73 HARU

Noah said, "Don't be such an ass, Isaac. You're not the only one allowed to have fun." He pulled out his smartphone and started taking photos of me as well.

Aiden chuckled. "A pretty Japanese girl, eh?" he said as he, too, took out his smartphone and did the same.

Mason followed suit, and I said, "Oi! What are you guys doing? Don't even think about using those pictures to blackmail me, you hear?"

Mason laughed. "We won't, promise." Then snap, snap, snap.

In the end, it wasn't just five minutes. It was a good half an hour of photo taking, and by then, I had had enough of the silly situation and got up from my sitting position. I marched out the door as I undid the kimono at the same time.

Reo laughed. "He's that pissed that he's stripping before he even gets to his room."

"Shut up, Reo," I said.

Once I had washed my face, taken off the kimono, and put the yukata back on, I settled on the futon and sighed. Damn, I was tired. I was just about to close my eyes and sleep when I heard the door slide open and then close again.

"Haru?" It was Isaac's voice.

"Hm?"

He came and lay on the futon beside me. "Thanks for being a good sport." He chuckled.

Gosh, but he sounded happy, didn't he?

"It's okay," I said. "Good night."

"Yeah, good night," he replied.

I turned over and then shut my eyes, falling asleep in an instant. When I next woke up, it was to the sound of Isaac talking in his sleep, which I found amusing. I rose, leaned across, and pinched his nose, just to see if he'd wake up or shut up.

He didn't wake, nor did he shut up. Rather, he brushed my hand away and then continued mumbling about how good sushi was. I chuckled.

Because I felt thirsty, I got up and headed into the living room to get myself a bottle of water, since the fridge was there. It was dark, so I switched on the light.

The moment light flooded the room, I jumped in surprise at seeing a figure sitting by the window.

It was Noah and he had a dark expression on his face.

I said, "Noah, what are you doing staying up so late? Or rather early in the morning."

I expected him to respond with either a "go back to bed, Haru" or "mind your own business," but he just sat there, looking at me, his eyes dark, which worried me.

"No…Noah?"

Noah raised his hand in the air, as if inviting me to him. "It's onii-chan," he said softly. "Say it. Onii-chan."

What the heck was wrong with Noah? Why was he behaving like that? It was strange.

"I just want a bottle of water," I said, avoiding making eye contact with him. Damn, but he still had his hand reached out to me. Did he still want me to come over to him?

"Onii-chan," he said persistently.

I sighed. Shit, but I sucked at refusing any sort of request from my brothers.

I licked my lip and said, "Onii-chan."

I saw Noah's lips form a slight smile. He said, "Come here, Haru."

Strange. He wasn't shooing me away like he usually did when he wanted time alone.

I moved my feet and came to sit in front of him.

"Closer," he said.

I did that, too, and once I was within his arm's reach, he caught me and made me turn around. I ended up being hugged from behind, with Noah's arms tight around me and his head against mine as he nuzzled his nose against my hair.

"You smell good," he said. "Sweet, like spring flowers."

"It's because of the hotel's shampoo," I said.

"Remember when you were young, you'd ask me to hug you?"

Why was he bringing that up now? I wondered.

I felt heat rush to my cheeks at the reminder. Since Mom and Dad had always been so busy with work, one of them—Aiden, Noah, Reo, or Mason—would babysit me and Isaac. They'd usually swap turns so they could have time to hang out with their friends or do whatever they wanted. Usually, at least once a week, I believed it was a Thursday, it'd be Noah's turn. While he did his homework, I'd sit quietly beside him doing my own. Isaac, of course, would be watching a show on TV.

Noah had always been diligent, which explained why he had such good grades at school.

Usually, before bedtime after dinner, Noah would read us a storybook, and I'd always be the one sitting on his lap while Isaac sat on the floor, listening. Then I'd ask Noah to hug me until I fell asleep. But of course, that had been a long time ago.

"Hm." I nodded my head. "I remember."

Noah tightened his arms around me. "You don't do that anymore. Why?"

What does he mean why?

"Because I'm an adult now," I said logically.

"It's lonely," he said. "After Mom and Dad passed away, it's lonely."

I flicked my gaze to look at him and noted that the expression on his face was one of sadness. My heart ached for him. I see. Noah had been dealing with his own demons all this time, despite his seemingly strong exterior.

We all had been dealing with our own demons in these past years, since Mom and Dad passed away.

I reached my hand out and stroked his hair, since I didn't know what to say. Suddenly, he shifted his gaze to me, and the intense, passionate look in his eyes made my heart race and my body tense.

What was that look? Why was he staring at me like that? Like he…wanted to eat me up or something? He had the same look as Aiden when Aiden wanted to fuck me.

I closed my eyes, refusing to analyze the expression on Noah's face any further.

Don't. Just don't think about it. No way the look in Noah's eyes meant anything. He was just feeling lonely and…

I felt myself being shifted around. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in Noah's arms with my head resting against his chest.

"Why don't we sleep like this?" he said.

"Like this?" I asked. "But it's cold out here and it's not comfortable for you." Since he was sitting and resting back against the wall.

"It's warm enough with our body heat," he said. "And I'm fine like this."

I raised my gaze to look at him, noting how dark the expression on his face was.

He looked…desperate.

I felt my heart wrenching in that painful way again. I had never seen Noah like this before. This would be the first time I ever witnessed his vulnerable side.

I nodded. "Okay." And just to please him, I said, "Onii-chan."

That got him tightening his arms around me. Then I felt his lips on my head.

Did Noah just kiss me on the head? He hadn't done that for a long time, since after our parents died, in fact.

"Good night, onii-chan," I said, even though it was three in the morning already.

"Good night, Haru," he replied.

It was cold at first, but it soon got warm in Noah's arms, and I fell asleep.