Oh, Brother!

too young

Takumi's POV

"Should we start dating again?"

Yumi repeated her question once more, making me feel a bit uneasy inside. Yes, she's five years older than me but at one point, I really did love her. Those times have been hidden in the past though, so just why is she here?

"Yumi..." my voice trailed off as I tried searching for the right words to say. "Listen, I like someone..."

"Oh? So you've moved on, huh?" Yumi took a seat on the swing next to me and stretched her legs. Glimpsing up at the night sky above us, she let out a little laugh. "You know, I'm kind of relieved,"

"Eh?" was all I could say in reply. "What do you mean by that?" I was awfully curious by what she could mean.

"Taku-kun, you've grown up..." Yumi stated within a small whisper. I could barely understand what she had just stated, so I asked her to repeat it. "It's nothing! You just seem so mature now!" She roughly placed her arm around my neck and rubbed my head.

"Oi! What the hell?" I yelled as I quickly pushed her away from me. "Don't you think it's better if you went back to LA? I mean, we broke up. Why do you want to date me again? After all, aren't you happy with your current boyfriend? What was his name? Toma or something?"

"You don't understand, do you?" said Yumi. "You never understand anything! Taku-kun, you're so dumb! You're acting like a child! Are you jealous of Toma?" Now, she was just accusing me of feeling a way I didn't.

"You see! This is exactly why we broke up!" I screamed at her. "Stop putting words in my mouth! I'm not a child! I'm freaking twenty-two years old now! What gives you the right to say such harsh things about me?"

Yumi turned silent and simply stared at the wood chips at our feet. "Well," I began again. "I hope you and Toma are happy. I'll be taking my leave!" Grabbing my shoulder bag near the swing set, I walked away from Yumi. Sure, what I said was pretty harsh. But this is the reality. She needs to understand that I no longer want to be her little plaything. I'm not someone she should mess with.

I learned that the hard way.

Flashback. Three years ago. Takumi and Yumi are still dating, but Yumi is only using him to get closer to Takumi's friend Nakamura Toma. Takumi is in the men's room, splashing water on his face after having witnessed the truth behind his relationship with Yumi.

"Wait, so you're saying that you're only dating Takumi because you feel sorry for him?" One of Yumi's friends stated as I was walking to her university earlier today. "That's cruel!"

"Come on, Yuka! Can't you tell? Takumi's not my type at all! Toma's more like it!" Yumi stated with a little giggle following after. "He's too shy... And he isn't the most attractive 'ya know?"

Yuka and Yumi laughed as I suddenly crossed paths with them. "So, you felt sorry for me?" I began as I glanced directly at Yumi. "I knew it was too good to be true! It was all a lie! I should've known..."

"Taku-!" Yumi exclaimed, but it was too late. I ran to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face.

The very next day, Yumi and I broke up.

Maybe I was just too young to realize that she just wasn't The One.

Reina's POV

It's been about four days since I last talked to my older brother Sho. After the whole thing between me, Takumi-san, and Shogo-kun occurred, I've been trying my hardest to ignore him. "Reina..." Sho began as I was just casually trudging down the upstairs hallway. "Is it okay if we talk?" Sighing deeply, he waited for a response from me.

"Umm how about no?" I stated, pretty irritated. "What even is there to talk about? You ruined my chances in ever getting a boyfriend and now you think it's totally fine to talk to me concerning everything you've caused between Takumi-san and me?" I know what I had just said might have troubled Sho deeply, but I couldn't help but be totally overwhelmed by my myriad amount of emotions plaguing my heart.

"Reina, listen..." Here, Sho let out another huge exhale and stated, "I'm really sorry. Will you forgive me?"

Hesitant, I couldn't look my older brother in the eye.

I've never hated him as much as I do now.

"And just why should I forgive you? Give me a good reason..." my voice trailed off as I headed down the stairs, taking off my slippers and slipping on my school shoes. "Anyways, I'm going to be late for school again... So better stop taking to me now,"

"Okay, but I hope you know that I do truly care about you. You are my little sister after all..." Sho, still rather mad at himself, reluctantly let me walk off.

Opening the front door, I let it open just a crack as I was about to close it and watched as Sho rubbed the temples of his forehead, appearing to have a lot on his mind. "Is there something wrong?" he stated as he glimpsed over at me. "Did you forget something?"

Rapidly, I slammed the door and left. I still didn't feel like talking to him. Not after all that's happened. "Reina!" one of my best friends Mayu exclaimed as she and Nozomi quickly walked over to me. "You still mad at your brother?"

"What do you expect? He ruined all the chances I got at almost having a boyfriend and he's just hella annoying! Ugh! He makes my blood boil!" As the three of us walked, I could sense that the two wanted me to make amends with Sho. "Don't tell me, I should just make up with him, right?"

"Yeah, you really should, Rei-chan!" Nozomi stated, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You're not a child. You said it yourself, didn't you?"

"Yeah, and also... Didn't you say you didn't have much time for a boyfriend like a couple weeks ago?" Mayu added in.

"Well..."

"Well what? You can't stay mad at him forever! He's still your brother after all..." Mayu and Nozomi walked a bit further away from me and let me stand there, alone in my own thoughts.

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I am so sorry that it took me quite a while to update this! But, I just started working Mondays-Thursdays at my part-time job and schoolwork has also been piling up. Anyways, hope y'all like the newest update! Thank you so much for reading! 🥰

- Cath