Chapter Text
It is now the next morning, the early morning sun shines through the open plan kitchen and living room windows. Elena, the first to wake up, heads to the kitchen to start making breakfast, passing the guest bedroom she can hear that Souta is snoring, he is still fast asleep. ‘Man, he must be tired’ she thinks to herself. She enters the kitchen trying to decide what to make them both for breakfast. After a few minutes of thinking she decides to make Porridge but with a twist, she decides to make European Porridge, mainly because it is easier than Japanese porridge. She prepares and cooks the Oat Porridge using milk. Once the porridge is ready, she goes to check if Souta is awake, and if not wake him up.
She knocks on the guest bedroom door, hoping to hear a response. She even calls out his name “Hey Souta, wake up, breakfast is ready”. She waits a few moments for a reply but hears nothing. She pauses and thinks for a moment trying to decide if she should wake him up or leave him sleeping. Ultimately, she decides to wake him up.
Cautiously she opens the door to the guest bedroom. Seeing him lay there she thinks ‘Man he must have been tired, he wasn’t even able to pull the covers over him’. Standing in the doorway she calls out to him again “Hey Souta, it’s time to wake up” Still she gets no response. Thinking of another way to wake him as he currently isn’t responding to an audible wake up call, she heads back into the living room and grabs a cushion from the sofa before returning, then throws it at his chest. Finally, there is movement, the sleeping Hori stirs.
“nnng… what” Souta groaned after suddenly being woken up, at first squinting up at the ceiling, he then shifts his gaze towards the door “Elena” his voice crocked still half asleep
“Finally, I’ve been calling your name for like two minutes, breakfast is ready” she said, lightly crossing her arms
Slowly pushing himself upright, his eyes squinted as they adjusted to daylight “Sorry, I don’t even remember falling asleep like this, anyway what is for breakfast anyway” he asked
“I’m glad you asked, Porridge, but with a twist” she said before turning around facing the door ready to head back into the kitchen
His eyes finally adjusting to the light “Put some damn clothes on Elena” he said seeing that she is only wearing underwear beneath her apron
“I am wearing clothes” Elena protested while pouting
“Ok, then what would your mother think if she saw you dressed like that?” Souta asked, thinking that the only way to actually get her to wear clothes would be to embarrass her.
“Not much” She replied, shrugging her Shoulders
“Hears some advice for you, completely free of charge. If you have guests over, they don’t want an eye-full, especially in the morning” Souta said with his head in his hands, not from embarrassment, but more from desperation from the situation.
“Fine, but breakfasts getting cold” She replied while simultaneously thinking ‘I thought you’d like to see this, I only did this for you’
She leaves briefly before returning wearing a massively oversized tee-shirt which nearly swallowed her whole. “Fine, is this better”
“Yes,” Souta responds, lifting his head out of his hands.
“God, you acted like it was a crime” she jested
“Well, it sort of was, were you trying to give me a heart attack in the morning” he replied, half joking while also realising his heart rate had increased when his eyes did focus.
“Aww, I thought a virile young man would be happy seeing a scantily clad woman waking him up with breakfast, isn’t that what most people would call winning at life” She teased, a large smirk forming on his face
“Maybe if you were expecting it, not when you’re crashing at a friend’s” Souta replied dejected, getting up from the bed and walking towards the kitchen
“Soooo, you’re saying if you were expecting it you wouldn’t complain” Elena continued teasing
“No, what I’m saying is that I’m a guest, I don’t live hear” Souta said
“Well, you can change that if you want” She teasingly propositioned
“Behave Elena” Souta demanded
“I am behaving” she replied
Souta sits down at one of the kitchen island chairs “So, what’s different about this porridge” he asked
Elena places the bowl in front of him before sitting opposite “Well its European porridge, I thought I’d do something a bit different for a change” she lied ‘Actually it’s because I’m lazy’ she thought to herself
“So, what’s the difference?” Souta asked, looking down at the bowl before him.
“Well, instead of rice, it’s made with oats and milk” she replied
Souta cautiously takes a bite, tasting the unusual breakfast dish “Not bad” he says before taking some more spoonfuls “I could actually get used to this”
After finishing her current bite Elena teases “Ahhh, I knew you’d get used to living with me, I’m surprised it happened this quickly though”
“I’m on about the porridge” He replied
Elena just laughed at his remark. They both continue eating the porridge with Elena occasionally throwing in teasing remarks in-between bites, they both finish their breakfast
“That wasn’t that bad, I’m surprised” Souta jabs at Elena
“What, surprised you liked European porridge” Elena replied
“No, that you can cook” he joked, a smile forming on his lips.
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean” she teases, getting up from her chair and placing the bowls in the sink to wash up later.
“I was just expecting you to not be able to cook that’s all” Souta joked, getting up from his chair and heading back to the guest room to get dressed for school “I’m getting dressed, don’t you dare open the door” he states knowing what Elena’s like
“Sure, thing Honey” Elena teases
Souta paused at the word honey, trying to decide whether to ignore her or say something in protest, he decides to ignore her this time ‘If I do complain it’ll probably add more fuel to her fire’ he thought
As he closes the door behind him, he reaches the handle in an attempt to lock the door ‘the sneaky bitch’ he thought as his hands realised that there is no lock on this door. He sighs ‘if she does barge in then she’ll get one hell of a surprise’ he thought as he grabs his fresh uniform out of the bag in the corner and cautiously starts stripping.
With a mischievous grin on her face, Elena waited until she thought Souta would be in the middle of getting changed, while walking past heading towards her own room she flung the guest bedroom door open without breaking her stride, nor looking inside the room.
The door flung open right as Souta had finished getting undressed, there he was stood in the guest room, with the door wide open Starkers, quickly covering his manhood with his hands as soon as he heard the door fling open. “The Fuck do you think you’re doing Elena” He practically screamed in embarrassment
Stopping but not turning around “I’m heading to get changed myself, what else do you think I would be doing this time of the morning” she feigned innocence
“The why did you open to door I told you not to” Souta asked
“Because you told me not to, I wanted to see what you were hiding from me, but I decided not to after I already opened it” she claimed
“Well how would you like it if I walked in on you undressing” he asked wanting to get her to feel embarrassed
“You can watch if you want, I don’t mind honey” Elena teased
“Die” a blushing Souta claimed, now nearly finished getting dressed
“Honey, such harsh words, this early in the morning, you wound me” Elena teased some more
Quickly buttoning up his shirt “Were you dropped on the head as a baby?” Souta jabbed, wondering ‘why is she like this’
“Wow, you truly are a gentleman, first you yell at me while nude, then you question my upbringing. I’m hurt, deeply hurt” she teases adding emphasis on the word hurt.
“Why are you like this” he asked dreading her response
“Like what” she questioned
“Like this, overly forward, too suggestive and such a pain in the arse” Souta asked, hoping to get a somewhat serious answer
Without missing a beat, Elena responds, “It’s how I show affection.” Hearing this caused Souta to pause mid buttoning before she continues “In all seriousness, some people are shy, some joke, some banter when they are comfortable around someone. They show their true, unfiltered self but only around those they are truly comfortable with. You may yell, moan, swear; quite passionately I might add. But one thing you never do is tell nor ask me to change.”
After hearing that Souta blinked in amazement unable to think of a response
A mischievous grin forming back on Elena's face “And I think your cute the way you react to whatever I say”
Blushing massively “I’m not cute” Souta stutters out, before recovering “I’d accept handsome or hot though” he teases back
“You could say, it’s almost like my love language, I suppose” Elena states, making Souta believe she’s teasing again but, that came from the heart
Before she could embarrass herself any further, Elena walked into her room and clicked the lock on her door to get changed. Meanwhile Souta still stood in the guest room, in just a half buttoned up shirt and boxers trying to process the last line she left with ‘She was just joking right, but it sounded like she was being sincere for a change. Wait, does she… no she can’t, no way anyone would… especially towards me’ his mind toiled as he tried to work out if her overly lewd actions around him were her way of dropping hints.
Trying to take his mind off of Elena's last statement, Souta checks his phone for the first time since he left home yesterday, seeing a handful of notifications, ‘Strange, people don’t normally want to message me’ he thought, before looking at the notifications seeing who they were from. 4 missed calls, 1 from his mom, the rest from Kyoko, 9 Text messages, 2 from his mom, 1 from Izumi, 1 From Yuuna and 5 from Kyoko.
Y.H - Call me when you see this
Y.H - Just let me know your ok
I.M - I really hope you dont have maths tomorrow
Y.O - you good? Kyoko’s rung me and she’s pissed
K.M - SOUTA
K.M - WTF have you done
K.M - The fuck have you said
K.M - You are sooo dead when I see you
K.M - How am I supposed to look Yasuda in the eye, let alone speak to him
K.M - Why did you have to drop me in it, why couldn’t you lie
Souta responds to His mother, Izumi and Yunna but ignores his sister
To Y.H - Hey mom, I’m ok. I spent the night at a friend’s place, and as soon as I got to the sofa, I fell asleep. Finally had a good night’s sleep for a change
To I.M - I Fucking hope I don’t. Has she calmed down at all
To Y.O - finally got a night’s sleep for a change so yeh
Those texts brought Souta back to reality, he quickly finished getting dressed and headed back into the open plan kitchen living room. He sat on the sofa for a few minutes before Elena emerges from her room, dressed in her school uniform, but abnormally even for Elena she had her top two shirt buttons un-done, almost aggressively trying to get a reaction out of Souta. “Take it you’re ready then?” She asked
“Yeah, I am, take it…” Souta began with before turning to look at Elena only to then “Are you trying to give me a heart attack, are you trying to become a character in an ecchi manga” as he sees her aggressively showing her cleavage.
“Your too young and healthy to get a heart attack anyway, I just wanted to compensate for earlier” she teased
“That is not compensation that’s weaponised cleavage” Souta said, jabbing back at Elena
Changing the subject Elena ignores Souta’s last statement “anyway, I’ve got Modern History first, what about you”
“I don’t even know, let me check,” he says, pulling up his timetable on his phone. “FUCK me” is all he manages to yell
“I don’t think we have enough time, but if you come back tonight” Elena teases with a wink before asking “but seriously, what’s wrong”
“I’ve got maths first” He said, dejected “do you think I’d be alright if I skipped maths this morning” he then asked
“Why, I thought you enjoyed maths, and it’s not like you don’t get on well with Miyamura-sensei, from what I’ve heard it seems like you’re one of her favourites. I would not like to be on her bad side though” Elena then added, not knowing that she is his sister.
Souta took a deep breath trying to decide whether he needed to hold a confidential press briefing, his phone then rang. It’s the schools’ number “Just hang on a second” he says to Elena, putting the caller through to his phone’s call screening assistant, and listens into the call. Confirming that the caller is Yasuda and not his sister he answers
“Hello” Souta says into the phone
“Hey Hori, as you know it’s Yasuda. Good to know your still alive, when you get in this morning head straight to the nurses’ office, this should buy you some time” Yasuda said slightly uneasy himself
“How does she seem” Souta asked
“On the war path, I’m also trying to avoid her” Yasuda said before adding “I haven’t got a class this morning, I’ll be joining you hiding” he finished with
“Thanks, well I managed to get some sleep last night” he said
The sounds of angry footsteps can be heard in the background of Yasuda’s side of the call “got to go, we’ll speak about this later” Yasuda said before hanging the phone up.
“What was that about?” Elena asked, not knowing who he was talking to or what about.
Souta takes a deep breath and decides to hold that confidential press briefing “Right you will probably want to sit down for this” he says exasperated
Elena confused about this sudden tone shift complies, without any complaint or teasing but instead asks sincerely “What’s wrong”
“I’m going to tell you something, but you have to promise that you will keep this a secret, you cannot tell anyone what I’m about to tell you” He says still being serious
Trying to lighten the mood she jokes “what, Lemme guess, you’ve got hemorrhoids”
Confused “What no???” Souta responds causing him to then just slightly glare at her
“Yes I can keep a secret, what’s up” She responds voice serious for a change
“So, a bit of context for you, what is Miyamura-Sensei’s Maiden name” Souta asked
“Koyanagi” Elena answered confidently
“That’s what we want everyone to think” Souta replied
“What do you mean by that” Elena asked
“That isn’t her Maiden name, it’s her mother’s. Coincidentally it’s also my mother’s” Souta added
Realising that meant they were probably related she then asked, “Does that mean she’s your Aunt, or a Cousin of yours?”
“Think closer on the family tree” Souta added believing Elena would be able to piece it together, unlike Ayasaki
“Your… sister” she asked
“Yes” Souta responded
“And she’s the one who’s been the cause of your lack of sleep” Elena asked
“Yes, she is” Souta responded
“But why are you trying to avoid her during the day. I mean I get why you avoided home last night but why dodge her today” she asked
“Well… Yasuda pressed me on why I wasn’t able to sleep, and due to lack of sleep I wasn’t able to come up with a lie, and then Yasuda being a concerned teacher for a change, rung home to talk with her about it” Souta finished
“Right….” Elena responds unable to figure out what to do with this info “So… Yasuda called home and now your sisters pissed”
“That’s the short version” Souta responded
“What’s the long version?” Elena asked
“Well…. Do you know why I wasn’t able to sleep” Souta asked
“Kinda, it’s because of your sister and husband” she said putting two and two together and getting five “Wait, no they weren’t were they” she said making a circle with two fingers on one hand and pointing with the other hand, moving the hand that’s pointing closer and further from the circle
Surprisingly 5 was the right answer this time “Yeah” Souta said sort of depressed
“And Yasuda, her co-worker spoke to her about that… keeping her little brother from sleeping” Elena asked
“Yep” he replied
“Just one question I take it they’re loud and go on for ages” she asked
“yes” he said
“I take it that’s while you want to skip maths today, you’re not trying to skip the class you’re trying to skip the teacher” Elena asked
“Yes, I need to speak to her as her brother first before I deal with her as a student” Souta explained
“And I’m guessing that call was from Yasuda” Elena responded
“How’d you know” Souta asked
“Well, I recognised the schools number, and the fact you put it through to call screening then answered it, then hearing your side of the call made me believe it was with Yasuda” Elena reasoned
“Yeah, he’s told me to go to the Nurses office as soon as I get through the gates.” Souta responded
“I guess the both of you plan on hiding there” She asked
“Yeah” Souta sighed
“So just to be clear, I take it she’s pissed at you telling Yasuda the reason more than the reason itself” Elena asked
“Yup” Souta responded
“Well, I guess I would probably crawl into a ditch if a co-worker of mine called me to tell me my nocturnal activities were giving my brother sleep deprivation” Elena replied
“That would be a normal reaction, but not Kyoko. She’s instead on the war path” Souta replied
“Anyway, I think we should get going before she tries to locate you” Elena says
They both leave Elena's apartment, as they leave, Sakuta and Mai see them both leave together but do not interact with them. ‘I hope no one sees us leave together’ Souta thinks leaving the apartment building
As they walk together Souta asked “you’re in the kendo club as well as the brass band club aren’t you” he asked
“Yes, why” She asked
“Could you do me a massive favour” Souta asked
“That depends, what is it” Elena asked
“When I do see my sister tonight, would you, by any chance be able to be there, and bring your bamboo sword” Souta asked
“You want me, a weak girl to be your bodyguard” she teases, knowing she’s probably stronger than Souta
“I would like to live to see next week” he added
“I can do that, but it’ll cost you” Elena replied
“How much” Souta asked
“I haven’t decided yet, I’ll decide later but it will be suitably painful for your or your wallet” Elena replies, leaving the chance that the repayment could potentially be embarrassing
“Just to be clear, when you say bring my bamboo sword, is it just intimidation or defence” she then asks
“Well hopefully neither, but if it is called for, then more than likely the latter. Kyoko doesn’t really do intimidation” he replied
Raining an eyebrow “So straight to pre-meditated attempted homicide” she asks
“More like pre-meditated self-defence” Souta murmurs
“On a scale up to 10 how likely is she to at least hit you” Elena asked
“Probably 11” Souta says without even thinking
“You know… most guys ask a girl out before bringing them home to meet the family” Elena smirked while she teased him
“Well, I’m not most guys, and you’re not exactly normal yourself” Souta jabbed back “Plus you’ve already met one of them, you just didn’t know”
As they turned around the corner, the school is now in sight “Looks like in through the back door” Souta sighed as he sees Miyamura-sensei stood at the gate
“A gent usually asks before going in a girl back door” she teased once more generating her a reaction of Souta punching her in the arm
“Also pass us your blazer” Souta asked
“Why” Elena asked
“Just do it” Souta demanded
Elena huffed dramatically as she takes it off in one fell swoop “This better be good, if you stretch or damage it you’re buying me a new one”
Souta places the blazer awkwardly over his head and shoulders, hiding his head from all sides except his face
Elena blinked in confusion “The fuck” is all she can muster
“She won’t be able to tell who I am as I walk past the gate if she can’t see me” Souta states before slightly changing the subject “Do you even know where the staff entrance is”
“No… is that what you meant by the back door?” Elena asked
“Yes” Souta replied
“I didn’t even know there was one” She added
“There is, but It happens to have a key code to open it, but luckily I happen to know one” Souta replied
“How” She asked
“Well…” Souta starts as they now start walking past the front gate “A few weeks before I started here, I had a mini fridge installed in the council room and obviously the gate wasn’t open, and I managed to convince the office to not deactivate my code”
Miyamura-sensei concentrating on the faces of the students walking through the main gate, scanning looking for her younger brother, doesn’t notice him walk past the gate
When they no longer have line of sight of Miyamura-sensei he takes off Elena's blazer and hands it back to her “You’ll be safe to go through the main gate, Masha on the other hand…”
Putting her Blazer back on “Why wouldn’t she be?” Elena asked
“Well, she was my original plan but then had to bail. And nee-chan knew that” Souta said
“Rip, I should probably go through the main gate then, try to not raise suspicion if she doesn’t see me go through” Elena said
“Good plan, is she your maths teacher as well?” Souta asked
“Yes, now that I think of it, I have maths last before homeroom, I’ll be able to see if she’s calmed down by the end of the day”
“Cheers” Souta replied as they part ways
Elena walks backwards a few steps smirking at him “Try not to die before lunch honey” she said teasing him one more time
“Don’t call me that in public” he said with a look of disdain in his eyes
Elena turned around and joined the flow of students managing to avoid any harassment for Miyamura-sensei. While Souta managed to slip in through the staff entrance, making a b-line to the nurses’ office. Cautiously opening the door, he quickly ducks in not wanting to be seen. Sat on a chair at the table in the middle of the room was Yasuda with a pack of playing cards “Ah Hori you made it alive by the looks of it, welcome” he says as he shuffles the cards
“What are we gambling how long I get to hide in here” Souta asked
“No, it’s just for us to pass the time as I don’t have a class first period and we have each other second, you should come in 5 minutes late and you can use the excuse of oversleeping” Yasuda explained
“Any idea what the nurse is going to think when she sees us hiding in here” Souta asked
“Well, I’d rather live than worry about her opinion” Yasuda Said
Souta and Yasuda Managed to successfully hide out in the Nurses office, As Second period starts Yasuda manages to head to class 2-2 without running into Miyamura-sensei, As Planned Souta walked into class 5 minutes late, as this was planned Yasuda did what he was good at, wasting time, knowing Souta would turn up
“Hori, you join us at last, I heard you weren’t in for the previous period either, you ok” Yasuda asked as Souta walked in late
“Yeah, I just overslept, that's all” Souta said scratching the back of his head.
“Finally managed to get some sleep then did you” Yasuda asked keeping their cover
“Yes, I did” Souta replied walking to his seat
“Anyway…” Yasuda started continuing on with the actual lesson.