Control (Aphorism Fanfic) COMPLETED

Chapter 20

She pouted at his words, but her eyes lit up when she laid eyes on Misaki.

"I never seen this big sister before!" she cried, pushing past Sanjuurou (much to the man's grimace) and running up to Misaki.

"Big sister has blonde hair like the princesses in my books!" she said. "Can big sister tell me a story?"

Not one good with children, Misaki was at a loss of words. "I..."

"That's a great idea!" Sanjuurou cried. "Let's go to the lounge! There are beanbags there! ... and lesser things for you to break."

Thankfully, Kaori did not catch the last part, only happily agreeing to go to the lounge.

At the longue, she settled in the middle of the largest beanbag, demanding for Sanjuurou and Misaki to sit either side of her. Once she was satisfied that both adults were listening to her, she pulled out a large cartoon book.

"Tell me a story!" she said, opening the book in her lap.

Misaki and Sanjuurou peered at the book. The book had illustrations of a mice princess by a beautiful castle, and a mice prince at the entire end of the page. There were no words.

"... isn't this a picture book?" Misaki asked.

Kaori's bottom lip trembled. "I want my story!

"Ah!" Sanjuurou quickly said. "I see the story!"

Kaori beamed.

"Once upon a time," he began. "There was a beautiful mice princess. She came from far away."

"Is she from France?!"

"... sure. She came from France. The France of mice."

A small smile appeared on Misaki's lips as she watched Sanjuurou helplessly comply with Kaori's demands.

"One day, a prince, a mice prince, noticed the princess. And the princess noticed him too. But the prince wasn't truly a real prince – because he did not have the heart and courage of one."

Sanjuurou's words began to falter. "... the prince felt as if he wasn't be good enough, especially not for the beautiful brave princess who had her entire kingdom. So the prince left, leaving the princess far away."

Kaori made a noise of protest.

"But to this day... the prince still thinks about the princess for time to time, regretting how he could never be good enough for her."

He suddenly stopped, looking at Misaki in surprise. "... you're crying."

Misaki lifted her hand, touching her face, only to find it wet.

Kaori pouted. "You made big sister cry, Hinata-nii!"

Misaki herself was surprised at her tears – and surprised at how much Sanjuurou's story affected her.

'He's just making things up,' she thought to herself firmly. 'There's no way he's talking about you and him.'

"Hey," Sanjuurou said gently. "It's just a story."

"Who said I was crying about the story?" she said hotly, wiping her face.

"You must be hungry!" Kaori said, closing her book and hopping to her feet. "Let's go and buy snacks from the vending machine! I want rainbow sweets."

After another hour of entertaining the girl and Misaki trying to push Sanjuurou's fairytale out of her mind, it was time to send Kaori home.

"Goodbye, Misaki-nee, Hinata-nii!" Kaori waved at them before skipping into her house.