The Golden Pear [YA - Featured]

♫~Notes 63~♫

 A big boulder fell off Kagetsu's shoulders upon hearing Kosuke rejoined the club for good. However, he almost went on a rampage upon discovering Kanako had to close her hand-craft club. Aiyoku struggled with him for minutes, shouting about the general rules of clubs until Kagetsu calmed down. The three members limit applied to everybody.

Reaching the gate, they met with Freya and lumping Rigaku as he got out of the car. Their friend supported him. Rigaku gave his youngest brother an earful for dashing out like this. And his hand almost turned into mashed potatoes upon learning Kagetsu left shoeless as he tightened it.

"You could get seriously hurt! What if you stepped into a glass! Or poop!"

On their way home, Kagetsu realized the hard way of walking only in socks wasn't a good idea. His feet burned, and every tiny pebble dug into his flesh. Only thanks to adrenaline, he managed to run for so long.

When they finally reached their flat, Kagetsu put his legs in a basin full of hot water, relaxing. The soothing warmth spread inside his body.

"Heaven!" He breathed, spreading his arms over the back of the sofa in the living room.

Rigaku rested his leg on the tabouret once Freya changed the bandage and put on it a cooling pad.

"Munching time!" Aiyoku announced, bringing a mountain of sandwiches.

All of them grabbed one, stuffing their stomachs until there was not a crumb left. The last hours exhausted them. With his inner tank full, Kagetsu stretched his body. The bed called him, luring him into its embrace, but there was something he had to do first.

"I owe you an apology and an explanation."

Aiyoku crossed his arms, nodding with audible hmm.

'Time to go.' Freya stood up.

"Please, stay." The youngest brother stopped her. "You deserve to know."

She returned to her place, pointing at the almost empty glasses.

"Good idea, I'm still thirsty," Kagetsu added, and Aiyoku went to get the ice tea. Sipping a bit, Kagetsu spoke, "I tried to solve this on my own, thinking I would be only a burden."

Nobody interrupted him despite his brothers had twitching in their eyes.

"I slowly noticed I hate flexing my muscles in front of girls. In elementary school, it was fun, but later it turned annoying. They squealed every time they saw me." He let out a deep sigh.

"And then there was this magazine with naked girls and women and whatnot."

Aiyoku spurted his drink as he didn't hear about this.

However, Kagetsu right now lived inside his head, and nothing from outside reached his brain. "Since then, I sensed something was wrong with me. I needed fixing, but I couldn't figure out what was the cause or the problem. I let it be, thinking it would get better. It could pass with puberty."

He picked his glass, staring through the semitransparent liquid before taking a sip. Nobody dared to interrupt him. This was his story, and they needed to listen to the very end.

"Then everything went too fast. We shopped for Freya-chan's clothes, and I liked it. Looking through the dresses and hats or even panties filled me with a fuzzy feeling." He clenched his fists.

"It was like, I've found my happy place, my calling. I placed some dresses over my body, seeing if they could fit... me, not just Freya-chan. I really wanted to try them, but that would be freaky for a boy to do."

He shook his head. "I resisted to not cause trouble for everybody. Then I discovered the hand-craft club and got the plush made for Freya-chan."

He sent her a small smile, acknowledging her presence. "After that, Sakura-san brought the Snow White dress for fixing, and I begged her to let me play Snow White."

Running his fingers across his hair, he messed it more than it already was. "When I wore it for the first time"—his voice shivered, and a tear slid down his cheek—"I felt like melting from happiness! I knew it was totally wrong, but I couldn't stop it!"

He entwined his fingers, clenching them his knuckles turned white. "I'm really sorry... I can't be a good representative of the Kamini Family. I'll fix—"

His voice cut short as a big slap landed on his face. The time stopped as Kagetsu stared onto the carpet and his brothers on Freya, who stood up. Her chest heaved with loud pants escaping her lips, and her reddening hand shivering.

Kagetsu bit into his lip, stopping whatever he had to say. In three steps, Freya sat next to Kagetsu, hugging him from the side. Her head nuzzled against his red cheek, and with a raspy voice, she said, "Good boy."

The youngest Kamini held his breath. His teeth stopped abusing his lower lip and let go, so it could curve into a smile. Without a word, he put his hand on Freya's shoulder.

Another body landed on his other side, giving him the second hug. Rigaku joined the group. No words left his lips, but he had said so much already with this gesture, no novel could capture his feelings any better.

Two hands squeezed them together. "Don't leave me out!" Aiyoku hugged them from above, letting his chin rest on Kagetsu's head. "And here I was thinking my hair problem was a big deal. You make me almost jealous."

A quiet chuckle left Kagetsu's lips.

"Seriously, you made us worried. We are brothers for a reason."

Rigaku jerked his body, but nobody gave it much of a thought. 'Brothers?' The image of the three women flashed in his mind. With the latest events, they slipped his mind. However, that wouldn't happen again.