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“Hhngh…”
When sneaking downstairs for a midnight snack at 3:07 AM, hearing your little sister making that sound in the middle of the night wasn’t typically something you’d want to hear.
Especially not while she was holding a knife in one hand with a vaguely red liquid covering the other.
And especially not while she was stumbling and barely holding her head up while leaning against the counter.
Like the good older brother that he was, the combination of all these factors made him immediately turn on the kitchen light and rush to her side.
“Saki,” he started in a panic, “oh my god, what did you just--”
He froze when Saki drearily looked up at him, eyes hardly open. Now that he could see everything clearly… he was more confused than anything.
In one hand, she held a fruit knife. Her other hand was covered in strawberry juice.
Oh, and she was also holding a large strawberry that had been messily hollowed out into a cup-like shape.
He had a million things he wanted to say at the moment, but all he could really manage was…
“... what?!”
“I’m thirsty,” she mumbled, as if that was an explanation. “And I couldn’t sleep…”
“...okay? So what’s up with the strawbe--”
To his shock, he watched as she filled the strawberry with water. Tiny bits of strawberry pulp floated to the top. She drank it.
“S- Saki, what are you—“
“Thirsty,” she muttered again as she filled and drank another strawberry full of water, which was honestly less than a sip per berry.
Well no, that’s a lie. Strawberries aren’t berries, so that was poor wording on his part. Correction: less than a sip per fruit.
Okay, no, that’s still not true, because the so-called seeds are actually the fruit part, so in that case--
He forced himself to stop there. That was a whole side tangent that he had to stop himself from going on. Damn Rui and his info dumps. The important part is that it was hardly any water.
He sighed when he saw Saki fill the strawberry again. She must be tired… poor girl. As her big brother, he had to help her somehow!
“Here, eat the strawberry, okay?” he told her, taking the strawberry from her and placing it gently in her mouth. Saki muttered something and groaned, but still ate it, seemingly too tired to resist. “And wash your hands too,” he instructed, taking the knife from her and turning on the faucet. Just in case she was too tired for this as well, he grabbed hold of her wrists and brought her hands to the water, rinsing off most of the strawberry juice. From the kitchen counter, he grabbed a couple paper towels and handed them to her, watching as she dried her hands off on her own… or at least attempted to. Still, it was good enough.
“So, when did you wake up?” Tsukasa asked, tossing out the wet paper towels and guiding her to sit at the table.
“Didn’t,” she answered plainly, voice barely comprehensible. “Couldn’t fall asleep…”
She didn’t sleep?
Oh boy… that explained why she was so sleepy. And she woke up pretty early this morning too didn’t she? Technically yesterday morning, since it’s past midnight now, but still.
“Well, in that case, I’ll get you some water, and then we’ll go to bed, alright?”
“Mm…”
He’ll just take that as a yes.
After a second of searching, he found her favorite mug and filled it with water for her before sticking a reusable silicone straw in it. He set it down on the table in front of her.
Saki, who was propping her head up with her hands, slowly grabbed the mug and started sipping out of the straw. Tsukasa smiled. As a world future star, he of all people knew how essential hydration was for your health!
Now, as for his midnight snack… his eyes settled on the box of strawberries that Saki had left out. Since they’re already here, why not have some?
While Saki drank her water out of an actual cup, Tsukasa washed a few strawberries and expertly cut the tops off with the fruit knife.
When he started eating, he had to admit, they were pretty good. He wasn’t sure he would be willing to drink water out of one of these, but… still.
He was quick to finish. Once he was done, he washed the fruit knife, put the remaining strawberries back in the fridge, and went to grab the mug back from--
Oh.
Saki’s head was resting on the table. Judging by her slow breaths and gently closed eyes, it seems like she had fallen asleep. The water must’ve really helped, huh?
With a little chuckle, he grabbed her mug, washed it as well as the straw, and put them away before returning to her side and turning the lights off.
“Well, you can’t just sleep here all night, can you?” Tsukasa whispered, mostly to himself. “Come on, let’s get you upstairs…”
With a bit of effort, he managed to carry her on his back without waking her. Phew… carrying a human was tougher than it looked when you were trying to be stealthy about it. But eventually, after a lot of time and a lot of quiet swearing under his breath, he finally lowered Saki onto her bed.
“Agh, my back,” he muttered. God, it was aching like crazy. But he couldn’t be worrying about that now. Now, all he should be worried about was going back to sleep. He sighed.
“Goodnight, Saki… sweet dreams,” he whispered to her before tucking her in.
Doing this almost made him feel like a parent to her. But if doing so stopped her from drinking water out of a strawberry at 3:07 AM, then he was more than happy to act as a parent.
Seriously, drinking out of a strawberry… how was it possible for a girl like her to be so smart and yet so stupid at the same time?
That’s what sleep deprivation does to you, it seems.
And speaking of, it was about time for Tsukasa to go to bed as well. He didn’t want to be caught up late at night drinking water from a banana peel, or something.
With a yawn, he headed towards his room to go back to sleep.