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While walking home from school, Kou asks Mitsuba,
“Wanna go to my place for a bit?”
“You want to get me back to your place, where you can get me alone! What are you gonna do once you get me back there? Rough me up? Through me on your bed and gag me?! Pervert! Pervert!”
“Wha- no! Where did you even get that? Is that what you think of at night?” Mitsuba blushed bright red and huffed. “Tiara and Teru are going to be there, anyway.”
“I’m gonna call my mom.” A few minutes later, Mitsuba finishes his call and says, “Got your way, pervert. You’re gonna rough me up in the same house as your little sister and older brother, I didn’t know you were that much of a pervert, Kou.” Kou rolls his eyes, and then grabs Mitsuba’s hand in his.
“Why are you so insistent on me roughing you up, Mitsuba?” Mitsuba pulls up his scarf and spits,
“Shut up Kou.” Kou laughs, but doesn’t respond.
Kou opens the door to see smoke coming from the kitchen.
“Teru-nii! Tiara!” He runs right towards it without Mitsuba getting a word in. As Kou walks into the kitchen, he sees Teru over the sink, holding a burnt pan. Tiara gives him a thumbs up.
“Kou-nii!” Kou lets out a held breath and scoops up Tiara in his arms.
“What happened, Teru-nii…” Kou asks.
“I wanted to make our little princess a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
“Where does that include a pan and stove?” Kou yells. Teru shrugs, and says,
“She wanted the jelly warm.” Kou stares at his brother for way too long. Just thinking of what he did is making Kou’s brain melt. Giving Tiara a hug, he hands her over to Teru and says,
“Listen, Mitsuba is here, we’re gonna be in my room. Tiara can you eat snacks until dinner?”
“Is Mitsuba your boyfriend? Are you gonna play video games? I wanna play!” Kou’s ears feel like they're on fire, and when Teru-nii looks at him expecting an answer, it only gets worse.
“Maybe we can play later, Tiara. And Mitsuba is-” Teru takes a step forward and ruffles Kou’s hair. Tiara puts out her hand too.
“Go hang out with your boyfriend.” Teru says, and Tiara responds,
“I hope you’re not jealous, Nii-chan, you don’t even have a partner and you're older than Kou-nii.” Kou runs out of the kitchen before he gets drawn into another conversation.
“Is everything ok?” Mitsuba asks, chewing on his sleeve.
“Uh yeah, Teru just put jam in a pan and tried to heat it.” Mitsuba snickers, and Kou’s heart skips a beat. He stares a little too long, and Mitsuba begins to fidget with his hair.
“I know I’m cute, but stop staring at me.”
“Yeah, you’re so cute, I can’t keep my eyes off of you.” Mitsuba blushes again, going back to fidget with his hair. Kou grabs his empty sleeve and drags Mitsuba to his room. Kou prays his siblings don’t hear Mitsuba yell, “Pervert!” at him. As Kou shuts the door behind them, Mitsuba stands in the middle of the room.
“You can sit down.” Kou says, going to turn on his xbox. Mitsuba sits down on the floor, and Kou quickly joins him. Kou is about to give Mitsuba another controller, when he remembers. “Oh. Yeah. Do you wanna watch a movie?” Mitsuba huffs.
“I can play video games with one hand, lame ass traffic safety earring.” Kou hands Mitsuba the controller, and he boots up Overcooked. To put it simply, no one in the Minamoto family is good at Overcooked. No one. Tiara barely understands the mechanics, Teru gets stressed too fast, and Kou gets too much meat. They’ve barely passed the first few levels. Kou starts them on the third level, because Mitsuba insists. Mitsuba moves around using his left stump, but still has excellent coordination. He’s yelling at Kou with such a different tone compared to usual; and he isn’t calling him a pervert every 5 seconds. 20 minutes later and Mitsuba has hauled Kou through 7 more levels.
“How do you own this game and still suck at it?” Mitsuba yells. He has a brutal pace to keep up with, a never-ending assault. Finally, after finishing level 20, Mitsuba yawns and puts his controller to the side. Kou wipes sweat from his brow and yawns too. All of sudden, Mitsuba drops his head down onto Kou’s lap.
“I’m sure you’re thinking dirty thoughts right now, pervert.” Mitsuba mumbles, curling up. Kou reaches his hand towards Mitsuba’s hair, softly stroking it.
“I’m not.” Kou says softly.
“Sure, pervert.” Mitsuba leans into Kou’s hand, and closes his eyes. Kou stares down at Mitsuba with only the kindest eyes. Mitsuba flutters up his eyes, looking up at Kou. Kou smiles at him, a cute goofy smile that Mitsuba will treasure. Kou tucks some of Mitsuba’s hair behind his ears, so he can see both of his eyes.
“Your eyes are pretty, Mitsuba.” One beat, then two, then three. Mitsuba’s face lights up and he starts babbling.
“Duh! I’m the cutest in the world, pervert, you’re so lame that you couldn't even realise it till now, you don’t even understand how adorable I am! You don’t even deserve the right to look at my cuteness, like, wow you’re so blind! You’re a blind pervert!” Kou laughs, still smiling down at Mitsuba while he continues to babble. All of a sudden, Kou’s door bursts open. Mitsuba gets up too quick and he and Kou’s heads bang.
“Kou-nii! I wanna play with you- What are you doing, Kou-nii?” Kou and Mitsuba are in the exact position as before, but now rubbing their heads.
“Tiara, wheres Teru..?” Kou says between cries of pain.
“Teru-nii is in the living room-” Teru comes running down the hall, grabbing Tiara. Tiara shrieks, and Teru stands in the doorway.
“I fell asleep and she ran away, sorry Kou.” Kou keeps rubbing his head, and just says,
“Thank you for getting her…” Teru closes the door and starts walking down the hall, while Tiara screams,
“I wanna meet Kou-nii’s boyfriend! Let me go!!” Kou lets out a long sigh while Mitsuba just groans.
“Sorry.” He says, and Mitsuba just gets off his lap. “Does your head still hurt? Do you want me to get you something? I can get you something to eat?” Mitsuba shakes his head and smiles.
“Just let me lie on you again.” Mistuba says, as he goes to lie on his lap. They get disturbed by another scream. Kou stands up, then extends a hand to help Mitsuba up from the floor. Mitsuba gets up despite his confusion, and Kou drags him towards the living room. Hand in hand, they stand in the doorway. Teru looks back at them, while Tiara is already climbing over the couch. Kou doesn’t let go of Mitsuba’s hand to crouch down to Tiara. Tiara overlooks Kou and addresses Mitsuba directly.
“Are you Kou-nii’s boyfriend?” She says, in that cute kid way. Mitsuba blushes bright red, and is about to start babbling when Kou starts talking.
“Mitsuba is my boyfriend.”
“Hi Mitsuba-nii!! ” Tiara sticks her hand out, and Mitsuba hesitantly shakes it.
“Hi Tiara.” Mitsuba smiles. Teru looks over the couch with a faint smile and signals Kou to come over while Mitsuba and Tiara talk. All of sudden, Kou sprints towards his room, leaving Mitsuba. Mitsuba allows Tiara to go on and on, mostly about Teru and Kou. Kou comes back into the room, carrying the Xbox. Kou and Teru slowly hook it up while Mitsuba stares on, confused. They catch Tiara’s attention, and she loudly exclaims,
“Can we play Overcooked too, Kou-nii?” Having finished setting it up, Teru grabs two extra controllers. Kou looks back to face Tiara and Mitsuba.
“We’re all gonna play together.” Kou says, smiling at Tiara, and then directly at Mitsuba. Mitsuba’s eyes widen, and he can’t stop a grimace from coming onto his face. Tiara excitedly runs towards Teru to get her controller, while Kou comes closer to Mitsuba.
“Do you not want to..?” Kou says. Mitsuba forces a smile and says,
“I just don’t know how to act around your family…”
“Just act how you do around me. Like when we were playing earlier.” Mitsuba shakes his head, but keeps smiling. “C’mon, I’ll be there.” Kou says, grabbing Mitsuba’s sleeve. They sit down in front of the couch, while Teru and Tiara sit on it. Teru gives them their controllers, then begins to choose a level.
“When did you unlock all these levels, Kou?” Teru says, scrolling through all the new stuff.
“Mitsuba is kinda a pro at this game, he hauled me through 17 levels earlier.” Tiara ‘oohs’ at Mitsuba’s talent, and immediately starts asking questions.
“How are you so good Mitsuba-nii? And how did you get Kou-nii through so many levels? He isn’t very good.” Kou stares, dumbfounded. Mitsuba laughs, covering his smile with a sleeve.
“Tiara, anyone can be good if they just listen to what I tell them to do.”
“Mitsuba-nii, I want to be good!! Let’s start, Teru-nii.” Teru starts up the second level, and Tiara immediately starts complaining.
“I want to play where Mitsuba-nii and Kou-nii left off!” She screams, leaving Teru to change the level to much harder than he’s ever played. Kou flashes an apologetic smile at him, and Teru smiles back. The timer counts down on level 21, and the level starts. Mitsuba starts giving orders, telling Teru to work on supplies, Tiara to cut what Teru gives her, for Kou to cook, and for himself to read the orders and plate. Despite barely knowing the mechanics, Tiara understands how to cut something and then move it. Teru doesn’t stress because Mitsuba is reading out orders, and he gets all the food out to be cut in an orderly fashion. Thankfully, Kou isn’t anywhere near the supplies, so he can’t get too much. Three minutes later, they pass the level with 3 stars. Tiara whoops, Teru wipes sweat from his forehead, and Kou smiles at Mitsuba. A question pops into his head, and he asks Mitsuba,
“I didn’t know you had Overcooked, when did you get it?”
Mitsuba brings his knees to his chest and says,
“What? I don’t have Overcooked.” Kou stares at him, his mouth gaping.
“You…. don’t have Overcooked?”
“I played it for the first time today.” Mitsuba shrugs. Kou stares at him with utter shock.
“But you- you. Mitsuba you’ve never… you’ve never played?!” Tiara gasps, and suddenly jumps on to Mitsuba’s back.
“Wow! Mitsuba-nii, you’re so talented!! You got us through that level like a piece of cake!!” Teru grabs Tiara off of Mitsuba, and pulls her into his lap. Kou smiles at his boyfriend as Mitsuba tries to not come off as haughty and overconfident.
“Thank you Tiara, you did really good too!” Mitsuba smiles- and Kou knows it’s genuine. Tiara almost begins to tear up, before wiping them away and turning to Teru to say,
“Can we please play another game, Teru-nii!” She yells, with her hands interlocked. While Tiara begs, Kou nudges Mitsuba’s shoulder. Mitsuba meets his eyes, but seems confused. Kou leans in to whisper to Mitsuba, and says,
“Thank you for playing.” Mitsuba’s face goes as bright as his hair, and he resists the urge to call Kou a pervert. Teru, exasperated, asks them both if they will play another round. Kou looks at Mitsuba first, and Mitsuba quickly responds,
“Sure.” Tiara quickly gets off Teru and jumps off the couch, before squeezing herself in between Kou and Mitsuba. All three guys in the room look at each other and start cracking up. Tiara stares at her brothers with an angry face.
“What’s so funny?!” Teru presses start on the next level before she gets really angry. Before they know it, Mitsuba and Tiara are both hauling Kou and Teru through more levels. Not because Tiara has become a great player out of nowhere- she just thinks she's better than both of her brothers now. With Mitsuba giving orders and Tiara emphasizing his orders, by yelling, of course, they get through ten more levels before Tiara stops to ask Mitsuba a question.
“Mitsuba-nii, what made you want to date my Onii-chan? You’re much cuter than him, and much more talented at Overcooked! .” Mitsuba bursts into giggles, and wipes away his tears, only to look at Kou and start laughing again.
“Tiara, your Onii-chan is evil, and keeping me hostage! You’re right, I’m much too cute for him!”
Tiara scornfully looks at Kou, and Kou, defenseless, watches as his sister and his boyfriend badmouth him. Kou scoops up Tiara in his arms. He fiercely begins to tickle her, yelling,
“I’m here to kidnap the princess!” Tiara is giggling, squirming in his arms when Teru yells,
“No! My princess! Please, hand her over!” Kou continues his assault, until Mitsuba reaches out his hand.
“No! You can’t continue to kidnap princess when you already have the cutest one in the world!” Kou laughs, and stops attacking Tiara. All of sudden, he locks eyes with Teru and throws Tiara into his arms. Tiara screams, but one second later she's in Teru’s arms.
“I’ll never forget this, villain!” Teru yells, holding Tiara close, while she continues to giggle and squirm.
“I’ll be back!” Kou yells, while grabbing Mitsuba by the sleeve and walking back towards his room.
“I knew you were lame, but not that lame, traffic earring.” Mitsuba says once the door is closed.
“You’re the one who played along!” Kou wasn’t offended at all; Mitsuba’s big goofy grin showed everything he was thinking. Kou got closer to Mitsuba, and brushed his hair behind his ear again.
“What? You got an eye fetish or something, pervert?” After tucking it behind, Kou leaves his hand on his cheek. Mitsuba slightly nuzzles into it, and puts his hand over Kou’s. Kou leans in slowly, surely, before finally Mitsuba and his lips touch. Mitsuba lifts his head out of Kou’s hand, and instead interlocks their fingers, before slinging an arm around Kou’s shoulders. They both pull back to take a breath, and are suddenly on each other again. Mitsuba squeezes Kou’s hand before letting go and putting another arm around his shoulder. Kou gently puts his arms around Mitsuba, being careful to not touch his waist. Mitsuba pulls back, and says,
“I know what you’re thinking pervert, you’re thinking that you’ve got me in your room, hands around my hips, gonna push me onto the bed, and have your way with me?” Kou shakes his head no, and begins to pull his arms back when Mitsuba grabs them. “Who told you to move them!?” Kou stares dumbfoundedly into Mitsuba’s eyes, admiring them. Mitsuba blushes and looks away.
“You really have such pretty eyes… I wish you’d wear your hair like this more often.” Mitsuba’s blush only intensifies.
“I know I’m super cute! No need to keep reminding me, lame traffic safety earring.” Kou shakes his head again, before putting it on Mitsuba’s shoulder.
“Thank you for coming today. I had a lot of fun with you. And thank you for being so kind to Tiara. She’s a handful.” Kou murmurs into Mitsuba’s ear. Mitsuba’s ears were so hot he wouldn’t be surprised if Kou commented on it.
“I had fun too, Kou….” He whispers so quietly, Kou can barely hear it. But he did.