Kotone shot up off the couch as soon as she heard the sound of the front door open. Her ruby eyes widened at the sight of the newcomer and she put her hands on her hips, expressing false anger at the other.

"Where the hell were you? We're supposed to go to Tartarus tonight, remember?" The other teen merely shrugged and kept his gaze solely on his boots. Kotone narrowed her eyes at her brother's lack of response and frowned. What was up with him now?

"…" He didn't make any sort of sound of acknowledgement even as she moved to stand in front of him. His azure hair appeared to be more unruly than normal as a result of the harsh November winds and his pale hands gripped a rather familiar-looking notebook…

Kotone harshly gripped her brother's shoulders and imploringly searched his face, "Minato, what happened!?" He flinched when she shouted, but otherwise, neither moved. In the background, Kotone could hear the low buzz of the television and the faint footfalls of the other team members that we stirred by the shouting.

"Arisato, what is going on?" Mitsuru asked from the staircase with clear alarm in her voice. Everyone had been extremely worried when Minato didn't show up around curfew and had not replied to any texts. Surely, the field leader's sudden yells was questionable.

Kotone disregarded her senior and eased the notebook out of Minato's hands, "Isn't this…?"

"… Akinari's." He finished hoarshly. This time, he raised his head and the twins met eyes. Instantly, Kotone understood what had happened.

"Why…" she opened the book to the title page," why didn't you come get me?" Underneath the Acknowledgements section, she spied her and her brother's names," I… He's my friend too…"

She looked back up to find Minato shaking, his eyes squinting in the rare occurrence of tears as he nodded. The teenage girl felt her heart break for what felt like the tenth time in the last few weeks. This was the first time she had seen her brother like this in a long time. Even after Shinjiro's was put in a coma, Minato had not been this torn.

"Ah! Minato-kun, welcome back-"Fuuka called down, having just arrived and oblivious to the atmosphere of the room. Akihiko held the teal-haired teen back and signaled for her to be quiet. Kotone became aware of how everyone had gathered with expectant and worried eyes. She tried to smile for her friends to prove that she had total control over the situation.

Beside her, she could see Minato bring his hands up to cover ears like he always did when he was stressed or overwhelmed, and she felt her false smile wither alongside her brother's impassive mask.

"… I thought I would've been used to death by now. I thought- I thought, I-I,"

"I know," she whispered, pulling her crying twin into her embrace and forcing her own tears away," I know."

God, I love the twins. And Akinari. I also love to break stereotype. There should be more of this at some point.