Salt Over Sugar

by Autumn Win-Dow

Letter Series #2

Dear Sumire's brother,

You never really told me your name when we first met... and Permy's never told me, either. Why? Is it an embarrassing name? Or is it too majestic? I really want to know, so make sure you tell me in your reply letter.

I'm surprised that you wanted to know about how your sister was doing - you could've just called me, y'know. It would've saved a lot of time for both of us, with you and your job and me having to clean up the kitchen after Permy's bomb making hobby.

And when I mean bomb making, I mean cooking.

In short, your sister cannot cook. If you're ever in town and she invites you over for dinner, there's a likely chance that I'm not going to be the one cooking, so... just take care.

To answer your question, she's 'fine'. And when I say fine, I mean she's spending hours trying to peel an orange without the skin breaking, or plotting weird schemes of revenge against her ex-boyfriends. It's creepy, and she's creepy, but I don't really want to say that to her face.

She has websites bookmarked on her computer, and the first one is some strange site where you can apparently voo-doo your exes, as long as you send them three articles of said ex's clothing.

It's the reason why I keep my clothes in the wardrobe whenever she visits my place. Hopefully, I won't need to take care, because I don't plan on breaking up with her any time soon.

Or, maybe, that's just me.

I hope she isn't considering it.

Could she be?

Maybe she has, and she's already started to plot. I mean, she made me a cake but she used salt instead of sugar.

No, wait, that's pretty normal.

Anyway, she's faring well. She isn't sitting in the corner of her room in a slump, nor is she immersing herself into the Titanic reruns on television as she used to.

Wait. She's asking me for the popcorn and a box of tissues. I take my words back.

Make that two boxes.

Bro, you're going to have to come and save me soon. As soon as you get this letter, please come back to Tokyo and help your sister. When you do come, I'll distract her while you steal all of the romance DVDs stored near the television. And be careful, make sure you don't take the Gundam DVDs. They're mine.

I'm just joking, but I'll just tell you that right now your sister has a new copy of The Notebook in her hand and she's about to start playing the movie. And this is a cue for me, as the boyfriend, to hold her close to my chest and comfort her as she weeps.

I'm not against doing it, but when she cries, she hits. Hard.

But hey, I'm a strong guy. I can bear these things pretty well.

(Hey, just out of curiosity, how did you survive living with her for twenty years?)

I guess I got a little off topic - you don't want to know how great a boyfriend I am to your sister. But honestly, all I can say is that she is doing well. She's not eating her food, she's eating mine, and that itself is a relief in regards to her health. She's still friends with a lot of people you met years ago.

She's happy.

But I think she would be ecstatic if you ever came to visit Tokyo. Sumire misses you. A lot.

And I'm hoping that you come, as well. Writing this letter is tiring.

Koko

P.S. Please don't disclose my request about the DVDs. I don't want to see my purple polo gone from my wardrobe tomorrow morning.

"Koko!" He heard the enraged voice of his girlfriend from the kitchen as he read the reply to his letter.

"What blew up this time?" The sandy haired male joked, unaware of Sumire's mood.

"You want to know what's blowing up?! I'm blowing up!"

"Wait- what? I don't get-"

"Brother just called me to talk about you."

"...Oh, crap."

P.S. I let slip about your DVD plan to Sumire, sorry. No offense, but I'd choose my sister over you any day.

And yes, living with her for twenty years has taught me many lessons about how to live my life. You'll understand in another twenty.

A/N: I was pretty satisfied with how my first letter-based fic, 'Tokyo To Paris', came out so I wrote another one. Koko's tone is pretty (VERY) different from Hotaru's so it has a more comedic, light hearted feel to it. I hope I did well with the humour.

And if this one sorta succeeds, I'll write a third letter. NatsuMikan's probably the way to go with it. ;)