Chapter 163 - Dumb

"So, how are you feeling?"

Suzuki Aki asked his younger sister as soon as they reached a gazebo in the garden. It was at a different part of the estate nearer to the private residential area than the dojo where Ara and Kou went earlier to have their talk after her stunt with the arrow.

"Are you nervous?"

At her brother's questions, a soft smile curved Suzuki Ara's lips, and she shrugged. "I honestly don't know."

"You don't know?" Aki laughed. "What kind of answer is that?"

"The kind you'd get from me," Ara replied with a mischievous grin, making his brother laugh again. "Obnoxious brat," he told her as he playfully hand-chopped her head.

"What? I'm just telling you the truth," Ara protested as she patted her head where Aki bopped her earlier. "I really have no idea what I'm feeling right now – maybe because it still hasn't completely sunk into me."

His mouth formed an O as if he finally understood what she meant.

"Yeah, everything still feels like a dream," she continued to explain. "It was just more than a month ago when I woke up at the hospital – three weeks since I got discharged, and barely two weeks since I met Kou again. But here I am, marrying him tomorrow."

Aki watched Ara's face the whole time she spoke, and he patted her hand. "Well, it was a whirlwind kind of event," he agreed.

In reality, for someone who was suddenly rushed into things, Ara was doing pretty well. Other girls who were suddenly pushed into an arranged marriage reacted more negatively and even threw historical tantrums – not that he could think of any girl who would throw one if they learned they would be marrying the Koutaishidenka of the Homura House of course. Still, Ara reacted better than expected.

She was amicable, matured, and surprisingly even looked… happy .

Even if the other party was the heir to the Homura House, Aki still felt bad for making Ara fulfill the contract their parents had arranged for her. Even if she agreed, and even if the other party was a nice person, a part of him still felt that he had sold her sister. After all, the house in Denenchofu and the revival of the Suzuki Raiden Group were given in exchange for Ara.

However, now, seeing her smile, the guilty feeling he had inside his heart lessened a bit. Aki straightened and puffed out his chest as if in pride.

"Come, ask big brother anything for advice. You have free words of wisdom from your older brother tonight," he said teasingly with a wink, making Ara laugh.

"So? What would be your first question?" he prompted.

Ara looked thoughtful for a while before speaking. "Big bro, am I dumb?"

"Of course you are," Aki answered without hesitation ruffling his sister's feathers in shock.

"Ya!"Ara slapped her brother's arm softly. "Aren't u supposed to be on my side?"

Ara was not expecting her brother's answer, and so she pouted.

"Are you fighting with someone?" Aki inquired, and she frowned and shook her head.

"Aside from Koharu, who's a lost cause, I have no beef with anyone," she said.

"Then I'm not on your side," Aki answered finally, earning him a glare from his younger sister.

"Thanks a lot, bro," she told him in between gritted teeth as she glared.

She was sulky enough not to ask him another question, but she couldn't help it.

"So big bro, why am I dumb?"

Aki laughed as if he was expecting her to ask him a follow-up question all along.

"Correction: We are all dumb," he said.

When she looked confused, he explained further. "To be precise, we are dumb because we are humans."

"You totally lost me there," she complained.

"There are different types of smarts in this world. There's being book smart – someone who excels academically, money-smart – someone who's good where he puts his money, street smart – things like that," Aki recited, his face looking thoughtful.

"I say we are dumb because we are humans – because humans were made not to be perfect. Someone can be good at studying but is very bad at human relationships or he can be dumb in studying but good with people. You can be totally uneducated but still able to survive because you are smart on skills."

Ara's mouth formed an O at her brother's explanation and silently agreed with him.

"You see? Excelling in one aspect doesn't make you wise. It's just that being book smart is overrated. So, Ara, I said you are dumb because you don't know a lot of things yet. Being top of your class doesn't matter," he added, before pausing as if thinking of what to say next. "I am actually dumb too."

Huh?

"Of course I am book smart," Aki grinned at her as he tapped the side of his head with a finger. "And based on Suzuki Raiden Group's performance, I'd like to think of myself as business smart too. But I still say I'm dumb because I can do a lot of things but always fail on things that matter."

Ara frowned. "What do you mean?"

This time, the smile on Aki's face turned nostalgic, his eyes distant. "Didn't I nearly lose you?"

Oh…

Ara remembered their conversation in his office when she suddenly dropped by there last week. It was when they both found out that they knew about what really happened during the car accident and had their first sibling heart to heart talk.

Aki had told her that she was the most important and apologized for losing sight of that – for neglecting her causing her depression – or the real Ara's.

She smiled warmly at her brother, completely understanding now what he meant. She raised her hand to reach out for his and clasped them. When their eyes met, they were suspiciously moist.

"Don't you dare cry. I don't want to see your crying ugly mug," Aki teased and Ara let go of his hand to playfully hit him again.

"I won't cry," she denied, and she was already laughing.

Then, she remembered something she'd been wanting to ask Aki for a while. "Big bro?"

"Yeah?"

"When are you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?" she asked, and she watched as Aki flinched as if punched.

Eh? What happened?