Secrets

Boys

Picture: Ran's hair in this chapter

Ran paced around nervously at school, gripping onto the folded piece of paper. She had been planning on this day for a long time and even tried to style her hair a little nicer than usual-two small braids framing her face. Class had ended and she waited outside of the door, waiting for him to walk out.

And he did.

But with his arm around a girl's shoulder. She felt her heart crack a little at the sight and her face heated up.

"Oh, hey Ran." He said. The voice that she imagined hearing everyday was suddenly less heavenly than it was before. Ran didn't answer and Tomoe furrowed his eyebrows. "Hey, are you okay?"

Ran looked down at her feet, trying to hide her watering eyes. Her vision was blurry with tears and she made no efforts to wipe her tears away. She just let them fall onto the floor by her feet.

"D-do you need to go to the nurses office? I can take you there if you want." Tomoe said, his voice laced with worry.

His hand came in contact with her shoulder and she let out a loud shout. "Don't!"

Tomoe quickly backed away. "I'm gonna go get a teacher." And with that, he walked off.

Ran hated how he was still so kind and oblivious. A teacher approached Ran and knelt down so they were eye level.

"Hey, Ran." Her voice was soft and smooth. "Do you want to go to the nurses office, maybe take a break? Or do you want to go for a walk outside and get some air?"

"A walk...please." Ran answered quietly, she could feel her classmates eyes on her and her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

The teacher noticed and stood back up. "Everyone get back to class."
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Ran dashed in through the front door after school, quickly making her way upstairs and ignoring the concerned questions from her brother.

"What the?" Makoto whispered and jumped when her bedroom door was slammed shut.

Ren got home a few minutes later, looking exhausted and red faced, huffing and puffing for air.

Makoto quickly got up and grabbed his brothers inhaler. Ren took it and huffed in three times.

"Hey, you okay?" Makoto asked.

"I'm fine. Is Ran okay? She wouldn't talk to me at school." He explained.

"I-I think she just needs some alone time." Makoto said softly. Ren nodded his head and decided to start his homework in the kitchen.

Makoto walked to where Haru was in the living room and plopped down next to him on the couch.

"You think Ran's okay?" Haru asked, gently tracing patterns on his boyfriends back, feeling the soft cotton beneath the pads of his fingers. "I mean, have you ever seen her like that?"

Makoto lowered his head into his hands. "No, I haven't. And I'm trying so hard to be a good brother and let her have her space, but I want to help." Makoto sighed.

Haru smiled softly. "I'm sure she's okay." He said, and placed a kiss on Makoto's temple. "I say, let's go up there and see if she wants to talk in 10 minutes."

Makoto nodded his head. "Okay."
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Once Ran reached her room, she slammed the door, harder than she thought she would and collapsed onto her bead, face first.

She had kept in her tears the rest of the day but she could no longer. Her tears flowed freely onto the pillow that her face was currently pushed into.

The thing was, Ran wasn't even mad at Tomoe. She was mad at herself. She was mad that she thought that maybe Tomoe liked her a little. But obviously he didn't. Not only was that on her mind but she completely embarrassed herself not only in front of him but in front of so many other people.

There was a knock on her door and she sniffled but didn't reply. Makoto cracked the door open to peek in. He saw Ran laying face down on the bed and opened the door the rest of the way before sitting on the floor next to her bed.

"What's going on, Ran?" He asked and gently brushed her hair with his hands.

"I hate boys." She muttered.

Makoto smiled at this, trying his best not to laugh a little. "Why don't you like boys?"

"Because...they're stupid." She grumbled into the pillow.

"Well, am I stupid to you?"

Makoto regretted asking that question. "I mean, yeah a little. But you don't count. You aren't a boy. You're Makoto." She raised her head from the pillow and turned to face Makoto.

"Ouch, okay." Makoto said, placing his hand on his chest. "What happened?"

"Tomoe." She said bluntly. Makoto raised his eyebrows and urged her to continue. "I wanted to confess to him that I like him...." she said quietly.

Makoto took a deep breath, knowing that one day he was going to have to hear his little sister say those words.

"But when I was going to, he had his arm around another g-girls shoulder." She felt her lower lip wobble.

"Oh, Ran. I'm sorry." Makoto said but he was cut off.

"That's not the worst part." She said. "I totally embarrassed myself. I started crying and then h-he was being so nice! And-and he offered to take me to the nurses office." She stopped talking, feeling her tears overflow from her eyes.

Makoto took a breath as to speak again but Ran held up her hand to stop him.

"And then he was going to try and touch my shoulder to get my attention and then I-I screamed 'Don't!' at him. E-everyone saw."

Makoto closed his eyes and sighed lightly. "I'm sorry, Ran. But I'm sure everyone will forget about it. And you have so many people who love and support you that will stand up for you if someone tries to be mean about it, okay?" He said.

Ran nodded her head with a sullen expression.

"And about Tomoe." He began. Her head perked up at his name. "You don't know the full story. Maybe he was just good friends with that girl. You don't know that he doesn't like you. So, don't worry too much about that. Besides, even if he doesn't like you the way you like him, it's his loss."

Ran wrapped her arms around her brothers neck as she hugged him. "Thanks Mako-nii."