I'm a Believer - chapter 3
Sho breathed a sigh of relief when the final bell of the day rang, signalling that he could leave.
After lunch he had spent the entire afternoon avoiding Kanae, which wasn't as easy as it sounded as he shared all of the classes with her.
Luckily, she was still really angry at his comment from that morning so spent the entire time studiously ignoring him. Or ignoring anything with blond hair.
Sho mentally shrugged to himself. Whatever the reason it had made his job just that little bit more easy. If he was going to be honest with himself he was feeling a little guilty about the way he had acted towards her.
He had slipped back into the persona he had used before Kyoko and he had moved to this new school. And, to be honest, he was just that little bit scared at how easy he had done so.
Sometimes, he mused, he sort of deserved some of the things that got thrown at him.
Now though, he was free to go home and ice his poor face.
His poor disfigured face.
...Okay, so maybe he wasn't feeling as guilty now that he thought about it like that.
What the hell had that girl been thinking marking him like this? He was a beautiful person! He didn't deserve to be treated badly!
Also there was the fact that if any of his fan girls ever found out about what she had done she was going to be in a whole world of pain...
She obviously had no survival instincts. At all.
Well...either that or she just didn't care about it...
Sho felt his stomach clench at the thought. It took serious guts to live by your own beliefs and act on them even though you might end up hurt in the process.
He would know, of course...
No. Sho shook his head, ridding himself of those depressing thoughts. He wasn't going to go down that route. Not here and not now. It was over and done with and it would stay over and done with.
That thought firmly encased in his mind, he grabbed his bag from under his desk and slowly made his way out of the empty classroom.
It was time to go home.
Kyoko sighed as she heard the final bell ring.
All afternoon she had been worrying about her brother.
He had deserved it...but even so, she still found herself just that little bit pissed off that Kanae could hurt her family like that.
The only reason that she wasn't completely mad at her best friend was that, one - she was provoked, and two - Kanae didn't know that Sho was family and therefore (for all intents and purposes) off limits.
Nevertheless, she was still just that little bit upset enough to decline Kanae's offer to walk home together, instead making up an excuse that allowed her to wait for Sho.
Who, of course, would be walking home because he had forgone his bike this morning...to embarrass her in front of the school...
Kyoko narrowed her eyes.
Maybe she had been just that little bit too hasty in rejecting Kanae's offer...
Caught in her own thoughts, she was momentarily startled when a hand dropped down onto her shoulder. Unable to help herself she screamed - which quickly turned into a string of curses when she saw Sho sniggering to himself.
She punched him in the arm.
"Urgh! I can't believe you did that!"
Sho clutched at his stomach, helpless with laughter. And, though her heart felt like it was trying to escape her chest, she couldn't help but feel just that little bit happier that Sho was actually smiling.
"You should have seen your face! Aha ha ha ha ha!"
Okay. Screw that thought.
"What the hell did you do that for? I almost had a heart attack!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry - I just, couldn't help myself. You looked so serious in your own little world."
He was still laughing.
Against her own wishes, the corners of her lips twitched up in response.
"Fool."
He just grinned at her and took a slow deep breath, trying to calm himself down. After a moment of two he was fine...if still wearing a playful grin.
Kyoko raised an eyebrow. That look never meant anything good for her.
"Sho...?" She asked slowly.
The grin just widened and he shrugged.
"It's just...now I can honestly say that I've made you scream."
It took her a few seconds to understand exactly what he was going on about and then her eyes widened at the implications behind his words.
"Argh! You dirty minded little -!" She raised a fist to punch him in the arm again. "Do you know how disgusting it is to hear you say that? It's disturbing! Stop it!"
Sho just laughed and danced out of the range of her fists.
"Oh come on Kyoko! Laugh a little!"
"I don't even know why you say things like that! It's just weird and...and wrong and..."
He snorted and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her towards the gates.
Once he had made sure that he was going to be safe from her wrath that is.
"It's a joke."
Kyoko pouted but made no move to dislodge his arm. "It's not funny."
"Actually, I find it hilarious."
"But why?"
"Well..." he was silent for a few moments, working out how he was going to word his explanation. Kyoko let him think about it, curious despite herself.
He was her brother but sometimes she had no idea just what went on through his head.
"Well," he continued "it's like this. The whole school thinks that we're something more - even though we deny it. They don't even know we're brother and sister because we've never advertised the fact - even though, if they asked, we'd tell them the truth..."
Kyoko raised an eyebrow. "So that's all we need to do? Start actively telling them that we're brother and sister?"
Sho shot her an amused glance. "Which wouldn't actually work now because they're so firmly entrenched in their own beliefs. No, the only way that they'll ever change their mind is if they discover the fact on their own."
"That and it's more fun for you."
"Well yes, there is that. After all, it's not every day that you can completely fool an entire school full of people into believing something so ridiculous.
"Besides," he added as an afterthought "when you look back on all our interactions, they are the actions of an older brother to a younger sister..."
"You mean a teasing older brother trying to embarrass his younger sister completely."
"That too."
Kyoko rolled her eyes as they turned onto their street. "Okay fine. I'll give you that. But is that the only reason you act like that?"
"Nope."
Kyoko paused, waiting for Sho to continue. She rolled her eyes when all he did was dig out the door keys from his pocket.
"So? What's this other reason?"
He paused for a moment before unlocking the door and shrugged. "You're my baby sister. Gotta keep the guys from pawing at you somehow."
Kyoko watched as he disappeared inside their house, his shoulders tense.
He was acting that way to keep her safe.
Okay - he was doing it in a completely disturbing way...but he was trying to do the right thing.
Kyoko smiled softly as she followed him inside, closing the door behind her. Despite everything, or maybe because of everything, Sho always managed to make her feel protected.
Not that she was ever going to admit that out loud under pain of death.
"Oh!" Sho's voice called down to her from upstairs. "I also do it because I hate Ren and want to make his life as difficult as possible."
Kyoko snarled, previous thoughts immediately wiped out. "Sho! You utter -!"
Her feet pounding on the stairs drowned out his laughter.