Archive of Our Own ^beta

They were at the University's school festival.

It was kind of a pain since Tomoko was planning on just spending the day at home reading manga or watching some anime. She's been a bit more occupied as of late, what with school, spending time with Yuri, Mako and Yoshida, finding time for Yuu-chan and emoji face still acting weird around her she didn't really have much time for the stuff that she used to do before. Nemo pestered her over anime every now and then but it was always about slice of life stuff anyway so it wasn’t exactly the same. She can’t even remember the last time she spent the day just lying in bed listening to drama cd’s.

Although it wasn’t all bad. It was nice spending time outside of the house every now and then, having someone to talk to that she could be herself with. So she didn’t mind too much. Plus this way she could check out the campus. She hasn't really decided on which university she wants to go to, or even what she wanted to study once she got there, nows her chance to start thinking.

Tomoko glanced around the outside areas, ignoring the food stalls and mascots that wandered about taking pictures with visitors and putting on a show for people that watched. The brightly coloured banners, decorations and flowers all around. Instead she looked at the tables that surrounded them.

“There are a lot of kids from our school here huh.” The lesbo commented thoughtfully as she glanced over to the table a little further away next to an onigiri stand, “Some of them are even from our class.”

“Well it is Chiba’s main University.” Yoshida said, popping her gum like the delinquent she was. Tomoko only shrugged.

“At least the campus looks nice.”

Yuri hummed.

There really were a lot of kids from their school there, Tomoko recognised a bunch from class 3-5 and others that she kind of met during her time at school who were in other classes.

When Mako suggested that they all go check out the festival that weekend, Tomoko hadn’t even known that there would be a festival to attend. But apparently everyone else did. They even ran into Nemo and her friends including Class mom when they got there. Asuka and Nemo opted to spend the first few hours there wandering around with them along with that prudy friend of theirs, the one that always had her hair up Tomoko forgets her name-Okada right. They went to go look for the boys sometime after that and Tomoko was more than relieved at the reprieve. They managed to shake off Ucchi after her friends showed up and literally dragged her away but Nemo was still a real pain sometimes and Asuka’s mothering was a little overwhelming. Tomoko liked it better when it was just the four of them, despite the oddity of their group, when it was just the four of them that’s when it felt the most normal.

“There’s a concert on in half an hour on the other side of campus. Do you guys want to go?” Mako asked and Yuri only shrugged, “I don’t mind either way.”

“Who’s playing?” Yoshida asked and Mako frowned a bit as she pulled the program from her bag, “I’m not sure, it looks like-”

“The lotta’s marching band.”

A voice suddenly said and Tomoko resisted the urge to jump in surprise when Nemoto suddenly sat down beside her with that cheery look on her face. The blonde gave her a brief smile before reaching over to point out the name on the program. “See it's right there. I've never heard them play but I hear they're pretty good.

The other girl sat down on Nemo's other side while Asuka sat down on Tomoko’s left.

Minami was nowhere to be seen, Tomoko didn’t care, she didn’t like her anyway.

“I thought you were hanging out with the boys.” Yoshida asked with an arched brow and Nemo shrugged.

“They're busy with other stuff, so are we going to the concert?”

Tomoko only sighed, their little group is growing again, but as long as it was just the six of them then it wasn’t too bad. They brought Okada with them but even that was bearable. At least they didn't bring any of the boys with them. Although Tomoko was more comfortable talking to guys than she was before she certainly didn’t think that she’d be brave enough to spend the whole day with them, espcially that Yuhei guy who’s name she finally remembered. After the end of year party last year she still wasn’t very comfortable with him. Not that he's all that attractive, not that he isn't that attractive. The problem with Yuhei was the fact that he remembered how she got caught looking at nudes in first year and called her out on it at the party. She made up an excuse and blamed it on Yuu-chan but she couldn't be sure that he actually bought her story and besides she didn't want him pestering her about introducing him to her cute friend again. Who does that anyway? Tomoko basically made Yuu-chan look like a pervert for ‘pranking' her with dick pics but he still wanted to meet her. Some people are so shallow. Not that she's any better for framing her best friend but, that's neither here nor there.

Glasses boy was another one of Nemo's friends. Tomoko didn’t mind him much. They talked briefly the year before during lunch when she decided to brave the cafeteria on her own. He asked her about what anime to watch and she answered honestly before telling them that she's the one that wanted to become a voice actress to cover for Nemo, although she isn't sure why now. Glasses boy, Yoshinaru, was one of the few boys she could have a conversation with, without turning into a sputtering blushing mess. Maybe she wouldn't have cared if he tagged along.

She saw Hatsushiba, the drawing boy, a bit earlier drawing in his sketch pad as people milled around the bench where he sat. She caught his eye and for a brief moment Tomoko kind of panicked since she hadn’t even spoken to the guy since they did each other’s portraits in first year and reacted so badly to him depite the fact that he drew that cute picture of her. But he saw her and she saw him see her. She couldn’t just ignore him. So Tomoko gave an awkward wave and smile and he only seemed to nod in return. Thank goodness.

She saw another boy she knew earlier. The one guy she hoped to never see ever again. Kosaka. They guy she completely humiliated herself infront of at the library

He's older so she figured that he must be a student from the university. They were sitting down at the lunch table, Nemo and Asuka hadn't taken off yet. The moment Tomoko caught sight of him she immediately ducked down behind Class mom and prayed for miracle. Asuka noticed and asked her what was wrong, Tomoko had to think pretty quickly claiming that she got a splinter in her finger from the bench and was just getting it out. Of course Asuka insisted on inspecting her hand to make sure she was really alright. It didn’t seem like he noticed her and Tomoko lost sight of him in the crowd. Thank goodness.

And then, almost as if on cue Tomoki’s senpai walked by. The one that did the borrowing race along with her, he definately caught sight of her and waved before he got dragged off by his friends. Nemo pestered her for ages since she remebered him from the race and apparently the entire class was still wondering how she knew him since he was so incredibly handsome. Tomoko shrugged and said that he was on the soccer team with her brother and he ran with her that one time. She might’ve lied and made that joke she wanted to last year about them being sex friends if she wasn’t terrified of Nemo possibly taking her seriously and actually going up to ask if it was true.

As Tomoko thought of all these guys she couldn’t help but smile a little to herself. She might not be as far as she’d liked to be by now, but she’s certainly come a long way from the blushing stuttering mess she was before. She has friends, she can talk to boys without passing out and she’s a little more comfortable just being herself and speaking her mind.

She really has come a long way.

“I think we should go, I mean, there’s nothing better to do.” Tomoko said and the others seemed to nod or give grunts of conformation. Nemo suddenly got up with a bright smile.

“We’ll then we should get going. It’s on the other side of campus, if we don’t go now we’ll be late.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There were empty take away packages scattered over the table as the boys lounged in their seats, talking about this and that. The festival was pretty fun. Even if the girls kept dissappering on them to hang out with Kuroki-san and her friends. They had a weird group dynamic going on that actually seemed pretty interesting, it wasn’t that surprising that Nemoto liked spending time with her and Asuka always said that Kuroki-san was actually really sweet.

Yuhei wouldn't really know much about that. They’ve only spoken a handful of times and it was always in a group setting so he couldn’t get to know her all that well. But if nothing else she seemed interesting, which is why-

“Dude, you still have that picture of the sports day as your wall paper?” Yocchan asked incredulously as he looked over the raven’s shoulder and Yuhei resisted the urge to jump in surprise at the voice of his friend suddenly shouting beside him. The rest of their group was thankfully preoccupied with the Lotta’s concert in thirty minutes. Yuhei shifted a bit uncomfortably in his seat as he just continued to fiddle with his phone.

“What? I had fun.”

“Yeah, a year ago.” Yocchan said as he leaned forward a bit more to see the screen, “And it’s still focused on Kuroki-san. I thought you didn't like her anymore.”

“I never said I didn’t like her, I just said I was dissappointed when she said those pictures on her phone were a prank.” Yuhei said with a shrug and Yocchan let out a snort. “You’re such a total pervert. Shouldn’t you be relieved that it was just a prank?”

“Well if they weren’t it would’ve made Kuroki-san a lot more interesting is all. Its super weird for a girl to be looking at dick pics for fun right?”

“I’m still not sure I believe that she’d do that, she’s way too shy for that.”

“I’m not sure I believe that.” Yuhei said as he glanced up at the other teen, “My point is she seemed interesting, besides weren't you the one that said she was kind of cute when she blushed. And you started watching all of the anime she suggested that one time.”

Yocchan flushed a little himself, “That's neither here nor there. She might have a boyfriend. You remember that guy she ran the borrowing race with, I saw her give him her bouquete during graduation last year.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s her boyfriend.”

“Well this one time Acchan went to this cafe because they had the same kind of coffee she likes and I totally saw her hanging out with this guy. He looked older like a salaryman. They were watching something on his laptop.”

Yuhei rolled his eyes, “If he’s older it might’ve been her dad, besides didn’t Mako say that Kuroki-san had a brother?”

“He didn’t look old enough to be her dad, a university graduate maybe and her brother is a second year, Tomoki-san I think.”

“Oh right, I heard some kids talking about how he’s on the soccer team, maybe that’s how she knows that other guy.”

“Ok how about this I saw her at the library with this other guy and-”

“That doesn’t mean he’s her boyfriend and how do you know so much anyway, what’re you stalking her?” Yuhei teased and Yocchan glared.

“No, I just keep running into her. I think we might live close to each other or something.” Yocchan huffed as he pushed the frame of his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “My point is, I think she likes older guys-”

“I doubt it and it doesn't even matter anyway.”

“Then why do you still have her picture on your phone.”

“Like I said before, she seems interesting.”

“Cause of the dick pic thing?”

“No, she already said that was a prank. Haven’t you noticed how they all only hang out together when Kuroki-san is with them? I mean Nemoto and Acchan have their own friends, so does Asuka. Yoshida-san obviously doesn’t fit in since she has her own friends too. That Ucchi girl isn’t even in her class and she’s always coming to see her. I just mean that maybe there’s more to get to know about her.”

“I guess you’re right, they do have a weird thing going on. It kind of reminds me of this harem anime Kuroki-san suggested.”

“Are you suggesting that she might have her own harem? And you call me a pervert.”

Yocchan folded his arms over his chest, “I thought you wanted her to introduce you to her cute friend.”

“Well, I’ll have to get to know Kuroki-san to do that won’t I?”

“You’re impossible-”

“So you-”

“Hey, aren't they talking about that girl you were waving to? You said her name was Kuroki-san right?”

Tada said nothing as he continued to watch the two boys sitting at a table a bit away as they argued over his phone when his friend finished.

“She sounds pretty popular huh. But what's all that stuff about dick pics.”

“Who knows highschool kids are weird.”

“You know we were in highschool last year.”

Tada ignored his friends as they bickered with a slight frown pulling at his lips. Kuroki-san is Tomoki's sister and Tada didn't really know much about her. She seemed quiet and kind of shy, which is why he didn't mind helping her out with the borrowing race when Tomoki asked him. And then as far as the whole bouquete thing was concerned, he just wanted to get the whole thing over with. He saw Kuroki and figured he’d do them both a favor by asking for her bouquete, it would make the whole ordeal go faster for them.

She seemed sweet and shy, she stuttered a whole lot and blushed hard, Tada always just figured that that was just what she was like but apparently he was wrong. I mean if she’s as popular as she sounds then he must have gotten the wrong idea somehow.

These guys got the whole thing wrong though. He isn’t her boyfriend but apparently they looked like it. Then again that one boy with the glasses sounded a little jealous, he didn't seem like he was her boyfriend though so maybe he just liked her. And what was all of that about an older guy at the cafe?

If Tada had taken a little more time to talk to her he might have a better idea of what was going on, not that he's all that interested in her, she did seem kind of average after all, definitely an otaku, but he was just a little bit curious.

Their old soccer team is having a reunion party next weekend so everyone can catch up since half of the team graduated the year before. Maybe he can ask Tomoki-kun about it then, for curiosity’s sake.

“Tada... Tadashi!”

The blonde looked up with a start to find his friends frowning at him, “What?”

“Renji asked you a question, what’re you asleep or something?”

“Oh sorry, I guess I’m just tired. I was studying last night. We have a test next week you know.”

“Don’t remind me.” Renji said huffing out a puff of breath as he leaned his head on his hand, “I was asking you about this Kuroki girl, I didn’t see her all that well when you were waving to her. Is she really pretty?”

“Pretty?” Tada paused in thought, he wouldn’t call her pretty.

“She’s kind of average.”

“Really so how come she’s so popular?”

“I dunno why but... She’s kind of cute you know, but in a weird kind of way.”

“And what's that supposed to mean?”

“I don't know.”

“Dude you aren't making any sense.”

Not at all.

Kosaka couldn't help but frown at the group of guys that sat huddled together. In the midst of the festival his dorm was way too noisy for him to even attempt to study in, so he decided to walk around campus and check out the festival. He ran into a couple of his friends and they decided to hang out when he suddenly ran into a very unexpected surprise.

He saw Mokochan at a table with a bunch of girls he guessed were her friends. It was an awkward moment since he wasn't sure if he should just keep walking or if he should stop and say hi. Although saying hello might have been the polite thing to do, Kosaka still felt weird about what happened the last time he saw her. Her lying to her little sister (Or what he assumes was her little sister) was pretty bad especially when the girl started scolding him for cheating on her without letting him have a moment to explain, but the worst part only came in when Moko-chan came back and apologised. She made a scene as she got on her knees and started apologising profusely and Kosaka suddenly wished the little kid was there scolding him instead. It was terribly awkward. So awkward in fact that Kosaka hadn’t even thought of how he felt about her lying, he just wanted the whole spectacle to end.

He went home, vowing to never go back to that library again and actually got a minute to really think about what happened.

Was he angry about what she did, maybe a little, but the lie seemed pretty harmless. She told her sister that she had a boyfriend and remembering just how shy and awkward Mokochan was he figured that she was just trying to look cool and pointed out the closest guy she knew as being her boyfriend.

In hindsight, as he thought back to the episode it was actually pretty funny how she was caught out by her sister demanding that he stop his cheating ways. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear he was in a shoujo manga or something.

He even went back the next day to see if he couldn’t catch her and make it clear that he really wasn’t mad or anything, since she was probably dying of embarressment. He also figured that they could be friends, the girl seemed so awkward he figured that she probably didn’t have a lot of friends and it really was a harmless lie. But she never went back to the library. Kosaka wasn't surprised, a little disappointed but not surprised.

He often found himself thinking back to her sometimes, wondering if she was doing alright or if she finally managed to find a boyfriend to impress her sister with. If she'd only asked he probably would've agreed to pretend to be her boyfriend. The girl he got caught at the library with was just a first year girl he was tutoring for extra money, it really wouldn't have been a problem if she asked.

He still felt just as bad as time he just left her at the park with an umbrella while she slept. He hoped that she’d at least managed to make a few friends by then. He was brought back to a chance encounter with a boy a year ago. Kosaka just happened to sit next to a guy that he’d never spoken to let alone sat next to at a test one day. Everyone was getting settled into their seats, Kosaka was all set up when he happened to look over to the boy that sat next to him. There were two different classes writing in the same venue that day. One for English studies and another for Japanese literature. The boy next to him had his phone out and seemed to take in a deep breath as he shut his eyes. The boy suddenly seemed to remember something and set his phone down on the table as he started searching through his pencil case. Kosaka looked over and was shocked to find a picture of Mokochan on the screen. She was wearing a winter coat standing in front of a wall with an awkward smile.

The test started soon after and the boy beside him put his phone away. Kosaka was barely able to focus on his own test, he just barely managed to pass. After they finished writing he went to try and catch up with the guy and asked him about the girl in the picture on his phone. He only blushed a little and said.

“It's just this girl from my old high school. I keep the picture with me for luck cause... Nevermind it’s stupid.” And walked away.

Kosaka was intrigeud but still a little concerened about exactly how Mokochan as doing.

Apparently all his worrying was for nothing since she was obviously popular enough.

When he saw her with her friends, he decided to just keep walking, introducing himself would just lead to questions of how they met and Kosaka didn’t want to embaress her. Plus if the way her eyes widened and her quickly ducking behind the long haired girl was anything to go by, then she really didn’t want him to come over either.

He kept walking with his friends when he saw another group of girls arguing nearby. One of the girls, who kind of looked like an emoji, kept trying to move away while her friends pulled her back.

“I’ll be back in a minute.”

“No you won’t. You’re just going to hang around Kuroki-san again and you haven’t been yourself since you started spending time around her.”

The girl sputtered indignantly and Kosaka suddenly remembered that Mokochan’s name was Kuroki and he couldn’t help but wonder how they knew each other.

Briefly he couldn't help but ask himself why he kept referring to her as Mokochan when they weren’t exactly friends only to almost pause as he caught sight of another guy sitting alone at a park bench as they walked by.

What made him pause was the picture the boy was drawing. He was drawing a picture of Mokochan, sitting by a window in a class room. It was actually really good, if not a little odd that he’d be drawing that in the middle of a festival when Mokochan wasn’t anywhere nearby. It was actually a little creepy. Kosaka wondered if this boy maybe liked her or maybe if he was her boyfriend. But if he was then why wasn’t he sitting with her? Mokochan seemed so fragile that if he started dating her he’d probably feel the need to be around her all the time just to make sure she was alright.

He pushed the thought back to the back of his mind as they kept walking and  tried to focus on his friends. Later on they decided to take a break and have something to eat. That’s when he heard the boys at the next table talking.

“Dude you still have that wallpaper? And it's still focused on Kuroki-san, I thought you didn't like her anymore.”

At the mention of the girl's name he couldn't help but listen in. They seemed to be classmates with Mokochan. They also seemed quite preoccupied with some incident concerning dick picks and Kosaka silently hoped that she didn't have anything to do with that, although the voice of dread in the back of his head told him that she probably did. It also informed him of the fact that there might be a lot that he didn’t know about Mokochan…  and that he really needs to stop referring to her as Mokochan in his head.

Curiosity got the better of him. He listened to them talk, completely ignoring the conversation his friends had going and realised that Mokochan reallly might be more popular than he thought. Kosaka cringed a little when the boy with the glasses suddenly brought up that day at the library and he hoped that the younger teen hadn’t seen the whole episode with Mokochan begging for forgiveness. When-

“I think she likes older guys.”

Maybe that’s why she picked him as her pretend boyfriend, cause he’s older. Maybe then anyone would have been fine and he was just the closest available option. Kosaka wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

The two started bickering when he heard some guys at another table. They were freshmen in the university, Kosaka has seen them around campus a couple of times. He had no clue that any of them might know Mokochan but apparently one of them did.

“She’s kind of average.” That much Kosaka could agree with, “But she’s still kind of cute... In a weird way.”

That’s when he was thrown for a bit of a loop.

Was Mokochan cute?

Sort of, Kosaka didn’t really know how to explain it especially since he didn’t know her all that well.

When they met he thought she was a little weird but, in a sweet kind of way. Sweet in a weird socialy awkward kind of way. If he’d gotten to know her he might’ve been able to explain it better. Although it hardly seemed necessary now.

Mokochan has friends, plenty of friends and by the sounds of things a couple of guys that were interested in her.

‘Older guys’ he reminded himself. He couldn’t help but wonder just how much older that guy at a cafe with was.

Kosaka would just get up and ask the two teens about her but he wasn’t too sure about how that would go. They were both obviously interested in her and the one boy with the glasses sounded just a bit jealous as he spoke of all the guys that were interested in her. He didn’t want to make things more awkward than they needed to be. But he was still curious enough to-

“Hey,” Kosaka started drawing his friends attention way from the conversation they were having about the festival, “Do any of you know that guy over there?”

They all looked over to the blonde he pointed at and one of his friends gave a shrug, “That's Tadashi something I think. He joined the soccer team this year. He's a freshmen.”

Kosaka nodded, “Do you know what highschool he went to?”

“Oh, he was in the same school as that girl you tutor sometimes. What was her name-”

“Megumi-san?” Kosaka couldn’t help but blink in surprise as his friend shrugged.

“Yeah, Makuhari Shuuei high school I think. Why?”

Kosaka shrugged himself, “Just curious.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tomoki loves his sister Tomoko, he really does. He cares about her a lot. She just got on his nerves a lot.

He knows that most of the damage she does is unintentional. His sister has absolutely no filter, she says anything and everything that pops into her head without any shame and sometimes Tomoki can honestly say that he kind of respects her for that. He knows that those incest jokes she makes at his expense are just her way of getting under his skin. He knows that she doesn't really mean any of it, she just has no tact whatsoever. He knows she loves him from all those presents she brings back from her trips and the times she covers him in a blanket when he falls asleep on the couch. Tomoki knows that the incidents with Komiyama-san and Akira-san were just her way of looking out for him and trying to help. As twisted as those attempts were.

He knows and he understands and he really does love and care for her. But she also really really really gets on his nerves.

When he realised that he’d be going to the same highschool as her he wasn’t as disappointed as he could have been. He wasn't even that mad when he found out that she failed to send out the application forms to the other highschools he wanted to go to. He didn’t mind being around his sister as long as she wasn't trying to get on his nerves. Going to the same highschool wasn’t the problem, the only issue he had was the possibility of Tomoko showing up when he was in class or with his friends and totally embarrassing him by being the weirdo she usually is.

Tomoki decided that he’d just avoid her at school and asked her to do the same.

Those efforts were unfortunately pointless.

It started with her bringing the lunch he forgot with her to school, stopping by his class because of something their Mom wanted her to say or him stopping at her class to pick something up. Eventually it became a situation where they saw each other at school at least twice a week. A few times more after she told him about some secret spot at school that hardly anyone went near. And no he didn’t go there to check if she really was making out with a ‘boyfriend’ the way she claimed. He was just curious to see if there really was such a place. She showed him bunch of other abandoned and secret places around school after that. Tomoki inwardly cringed as he wondered just how lonely his sister was that she knew about all these places.

Then there was the incident with the sports day when he was forced to help her and all of her weird friends and class mates. The only comfort Tomoki had was the fact that she then had some friends meant that she wasn’t barging into his room as often as before.

He's happy that she has friends now and that she's being a little more independent when it came to the train wreck that was her social life. He was happy, now as he stands before his sister’s closed door, he’s just so very confused.

It started two weeks ago on Saturday. The soccer team was having a reunion party that day to celebrate the start of a new season, some of the old players that graduated were going as well to wish their kouhai’s goodluck.

Tomoki got a call that Friday from Tadashi-senpai about the party, asking if he was going and if he wanted to walk with him to the party at the barbeque place near the school. Tomoki agreed without much thought and Tadashi-senpai said they’d meet at his house.

Tomoki checked to make sure his sister wouldn’t be home, since he didn’t even want to think about what would happen if she saw Tadashi in their house. For some reason, Tomoko thought the fact that the older teen asked for her bouquet during graduation meant that he might possibly like her. Which was ridiculous, he probably only did it to get the whole thing over with. Tomoki checked with his mom and she confirmed that Tomoko was going shopping with some of her friends that Saturday.

They made arrangements to meet at two and walk from the corner near Tomoki’s house.

Oddly enough, Tadashi didn’t wait for him at the corner. He came right up to the Kuroki’s front door.

Fifteen minutes early.

Tomoki just blinked at the blonde in surprise, unsure of what to do for a moment since he wasn't quite ready yet before just inviting him inside and up to his room. Tadashi walked beside him as they caught up on this and that until he stopped at the second door down the hall only for Tomoki to stop him short.

“No, not that one. That's my sister's room. Mine's over here.” Tomoki explained with a shrug but Tadashi paused, “Oh, is she here?”

“No, she’s out.” The raven said as he stepped into his room and Tadashi followed, sitting down at the desk near the window while Tomoki went rummaging through his closet.

“I remember your sister from the sports day last year. Is she doing well?”

Tomoki didn’t look back at his friend, “She’s fine.”

“Where did she go today?”

“She’s out with her friends, shopping I think.”

“That's good to hear, she seemed kind of shy when we met last year.” Tadashi chuckled, “She blushed a whole lot.”

Tomoki sighed and spoke without thinking, “Well, she's not like that all the time.”

“Really? Then what is she like?”

Tomoki paused as he found a shirt he wanted to wear, “Troublesome.”

Tadashi chuckled again, “Aren't all sisters troublesome though.”

“Believe me, I wish my sister was like every other girl.”

“What does that mean?”

Tomoki shook his head, “She’s sweet and kind of funny but in a really twisted kind of way. I don’t-” the raven sighed, “It’s nothing.”

“You don’t really know how to explain it?”

“Something like that.” He pulled the shirt over his head and straightened it out before he turned to face his senpai only to pause when he found the other staring at his feet.

“Something wrong?”

Tadashi let out a soft sigh but still didn’t look up, “Tomoki-kun this is going to sound a little weird but, can I ask you something about your sister?”

Tomoki almost froze. Those words when spoken to him usually meant that Tomoko did something. She screwed up and said or did the wrong thing, quite possibly offending everyone within a one mile radius and embarressed herself. Now senpai thinks she’s weird which by association made him seem weird and possibly perverted and he should have never tried to help her during the sports festival.

He’s going to kill her when she gets back.

“Yeah, OK.”

He’ll have to apologise on her behalf now, apologise profusely and hope the situation dissolves. Maybe that’s why Tadashi called, why he insisted on meeting at Tomoki’s and why he came fifteen minutes early. He came to lay his grievances.

She’s dead meat.

Tomoki swallowed hard, his hands clenched and he braced for impact.

“Does she have a boyfriend?”

What?

“Wait, what?”

“Kuroki-san, does she have boyfriend?”

Tomoki was thrown for a loop, he froze as he was suddenly thrown head first into a situation he couldn’t quite understand and that his brain failed to process at its normal speed.

What?

“I-... I don’t think so, no.”

“O.K.” Tadashi said nodding to himself and Tomoki had to ask.

“Why do you ask?”

Tadashi looked up just then giving an awkward shrug, “Oh it’s just that I heard somethings and I got s bit curious.”

“What things?”

Was someone spreading rumours about his sister?

“Just some things about her liking older guys.” Tomoki just stared at him incredulously and Tadashi gave a small laugh as he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck, “And I mean, she’s kind of cute right?”

Nothing on this earth could have prepared Tomoki for that question.

“I-I don’t know?” It came out sounding like a question.

“I was thinking that maybe we could all hang out together sometime, maybe watch a movie or something. That’s only if its cool with both of you or if you’re busy I could just hang out with her.”

Is senpai really asking him what he thinks he’s asking him.

“Are... Are you trying to say that you want to ask my sister out... On a date?”

WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW?!

“Maybe, I don’t know-”

“You don’t know?”

“I just wanted to get to know her, she’s interesting.”

“Interesting?” Tomoki parroted back and Tadashi sighed as he got up from his seat.

“Look maybe now isn’t the best time so let’s just go to the party. You can think about it and maybe later you could talk to her for me.”

“Talk to her about you?”

Tomoki’s brain was malfunctioning.

“Huh?”

“I’ll wait downstairs.” Tadashi said with one last smile as he left the room and Tomoki just stood there gaping after him.

“What just happened?”

He had no idea.

Tomoki went to the party, pretended like everything was O.K only to go to his room once he got back and sat at his desk, staring into nothingness as he tried to convince himself that what he thinks happened didn’t actually happen. Only for it all to come to naught when Tadashi-senpai sent him a text.

‘Hey Tomoki-kun about what we talked about earlier? Can you send me Kuroki-san’s contacts once you’ve thought about it? Thanks.’

Tomoki froze.

“What is going on?”

That Monday, Tomoki went to school. It seemed that his sister was a bit preoccupied that whole weekend so he didn’t really see her besides the times when they sat down for breakfast, lunch or dinner. When they did, Tomoki couldn’t help but stare at his sister. For her part Tomoko seemed much too preoccupied with her phone to care or even look up. When Monday came around he was relieved to have some kind of repreive from his confusing weekend thoughts to focus on school instead.

Fate had other plans.

It was Wednesday at lunch when it happened.

In the midst if all his turbulent thoughts he managed to forget his lunch at home. Tomoko brought it with her to school again and Tomoki had to go get it from her class again. He really didn’t want to go back there and run into her weird friends, especially that Komiyama girl, the purehearted pervert. But he didn’t eat much for breakfast, had no money on him and he was starving.

He walked to her class, hoping that he’d only have to deal with one of them to get to his food when he found a couple of guys from her class standing just outside of it by the door.

He didn’t think much of it and headed for the entrance only to pause when one of them spoke.

“Hey, what’re you doing here?” Tomoki turned to face them. Maybe he can just tell them he’s here to see his sister and they’d go get her so he wouldn’t have to go in the class this time.

“I’m here to see Tomoko, is she here?”

“Tomoko?” The one with the black hair said with a frown when the other one with the glasses spoke, “You mean Kuroki-san?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re a first year right? What do you want with her?”

Tomoki sighed, “Second year. I just need to get something from her.”

“What exactly?”

“My-”

“Oh its you.” A girl suddenly appeared in the door. The delinquent girl, how she ever managed to become friends with his sister is beyond him. The girl gave him a bored look as she pointed back the way he came.

“She already left, said she’d just take your lunch to you.”

“Yoshida-san, you know him?” The boy with the glasses asked and the girl scoffed, “He’s Kuroki’s younger brother.” And then she turned back into the class.

The two boys seemed to let out sounds of realisation. Tomoki just ignored them as he turned to get back to his own class.

“You know what, now I see the resemblence.”

“Hang on.”

Tomoki stopped just as the one with the black hair caught up to him and gave him a smile, “So you’re Kuroki-san’s brother?”

Tomoki’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as an uneasy feeling stirred in the pit of his stomach, “Yeah.”

“Do you mind if we ask you a question that my friend and I were just wondering about? I’m Yuhei Takanawa by the way, thats Kiyota Yoshinaru.” He said just as his friend stepped closer.

“Hey, speak for yourself.”

Tomoki frowned, “Tomoki Kuroki.’

“Tomoki and Tomoko, that’s cute.” Tomoki inwardly groaned, he hated it when people brought up the similarities between his and his sister’s names.

“You said you wanted to ask something?”

“Yeah its about your sister, this is a bit awkward but...”

Tomoki held his breath as the memory of Tadashi senpai came back to him.

No way.

“Is she a pervert?”

“Yuhei!” The other scolded and Tomoki breathed a sigh of relief.

This much is O.K, simple embarressing situations he can handle. So what did his sister do this time? Then again did it really matter?

He didn’t want to spread any rumours about her but he figured he could finally get her back for all those times she publicly embarresed him.

“Look I just wanted to know-”

“Yes.”

The two older teens looked at him with wide eyes, the one with the glasses gasped.

“What seriously?”

“Yeah she’s a pervert.”

A wide grin suddenly spread over Yuhei’s lips, “I knew those pictures werent just a prank.”

‘Pictures?’ Tomoki wondered but he didn’t care enough to ask.

“Is that all?”

“Yes, no wait hang on.” Yuhei said with a slight pause, “One more.”

“Fine.”

“Does she have a boyfriend?”

Huh.

“What?”

“Your sister does she have a boyfriend?”

Tomoki took a step back, “I-... Why?”

“I’m just asking, for a friend.” Yuhei insisted and Kiyota gave a scoff.

Tomoki just couldn’t understand, “What friend?”

“I-”

“He likes her.” Kiyota said and Tomoki's eyes went wide just as the raven spoke, “What happened to speak for yourself, you like her too.”

WHAT?

“So does she have a boyfriend?”

“N-No.”

“See I told you so.”

“Look I just told you what I saw.”

The two older teens turned and walked back into the classroom. Tomoki just stood there right up until he felt a tap on his shoulder and slowly turned around to find his sister glaring up at him.

“What the fuck is your problem? I walk all the way to your class room to give you your lunch out of the goodness of my heart and you’re here standing around like somekind of idiot?”

Tomoki couldn't speak. “I-”

“Here.” Tomoko shoved his bento into his chest and he slowly took it as she looked away and huffed, “I helped mom make some extra rice balls since I know you didn't eat breakfast.”

Tomoki still couldn't speak.

Tomoko frowned, “What's with you?”

“I... Thank you.” was all he could manage and Tomoko's frown deepened. Before she just turned to walk back into her class.

“Whatever just don’t forget your lunch next time idiot. You can’t go to practice on an empty stomach, everyone knows that.”

Tomoki watched her go before he slowly made his way back to class.

He just- Tomoki didn’t understand.

The next time was probably just as bad.

It was the same day, just after soccer practice Tomoki still hadn’t recovered from the shock he had earlier that day and on Saturday. He was not on his game and it showed. It was just so hard to focus on practice when his mind kept wandering to his sister's admi-

Admire-

Admirers.

The coach called him aside and asked him if anything was wrong. Tomoki lied and said that he was fine and just tired. He wasn’t fine although he was tired, exhausted in fact. The older man just sent him home telling him to rest up and make sure he was focused for the next practice.

He was waiting at the front gate with some of his friends, trying and failing to focus on the conversation when another conversation caught his attention.

“Why are we here again?”

“If you didn't want to tag along then you didn't have to Shunsuke.”

There were two guys at the gate. They weren't wearing uniforms and looked older. College students maybe.

‘What are they doing here' Tomoki thought briefly.

“Because you promised you’d lend me your study notes. That’s why I came, I didn’t come here to watch you stalk your precious Mokochan.” The brunette said and his friend glared hard.

“I’m not stalking her.”

“Oh I’m sorry, lovingly lurking in the shadows.”

“Haha, I just wanted to say hi, see how she was doing.”

A sigh, “How did you even figure out what which school she goes to anyway? I thought you haven’t talked to her since the thing at the library.”

“I asked around campus.”

“Well its been three days and we haven’t seen her once.” The brunette looked around and Tomoki paused when the other locked eyes on him and walked over, his friend catching up to walk with him.

“Hey.” Shunsuke said and Tomoki’s friends looked up just then. “We were just looking for someone. Do any of you know Kuroki-san.”

“Yeah, he’s right here.” One of the boys said gesturing to Tomoki who just stared when the two college students blinked at the same time.

“No he meant Moko - I mean - Tomoko Kuroki.”

A cold chill ran down Tomoki’s spine.

“What do you want with my sister?”

“Your sister?” The taller one said as his eyes went wide and his friend started to laugh.

“Yes, my sister.”

“Sorry I just didn’t know she had an older brother.”

“Younger brother.” Tomoki corrected, hoping that this wasn't the same situation as the last two times.

“Oh right, uhm does your sister go here too or-”

“Yeah why?”

The taller man paused, “Do you have a younger sister?”

“No.”

Tomoki held out some hope that maybe this was all somekind of misunderstanding and he was looking for a different Tomoko Kuroki. Then again, how many Kuroki’s could there be in Chiba?

“Then who’s Kii-chan?”

Tomoki blinked, “My cousin.”

“Oh so she was just a cousin.”

“Hang on how do you know Kii-chan?”

The taller boy gave an awkward cough as he gestured back to a bench behind them, “Hey do you mind if we talk over there, in private?”

Tomoki frowned but nodded all the same before following the guy until he came to a stop. He seemed to take a deep breath before he spoke.

“My name is Kosaka, I met your sister and cousin at the library a really long while ago.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah it’s kind of embaressing cause we had this misunderstanding and I was just wondering how Mokochan was doing.”

“Mokochan?” Tomoki asked incredulously and Kosaka flushed a little. Tomoki felt like he was losing his mind. “I mean Kuroki-san, I was wondering how she was doing.”

“She’s fine.”

Better than fine apparently.

“Really, well that’s great.” Kosaka said with s brief laugh and Tomoki just stared when the older man suddenly spoke again.

“Hey do you know if she’s in any after school clubs. I’ve been trying to catch her after school so we could talk but I never see her.”

“She doesn’t do clubs, she mostly just spends time with her friends.”

“Good for her.”

It was sincere and warm, like he really was happy she was out with friends. Like he knew what her situation was before. Exactly who is this guy?

“I guess I’ll get going-wait can I ask you one more thing?”

No. No. He needs to say no, he doesn’t want to say yes-

“Yeah.”

“Does she have a boyfriend?”

Goddamnit!

Tomoki was so tempted to say yes.

“No she doesn’t.”

“Oh, okay. I should go. It was nice talking to you. Shunsuke!” Kosaka called and his friend jogged up to walk along with him, waving to Tomoki briefly as they walked away.

“So what did he say, does she have a boyfriend?”

At that point even Tomoki wasn’t sure anymore.

That night when he got home, the first thing he did was call Kii-chan. He wasn’t quite ready to talk to his sister about all of her admirers practically confessing to him about her but he still needed to know.

So he called Kii-chan to ask who Kosaka was.

“Who?” Came the confused voice of his younger cousin and Tomoki sighed.

“Kosaka, he said he met you and Tomoko at a library a long time ago.”

“At a library? I don’t remember a-Ah!” A very very audible gasp, like she just remembered something, something bad.

“What's wrong?”

“N-nothing Tomoki-kun, I just-uhm. Who did you say he was again?”

“Kosaka.”

“Did he say what he wanted?” Her tone was odd, slightly darker with an angered edge to it. Protective is the word he'd use.

“He said he wanted to check up on her.”

“Check up on her?! What's there to check up on-”

“So you know him?”

“I... No, I don't know him and neither does Nee-san.”

“Kii-chan-”

“He's probably just some creep, so just forget about it. And don’t tell Nee-san she doesn’t need to know about him. I-I need to go. Goodnight Tomoki-kun.”

And with that the line went dead.

She definitely knew something. Who was he? Why didn't Kii-chan want to talk about it? What would Tomoko say if he asked her?

He’d planned on coming clean and telling her the next day but Tomoko seemed busy, oddly enough with her friends and just wasn’t around at home when he was and he was too tired to deal with her drama at night.

It was saturday when the problem resurfaced again.

Tomoko was home and for once so was Tomoki, although he was a bit preoccupied. He’d forgotten that he invited one of his friends over to hang out at his house to play games, but he didn’t mind too much. He needed to blow off some steam after everything he’s been forced to deal with.

Unfortunately about two hours after Aomatsu arrived he realised that he never got the chance to borrow that one game from Tomoko and he really wanted to play it. So he got up, leaving his friend in his room and walked over to his sister’s room.

He knocked since prior experience had taught him to just knock instead of dealing with whatever unknown activity was happening behind the door.

The door slid open and Tomoko appeared with her hair loose around her shoulders and her cheeks looking a little flushed. He didn’t even want to try to think about what she was doing, although she was probably just listening to those drama CD’s she always listened to.

The girl looked up at him and scowled.

“What the hell do you want? I’m busy.”

Tomoki just took a silent breath, “I wanna borrow that new game you got last month.”

Tomoko huffed in annoyance, “Don't you have your own games you leech?”

“I want that one, now are you going to give it to me or should I just come in and get it myself?”

“Ugh.” Tomoko groaned dramatically she turned back and went shuffeling through her things. Tomoki looked into the room and saw the TV was on with a controller on the ground, it looked like-

A hentai yaoi game. Of course it is. Tomoki briefly wondered what all those guys that like her would think if they knew what she did in her spare time, although Yuhei didn’t seem like he’d mind that much.

“Here just take it you jack ass!” A plastic case was suddenly shoved right at his chest and Tomoki stumbled back in surprise, “Now stop bugging me.” The door closed with a slam and Tomoki felt his left eye twitch.

He went back to his room and closed the door settling down on the floor in his previous spot. “Sorry about that. I thought we could play this next.”

Aomatsu was quiet for a moment but he was usually quiet so Tomoki didn’t think much of it until he suddenly spoke.

“I didn’t know you had a sister Tomoki-kun.”

“Yeah she’s a total pain.” Tomoki hissed out through grit teeth as he got the game set up.

“Did she go to the same middle school that we did?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I thought her voice sounded familiar and her eyes...”

“I dunno, you might’ve met her back then.”

“I think I may have...”

Aomatsu trailed off and Tomoki paused to look back at him only to tense when he saw the other teen blushing as he stared down at the controller in his lap.

Oh God no.

“Do you know her?”

“I no, well sort of maybe, I’m not really sure.”

“You’re not sure?”

“I, I should go. I have homework.” Aomatsu said as he quickly got up, “I’ll see you at school Tomoki.”

Tomoki watched as the teen turned tail and got out of the house as quickly as his feet would carry him with just one word phrase coming to mind.

“No way.”

One of his friends? Seriously?!

Tomoki fell into a pit of despair.

It wasn’t till the next day that he decided he’d finally had enough. He didn’t have soccer practice so he decided to just walk home on his own. The thing with Aomatsu suddenly made him feel nervous around his very own friends. He was constantly waiting for the next guy to appear. For the next confession to come and that feeling left him completely tense. So he decided to walk home alone, maybe stop somewhere on the way to get some of that pudding he likes.

He saw some of his sisters friends walking on their own and he figured that Tomoko was probably walking home alone too. They might run into each other though Tomoki silently hoped he wouldn’t.

He was in the shopping district, headed towards a convenience store he knew carried the pudding he wanted only to hiss in annoyance when he saw Tomoko step out of a cafe a few stores ahead.

‘I guess we’re walking home together’

Tomoki thought to himself only to stop when he saw someone step out along with her.

He looked older, a lot older.

A salaryman, recently graduated. He had black hair that was tied back, wearing a white shirt with a tie while he held his jacket under his arm with his laptop bag and suit case.

But what was he doing with Tomoko.

They seemed to be talking, with the man only giving her an amused smile while Tomoko rolled her eyes a little seeming to catch her own behaviour she flushed and the man reached out to pat her head-

Tomoki rushed over without either one noticing till he was suddenly standing right beside them. The man looked up in surprise amd Tomoko’s flush got darker as she stuttered.

“T-Tomoki what’re you, uhm doing here?” Tomoki’s hands were in his pockets but they still clenched.

“I saw you and I figured we could walk home together.”

“Oh, I well uhm-”

“Who's this, your boyfriend?” The man suddenly asked and Tomoko sputtered some more.

“What-no, he-he's just-”

“I'm her brother.” Tomoki said with a slight glare in his eyes and the man only chuckled.

“Oh I see. It's nice to meet you.”

“We should go. We’ll be late for dinner.” Tomoki said reaching out to grab his sisters hand and her eyes went wide.

“What-but I-”

“It's alright, I’ll see you next time Tochan.”

‘Tochan?! And what is this next time? Have there been other times?’

The hell is going on?!

They were a distance away before Tomoko seemed to finally regain her composure, “Hey, knock that off! What is your problem?! First you're ignoring me and now this.” The girl said pulling from his grasp to hiss as she rubbed at her wrist.

“You can’t just go dragging me around like that. Now is not the time to suddenly develop a Yandere sister complex.”

Let the incest jokes begin.

Tomoki glared, “Who was that guy?”

“My boyfriend.” Tomoko dead panned as she started walking, “We used to have sex at his place but he thought it wasn’t exciting enough so we do it in public in cafes now.”

Another joke, he knows it’s just one of her weird jokes. But with the way his week has been going he was starting to have doubts.

“Very funny, seriously who was that, he’s too old to be hanging out with you.”

‘I heard she likes older guys’ Tadashi senpai’s words came back to him and he resisted the urge to cringe.

Tomoko rolled her eyes, “Calm down Chris Hansen. He’s just this guy I watch anime with at the cafe sometimes. It’s not a big deal.”

“Oh.”

“What?” Tomoko asked with an arched brow as she looked back at her brother, “Jealous little brother?”

Tomoki sneered, “Tch. As if.”

The rest of th walk home was uneventful for the most part, Tomoko kept spouting her usual nonesense while Tomoki’s mind whirled as he tried to figure out exactly what was going on and what to do about.

He knew what was going on. There were several boys possibly more, that liked Tomoko, they liked his sister.

His sister. The socially akward otaku, pervert recluse with absolutely no concept if personal boundaries.

How on Earth did this happen? Now Tomoki expected his sister to find someone to like her. Eventually, sometime in or maybe after college and thats only after she managed to get a clue and learned how to act. He certainly didn’t expect her to have five different guys that liked her in highschool with her being as insufferable as she is.

What did they even see in her anyway? Tomoko was average at best, so its not like she was so hot that it made up for her less than pleasant personality. What on earth do they all see in her?

‘She’s kind of cute right?’ Tadasenpai’s words came back to him and Tomoki’s only thought was-

‘Why?!’

Its these questions that led to Tomoki standing outside his sister’s door later that night. He needed answers.

He knocked on the door and Tomoko opened it a few moments later. There was some ink on her hands and a pair of head phones around her neck, wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She obviously wasn’t listening to music if she managed to hear him knock.

The girl only rolled her eyes at the sight of her little brother.

“What?”

Tomoki took a deep breath, “You wanna play a game, the way we used to.”

Tomoko blinked in surpsrise and arched a brow at him. It wasn’t a surprise since Tomoki usually never volanteered to spend time with her, usually she’d have to use threats of suicide and peeing in his room to get him to even talk to her.

Tomoko surprised him however by not making a fuss she turned back and went over to the tv to set it up.

“We’re playing Injustice two.”

Tomoki let out a sigh as he flopped down on the floor beside her and took the controller she handed him as she started up the game.

 As they played Tomoki couldn’t help but look over to his sister every now and then and his playing suffered for it, but he didn’t care much.

‘She’s kind of cute right?’

Sort of.

When Tomoki was much much younger and very very misguided, he thought Tomoko was the prettiest girl he’d ever laid eyes on. No one could compare, not even his mom. He honestly loved her to death and at the time marrying her some day when they were older made perfect sense. He wanted to be with her forever. She was so sweet and just so perfect he was determined to be the one to protect and provide for her no matter what.

Now he knows better.

He still loves her and sure he’ll protect her if necessary but he isn’t as obsessive as he was before.

He grew out of his crush and as he got older he became disenchanted with the perfect image of his big sister that he so dearly cherished. Still looking at her now, he can admit that she’s fairly attractive. She certainly isn’t ugly and her eyes were actually pretty despite the dark circles around them. She’s skinny, she could easily be confused for a first year or a senior middle schooler.

She is kind of cute.

So maybe he can see what those other guys like about her, but come on its Tomoko. His sister. He didn’t want to think about other guys being interested in his sister. He thought he’d have a few more years before he had to deal with any of that.

Apparently he was wrong.

Maybe he should just tell her about what’s been happening, but then what? What would Tomoko do once she found out? Freak out is the most likely answer. Turn into a stuttering blushing mess the next time she was around a guy, probably. She’d definately never leave him alone after that, constantly asking what they thought of her or if they thought she was cute or how big their penis’ were-he really didn’t want to get pulled into that.

Maybe he should just keep it to himself.

But it would only be a matter of time before she found out. Tadashi-senpai kept texting him. Tomoki knew it would only be a matter of time till he just showed up at the house and she was there. That Kosaka guy was still hanging around after school sometimes. Aomatsu couldn't look at him without blushing and asking how his sister was and those other two guys were actually in her class. And with that guy at the cafe who knows how many more their are.

Tomoko would have a mental break down if it was all suddenly dumped on her, he didn’t even want to think about what would happen if one of them suddenly confessed to her. She’d probably pass out.

So maybe Tomoki should tell her, just to give her a heads up so she wasn’t caught completely off guard. But-

“What the hell asshole! It's like you aren't even trying.” Tomoko hissed bringing Tomoki out of his thoughts as Joker continued to beat Batman into a bloody pulp. “Why did you want to play if you weren't going to actually play.”

The younger teen remembered himself and started playing.

He cleared his throat, keeping his eyes on the screen.

He’ll decide on what to do, he just has to ask first.

“Tomoko, can I ask you something?”

“No, Dicky-chan hasn’t said anything about your dick to me this week.” The girl replied easily and Tomoki had to reign his anger in.

“That’s not what I was going to ask.”

“Then what do you want to ask?”

“Do you, have... A boyfriend.”

“Yeah, but he’s more like a fiance really.” Tomoko said with a smirk, “He’s this super popular voice actor and he asked me to marry him when we met at the handshake meet last year.”

Tomoki glared, “Be serious for once you brat.”

“Hey, I’m older than you.”

“Then act like it, do you have a boyfriend or what?”

Tomoko sighed and deflated, her shoulders dropped and she folded into herself a little, but she didn’t look away from the game. “You already know the answer to that.”

So no.

She really hasn’t noticed anything?

God she’s oblivious.

“Typical.’ Tomoki hissed. The game was suddenly paused Tomoko dropped her controller and got up to her feet.

“You don’t need to rub it in you jerk!” Tomoki just blinked in surprise. “I get it alright, I’m a loser. I’m such a loser it took me two years to even make the acquaitances I have now and I still have no boyfriend. Well we can’t all be popular like some assholes that have girls practically drooling all over them.”

“That's not what-”

“Is that why you're here to rub in the fact that no guy likes me or would ever want me, huh?”

Her face was flushed with anger and her eyes brimming with tears. Tomoki felt terrible, she completely misunderstood. How does he fix this before she starts bawling in front of him and he feels even worse?

“I...” Deep breath, God she’s such a pain. “I’d date you.”

“What?” Tomoko paused and Tomoki shrugged, “If you weren’t my sister. I think I’d date you. You’re kind of cute.”

And sweet and caring in her own twistedly perverted way.

Tomoko just started back at him in silence before shaking her head and giving a snort as she wiped her eyes. “Now’s not the time to try and take advantage of your sister when she’s weak and vulnerable. I’m not letting you get in my pants.”

Tomoki actually laughed that time.

“Now why did you really come in here? Don’t I usually come to your room?”

“You haven’t in a while, I just... Wanted to check in on you.”

Well except that one time when she popped in to ask if he enjoyed playing with his nipples cause of some manga she read but Tomoki threw her out before she could even try to sit down.

“Ugh, what’s wrong with you. You’re starting to creep me out.” The girl said with a cringe as she folded her arms across her chest.

“Nothing it’s just. I don’t think you’re as unpopular as you think you are.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Tomoki thought for a moment and then shook his head, “Nothing, wanna keep playing?”

“Fine, but you better pay attention this time.” Tomoko plopped down on the ground and grabbed her controller.

Tomoki decided that maybe she’s better off not knowing. Knowing would just make her more awkward and weirder than before and besides. What’s with all these guys suddenly liking her anyway and all of them suddenly hanging around. It seemed a little suspicious to him, plus he didn’t really know Tadashi-senpai all that well, what if he was some creep that liked little girls and that’s why he liked his sister. And those guys in Tomoko’s class didn’t seem like they were serious at all, they’d probably treat dating her like somekind of game. And that Kosaka guy, something bad obviously happened there and if Kii-chan didn’t like him then he must be a bad guy. The guy at the cafe was definately a creep that liked little girls. As for Aomatsu he’s too young for Tomoko anyway.

In hindsight, despite his sister’s flaws she could probably do better. She looks out for him and makes sure he doesn’t hang out with weird girls, shouldn’t he return the favor? None of them would be good for her anyway.

The next morning, Tomoki was in class, just before the bell would ring for home room. He’d just sent a text to Tadashi-senpai making sure that the older teen wouldn't just show up at their house anytime soon when the chair next to his suddenly moved and he saw Aomatsu sit down at the desk beside him.

“Good morning, Tomoki-kun.”

“Hey.”

He was blushing again, Tomoki couldn't help but frown at the boy as he turned towards him with his hands on his lap.

“Do you mind if I ask you something... A-about your sister-”

“Aomatsu.” Tomoki started with a dark glare in his eyes, “Don’t ever go near my sister again.”

Aomatsu swallowed hard at the look in the raven’s eyes.

“Understand?”

Aomatsu quickly turned away.

“R-right. Yeah I understand.”