"Wake up idiot."
"Hm?......Hmmm..."
*Pak!*
"It hurts!!"
As always, Akane's morning start with pain delivered by her little brother.
"Harue! Stop hurting me!"
"Maybe if you start waking up early, then I might think about that."
"I can't help it! I have rough days at work. I get tired too."
"Aww~ That's too bad. Seems like you want to get slapped by me!"
"Harue! Think about your Nee-chan and treat me well!"
"I am doing it right now."
Harue was strict towards Akane but he really cared about his sister. She could not do anything but pout at him for being too cold to her.
"To be in a healthy body, you need to sleep early and wake up early."
"But I heard that preaching lessons in the morning, like what you are doing, is bad for health."
Harue made a grossed out expression, "From where did you hear that?"
"The source is me."
Akane did the V sign as if she said something funny. To that, Akane was met with a pair of expressionless eyes.
"Quit whining like an idiot and get up."
Harue turned around and was about to leave but Akane wanted to tease him. She wanted payback for being called an idiot multiple times.
She wanted to pull him to the bed and trap him into a harmless chokehold. The thought that made Akane giggle mischievously.
She could not wait to see Harue's attempt of getting out. She was also going to expect a cute reaction from his little brother.
Because everything that Harue does is cute.
Akane again giggled at her idea. It was a bit louder so Harue wanted to check why she was chuckling like that.
In a panic, Akane got up from the bed as fast as possible and grabbed ahold of Harue's right wrist.
"Huh?"
Perplexed, Harue tried to veer behind but her sister did not let him have a chance.
She instantly pulled Harue's hand and made him fall behind with her.
"Ack!" Harue's face grimaced in pain.
They both fell on the bed and Akane successfully trapped him into a chokehold.
Akane was proud that she was able to pull it off so quickly. As she held Harue immobile, she mocked Harue with a wicked grin.
"So what now? Weren't you going to slap m-"
"Get off me you bi-!!!"
The air got dense.
"......Huh?"
Akane was shocked to hear a voice as furious as that.
There was only silence and Akane did not move a bit.
'What...did i...hear...?'
Confusion and denial mixed in her rambling thoughts.
'Was that Harue's voice?'
She looked in front and only saw Harue's head. His expression couldn't be deduced. She wanted to see what kind of face Harue was making. She wanted to peak at him.
Nonetheless, she did not need to do that since he soon revealed his face as he veered behind and wryly smiled.
"Come on, Nee-chan. I have to cook. I think I left the stove on."
It was his usual annoyed face that he always make. It didn't seem that the furious tone that Akane heard happened at all.
"...H-.....Okay..."
Akane slowly let go of her grip and Harue stood up from the bed. She was watching him attentively to detect any peculiarities.
However, she did not find any.
'Was I imagining things?'
Harue was patting off his clothes and fixed the creased part that happened during his struggle.
When he lifted his hand, he felt a sharp pain.
"Ack-!"
Hearing that, Akane got off the bed and worriedly inquired.
"I'm sorry! Did I overdo it?"
Akane started to examine Harue's hand but he stopped her and ensured her in a tired voice.
"Go easy on me, Nee-chan. I am not that strong..."
With a lonely smile, Harue turned his back to her and went towards the door.
"...Harue....."
As if he heard that, he turned his face back again and posed the usual question.
"What colour for today?"
Akane didn't think about that because she was investing in contemplating whether something was happening to Harue.
"Eh?.....Ah!....Um....The sun..."
"Okay."
With his usual demeanour and behaviour, Harue reverted his meticulous side and went on. The door closed on Akane's concerning gaze.
"Did something happen to him?"
She noticed that something was off but she did not know what that was. She never really saw Harue blurt out in anger like that.
To this moment, she was still wondering if what she heard was even true.
'Did I misheard it or.....'
She fell backwards on her messy bed as if she lost all strength. The ceiling of the room stared at her while she did the same.
The memories of Harue, Kana and herself on how they became like this emerged in her. The thought of living with just those two unravelled in Akane's mind.
Her head almost ran wild but she breathed a large surplus of air and exhaled tardily.
Her heart slowly beat with rhythm and made her calm down.
She covered her eyes with her arm. Her eyelids closed and reminisced about her past.
She gritted her teeth even at the thought of that however she soon regained composure.
She sighed exasperatingly.
Her arm that covered her eyes moved away belatedly. It was the same old ceiling that she saw before hiding her sight.
But faint images of Harue and Kana kept flickering in front of her. She again closed her eyes but did not use her arm.
She then mumbled where no one else except her heard.
"...I hope those two forgot about him...."
.........
"Good morning, Nee-chan."
Kana greeted Akane whilst she was sitting on the chair. Harue already set up the table and they were waiting for Akane to join.
Akane glanced at Harue who was still preparing something in the kitchen. She proceeded to sit down alongside Kana.
"It's unusual for you to be late. Didn't Nee-chan wake you up?"
Kana inquired to Akane while she heard Harue snuck in his displeasure by saying, "It's 'Nii-chan'."
Well, Kana ignored that and looked at Akane.
"Ah...I was just tired. I am still feeling sleepy now."
"That's no good. You should take care of yourself more." Harue worried asked Akane as he sat down to eat breakfast.
It was perfectly normal compared to every morning Akane experienced. There was nothing wrong that could arouse her suspicions.
But, somehow, Akane was still not satisfied.
She may sometimes act dumb in front of her siblings but she is not ignorant.
Moreover, it was rare for her to misheard anything. That too up close.
Harue was bugging her again. The thought of his angered tone, could not just leave right away.
But what could she do right now? There was nothing distinctive that Harue has ever shown to her.
That is why it is difficult for her to investigate the matter.
'Maybe Harue has some trouble that he cannot talk about it to anyone?'
That would explain a lot when she considered that moment that Harue blurted out.
Maybe it was his frustrations that he vented out just then. Because normally, he would have just gone with Akane's joke or would have cutely struggled without any angry outbursts.
'Maybe, that's it.'
Akane came up with that possibility, no. She was almost certain that something was bothering him.
Nonetheless, she did not know how to unravel his trouble or find out the cause.
Still, she tried to voice her concern and wanted to get something out of it. While they were eating, during their daily conversation, Akane decided to make Harue spill the problem himself.
"Harue, I am sorry again for hurting you."
"Ah, No No. I just was not expecting that and I let my guard down. Don't worry about that. All I got was a small lingering pain."
"That's not good!"
Kana, oblivious to what were they talking about, wanted to know what happened.
"What are you two talking about?"
"You know Nee-chan and her childish plays. It just happened and I got hurt in the process."
Kana has a hint of pout and turned towards Akane.
"Nee-chan, do you like hurting him that much?"
"You are misunderstanding here Kana! It's wasn't on purpose!"
"You should have been more careful."
"I-I'm sorry."
Harue had an awkward laugh and stopped Kana from confronting Akane.
"I-It's okay Kana. I am okay. Don't blame Nee-chan like that."
Kana stayed silent but after a few minutes, she addressed both of them like a mature person.
"You two should behave yourselves."
"".....""
Harue slipped out a chuckle. Kana darted her looks towards Harue and was annoyed.
"What? Did I say something funny?"
"Yup. You sound like an old man."
"Do you want me to kill you?"
"No no. I am fine."
Akane also giggled from their interaction. Noticing her smile, Harue reassured her in a gentle.
"Nee-chan, I am telling you in advance. You do not have to feel so guilty about my arm. Accidents do happen. Some are inevitable and some are not. Right?"
"....Right."
Akane agreed with his little brother. They continued eating and everything was normal.
However, Akane was not satiated with her curiosity still dangling in front of her eyes.
This time, she pushed directly to Harue.
"Harue, is something bothering you?"
"Eh? No. Why do you ask?"
"No...It's..."
It was a fail. Harue's angry voice kept resounding but she was helpless. If he denies it so unhesitantly like that the what was she supposed to do?
The most she could do right now was to let him know that there was an extended hand that was willing to grab him out of any problem.
"If anything is troubling you, then be sure to tell me."
"Of course, I will."
With an aura of honesty, Harue believed in his older sister. His smile was so innocent and so kind that it took Akane by surprise.
Kana did not notice it since she was eating but Akane felt something was off. Yet, she fended off her worries and resumed her morning routine.
"...That's good."
Her response leaked a tinge of untrustworthiness aimed at Harue. That did not escape Harue.
He was happily eating in front of his sisters whilst in the back of his mind, he thought about the smile he put out and coldly uttered.
'Did I overdo it?'
...........
Higashiyama Ike and Fukuyama Harue walked alongside as they travelled to their club.
Both of them had quite the attention they grab, a funny one because Harue's short height combined with the tall Ike was just making this friendship look odd.
But all the onlookers guess that friendship doesn't care about trivial things like heights.
Harue pretty much looked up as he conversed whereas Ike looked down.
"It seems that lately, my neck hurts," Ike wryly smiled as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Are you making fun of me!?"
Harue's furious tone was too cute for Ike to handle.
"I-I am not talking about that"
"Hmm? Are you sure?" Harue had his doubts so he leaned upwards, close to Ike's face.
Seeing Harue's pout face in front of him made Ike stutter, "O-Of course."
A little after, Harue left Ike off the hook.
With Ike's reaction, Harue wanted to ask him something, since he reminded Ike of his sister.
"Say, Ike-kun, do I look troubled?"
"Umm. No. Why do you ask?"
"Just saying.".
"Now that you are asking questions like that, it makes me wonder if you are really troubled by something. Is there a problem?"
"No, I was just asking."
"It cannot be that right?"
Ike was not letting Harue off. The only solution to get rid of his persistence was to give him a good enough answer.
"I guess I wanted to know how I look like to others."
"...Huh? Why?"
"Just like that."
"....."
Ike did not let go of this opportunity. He racked his brains until he could find the reason why Harue was saying all of this. In an instant, he concluded.
"Do you like someone?"
*Trip*
*Bam*
Harue faceplanted as he tripped on his own feet. Well, Harue wanted to deviate the reason from his sister to someone else.
But why did it come to this?