The Forbidden (Brothers Conflict Series):#10 Our little secret (Iori x OC)

Chp. 14

It was only around 4:30am when Yuri woke up from her sleep with Iori's arm wrapped securely around her waist feeling his warmth next to her. She tried going back to sleep snuggling into Iori but failed to do so. Mentally sighing, she ended up staring at Iori who was sleeping peacefully with his lips tugged up resulting in a beautiful and a gentle smile. Reaching her hand up to his hair, feeling it's softness, she gently stroked it while looking at him with warm loving eyes. She loved every single moment with him. These moments with him were very precious to Yuri. She could never imagine her life without him and now that they were sibling, she was more than happy that she could be with him but at the same time overwhelmed with fear and anxiety of the possibility of not being able to be with Iori like she is now.

"What's wrong? Are you ok?" Iori suddenly questioned in a cracked but worried whisper pulling Yuri out from her negative thoughts.

"Yeah" she sighed in reply. "Just couldn't sleep. Sorry did I wake you up?" she gave him a small apologetic smile.

"No it's okay, don't worry" Iori said softly as he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Go back to sleep, you must be tired from the trip. I'll just go shower and help prepare breakfast" Yuri whispered as she tried to get up from the bed but was unable to do so as Iori tightened his grips around her keeping her in between his arms and chest.

"No, stay here for a while" Iori pouted slightly while Yuri found adorable and giggled slightly. So she snuggled back in his arms and stayed until he went back to sleep, which didn't take long as he was in a deep slumber again after about 10 minutes. Once he was asleep again, Yuri slowly and quietly as possible removed herself from Iori and out the room to hers.

***

It was still dark as she walked through the hallways into the kitchen on the 5th floor after her bath. She had gone down to get herself a cup of tea to start the morning. Sitting down at the dining table, she got the book she had brought down her tea on the side and immersed herself in the book. For her, these peaceful and quiet time was her happy place, of course, with Iori, it would be so much better.

It was around 6:30 am when Ukyo walked downstairs to prepare breakfast for his other siblings when he noticed the dim light of the standing lamp radiating a small portion of the dining room. He was confused as to how the light was turned on when he was sure that when he went to sleep last night, it was pitch black and he was sure non of his siblings would be awake. Especially on a Saturday morning. Cautiously, he made his way to the dining area when he found Yuri asleep with her hands as a pillow flattening the poor book underneath her.

Sighing softly under his breath, small gentle smile present on his face, he gently picked her up and carried her to the couch that was behind the dinning table placing an blanket over her as he thought that it would at least be better than sleeping in a sitting position. Soon after, he walked into the kitchen to start the preparation for breakfast.

Yuri woke up halfway through the preparation as she sat up looking confused to how she ended up on the couch. Her confusion was soon answered as she noticed Ukuo in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

"Ohayougozaimasu Ukyo-san" she greeted him as she walked into the kitchen.

"Ohayou Yuri-san. Were you able to sleep last night? Please don't tell me you were in the dining room the whole night." He asked sounding concerned and worried.

"Ah no, please don't worry. I actually slept downstairs (where all their rooms are) but I woke up early so I decided to take a bath and read. However, I seemed to have fallen asleep here like how you found me" she trailed off with a nervous chuckle at the end.

"Oh I see. Well I do hope you were able to have enough rest" he replied.

"I'm fine. Please don't worry too much. I'm much more worried about you though. With all your work and the preparation for the meals as well as grocery, I hope you're getting enough sleep" Yuri said with worry evident in her voice. "Actually, let me do the grocery shopping and the breakfast preparation." She continued.

Ukuo was utterly lost at words and didn't know how to reply for a few moment touched by her kindness - feeling a tingling but warm sensation in his stomach.

"N-No, you don't have to worry yourself with that. I appreciate your concern and kindness but I don't want you to be tired because of the chores." He replied with a gentle smile recovering from his little moment.

"No, I insist. I have quite a lot of free time so please don't worry about my school work and everything. We're all busy in different ways so there's not much difference in that. At least allow me to do so in certain days. Maybe we can alternate who does what. It's the least I can do." Yuri suggested as she helped him set the tables up.

Ukyo sighed in defeat, "Fine. If you insist. But please tell me if you are not feeling well or want to rest on certain days and please don't ever push yourself. Okay?"

Yuri grinned feeling happy that she was able to negotiate while nodding. With that, they both finished up breakfast and soon enough, some of their sibling started to pile into the dining room to have breakfast.