The days he shared with the twins were wonderful. It was almost enough to make Kichi forget about his own troubles at home. Almost. The problem with those troubles were that there was nearly no way for him to avoid them.

“Ah, why is school always so long?” The problem for him at home just so happened to be his sister. The same sister who went to the same school as him and with whom he walked home with nearly every day. When he made that detour to be with Aoi instead, the boy wondered if she would take it negatively. After everything they had been through, it would’ve been plain to see the reason for why he did that.

“Yeah, it’s pretty tiresome.” He responded to Kougi’s statement. Despite what had gone down, she acted about as normal as he always knew his sister to be. Which would be equal to weird under most people’s standards, except for his own.

That said, all that mattered was she pretended as if things were perfectly fine with them. Kichi would disagree with assessment. Not after hearing the things she said that night, which continued to stay in his mind crystal clear. With her acting, it almost seemed as though the events that occurred in the kitchen were merely a dream. That only he was the one who remembered it because it didn’t actually happened.

However, he knew for a fact those things happened. It felt way too real for it to be a mere dream. Not to mention he didn’t want to admit he’d ever have a dream where his sister confessed her love for him. That sounded like some kind of deep rooted desire type stuff they say in psychology. Then again, maybe that would be better than the truth of having to deal with his sister actually being in love with him.

“Ah, finally home. She proclaimed as they entered through the front door. Again they were all alone as their parents were both off at work. Kougi tossed her bag onto the couch and immediately went to grab her crotch. “Now I gotta to use the toilet. I’ve been holding it in all afternoon.”

“You really shouldn’t make a habit of holding it.” He scolded her as she dashed off towards the bathroom. Kichi couldn’t understand how a girl her age would just refuse to use the school bathrooms. How was it that everyone somehow viewed her as the mature one between them?

She didn’t respond to his words as she had already closed the door to the bathroom to have some much needed relief. With nothing much else to do on the day, the boy simply plopped himself onto the couch to watch some TV. Now that he thought about it, his dad might’ve had a point on this generation spending too much time watching stuff. But what did that man know, he worked all the time anyway.

Kichi turned his head back to look at the bathroom door. At some point he had to address the elephant in the room eventually. Sure he could act like everything was fine and wait until she left for college to not have to deal with it. However that was a long time away and the boy didn’t want to be concerned with that for most of his life.

“Ah.” Finally she emerged from the room much relieved. Kougi was always one to make her expressions known to him as if he was the densest person alive. Perhaps there was a point to it given he had no clue she actually loved him in the first place. “Looks like you’re watching some real boring stuff.” She said, leaning over the back of the couch. “Or maybe you’re just covering up from trying to listen in on me in the bathroom?”

“Don’t joke about that kind of stuff.” He felt the warmness creep onto his cheeks once more. “I’m not some kind of perv who wants to listen to someone pee. Have you been talking to Aoi lately or something?”

“I run into them outside of class sometimes.” She replied. While he wasn’t aware of the twins hanging out with her. Kichi did wonder if they talked with each other often enough. He hoped that would be the case when he introduced them to each other. It just felt right that the twins could find a friend the same gender as them. “I assume Aoi had a good time when you just randomly asked her out on a date.”

“It wasn’t a date.” He replied. Kichi wanted to make it clear there was nothing romantic between them. While it would be one thing about getting his sister jealous with him being with other girls. The boy simply didn’t want there to be any misunderstandings about him with anyone, including family. “Her sister was sick, so there’s nothing wrong with hanging out with someone who’s probably going to be bored at home.”

“Wow, swooping in there like some knight in shining armor.” She didn’t let off on pretending he went on a date. “Sounds just like you all right. And you even keep putting it up that you’re just doing it as a friend. No wonder you’re still single.”

“Guess that means you’re in the same boat as me then.” He retorted, but his response didn’t feel like a win. They both fell into a bit of silence after that little exchange. Kichi didn’t change the subject though when he spoke up again. “So, are there any boys in your class you think are… Handsome?” He asked.

“Whoa.” She replied in shock, but in the fake kind of acting rather than being genuine in her feelings. “I can’t believe my own brother is gay.”

“You know what I’m talking about!” He snapped back. She always found some way to make his words sound like the most embarrassing thing for him. Kichi understood that older siblings teased their younger one, at least based on personal experience, but she was on a much higher level than that. “I’m just wondering if there’s any boys there you might like.”

“Oh Kichi…” She sighed and looked forward at the television. “You already know the truth, so what’s the point in pretending otherwise?” So now he knew for certain yet again that her feelings were true.

“But you know… I mean…” Now that she was back onto that topic, he got a bit anxious. Most people don’t deal with the issue of their sister being in love with them. So it’s not like there’s any way to get advice on handling it. Not to mention he’s still just a teen with a lot to learn. “Well I thought you said you weren’t going to do anything about it? So why not go try looking for other boys instead?”

“Heheh.” She giggled and gave him a look that gave him more cause for concern. “You really do show your inexperience sometimes.” Kougi responded by leaning over to him. This caused to him lean backwards onto the arm of the seat as she continued to close the gap between them. “You don’t just forget about someone you like that easily.” It definitely didn’t help her that they lived together and had to see each other all the time. As he had to learn himself, there was no way for them to avoid the other.

“I don’t even know how you could like someone like me like that.” He had never used the word ‘like’ so much in one sentence. However, there was no way Kichi could ever say the other ‘L’ word out loud. Not straight to her face or in context about her.

“It’s not something that’s so easy to explain.” She answered. “I mean, I don’t know how to say it, but I know what I feel for you.” He was not at all put at ease with her response. Nor was he calming down with her nearing him all the more towards his face.

“Hey, did you just forget about personal space?” He said, but it did little to deter her.

“I’m sorry.” She said, her hands coming down onto his, preventing the boy from making any escape. They were all alone with their parents not expected to come back any time soon. “I don’t understand, it used to be so easy to hold back when we were younger.” She commented, her body losing control from the emotions.

Of course, she was a high school girl now. She had done a lot of growing up in a lot of places, both physically and mentally. Yet there was still a lot of growing left to do, which is why the control still wasn’t there yet. Not at this precious moment of time.

“Kougi… Please.” He felt powerless to stop her. Yet, it wasn’t only a matter of her overpowering him. It was as if Kichi was allowing everything to unfold as her lips got closer to his.