A Bond Beyond Blood

"What did you get on the test anyways, Takucchi?" The smallest one asked me.

"Only 83, I think." 

"83?! The taller one yelled out. "That test was crazy difficult, how the hell did you get 83?"

While waiting for an answer she took a bite out of some melon bread.

"He must be a genius, obviously."

Kiyomi bragged in my stead with a self satisfied smile, while her mouth was filled with rice.

Yet that compliment was undeserved.

"I only scored 4th place out of this classroom, so it's a bit overblown to call me a genius." I said as I stood up and picked up my bag. "If that's all, I'm heading out."

They looked perplexed at my sudden departure, but I had no intent to begin with to hang out with the class delinquents. The amount of rumors surrounding those four alone is enough to make the student council's head spin. The less I get to know them, the better.

Finally, after wasting a couple of minutes being shown off to a bunch of strangers, I found my usual spot outside to eat, opposite the track and field club. A bench off in the corner of the building, where I'd have a nice view of the outside, as there weren't many bushes covering the scene, with only the metal fences there to look through. It was out of the wind and generally quiet, so I have a much easier time settling than inside the building. It feels a lot less tense than intermingling with others there.

As I took out my lunchbox I suddenly felt a buzz in my jacket pocket. Then another, and another. Annoyed, I took it out, seeing what I was suddenly getting in.

"Great..."

Kiyomi and Chiori both sending a bunch of text messages at the same time. I should've expected it.

After taking a moment to set it aside and preparing to eat, ignoring all the spam that was being sent to me in the meantime, I finally took a look at Chiori's messages.

If nothing else, I'd rather hear her out than Kiyomi.

'onii-chan, who were you talking to (⇀‸↼‶)'

'you didn't tell me about them'

'are you keeping a secret from me'

'you seemed awfully close mister private tutor'

she was still typing as I was reading through the messages, each one more pouty than the previous.

'3000 yen, one test'

I typed back a short message while eating.

Its the only reason I associated with Kiyomi from the start, especially considering I was running short for that month. Were it not for that, we would've never spoken to each other. Calling us close is much of an overstatement.

A minute later I got another text back.

'you should have told me (＃`Д´)'

If only there wasn't a need to tell her.

'next time I will 人(_ _*)'

I muted my phone, closed it, and enjoyed the scenery while eating to the best of my ability, trying not to worry about getting an earful later on. The only respite in my mind being that one day soon I'll finally be free from this husband and wife comedy act.

It's a strange feeling, intending to depart with someone I've known all my life. Unlike my dad, who has been pretty much like a ghost, randomly appearing and disappearing throughout, Chiori has essentially been there every step in the way.

Yet as I thought that, on cue, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

Lo and behold, my little sister stood beside me, looking pretty angry.

She sat herself beside me before I get the chance to get a word in.

"She's not your girlfriend, is she?"

Chiori spoke in a dismissive tone, as if finding her own suggestion ridiculous.

"About as far as you can get from one." I replied, munching on some food in between. "We've known each other a couple of hours in total at best. Can say for certain she's not the kind I wish to hang out with."

It's not that Kiyomi is an awful person, or that her friends are, but they certainly give off the feel of only being trouble. I'd rather keep my life more or less stable and normal.

"I'm not into gyaru to begin with."

"Oh, really? Last time I checked your browser hist-" She said, a sly smirk on her face.

"Okay, I get it, fine."

Forgot to fucking delete it of all times.

"Why don't you watch any little sister stuff anyways?" She inquires with a hint of dismay and intrigue as if its a normal question to be asking.

"Even if I did, I would make it 100% certain that you'd never notice."

Imagining that can of worms alone would make my stomach drop.

"I wouldn't judge." She said, shrugging my comment off. "Much better than gyaru anyways."

"I'd rather you do."

"If you want I got a couple good ones~" She suggested with an impish smirk plastered on her face.

"Thanks, but no thanks."

Chiori took out her own box as well. I added a piece of sausage I had left over to hers. She gave me some of her vegetables in turn.

"Onii, can't we just have lunch here every day?"

"I'd rather not risk it. Every now and again someone does pass by, and word would get out pretty quickly."

If it weren't for that I'd maybe consider it.

"So what? Letting other people decide what we can do is a little weird, isn't it?"

"Without it, there'd be no rules, structures, norms, anything. The way we show ourselves to the world reflects back to us. If we act weird, people sure as hell will call us out on it."

And if that happens, I'd just get a repeat of what happened in middle school.

While I was busy on a philosophical spiel, Chiori rested her head against my shoulder.

"That's why it's better to with with me than with them." She said, nudging herself against me. "It's going to look bad either way."

I didn't have much of a rebuttal to that.