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It had been a relatively normal day for Yukiko. School had been uneventful, and she didn’t have cram school today, so it was a perfect time to unwind with some video games. So she was half paying attention when she heard the door open and her brother flop down on the couch. “Oh, hey bro!” Yukiko called over her shoulder.
“Hey.” Taiyou replied, non committedly.
“Something on your mind?” His elder sister asked, not looking up from her game. She was in the middle of a boss fight and besides, knowing Taiyou, it was probably another misunderstanding with Nishimura.
“Well, I got a love letter today…”
Yukiko simply nodded, “Oh really” she replied, before her brother’s words caught up with her. She whipped her head around in shock and stared at him. ‘How can he say something like that so nonchalantly?’ she screamed in her head. ‘Wait, more importantly Nishimura gave him a love letter.’ Her shocked expression changed to a smug one as she practically squealed in excitement.
She paused the game to give her brother her full attention, “A love letter huh? So I guess you two are official now.” Yukiko could hardly hide her excitement.
“Huh?” Taiyou looked at her confused, “what do you mean official?”
“Oh Taiyou.” Yukiko chuckled, “after you accept someone’s love letter you’re dating, you know, officially.”
Taiyou thought back to his conversation with Kagawa earlier that day. “Huh? But I didn’t accept it.”
Yukiko stared at him in shock, that didn’t make any sense. Ever since her little brother had brought Nishimura home last spring, Yukiko could tell he was in love with her. Even if he was too clueless to understand. “What!? Why not?” Yukiko almost screamed.
Taiyou flinched, he knew he had hurt Kagawa by rejecting her, but he had no idea his own sister would react like this. “I just… I think I’d compare her to… someone else if I accepted. That wouldn’t be fair to her at all.”
Yukiko didn't know how to respond to this. Who was this ‘someone else’ Taiyou was talking about? She’d been so sure Nishimura was someone special to Taiyou, not only because he talked about her all the time, but Yukiko liked to think of herself as a love expert.
After all she could tell there was something going on between his other friends Adachi and Hino from just a glance. She also predicted the spark between Kasumi and her senpai months before their christmas date.
Christmas… Come to think of it, Taiyou was uncharacteristically tightlipped when she’d asked him about the christmas party. He didn’t even say anything to dad, which was also extremely weird, since Taiyou told their father everything to make up for him not being there. The only other person at the party was…
Kasahara.
Yukiko had seen the girl a few times, from what she could tell she was confident, stylish and had an obvious crush on her little brother. Plus there was Valentine's day, Yukiko couldn’t help thinking back to that day.
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“I’m back!” Taiyou called to the room in general.
“Hey,” Yukiko looked over her shoulder, “Oh, whatcha got there?” She asked, pointing to the bag in his hands.
“Oh Kasahara gave it to me. I guess she forgot to give them to me at school!” He reached into the bag, “Woah!”
In his hands was a clear plastic bag of unmistakably heart shaped chocolates.
Yukiko tried to hide her smug grin, while she was firmly team Nishimura, she couldn’t resist teasing her younger brother. “Well, aren’t you a little heart breaker Taiyou.”
Taiyou looked up at her, “Huh what do you mean?” He asked, confused.
“Well a girl asked you to meet her on valentines day to give you heart shaped chocolates, what do you think that means?” Yukiko asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which it was.
“Kasahara must really love chocolate," Taiyou replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. After a moment more of consideration he added, "Although I think they look just like scales from the water dragon of mirage island! I didn't know Kasahara was into that series too, though, hehehe"
Yukiko stared at her brother in disbelief.
"Besides, Kasahara said it was friendship chocolate!"
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Yukiko was skeptical even back then about the so-called dragon scale friendship chocolates, but this confirmed it. Though it was weird Taiyou never said anything more about it, he usually wore his heart on his sleeve. Maybe he was just at that age now where he began hiding things that could be embarrassing.
Well, as long as Taiyou was happy right?
“So what did Nishimura say when you told her?” Yukiko sighed, hoping her brother’s first friend here hadn’t been too badly hurt by the rejection.
“I mean…” Taiyou scratched his cheek awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. “I didn’t really tell Nishimura…” He began wondering how his sister could possibly know he’d spoken to Nishimura before giving his decision. “But she gave me some really good advice.”
Yukiko stared at her brother blankly, something wasn’t adding up. How could Taiyou reject Nishimura’s love letter, without telling her he was rejecting it. “Wait… Who are you talking about?”
Taiyou looked at her blankly, “Who are you talking about?” he retorted.
“I thought you rejected a love letter from Nishimura!” Yukiko almost yelled.
“Why would I reject a love letter from her?” Taiyou replied frantically. Yukiko noted the way her brother blushed after his mind caught up to what he said. “I-I mean, why would you think it was from Nishimura?”
“I suppose you’re still too young to see it…” A smug grin crossed Yukiko’s lips as she realized she’d been right all along. “Than, I suspect this ‘someone else’ you mentioned is none other than Nishimura?”
Taiyou didn’t answer, but the way his blush deepened and he looked away from Yukiko was answer enough. It was a rare treat for Yukiko to see her brother get flustered like this. In fact it had become more frequent since his christmas party.
Yukiko moved to the couch, sitting next to her brother, “So,” she continued to pry, “Who was the love letter from anyway? Kasahara?” The eldest sibling wanted all the juicy details.
Taiyou frowned. “Why would Kasahara send me a love letter?”
Yukiko wondered if all boys were this clueless, or if it was just her brother.
“She was a girl from another class…” Taiyou finally answered, under his sister’s curious gaze. “She said she liked my smile and thought I looked cool at the sports festival.”
“Oho~” His older sister chuckled, a third girl had a crush on him huh? Her brother certainly was becoming a little heart breaker. She’d almost be jealous if it weren’t so cute. Of course she’d also known becoming the love expert she was came at a cost. She knew the ins and outs of love; she'd have a much harder time finding that knight in shining armor to sweep her off her feet. Still it was nice watching others find their happiness.
“I guess that explains why you were so distracted when you came home.” Yukiko ruffling the sixth graders hair.
“I guess I was, wasn't I…” Taiyou laughed half heartedly, “Nishimura said the same thing.”
“Oh?” Yukiko smiled, as she leaned closer urging him to continue.
“Yeah, I didn’t want to hurt Kagawa, but Nishimura said lying didn’t seem like me.”
Yukiko nodded, “Nishimura’s right you know, you wouldn’t be my cute little brother otherwise.”
“But I still hurt Kagawa…” Taiyou began, remembering how the girl began crying after his rejection.
“Trust me, Taiyou, you’re hurting her a lot less in the long run by being honest and upfront with her.”Yukiko said matter-of-factly, “Suppose you decided to just avoid her, she’d be hurt a lot more, and probably wonder if she did something wrong.”
Taiyou considered this.
“Or,” Yukiko continued, “What if you decided to accept her love letter to spare her feelings. That wouldn’t be fair to her or you. Trust me, this was the best choice for both of you.”
Taiyou’s positive demeanor returned slightly, “Yeah, I guess you’re right…”
“Of course I’m right!” Yukiko laughed, pulling her brother into a hug, “I’m always right!”
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“Hey sis!” Taiyou came through the door as lively as ever.
“Oh, hey Taiyou!” Yukiko called from the couch, splitting her attention from the show she was watching. “Get anymore love letters today?” She teased.
“Haha,” Taiyou rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, “Why would you say something like that?”
Yukiko chose not to mention the three girls who had a crush on her brother.
“But um…” Taiyou continued awkwardly, “I saw Kagawa today, she looked like she was feeling better.”
“See, what did I tell ya.” Yukiko replied smugly.
“Also, what do you know about Loverom?”
Yukiko grinned, it seemed like someone was taking an interest in romance. Her little brother was growing up.