25 An expert in dating

kiyohira and rie let go of each other and look in a different direction. rie studies the ceiling, looking like she is trying to understand the meaning of life. kiyohira glances at takeshi and frowns deeply.

"are you being bullied?" kamiyama inquires him directly. rie glowers at him and purses her lips.

"him?" iori cries out loud. "who has the ability to bully him?"

"yeah, takeshi is the type to bully others." haru guffaws. "he is the type who can even make the teacher cry."

kiyohira smirks at rie. "my younger brother can make the teacher cry. he isn't the type to get bullied."

she purses her lips and looks at takeshi. "are you really not having any hard time?"

kiyohira is peeved to see her like that. "he's my brother. i will take care of him. don't interfere."

"he's my brother too. i will interfere if i want." she spats out in anger. in the next instant, she seems to understand the meaning of her words. embarrassed, she bites her lower lip. "damn!"

"just sharing blood doesn't make him your brother," kiyohira tells her darkly.

"if sharing blood didn't make him my half-brother, i wouldn't be here talking to you."

"elder sister, thank you for being worried about me." takeshi decides to ignore his thoughtless brother. "how are you feeling now?"

"i have been better." rie sighs. "when will i get out of here and sleep in peace? i am tired of seeing kamiyama's face."

kiyohira pulls her by her ear. "you are tired of seeing my face? whose face do you want to see then? your boyfriend's?"

"sister, you have a boyfriend?" takeshi grins at her. "can i meet him sometime?"

"he isn't my boyfriend." she pinches his wrist to be free. kiyohira lets go of her ear and glances at red pinch marks. she climbs off the bed and yells, "not yet."

kiyohira's lips twitch in anger. he grits his teeth. he will teach her a lesson later.

"sister, if you need my help, i will help you." takeshi looks at her innocently. in the sidelines, iori and haru wonder what kind of medicine did he eat. he is acting strangely.

"i don't need your help." rie rolls her eyes. "you are nearly a decade younger than me. i am already an expert in dating. i can get any man that i want."

kiyohira looks daggers at her. she eyes kiyohira and smirks. "i am a professional player."

kiyohira doesn't say a word to her. instead, he turns toward takeshi and his friends.

"don't you have school?"

"about that...," iori peeks at him and says, "we followed takeshi."

"yes, elder brother." haru laughs nervously. "we followed takeshi. we wanted to know where he was going."

"i didn't ask you to follow me," takeshi grumbles.

"go back to school," kiyohira tells him sternly.

"i will stay with my only sister today." takeshi hides behind his sister. iori opens her mouth and closes. why is he acting like a little kid? is that really takeshi?

"you are going back." kiyohira stands up and walks in his direction. takeshi grabs rie's shoulders and hides. haru and iori swallow down when they realize that kiyohira is fuming with anger. this is not a safe place for them anymore.

"argh!" rie jerks off takeshi's hands from her shoulders and steps forward toward kiyohira. "they only skipped for a day. why are you acting like they have killed someone?"

"he isn't allowed to skip his classes like this." he replies in a dangerous tone.

"hah!" she crosses her arms. "what's wrong with skipping classes? when i was in high school, i skipped classes all the times. they are young. they should skip classes and make memories. when they are old like us, they will think back and remember high school fondly."

"and they will become a dumb person like you who can sign any contract because you can't understand a word." he jabs at her.

she stops smiling and nods her head. "takeshi, remember that your brother actually used cheap tricks to fool me. remember that becoming a good person with morals are more important than becoming rich and heartless like him. remember that there is a special place for a man like him in hell."

"it's still better than being a neet who is a burden to the society," kiyohira barks at her.

"being neet is better than being a prickly womanizing asshole who forces people to eat."

from the sidelines, iori and haru look at each other with confusion. this conversation sounds wrong in their ears.

"my parents also fight like this," haru whispers to iori.

"mine too..." iori glances at takeshi who seems happy. "why is he smiling?"

"he is planning something. i don't think that i want to get involved." haru shudders and steps back. "you know that something is up when he is smiling like that."

"something is definitely up." iori clenches her fists. "i think that he is inciting them to fight each other. i have to stop him."

"iori, you remember what he did to you when you angered him last time?" haru looks at her with concern.

iori squeezes her eyes when she recalls those days. "i stuck the chewing gum in his hair by mistake. he did it to me intentionally."

haru can't help but smile. "both of you were bald that summer. then, both of you forced me to become bald too."

"my second year of junior high..." iori glares at takeshi. "he needs to learn that he can never mess with a girl's hair."

meanwhile,

"he is more like me." rie pulls takeshi by his collar. "look at him! he looks more like me than you."

"you don't resemble each other at all." kiyohira chuckles. "he looks like his mother. you didn't inherit one good thing from her. that's her good looks."

"i don't want her good looks." rie sneers at him. "i have my father's best looks. he is better looking than you or that woman."

"in any case, your father's good looks are a waste on you." kiyohira drags takeshi to his side. "go back to school now."

"he won't go." rie pulls takeshi to her side. "he and i will play video games together. i want to give him my techniques."

"playing video games can't feed him in future." he pulls takeshi to his side. "he needs to study to not become someone like you."

"you are wrong." she beams at him and pulls takeshi to her side. "playing video games can feed him. i have fed myself by playing video games."

"nonsense." he reaches for takeshi, but takeshi steps away and hides behind his sister again.

"sister, you took part in the gaming competitions?" takeshi asks his sister.

"yes, i did." she slaps kiyohira's hand away when he tries to grab takeshi again. "you will hurt him like this."

"he isn't a kid," he argues back.

"sister, are you a pro gamer?" takeshi asks curiously.

"it's a secret, but i will tell you." rie ignores kiyohira's glare and leans toward takeshi "have you heard of z games: win or die? i was merciless_b."

"you were..." haru rushes to her side. "merciless_b? but, i thought that he was a guy."

"yeah, i wore a mask to hide my identity." rie puffs up her chest. "life was easier if i pretended to be a guy back then. i earned so much in such a short time. i spent like a king and slept like a monk without worries."

kiyohira is the one who is most surprised. he thought that she lived off her relatives. he didn't know that people could make a living like that.

"takeuchi san, you are amazing." haru's eyes shine brightly. "i like you. please teach me how to play games like a professional."

"she's my sister." takeshi puts his palm up. "she will teach me first."

"wait!" rie pats their heads. "i have something better. i have received the invitation for the hack world series event. i wasn't going to go this year." she looks at kiyohira and adds, "since i am not like a certain asshole, i will take you with me to that event."

"whoa!" takeshi blinks at her. "you are amazing, sister."

"all of my doubts are clear. you are really merciless_b." haru kneels on the floor. "i didn't think that i could ever go there in my lifetime. no amount of money can buy the tickets for that event. only certain royal experts are invited."

"oh, kamiyama!" she smiles at kiyohira. "don't look at me like that. you can come too. takeshi's female friend, you can come too."

"ah!" iori is startled to be addressed like that. "my name is iori. thank you, i will go too."

"you have so much time to waste." kiyohira crinkles up his nose. he won't admit, but he is curious to know more about her. "i will come. it is dangerous for these kids to go with you alone."

"fine then." she claps her hands. "the event has already started, but i can still take part because i was the winner last year. we can still make it in time if we leave by train tonight. let's leave for today."

nobody has realized that she has tricked them all to leave the hospital like this.