Just a Game

Nagisa had seen it time and time again with his sisters as he grew up. And now he was even seeking their advice on the matter.

Every time one of his sisters found a boy to chase, he watched as an elaborate game of cat and mouse began until they either tired of the mouse or caught it but decided they didn't want it. Even now his sisters had yet to find someone steady.

And now he found himself in the same situation with Rei.

The longest chase any of his sisters had was for three months, and it was nearing that time with Nagisa and Rei. From there, he wasn't sure what to do. His sisters had always just abandoned the guys they were after and moved on to the next, mainly due to the fact that they found certain flaws or personality traits by that time that they didn't care for. But he wasn't so sure that's what he wanted. And it wouldn't be that simple with their arrangements as far as class and swim club.

He knew for a fact that he really liked Rei and everything about him and wanted the game to continue.

As he sat at dinner that night, lazily poking at his favorite meal, two of his sisters took notice of their oddly behaving usually bottomless pit of a brother, the third out on a chase. And so, after dinner, they cornered him in his room to talk.

"Nagisa…" one of the sisters said softly after he had explained his story, almost apologetically, as she glanced sidelong to her sister who was wearing an expression of sympathy similar to hers. "You have to end the game as soon as you can."

"I know! I just…" he whimpered, burying his hands in his blonde locks as his head fell. "I just don't want to stop chasing him…"

"It's just a game…" the other sister murmured, gently placing a hand on his knee, as they were seated on his floor facing each other.

"But there's no one else for me to chase either!" he went on as though he hadn't heard her, his hands finding their way from his hair to cover his eyes, his head shaking slowly. "And I still haven't actually caught him…and I'm not tired of him either."

"If you let it drag on though, he's only going to get his hopes up that you actually want to be in a relationship with him…"

His body immediately tensed and his eyes were wide as his hands fell limp beside him.

He had Rei wrapped around his little finger, he knew that much, and Rei dealt with his antics, no matter how embarrassing…Wasn't that someone worth chasing? Worth keeping? And here he was just leading the other on…

"Nagisa," one of them gasped, covering her mouth as realization dawned. "You're not in love, are you?"

His head slowly lifted, his eyes still wide and now looked panicked as they locked with his sister's.

The two girls looked to each other with matching expressions once more, having a silent conversation before they turned their attention back to their little brother who remained silent.

"Are you?"

'In love with Rei-chan?' he thought to himself over and over as his sisters carried on without him, oblivious to what they were saying. It was just supposed to be a simple game, but yet here he was, not wanting to let go of something he liked so much, someone that he had bonded with so deeply over the past couple months.

"Nagisa, how often do you two hang out? In and out of school."

His mouth opened and closed a few times before he licked his dry lips, finally blinking and coming back to reality.

"We're in the same class and we sit next to each other. Of course, there's the swim club. And outside…we usually meet up and walk to school and home together."

"You don't make side trips or hang out on the weekends just for fun?"

"Sometimes we stop and get ice cream or something sweet on the way home or we hang out if Mako-chan has something planned for all of us…There was the festival last week though. I invited Rei-chan and the others that night, but we didn't get to spend a lot of time together given certain circumstances…"

"Who pays when you go get ice cream?"

"Rei-chan usually does…but I think it's mainly because he wants me to keep quiet…" he mumbled, feeling slightly disheartened now that this realization hit him, his left hand coming up and his fingers tangling in his shirt over his heart as his gaze fell once more to the floor.

His sisters watched carefully to their little brother's every reaction and listened intently on everything he said, more so the way he worded things.

"I do need to end the game, huh?" he chuckled lowly as water began to well up in his eyes. "Rei-chan must be pretty annoyed with me…I just keep dragging him along and…"

"Nagisa!" the younger barked, drawing his attention to her with a sharp inhale and fingers tightening in his shirt. "Invite Rei out tomorrow night!"

"What? Why?! You just said…!"

"Never mind what we said!" the other sister cut in. "Invite him to go to the movies!"

A few tears slipped from his eyes and his lower lip quivered. "Right now?"

"No, invite him tomorrow, as a last minute thing. Let us know what his response is, word for word!"

"I don't understand…You guys just said…" he whimpered, rubbing his eyes, thoroughly confused and unable to complete a thought even in his head.

"JUST DO IT!" they growled, both girls now standing, towering over him with their hands on their hips, their eyes murderous.

"I'll do it…"

xoxoxox

It was Saturday morning, bright and sunny, when he was shoved out of bed by his eldest sister.

"Get up! We have work to do!" she grinned as she eyed him from the other side of the bed.

"I've done my chores this week!" he retaliated, rubbing his sore elbow from his fall to the floor as he stood, glaring at her.

"Oh, dear little brother…" she grinned menacingly. "You can't go on a date looking like this! Go wash up and we'll pick your clothes!"

It was then that he noticed his other two sisters standing outside either side of his open bedroom door, grinning from ear to ear.

"You're in on this too?!" he grumbled to the eldest, tossing his pillow back on his bed.

"It's not just a game anymore," she smiled sweetly as she ruffled Nagisa's already unruly blonde locks. "Now go shower!"

"But I haven't even invited…"

"Now!"

That murderous look appeared in her eyes and he was instantly out of the room.

"Now what will our dear little brother wear?" she giggled menacingly as her sisters joined her, the trio standing in front of their brother's closet.

xoxoxox

'They're so mean! Even though I'm older now they still pick on me so much…' he thought with a sigh, stripping down and adjusting the taps in the shower. 'I haven't even invited Rei-chan to the movies yet and they're already making me get ready at this time of morning?!'

After stepping in and adjusting to the temperature, he fell back in to thought as the water soothed away his apprehension.

'Why are they so worried about this anyway? I just like to ruffle his feathers is all…I guess he was like me when I was little, so now I have someone to pick on and do my bidding.'

He then began thinking back to the very first time he laid eyes on Rei. He was different from the rest with the way he stood away from everyone else; always trying to stay away from attention he didn't want, trying to stay hidden. Even with Nagisa around, he still tried to keep unwanted eyes from him, fussing about how much of a scene the blonde was making.

'But he never yells at me directly. He always just kind of scolds me in an apologizing way, like he understands that I am who I am but he's unsure of being part of my world, afraid of being rejected by everyone else around him. Even so, he's come a distance from who he used to be. Or at least who he pretended to be…being an only child must be even more of a burden than being the youngest; so much more is expected of you.'

It was then that he realized a lot about his friend, why he was the way he was but at the same time trying to come out of his shell that he had put himself in to please his parents, sacrificing his happiness for his future.

"Are you almost done?" one of the girls asked from the closed bathroom door after a couple sharp knocks.

"Rinsing the conditioner out now!" he called back as he submerged his head under the running water once more.

"I'm putting your clothes on the sink," she called back.

He heard the door creak open, a small gust of cold air sneaking around the shower curtain and raising bumps along his skin, and then heard it click shut again.

A few minutes later, after warming himself from the sudden chill, he turned off the water and pushed aside the curtain, quickly grabbing his towel and drying off.

His eyes then fell to the outfit his sisters had picked out for him with a small smile.

'At least they're not making me dress up,' he thought as he eyed one of his 'normal' T-shirts and jeans. They had even picked out his underwear, a necklace, and a couple random colored rubber bracelets to finish the ensemble.

"Perfect!" one of the sisters cooed as they examined him from head to toe after he emerged from the bathroom some minutes later, feeling awake and refreshed.

"I still don't understand," he mumbled as one of them fussed over a cow lick, trying to get it to lie down. "I haven't even invited him out yet and you're getting me ready for a possible turn down."

The middle sister shook her head. "Nagisa…when will you ever learn?" She then produced his cell phone, to which he yelped and snatched it away from her, holding it protectively to his chest, looking completely betrayed. "You're meeting at your usual meet up spot at 5 p.m. The movie starts at 5:30. You have three hours before you have to leave, so relax for a bit!"

"Three hours?" he then glanced to his phone and couldn't believe how late he had slept in today. "Why are you guys doing all this anyway?"

"Because," the eldest began, giggling with the other two sisters as the one fussing with his hair donned a couple bobby pins to settle the unruly lock of hair, "it's our new game!"