Notes: This was made in between trying to finish requirements for school. It's very much unbeta-ed and was written on an impulse, but hey, it came out pretty nicely. Also, if you're looking for more of my fic and my writing in general, head on over to my dreamwidth (summer-breeze), since I post everything there. :) Advertising aside, here's the story.

Problem Solving

Yagyuu Hiroko loved her older brother very much.

For some reason, she had always looked up to him. After all, Hiroshi was an admirable person- from his good grades and being in Rikkaidai's tennis club down to his developing fan club, which she knew that her brother wasn't very proud of. Because of this very reason, Hiroko had set her standards very high. And also for the same reason, she attached herself to her brother, not wanting to ever let another girl get to him very easily.

However, Hiroko found it odd that despite the fact that Hiroshi was what one could consider as date material, he didn't seem to like a girl at the moment. Sometimes, Hiroko wanted to dare herself to bring up this topic with her brother when he helped her with homework, though she always pushed the thought away, knowing that it would turn awkward.

But one day, she finally decided to appease her curiosity and thankfully Niou Masaharu was there when she decided to do so. Hiroko found Niou's presence a little comforting, as if the awkwardness of it all just disappeared. From what Hiroko could see, she could tell that Niou was probably her brother's closest friend, despite how they were practically polar opposites. Niou, unlike her brother, was much less uptight than her brother and he always seemed to have a casual aura around him. She knew of his reputation of being a trickster but as far as she could recall, she always regarded Niou nicely since he didn't really play tricks on her. He was also pretty nice to her and helped her with maths, which happened to be her worst subject and his best. Somehow, she treated Niou like another older brother and she knew that she didn't have to keep her guard up around her brother when he was around.

And because of that, she finally asked while Yagyuu was trying to decipher the solution to this problem that she was having trouble with and Niou, who was right beside Yagyuu, helped him out with it.

"Nii-chan?"

Yagyuu's lip twitched and he looked up to see Hiroko's expectant eyes.

"Hm?"

"I know it's awkward, but I'm curious. Do you like someone?" She asked.

At this, Niou immediately started snickering and Yagyuu merely sighed.

"Does it really matter, Hiroko?"

"Well, I'm your sister and I'd really like to know, nii-chan."

The room was silent, except for Niou who continued snickering to the point where it was as if he were about to burst into tears. Hiroko stared at Niou, almost glaring at him but not quite, and the trickster merely continued while he scribbled on the scratch paper while trying to solve the problem. Meanwhile, Yagyuu was doing the same thing, except he was quieter as he tried to ignore Hiroko's question.

"Nii-chan!"

"The answer's 28," Niou said in the midst of his howling.

"Niou-san, it's not nice to interrupt," Hiroko reminded him. She decided to go on and continue solving the problem, noting that it was probably hopeless to get an answer from her brother.

"No, it isn't. It's 82," Yagyuu said and smirked.

Hiroko frowned as the two boys in front of her seemed to be sending each other telepathic messages.

"You aren't answering my question, nii-chan."

Both Yagyuu and Niou looked at Hiroko with identical smirks on both of their faces and Hiroko could feel herself getting a little intimidated by this.

"Well, it's up to you to find out now, Hiroko. What do you think?" Yagyuu asked.

"Meanie."

Hiroko and Niou both looked at each other, seeing that they had both just said the same thing at the same time.

And ever since then, Hiroko found herself growing a little more wary of Niou's actions, especially when it concerned her brother. It was a little sister's protective complex, if she had to put it into words, and she couldn't quite explain why and instead, she continued observing Niou and how he was very clingy when it came to her brother.

For some reason, Hiroko wanted to kick Niou, but she left it. Certainly her brother couldn't like Niou. Or was that really certain?

Hiroko shuddered at the horrifying thought.