ADMIRE ME |Brothers Conflict

10

Ema pulled her hand out of Fuuto's grip, jumping to her feet and knocking her chair over in the process.

"Tell me what happened," she demanded an answer, but she didn't bother to wait until I had found the words to describe what had happened. In a flurry of movement, she hurried after the insufferable boy, the soles of her shoes slapping on the white floorboards. Hesitantly, I reached for the sleeve of her over-sized coat to stop her, but she sidestepped me, and my fingers merely brushed past the fabric.

"Leave her," Fuuto said, conceding defeat a bit too easily. Thus, we both watched as the door fell shut behind Ema, neither of us moving a muscle. Two metal bells chimed as the door closed, the sound ringing in my ears.

Suddenly, it was just the two of us. Fuuto let his head drop on the tabletop, twisting his neck to be able to look at me sideways.

"That went well," he puffed.

"Did he know about your plan?" I asked him tentatively. Fuuto snorted, which was an answer in and of itself.

"No."

"I think he got the wrong idea," I disclosed, a smile tugging on the corners of my mouth.

"Idiot," Fuuto huffed.

"Hey, it's your fault that everything went South," I protested. "I think you're the idiot."

The idiot reached for his bag, which was slung over the back of his chair, taking the black recorder.

Carefully, I set the saucers and cups on the table aside to give Fuuto an empty spot to place the device.

"Since I'm the idiot, why don't you come up with a plan?" he teased me, lazily playing with the tape recorder with one hand.

Staring down at the boy who lay splayed on the table with his chest, I couldn't help a fond smile. I took a pink notebook and a pen from my bag, which I placed on the free edge of the table, almost knocking an empty coffee cup over in the process.

A deep silence settled in the shop as I pondered over why Fuuto's plans were so incredibly miserable. Absentmindedly, I tapped with the back of my pen on an empty sheet, wishing that I would draw up blanks.

Instead, I found many reasons to condemn Fuuto's plans – all of them connected to my infatuation with him.

Above us, a chandelier made of glass shards reflected the light, casting rainbows on the empty page in my notebook. Admittedly, there were more issues with his schemes, but I wasn't sure whether I wanted to divulge those. Notwithstanding these issues, I knew with a chilling certainty, that were his attempts aimed at me, they would have worked.

The lady had disappeared in the back of the shop, something I noticed when I looked at the pictures that covered the wall behind the counter. The art-deco frames contained pictures of iconic buildings in Paris. Although the atmosphere was peaceful, I couldn't relax.

"[Y/N]-chan?" he called my name.

"Hmm?" I turned back to Fuuto, giving a start when our gazes met and locked. Before, the side of his face had rested on his arms, but now he had propped up his chin.

Time ticked away as we stared at each other, making me feel stupid and causing me no small bit of anxiety. Furthermore, every minute that passed meant that Fuuto could decipher my expression, which probably didn't hide any of my feelings.

Moreover, I felt my cheeks heat up under his attention, regardless of how fake his keen interest was. Unwilling to reveal how affected I was, I started looking for clues in his expression to figure out what Fuuto wanted from me. Upon the realisation that he was staring at me with a blank expression, I frowned.