The two of them sat there, stewing silently in their misery, until Rika finally let out a long, exhausted sigh and leaned back against the sofa.
"So..." she said, staring up at the ceiling, "How long have you... you know... liked Onii-San?"
Yuki grunted, cheeks puffing out slightly.
"Not long," he muttered. "Since... before I even realized it."
Rika nodded quietly, sympathy blooming in her chest.
"I get it," she said.
Another awkward pause.
Then, without thinking, Rika blurted out:
"You're really cute, you know."
Yuki stiffened like a board.
He turned to look at her, eyes wide with horror.
"C-Cute!?" he screeched. "I'M NOT CUTE!"
Rika blinked.
"But... you are," she said, tilting her head. "I mean, you're tiny, and your face is all—"
"I'm a boy, you idiot!" Yuki exploded, jumping to his feet, his face bright crimson.
Rika froze.
Her mouth fell open.
Her brain short-circuited.
...Boy?
...BOY!?
She stared at him, dumbfounded, her mind trying—and failing—to process what she just heard.
"But—but you—you're so—!" she stammered, waving her hands helplessly.
"I'M A BOY!" Yuki repeated furiously, stomping his foot.
Rika's face flushed a deep, mortified red.
"Oh my God," she gasped, covering her face with her hands. "I thought—you were—I thought—"
"Yeah, well, you thought wrong!" Yuki barked, crossing his arms tightly over his chest, his entire body practically vibrating with rage and embarrassment.
Rika peeked at him between her fingers, utterly mortified.
"I'm so sorry," she blurted out, her voice high and panicked. "I didn't mean to—I wasn't trying to—!"
"Whatever!" Yuki snapped, turning his back to her with an angry huff.
The room filled with heavy, miserable silence again.
Rika slowly lowered her hands from her face, feeling like the biggest idiot on the planet.
He's a boy, she thought, still stunned. A boy. A very angry, very tsundere boy.
She had called a boy cute.
Not just cute—adorably cute.
To his face.
I want to die.
She risked another glance at him, noticing the way his shoulders were hunched defensively, like a kicked puppy trying to look tough.
Despite everything, a small, reluctant smile tugged at her lips.
"...You're still cute," she muttered under her breath.
"SHUT UP!" Yuki exploded, spinning around and glaring at her so hard she swore the air vibrated.
Rika couldn't help it—she laughed.
A small, broken, genuine laugh that slipped out before she could stop it.
Yuki glared harder, but his cheeks were burning so fiercely it almost looked painful.
"You're the worst," he grumbled, plopping back onto the sofa as far from her as possible.
Rika wiped her eyes, still chuckling quietly.
"Yeah," she said softly. "I kinda am."
They lapsed into silence again, but this time it was... lighter.
Less suffocating.
The heavy, miserable fog between them had thinned just a little.
Somehow, in the middle of all this chaos, they'd found a strange, unlikely companionship.
Two idiots in love with people who would never see them that way, or maybe only for Rina.
Rika leaned her head back against the sofa, staring up at the ceiling again.
"Maybe we should start a club," she mused aloud.
Yuki snorted.
"What, the 'Hopeless Idiots Who Fell For Siblings' Club?"
Rika laughed.
"Yeah. You can be president."
"Shut up," Yuki muttered, but there was no real heat behind it.
Just a quiet, shared sadness—and maybe, just maybe—a little bit of hope too.
The silence between them stretched thin, taut like a string about to snap.
Finally, Rika exhaled, crossing her arms and slumping deeper into the couch.
"You know," she muttered, voice flat, "both of us really fell for the same gender."
Yuki stiffened beside her.
His hands, which had been nervously fiddling with the hem of his sweater, froze.
Then he dropped his forehead onto his knees with a soft, pitiful whine.
"Don't say it like that..." he mumbled miserably.
Rika snorted faintly, though the sound lacked any real amusement.
Her chest ached.
She threw her head back against the couch, eyes tracing invisible cracks along the ceiling.
"We're hopeless," she sighed under her breath.
Rika told Yuki what Ai told her about what Ai thought about liking girls.
She glanced at Yuki again, who still looked like he was trying to disappear into the cushions.
"...What about you?" Rika asked finally. "What's your story?"
Yuki peeked up at her, cheeks flushed.
He hesitated for a long second, before mumbling,
"...It's different with Shin."
Rika frowned. "Different how?"
Yuki squeezed his knees tighter against his chest, voice barely above a whisper.
"Just... the way he treats me," he said. "It's not the same as how he treats everyone else."
Rika leaned in a little without realizing it.
Yuki kept talking, voice shy and vulnerable.
"He teases me all the time," Yuki said. "Like... he'll call me cute. Or mess up my hair. Or sneak up behind me to spook me."
Rika felt her teeth grind together.
"He says stuff like... 'You're my favorite.' Or 'Maybe I'll just keep you all to myself.'"
Rika's nails dug into her palms.
"He always smiles at me differently," Yuki continued softly, not noticing Rika's growing tension. "Not like he smiles at other people. Like... warmer. More real."
Rika swallowed thickly.
"And... sometimes he buys me snacks," Yuki said. "Like crepes. Or he grabs my wrist if I fall behind when we're walking."
He ducked his head further.
"It feels..."
He hesitated, voice dropping to a whisper.
"...Special."
The word hit Rika like a slap.
She stared at him, heart pounding painfully in her ears.
"And you think that means something?" she asked, trying—and failing—to keep the edge out of her voice.
Yuki flinched.
"I—I don't know," he stammered. "Maybe it's just shin being nice. Maybe it doesn't mean anything."
But he didn't sound like he believed it.
And neither did Rika.
The heavy silence stretched between them.
Yuki shifted uncomfortably, pulling at the loose threads of his sleeve.
His face was pink, and his voice even softer when he added, almost like a confession:
"...Yesterday... we hung out."
Rika's gaze sharpened.
"Hung out?" she repeated, voice deceptively calm.
Yuki nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. Shin said he wanted to apologize for a thing, and... invited me out."
He fidgeted again, hugging his knees tighter to his chest.
"It was supposed to be like... two guys just hanging out," Yuki said, voice barely above a whisper now. "But... it kinda felt..."
He trailed off, swallowing visibly.
Rika leaned in, tension coiling tight in her chest.
"...Felt like what?" she asked, a little sharper than intended.
Yuki ducked his head even lower, his voice almost inaudible.
"...More like a date."
Rika's world tilted.
She sat there, stunned, as those words echoed in her skull.
Like a date.
Like a date.
Yuki didn't notice the way her fists clenched at her sides, her nails digging crescent moons into her palms.
He was too busy babbling now, his cheeks burning, his voice wobbling between excitement and mortification.
"He—he bought me stuffs," Yuki whispered, almost dreamily. "And we went to the amusement park. He won me a big Teddy bear from the shooting game..."
"It was..." Yuki's voice turned dreamy. "It was the best day ever..."
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END OF CHAPTER : 62 : TELL ME YOURS!
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