Trick or treat! And hey, look what we found—it's a brand new FDD, with some new tricks and treats in store for everyone! 8D

Those who are returning readers may have noticed the second sequel to this—Daybreak—was removed from the site. As we were rewriting FDD at the same time as writing Db, we realized the way the overall story was turning out earlier on drastically altered the feel of events that would come later in a rewritten Db; things that would have shown up there no longer reflected the actuality of the story we were telling. So, here we are—focusing on a new and improved From Dawn to Dusk!

New readers—welcome! Please be aware, this is an unashamed self insert story that deals with mental illness fairly graphically; as a result, this is rated M. For your knowledge, trigger warnings will appear at the beginning of every chapter, and if anything may be particularly graphic, a summary of some kind will be provided for that material, as well as reference points for what to skip over if necessary.

Updates should remain regular, and probably monthly for now until we're certain of the pace at which we're writing. For reference, the original version was 170,000 words. As of right now, the new draft is already at 75,000...and we're not quite even halfway through the plot. I'm fairly certain we're not even close. We hope you'll love how we've revamped stuff and added some newish things. =D

Enjoy~!

Edit: We had some feedback that sometimes the point of view changes could be quite a bit confusing due to having two different 1st person perspectives, so we're tweaking the scene break markers a bit to add some clarity. "A" will stand for Alexa, and "T" for Tessa, though for this first chapter they've been spelled out.

Trigger warnings: cults, distorted eating/starving

From Dawn to Dusk
(And Everything in Between)

Beginnings are a set of choices
—

Chapter 1

—Alexa—

'Unrelated to anything, but the longer I'm away from my mother, the more I am convinced self help is a cult in and of itself'

I scrubbed my face as I lay on my bed awaiting a reply, processing another frustratingly fruitless and, if I was honest, triggering trip to the bookstore I had made the day previous. Even though it had been a year out of her grip, anything that gave any whiff of cult principles was at risk of sending me into a panic attack. Which, if I was honest, covered damn near everything in the self help section.

It didn't take long for Tessa to start typing. '*snort* why'm I not surprised?'

'Cause anything with a rabidly loyal following is bound to draw more than a few fanatics' I paused and raked my hand through my hair, fighting the memories trying to come to the surface. 'I don't even know why I keep going back to that section'

Except my best friend might as well be little sister knew exactly why, and voiced as much. '*hugsnugs* because it's the only thing you "know" to use when you need "fixing"?'

I audibly sighed, and translated it into text. '*sigh* something like that. And maybe trying to see if she had a point— if it is just me, and not her'

We'd had this conversation before. I couldn't count the number of times she'd given me a similar reply. 'Well looks to me like it *is* her rather than you...what with that whole section basically spouting everything she's said before'

'I guess I know that on one level or another. But it's hard to keep looking at all this success stuff especially when if I don't follow at least some of it, I'm dead in the water at work… my boss has been great but I'm wearing his patience out' That topic simply set my teeth on edge from stress, so I changed it before she had a chance to reply. 'Getting ready for Japan? :P'

'*hugsnugs*' she replied to my first, before my screen was filled with a picture of her disaster zone of a room. Her shinai was on a pile of clothes, and there were more piles of books and Stuff than I cared to identify. 'You mean "getting ready for war"? lol'

I swallowed at the reminder in a few years she actually would be, but had decided a long time ago she would not hear about every flash of panic I had on the topic if only to preserve our friendship. I searched for something else to discuss instead, and settled on still being troubled by her new boyfriend's reaction to the trip. He had, for lack of a better term, hit the roof. 'So, what's Michael think of Japan? Has he warmed up to it?'

'Yeah. I think I just mostly caught him by surprise, tbh. But he's been really supportive of my fencing career, so once I explained how similar kendo is he mellowed out.' She popped up typing again. 'he said he's gonna miss me so much. Poor baby lol'

I tapped my fingers against my laptop, shifting to change into my PJs as I bought myself time to think. Nothing about that reaction sat well, including the sudden acceptance he was now displaying. After he'd demanded to know what she'd been thinking taking half her summer out of the country without considering how much he'd miss her, not having easy contact. 'I was surprised when I found out you were going to military school and weren't allowed social media for five months, and I didn't react like that. I still think something's wrong, if that's the route he took'

'Well, I leave tomorrow, so…'

I paused and blinked at the screen. '... right. I am terrible with dates, have I mentioned that? Recital's taking up all my brain power, I swear to god… I just hope I can eat enough this week and next to not tank on stage.'

She'd heard about my starving too much, honestly, and reacted accordingly. '*glomphugsnugs* it'll be alright. I believe in you, sis. *heart* you got this! ^_^ '

I smirked and tried to hold onto her words. 'lol you have more faith in me than I do in myself, some days. At least after a year I'm not doing *quite* as badly. Eating minimums. Just… minimums don't cut it when you're dancing five times in a week'

'Mmmhm. But what are sisters for if not cheerleading? *heart*'

'Eeexactly lol *heart* thanks. I… should get to bed, honestly, and let you pack. Office day tomorrow and here's hoping I don't need to take ativan. Way too behind on stuff… ugh'

I could practically feel her concern through the screen. '*hugsnugs* I love you sis. Sleep tight. I'll pop in when I can tomorrow. 36 hours…yaaaaay… Never thought I'd get sick of flying'

She left the perfect opening for my big sister instincts to take over. 'Drink plenty of water! Airports are dry as hell'

'LOL right back at ya sis :P *pokes*'

'*Wrinkles nose at* I have a bottle of water right beside my bed…' I glanced at it and self consciously added, 'I'm just 700 or so militers short' before hitting send

'Haha ok *heart*' She popped up typing again.'*pokes to bed*'

I just smirked, pulled out my camera, and sent her a picture of me already under the blankets. 'G'night *heart*'

Once that was taken care of, I pulled a purple half sphere out of its blanket prison and placed it on my bedside table. Dusk was my best kept secret, and I could never leave it very far. It hardly threw off any light, but it was just enough I could convince myself nothing was hiding in the closet to take me. Ready to flow over my skin in the shell I had learned to trust more than my own often-frail body.

Cults sometimes resorted to kidnapping, to bring people back. I tried to be careful, tried to avoid anywhere my mom could see me, left while she was out with no hint of my address anywhere, but today… I swore I had seen the same person every place I visited.

Part of me thought I was just being paranoid.

Anxiety didn't let me believe I was wrong.

—Tessa—

Sage Date was the most calm, cool, and collected person I'd ever met.

So much so it was almost eerily unnerving.

There was also the fact his shock of thick blond hair stood out from nearly everyone else in Sendai's airport. I hadn't known what to expect of my host family other than what my kendo sensei had mentioned—the Date's prestigious reputation in the sport was widely known—but somehow he and his grandfather both were not what I'd not pegged them to be.

World travel certainly was eye-opening.

The other thing immediately noticeable about Sage, besides the fact he towered over me (not difficult, being five-foot-three and all), was the style of his hair. Alexa and I probably would joke and call it "emo hair", but even though he was reserved through our whole first meeting while his grandfather did the talking, the term didn't quite fit. To be frank, the bangs brushed over his right eye seemed more like a shield than anything else.

I was a little more concerned with navigating a relatively new language and the social complexities at the time, however. While 'Ojiisama' politely offered to speak in English to make it easier, part of the reason I'd wanted to actually make it to Japan was to sharpen my university-class-practiced skills into fluency.

Leave it to me to make something relatively easy much harder on myself. I was starting to regret that choice while I brokenly tripped over my tongue and then dropped into silence on the car ride out of the city. Luckily no one seemed to have a problem with me staring out the window and watching skyscrapers melt into a rugged countryside that was not unlike my own native Virginia.

The reserved theme stuck around. Change and adjusting to completely new things—even when I'd thought I'd been prepared for them—had always stuffed my extroverted center in a little introverted shell. Sage was gone at university classes in Sendai most of the day, so kendo practice in the family-run dojo with the other students was the most I saw of my 'host brother' until the end of the first week.

Saturday morning dawned like most of the other days had so far—birds chirping, sunlight threading its fingers through a not-so-effective-at-blocking-light shoji, and me blearily stumbling into the kitchen for brain food to wake me up.

I got more than I had initially bargained for.

Seeing the perfectly-combed head of blond hair stopped me in my tracks, blinking bleary owl eyes at the always-put-together Date heir sipping tea at the kitchen table. Aside from his kendogi, I was pretty sure I'd never seen him in anything less than a polo and slacks, so far...which was what he wore at present.

A velvety-deep voice that of course would belong to the object of my perplexed attention yanked me out of the sleep fog. Even though I'd heard him speak here and there already, somehow my brain had waited until now to piece together how properly he worded his thoughts, even (or especially) for a native speaker. "How have you enjoyed your first week here, Tessa-chan?"

It took a few more quickening revolutions of the mental gears to formulate a Japanese response, especially with the vocabulary still rusty on the tongue. "Ah…yes. This place is really pretty." After a very brief moment of awkward silence, I realized I was still standing there in the doorway, and forced myself to continue on my quest for food.

"Historical, as well," Sage replied, a dash of what I thought might be amusement behind the words. Something about it sounded like Alexa's sense of humor, but I wasn't familiar enough with Sage to identify it with certainty. "I was hoping you would accept an invitation for a tour of the monuments dedicated to Date Masamune."

The offer—as well as the unfamiliar vocabulary—took me by surprise. Again. "Would I…!" I blurted—in English. Realizing the switch and the maybe-impolite exclamation, I muddled my way through another few short phrases in Japanese. "I love history and things. It would be an honor."

He inclined his head, the faintest pull of a smile at the corners of his mouth. "I have Saturdays off from classes. We would have no time limit. We can leave whenever you wish."

I was wide awake, now. The prospect of getting to wander around a new cool place with someone who was actually familiar with the area had me practically bouncing around the kitchen. Not bothering to parse Japanese together in my head before speaking, I switched back to English as I hurried to pour a comfortingly familiar bowl of cereal for breakfast. "Just need a few minutes to eat and get ready to go!"

Fifteen minutes later, I was following Sage down a footpath along the road toward the nearest train stop. His longer strides had me walking quickly to keep up, but I wasn't unfamiliar with the concept. Once we'd reached the station and sat to wait for the train, I asked, "So, where're we going?"

He tipped his head in my direction, enough that the curtain of hair on his right side slipped to show his left eye and the soft expression on his face. "Aoba-jo— Sendai Castle," he translated.

The best way to describe my reaction was feeling like a cartoon character with stars in their eyes. "I love castles!" I squeaked, clapping my hands together. I barely managed to check myself from making a snarky comment wondering if he'd read up on my favorite elementary school subjects or something. Instead, I continued (in English, I realized belatedly) with, "I've always wanted to visit one but never had the chance…!"

My exuberance elicited another of his small, polite smiles that hinted at amusement. "Only the walls are still standing, sadly. There is a digital recreation of the castle so you can see how it looked in its prime."

"Cool!" I paused, mind wandering a bit before settling on a new thought. "So, that was where your ancestor lived?"

He nodded, and I noticed as he began to explain the castle's history that he seemed to brighten from the inside more than I'd yet seen. All through describing it as being the governmental center of Masamune Date's land and its influence over the island nation, the facade of propriety incrementally broke down—a subtle change, but apparent in his restrained enthusiasm for the topic.

Conversation died down again as I took in the experience of my first train ride in Japan. While trains weren't unfamiliar to me, opportunities to travel by train in the States were fewer and farther between than most other countries. As was the way of travel, I spent most of the short trip staring out the window at the vistas rolling by. Once we reached our stop, though, I practically hopped in anticipation of disembarking before the train had entirely halted.

I was forced to temper my enthusiasm slightly simply by the fact I had little idea which way to go after getting off, though. Sage's broad-shouldered bulk easily passed through the sea of people, me following in his wake with a greater appreciation (and maybe not a little jealousy) for tall people. Even though being short had some advantages, and I was quite proud of my ability to sneak through gaps in crowds, I'd always wondered what it was like to be able to just split the human tide like a boat atop the ocean's waves.

And, y'know, actually see where I was going.

All musing about what it must be like to be tall came to a halt as I spotted a large bronze statue of horse and rider in the middle of a square. Eyes lighting with fascination and excitement, I left Sage behind and darted over to it. There was probably a quite ridiculous grin on my face as I let my eyes drink in the smooth shape of the horse's flanks and the sharp edges of the mounted samurai's armor, but I didn't care. I'd found something familiar yet new in the middle of a place to which I was still adjusting, and it was the most glorious thing ever at that moment.

I finally noticed Sage standing quietly to one side of me as I dropped my gaze down to the concrete base, rather than craning my head back to stare at the powerful creature depicted in metal. "Did you know up until about the Civil War, convention was that a statue of a rearing horse—or with any two feet off the ground—signified that the rider had died in battle, and one foot up meant they'd been injured?" Self-consciously second-guessing information that I'd learned back in high school, I amended that with, "Well, at least the ones on the Gettysburg battlefield do, minus one. Pretty sure that applies to statues in general, though."

The blond inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Masamune certainly got injured in battle. He was a brilliant tactician, but he could be reckless." He turned his head briefly to look at me with his visible eye. "Do you like horses?"

So he'd caught onto that deep-seated adoration already. A blush warmed my cheeks, but did not diminish my wide smile. "Been riding since I was little. My dad and stepmom met over horses, so I've been around them my whole life."

His own smile softened his features. As he replied, I thought of all the horse pictures on my phone and delved a hand into my pocket in order to fish it out. "My friend Rowen rides horses, when he gets a chance."

Finding something to connect with my host brother was strangely relieving; I brightened, feeling my smile relax. "Cool! I know it's pretty difficult to get into that over here because of being an island nation and all, hay and land get expensive as all get out…" I'd navigated to my picture gallery as I spoke, and now lifted it to show him one of me leaning over the neck of my gangly chestnut mare. "That's my horse!"

The conversation seemed to be drawing his personality out a bit, too. Smiling a little more, he complimented, "Beautiful. He prefers to ride a black horse."

True black horses were fewer in number than many people imagined, but they were definitely on my list of favorite colors. "Ooooh…" Sensing a drop off in the conversation, I let my eyes rove over the grounds, taking everything in and seeing what might catch my attention next. Sage remained quiet—something I greatly appreciated, as it wasn't often I got to go explore places on my own, or even with someone who tolerated my butterfly nature and let me take the lead.

A towering, traditionally-shaped structure in the mid-distance drew me in. Turning back to Sage with another bright smile, I said, "C'mon! Let's go see the castle!"

He nodded, walking beside me but clearly leading the way along well-kept footpaths and past what looked to be recent construction on some of the lesser outdoor structures. We paused at a few intricately-carved shrines, and a little tiled courtyard housing a quaint modern fountain and the visitor's center. I tried not to laugh out loud at seeing a cardboard cutout-type stand of a samurai and a woman in kimono set up at the edge of the nearby garden. It was tempting to ask Sage for a picture of me with my face in the cut out, but it wouldn't be the same without someone else in the second one, and we didn't have a third person to take the picture.

'Maybe next time…'

Once we'd had our fill of the main tourist area, we wandered back along the path toward the outer edge of the old castle's footprint. A clearing in the trees surrounding the ruins, which opened up to clear sky, caught my attention. Knowing Sage would simply follow me, I steered my feet in that direction to find another footpath—this time along the edge of a guardrail-ed overlook complete with convenient benches. The vista spanned the southeastern portion of Sendai and the mountains cradling it, late-afternoon summer sun spilling down from a cloudless sky onto shiny metal buildings and the human life scurrying between them.

It was not unlike the view on the mountain roads from my house to my college back in the States. A sudden stab of homesickness cut into my chest; I slowly dropped down to one of the stone benches and propped my foot on it, my elbow atop my knee and chin resting on my forearm.

"Reminds me of Virginia…" I said softly, half to myself and maybe even half to Sage, who'd come to stand beside me.

A moment of thoughtful quiet ensued before he spoke. The deep velvet of his voice wasn't quite the same in English as in Japanese, but certainly appreciated in this moment. "I suppose the differences are what come to mind." I caught a hint in my peripherals of him turning his head back toward the view. "But those differences will just make your home that much more comforting, when you return."

The philosophical response made me smile on the inside, thinking how similar he sounded to Alexa. Homesickness was still too strong to feel completely comforted by that, however. "I guess…" I sighed quietly, saying almost under my breath, "It's just. Lonely, being a one-of-a-kind in an unfamiliar place."

My host brother carefully sat beside me, letting thoughtful quiet settle over the scene. A few people passed by, but this path was a little more out of the way than the main areas we'd been in earlier, and those we saw didn't pay us any attention.

"If you wish, we could see if there are any groups of Americans in Sendai who meet regularly," Sage suggested slowly.

It was certainly a tempting thought; I tilted my head, mulling over whether I wanted common ground with people I already understood more than I disliked the thought of meeting more new and unfamiliar people. Just being relatively on my own in Japan was feeling overwhelming enough, at this point. "Maybe…"

He wasn't quiet to the point of whispering, but the softness of his words were evident and rather comforting. "I understand if there's too much unfamiliarity, at once. Do not feel pressured to do something immediately just because it is suggested."

I blinked, a tad surprised by the reassuring response, and lifted my head slightly from my arm to better glance at him. Once I saw he was still looking away, I dropped my gaze again—but this time feeling a bit less empty with the knowledge that someone here cared for my happiness. "I'll think about it." My thoughts flitted back to where we sat, and I turned a more full smile on my tour guide. "So...Date Masamune. Tell me about him?"

That was the first time I truly heard Sage chuckle, a full-bodied sound of clear amusement at my eagerness and thirst for knowledge. "He was known as the One Eyed Dragon for a very good reason. He had this castle built after conquering nearly the whole Northern third of Japan. Never defeated in combat, or in a duel. And it was not for lack of opportunity."

My butterfly brain and occasional impulse-following sometimes created interesting connections and subsequent ideas. "Is that where you got your hairstyle from, Mr. Dragon?" I half-teased, reaching up in an attempt at flicking the enticingly fluffy blond bangs. I almost missed the subtle movement he made that left my fingers brushing through empty air.

I blinked, internally pouting as he chuckled briefly, again. "Rowen once said something similar," he answered vaguely—rather more of a non-answer, really, and completely avoiding my question without being rude. Since I'd mostly just been joking, anyway, I shrugged it off and let the conversation drift to the castle and the last place we wanted to stop before returning to the Date mansion.

We spent twenty minutes at the Masamune mausoleum, paying our respects to Sage's ancestor. As with most of the architecture in the region and at this site, I spent a fair portion of that time admiring the ornate woodwork and decorations. Patterns had always fascinated me, and these in particular could have held my gaze for an hour if given the opportunity.

But the sun was already fairly behind the thick foliage crowning the rocky promontory on which the castle rested. Feeling content with the visit, and more comfortable in Sage's presence than anyone else's I'd been in since arriving, we silently trooped back to the train station.

A gentle vibration in my cargo pocket reminded me it had been a while since I'd last checked my phone. I'd seen various notifications when I pulled it out to take pictures, but ignored them in favor of continuing the grand tour. Now I fished it out—only to realize it was nearly eight-thirty.

"...shoot. I was going to Skype my best friend in ten minutes…!"

Sage paused at my sudden statement, twisting to look back at me where I'd stopped in my tracks to get a better grip on my phone and actually retrieve it. He almost appeared stunned by the unexpected topic. "Could you send a message and say we're forty five minutes away from the house?"

Seeing as I'd already planned on doing that, I simply nodded and made a sound of acknowledgement as I opened Messenger. The notification I'd gotten hadn't been a message from Alexa, and there were no new ones since earlier in the day, but she was sure to be online soon. I sighed as I finished typing an explanation and pocketed the phone again. "I'm sure she won't mind waiting. I just always feel bad when I lose track of time and forget something as important as that…" I glanced around, actually noticing where we were now that I wasn't wrapped up in my thoughts. "So...which way?"

We picked up where we left off, arriving just as the next shuttle pulled in. The train ride back was as quiet as the walk had been, but not awkward. I decided to flip idly back through the pictures I'd taken to pass the time, all the while wondering when Alexa would reply to my message. Considering she hadn't already done so, and Ottawa was thirteen hours behind Tokyo time, it finally occurred to me she was probably still asleep.

My phone remained quiet even up until we stepped into the genkan and traded our shoes for house slippers (a habit I was sure to stick with when I returned to the States, I'd decided). Sage seemed to pick up on the fact there'd been no update and asked, "It's eight in the morning there, right?"

"Yes." Shaking my head, I voiced the realization I'd had on the train. "Knowing her, she's still asleep." Another idea occurred to me then, and I paused in the mouth of the hallway to ask Sage, "Would you maybe want to say hi? It'd be kinda neat if my big sis could meet my host brother, I think."

Somehow, that seemed to catch him by surprise. It was actually rather cute on his normally stoic face. "I— yes, I would, if she is willing."

"Of course!" I chirped. "Just give me a few minutes to set things up and let her know. No one likes being taken by surprise, after all."

He nodded, lagging behind in the front half of the house while I moved down the hall to my room. The first thing I did after closing the door was wake my computer up and let it load while I changed into something comfier than out-on-the-town clothes.

My phone pinged with a notification as I opened the door again so Sage would know he could enter. I quickly pulled up my internet browser and Skype before swiping open my phone.

'Okay, what time do you get up, because I have a feeling it needs to be evening for *me* instead of you. Gimme a sec'

I chuckled at my sister's characteristic dry humor, typing out a simple 'no problem' before formulating a second message. 'So...how would you feel about meeting Sage?'

The little Messenger profile image indicated she'd read my message, and then there was a momentary pause where I could imagine her processing that. '... give me more than a sec, then. I am *not* talking to a guy before brushing my hair and just in my PJs'

Another chuckle, this time shaking my head as I sent back a second acknowledging message and laid the phone back on the low table that held my computer. Slippered footsteps heralded Sage's arrival; I cast a quick smile over my shoulder before indicating the padded mats I'd laid down on the floor in lieu of tatami mats.

Skype's obnoxious ring didn't take much longer to pipe up—luckily just before the silence could grow awkward. I quickly answered it, waiting to hear her voice and know it had connected before speaking.

"Oh-kay now that I don't look freshly dragged out of bed…"

I laughed quietly, waving it off. I noticed Sage appeared to be looking between the two of us with an almost unreadable expression on his face, but didn't think much of it. Indicating Sage with a small gesture, I said, "Alexa, this is Sage Date. Sage, my big sis Alexa."

He lifted his chin in greeting. "Pleasure to meet you, Alexa." I almost thought he hesitated in a brief pause, but then he asked, "Are you related, or found siblings?"

That somewhat explained the odd looks. I couldn't say I was surprised, though; Alexa and I both laughed, to different degrees. "Found family. We get the whole look-alike thing a lot, though," I explained goodnaturedly.

He nodded. "It is… quite striking." I almost physically raised an eyebrow at the pause that seemed filled with some unknown meaning I didn't catch the subtleties of. Was it just me, or did he seem rather interested in my best friend?

Alexa didn't seem to notice. The oft-quipped joke that she could be the posterchild for "obliviousness" crossed my mind briefly. "I hope you're taking care of her," she said almost casually.

I snorted in amusement—leave it to my self-appointed big sister to lay down the law with any boy I talked to. Especially after that one incident with Michael…

Firmly shoving thoughts of my boyfriend out of my mind, I grinned at Sage, who showed rather distinct hints of pink at the edges of his cheeks. "Don't worry, he is! We were just out in Sendai earlier—why I was late. We went to Sendai castle, sis! It was so cool!"

She perked up at that. "Castle?"

"She had a very similar reaction when I proposed the idea," Sage said modestly. I'd noticed he didn't let attention fix on him very long in conversations, and this was another example of that skilled deflection.

I wasn't going to let him get away with it this time, though. "Yup! And Sage was the best guide ever—he knows so much about the history of it and his family. And the views were gorgeous. Reminded me of the mountains back home."

Alexa's posture clearly indicated she was open to an infodump on the topic; I gladly obliged, plucking my phone back up on occasion to send her relevant pictures via Messenger. After a few minutes sitting in and listening, Sage decided he had outstayed his welcome since he wasn't contributing any further and politely excused himself with "It was a pleasure speaking to you." While I was a little disappointed to see him leave, I didn't blame him. I probably would have done the same, considering the way he'd been watching us interact and the definite coloring to his rather pale face.

It was worth commenting on, though. "That's almost the most emotion I've seen out of him—at least that wasn't polite kindness."

She blinked. "Really?"

I nodded. "He's really quiet—but I also haven't seen too much of him yet. He takes classes at the university in town most of the week, so today was the first day I...kinda had him to myself."

Luckily Alexa was too distracted with her own thoughts to notice the brief hitch to my words and the nervous smile on the edge of my lips. She seemed disheartened by my observation, and murmured, "I hope he doesn't have a girlfriend to get jealous. Mom always said I attracted guys almost magnetically and I had to be careful not to make them too at ease before their girlfriends set ultimatums."

I pondered everything I knew about the mysterious Date heir for a moment. "I don't think he does… Didn't ask, though. But I know a few of the girls in kendo class have said he gets a lot of female attention." That got an amused snort. "I think it's the hair. I asked him if his hairstyle was inspired by Date Masamune, but he declined an explanation. Maybe the girls have something to do with it."

I'd become familiar with how much a topic latched on to my sister when something bothered her, and wasn't surprised by her continuing on an unrelated track to my comments. "I almost wonder what guys would say if they found out how close we are and I'm bi."

Shaking my head with a thin smile, I reassured, "The ones that matter wouldn't care, and those who think it's weird don't matter. To paraphrase Dr. Seuss...er, whoever it was."

"That's him, and the actual quote is 'those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.' It's just…" She exhaled. "Weird, I guess… Ever since Michael flipped about you going to Japan, I've been wondering if… he'd be happy with how much time you're spending with me…"

That was something of a new twist to an old topic; I blinked, tilting my head thoughtfully. "Um...well, he...hasn't really said much, about it? I mean, he did say once that he felt I was giving you more attention than him, but it was in passing and it's been a while since he and I really hung out consistently, so…"

She lifted a hand to rub her cheek under one eye. "I do take up a lot of attention…"

I shook my head again. "Even so, it's time I want to spend with you. No boy gets to decide how much I choose to see or talk to you. And you mean the world to me, sis. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you, if I didn't have you in my life…"

She snorted, but visibly relaxed a fraction. "If he starts limiting your time with me, I'm going to have a serious talk with him."

I chuckled, almost feeling like I could bare my teeth like a wolf at that veiled threat. "Get in line. If I have to, I'd smack him with a shinai or a sabre before I'd let him do that."

Smirking a little, she continued, "If any guy lays a finger on you, they have to answer to me."

I'd never been in doubt of that—but it was always nice to hear how protective she was of me, just as I could be of her. Grinning and offering a well-practiced salute, I replied, "Yes ma'm, I'll remember that."