Realms: "Kakurenbo? Sukima Onna- ASH

Chapter 21: Heart of Stone

Well that sure was an interesting day. Did not expect the sudden snap or the genuinely concerning fact of Onii-san and Taro becoming such an interesting pair of friends so quickly. I saw that at lunch after I finished eating. Before you say it, no I did not go out to play basketball since the court was closed off for some weird reason.

Well, what can I say? Okay, okay, I admit I should give them privacy. But I can't help it, habit okay!

I did see the way Taro was playfully shoving and the way he talked to my brother, and I am very much concerned now. Plus he smiled, he has never smiled in front of others. Not even me or Rei-chan! But my brother has been the only one to witness this historical moment. And the way he smiled, it was truly out of pure joy, an element that people assumed he never felt. The only smile I ever saw was a smile of revenge. The two things that carved his reputation as 'The Quiet Boy' and 'The Child with a Heart of Stone"

I've known Taro for the longest (I think), yet he has never acted like that in front of me, or Rei-san. What I'm trying to say is, known him the longest and he never even shows the least bit happiness towards us. His way of showing empathy was through a neutral face and a stern face, with no sign of emotion to be released, that's the way I always knew him.

Now when he's with Onii-san, Taro's... different, he changed from the so-called 'Emotionless and Heartless' to a person I don't think I know myself. It felt like I didn't earn enough of his trust to be able to see such behaviour, but I also felt good that my friend has finally been able to show such a face for the first time. Well Taeko has the same attitude has her older brother but tends to smile a whole lot more than him.

I tried, so hard to get Taro to fully trust me, took me years, while my brother just needs a few days. Am I that much of a person who seriously don't know anything about gaining people's trust. Is that just my luck with making friends?

But even though Taro may have a heart of stone, it seals an important trait of him. No, don't even think about saying his pure intelligence and blah, blah, blah, merely his empathy through stern mask he won't uncover. Onii-san was able to remove it, seems like those two have grown quite a connection, Kaiyo finally had a friend he could trust, while Taro could have a true companion he can show his true colours to.

What happens with Rei and I? Well I'm sure we'll be able to see his face one day, it's not like we'll be tossed to the side now, right?

I went to my bedroom, which I share with Kaiyo until we finally move out, it gets annoying when I have to wait for Kaiyo to finish getting dressed, and I'm positive he is annoyed with my constant snoring too. At least I admit it unlike my elder sister Katsura. Anyways, I went into my room to find Onii-san lying down on his bed with his head towards the bed frame from the bottom, and him lying down on his stomach texting someone. Of course as me having this inquisitive persona, I scooted over to my brother and asked my usual questions to see what he is doing. "Who you texting?" I asked him.

"No one." Kaiyo turned away from me to hide his phone. So I grab- no, stole it and saw who it was. Shuyona Taro. "Really, you guys already exchanged contacts?"

Kaiyo raised his eyebrow at me, "Yeah and?" Why. Just why. And sir, just how, how was brother able to get Taro's phone number so quickly, took me like 2 years! Nosy me decided to be more of a bother to my brother by slouching around more. I flopped on top of him since I'm bored and got nothing else important to do. Absolutely nothing, N, O, T, H, I, N, G. This guy was still texting my friend.

Like mate, why are you always so annoyed with me when I talk to you about talking on a social media platform, but you're so nice around my bro. Now my one braincell has floated up into the sky, thanks... This is definitely the one thing I don't understand about friendships: how some people have such an easy time while I take years. Seriously, is it just me? Alright then.