Chapter Text
No, it definitely wasn’t a date.
Those were the words that echoed into Kamui’s mind as she began to comb the unruly knots from her hair in front of the mirror. The early morning sunlight trickled through the wooden planks of the treehouse, illuminating every stubborn flyaway that stood amongst her silvery waves. She glanced over at the Nohrian-styled dress lying on her bed. While it was indeed beautiful and different to the typical Hoshidan type of dress she had grown accustomed to, it was still going to be pain to do all of those laces by herself…
If only she could call Felicia or Joker to help her… but no, it was impossible! If anyone were to find out where she was going… Kamui shook her head, the warmth in her face rising as she recalled the promise she and her little brother had made the day before.
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“I did it! Did you see?! I hit the target!” Kamui let out a cheer and grabbed her little brother roughly by the arm, dragging him towards the crudely painted bullseye with her arrow sticking through it. The young Hoshidan prince let out a startled yelp and yanked his arm away once they got closer.
“Yeah, I see it! Geez, you don’t have to pull me with such force!” Although he spoke with an exasperated tone, he had a goofy grin on his face. “Good work, sister. I knew you could do it.” He laughed and gave her cheek a poke. “After all, you did have an excellent teacher!”
“Hehe. Thank you, Takumi. As I thought, you really are the best.” Before he could protest, she turned towards him and wrapped her arms tightly around his body.
“K-Kamui?!”
“Thank you, Takumi… from the bottom of my heart.” She closed her eyes, feeling the pleasant warmth radiating off from his body. She sighed, taking in his familiar scent that reminded her of home…
“H-hey… I can’t breathe, Kamui.” Kamui’s eyes snapped open, immediately grabbing him by his shoulders and pushing him away. Takumi’s face was flushed pink, his eyes wide with surprise. This was the first time she could see his face so closely. His eyes were like the sun; a bright, glowing hazel… the same color as the stalks of wheat that grew back in Nohr. His hair was just like her own: it had the same color of the steel and threaded out like endless waves down his back. Of course, he kept most of it tied back in a ponytail, but that didn’t stop a couple of strands from standing up at the base of his hair tie, giving him an appearance similar to a pineapple. His skin, which was normally pale despite him training out in the sun every day, was a deep red, with the color spreading to his ears. His lips…
Kamui suddenly leapt back, releasing her little brother’s shoulders. “Wa-wah! S-sorry!” She felt her blood rush to face, heat burning her ears. Takumi looked away, suddenly more interested in the arrow jutting out of the target.
“W-well, I’m just happy I could teach you something. You really are talented, sister.” Kamui paused, trying to shake out the complicated feelings that were bubbling in her chest. When she finally composed herself, she smiled and let out a giggle.
“Heh… thank you. One day, I’ll even surpass you, Takumi.” He turned back to face her again, goofy grin returning with an eyebrow cocked in disbelief.
“…are you sure about that, sister? This is literally the first time you’ve hit the target… you’ve still got a long way to go. By the time you reach my level, I’ll be even better than I am now.” He crossed his arms and smirked at her. “Face it- you’ll never catch up to me.” Kamui scrunched her nose and stuck out her tongue at him.
“Blegh. I know, I know! You’re leagues ahead of me- no need to rub it in.” She gave him a playful poke in the cheek. “But I’m going to continue to improve every day. In fact, by today, I’ll get ten arrows to hit the target! In a row!”
He scoffed. “Heh. You wish. Your stance is still very unbalanced, and you keep gripping your arrows too tightly. Getting ten perfect shots in a row won’t be easy for someone like you.” Now it was her turn to cross her arms and grin.
“Eh? Is that a challenge, little brother?”
“Pfft. Challenge? I wasn’t suggesting you can’t do it- I’m merely stating you can’t do it.” She frowned and gave his hair a poke this time.
“Tch! Big words, coming from someone who's hair looks like a pineapple…”
“What?! Would you stop comparing my hair-“
“Ha! Never. Not until you fix your ponytail!” Takumi’s hands instinctively flew to his hair, causing Kamui to burst out laughing. He scowled at her.
“Oh- that’s it! Okay, fine. I’m betting you can’t hit the target ten times in a row!” She grinned, picking her yumi back up.
“A competition, huh…? Okay… but if you lose, you have to do what I say for an entire day tomorrow!”
Takumui began to protest. “What?! No way... I’m not doing that!” Kamui shook her head and smirked at his defiant expression.
“No backing out! You already challenged me!”
“Ugh, fine…” he muttered, glaring at her. “Well, if you lose, what do I get in exchange?” She paused and thought for a moment, then shrugged.
“Well, I guess I’ll do whatever you say all day tomorrow if you win…” Her face began to warm again once her words and the (secret) implications they had dawned on her. Takumi just stared at her.
“W-what? Is that not good enough…?” She felt the urge to look away from his eyes, which just continued to bore into hers. Finally, Takumi grinned.
“…no, it's fine. You got yourself a deal, Kamui.”
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Of course, Takumi was surprised to discover the sheer resilience his older sister had, with her finally getting ten shots in a row just as the sun had begun to set. Kamui was surprised too- she had wanted to give up after getting to the ninth arrow and then botching the last shot. Still, she was determined to win and started over, going a lot slower this time in order to line her yumi up correctly. By the time Takumi asked what she was going to make him do, she was too tired and hungry to really give her request much thought. She told him he had to hang out with her all day tomorrow, meeting her in the meadow not too far from the archery range. After she ate dinner and took a bath in the onsen, she realized how... great her request had actually been. Hang out all day with Takumi? The two barely spent time together besides those recent bow-training sessions. Both of them knew that Takumi did not hold a high opinion of her before all of this. It was only until recently they had finally just started warming up to each other. They never ate meals together, never really talked outside of the archery range…
Spending time together was going to be strange. She began thinking about what they would actually do the next day as she laid in bed, unable to sleep. Should they practice archery again? But they did that everyday… Should they spar with swords this time? After all, he always refused whenever Kamui asked, and this time he wouldn’t be able to refuse… Maybe they should just take it easy and eat lunch together? After all, with the war going on, having time to relax would be nice…
The two of them would have a picnic together at the meadow, she decided. But she’d also throw in some sparing to make it less awkward…
Kamui shook her head, focusing on getting the tangles out of her hair. What was there to be nervous about, really? This was her little brother, a guy with pineapple-shaped hair. Yet, she had still woken up early to make the food, comb her hair, and dress up…
Kamui shook her head again, pushing all of those thoughts aside and looked upon the challenge of a dress lying in wait for her on the bed. Closing her eyes, she sighed and laughed to herself a little.
No, it definitely wasn’t a date.