He rubbed his temples with his fingers in circular motion, soothing his imaginary migraine from the familiar loud voices a seat across him. It was even worse that they had to talk about Rei, of all people, and his probable aromanticism or sapiosexuality (who knew there was such a thing?!), of all topics. Rin couldn’t really remember what Gou had told him a few texts ago, but she sent a message that went along the lines of ‘rei baked you snacks and he told me he thinks love is silly’ and the like.

Of course, Nagisa being Nagisa, had to exaggerate the whole thing and make such a wild conversation with Gou. Why Rei still tolerated Nagisa, Rin couldn’t figure out anymore.

“But you know, there were times I thought you liked Rei-kun,” he heard his sister say. Nagisa snorted and wore a humored expression.

“Gou-chan is silly–“

“It’s Kou.”

“–because I do like Rei-chan!” Nagisa finished, ignoring Gou’s pleads to be called Kou (which was something even Rin found tiring).

Gou raised a brow and smacked him on the shoulder. “You do understand what kind of ‘like’ I meant, right?”

Nagisa cleared his throat. “Ah. You meant that, huh? If I gave up on liking Gou-chan, I’d say Rei-chan suits my tastes because he’s so fun to tease.”

Rin’s eyes widened, and he was surprised he did so. Why would he feel shocked at that remark anyway? He knew Nagisa well enough to know the boy wouldn’t give a damn about whoever he liked, whatever gender that person had. And with the way he and Rei acted together… Rin and Gou were on the same page on her initial thought about Nagisa’s person of interest.

“Wait, what do you mean ‘if I gave up on liking Kou-chan’?”

Rin snorted. His sister didn’t give up on the Kou thing.

“I told you, didn’t I? I like you, Gou-chan. I like you a lot. And I didn’t want to give up on liking you, even though you were dense with other boys. But then again, you probably didn’t pay attention to them because you liked me since before!”

The Matsuoka siblings gritted their teeth at the same time. “What do you mean I was dense?! And it’s Kou! Say it, Kou!”

“Okay, it’s Gou!”

A few seats away from them, a voice said, “Keep it down, you two!”

Gou fell silent, cheeks red in embarrassment, while Nagisa laughed loudly (obviously a defense mechanism from humiliation) and said, “Thanks, mister! That rhymed!” before placing an arm around the girl.

“That guy doesn’t have a sense of humor,” Rin heard the blond boy whisper in reassurance, successfully earning a giggle from Gou.

His eyes darted around the train car and searched for that angry voice, only to find a tall man in the same (un)fashionable get-up as him. Rin was taken aback when he found that man stare back at him… and send that oh too familiar smug curl of the lips.

“What the actual fuck, Sousuke?! Don't you dare embarrass my sister that way!”

“Hey, I saw you were getting annoyed,” Sousuke reasoned, raising both his hands in front of his shoulders for defense. Inaudible grumbles escaped the red-haired boy’s lips, but Sousuke didn’t feel bothered with them.

“That Nagisa-kun has guts, though,” Sousuke added with a thoughtful face, complete with his thumb under his chin and a finger above his lips. “Talking back to a complete stranger for Gou-chan. I’m impressed.”

"I'm her older brother, Sousuke. Not you."

"Still, she has the last say on who she dates," the boy replied. "But yeah, you are her overprotective older brother, not me."

Sousuke sidestepped quickly and dodged Rin’s anticipated whack on the shoulder, causing the latter to stumble and bump Sousuke’s right arm.

“Just shut up until we get there,” Rin hissed. It had been ten minutes since they left the train station, and he planned to scold Sousuke while taking another route to the mall, and Rin felt worn out from worrying about his sister and avoiding Sousuke’s unwanted mockery.

Sousuke sighed and helped straighten Rin’s cap while Rin smoothed out his hoodie. “I would be glad to do that, but how will we find them in the mall with tons of fucking stores?”

“How did you find out where they were headed to anyway?” Rin asked with a scowl.

“I heard you talking about it with Nitori in the hallway,” the taller boy answered. “You haven’t answered my question.”

“Hmph, get a clue,” Rin chided. “Ai’s gonna help us.”

He took out his phone immediately and sent a message to the younger boy, depending on Sousuke to help him move through the crowd as he concentrated. He received a message in less than two minutes with an eager reply.

From: Ai

senpai! they are headed to the arcade! (°∀°)b

--

To: Ai

thanks, ai!

--

From: Ai

anytime senpai! (*^▽^*)

“Geez, you trust that kid too much sometimes, Rin,” Sousuke mumbled as they turned right at the corner of the sidewalk and found the mall at least five meters away from them. Rin poked Sousuke firmly on the rib, causing the taller boy to stifle a cry of pain immediately.

“You have no idea how helpful Ai has been to me,” he grunted. “It’s not like my only friends were Haruka and the others.”

“Tch, with the way you tail Nanase all the time?” the other boy retorted.

Rin sighed and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Sousuke, you have no idea how many times I caught Haru initiating make-out sessions with Makoto and glaring at me before Makoto notices. I give him space too.”

He couldn’t tell whether Sousuke felt better or worse with that revelation (which Rin made up on the spot), but at least that managed to shut him up.

“Nagisa, slow down!”

They were still feet away from the mall’s entrance, but Rin was sure that was his sister’s panicked scream. He and Sousuke saw her arm extended, her wrist being pulled by the enthusiastic Nagisa, with her legs trying to catch up with the striding boy’s pace.

“I’m sorry, Gou-chan, but I’m just really excited to hang out with you today!” Nagisa yelled out. The boy surprisingly slowed down, let go of Gou’s wrist, and took her hand with a smile (which Rin distinguished by a flash of white on Nagisa’s face). Gou was immobilized for a few seconds until Nagisa squeezed her hand.

“Where do you wanna eat first, Gou-chan?”

“Your treat?”

“Yeah!”

Rin rolled his eyes and continued walking, but heard no footsteps following him. He turned around and noticed the warm smile on Sousuke’s lips.

“Why are you smiling?!” Rin spat. Sousuke opened his lips, but Rin quickly cut him off, “No, I don’t want to hear it. Just shut up until we make it inside.”