KAWAMOTO SHIORI ROLLED
her eyes and smacked the back of Hanae's head, which resulted from a loud yelp from the older girl.
"Ouchie!"
The brunette exclaimed, pouting and rubbing the back of her head like a child, which immediatley worried Sugawara as the mother-like person he naturally was.
"Baka, Suga-kun has to ask permission from his parents first! He doesn't even have clothes to wear to go to bed!"
The trio stood in silence as the two girls awaited an answer from the boy in the middle, staring at him intently- both of their eyes screaming 'tell her I'm right!'.
Suga gulped, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he felt an invisible weight fall on his shoulders. The pressure from the both of them was defenitley getting to him.
"Um, I do have to ask my mom, but I'm sure there will be no problem since it's not like I really have a choice, but Shiori has a point, Kawamoto-san, what would I wear?"
"Well I can put your clothes to wash and you can wear some of Terushima-kun's clothes!"
"You don't even know how to wash clothes, Hanae," Shiori replied, rolling her eyes and heading to the kitchen to get something to drink.
In Japan, most girls would learn basic housework skills from a young age, but since Hanae was always busy with volleyball or friends all-year-round, Shiori had to take care of most of the chores in the house. Not only at home, but also at her grandparents' house during the summers. The younger girl never minded it anyways, she quite enjoyed cooking and washing dishes.
"Who's Terushima-kun?"
Sugawara questioned, his gaze still lingering where his kouhai was stood.
Before Hanae could answer, her younger sister piped up from the kitchen,
"Her ex-boyfriend, Sugawara-kun, do you want something to drink?"
"Do you have any peach tea by any chance?"
"Yeah!"
Hanae rolled her brown eyes and snapped her fingers, to gain his attention, which worked instantly as he looked back at her.
"Yes, he has some clothes he left here. Just some shorts and a T-shirt, they probably fit you. As for toiletries, we have a spare toothbrush and deodrant and stuff," she informed him, leading him into the kitchen where a tall glass of hot peach tea was waiting for him on the kitchen counter.
"What about your parents?"
"Our mom is at our aunt's house and our dad is on a buisness trip," Shiori answered before taking a sip of her hot green tea. "And you can stay in the guest room, but in the meatime, it's almost ten and I'm pretty sure none of us have eaten, so do you guys want something in specific to eat?"
Hanae's eyes sparkled up and she began to shake her younger sister excitedly, her hands gripping onto the girl's frail shoulders.
"Katsu curry! Katsu curry!"
Since the first-born Kawamoto entered the world, it was a hassle to get her to eat anything other than rice, tomatoes, and pitless cherries. She had been afraid to open up her palate until her younger sister was born. Shiori wasn't afraid to try anything and everything no matter how spicy or how strange. So when their parents praised Shiori for such, Hanae found herself doing the same to be granted the approval of their parents. She was still fairly picky, but nearly not as much as then. Her favorite plate since, had been vegetable curry with white rice and chicken katsu.
"Are you alright with that, Suga-san?"
"I'm alright with anything you make, Shiori-chan," he reassured her, looking down at his feet to see Mamo rubbing himself against his legs.
Sugawara blinked and immediatley sat down, which caused the cat to jump into his lap affectionately, snuggling up against the teen boy. It was clear that this cat did not belong to the Kawamoto family but rather to their youngest member, Shiori. The cat was just like her, only it was a male. It still made Koushi's heart fill with love and care.
Shiori looked back at him and smiled warmly at the sight before her, quickly taking her cellphone out of her bag and snapping a picture of her cat and crush, and then putting it back. It was literally a dream sight.
"His name is Mamo, short for Mamoru, if you were curious, he's Shiori's cat and he's usually never this nice," Hanae commented, crossing her arms across her chest and leaning against the wall, her heart also swelling at the view before her.
The ravenette rolled her eyes in response, turning back to what she was doing- which was preparing dinner for the hungry trio.
"He's nice to everybody but you, he was even nice to Terushima-san," she stated, remembering how Terushima would lay on the couch in the living room with Mamo resting on his muscled stomach.
Terushima Yuuji and her did not get along at first. In fact, he highly disliked the poor girl. Until one day, Hanae accidentally ditched him to go to karaoke with some friends, leaving Shiori to entertain the boy in the meanwhile. They ended up learning a lot about each other that day, and she would even say that he treated her like a friend, but she was always just Kawamoto Hanae's younger sister. They ended up breaking up soon after anyways.
"I don't care! Hmph, I like dogs more anyways, they're loyal and nice," Hanae told them, glaring at the cat in Koushi's muscular arms. Oh how she wished she was a cat. Mamoru, especifically.
"You like dogs because you can selfishly do whatever you want with them. If you tell your dog to go fetch a ball, it will go fetch the ball no matter how far it is. Where as, if you tell a cat to fetch a ball, it will think you are dumb and stay in it's spot or leave. It's because the nature of a cat is to simply do as it pleases, what's wrong with that? As for loyalty, cats are loyal in their own ways. Perhaps not as loyal as dogs. It's because all cats, besides lions, are loners and do not follow anybody or anything else whereas dogs come from wolves and coyotes, who are commonly together in a pack from their birth to their death," her younger sister spoke up, voicing her intelligent thoughts on the matter.
Sugawara blinked and his face lit up a bit as he replayed her words. For some reason, he found her even more adorable than before. Something about her was just different from everybody else, it was something he just couldn't figure out or begin to comprehend.
"Whatever, I still like dogs, what about you, Sugawara-kun?"
He paused and hummed, petting the cuddly cat that was snoozing on his lap.
"Hmmmm I'm not sure. Both? Maybe? My family has a dog, but I've always wanted a cat, it's just that my parents have never had experience with cats so they didn't get one," he answered, gently stroking Mamoru.
"What kind of dog?!"
"A Shiba Inu, he's about three years old," Suga replied, smiling at the girl's interest.
It was strange. Hanae was his age, yet had a rather prominent childish behavior and kid-like mannerisms with those close to her. The girl was intelligent, he had been in the same class as her many times before and she always had the highest score out of all of the girls. Shiori on the other hand was far more mature, yet younger. She had shone a large amount of responsability, yet she was also quite childish at times, with just about anybody. During practices she would hang around Tanaka (and recently Nishinoya) and partake in his shenanigans and jokes. Sometimes the girl would laugh so loudly that it would echo through the gym other times she enjoyed shouting as well. It was strange. From observing the pair it almost seemed as though Shiori's true personality was extroverted (as he had truly seen it since he met her) and Hanae's was introverted. It was confusing, really.
"Wow!! Do you think maybe I could see it some day?"
Shiori stiffened at the implied message behind her sister's words. She wasn't dumb, Daichi also had a dog and Hanae had never given a second thought to it. Now, she found out that the boy she likes has a cananine and instantly wants to see it, or rather, go over and see him.
"Both of you can come to see it whenever you'd like, I'm not home very often, but my family will surely recieve you."
"Thanks, Suga-kun. Now, Hanae, go show Sugawara-san to his room and show him where the bathroom is so he can bathe. Don't forget to give him Terushima-san's clothes or whatever. Dinner will be ready soon."
On cue, the cat hopped off of Sugawara who stood up and instead of heading towards, who was impatiently waiting, he went over to where the younger girl stood.
"Shiori-chan, you should bathe first, you practiced more than I after all," he mumbled, leaning over her shoulder to see her slicing the just-washed and seasoned chicken breasts.
She smiled to herself at his kindness and shook her head for him to see.
"Don't worry, Suga-kun, you are our guest and I'll bathe after dinner. Just get ready, okay?"
He nodded and followed after an expressionless Hanae to the second floor.
Kawamoto Hanae was, to say the very least, not happy about her current position in the trio. She felt like they were husband and wife and she was the child! Or pet, even. She hated it. She hated how Sugawara didn't even spare her a second glance or even look at her physique, which she had spent her whole life building up with training and healthy diets. She hated how no matter how much she acted like Shiori, extroverted and fun, he would never look at her. Outshining her sister had always worked up until now. And by 'outshining' she meant shoving Shiori so deep into a corner that her bubbly personality would be shoved down with her. But here it was, rising back up. This time, Hanae could not prevent or stop it because in the middle of the two sisters stood a strong mediator, someone who would surely defend the girl at any cost until she could finally gather the courage she once had to stand up to the older girl..... Sugawara Koushi.
—
Once dinner (that Sugawara thoroughly enjoyed- which the boy made sure to clearly express, as he complimented Shiori's skills frequently throughout the meal) passed and everybody was showered and cleaned, the trio had no idea what to do. It wasn't early, but it wasn't really late either. At least not for Kawamoto Shiori who more often than not, pulled all-nighters. As for Hanae, she was extremely sleepy, but she could not fall asleep now. Not while her crush was staying in her house and was currently in her presence. There was no way, she would pass up the opportunity and even less- leave Shiori and Koushi alone. Nope. Nope. NOPE. As for Sugawara... Well he was tired, but he also wanted to hang out.
The ravenette, in her oversized pink sailor moon pajamas and a messy bun, abruptly stood up with a gasp which caught the other teenagers' attention.
"I have an idea! Lets play cards!"
Uno, exploding kittens, go fish, spoons, egyptian rat screw, mafia, you name it, Shiori loved it. She loved card games. It was a hobby she had learned and enjoyed during the summers with her grandparents and cousins. They would often times stay up until one in the morning playing cards and laughing so loud, the neighbors often complained.
"That's a good idea, Shiori," Suga agreed, his soft voice barley heard through the loud sound of the rain and thunder outside.
Hanae nodded, now wearing a black hoodie on top of her red sports bra.
"I'll get the snacks and drinks," she announced, standing up and heading over to the kitchen to prepare everything.
"Suga-kun, come upstairs and help me get the stuff, and some blankets too," she commanded, pulling him up and leading them upstairs to her room.
Sugawara, to say the very least, was nervous. He had never been in a girl's room or even seen one, for that matter. Not even a peak. He knew nothing scandalous would happen, but even so he couldn't help but grow a tad excited. Unfortunately, it was in a man's nature by default.
As they stepped into the girl's room, he looked around in awe. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but it was her room. It smelled of her. It smelled fresh with hints of strawberry, vanilla, and cinnamon. Visually, it was western-styled. White walls, white bed (sheets and covers as well), white drawers, bookshelf, curtains, mirror, you name it. The only few things that were not white were the plants that rested on her drawers by her windows and a few picture frames that were placed on a shelf on the wall by her bed. It was pretty neat, with the exception of some clothes scattered across the floor. When he looked up, he saw something that piqued even more of his interest. Stickers of stars and constellations.
"Sugawara-kun, here," her voice snapped him out of his trance and he hurriedly rushed over to her, taking the fuzzy blankets from her arms.
His hazel brown eyes rested on a picture in front of him, which arose a grin onto his face.
"That's a cute photo," he commented, taking in the picture of the girl and her parents.
In the photo, the girl was about two or three- happily grinning in the middle of her parents. He noted that her mother had longer hair at the time and did indeed look much like her youngest daughter, or, well, the other way around.
Shiori turned to see what he was looking at and then rolled her eyes, smiling as well.
"Oh yeah? And why's that?"
"You were cute," he commented, looking at how bright she had seemed to always shined- even since she was a child.
"Were? Was?"
The teenager raised her eyebrows teasingly, wanting to see the easily-flustered boy's reaction, but it never arrived as he turned to her and shook his head.
"No, you're still cute. Cuter, actually, Shiori-chan," Koushi replied, his face grown serious and his eyes sincere.
Kawamoto blushed bashfully, and looked down, continuing to rummage through her drawers, picking out card games.
"No way, everybody is cuter when they're a kid," she huffed, her hands which were holding some cards shaking a bit as he moved closer to her.
Koushi had no clue what was coming over him. He had never felt so inclined towards a person, ever. Not as much, as he felt in that moment, at least. He couldn't help himself. Her soft pink lips, her red cheeks, and the way strands of hair fell out of her messy bun and over her eyes. The boy felt the same sensation that had bubbled up within him the day of the three-on-three match, when they went to go get refreshments for the team. The want, the urge, the need to- kiss her.
'I can't, even if I want to... Not until I can completely understand and accept the fact that I'm beginning to like her as more than just my kouhai. Also, she would hate me. She would think I'm just as bad as Oikawa-san,' Suga thought to himself, mentally sighing.
Looking at her, he relaxed and a gentle smile appeared on his face. Sugawara allowed his hand to reach out and move a strand of hair from her eyes. Then, before he knew it, he leaned in and gave her a butterfly kiss, his lips softly coming in contact with her cheek and his eyelashes brushing against her soft skin.
Before pulling back, he whispered lightly,
"Not you, Shiori."
And if Shiori had any doubts about falling in love with Sugawara Koushi before, she sure as hell didn't have them then.
She could not deny the fact that she was truly, falling in love with him. Slowly, but surely. And that she was certain of three things.
1.) It would be impossible to stop, because by trying to avoid such a thing, her feelings would probably only grow more.
2.) There was more than just a possibility that he did not feel the same way.
and
3.) Hanae would possibly resent her for the rest of her life if she found out.
All of this, scared her to no end, but what scared her the most out of everything was that perhaps the heart that she thought could not break any further, could indeed be broken more. All at the hands of this gray-haired boy.