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Kana took another sip from her coffee. “Oh this was fun! Odd for school to call off a day as abrupt as they did, but hell, I’m not complaining! Everyone could’ve used the day off!”
“That was really weird, how they did that.” Nemu responded, “But I agree, school was getting a bit much to handle.”
Kana, realizing her cup was almost empty, said. “We should definitely do this again! I love the coffee here!”
Nemu sighed, “I don’t know how you drink coffee so easily.” The cafe her and Kana were at was really nice, and they did have great drinks. As a whole though, Nemu never liked coffee in general and especially not black coffee. On her day off from school, she’d rather go to a park or something. “That dark too? Blech. My brother always has his coffee black and I can’t stand it! I do definitely want to do this again though!”
Kana threw her head back with a laugh, “That’s classic Nemu! Always talking about your brother!”
“Hey!” Nemu scoffed, a smile present on her face. “My brother is amazing! You’re just jealous your brother isn’t as cool as he is.”
“Oh of course,” Kana swooned (sarcastically), “I’ve always wanted a gangster older brother with anger issues and a celebrity boyfriend!”
“Ugh.” Nemu groaned. “He’s sweet, they both are. You just gotta look a little past the surface.”
“I’ve always wanted to hear this story…” Kana began curiously, “How did those two get together anyway? It’s a very strange match up.”
“First of all, they’re not technically together.” Nemu disclaimed.
Kana rolled her eyes. “Alright then, how did those two end up working alongside one another and grow to care for each other so deeply? ”
Nemu giggled, “Good enough!” Then answered Kana’s question. “They first met up when Sasa-chan saved Samatoki from a fight. I heard he was able to stop him dead in his tracks, right in the middle of a punch!”
“Wow, that’s strong!” Kana gasped, then sighed. “I don’t know if I’m ever going to get used to the fact that you are close enough to the famous ‘Sasara Nurude’ to be calling him ‘Sasa-chan’. Like- that just doesn’t happen!” Then she paused before saying, “Well I guess having a mafia boss for a big bro doesn’t happen either…”
“He’s not a mafia boss!”
“Okay then, what is he?”
“In charge of the katen branch of the Yakuza. He’s not a boss.”
“Oh I’m terribly sorry,” Kana giggled, “My deepest apologies for my most grievous mistake.” Her and Nemu laughed. Kana’s phone buzzed and she aimlessly pulled out her phone. She read the message and jumped. “Awe man! My bad for real this time, I gotta go!”
“Why?” Nemu asked as Kana started shoving her papers back into her bag.
“Kiomi texted me,” Kana explained as she pulled her bag over her shoulder. “Luck results are back for the day, and something real bad might happen. ‘Something pink will ruin everything!’” She shuffled her pink bag nervously. “We gotta run down to the shrine and snag luck charms before they’re all swiped! Wanna come?”
“Nah, I’m good.” Nemu waved her offer off with her hand. “I don’t believe in that kinda stuff. You go do that.”
“Alright then.” Kana shrugged. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you though!” And she ran out of the shop.
Nemu shook her head. “She’s fun, but she’s a weird girl. As if not buying a charm is gonna jinx the outcome of today anyway.”
—
The best thing about that cafe was how close it was to home. A nice local shop was perfect for calm days off. Samatoki didn’t have anything he needed to do today either, so Nemu was pretty sure he was hanging out with Sasa, Ichiro, and Kuukou. Fun crowd. Apparently they have a battle coming up or something so she couldn’t hang out with them today. She really liked hanging out with them though, and she would make sure she was their next time. Ichiro seemed to enjoy her company… arch . She shook her head. Now’s not the time to be caught up with a crush! Samatoki’s friend no less… but, they were the same age, so it made at least a little sense.
About a five minute walk from the cafe to home, not too shabby. It was still an hour or two until evening, so Samatoki probably wasn’t going to be home for a while. Maybe she could watch one of her drama’s before he got home. Samatoki hated those kinds of sappy shows so Nemu usually only watched them while he was out. And he was a busy man, so he was at home a little much for how much he had to do. Nemu knew why, and she appreciated his over protectiveness… most of the time, but com’on- a teenager’s gotta watch her sappy shows once in a while. Plus, Sasara would happily spend every moment ever with her brother. Their dynamic was odd, but those two are adorable and Nemu thought they were perfect for each other.
Sasara truly made Samatoki happy, Nemu noticed it immediately. From the day he came home saying ‘I met this annoying asshole today’ to the time he asked ‘can I bring my friend over sometime?’ Nemu found that adorable. Like bro, do what you want, it's your house. Sasara was fun and jumpy and his puns were so bad he kinda deserved the scolding from Samatoki. All of them knew it was out of fun. Sasara came home for dinner a lot recently, and most of them have ended with him laughing, pinning Samatoki to the ground with a choke hold after Samatoki went after him following a particularly bad pun. Sasara was strong, much stronger than he looked. He’s beaten Samatoki in a fist fight plenty of times, and Nemu wondered if it was out of strength or Samatoki holding back on him, Samatoki would never actually want Sasara to get hurt after all. Now that she thought about it, Sasara usually beat Samatoki in their rap battles as well. Hmm, maybe Sasa was just more talented than her brother. (She shouldn’t tell him that, even though he’s probably aware.)
Ah, home at last! A five minute walk seems a lot longer when you’re monologuing about your brother and his not-quite-boyfriend. She walked into her apartment building, greeting the receptionist she will never admit she forgot the name to, heading down the hallway to the apartment she and Samatoki shared. She was fishing for her keys when she heard a loud bang from inside.
“DAMN IT!”
That was Samatoki! Something was wrong. She opened the door as fast as she could, realizing it was already unlocked.
There was her brother, on his knees, hunched over. Nemu could see his shoulders shaking. Was he laughing? No… Tears were present, streaming down his face, his eyes were opened wide, and his shaking grew worse as his sobbing increased. Nemu stood there in shock for a moment, in pure awe. She hadn’t seen Samatoki cry in 7- maybe 8 years? After their parents died, Samatoki swore he wouldn’t cry again unless his… family… died. What happened!? Nemu snapped out of her trance and ran to Samatoki’s side. “What’s wrong?”
Samatoki covered his mouth with his hand, trying to suppress his sobs. “He- he’s gone-” He choked through his hand.
“Who is?” Nemu crouched down next to Samatoki.
Samatoki squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to look at Nemu, probably not wanting her to see him like this. It was indeed strange to see Samatoki cry, especially like this. He was such a strong figure to Nemu that it was all she could do to keep from breaking down just seeing her brother broken down so badly. Samatoki continued to cry, not being able to stop the streams staining his face. “Sasara-” His voice broke. “He left me- he- he hates me, Nemu. Never wants to see me again…”
Nemu’s eyes widened. What happened between them? Was Sasara really… gone? It was hard to believe.
“I deserve it, don't I?” Samatoki tried to wipe his eyes with his wrist. “I was rude to him a whole lot, but he deserved so much better. Now he-” His voice broke again, and he continued to choke on the sobs caught in his throat. “Damn it why… Why am I so weak?”
“You’re not weak,” Nemu tried to console him. “Sasara’s special to you.” She knew that Sasara was just as much as family to Samatoki as she was.
“I said I wouldn’t cry unless my family died… but-” Samatoki tried (and failed) to not let his voice break again. “That’s not enough for me anymore. I want to hear those stupid jokes. I want to eat together. I- want him by my side… damn it all.”
Nemu sat there, next to her brother in silence for a long while after that for Samatoki to stop crying and pull himself together. Once he had calmed down, Nemu spoke. “Can… you tell me what happened?”
Samatoki hesitated before responding, “...I was with Ichiro, when Sasara called me, said we needed to talk. I met up with him, and- and he demanded to leave the team.”
Nemu gasped, “Why!?”
“Said he hated me.” Samatoki curled up again, still on the ground even though his tears had stopped. “He said he hated everything about me. The way I act, look, personality, all of it… all of me. Said he was fed up for a while now, done with me.”
“That’s totally unreasonable! How could Sasara hate you!?”
“There are a lot of people who hate me, Nemu.” Samatoki smiled sadly. “Sasara just finally came to his senses. I mean, I was an ass to him. He deserved better. He deserved the best.” Then Samatoki turned toward Nemu, “You also deserve the best. One day you’ll get tired of me too.”
“I will not!” Nemu yelled. She stood up, “Sasara may hate you, a lot of people may hate you, but I know they’re wrong! Even if no one else sees you as the kind hearted, smart, mature big brother I know you are, then that’s their problem! Samatoki, I will never turn my back on you even if it means throwing away everything else we’ve ever had!” Nemu couldn’t stand how everyone else saw her brother as this heartless monster. She knew full well what he’s done in the past, she knew full well the number of bodies Samatoki has left in his wake. And she knew that didn’t make him a terrible person in the slightest. Nothing would come between her and her brother if she could help it.
Samatoki looked up at Nemu, eyes wide. He smiled then, the remnants of tears still brimming the corners of his eyes. “Thank you, Nemu. It’s good to know you’ll always be by my side.”