Chapter 56 - Siblings Bonding

From the close of the day up until the first hours of the evening, the Agreste's spent time with the Miller's at the local family diner - eating dinner together, keeping each other company, talking about different things, and getting to know one another.

Violet offered to pay for their bill, but August refused and reasoned out that he can 'also' do that while looking at Winter. He can't let his moment to shine to get taken away. She only reacts with an unamused expression to how childish he can be, thinking that at this point she can no longer do anything about his obsession with that entire 'sugar daddy' matter.       

"Where do you want to go after this, Winter?" August asked after he returned from the counter and paid their bill. 

"Huh? Aren't we going home already?" Winter asked back while blinking at him in puzzlement.

"We can if you want to, but... You see, I prepared a list of places we can go to tonight. We can stay out late and have a little fun. I can still treat you to something too."

"Oh, that's... so thoughtful of you."

"I'm just trying to make it up to you. You can suggest a place if you have one in mind." 

She only and stares at him in silence from then on.

Instead of thinking of a place they can go to, though, she is regarding him and contemplating how he can ever have fun to begin with. Apart from being a workaholic, he is also unsociable. She never saw him acting out of character or messing around or having the time of his life. That said, it will probably be quite amusing and even fulfilling to see him having fun every once in a while.

And so, with the happiness of her brother in mind, she eventually came up with a place she wanted to go to.

"Let's go to an arcade!" she enthused with an ecstatic smile.

"An arcade? That's unexpected. Thought you wanted to go to a department store or something," he said in a bit of surprise.

"Huh? Why would you think that?"

"Well, it's just that... I've heard that most girls your age want to shop for dresses and shoes." 

Winter had no doubt - either August made a research on that or asked around his workplace.

It's kind of cute to imagine him doing either one of that. He's really making an effort. And he's starting to act differently from that one in her previous timeline - way too different. She's not sure what's the reason behind it aside from her change in behavior. But perhaps, he does care for her deep inside all this time. 

From now on, she also had to put up an effort on making things the way she hoped it would be between the two of them.   

"Well, then! To the arcade!" Winter beamed at August and wrapped her arms around his, catching him off guard for a moment before eventually returning her smile with one of his own.

---

"Look at this, Winter! Doesn't this teddy bear look so cute?!"

Contrary to what August had imagined for this outing, the Miller's still tagged along to the arcade.

Now, Violet is hogging Winter all to herself while Ace is also being dragged the whole time. August, on the other hand, tries not to be too down by this turn of events. It's a good thing that his sister has others caring for her like this, and it's not that much of a loss to have them coming along at least for tonight. Yet try as he might, he really can't help but want to pamper her as much as he can.

What turned out was that it was Violet who ended up pampering Winter instead. 

"Want me to get that teddy bear for you, Winter?" she offered while pointing at one of the stuff toys in a claw machine. 

"Seems like you're good at this game, Ms. Violet. Let's see it," she humored her and let her give it a try - more for her own entertainment rather than for the prize that she wanted to give her. 

"Oh, I'm not good at this! In fact, this will be my first time trying it out. I'd never been in an arcade before, after all."

It was not only Winter who was at a loss of words from that - August also heard it and reacted the same.

He then took a moment to regard Violet from the side. Even within the small amount of time he shared with her, he could not possibly fail to notice that she was different from other women he knew. For one, she approached his sister not because she had a hidden intention to get close to him. She treats her as a friend, and she has no interest in him - it's actually a fresh breath of air for him.

Secondly, there's what she said about not being in an arcade before. His impression that she's some rich man's daughter who's conspicuously demure and sheltered is starting to gain more grounds. That also shows through the polite speech she uses to strangers, her table etiquette, and her elegance and grace overall. 

Above everything, Violet acts like she has missed a lot of simple and ordinary things in life. 

'If she does happen to come from a strict household, I'll feel bad for wishing that she and her brother aren't here...' August could not help but think, finally accepting defeat.

'Well, I guess this is my loss.' 

From that point on, he let her bond with his sister as much as she wants to. He can take his turn and do that anytime with her, considering that they live together. For the time being, he will have to step aside and act like some chaperone. 

"Oh, I missed again!" Violet grumbled in dismay, failing to grab the teddy bear yet again.

"It's fine, it's fine. We've all had that fair share of misses," Winter reassured her with a smile.

"Mind if I give it a try?" Ace chimed in from behind them, stealing their attention.

"Oh, sure. Go ahead."

With a confident stride, Ace walked up to the claw machine and stood beside Winter. He then gave her a smile before he proceeded to have his turn. August caught on how he tried to charm her right then - it had one of his brows twitching and his lips curving down into a scowl.

'On second thought, I'll only give a pass to Ms. Violet. This boy is certainly up to something.'

On his first try, Ace managed to get the stuff toy with ease, which made Winter and Violet beam in delight. He gave the teddy bear to his classmate at once, trying hard not to blush too much when she expressed her gratitude with that spellbinding, entrancing smile of hers that he wished he could see everyday.

The thought that it was meant for him made his heart flutter. And it made him want to do so much more for her.

Contrary to what August was thinking, it was Winter who's doing all the charming here.

---

"President, we're seriously going to get busted out at this rate."

Unbeknownst to the Agreste's and Miller's, Marcellus persisted and carried on with his stalking.

Claude had no choice but to follow him all the way inside the arcade, fearing that he might do something dumb for once. And perhaps, he's already close to doing that, considering that he no longer wanted to settle with watching alone - this time, he also went nearer to Winter and the others to have a listen in their conversation.

"You say that, Claude. But aren't you enjoying this too?" Marcellus deadpanned as he turned to look at Claude who had actually been playing with the basketball game machine the whole time. 

"I need some stress reliever, Sir. Please, don't mind me."

"Stress? How can you be stressed when you're only following me?"

"You wouldn't understand unless you're in my position."

"Hmmmm... Now that I'm looking at you, I just realized that this is my first time in an arcade. And you turned out to be a pretty good shooter, huh?"

"Ever played basketball before?"

"I did. Been a long while since."

"Why not try this out? This is actually quite entertaining."

Marcellus hesitated but accepted in the end. 

And with that, Claude had his boss distracted from his stalking at long last. They bought some arcade tokens and played more than one around with the basketball game machines. At some point, they even had a little competition. Without realizing it, they already started getting carried away until it came to the point when they began gathering an audience.

With both of them playing a heated round of basketball while still wearing their office uniforms, they were bound to attract attention like this - not to mention, they're insanely good-looking. 

'Huh...?! What the...?! The hell are they doing here?!'

Soon enough, Winter ended up finding Marcellus and Claude who remained focused on their game and oblivious of their surroundings.