Anime One Shots

The World of Games

Kasai opened her eyes, immediately squinting them against the harsh rays that were streaming through the window in the large room she had fallen asleep in. She raised a pale hand to block the rays, hissing at the same time. Over in a corner of the room, a younger girl with silver hair stirred, causing her older brother to awaken as well. The young man raised a lightly tanned hand to his mouth as he stifled a yawn, before sitting up. His sister's head fell to his lap, her amber eyes appearing a moment later among the veil of silver.
"Ah~ Morning Shiro, morning Kasai." The boy yawned again, not bothering to try to stifle it this time. The younger girl picked up her head and swiftly brushed her hair out of her face, looking around the room with an emotionless glance. Her eyes rested on Kasai's figure for a moment before finally staring at her brother.
"I'm hungry, onii-chan." She said somewhat quietly, looking up at her brother. He laughed lightly at her words, and ruffled her hair, before responding.
"Yeah, yeah, we'll get you some food in just a moment." He told her, smiling down at her. His reddish brown hair fell into his face, but he didn't seem to notice.
"I'll go make some food, Sora. You can stay here with Shiro." Kasai told him, hopping up from the chair she had fallen asleep in. Her white blouse and black skirt were slightly wrinkled, but she quickly smoothed them out a bit after she stood, before brushing a few strands of long red hair out of her face. She walked lightly to the door to the royal bedroom, and exited, following a few long hallways to the kitchen. Kasai looked through the pantry to see what ingredients they had before deciding to make pancakes.
She grabbed a stool and climbed on it to grab a mixing bowl from a high shelf. She stretched her fingers up, trying to reach the bowl, having a lot of trouble. Suddenly, a lightly tanned hand reached in front of her and grabbed the bowl, before handing it to her.
"Here you go." Sora said to Kasai, smiling at her, as a still-tired Shiro dragged her feet behind him.
"Thanks." The much shorter Kasai replied as she put the stool away, blushing slightly. She quickly straightened up and placed the bowl on a counter before grabbing the various ingredients for the pancakes.
"Thanks for making breakfast. Life is so much better with you around." Sora said as he led Shiro to a tall stool in front of a long counter. Sora and Shiro climbed onto the stools as Kasai blushed a bit deeper. She turned away as she started measuring the ingredients.
"It's nothing. We all need food anyways, and freshly made food is always the best." Kasai told him, finishing measuring everything except for the chocolate chips, and stirring them together.
"True." Sora simply stated, turning to look at Shiro, who had pulled on the sleeve of his shirt. Kasai finished mixing, and measured out the chocolate chips, before folding them into the batter as well. She then grabbed a pan from a cabinet by the floor, and put it on the stove, turning the heat to medium before cutting a bit of butter into the pan. She then put the ingredients away as she waited for the butter to melt, then walked back over to the stove.
Kasai started at the melting butter, unable to help but think of her childhood, when she had first learned to make pancakes, and had made them for Sora and Shiro, about 6 years ago. Kasai had known Sora since before Shiro had come into his life, and she knew perfectly well just how empty he had been before meeting her. She had always been thankful for Shiro's appearance in his life, but also jealous at the same time, for not having been able to be the one to make him not feel so empty anymore. She'd always considered him her closest friend, and always wanted to do what she could to make him feel more alive so he could enjoy his life, but Kasai had never been able to do that.
Kasai snapped out of her memories as she felt a gentle tug on the sleeve of her blouse. She looked next to her to see Shiro, who was only an inch or two shorter than she was. The younger girl tilted her head to the side, a slightly worried expression on her face. Sora walked up behind Shiro, and reached out towards Kasai's face, wiping away a tear she hadn't noticed was there. The short 18 year old blushed, and pulled away slightly, surprised at his touch.
"Are you okay, Kasai?" Sora asked, his brow furrowed slightly as he looked down at her small figure. Kasai shook her head a bit, and smiled back up at him.
"I'm fine. I was just remembering... stuff. I got a bit emotional." She replied, turning back to the pan, and pouring some batter in. Shiro looked at the older girl for a moment longer before turning and walking back to her seat.
"You sure?" Sora asked, staying next to Kasai.
"Yes, yes, now go sit, if you want any pancakes!" She exclaimed, as she flipped over the first batch of pancakes to let the other side cook. The taller young adult rolled his amber eyes slightly, a small smile returning to his face as he walked back to his seat.
"Fine, fine." He replied as he sat back down, brushing a hand through his brown hair. Kasai flipped the pancakes onto a plate and poured some more batter into the pan, readying the next batch before passing the plate to Shiro.
"There's whipped cream in the fridge, if you want." She told Shiro, smiling at her before returning to the pan. She finished cooking the pancakes in silence, passing Sora his plate when they were done, then sitting down next to them when she was finished with her own. The three of them ate in silence for a while, none of them really being very talkative people.
"So... what's the plan for today, your royal highnesses?" Kasai asked Sora and Shiro, smirking at them slightly before taking another bite of pancake. Shiro just glanced at Sora before glancing back down at her almost gone food. Sora chewed for a moment before responding.
"Hmm... walk around town? Get to know what the people's lives are like?" Sora suggested, before turning to look at Shiro for confirmation. She just nodded her head, her mouth full of the last bit of her pancakes. Just then, Stephanie burst into the room.
"I want to challenge you again, as payback for the shame you put me through the other day!" A taller girl exclaimed, pointing at Sora with one hand, the other hand on her hip. Shiro looked at her for a moment.
"So you want to be our dog again?" Shiro asked innocently. Kasai placed a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laughter. Stephanie glared at the shorter girls, a slight blush appearing on her face.
"No! I will not be your dog again!" She exclaimed, a flustered look overcoming her.
"Oh, you're perfectly welcome to come wag your tail for us any time you want, puppy-dog!" Sora teased her. Kasai couldn't help but laugh now.
"And you! I'm going to challenge you too, for stupidly suggesting the collar and leash!" She turned on Kasai as well, a small smirk on her face as she thought that maybe she could embarrass Kasai in front of her friends if she couldn't defeat Sora and Shiro.
"Oh? Feel free to try. Trust me, it won't be as easy as you're imagining." Kasai shot back, smirking now as well. Stephanie now glared slightly at her, before turning and heading toward the door with a small "humph!"
"You can look forward to having to walk around dressed as werebeasts later today." Stephanie said before disappearing through the doorway. Kasai sighed and started clearing the dishes from the counter, moving them to the sink.
After cleaning up, the three of them silently went to their own rooms to change before going out. Kasai changed out of her slightly wrinkled clothes and into a sky blue blouse and white skirt with pastel pink thigh-highs and white flats. She then pulled back her long red hair into a ponytail, and tied it with a piece of white ribbon as she left the room, heading to the front entrance of the palace. Of course, Sora and Shiro were there already, but she was the slightest bit surprised to see Stephanie there as well, seemingly playing Rock Paper Scissors with Shiro. Kasai shook her head. Had Stephanie not learned from their first encounter?
Sora turned as Kasai approached, smiling at her.
"Looks like we're all here. Let's go!" Sora exclaimed as Shiro placed a headband with dog ears on Stephanie's head, having already given her a tail. Stephanie looked at Shiro gloomily, a slight blush on her face as the animal parts were added to her outfit.
"What was all that about how you were gonna beat them before?" Kasai teased Stephanie as Sora opened the door and they all stepped out. Stephanie just pouted and looked away ashamedly.