Chapter Text
"Kaito..."
It was muttered against his lips, hardly even escaped his throat. It was enough, though. Nothing this delinquent could mutter escaped his class prez's ears. Kaito broke their push and pull of kisses by leaning further away. Maki, who was practically leaning over him at this point, opened his eyes embarrassedly. Kaito's ears were bright red, different from the areas Maki would usually see turn red. The nerd turned his head to the side, a vulnerable look on his face. There wasn't any hostility in his look, but it still made Maki's gut flip upside down with worries over how Kaito must see him after such a slip.
Maki sat up normally, gesturing with his hands as though he was lining up his words. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Class prez, I didn't mean to call you that--"
Kaito was vigorously shaking his head. "No--! No-- it's--" A distant voice in the entryway.
"Yoo hoo~ Kai-chan! I'm respecting your privacy by announcing my arrival, but asserting my authority as your little sister by entering the house anyway!"
"sh*t, KARIN, get in here!" Kaito almost said it like a hiccup, a reflex he just couldn't control, no matter how inconvenient the timing.
"Dude!" Maki hissed quietly, pushing himself further away from Kaito.
Unwilling to unfold his legs for... reasons, he shamefully brought them up to his chest, losing his balance and falling to the side. Thus, Karin walks in on Maki curled into a ball and Kaito staring at his own lap. Karin followed his gaze and instantly tried to wordlessly exit. Maki untensed slightly, feeling a strange vibe from between the two of them. Kaito reached out, crossing a leg over the other. "W-w-wait... I was just trying to-- uh..." Karin was very clearly resisting the urge to turn him to stone with her glare by smiling, "How are your subjects in school coming along, do you need us to tutor you in anything?"
"No, I'm good, Kai-chan :D"
"R-r-right, of course, just, uh, it's your last year of middle school, and--"
"You want me to get into the same high school you did, I know. Thanks for looking out for me as always. I'm going to go blare some Yuyoyuppe now ~{^v^}~"
Kaito's eye's desperately flickered to Maki, trying to prevent Karin's steady exit. Only questions bounced around Maki's empty head, though. "Y-yes, that's no big deal--"
Maki chose the least serious of the questions to ask. "Wait, aren't you tutoring me, right now?"
"I'll let you get back to tutoring, then~"
Karin slunk away while Kaito's attention was focused on Maki, where it should've been to start. Kaito didn't notice for a moment. "I mean, I can tutor you both at the same time--"
"Li'l sis is GONE." At this point, Maki was basically a low energy blob resting at the foot of Kaito's bed in fetal position.
Kaito's hair dramatically flew upwards as he swiveled his head to the door. "Wh- dammit! eeh eeerrrrrr I mean, not that that matters, anyway." Now that he had the feeling this could be something more than awkward, Maki was almost creeped out by Kaito's murmured thoughts. "S-so, what I'm saying is, maybe I can still tutor you for a bit longer today..?"
Kaito turned and looked Maki in the eyes, giving the usual flustered smirk. Maki was (mostly) unaffected. He wanted to ask it straight up: 'Is there a reason you wanted li'l sis to stay 'here' so much?' but, aside from implying the two boys had any romantic hijinks going on, it could imply something very insulting about Kaito's character, something Maki was newly questioning:
Did Kaito... LIKE... being caught?
"S-sorry, I should... be getting back to base." Maki got up, slumped over. Kaito's smile vanished as he realized something other than the obvious had gone wrong.
"Yeah, sorry for earlier... I'll see you..." Maki didn't stop walking. In fact, outside view of the house, he ran.
Back to his original train of thought, Maki always knew Kaito was trying to use his little sister's presence to his advantage. He thought it was to make sure things didn't get romantic between them, as a deterrent of "Don't ever ask out Kaito, and to take that point home, here is a cockblock little sister to join you on your dates-turned-friend-hangouts." It was the most sure sign that Kaito did not see this as anymore than a f*ckbuddy dealy. The timing of when Kaito would call Karin would sometimes be inconvenient, to say the least, but Maki hadn't overthought that. He thought Kaito just included her whenever she showed up. But... the weird look Karin had on her face when she was repressing evident disgust and disappointment... was that from being exposed to the sight of her brother with a boner, or was there a deeper turmoil? Kaito's face when he bit back extra words to Karin--an explanation to Maki-- was trying to express an almost... forbidden desire. Did Kaito... want to "include" Karin in more than just their (not) dates?
"Little sister... is she okay?!" he gasped with more desperation than five minutes out of Karin's sight warranted.
Michi took off his helmet, shaking the sweat from his bleach-fried hair. "Uhh... Sho', I'm not sure how to respond to this." Wasn't Maki, y'know, *hand flip*?
"I-I know that came outta nowhere, but-- I'm just worried for her, okay!" Maki blushed, ashamed he'd been caught ruminating out loud. That didn't keep Michi from raising his eyebrow as high on his forehead as it could get.
The next day, Maki buttoned his shirt (partways) and took out his (large) piercings. He sat straight and didn't sneak off on break. Kaito appeared almost frustrated he couldn't give him detention, especially since he was a substitute tutor that day for those who did have detention (something he'd largely escaped since joining school council). Maki pushed Kaito out of his mind for the first time in months. He could really only think about one thing: Karin. Was she in danger? How much danger? Was she at immediate risk, or was this something that had been triggered by...
No, he can't go blaming himself. He just needs to find the facts. But, how does he do that without offending her? Simple (right?). Walk her home, show her support, wait for her to open up to him. Then he'd know the truth, and then he'd know how to respond when Kaito greets him. He'd left his bike at the base the night before, so when school got out, he walked a couple miles up the road to her middle school. Maki avoided the anxious stares of passerby and a rabid blonde until Karin came out, wearing a satchel along with her normal bag. Maki waved.
"Oi! Li'l sis!"
"M-Maki-nii?" her raspy, puberty-stricken voice exclaimed.
Suddenly this felt like an awkward situation. Nobody knew his intentions, creeping around a middle school. Karin turned around, pleats of her sailor uniform's skirt blowing in the wind. Her space buns weren't enough to keep her long, thick hair from blowing in the wind. Her large eyes, instead of appearing buggish, were almost cute, along with her tomboyish voice. How come he'd never noticed? Maki forged ahead with waving her over. This... felt a bit strange. If Maki had to 'save,' so to speak, Karin from this circumstance, what would that make him to her? Rather than a delinquent, a... prince?
"Where are you going with all that luggage?"
"Hm? Just to your base. I heard Michi-san was scheduled for work today. But, why are you here?"
Frick. What to say what to say what to s-- "I just wanted to see you."
F*CK! Wrong option! Karin's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Oh? What's going on? Is something wrong?"
"No--" he choked, "Nothing in particular--!" Karin shifted awkwardly. A bowl clanged against a cookie sheet. So THAT's what was in her bag... "W-well, uh..." For some reason Maki was losing his voice. This never really happened with Karin, before. "I'm heading there, too, so let me carry that for you."
"Maki-nii..." Karin looked genuinely worried for him.
"No, no, I insist."
"... Okaaaay."
Maki nearly fell over from how heavy it was. She was able to carry that all the way to her school?! Silently cursing himself all the way, they reached the base long enough for him to regret becoming a 'prince' in any way.
"I'm impressed, Maki-nii, you managed to carry seven sacks of flour yourself!" She was laughing at him. Maki smirked and rolled his eyes. He was offended, but...
"Of course I can, I--"
"Boss."
"Boss."
"Howdy-- wait! LITTLE SISTER!"
"Little sister?!"
"Hell yeah! Little sister!"
The three stooges gave them a warm welcome. Them being mostly Karin, but Maki didn't mind. Suddenly, seeing her spitfire and energy, uninhibited from any form of politeness, felt a bit more precious. Karin noticed how contemplative Maki was and gave him extra cookies. Maki didn't fight it. Instead of whatever feeling he'd originally had about her coming in and stirring things up, he felt flattered, almost grateful, that she was baking... for him (and the other guys). Eventually, the others left to patrol the territory and mess around on the highways, leaving the two of them alone with the smell of baking bread. Maki would steal a glance at her occasionally, who was scrolling through her phone. Was this a good time-- Itsuki wandered in immediately after the thought. Maki was already building up his courage, so he asked her anyways.
"Can I talk to you for a moment, outside?" Karin looked up from her phone and hummed curiously.
Maki flung his jacket over his shoulder and leaned on the brick wall of a neighboring building. Bread timer entrusted to Itsuki (what could go wrong), Karin waited patiently. He took a deep breath, prepared to take the next step. "Me and my gang... Are always a safe place for you." This is harder than he thought... Maki grumbled and fought off an embarrassed blush. "S-s-so, you're welcome here, anytime." His fluttering eyes occasionally met hers. Karin's eyes widened and then narrowed.
"Thanks..." She gave a small smile to the concrete, shivering a bit. Suddenly, she felt a warm presence next to her, and a cloth being draped over her shoulders. She sweat a bit, clearly biting back some form of emotion. She gave an innocent, confused look to him, wide eyes glowing in the sunset.
"... You looked cold." Maki nonchalantly explained, hand in his pocket. He glanced at her a couple of times and looked back to the entrance of the warehouse. "I think I'll walk myself home, as long as you don't burn the bread..." Her voice was stiff to the point of nearly being robotic. "Roger. The rest of the gang should be back from patrol, soon, so there'll be more eyes on it." He looked at her a bit closer. Regardless of if she wanted the jacket, she was still gripping it around her shoulders. "I'll let you hold onto the jacket until you get home." Karin nodded and he started walking away. Suddenly he remembered she was this tiny middle school girl! He flung his head back her way. "U-unless you want me to give you a quick ride back..!"
"... I'm good."
Her tone of voice betrayed her awed expression. Karin was not amused. Feeling like he'd said too much, he turned and walked away. Karin stood there, stunned for a few moments, before turning and walking back her direction, too.