World Men à la Mode

Chapter Eleven - Softie For Your Sister

        You really didn't get too much information on your new local tour director. You only knew his name and what he looked like. That morning after breakfast, you and your small group of friends, plus the two tour directors, boarded a small bus to go to your first stop of the day, a chocolate and cheese tasting tour, which would end at a chocolate megastore a few streets away from the place you would be having lunch. On the bus ride, Basch was prompted by Alfred to give the group some information on himself. He seemed to be against it, but Alfred managed to convince him, telling him that it was an important bonding experience.

        "I don't see the point in this..." the blond muttered as he crossed his arms. "They're only staying for three days. Why does it matter if they know about me?"

        "It matters because you want them to like you, right? You don't want to end up the tour director that they hated because he was so closed off from them, do you?" Alfred rebutted.

        He grumbled. "Fine..." He turned in his seat slightly to look back at the group. "What do you want to know?"

        "What do you do for a living when you're not being a guide for the tour group?" Lily asked.

        "My family owns one of the biggest gun manufacturing companies in the world, so I'm learning the trade of gun making so that I can take over the company when my father retires."

        "So, you like guns then?" Valerie inquired, but it was more so a statement on her part.

        "I don't like guns. It's the family trade, so I'm sticking with it. The only guns I own are to keep people off of my property... I don't like trespassers."

        "Who does?"

        "Mhm... Any other questions?"

        Your group began to fire off question after question. Basch could barely get a word in to answer the inquiries. He eventually got so flustered that he had to have you all start raising your hands and call on you like school children. It felt a little odd, but you all suffered through it for the sake of his mentality. You were the last person to ask him any sort of question.

        "Do you have any siblings?"

        Basch let a sliver of a half smile crawl into his face as he looked down at his lap fondly. "Yes... A little sister."

        Your friends didn't seem to hear him as they had gone back to their own conversations, but you were interested to learn more. After all, asking about his family seemed to make him at least a little bit happy. You offered Basch a small smile as he looked back up.

        "What's her name?"

        "Erica. She's actually my adopted sister, but I love her as if she were blood related."

        "That's really nice though. What's she look like?"

        "I'll just show you a picture. Words don't do her justice."

        "That pretty, huh?"

        "Yes, but I'd say it's more so her cuteness."

        You nodded and watched as he pulled up a photo of her on his phone. He was right about her cuteness. Words wouldn't have been able to do her justice. In the picture, a little girl stood next to him. She was short, much like Basch, but she was still shorter than him. Her hair was blonde and styled in a bob and had a blue ribbon tied into it. Her eyes conveyed kindness in its finest and purest state. You couldn't help but let your smile widen.

        "She sure does look like you for being adopted."

        "She looks up to me a lot," he stated. "She used to wear her hair long, but she said she wanted to be more like me, so she cut it shorter."

        "It looks good on her."

        "Mhm..."

         "If you don't mind me asking, where is she? Surely she has off of school since it's summer."

        "Actually, she doesn't. She attends a year round private boarding school in Liechtenstein. They do get longer holiday breaks though. She texts and video calls me often."

        "That sucks that you don't get to physically see her a lot though."

         "Yeah, but after this year she'll get to choose if she wants to continue her education there or start school here in Switzerland. I have a funny feeling that she'll choose school here rather than there."

         "Either way, she's getting a good education, right?"

         "Right."

         Basch went back to minding his own business shortly after the conversation ended just as you did. The bus ride continued as you made various stops on the chocolate and cheese tasting tour. At last the bus stopped in front of the chocolate megastore. It was absolutely massive. Contrary to what it sounded like, this store had so much more than just chocolate. They salt water taffy in many different flavors, jelly beans, caramels, various hard and soft chewy candies, and of course and assortment of chocolate, but it didn't stop there. There were simply too many different candy types to list. That's how massive the store was. Everyone ended up buying something, even Basch. Although, he said that the candy wasn't for him. It was for Erica.

         "I'm shipping it to her school in a care package," he told you in a hushed tone.

        "That's really nice of you, Basch," you replied, grinning wildly.

        "I guess... Just don't tell anyone..."

        "Why not? I think it's sweet that you care about her happiness so much."

        A red hot blush erupted across his cheeks and nose. "Sh-shut up..."

        "Aww, you're just a big softie, aren't you?"

        "Hush..."

        "That's really admirable, you know? You're such a doting older brother when a lot of siblings who have adopted or step-siblings are usually cold towards them."

         His blush only seemed to brighten as he tried to hide his face with an oversized lollipop that was on a nearby rack. You giggled and went to join your friends to see what they bought or were still looking at.

        The rest of the day continued on without any hiccups. After the tour, you went out for lunch and had free time for an hour. Then the group proceeded to Uetliberg to climb to the summit during a hike. Needless to say, poor Amilia got bitten up by mosquitoes and other bugs, as did Lily and Darcy. You all then headed to dinner, and after a quick stop at a pharmacy to pick up some anti-itch ointment, you headed back to the hotel so everyone could shower. That's when Alfred called a meeting for you and all the girls in the hotel's common room.

~Author's Note~

DreamsForDays here! This update is out early because I have a busy night ahead of me. So the feelings for Basch start here! Also, before someone asks, I used Erica as the name for Liechtenstein instead of Lili because it was from the list of possible human names given by Himaruya himself. Thanks for reading! Feedback in the comments is always appreciated! Until next time!