A/N1: This is for my Yuuki fans out there. As far as time goes, it belongs somewhere between the national test and the Todai test. And for the guest reviewer who wanted an appearance of Konomi: I don't believe she made a canon appearance until Yuuki was in middle school. Sorry!

A/N2: Oh, and my daughter helped me with the BTS references.

"Hey, Yuuki-kun," Kotoko teased between videogame matches, "are you expecting any Valentine's candy?"

Turning when she received no reply, she was astonished to see that his face had flushed scarlet. Naoki, an observer of their competition that evening, also stared at his brother. "Yuuki?" he asked.

"Well, I'd like to," the boy finally got out.

With Kotoko's rapid-fire questions finally teasing out all the details, the picture became clear. "So Naomi sits next to you during student council meetings, but she's three years older?"

"Aiming high, Otouto?" Naoki asked.

"Not really." Yuuki shuffled uncomfortably. "I know I have no chance…"

"Never say never!" Kotoko snapped her fingers. "I have an idea! Invite her over after school. Once she tastes your mother's cooking, she'll be hooked!"

"Like you, Onee-chan?" he retorted, then laughed when both teenagers swung their heads in alarm towards the door to make sure Mrs. Irie was not there. "No, that would be a little...weird." He sighed, "I guess I'll just continue to admire her from afar."

"I have a final tennis club meeting after school today," Naoki said. "You're welcome to attend if you don't want to wait in the classroom or library."

"No, I'll just go ahead." Kotoko smiled at him. "See you later at home."

"Are you sure you can manage alone with the cane?" He looked at her in concern.

"Don't be a worrywort! I'll be fine!"

She managed to make it to Yuuki's elementary school before class let out. His eyes widened when he caught sight of her. "Kotoko! What are you doing here?" His suspicions were confirmed when her eyes roved over the crowd of children exiting the building.

"Which one is she?"

He sighed in resignation and led her around the corner. "She always waits here, since her bus arrives later than some of the others."

Kotoko observed the girl. "Very cute. I can see how she caught your eye. Look!" She poked him. "Her friends left. Go up and talk with her."

"No," he resisted, "I don't know what to say."

"You Irie geniuses! Well, just follow my lead."

He groaned when she walked to the bench, then shrugged and trailed her.

"Oh!" Kotoko spoke to Naomi. "You have a BTS pin on your backpack." When the girl looked up, she asked. "Who's your bias?"

"Jungkook. I think he is so adorable!"

"He sure is, but my preference is Suga."

She cocked her head in thought. "He's pretty reserved but really cute too. You have good taste in men."

Kotoko turned to Yuuki in triumph. "I do, don't I? Reserved and cute." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, are you Irie-kun's big sister?" she asked.

"I suppose you could say that." Kotoko laughed. "You know, I got a promo sticker of Jungkook with the last album. I don't suppose you'd like it?"

Naomi gasped. "Really? It seems like I never get my favorite."

"Sure. Do you think your parents would mind you being late? You can travel home with us."

"But so suddenly and without notice…"

"It's okay," Yuuki broke in gruffly. "My mother loves to have company over. Plus, she always has plenty of snacks in the afternoon."

The girl grinned. "I'll call my mom now."

Of course Mrs. Irie was thrilled to meet one of Yuuki's friends. She and Kotoko filled a tray with cookies and small sandwiches and served them in the living room. They frowned at the silent duo on the couch.

"They're not saying anything to each other!" The older woman hissed at Kotoko.

"I'll take care of this," she assured her. "Oh, Yuuki-kun!" she called. "Could you help with the drinks? My ankle, you know."

He obediently approached her. "You didn't use your cane with the snacks," he muttered.

"Liquids are different," she smiled widely then whispered, "Talk to her!"

"About what?"

"School, politics, the weather. Anything!"

"Easier said than done," he grumbled as he took the drinks from her.

The conversation which resulted was so stilted that Kotoko finally told Mrs. Irie. "I give up!" She went up to her room and managed to locate the promised sticker. "Here you go!" she told Naomi cheerfully.

"Oh, thank you!" Your onee-chan is so sweet," she told Yuuki. "Do you like BTS also?"

"Um, not really," he admitted. "I mean, they sing in Korean. Do you understand the language?"

"No, but it's the melody and the choreography and the special effects of the music videos…"

"It's the good-looking guys," Kotoko corrected. The girls winked at each other.

"Right," Yuuki said, "just what I'm not into."

The front door opened. "I'm home!" Naoki called.

"Welcome home!" replied Yuuki and Kotoko, as well as Mrs. Irie, now back in the kitchen.

Naomi, however, was frozen in shock, mouth dropped open.

"I see we have company," Naoki commented with a narrow look at Kotoko. "What a coincidence."

"Yes," she smiled blithely at him. "This is Yuuki-kun's friend, Sugimoto Naomi. Naomi-chan, Yuuki's older brother, Naoki."

"Wow. Um. Charmed, ah, delighted." The girl, whose gaze never wavered from Naoki's face, seemed to have trouble putting words together.

Kotoko looked worriedly from her to Yuuki, who also had noticed her absorption. "Yes, ah, I dropped by Yuuki-kun's school and just happened to meet Naomi-chan. We found that we had similar tastes in music so I invited her over to discuss that. So, Naomi-chan," she turned to the girl, "aren't you expected home soon?"

"No, Mom said that as long as I made it by dinner I was fine. So, Irie-san, what school do you attend?"

With a sigh and a look that someone was in for it, he sat down and began to answer the besotted girl's questions.

"I'm so sorry, Yuuki-kun!" Kotoko was almost crying later that evening in her room.

"It's not your fault." He sagged on her bed. "I should have known that she wouldn't go for me when she likes guys like that." He indicated a poster on Kotoko's wall.

"Yes, she did tell me before she left that she now understood the attraction of Suga. But to ignore you and go after your brother—!"

"May I remind you that none of this would have happened if you hadn't decided to be nosy?" Naoki could not resist putting his two yen in.

"I wasn't being nosy!" she retorted. "I was trying to be helpful!"

"How'd that work out?"

"Not too well. Why do you have to be so popular?"

"This was not my fault either; I just came home."

"Don't worry, Yuuki-kun," she hugged him. "In a few years you're going to be just as good-looking as your big brother, and then she'll be sorry!"

Yuuki grinned at her. "And in the meantime, I can tease my big brother about looking like a member of a boy band!"

After the two finished rough-housing over that remark, Kotoko's bed had to be remade. Thankful that the events of the afternoon were no longer bothering Yuuki, she didn't even bother ordering them to clean up their mess.

A/N3: I may not have stated myself clearly in my note last chapter. I had great nurses! (They are the reason that I am now relaxing at home in my own bed.) My veins, however, are ridiculously small and hidden; also, I was dehydrated and had a low hemoglobin count. My best IV line used an infant-sized catheter, and the nurse who put it in actually threatened others if they messed it up!