Chapter 130 - Love & Like

"Congratulations little sister. Are you happy?"

Oh…

This big brother was really cute and sweet. Ara smiled as she leaned against Aki's hug. "I guess so."

Hearing her answer, Kazehaya dramatically touched his chest again, a look of shock on his face. "I guess so? That's a scary uncertain answer, Princess. I should tell Ryuu to work harder!"

Ara's laughter rang more as she and Aki went back to their previous places. "There's no need, okay?"

"Of course there's a need. Ryuu will cry if you're not happy," Kazehaya told her matter-of-factly. "The fate of the future Homuras lies in your hands," he continued.

Ara of course still had no idea of what he meant by that and thought he was just exaggerating as usual. She just thought that Kazehaya was thinking she wouldn't want to have children with Ryuu if she's not happy.

"No there's no need. All efforts on Ryuu's part are very much appreciated," Ara told Gin. "It's me who needs to work hard on being happy no?"

"Ha?"

Aki looked confused. "Work hard on being happy?"

Ara nodded. "Of course. Someone told me that happiness is continuous work. When you're in a relationship it's a joint project. Both need to work hard to be happy together."

Both men looked thoughtful for a while before agreeing with a nod.

"Since when did you learn to spout some sense brat," Aki teased as he leaned over to pull her nose.

Ara scrunched up her face as she pulled back with a laugh. "But I'm just stating facts. Ryuu already put in a lot of effort. It's my turn now. I just sound uncertain because I'm still confused about my feelings."

"Oh? You mean you're still not sure if you're in love with Ryuu or not?"Kazehaya asked thoughtfully.

Ara shook her head. "Love is a big word. I don't think I can tell immediately if I love him or not this early, right? For now, I'm only seeing the good things, but I need to see the bad or the less desirable side of him to know the answer to that question."

"You're so complicated." Aki scratched his head, and Kazehaya agreed.

"I'm not," Ara denied. "I'm just telling the truth. After all, this love thing isn't something you can easily declare."

Ara drank some of her tea before she continued. "Big Bro Kaze, if a girl you like suddenly said she loves you but you just met, will you believe her?"

"Sure!"Kazehaya said happily and Aki palmed his face.

Ara looked suspiciously at Gin. "You would?" It was preposterous. 

"You asked the right question to the wrong guy," Aki told her. "Gin is a ladies' man. He loves everyone who loves him."

Kazehaya batted his lashes at Ara. "Gotta catch 'em all," he said mimicking the Pokémon tag line.

"Forget I even asked you then," Ara sent a murderous aura his way as she stabbed her food with her chopstick, making the men flinch.

"Why are you angry? Is it my fault I'm such a sexy guy?" Kazehaya had on a wounded look, but Ara just rolled her eyes at him.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I'm still trying to figure out my feelings."Ara paused, hesitating to ask her next question to these hopeless guys, but her curiosity won so she did. "If I felt bad about a person I thought has a relationship with Ryuu, does that mean I was jealous?"

"Yes," Kazehaya Gin answered.

Ara noted, however, that the guy's usually carefree attitude was gone instantly, replaced by a tensed and careful stance. He resembled a colorful predator at the moment. She wondered what went wrong, but finally realized when he asked her a question.

"Was there someone like that?" he asked, his voice still sounded natural, but Ara detected the shift in the atmosphere. She was surprised that Kazehaya had such a powerful aura that broiled from within. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he's not human.

Ara had no idea why he was suddenly hostile underneath, but an image of the sweet Emi suddenly appeared in her mind, and she shook her head. "Of course not. I was just asking to help me analyze my feelings okay?"

Kazehaya Gin studied her face for a while before raising a brow. "Then the question should be 'what if I feel' and not the past tense no?"

Urgh… Smarty chipmunk.

Ara had completely forgotten about Gin and his scary memory, and amazing skill to not be swayed off-topic by anyone. She felt regretful asking them now. She had an inkling Gin already had an idea of what happened, and who was she talking about. She suddenly felt worried about Emi.

"Then I'm so sorry about my grammar, okay?"Ara told him, hoping it would somehow help.

Not.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Even top students make mistakes here and there," Gin countered easily, and Ara wanted to slap him silly. He just let her know he's aware of her perfect scores in both Japanese and English.

He knew that she knew about the Makura. Ara didn't understand. It should be okay because she was bound to know about it after all. What she didn't understand was the animosity.

"Big Bro Kaze, you're no fun," she commented, but the other just shrugged and went on to read his newspaper.

Afterwards, the men finally had to leave for the conference. Ara watched them with unease as they left. Although both ruffled her hair like a pet before leaving, she couldn't help but feel worried. She reckoned there was something about Kazehaya Gin and Emi that Ryuu had forgotten to tell her. She took a mental note to ask her fiancé later when she saw him.

In the end, Ara couldn't finish her breakfast. She lost her appetite. But then when a servant suddenly appeared and worriedly asked her if there was something wrong, she felt she had to force herself to eat just a bit more to keep them from worrying about her. When she finished, she asked to be led towards where the Koutaishidenka was.

She didn't know or understand why, but she felt she would only feel better when she finally saw Ryuu.