible for Kurou. Well, at the very least it looked like Kurumi had enough composure to come up with some form of plan, even if it did bother him for her to act like he and she had never met before.

Odd. Usually he wouldn't even care. But when she did it... it pissed him off.

His facial features did not seem to change much. From a surprised and apprehensive frown to just a scowl did not seem to be much of a difference when shown on him. He just sorta looked... somewhat less pissed. Though later his new siblings would come to know this as his default facial expression when dealing with most people. After that, he did something no pessimist would typically while remaining in-character, which is to hope. In this case, he 'hoped' that his brother had just considered that prior outburst as typical behavior of Kurou's and not noticed any underlying cause to it. Yeah, he had to have thought it just normal, right? Kurou mentally started a stopwatch in his head that was to cease the exact moment when his hopes were crushed, as they were without fail for quite some time now. Perhaps that is why he was allowed to have these hopes: because they would always be crushed and cause him to be more and more pessimistic as he aged.

Kurou was snapped out of his insignificant thoughts by a formal introduction by his brother of the the two sisters and by that. That referred to his brother's oddly delicious stagename, the one most people who knew him from anything other than school, knew him as. If someone were perhaps paying close attention at the time, his scowl seemed to harden just a bit when he realized that it was Kurumi saying this. Even her too.... ?, he mentally cursed. Though he should have expected this. Any girl her age would know him, after all he had become a huge hit recently, and just that very fact was something that pissed Kurou off as well, for some reason. He would not, however, ever admit that it was because he was a bit jealous. At least not to himself.

The older brother had been quiet all this time, his face being the only real means of knowing that he was even paying attention. There was not much to say. Well, there was actually a lot he could say, but if he said any of it here, well, there would certainly be a lot of drama and unpleasantness involved. He'd prefer to wait, if possible. If at all. So he did. Despite the fact that it appeared as though he was probably ready to just take his leave with a "I've grown bored of this conversation" and a wave, he stayed in place while his brother said "Yes, I am said Idol" in a very dramatic manner considering. But that was common of him, wasn't it? Kurou was the only one who got to see what was beneath that exterior, and it was not something he felt grateful for, most of the time.

"Ku-nii, why don't you show them to their rooms? I have to prepare dinner." Yukito asked of him while approaching Kurou is a swift, but precise manner. The words his younger brother said next, of course, caused him to stop the timer in his head at just under two minutes. "You could handle that much, can't you?". Kurou took the bags without so much as a physical indication that he'd even heard, but he did. He could almost feel the ice behind each syllable, and he didn't miss the look his brother shot him either. That being said, someone who was perpetually in a state of 'ice' could certainly deal with what Yukito could deal out. Kurou glanced upwards, towards his new imoutos.

"That's fine, I guess." he said to Yukito without turning his gaze back to his younger brother. In the very next instant, he began to turn towards the house and motioned with a hand for the two to follow him inside. However, it seemed the shier of the two had been considerate enough to open the door for him. This kind act of hers had made him realize that he had two sisters, not just that one he had dated at one point. There was definitely something wrong with that. Not just the fact he'd more or less been shrugging off the little one's existence (he believed her name was Nemo or something), but that he'd been dealt a blow this huge by Kurumi's appearance, when he'd felt little romantic attachment to her last time they'd met. Why now? If one could throw out a guess, perhaps it was because she signified his change from one Kurou to another. Shortly after they parted ways was when he lost interest in keeping up a public mask of cheerfulness. It would make sense that seeing her return would remind him of how "foolish" he had used to be.

But Kurou did not know that himself. He just knew he didn't like this situation at all. His instincts were correct that he would not be enjoying today, unfortunately for him.

There was no "thank you" as Kurou entered his home. Given how he looked, one probably should not be surprised. He meant no disrespect towards Nemo in particular, as those two words hadn't been muttered in quite some time. Instead, he stepped into the house and beelined straight towards the bedrooms without delay. He didn't feel like carrying bags any longer than he had to. In fact, being responsible for these two was more than he wanted to begin with. Yet, even then Nemo was more enthusiastic about getting herself to her room than Kurou was, as she managed to scale the stairs in their entirety before Kurou even reached the halfway mark, Kurumi presumably behind him. She must really want to read that shoujo manga, he figured. When he reached the peak of the stairs, he noticed Nemo'd already found her own room, marked by her nameplate that read.....

"Nemui"

....Well, she'd still be Nemo to him.

"I'll take my bag from here.. I.. I have a few things to do before dinner.." his new imouto declared. Kurou again assumed she really wanted to read manga or something, and extended her bag out to her as she reached for it. Expectedly, she thanked him with a small voice and retreated into her room once she'd gotten her bag, leaving Kurou and Kurumi by themselves.

He did the most reasonable thing in this situation.

Kurou suddenly realized how awkward this was. He kept his gaze from meeting Kurumi's as he then walked up to her door and opened it, walking inside. He inspected her room without reserve, or perhaps to keep himself from actually looking at her. He noticed that it was much "girlier" than his room, or at least that's how he could explain it. It wasn't even that "girly", it was just clean, which was foreign to the young man. Enough time eventually passed with an awkward silence that Kurou decide he was going to have to break it. He just wasn't... really that good at it. At least, his typical reaction in these situations would be to grumble and ignore the person, but that wasn't really possible here, was it?

"Kurumi? Kurumi....? Kurumi-san.....?" he repeated just barely audible enough for her. He did not seem to be calling her, he was just repeating the word over and over again as though he wasn't sure what he was supposed to call her now. And he wasn't. It felt... odd to just call her by name. That's what he was supposed to do now, right? For as long as he could remember, he'd referred to Yukito simply as "Yuki", so he couldn't remember exactly how things worked in this regard. "...we went from that to you soon becoming a Kitomura. How odd." was all he could eventually open with, not even bothering to look at her.

Hopefully his charms weren't too much for her to handle.

As he spoke, he noticed his eyes beginning to irritate him. They started feeling itchy. Strange. They only did that when he was exposed to cats.

"Ah, it might just slipped his mind, he did sleep late, because he did help me prepare your rooms and all. So, don't be too hard on him? Okay?"

What!?!? That means that they saw her posters! Immediately Kurumi let out a surprised, "Eh?!" Then she gave a sheepish laugh, closing her eyes as she let the new information sink in. Her ex was touching all of her things?! Just the thought made her a bit uneasy, "How embarrassing..." Kurumi finally stated, a light blush on her cheeks as she twirled her hair around her index finger. She tried to keep her cool, but she was very embarrassed knowing that they'd put away the majority of her clothes. Did they think she was as fat as she felt after seeing her clothes? Suddenly her self consciousness became worse than usual. She would definitely have to weigh in more often.. She had an appearance to maintain.

"A-Arigato..."

Kurumi noticed that her sister was far more humiliated by the knowledge, giving her younger sister's hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance. The gesture was for mutual comfort, but no one needed to know that.

"Yeah, he's my aniki. Kitomura, Kurou. This is Kurumi-san and Nemui-san."

Well, this couldn't get any more awkward.. Kurumi thought to herself in a pessimistic manner. She kept a warm expression on her face nonetheless, biting the bullet so to speak, "Fujioka, Kurumi. It's nice to meet you, Kurou-San." It was a bit difficult to remember the 'san', but so far she was doing fairly well.

"I-It's nice to meet you, Kitomura-San. We apologize for intruding."

Kurumi was a bit surprised by Nemui's traditional introduction. Kurumi just gave a friendly wave, smiling a bit, "What she said. She pretty much covered it." Kurumi nodded, jabbing a thumb in Nemui's direction. Kurumi was definitely not a very formal person, far more casual and familiar about her introductions with both of the boys.

"Hmm..."

He had to think about it? Was she wrong? She definitely regretted asking. The anticipation was unnerving, and now she might have made a fool in of herself in front of Kurou.

"Let's see..."

Kurumi blinked a few times, wondering if he was enjoying this as much as he seemed to be. She was going to hit him if he built up all this only to admit he wasn't Ichigo Fuwa.

"Yes, I am, but keep it a secret okay?"

She was taken by surprise when Yukito leaned in, but calmed down when she realized that he was just trying whisper something to her. His breath tickled her ear, causing her to shiver a bit as he spoke, "Got it... Although, how is it a secret?" She asked in a naive and baffled tone. Her expression was one of complete confusion. She wasn't catching on that it was a joke, even after the wink.

"Ku-nii, why don't you show them to their rooms? I have to prepare dinner."

Dinner? Kurumi was a bit nervous. Would they get mad about her diet? Would it offend them? She wasn't sure, buts he was too frightened to mention it. She simply smiled and nodded, "Can't wait. Will there be salad?" She asked with a grin. She used to hate it, but in attempt to lose weight she embraced fruits and vegetables and shunned meats and junk food.

"That's fine, I guess."

Yukito left and Kurou gave a hand signal that beckoned them to follow him, but before Kurumi could move an inch, Nemui stepped forward and opened the door for him, and made a direct path for the stairs. Next Kurou went inside, and finally Kurumi who was secretly accompanied by Ryouta. Kurumi removed her shoes, shutting the door behind her before following the other two up the stairs. Finding her room was simple enough due to the labels, and she felt her stomach knot up as she realized her bedroom door was directly facing Kurou's. They'd see a lot of each other no matter what it seemed.

"I'll take my bag from here.. I.. I have a few things to do before dinner.."

Kurumi was mortified knowing that her sister was about to leave her alone with Kurou, but couldn't think of a good reason to beg her sister to remain with them, at least not on the spot like this. She was panicking far too much to come up with a decent plan.

"T-Thank you for carrying my bag, Kitomura-San.."

Seeing as she was behind Kurou, Kurumi allowed her eyes to widen and she shook her head quickly, but her sister neglected to realize it. Nemui was already locked inside of her room and Kurumi was stranded in the hall with her pretend ex boyfriend. This just got more awkward. Just great, I jinxed myself..

Kurumi followed Kurou inside of her room, albeit rather hesitantly. There were several posters along her bedroom walls, mostly of different pop artists, both male and female. Two of her posters were of Yukito, but there were others among the room. She blushed a bit realizing that they saw her posters, and she approached them and took them down immediately. It was too weird having posters of her new younger brother hanging on her walls. Her room was very pristine, containing minimal items, aside from a closet full of outfits and shoes. Her bedsheets were blue with girly rose-like designs on them and her walls were a matching shade of dark blue. (Like this link, just switch the colors as I described)


"Kurumi? Kurumi....? Kurumi-san.....?"

"Kurumi is fine, just don't shorten it.. Okay?" She responded in a shaken tone, no longer hiding the fact that she was just as startled by this situation as he had been. She wasn't sure what he was trying to prove, but she would hear him out. No one was around to listen in, so this was their chance to say what they needed to say, "You can sit the bag anywhere.. Thanks." Her voice was low, muffled by the intense air that filled the room. She didn't expect him to come inside...

"...we went from that to you soon becoming a Kitomura. How odd."

Kurumi felt like someone was currently wrapping rubber bands around her chest. She moved over to her bed, sitting down slowly as he spoke, also avoiding all chances of eye contact. Her blue eyes stared at the floor, then out the window, "It is kind of strange, but it's not like anything serious actually happened between us.. It was just one kiss. No big deal, right?" Her own words stung more than she expected, and they came out less confident and far more awkwardly than she intended. Although it was true, there was only one innocent kiss between them, so why was it so tense right now? She thought that she finally was over Kurou, but now that she was in his presence it felt like she had made no progress at all. She was a bit more confident, seeing as she'd made a great deal of progress as far as her beauty was concerned. She knew that she had a long way to go, but she was nowhere near as nerdy and no longer wore bulky glasses. She opted for contacts, no longer the girl she used to be. She used to be a lot like Nemui back then, simply a lot less soft spoken.

"May I ask you something?" She asked in a curious tone, her voice lowering as she grew slightly intimidated. They were alone together in her room, and since he'd helped Yukito she knew that he was aware of the two posters that she owned of his younger brother. If this wasn't awkward enough, the posters made this embarrassing as hell, "Why are you bringing up the past like there wad something there? It was just practice, like we agreed." She inquired, deciding to get straight to the point right after with her following statement. She didn't understand why he would choose to bring up their complicated and literally phony relationship, seeing as he was the one to end it abruptly. Was he intentionally trying to hurt her again, or ignorantly reminiscing? He was faking the entire time, but over time she grew serious about the fake arrangement, whether he knew it or not. She hoped that he didn't know that she had fallen for him somewhere along the lines back then, because it would be easier that way, right?

"I think it would be best to never talk about it to anyone else. I do not plan to compromise my mother's and your father's happiness." She informed him, finally looking up at him as she worked up the courage. She wasn't the same girl that he dumped. She began working on, started an organic diet, and changed her entire wardrobe. She even got her mother to teach her how to apply makeup. Kurumi was somewhat of the "it" girl at her school. She was quite popular now, but has only dated two other boys since their breakup, and neither relationship lasted even two weeks before she grew bored and dumped them, "Let's try to avoid making any comments that would Yukito-San, Ne-chii, or anyone else too suspicious. If you ever have a problem with me, please try to tell me away from others."

Kurumi blinked a bit remembering that Yukito said something about cats and Kurou. Immediately she blinked a bit in confusion, "wait a second, are you allergic to cats..?"She asked in a baffled manner. She didn't know, and was kind of surprised. She knew that he absolutely adored dogs, remembering that from the time they spent pretending to date each other. She felt a bit guilty, biting her bottom lip, "I brought my father's cat... He died when Nemui was little and she hates animals.. Taking care of him fell on me. He's been my responsibility for the past seven years." She explained the situation, not fishing for sympathy. She didn't want his sympathy at all, she just needed Kurou to understand it wasn't a personal attack. She couldn't get rid of Ryouta because of the sentimental value. Her eyes scanned the yard through her bedroom window and noticed a shed among the beautiful Sakura blossoms. She then got an idea, seeing no other solution if he refused to let her keep him inside, "I can put him in the shed..?" She offered, standing up from the bed a little quicker than normal. She passed him to scoop up the cat, awaiting his answer. She was closer to him than intended, but she was holding a cat, so she felt a bit more relaxed, although her racing heartbeat said otherwise. The air in the room was tense, and she was growing nervous. It would be a good excuse to cut the conversation short if he agreed. Although she was used to sleeping with the cat in her bed, so she wasn't sure if she could sleep without Ryouta.. She just wished to avoid conflict if possible, because she was sure that there would be more than enough in the days to come.

She was just so confused, why did he come in to talk after breaking up with her so heartlessly? Not to mention she felt a bit awkward in her current outfit now, having chosen it before she realized that her ex would be her new 'brother'. She definitely would have chosen something a bit more conservative than her striped mini dress and aquamarine off-shoulder shirt.

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Now on his own, Yukito was smirking with such cruel intention. He was truly certain that his little crumbs of mischief were now taking its roots, like, preparing the rooms of the girls. It would be easier for him to just have the rooms cleaned, colored and left the girls' things in the boxes, but he did like having a bit of an ace and adding to his delight of knowing that those girls were embarrassed with the knowledge that either him or even his brother handled their things especially the one, they didn’t want to be known. He did saw the collection of mangas and posters of him. It was rather adorable and intriguing tools for him to use when the time comes. That's why he arranged their things for them. Kurou actually didn't do anything to help in that matter other than having him carry the boxes to the rooms and that was already a hurdle for the older Kitomura to do, not an issue of strength really, but of willingness. Well, it was definitely not wrong in his book to make fun of the people around him whether they are family or not. It was just one of his ways to vent out his frustrations even if he knew it was a bad thing.

His mother would probably scold him, but she wasn't here anymore isn't it? That's why that absentee father of his was going to marry someone else. "This is so stupid..." His eyes narrowed in aggravation and the mixture of sadness. His current expression was far different from what he had shown those dimwitted girls earlier and his older brother most of the times. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. After that, he was wearing again his mask and just decided to do what he does best, lie...

He opened the fridge and took out the ingredients he would need to make dinner. Kurou wanted something simple and from the off-handed comment by Kurumi, she wanted salad. "Yuck!" He inwardly grimaced. He hates vegetables, but not that he would stop anyone eating it or not used it in cooking. It's just that he doesn't eat it, but accepts that they are needed to spice up certain meals. It's not like he has much of a choice. He would just have to whip out a dinner that all of them could eat together. He took the apron (strawberry-printed) hanging at the nearby rack and wore it. He then pulled up his sleeves and began his preparation. If any of his fans or other people would see him, they wouldn’t expect from the energetic and seemingly carefree pop idol to know how to work his way in a kitchen.

That's why many would be impressed and the girls would be in a daze, because he just doesn't appear efficient, he appears very handsome and cute with his current get-up along with his very focused expression. "Oh, that's right. I should check my messages." He remembered as he put aside the things needs to be cut as he took out his phone. Then, he placed it at the nearby counter and pressed the play button. After that, he continued with his cooking as he listened. They were mostly reminders of his schedule for the rest of the week and confirmations of interviews and guesting. They were a bit cramped as he did take a day-off and classes were about to start. It's a good thing that his manager, Haruko was a miracle worker in organizing his schedule, but he wouldn't admit that to her anytime soon. He was still having fun teasing her about being a horrendous task manager.

Then, there was one message which took his full attention. It was one coming from the Kitomura patriarch, his father. Yukito stopped dicing the vegetables and looked at where he placed his phone. "Hey Yu, I'm just checking in. Did the girls arrive already? Make them feel welcome, alright? I know it's been hard, but we can have a complete family again. Take care of Kurou, I know it should be the opposite. Anyway, I'll see you all soon." It was done. Yukito's expression was incredibly hard to read. His eyes of orange which was commonly bright lacked any luster. It was like looking at the eyes of a dead person. His lips were curved downward picturing a frown. He went towards his phone and instantly deleted his father's message and kept his phone. "Family, huh..." He muttered in a very cold and stark way as if not understanding that word's meaning and concept. It was inaudible to anyone but him.

He closed his eyes again and released a rather heavy sigh. "I better finish here, can't have them wait for dinner too long." He was back to his cheery self as a smile was now plastered on his face whether this was an act or not, only Yukito really knows. After a while, he was done with dinner. He cleaned up the kitchen and then set up the table at the dining room. When he was done, he removed his apron, returning it to its rack and tidied himself up. He stretched his arms and his neck for good measure before going towards to the intercom installed at the kitchen entrance. It was connected to various rooms of the house. This was a large house after all. It wouldn't be wise to simply shout what you wanted and hoped someone was nearby to hear or wasn't deaf.

Yukito pressed a few buttons allowing him to patch through the bedrooms. "Hey guys, dinner is ready. Come on down, okay?" His voice echoed through the rooms as he spoke in a friendly manner and ended it at that. He went towards the table and looked at the food laid out there. It was actually simple. He prepared Unagi don. It was grilled eel covered with sweet caramel-like sauce on top of freshly cooked rice. It does look simple but, the he did the grilling and the sauce was made from scratch by Yukito. His mother always emphasized that in cooking, one must do everything by hand. It makes the meal more delicious and healthy. He also prepared some warm tea to accompany the meal. He also made a bowl of fresh green vegetable salad with some mixed fruits, like berries (minus strawberries) which he both cut and chopped for easier eating. He still had free time so, he also made some taiyaki on the sides. He baked them with assorted fillings like strawberry, sweet red bean paste, chocolate, and cheese with some of the fillings he did on his own like the strawberry and sweet red bean.

It made him wonder if this was enough. Anyway, he did his part. Then, there was a slight smirk on his lips. He had a feeling dinner would be entertaining at the very least. This will be fun...

Kurou Kitomura

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"It is kind of strange, but it's not like anything serious actually happened between us.. It was just one kiss. No big deal, right?"

Kurou decided to set the bag down out of the way as he listened to a valiant attempt by Kurumi to shrug it off as "No big deal". Unfortunately for her, she wasn't capable of speaking those words with enough indifference to convince the older Kitomura otherwise. If it weren't for the fact that Kurou himself had failed to really start this conversation properly, then he might've even said that it was a bit embarrassing and rolled his eyes. But that was not the case. However, he was now wondering if he was striking the nail on the head back then about her starting to fancy him. Well, the old him. The one who held a certain amount of chivalry and kindness with him, and usually had a bright, blinding smile on his face whenever he could.

Though now that he thought about it, when was the last time he genuinely smiled?

He couldn't recall before Kurumi interrupted the thought with, "Why are you bringing up the past like there was something there? It was just practice, like we agreed."

That was a good question. But he had an answer.

"Because you've changed." he replied as though her were merely mentioning a fact he'd learned somewhere. Of course she could say the exact same thing about him. He was still playing the role of a kind, naive boy whom most looked up to and respected and admired when they were fake dating. Even if on the inside he was already becoming a pessimistic, rotten person, he'd never once dropped the mask in front of her. It was sometime after she'd departed that he finally caved and decided the mask wasn't worth wearing. In fact, she had more of a right to say it to him than he did she, now that he thought about it.

But it was still true that she changed too.

He recalled mentioning to her on more than one occasion that she'd look much better without the glasses, and she did. He wasn't a playboy who was perfect with the ladies before, but at the very least he knew some general things that could help a nerdy-looking girl like she was. That, however, was not necessarily a bad thing. The look just didn't suit her as much as her current one did, and Kurou had realized that some time ago. Over the course of their "relationship", he recalled mentioning this multiple times, though he couldn't think it possible that it was him who she ended up listening to. He was someone who abruptly broke off the charade game they were playing and did so without a single reason nor explanation. It was not as if he had fallen in love with another girl or anything. In fact, she was probably the only girl he cared much for back at that time and he didn't feel a romantic attachment to her. At least one that he knew of.

"I think it would be best to never talk about it to anyone else. I do not plan to compromise my mother's and your father's happiness."

Kurumi very likely noticed that she had made a mistake before Kurou even started talking. His irritated look twisted into a powerful and scary scowl that might've even crushed some of that courage she was building up out of her. Even on a man as handsome as he was, it was intimidating to most. It was a look of absolute hatred, the kind you would give your worst enemy. "If your mother was interested in happiness, then she wouldn't have decided to marry that man." he spat as though the words themselves were venom. Fortunately for Kurumi, the density required to miss the point of that mini explosion was not found in abundance on Earth, so she'd likely know exactly what triggered him.

Kurou took a deep breath in. He knew that it wasn't right to get upset over something like this, but it wasn't so easy. He'd despised his father ever since he lost his mother. It had only gotten worse over the years, and it did not help that the man was never home to mend their wounded relationship.

But that wasn't Kurumi's fault, was it?

No, I guess not.

Kurou let out a sigh and relaxed himself, calmed himself. No reason to get mad at her for something she had no part in. Soon enough, Kurou's face relaxed entirely.

Perhaps to alleviate the increased awkwardness that had formed because of Kurou, or maybe because she was genuinely surprised about it, Kurumi brought up another subject entirely. Namely: cats. He looked at her with narrowed eyes once again, though these didn't seem to hold as much feeling in them as his last pair did. Cats were one of his least-favorite animals in the world. They all seemed to attack him when he scratched their bellies. Plus, their tongues felt like sandpaper and it was annoying. Not to mention they never listened. Dogs, however, were much more loyal, didn't have weird tongues, and let him scratch their bellies. It was no wonder why Kurou liked them more. The added bonus of not being allergic to them helped too.

Wait a minute, why did she bring up cats?

As he thought about this, his eye had already begun to get red, while he was also given an answer to his question.

"I brought my father's cat... He died when Nemui was little and she hates animals.. Taking care of him fell on me. He's been my responsibility for the past seven years." she explained.

What? What cat? Is it here?

He hadn't noticed a cat around. Then again, it wasn't as though he was really look around him to begin with. He was too busy being angry and awkward. And when Kurumi stood up from the bed and walked up right next to him to retrieve the cat, he felt even more awkward because he didn't see it until now.

"Yes, I am allergic to cats and they make my eyes irritate and swell up." he answered her. She wouldn't find out that he was oblivious to the presence of the cat until just moments ago if he didn't tell her, right? Taking a moment to look at the feline, he noticed that it didn't seem to walk.... at all. The thing looked like it weighed as much as small child. What the hell does she feed it?, he wondered silently. He knew it wasn't polite to call a girl fat, but what about her cat? Was that something you shouldn't do? He really wanted to ask her what in the hell happened to it. He would admit that despite not caring for cats, that they were typically cute. But there comes a point when spoiling an animal leads to negative results, and this was one of them. It looked like one that wouldn't land on its feet were it to fall. "I don't care much for going blind, you know..." he sighed.

In a way Kurou was an animal person in that he generally liked animals. He wasn't some activist for their rights or such, but he couldn't stand to see one suffer if they needn't. So, reluctantly, Kurou let out another sigh. "As long as it doesn't leave your room, then it should be okay." he said. "Just try not to leave your room with fur all over you as well."

Shortly after the cat incident was dealt with, Kurou heard his younger brother's voice over the intercom.

"Hey guys, dinner is ready. Come on down, okay?"

Suddenly, dinner seemed very good to the elder Kitomura. This whole situation had aroused quite the appetite from him, so dinner was welcomed. Also his eye was noticeably irritated and he wasn't feeling that well. "I'll see you downstairs or whatever. Perhaps you should grab your sister before you do." Kurou suggested, departing from the room and heading downstairs to meet his brother and the feast the young man had set out for them.

"Because you've changed."

B-Baka!!! Kurumi was almost enraged by the answer Kurou supplied her with. Sure, she was a bit flattered, but also so angry that she had to suppress the urge to slap him. What was that supposed to even mean? Was he talking about her physical appearance? Her attitude? There were so many different ways she could interpret his words, and trying to decipher them only irritated her more. What was with Kurou? Wasn't he the one who dumped her? She figured that he would have been more than grateful to pretend that they didn't know each other, yet here he was stirring up a pot that was so neglected that he had to blow cobwebs off of the mixing spoon. She didn't understand a minute of this. It felt like he was ripping open old scar tissue. Although she felt like crying, she held it all in. There were plenty of reasons she couldn't let Kurou get under her skin. Her mother was marrying his father, so all chances of a relationship between Kurou and herself would be thrown out the window in two days time, but also because she had been diagnosed with MS, and she definitely didn't want him to find out. The last thing she wanted was his pity.

Wait a second... Does he think that I went through this makeover because of him!? It was true, but she definitely didn't want him to know that! Immediately she shook her head, trying to gather up her resolve, "I changed because Shouta-kun's mom gave me a makeover when I was his date to her wedding two years ago. I liked the look, so I kept it. Everyone changes, that's just life." She responded in a level tone, her last sentence holding a bit more weight than the rest. Also, whether he knew it or not, Shouta was the name of Kurumi's boyfriend that she dated a few months after Kurou, but a few years before her third, and last boyfriend, Yuuji. She dated the other two no longer than half of a month each, before ultimately breaking up with them.

Kurumi was definitely more than startled by Kurou's response, even taking a step backwards for good measure. She wasn't sure what she said to set him off, but she knew that look, and it was always dangerous. She had received that very same gaze a few times by her ex boyfriend Yuuji, but that was another story, one she'd never tell anyone.

"If your mother was interested in happiness, then she wouldn't have decided to marry that man."

"She's a bit of a masochist, I guess. So long as she's alive and smiling, she can marry the man from Fifty shades of Grey for all I care. Gomenasai." Kurumi stated, returning her gaze to the window, her cat still in her arms. She kept her distance, hoping it would make it easier on Kurou. She'd already witnessed one outburst, and she'd hate to have to get in between him and Ryouta, but she'd do it in a heartbeat.

He seemed to calm down, judging by the aura of the room. She didn't make eye contact however, still a bit shaken by his reaction. She wasn't trembling or anything, but it just brought back memories she didn't want to think about. She wasn't even sure why she apologized. Maybe it was out of habit? It was always the easiest way to calm Yuuji down. She didn't realize that she was still conditioned to attempt to defuse spouts of intense anger.

"Yes, I am allergic to cats and they make my eyes irritate and swell up."

I see... Kurumi had been afraid of that answer and Ryouta gave a soft meow, as if in disapproval. Shiori knew that cats couldn't understand humans, but the timing was too perfect. The cat was indeed very fat, causing her arms to wobble. She lacked the muscle to hold him for very long, so she placed Ryouta on her bed, and the cat immediately flopped on it's side, purring happily. She wasn't sure why Ryouta was so heavy... She fed him two normal portions daily, but the cat never did have a lot of motivation to exercise. She blamed the cat's weight on chronic laziness.

"I don't care much for going blind, you know..."

"I understand that." She stated, biting the inside of her cheek. She couldn't help but tense up as she thought about it. She turned her gaze to her poor, obese cat and wondered how much he would hate her for having to sleep in the shed. She couldn't ask to keep him inside if Kurou's allergy was that severe... but she still felt bad for the car. She wouldn't want to live with a cat either if it was her. .. but Ryouta's never slept alone before, and she couldn't remember the last time she slept without him.

Kurumi literally jolted when she heard Kurou sigh, having completely lost herself among her thoughts when she mentally pictured a soaking wet Ryouta in the rain.

"As long as it doesn't leave your room, then it should be okay."

"Eh? Really? A-Are you sure? Arigato!" She blinked a few times, unsure if she really heard him correctly. Why was he being so nice..? After she was certain, her entire face lit up with happiness. For a second, she was so grateful that she almost leapt over to wrap her arms around him in a very big hug, but two factors immediately saved her from the embarrassment that would have followed. One, she remembered that he was still in fact, her ex.. and two, she also had just touched the cat. She pretended to have lost her footing to cover up the fact that she nearly hugged him, "Oops. I must be a little lightheaded from the drive..I nearly fell." She laughed, backing up and putting a hand on her chest. She was an affectionate person these days, typically seen hanging all over her friends, quite literally. She hugs on, cuddles, and touches just about everyone that she cares about, and nearly absentmindedly did the same to Kurou.

"Just try not to leave your room with fur all over you as well."

"Got to stock up on Lint rollers. Got it." She replied sheepishly, saluting in a slightly mocking manner. She was saved by the bell however, quite literally.

"Hey guys, dinner is ready. Come on down, okay?"

The voice scared the living hell out of her, and she immediately turned a shade of bright red, "Does that thing work both ways!?" She asked in a mortified tone. She definitely didn't want either of the boys eavesdropping in on her conversations to her friends.

"I'll see you downstairs or whatever. Perhaps you should grab your sister before you do."

"Hai, always." She replied, waving him off casually. She always checked in on Nemui. The younger girl was the only thing that kept her going after their breakup, but that was yet another detail she'd never share with anyone, at least not willingly.

She wiped her clothes down as good as she possibly could, leaving her bedroom and entering her sister's only to realize Nemui had stepped out. Shiori made her way down the steps and joined the two boys, "Did Nemui tell either of you guys where she went..? She stepped out apparently.." She announced to the two. She shot them both a curious look, wondering if anyone knew where her younger sister had run off to. She felt bad for not noticing, but she did have Kurou in her room ripping open old wounds.. Could anyone really blame her? She was slightly avoiding eye contact with Kurou, especially since she nearly dropped her guard... at least she didn't actually hug him, right?

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He turned around to see that the first one down the stairs was his older brother. There was a moment of silence from his end as he assessed Kurou's demeanor. Yukito tilted his head to the side slightly to emphasize that he was thinking about something. "Ku-nii." He called out to his brother as he remembered the message of their father in full detail. Sometimes, he hates that everything he hears are perfectly preserved in his memory. "Thanks." He simply stated. It referred to his older brother's attempt of at least doing his best to be accommodating. There was no point mentioning to Kurou about their father's message. He knew well that his older brother resents the man very much.

"Oh, Kurumi-san." His eyes shifted from his brother to the blonde-haired girl. The girl joined them as well, but where was the other one. Speaking of which, that girl seems familiar to him. He wasn't able to mention it earlier. He just wasn't sure where exactly. Well, he could get to it later, but before he could answer where the other girl is, Kurumi beat him to it. "No, she didn't. I also didn't hear her go out." He answered while noticing something strange of Kurumi. She was avoiding to look at Kurou which was suggested by her body gesture, so something did happen. He inwardly smirked about this while glancing at Kurou. "Kurumi-san, why don't you try calling her?" He suggested as she should have the number of her sister while keeping the observation to himself.

"While you're doing that, I'll take a look around outside. Ku-nii text me if she answers." Yukito offered as he grabbed hold of jacket that was hanging at the coat rack and the gate beeper by the entrance. He wore it while looking at the two with a smile that was considered friendly, but inside he was having a mischievous thought. "Behave yourselves while, I'm out okay?" He gave them a playful wink and stepped outside. There was no need for him to wait for their replies. It seemed that leaving those two alone tend to cause certain moments, as they feed more wood to fire. Anyway, he went towards the courtyard as the sakura blossoms littered the ground. It was a beautiful sight. His mother had designed this actually. She fell in love with these trees when she came to Japan, so she wanted one at their house.

He walked through the gates as he opened it and then began to wonder which direction he should go first. It was night so, there were less people out on the streets. This was rather quiet neighborhood really, but this was enhanced more by the chill in the air. There was still some traces of the winter cold even if it was spring. "Let's go here." He finally chose a direction as he walked through the streets. It didn't take a while before he noticed an odd scene and the focus of his search. "Nemui-san?" He called out to the girl who seemed to be apologizing suggested by her actions to a black-haired boy. He could only guess it was about something since she was literally inside the yard of another house. "Excuse me. I'll barge in. I'm Kitomura, Yukito. Did she cause you any trouble?" He entered the yard and looked at the boy. He had never seen him before around this area, but it's not like he roamed the neighborhood.

The boy seemed to be roughly around their age group which he judged by appearance alone. Yukito stood beside Nemui and offered him a gentle smile before looking at the other boy. "I'd like you to forgive her. She didn't mean any harm. I'll take full responsibility. She lives with us at the Sakura Square." Apparently, they're neighbors. That's when he remembered. This is the Suzuki residence. His mother would often visit her when she was still alive. "This might be a bit forward, but are you related to Mari-baachan?" When the boy answered or not, he spoke again in politeness. "Well, if it's not too much, please say hi for Mari-baachan from me. I would like to do it personally, but..." He glanced at Nemui. "I have to get her back. Someone's worried about her." He then returned his attention to the boy again. "We'll see you around then. Sorry for the intrusion and thank you. Have a good night."

His eyes of orange were on Nemui once more. "Shall we go, Nemui-san?" He then lead the way back to Sakura Square. "I won't ask what happened and this is probably shouldn't be my business, but girls shouldn't be out at night especially if no one knows. There is not much of a crime here, but we could never know." He told her with concern reflected in his eyes, but of course, he is a very effective actor, whether this was true or not, only he knows. That's when he changed the subject. as he remembered something that he should ask her. There was nothing wrong in his question in his opinion. "Nemui-san, I don't want to sound rude or anything." He glanced at her as he stopped before the main entrance of the house. His hand was at the door knob ready to open the door. "But, do I know you from somewhere?" He leaned forward as his face was now close to hers, but there was still a gap between them, but if anyone had seen them, they would think that they were going to kiss.

"I feel terrible forgetting someone cute as you." He then pulled away as he now had an embarrassed look on his face and this was not really hard for him to do. "Anyways, dinner is ready. I hope you'd like it."

Kurou Kitomura

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Something Kurou began to realize as he descended the staircase was that after all that had happened today, he was especially hungry now. The aroma of food did not go unnoticed by the older Kitomura as he reached dining room, which had already been set. He might not have been a big fan of his younger brother's music, but Kurou hada to admit that he could also whip up a great meal, contrary to popular belief. It would just barely be an overstatement to say that his mouth was watering just by looking at the dinner that had been laid out.

"Ku-nii, thanks." Yukito said to him, temporarily distracting his gaze from the food.

Although he did not feel like his actions really warranted gratitude, Kurou didn't feel like making a deal about it either. He answered with a "Yeah" before turning his attention to the source of footsteps coming into the room. It was Kurumi, of course, however it was duly noted that she was missing her younger sibling, and that was not good. Kurou wanted to eat as soon as possible, and unfortunately his mother had made it quite clear that family had to eat together. This meant that for every second that Nemo wasn't with them, Kurou spent being hungry. Like most people, Kurou didn't like being hungry. In fact, he got even more irritable when his belly was not satisfied. Kurumi's question did not help to ease the situation at all.

"Did Nemui tell either of you guys where she went..? She stepped out apparently.."

So the first thing you do when you get to your new home is get lost?

At this point, Kurou had all but forgotten about the events that transpired just a few minutes ago, now simply angry and focused on the dinner, or lack thereof. So Kurou himself didn't seem awkward at the moment, in contrast to Kurumi. No, he just seemed to be in a foul mood. "Where'd she even go?" he rhetorically asked, knowing that if either Kurumi or Yuki knew, that they wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. Still, his patience was shorter than anybody else's, and he made it quite obvious. But that being said, he... really couldn't do anything, could he? Perhaps he should go outside and---

"Kurumi-san, why don't you try calling her? While you're doing that, I'll take a look around outside. Ku-nii text me if she answers." his younger brother stated, before grabbing a coat and leaving a house. That was, however, not before he made one last comment.

"Behave yourselves while, I'm out okay?"

Now, on top of the partially swollen eye he had, he was beginning to develop a headache from his brother's shenanigans. Kurou rubbed his temples in response to the comment, seemingly unaffected himself. That was because he knew giving his young brother any form of reaction was more or less a confession to the boy's suspicions, whatever they may be. And, after living with him for about his entire life, the older Kitomura had little trouble dealing with him. Whether or not the same could be said about Kurumi was a different story entirely. But Kurou didn't even bother to really check to find out what kind of face she was wearing. He instead made his way towards the nearest available couch and laid himself down on it. He wanted to eat now, but he didn't really have much to contribute to the search since Yuki had already gone outside to look, and Kurumi was calling Nemo. Nobody could blame him for laying down, right? Well, unless they wanted him to cheer them on, but anybody should know that Kurou would be the last person to shout "Ganbare, Kurumi/Yuki" as they worked. It would even be creepy.

This had better finish up quickly.

"No she didn't, I also didn't hear her go out."

"Eh..? I wish she'd quit doing that.." Kurumi responded, though her words were somewhat rhetorical.

"Where'd she even go?"

"She likes to wander around.. I've found her sleeping in a tree before.. One time in her closet.. It's hard telling." Kurumi replied in a worried tone, letting out a distressed sigh. Kurumi was losing her cool, she wouldn't even know where to begin looking for Nemui.. She didn't know the neighborhood and would likely get lost in the process of looking for her.

"Kurumi-San, why don't you try calling her?"

"Good idea.. She's probably just in the yard.." Kurumi nodded, trying to reassure herself more than anything. She reach into her shirt pulling a very pink and girly phone out of her bra, considering her outfit didn't have pockets. She dialed immediately, but the call went straight to voicemail after a single ring. Was Nemui's phone dead? She ran a hand through her long blonde hair, pacing now. What if something happened to her?

"While you're doing that, I'll take a look around outside. Ku-nii text me if she answers."

"I'll try again.." Kurumi knew it would do no good if her sister's phone was dead, but she couldn't help but hope that it was simply turned off and that her sister would realize it and turn it back on. She could be hopeful though, right?

"Behave yourselves while I'm out, okay?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Kurumi retorted with a roll of her eyes, whether Yukito could hear her or not. Thankfully Nemui's disappearance was enough of a distraction to keep her from losing confidence. If it were under any other circumstances, she would have blushed like crazy from that statement. The chaos actually kept Yukito's suspension at bay, but she immediately realized that he was on to them. First Kurou gave it away, and now she did? They were really making a mess of things, even without arguments. Kurumi noticed out of the corner of her eye that Kurou went to the couches, and she had to keep her mind off of the current situation. She'd drive herself crazy if she kept obsessing over scenarios. One involved the black market, and the outcome was a bit cinematic.. She definitely needed a distraction.

She approached, sitting down on the arm of the couch, but on the opposite side than him where his feet were, "If you're going to be a couch potato, at least put something good on the T.V... Or, you can surrender the remote..." Her tone was innocent as she gave the ultimatum, as if she'd done this a million times. She was obviously fairly social nowadays judging by her casual presence and confidence, whether it was fake or not was another conversation that was not to be had. Either way, Kurumi was typically used to getting her way, "What'll it be? Shall we wage war or can we come to a peaceful compromise? We can switch it to a music channel when dinner starts." She chimed, holding her hand out in case he chose to give up the remote, but she doubted that he would. Her eyes shifted to the window as she waited for his response. She knew if Nemui didn't want to be found, that sometimes even she struggled to find her little sister.. How would a stranger be able to if something was wrong with Nemui?

"I'm not going to tell him anything, but he totally has noticed we've been weird. How can we get him off our backs?" Kurumi sighed, letting her legs dangle as she got comfortable on the couch's arm. It was her favorite part of the couch, ever since her father made a habit of letting her sit on his recliner's arm rest while they would watch his favorite TV shows together.

"Suzuki, Ren."

"O-Ohayo, gozaimasu. It's a pleasure to meet you, Suzuki-San." Nemui replied with a polite and formal bow to respond to his own. It wasn't often that she talked to boys, so Nemui couldn't help but be more than a little skittish.

"It's fine. You should get going. You might catch a cold."

"H-Hai... I didn't mean to stay out this long.. G-Gomenasai.. You seem cold too..." Nemui shifted her eyes to Ren again, and the fact that his hands were pocketed again. She felt bad that he was getting cold on her account..

"Nemui-san?"

"K-Kitomura-San?" Nemui's voice grew questioning, and she tilted her head at him. What is he doing here..? Immediately it triggered in her mind, he was here because she had taken longer than she'd thought. Dinner was ready, and she was holding everything up, wasn't she? Now she was really embarrassed, she never meant to cause a delay to the dinner plans.

"Excuse me. I'll barge in. I'm Kitomura, Yukito. Did she cause you any trouble?"


"E-Eh..?! I-I didn't do anything really.." She immediately responded, waving her hands side to side in a dismissive fashion. She didn't break anything, just a bit of trespassing.. The situation was defused and everything, definitely nothing to see here.. yet Yukito kind of made her feel like a delinquent all of a sudden when he put it like that.


"Not really."

The words brought a small smile to the shy girl's lips. She couldn't help but feel glad that he admitted to not being bothered by her, thus proving her innocence. She kind of thought that she was irritating him, but apparently she wasn't.

"I'd like you to forgive her. She didn't mean any harm. I'll take full responsibility. She lives with us at the Sakura Square."

He's playing Judge, Jury and Parol Officer.. Nemui twitched for a moment, sweat dropping as he excused her and tried to take responsibility. For what, she wasn't sure.. Though she looked up and rubbed the back of her neck. She noticed the smile on Yukito's face, wondering what he believed that she truly did. It wasn't like she skipped through the flower bed and used the daisies for target practice.

"No need for taking responsibility. It's all settled now anyway."

"A-Arigato, Kitomura-San, but as Suzuki-San said, everything is fine n-now.." She managed to stutter out, gazing over to Sakura Square awkwardly. She began to wonder what her new brother thought of her, and it made her nervous. Would he tell Kurumi and Kurou? Would it get blown out of proportion?

"This might be a bit forward, but are you related to Mari-baachan?"

Eh? Now he's striking up conversation? Nemui shifted her balance back and forth, fiddling with the headset around her neck as the two boys conversed.

"Yeah, she's my grandmother."

Oh.. He's talking about the owner of this house? I'm glad I met the boy instead of the older woman.. She might have not been as understanding.. Nemui thought to herself, chewing on the inside of her cheek. Her stomach silently rumbled, and she knew it would soon let out an embarrassing growl if they did t get a move on.

"Well, if it's not too much, please say hi for Mari-baachan from me. I would like to do it personally, but... I have to get her back. Someone's worried about her."

"Gomenasai." She stated in a guilty manner, not wanting to get in between Yukito and anyone else. She could walk home alone if he really wanted to, but Nemui also took into account that it could have just been an excuse to leave sooner, so she remained quiet.

"Okay, I'll tell her."

Nemui looked between the two boys. They were getting along well enough, but she was a bit jealous of them. They conversed so freely, as if it was as simple as breathing. She wished she could be more like them when it came to that aspect.

"We'll see you around then. Sorry for the intrusion and thank you. Have a good night."

Despite overcompensating for the situation, Nemui realized that Yukito really was fairly skilled at apologizing. Who did he spend so much time apologizing for? Did he learn to get himself or someone else out of trouble? She wasn't sure, but she definitely didn't plan to forget this tidbit of information. Just who are you, Yukito Kitomura?

"Good night."

"Oyasumi Nasai, Suzuki-San. Gomenasai." She apologized again, just for good measure. She didn't want to earn a bad reputation with her neighbors over once incident, so she definitely wanted to make it clear that she was apologetic about using his yard as a panic room.

"Shall we go, Nemui-san?"

"Hai." Nemui followed Yukito back, lagging behind him a few steps, just in case any of her classmates were watching. She didn't want to be seen getting too casual with him, just in case there were any of his fan girls spying. She remained quiet, and wouldn't have said anything the entire walk if he hadn't sparked up a conversation. She couldn't ignore him, that would be beyond rude..

"I won't ask what happened and this is probably shouldn't be my business, but girls shouldn't be out at night especially if no one knows. There is not much of a crime here, but we could never know."

"I-I'm out at night all the time.. We're both kind of used to it." Nemui admitted as she followed him back to Sakura Square. She knew she should probably elaborate, considering that leaving her confession as it was made the two sound a bit scandalous, "W-What I mean is.. Kuru-chii works as.." Her words came to an abrupt halt as she realized her sister wouldn't want the two to know that she spent some of her free time working as a cosplay cafe maid. She laughed a bit awkwardly and immediately continued, hoping he wouldn't ask, "Well... that's her business.. but, I work at a bookstore part time.." She wasn't sure how to respond to the concern that she saw in his eyes, seeing as this was a whole new experience for her. She never had to deal with others worrying about her before, and to be honest, she wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about it. It was just awkward, sure it was sweet, but it didn't mask the awkwardness between them.

"Nemui-san, I don't want to sound rude or anything."

"Eh..?" She looked to Yukito in a questioning manner, her golden eyes blinking in curiosity as she stood there patiently waiting for him to get to his point. What did he have to say that would be rude? Did she do something to anger him?

"But, do I know you from somewhere?"

Nemui froze as she realized that Yukito was leaning in towards her, her eyes widening a bit at his closed in on her. She knew that this situation looked bad, from any angle, so she had to act fast. There were always paparazzi idly waiting to snap a compromising picture of Ichigo Fuwa. Nemui slightly nodded her head to respond to his question, "W-we were in the same class a c-couple of times..." She had to force the words out, remnants of the chocolate pocky that she'd ate earlier still lingering on her breath.

"I feel terrible forgetting someone cute as you."

She was glad that he pulled away before she had to put space between them, and she bit her bottom lip gently, "T-There is no need!" She quickly assured him, shaking her head quickly. She didn't understand why he felt bad, especially since they never even spoke to each other until today. She averted her eyes for a moment, trying to get her emotions in check, "W-we've never even said hello at school, I don't blame you. Y-you don't have to say stuff like that." She totally dodged the compliment, but she wasn't unaffected by being deemed as 'cute'. However, Nemui didn't believe that she was attractive in any form or fashion, nor did she believe that Yukito actually thought of her as 'cute'. He probably said it to make me feel better...

"Anyways, dinner is ready. I hope you'd like it."

She wasn't sure why he looked embarrassed, but she didn't ask either. She was embarrassed enough on her own, in more ways than one, and it wasn't just because of Yukito. She really didn't like getting caught by the neighbor.. He wasn't a super model, or an idol like Yukito, but she still found Ren to be a more approachable type of attractive.

Once inside of the house she came to the living room and board respectfully to Kurumi and Kurou, "I-I'm so sorry for holding up dinner..." Nemui apologized in a very sincere and slightly humiliated tone of voice. She did not rise from her Japanese style bow for nearly an entire minute, "S-Shall we eat now? I-I really look forward to trying Kitomura-san's cooking... Plus Kuru-chii and Kitomura-Senpai have a big test tomorrow.." She announced, quite possibly throwing them both under the bus.

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|| Current Location ✦ Studio 9 |||| [ Theme ✦ [Fly On The Wall ] ||

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Yukito raised an eyebrow about Nemui mentioning about working part-time. It seemed both sisters do it. He wasn't opposed to it at all. That was their business and he wasn't going to stop them, but he did notice that stop in regards to Kurumi's work. There's a story to that. He would get to than in another time. For now, he was a bit disappointed. It's just that he already had his mind set that his brother would have companions to hang around the house and to have him gain a sense of responsibility towards the girls would be a fun thing to watch. There goes his source of entertainment, but he could do something about it to make it still worth the fun. He could also suggest to his brother to work part-time too. His thoughts made him inwardly smirked while his mask still perfectly intact. "I see, I'll give you and Kurumi-san keys for the gate and the house then." He noted casually. "If it wouldn't be too much, would you tell me what time do you and Kurumi-san get off from work?" His question came out as normal as day without a hint of anything. "I just want to have a baseline so, I wouldn't worry about you girls too much." He ended it with a smile and a playful wink.

Another point of interest for him was the affirmation of his suspicion. That's why Nemui looked familiar to him. They are classmates. He missed her probably because she was a wallflower. It fits her current appearance which he wouldn't tell her right now. There are other times where he could use those descriptions. "Classmates, if that's the case. Would you like to go to school together tomorrow?" His words came out of his lips as if they were the most common thing to say in this situation. It's like he's unaware of the implication of him being seen together with a girl or maybe he just didn't care, but that was one-sided. He might not, but the other party might care a lot. "We're going to be siblings by the end of this week. I've always wanted to walk with a pretty sister by my side." Usually, there should be a wink at the end, but he simply had a warm smile on his face and then entered the house without another word about it.

"We're back! Did you two behave while we're out?" He announced as he found Kurou and Kurumi at the living room. His orange eyes locked on to the two, but nothing was revealed about his current interests or intentions. He was just being playful and cheerful as he had been depicted so far. "Don't worry about it too much, Nemui-san." He stated while looking at Nemui's very formal bow. "It was no trouble at all." He noted with an airy smile before walking on ahead of her. "Let's have dinner before it gets too cold." But Nemui's words about a test, did earn his attention for a bit. He wasn't that worried about Kurou's grades academically. The guy was good with it. There's a bit of a decline, but that was understandable with what's going on in their lives. Anyways, Kurou was in no danger as much as he could tell. Their mother had always taught them to have a good education, so it kinda stuck on them. "Is that so? Well, I guess it's best for Kurumi-san and Ku-nii to get to bed early then." He noted as he took his seat and waited for everyone else to do the same. "Go ahead and dig in!"

Truth be told, it had been a while since he had cooked for anyone. This past vacation, he was busy with work that he often called Kurou to ask for deliveries or make his own meals. They barely ate together nowadays since he began his pop idol career. He wasn't pleased about the whole remarrying idea and being family with such dimwitted girls who shouldn't be here in the first place, but he was thankful for them for one thing. He was able to cook for his brother and have dinner with him along with the added spice. May be, this wouldn't be that bad as his brother was probably brooding about. Still, he couldn't blame Kurou for hating the arrangements. For now, he was enjoying the thoughts of having new toys to play with. He would make great effort to always play with them. "Itadakimasu!" He announced as he grabbed his chopsticks and began his meal along with the others. Well, food seemed to taste a bit better than before.

---

On another area, someone was having a rather lonesome dinner. This was none other than Shin. It wasn't that lonely. He had been used to it for a long time. He had just returned from his grocery shopping and was now lounged at his couch while watching some movie with aliens and predators. He just popped in the first DVD he found and just rolled with it. He was living on his own at an apartment he rented through his earnings as a model. He didn't want to depend on that man who was mandated as his father. He grabbed a few chips from the snack he was holding and then looked at the nearby wall clock. It was too slow for his comfort. He wanted it to be morning already. The idea made him smirk. Who would have thought he would be so excited to go to school? He never pegged himself to be. He stood from his seat, turned off the movie, and then decided to take a shower.

Once inside, he removed his shirt and noticed a very pale red mark around his stomach. That's right. He bumped into that girl. It didn't do much damage and his clothes are going to be sent to the dry cleaner's. The girl was flustered by his action, but that was normal. It made him smile, just a small one. It's meaning only known to him and then he ended that encounter with that. He had no idea that tomorrow was going to be more than he bargained for. But as of now, he placed his phone at the sink as he played some songs installed on it. The song playing was actually Yukito's as he stepped on to the shower and just relaxed. Tomorrow was going to be a great day, that's what he assumed. If only, he would know.

Kurou Kitomura
Tactical Espionage Action

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Kurou was just minding his own business when all the sudden some.... wait, I really need to find new material. This is getting old, isn't it?

Originally, the television had a rerun of Kurou's favorite show on and despite being quite Famished, it proved to be a satisfactory distraction. The show, titled "Unliving Book", was a deep and suspenseful thriller about a highschool student with the power to kill whomever he wished by merely writing a name in a book. He is confronted by the greatest detective in the world and it only gets better from there. However, his pleasure was short-lived. As if owning the place she had just moved into this very day, Kurumi took it upon herself to insult the show he'd watched many times over, without even batting an eye. Was she aware of what she'd just said!?

"If you're going to be a couch potato, at least put something good on the T.V... Or, you can surrender the remote..."

B-but it's one of the highest-ranked anime of all time.... ! How dare she!

Kurou inhaled deeply, looking at her as if she'd insulted him. In his eyes, she did. What she said could never be taken back, no matter how much she wished for it to be.

"What'll it be? Shall we wage war or can we come to a peaceful compromise? We can switch it to a music channel when dinner starts."

"I don't care." he said, tossing the remote to Kurumi. It wasn't hard to tell he was lying, but if it wasn't going to be Unliving Book, then the statement was actually partially true. "Watch whatever." That said, he figured that she'd put some weird reality TV show on. Most girls liked that nowadays, right? Kurou was one of those guys who kinda filtered out a lot of the talk girls did, even on dates. That was probably why he couldn't hold a girlfriend for more than a couple weeks at a time.

No matter what it was that Kurumi had put on the television, Kurou simply watched it with lifeless eyes. His stomach had been calling to him for quite some time now. It hurt. Despair overtook the Kitomura as he questioned whether or not he would die right here.

Hungry......

"Eh?"

Oh, she's talking.

"-e totally has noticed we've been weird. How can we get him off our backs?"

It almost sounded like she suspected that he knew a reliable way to do such. He did know his brother, sure, but the best plan Kurou had at the moment wasn't that great if you were bad at acting (which Kurou was). Sighing a turning his gaze from the TV to his new sibling, he told her the best plan conceivable in this scenario.

"Nothing happened, remember? If there's nothing for him to get out of it, he'll get bored eventually.... probably. Just remember not to---" Kurou was cut off before he got the chance to finish his sentence by the sound of the door opening. It almost even seemed like he was going to say something important.

"I-I'm so sorry for holding up dinner..."

Kurou had jumped up immediately upon hearing the door open and by the time Nemui had muttered those words, he was already near the table. "You'd better not do it again." he snapped. Fortunately, Kurou was more interested in eating than being angry at Nemo, so he found his seat and sat down immediately. His "Immunity to Yuki's Teasing" buff was still very much active. Whether or not it was because he didn't actually hear the tease or because he was much more interested in the food before him was anybody's guess.

The only thing respectable about Kurou's table manners was the "Itadakimasu" before almost literally lunging at his food to devour every piece in sight. He honestly ate as though he hadn't seen food for the past two weeks. Kurou had probably noticed he wasn't the most beautiful person in the room during this period of time, but he also had little care for what people thought about him either. He just really wanted to eat. And also leave the table, but eating came first. So, it went without saying that Kurou finished the food race in first place. Unsurprisingly so considering him being the only participant of the race. But the most surprising thing of all is that despite his animal-like consumption of the food, he was perfectly clean after a few rubs of a napkin on his face.

"Bed does sound good." Kurou suddenly said as if continuing the expired conversation before presumably heading off towards his bedroom. Little did his siblings know, this was all a stealthy act to not have to clean the table.

"I don't care."

"... I won't even go there." Kurumi replied back with a sigh, and a shake of her head. He definitely wasn't the Kurou that she remembered, and it was still taking a while to get used to it. She caught the remote, but it nearly slipped through her fingers as she received a jolt of pain from her finger tips all the way up her arm. She closed her eyes for a moment to collect herself, to avoid a pained expression from making it's way onto her features. She opened them a little bit later, switching the movie to Scream, the TV show. She liked horror movies, never romance. Chick flicks always reminded her of what she didn't have, and despite the nightmares that would surely come with watching a horror based TV show, it was better than watching a romance movie with her ex, she hated them on their own, but that would be a million times worse.

"Watch whatever."

"Depressing." She stated amongst a sigh followed with a frown as she looked over to Kurou. Was he always like this, or was it because of her? Would he be like this from now on? She decided to attempt making amends, seeing as Yukito did request that they behave, but mostly because the victory was too easy? "I was only half serious." She stated, tossing the remote back to Kurou, not making eye contact with him as she continued on, "I don't understand that show you were watching, so I got bored of it." She explained, leaning back against the couch, but remained only on the arm of the couch so the two of them remained at a distance and did not touch at all. She began rubbing her upper arm absentmindedly, the same arm that nearly dropped the remote earlier, "You can change it back. I just wanted to see if this show was worth watching to be honest. My mother recommended it." Part of her felt a bit guilty for demanding the remote, seeing as Kurou didn't seem to see the lightheartedness behind it, and another part of her wished that Yukito and Nemui would interrupt, to make the awkwardness in the room dissipate.

"Nothing happened, remember?"

Kurumi nodded her head when he said that bit, the words stinging again. It stung when she said them, but somehow when he repeated them it managed to sting a bit more, "I know that, he just has a knack for making it more awkward than it should be." She confessed, but a lot more relaxed now, perhaps because she was tired, but she blamed it on the pain that shot through her arm. It was hard to fully focus on anything now when her arm was searing with pain, even her Kurou and Yukito problem fell as a close second on her priorities.

"If there's nothing for him to get out of it, he'll get bored eventually.... probably. Just remember not to---"

Kurumi was listening to his advice when her earlier prayers were answered, yet now she was angry. She wanted to hear Kurou's advice, but he couldn't give it now that Yukito and Nemui returned. She'd have to figure it out on her own, or lie. Either way, she was determined to keep it a secret from Yukito, "Thanks for the advice, Kitomura-San." Kurumi replied with a smile to Kurou, not daring to call him or Yukito by first name until this all blew over.

"We're back! Did you two behave while we're out?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Kurumi tilted her head in an innocent and oblivious manner, even batting her eyelashes in confusion for good measure. It was a little easier now, seeing as Kurou's sour mood was getting on her nerves. She wasn't as embarrassed anymore, because he didn't seem to have a lot in common with the Kurou she had such strong feelings for, aside from similar physical features, but even those changed. He looked older and was taller, but little else seemed to change about him.

"I-I'm so sorry for holding up dinner..."

"Ne-chan, you could have been.." At first Kurumi's voice was concerned sharp as she spoke to the younger girl, but toward the end it cracked a little. She was definitely upset, but she wasn't sure if it was more about Nemui wandering off or Kurou. Kurumi shook her head, letting her worries float off into the wind, because there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Never mind. You're safe, so let's just eat, okay?" Kurumi responded to her sister in a relieved tone, but didn't get the chance to say anymore, too startled and angered by Kurou's next words to say much of anything pleasant.

"You'd better not do it again."

Kurumi immediately shot a warning glare at Kurou, doing next to nothing to be discreet. She wanted him to know she wouldn't put up with his snarky attitude towards her innocent and timid sister. She wouldn't start trouble for no reason, nor would she expose their past, but being rude to Nemui in front of Kurumi was comparable to taunting a momma bear's cub. She wouldn't sit by and twiddle her thumbs, whether she currently felt weaker than an empty egg shell or not. Do that again, and you'll wake up with baby pink hair tomorrow... or none at all if I'm feeling particularly vicious today.. Kurumi thought to herself in a harsh manner, paying close attention to the moments to come.

"It was no trouble at all."

"Thank you for understanding, Kitomura-kun." Kurumi responded with a grateful expression, smiling to him, then at Nemui. She was glad at least one of the brothers wasn't being a total asshole to her little sister. Nemui was bullied enough at school, she wouldn't allow it to happen here too. Home was meant to be a sanctuary after all.

"Is that so? Well, I guess it's best for Kurumi-san and Ku-nii to get to bed early then."

"I'm going to go shortly after dinner so that I can get a little studying in on my own." She wasn't much for studying, so to Nemui this was obviously a lie. She was confident that her sister would not call her out on her choice, at least not in front of the Kitomura brothers. Honestly she just wanted to call it a night.

"Itadakimasu." Kurumi stated, her words forced and almost too synthetically sweet to utter. She was definitely faking it, still very ticked off that Kurou snapped at her sister as if he had the right. As far as she was currently concerned, she'd never accept him as a friend, so she'd never consider him family, especially if he couldn't tame that horrible personality he kept expressing. She almost wondered how she ever fell in love with such a vile person, but remembered that he was a far different person back then, and mourned the boy she knew. The Kurou that she knew was already dead, she did not know this person at all, so she suddenly didn't feel so much like a liar anymore. Perhaps this was the mindset she'd needed all along to get Yukito off of her back?

Kurumi remained otherwise silent and put a decent sized portion of salad on her plate, and nothing else. She'd chalk it up as being a vegetarian, but honestly she simply was terrified of gaining weight, and wished to eat as few preservatives as possible. She missed hamburgers, chicken, the works, but she had an image to uphold as school, seeing as she was the most popular girl there. Her altruistic behavior and ballet skills definitely did a lot to boost her popularity, she was the complete opposite of the mean girls that typically held her position in school.

It was hard not to notice Kurou's savage methods of eating, but she ignored him to the best of her ability, "Thank you, Kitomura-San. You really worked hard." Kurumi complimented with a very kind smile. A lot of the boys from school would describe her current smile as a gift from the angels. Kurumi never understood why they had a habit of over exaggerating, but she did find it a bit charming at times.

"Bed does sound good."

Kurumi put her plate and glass away quietly, bowing to Yukito and Nemui, "Excuse me, I am turning in early tonight. Goodnight Ne-chan, Kitomura-kun." She didn't feel awkward about leaving shortly after Kurou, mostly because she planned to long before he mentioned it. She left Yukito and Nemui to their dinner, making her ascent up the stairs, refusing to let her eyes wander in the direction of Kurou's bedroom. She went straight to her own, shutting the door behind her and changed into this {LINK HERE}.

"Ne-chan, you could have been.."

Nemui nodded her head, fully aware of what could have happened to her. She'd watched far enough Law and Order and CSI: Miami to know what happened to girls who weren't careful. Her eyes shifted from her sister in shame, "I know Kuru-chii... Gomenasai.." Her voice was soft, as if she were about to cry. Honestly she could have, but she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of her brothers twice in the same day. She withheld her tears to the best of her ability, gripping the oversized sleeves of her light blue jacket.

"Never mind. You're safe, so let's just eat, okay?"

Nemui nodded her head, closing her eyes as she delivered a kind smile to her sister, glad that she seemed to understand. Kurumi always understood, regardless of her mistake, and it made Nemui feel more than lucky to have her as an older sister. She couldn't imagine life without someone as kind as Kurumi as her sibling, but suddenly, she didn't have to imagine...

"You'd better not do it again."

Nemui blinked a bit in shock, tilting her head a bit. She wasn't sure if she had imagined it, but Kurou was far less kind about it. She finally realized that it wasn't her imagination when her eyes flickered to Kurumi, who was gazing at Kurou viciously. Nemui chewed the inside of her cheek, but decided to ignore Kurou. There was no point in engaging if he would respond harshly. This was definitely not the family she envisioned the past few nights, and she couldn't help but feel disappointed. Grumpy pants (Kurou).. Kuru-chii... and My death warrant (Yukito).. What kind of joke is this..? Was I a horrible person in my past life? She followed her sister and went to sit down, but was startled by Yukito's voice.

"It was no trouble at all."

Nemui couldn't conceal the small smile that formed on her lips when Yukito was reassuring that it wasn't a big deal. It was ironic that the brother who was nice to her would also be the brother that got her slaughtered tomorrow at school. This scenario came across as very rom-com to her, so much so that she almost wanted to laugh, just almost. To get a move on with dinner, Nemui sat beside of her sister at the table and waited for someone to start things off. She didn't look up, but Kurumi definitely seemed to be in a slightly better mood after Yukito's comment, so Nemui felt a little more confident in the group than she had been before, perhaps dinner wouldn't be a complete disaster?

"Is that so? Well, I guess it's best for Kurumi-san and Ku-nii to get to bed early then."

Nemui nodded in response to Yukito's question, but also to agree that their older siblings needed a bit more rest than they did. She let her gaze shift to Kurumi to gauge her reaction, but to her relief, Kurumi didn't seem angry with her for blabbing it out. She didn't even bother to look over to Kurou, not really appreciating that she was already getting harsh remarks at home. He didn't know her, and he was definitely not her boss. He wasn't her step brother yet, and even when he was, he would have to earn respect from her, she wouldn't simply hand it out freely. If anything, he lost a decent portion of her respect for his rudeness earlier.

"I'm going to go shortly after dinner so that I can get a little studying in on my own."

Nemui knew that Kurumi was lying, but she couldn't say otherwise in front of Yukito or Kurou. If she were to, both of the boys would know that Nemui was insinuating that Kurumi was a lying. Nemui refused to do make her sister out to be a liar.. even if Kurumi's grade depended on it, she wouldn't stain her older sister's reputation. Kurumi had to have a good reason to lie to every point blank, didn't she? Nemui hoped so, she also hoped that this wasn't some sort of bad influence from being around the brothers.

"Itadakimasu."

"I-Itadakimasu..." Nemui's tone was definitely more genuine and organic, and she did her best to pretend that Kurumi's version wasn't a bit.. overdone. She let out a soft sigh, closing her eyes before putting food on her plate. She grabbed a small portion of everything, gingerly eating with her chopsticks. She noticed Kurou's eating habits, and crinkled her nose before she could reprimand herself.

"Thank you, Kitomura-San. You really worked hard."

"I-I agree... It was very good..." Nemui complimented, but she did not make eye contact, she instead ended up staring down at her plate awkwardly, so she decided to finish off what little was left on her plate. She didn't want to be so awkward, but ever since her father died, her entire life was Topsy-Turvy.

"Bed does sound good."

Nemui said nothing, assuming that he just didn't want to clean his corner of the table which he'd somehow turned into a pigsty over the course of one dinner. She was utterly disgusted. There was no way in hell Nemui was going to clean after that slob, no one could pay her enough. She hated being this negative, but so far he wasn't making a very good impression, especially after how he acted when he was first introduced to them. He was rude to Kurumi earlier that day, and now he was rude to Nemui just before dinner? She couldn't help but feel that her thoughts were justified.

"Excuse me, I am turning in early tonight. Goodnight Ne-chan, Kitomura-kun."

Nemui grabbed up all of the dishes aside from Yukito's and began washing them, "I'll get the dishes, and you get the table then, Kitomura-san?" Nemui inquired, looking over her shoulder for a moment as she awaited his response. She couldn't let all of the work fall onto Yukito, especially where he had cooked dinner for everyone.

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Nemui sat in class with the girl's school uniform on (Boy's is also in the pic), and waited for class to begin. She left extremely early, so she would have an excuse to not walk to school with Yukito or Kurou. She didn't want to add to any of the bullying she would surely already experience this year. She tapped her fingers on the desk, reading a random page out of her history book as she waited. The classroom was completely empty, but considering how early she'd come in, that wasn't out of the ordinary. This is ridiculous... My life has come to dodging my new family like landmines every morning...

Seeing as she struggled to fall asleep the night before, Kurumi woke up a little later than everyone else. She knew that she would have to hurry if she wanted to make it to school on time, but she refused to sacrifice a single portion of her daily routine. She would rather be late than start off her morning inappropriately, any day. She found herself sprinting back and forth between her bedroom and the bathroom as she rushed to get ready and found it a bit exhausting to say the least. Nemui was already gone, and from the looks of it, so was Yukito. She figured that since Yukito was gone, that she was the only one still at the house. She assumed that Yukito and Kurou would have left together, but she wasn't entirely sure. Once she showered Kurumi quickly got dressed. She was almost certain that she was home alone now, because she didn't hear anyone else's footsteps in the house. She was done, and wasn't entirely late, yet. She quickly straightened her hair, then sprinted downstairs to put her shoes on. Once she was ready, Kurumi locked the door behind her only to be taken aback by the weather outside. Oh man.. Seriously? She thought to herself with a huge frown. She HATED thunder. It was terrifying. Kurumi pulled ear plugs out of her school uniform and pushed them inside of her ears before she ran to her bike and guided it out of the gate. Once she was clear of the gate, Kurumi used her beeper to close the gates to Sakura Square and hopped on her bike and began peddling away as fast as she could. She knew that it was going to rain judging by the color of the sky, but if she rode on her bike she felt that she might be able to beat the storm.

Seeing as she left some time after Kurou, Kurumi was caught in the middle of the storm, but managed to make good time on her bike. She put it away and ran into the school building as fast as she could. She almost slipped a few times on her way to her classroom, seeing as she was soaking wet. She managed to quite literally slide in right after Kurou. She almost bumped straight into him, but thankfully she slid in on her feet and managed to slip past him without chaos. She almost lost her balance on her way in, but she managed to maintain her balance for the most part. To most of her class's surprise, Kurumi didn't have any makeup on today. She was typically seen wearing at least mascara and lip gloss, but today she was attending class entirely natural seeing as the rain had washed away any attempts she had previously made to doll up. A close friend of Kurumi's worriedly approached Kurumi and put a towel on her head, and the blonde laughed a bit as she took her seat next to the other girl, diagonally behind Kurou's chosen spot. Shizuku, who was the friend that loaned Kurumi the towel sat on the right side of Kurumi, so Shizuku was directly behind Kurou as a result. Kurumi removed her earplugs reluctantly, wishing that she wouldn't have to, because the ongoing storm left her uneasy. She hated the sound of thunder, it completely terrified her and chilled her to the bone.

"Arigato, Shi-chan." She thanked her friend, doing her best to dry herself off. She didn't want to catch a cold after all. The teacher shot her a disapproving look, and Kurumi shot him an apologetic look despite silently laughing about her situation afterwards. She had to admit that the rain felt nice, but if the thunder got too loud, she'd definitely have to excuse herself from class. considering that she was a girl, and shouldn't have rode her bike out in the rain. The fact that she was soaking wet was definitely distracting some of the classroom's male population, but Kurumi was to busy trying to pat herself dry with the small towel that her friend had loaned her. She didn't make eye contact with Kurou, despite the fact that they both had been seconds from receiving detention, but also despite the fact that they now lived together. It was too much for her to wrap her head around, especially since her feelings towards him were complicated to say the least. The teacher began row call, and her name came up in the alphabet before Kurou's, seeing as Fujioka came before Kitomura, "Hai. I'm here, Sensei." She responded to the teacher. There was a quieter clash of thunder, and Kurumi tensed up in her seat, eyes shifting to the floor. She was doing her best to conceal her fear from the others, but if it got louder, she'd have no choice but to flee from class if she wanted to keep her phobia a secret. How mad would the teacher get if I randomly run out of class..? Kurumi asked herself hypothetically, biting on the inside of her cheek as she braved through the quieter bursts of thunder. She knew that her fear was unrealistic, especially since she was indoors, but human fears never seemed to answer to logic in the end. No matter how many times she tried to overcome it, something about thunder always was bone chillingly horrifying, at least in her opinion.

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|| Current Location ✦ School |||| [ Theme ✦ [Revolution ] ||

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Shin could not say anything else as he watched Yukito walked away from him. His eyes narrowed into annoyance as he scratched the back of his head. This stupid tabloid just destroyed his good impression on Yukito. He couldn't help but click his tongue. "Tch. I hate those rags." He muttered under his breath as he decided to get to his class. The students murmured if the truth of rumors that Yukito and him being more than friends have any truth. He cast a look at them which effectively silenced them while taking their leave. It wasn't threatening or anything really, his look. He didn't like to display himself irresponsible especially with Yukito around. He would just think of a way to make it up to Yukito, but he couldn't help but be a bit disappointed. The younger male appeared to be unperturbed about him having a lover even if it was just a bunch of lies. "He could show a bit of jealousy." He stated inwardly as he soon found his room, but at that time, it was already raining and the school bell rang. There was also a suspicious wet trail by the door.

The teacher seemed to notice his presence by the door and determined that he must be one of the new students. Apparently, this is the best time to introduce the two new additions to the class. The teacher could already see the commotion about to happen, the two new students were very appealing in every angle. "Quiet down. This year we have two new students who would join the class." The teacher motioned for Shin to enter and then looked at the very exotic student present in the class. "If you two would come here in front of the class and introduce yourself." Shin entered the room where the female populace immediately swooned at his appearance, some squealed in delight knowing who he is. As for Aina, he stood from her seat and the males inside the classroom couldn't help attached their eyes on her form. "Settle down!" The teacher shouted to silence the class while pinching the bridge of his nose. He then looked at the two. "Go ahead."

Shin looked at the girl standing beside him who also glanced at him. "Would you like to go first?" Aina asked in a very gentle manner. Her presence was extremely hard not to notice and makes one very docile and comfortable. At the same time, Shin knew for a fact the girl was natural in every way. There was no make-up in sight at all. "Ladies first." Shin noted and Aina nodded gently as she faced the classroom. "Good morning, my name is Aina Malik. It is a pleasure to meet you all. I hope I can be friends with everyone." Her smile was sweet and gentle. There was no air of malice or a signature of her faking it. Her eyes of purple glistened with sincerity. She definitely stood out in terms of physical assets without doubt and probably even the inner ones. The class immediately roused to liveliness as questions were thrown at her way especially by the boys, like 'do you have a boyfriend" and so on.

Aina was a bit overwhelmed by the reaction as she did her best to answer the questions being thrown at her. She also seemed a bit troubled, but did her best to accommodate. The teacher began to get annoyed once more as he silenced the class. "Shut it!" He then looked at Shin when the class quieted down. "Your turn." Shin nodded at this and looked at the class. "Morning. Ogawa, Shin. I'll be in your care." This time, it was the girls' turn. Shin did his best as well to cordially answer the questions. He was used to it. Somehow, the teacher could not help but shake his head. It seemed that those reactions couldn't be helped with these two students. It made him wonder how the other homeroom teacher where Yukito is in charge is holding up. "Anyway! That's enough. You two take your seats. Malik-san, you can seat in the chair you already have. Ogawa-san, take that seat beside Fujioka-san." They both nodded as they made way to their seats.

Shin took his seat beside the one known as Fujioka. He cast a glance at her earlier at the front since the teacher pointed at her. She was obviously wet and from the water trail he found at the entrance, she must be part of the cause. He took his seat and kept to himself. The students would occasionally steal glances at him especially the females. Others would do their own way of getting his attention with the offer of friendship. He of course, answered in amicable manner, but not before the teacher would scold them as the lessons were underway. It was also the same for Aina who was apparently sitting beside Kurou, but this was put to a stop with the teacher's intervention. It was only now she noticed that his seatmate was soaking wet. It must be rather cold especially with the rain still pouring outside. The kind-hearted person as she is. She took out a towel inside her bag. Her mother reminded her to be always prepared. That flash of memory brought a tint of sadness in her, but she shook it off for now. "Excuse me, here please dry yourself." She offered her towel to Kurou with a gentle smile. "It would be terrible if you catch a cold." She was seriously worried about his health and nothing else. She was also unaware of Kurou's temperament, but this is simply how Aina is.

As for Shin, he removed his jacket which made the girls looked at him as some kind of eye candy. It's true that the girl beside her was having herself dry with a towel, but it wouldn't be enough to cover the wetness of her clothes in which most of the boys were liking the spectacle. "Hey." He called out to her. "Here." He then unceremoniously wrapped his jacket around her. It smelled rather good probably from his perfume, but then again, it seemed to have sweet scent seemingly natural. After doing that, he returned his attention at front and didn't say another word. Classes were starting after all.

"Quiet down. This year we have two new students who would join the class."

Kurumi felt her interest increase a bit as the teacher mentioned new students. She blinked a bit, her blue eyes scanning the room for new faces, but didn't notice anyone new, except for a foreign looking female. Where is the other new student? Her question was immediately answered when an ivory haired male entered the room. Kurumi's eyes widened slightly at the sight of him, but not for the same reason as the other girls. Kurumi tilted her head a bit while she tried to wrack her brain. This boy was vaguely peeking through her memories, and it was driving her nuts that she didn't remember anything else about him aside from the fact that she definitely had met him before.

"If you two would come here in front of the class and introduce yourself."

The girls around the room went into a frenzy, and she blinked in surprise. Was she supposed to know who this guy was from the get go? He looked familiar to her, but not on television like the other girls were yapping about. She felt as though she'd met him before, but she wasn't sure when. She didn't know him well enough to remember his name, but his presence was strangely familiar. Why does it feel like I've met you somewhere before..? Kurumi thought to herself as she dried her hair to the best of her ability. She wasn't worried about how she looked, she was the 'it' girl after all. Most of the girls in their school copied her fashion and makeup style, so she didn't care if they saw her natural skin for once, it'd only give them another reason to be jealous. The boys seemed to notice the dark skinned girl, and it caused Kurumi to quirk a brow. Would she be like the other girls? If she challenged Kurumi, she would knock this girl down a few pegs.. but if the girl didn't try to steal her crown, she'd share some of the limelight with her, so long as she didn't get too greedy.

"Settle down!"

Kurumi smiled a bit, silently giggling at the teacher's irritation. Then her attention turned to the class and she pressed a finger to her lips with a wink before turning her attention back to the two students. She was very interested, and she wanted to hear them without the annoying chatter of the class as well.

"Would you like to go first?"

The girl's voice sounded sweet and welcoming, but Kurumi knew better than to judge a book by it's cover. Kurumi wasn't nearly as cheerful or energetic as she portrayed herself to be, so she wouldn't trust her first instincts when it came to this girl either. Her own facade was enough to make her skeptical. It was at this moment that Kurumi realized she wasn't the only one who wasn't wearing makeup today. The dark skinned girl wasn't wearing any as far as she blonde could tell, and that was enough to make her grin. The girls at this school would put her through living hell if she didn't stand up for herself. Nemui experienced it enough, so Kurumi knew what other girls would do to a cute face if they weren't confident enough to defend themselves.

"Ladies first."

The boy told the girl to go first, and Kurumi felt his voice clawing at her memory. His voice was just as familiar as his presence, but she still couldn't remember anything. Not knowing how she knew him was quite maddening. She wasn't sure if he was trying to be a gentleman, or if he was stalling, but she tried to have a little faith in chivalry. Ironically enough, Kurumi was currently sitting mere feet from the ex boyfriend who mercilessly shot her view of chivalry in the head.

"Good morning, my name is Aina Malik. It is a pleasure to meet you all. I hope I can be friends with everyone."

...Well isn't she a dreamer. Kurumi thought to herself, but couldn't help smiling a bit. She was a bit envious of the dark skinned girl's ability to honestly believe such a delusional fantasy. Kurumi was slapped with reality a long time ago, and she opened her eyes to the harsh truths of the world. She wasn't naive enough to think that she could get along with everyone in the class, and she hoped the other girl would wake up from that assumption before someone else crushed that aspiration with their cruelty. The boys asked their typical questions and Kurumi rolled her eyes. A girl like that would never date average guys like them... Did their father's forget to explain what 'out of your league' means? She asked herself with a hint of curiosity, but her mood was laced with irritation more than anything. The boys of the class were being annoyingly disruptive.

"Shut it!" The teacher snapped at the class before returning his attention to the new male student, "Your turn."

Kurumi's eyes landed on the white haired male once more, growing a bit anxious. She was so upset that she could have punched herself in agitation. She couldn't place her finger on it, but she was absolutely certain that she'd met this guy somewhere before.

"Morning. Ogawa, Shin. I'll be in your care."

Everything finally clicked into place as he spoke his name. Kurumi finally remembered him! She had seen him around her mother's studio. They did a photo shoot together! Him and Mama, it all makes sense now. Kurumi thought to herself with a nod. She knew that it wasn't a big deal, especially since Nemui and her were just doing their homework just a few feet off of the shooting site. It wasn't something that should have been very memorable, but she did remember him. She tilted her head, wondering how disruptive Yukito and Nemui's class was compared to this one, especially since the Junior class was typically the boring class aside from girls swooning over Kurou every year.

"Anyway! That's enough. You two take your seats. Malik-san, you can seat in the chair you already have. Ogawa-san, take that seat beside Fujioka-san."

Kurumi couldn't help but tense up. Did he remember her? She doubted it, but she hoped that he didn't. She'd gotten in a huge argument with her mother that same day, and she didn't want anyone outside of her mother's fashion agency to be aware. That day was one of many where she'd completely shut down her mother's attempts to recruit her as a model. Shizuka always spends half of her time around Kurumi begging her to do a photo shoot, and if her classmates knew that she was turning down a chance for fame, it would bring up unnecessary questions.. She didn't want anyone to find out about her health or self-consciousness. If all went well, she'd be just another new face to Shin, and that is what Kurumi prayed to be.

"Excuse me, here please dry yourself."

Kurumi overheard the new girl as she spoke to Kurou, bringing it to Kurumi's attention that Kurou had gotten rained on as well. He ddidn't seem to be near as drenched as she had been, but in the midst of her haste, she hadn't noticed him much at all. He looks so different now.. She thought to herself with a solemn expression, turning her head so that she was now facing the front of the room. She closed her eyes and let out a silent but heavy sigh. Was it all just a lie? She rhetorically asked herself, fingers gripping at the towel she was still gently massaging over her now damp hair.

"It would be terrible if you catch a cold."

A cold..? That's not unlikely.. especially considering how cold it is in here.. Kurumi thought to herself, a shiver running down her spine. She didn't even realize that she'd been trembling this entire time, but the air conditioning in this building was top notch so she wasn't all that surprised.

"Hey." She heard Shin call out, but she wasn't aware that she was the recipient of his words. She was so lost in thought that she didn't immediately realize she was the one that Shin was currently talking to, "Here."

It wasn't until he spoke again that her head quickly turned to look at him directly. Her blue eyes shifted to Shin and a questioning look adorned her face. She still wasn't certain if he was referring to her, and she was even more confused about why he was half dressed, at least by the school's dress standards. Shin came across as even more aesthetically pleasing without the school's jacket than he did with it on, and she noted that the whispering got a bit louder now that he'd removed it. Though when he draped the jacket over her shoulders, she finally responded as any girl would have. Her cheeks exploded into a deep shade of pink, and she blinked several times just to be sure that this wasn't a figment of her imagination. EH!? J-Jacket? This is really embarrassing.. Everyone is staring! She realized that her mind definitely wasn't playing tricks on her, and she found herself at a loss of words.

She could smell faint traces of cologne or perhaps shampoo, she wasn't certain which it was.. but it was a relaxing scent, especially during the ongoing storm. She could almost physically feel the envious glares against her back, and she bit her lower lip in response. It was a little embarrassing wearing his jacket, but he definitely restored a lot of her faith in chivalry. She finally found her voice so she leaned over just slightly, one hand grasping the jacket to keep it from falling off of her shoulders, "I'm Fujioka, Kurumi and I'm very grateful. Arigato, Ogawa-san." She whispered in a hushed tone to Shin. She avoided making eye contact so that the teacher wouldn't catch them, but also because she was still blushing. She at least owed him her gratitude, so she forced the words out before she lost her nerve.

Kurou Kitomura
I'm evil, stop laughing!

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Eww, kindness. Pleasantry. Friendliness.

Although Kurou had originally decided to take the introductions as an excuse to relax his eyes for a little bit, he could not drown out the sound of the students as they gave them, which meant that he had gotten to hear everything that was spoken, and because of his dislike for anything to do with 'kindness' and the like, he really couldn't react any other way than with disgust. Perhaps it may have been a disguise to fool the class, but something about the woman's tone and voice made it clear that she was at least used to such words. When Kurou tried to say the word "friend", it was noticeably more difficult than when this Aina chick did it. Well, he could just be overthinking it. Maybe she was just really great at acting? That was best to assume. After all, he learned firsthand that being nice got you nothing in return. It actually took things away. Important things. Kindness and chivalry.... they were just such flawed traits nobody should bother with, at least he thought so.

Placing his head back on the desk, Kurou tried to enjoy the rest of the introductions as much as he could. From what he gathered, the other student didn't seem to stray much from the generic intro most kids gave, which was perfectly fine by him. Even still, when he was done the rest of the class seemed just as interested in him as they did the girl who came before him. He hadn't actually bothered to get a really good look on the guy, so maybe he was just attractive? Typically, this was the case when the class got excited. They really were quite fond of their prettiest members. Though Kurou shouldn't be thinking about this as though it does not related to him. He may not be the "hottest" guy in the class, but he was definitely up there.

"Excuse me, here please dry yourself. It would be terrible if you catch a cold."

In all honesty, Kurou hadn't even noticed that this new girl had even approached him, let alone grab something from her bag and offer it to him. He looked up at her for a minute as if confused, before looking down at the towel she had presented to him. Now that he had thought about it, he was rather cold. It didn't really help the air conditioning was probably what this school blew most of its budget on. But soldiering onwards, he accepted to proposed towel, but not before noticing the pleasant scent it had. Girls really do like smelling good, don't they? Well, now it would have wet Kurou smell on it, however bad that might be. He wiped his face, hair, and neck thoroughly. Females who weren't staring in awe at Shin were gifted with the sight of something Kurou pulled off much better than anybody else: unkempt hair.

Of course, the bishounen shine and slow-motion came with it.

He felt much better now that he wasn't as damp. But... he had acknowledge this lady's generosity, even if it were a bit sickening. Looking back up to the young woman, he saw a disturbingly-bright smile on her face. It was actually almost painful to look at. Did she do this genuinely, or.... ? It didn't take a very good detective to solve that mystery. Her smile was not faked, or so it appeared even to the skeptical Kurou. This, of course, made him feel really awkward. Part of him resented the ability to do that, because that's exactly what he used to do. But another part just.... felt envious around people who could smile like her.

Maybe he should do something to wipe that smile off her face?

"Yeah.... thanks." He finally replied, offering the towel back to her and turning his face away. He then added, "Kurou Kitomura, by the way. Try not to forget it. I don't care to introduce myself more than once." There were, of course, many excuses for this exact response, when normally he'd go out of his way to make sure she wasn't so kind to him again.

Because it's the first day of school, so I don't want to bother right now!

The teacher would just give me a lecture if I caused a scene!

She's new here, so I can't just destroy her day!

Kurou tried not to think about it. Most others were paying attention to the other new kid anyways, so it wasn't likely to cause much of a fuss to start with. Speaking of, what was that new guy doin---

Oh, perhaps I was mistaken?

Kurou watched as Kurumi's face went from a normal, fair shade to a color quite similar to his thought font color a beet. Of course, this was incited by the most generic of gentlemanly moves, one that any man should know if he were looking for love in highschool or even college or university. The old "give her your jacket" trick. Yes, such a wonderfully easy move that required one to have but a jacket, and for the female in question to either be cold or wet, or both (Giggity). Kurou had seen it done many times before, and even done it himself during one point of his life (that was, of course, before the shooting). Generally, it was more effective the more attractive you were, and how suave your voice sounded. Kurou wouldn't be able to pull it off anymore on any of the students that knew him for obvious reasons, but because this young man, Shin, was new, then he had no problems doing so.

What a beast.

Kurou admired the man's technique. While some birds sang to court their partners, and some crabs danced, humans were unique. Instead of dancing, singing, or the like, they instead offered but a jacket. That, or depending on the vanity of the woman, copious amounts of jewelry, but that was not the case here. One jacket to swoon them all.

....

....

....

Kurou, of course, did not actually find the sight entertaining. Instead, he immediately became disappointed with the fact Kurumi was blushing so easily. Simply throwing a jacket on a girl should not evoke such a fierce blush at this day and age. Maybe when they were younger, sure, but that was back when the scariest and most intimate things kids could think of were holding hands and kissing.

Well, it wasn't like it concerned him anyways and unless someone else spoke to him, he just returned his head to the desk.