Careful There

….

[-Continuation-]

[-Two Days Later-]

.

[-Third Person View-]

"Little bro, what did you do to Hayama?" Haruno asked, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied me.

I shot back quickly, playing the innocent card. "What would I do to him?"

But internally, I was already getting annoyed.

What, is he a toy now? Do I really look like someone who can just mess with him at will?

"I don't know, but something's off." She replied, tapping her fingers on her cup as her eyes flicked between Yukino and me, trying to piece something together. "He is acting weird."

"Is he now? I don't have a single clue about it," I said, keeping my gaze fixed elsewhere, deliberately avoiding her line of questioning.

Haruno's eyes shifted to Yukino, who sat calmly next to me, sipping her milkshake with her usual detached air.

Haruno let out a small sigh before directing her attention back at me. "And I told you to come alone. What's with bringing Yukino?"

"Well, we are on a date." I said with a nonchalant shrug, trying to deflect the subtle jab in her tone. "And it was you who called me out of nowhere, so you don't really get to complain about who I brought along."

"Anyway," I continued, shifting the conversation. "Why exactly am I here? If it's just about Hayama, we will leave. I have got plenty more to do."

Haruno pouted, looking a little more dramatic than I thought was necessary. "Don't be like that."

"Then get to the point."

Haruno's expression softened just a little, but there was still a hint of amusement in her eyes. "I was just saddened by the fact that I wasn't invited to your big moment the other day."

I gave her a dry look. "I thought you would've just shown up even if I didn't invite you." I paused, my tone blunt. "So I let it be."

"Yeah, well, I was busy that day." She said with a grin. "Otherwise, I would have totally invited myself."

She leaned in a bit. "But still, that doesn't really excuse why you didn't invite me."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's why I am here today, making up for it. Why else would I drag myself here when I am already with my girlfriend?"

I gestured toward Yukino, who was still nonchalantly sipping her milkshake, clearly unfazed by our back-and-forth.

Haruno rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. "You are so thorough sometimes."

She shifted gears, clearly trying to move past the small talk. "Yeah, well, about Hayama… What did you do?"

And just like that, we were back at square one.

"Before I tell you what I did, why don't you tell me what's weird about him." I insisted.

"Ah, so you do admit you did something." She teased, leaning in closer as if she had caught me in a slip-up.

I rolled my eyes. "I am not admitting anything. I am just asking you to explain first."

Haruno raised an eyebrow. "Don't act like you don't know what's different about him."

I held her gaze. "I don't, really." I said, trying to keep my tone even.

Still, her confusion struck me as odd.

Haruno wasn't the type to be genuinely perplexed - she either already knew the answer and was playing coy, or she was baiting me for information.

But her phrasing was what really threw me off. She wasn't asking what had changed in Hayama.

She was asking why it had.

That subtle shift in focus made all the difference. It wasn't a direct question about the change, but about the cause. And it was that nuance that felt more telling than anything else.

It was a shift that muddied the waters, though. Because, if I were being honest, I wasn't entirely sure myself.

The change in Hayama wasn't a monumental shift - no transformation of character, no newfound ideology.

It was smaller. Subtler. It wasn't a change in how he saw the world, but how he behaved toward one specific person.

His tone, his posture, his mannerisms - everything was subtly different when he interacted with that person.

The kind of change you would only notice if you were paying attention to just them.

That narrowed it down to people familiar with both of them.

And sure, Yukino and I fit the bill.

But even we hadn't seen much of them interacting in close quarters lately. Not until yesterday, anyway.

It had been Saturday, the day we had agreed to help everyone bake cookies after school.

And, as agreed, I had allowed Hayama to attend. I didn't question it. In fact, I didn't even know why I hadn't. But, to my surprise, Haruno had walked in too.

I did not question her presence, neither did anyone else.

That was the first time I had seen Hayama and Haruno together since… well, since that incident.

And oh, I noticed.

The subtle shift in the way Hayama looked at her, the faint change in his tone when he spoke to her.

It was subtle enough to escape the average observer, but not me.

Definitely not me.

Haruno leaned back, arms crossed, eyes narrowing slightly. "Fine. He has become more daring these days… He is also calling me a little too often."

As if on cue, Yukino beside me choked on her milkshake.

Her eyes widened in realization, her face quickly shifting to a shade of pink as she fumbled for the straw.

I gave her a look, quickly reaching for the water bottle and sliding it closer to her.

"Careful there." I muttered under my breath, the faintest hint of amusement in my tone.

Yukino shot me a glance. "I am fine." She mumbled, taking a small sip of water to calm herself.

I could feel her awareness of where the conversation was heading now, and I knew she was probably regretting taking this detour with us.

Haruno eyed Yukino with a raised eyebrow. "You know something, don't you, little sis? I bet your boyfriend won't hide things from you. So, what is it?"

Yukino, now a little calmer, stared at her big sister for a few moments. Then, without a word, her lips curled into a small, satisfied smile.

Haruno, of all people, had just asked her about something she wasn't fully aware of.

And that, in Yukino's eyes, was a victory.

A small but significant one.

She felt a strange sense of achievement, almost as if she had unlocked a hidden level in the sibling game that had always been skewed in Haruno's favor.

She glanced at me, her eyes gleaming with something unspoken, then slid her cup toward me, offering the remainder of her milkshake.

I blinked, slightly thrown off by the gesture, but then I took the cup from her and sipped.

It was odd, but I didn't mind.

As soon as I handed it back to her, she reached for the cup again, and in that brief moment, I caught a glimpse of her contentment.

She wasn't just pleased with me, but with how things had shifted - how she had 'earned' this moment.

Just then, Haruno interrupted with an overly dramatic cough, breaking the moment with theatrical flair. "...ahem, could you two stop being so lovey-dovey? An elderly person is sitting right in front of you. Show some respect."

I shot her a flat look. "Oh, really? What about all those times you teased us for just existing in the same space? You were quite childish at that time?"

Haruno snorted, smirking. "Teasing you is a public service. You just need to bear with that."

"Yeah, well, consider this payback. Deal with it," I said, leaning back with a shrug.

Before Haruno could retort, Yukino chimed in smoothly, leaning back slightly as her voice carried a deliberate edge. "Big sister, if it bothers you so much, why don't you go get yourself a boyfriend?"

The words hung in the air, a perfectly poised challenge.

Haruno clicked her tongue, momentarily caught off guard by Yukino's quick jab. "I see. So this is how it's going to be, huh?"

Yukino didn't respond with words. Instead, she met Haruno's gaze with a small, quiet smile - the kind that wasn't smug but undeniably victorious.

It was subtle, yet it carried the weight of another personal win in their never-ending sibling sparring.

.

….

[To be continued…]

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