Chapter 030: My Feelings For You

It was summer and Kokoro was playing in a park with her friends. Almost everyday she left to go play with them and came back when it would start to get dark out.

"I'm heading out!"

"Okay, see you later."

She waved to Higura who was in the living room who was writing inside of a notebook. She couldn't quite tell what he was writing so she chose to ignore it. She walked down the streets she knew by heart and even knew shortcuts she considered to be a secret that no one knew. She wasn't the greasiest in terms of grades but she was always the most expressive person in the school.

She was walking down one of her shortcuts which led down one of the alleys in the neighborhood. It wasn't the most well kept alley ever since there was all sorts of garbage and such scattered around. Despite that Kokoro would always stay smiling and not giving a care in the world. She was given some money by her father since she and her friends were planning to buy ice cream today.

While walking down the alley she was pushed up against a wall suddenly by a person known threw out her school for being an overly obsessive person.

"Ahh…My Kokoro, you're not getting away again…Why didn't you accept my feelings? I put all my soul into that confession…"

"Let go of me!"

She was struggling to get out of his grip as he started to push her into the wall even harder.

"Why? Why? Why? Why?! You had no right to reject me!"

"Yes I did! Now let go me you freak!"

"…Freak? Did…Did you really just call me that?"

"Yes I did! Now let go of me now!"

"You just don't understand…I'm the only one in the world who loves you this much…So give me your love in return!"

"No!"

He lifted his arm and punched her in the face causing her to drop to the ground.

"Ah what I have done?! I just ruined your perfect pretty face with my hand! I'm sorry! Please forgive me!"

"No! Stay away from me!"

She started running but was grabbed by the leg and fell down again. He went on top of her and held her down making it impossible for her to move.

"Maybe I just have to prove my love for you…Haha!"

"No!"

He started to lift her shirt as they started hearing footsteps from the other side of the alley. He looked up to see with kind broken eyes holding a glass bottle and looking directly at him.

"W-Who are you?! Get out of here! You shouldn't be here!"

"Oh really now? I think I have a pretty good reason on why I should be here…After all." He smashed the bottle on the side of the alley and held it up to the boy who was on top of Kokoro. "That's my adorable little sister."

"Why does it matter?! Can't you see we're madly in love?!"

"Yeah right. Ha! How could I have not realized!" He threw the bottle past the boy's head barely missing. "Of course, of course. I must clearly just be seeing wrong. Of course it's up to my sister here to decide what's really going on. Right?"

Higura walked closer to them as he picked up another bottle. The boy on top of Kokoro was now trembling at the fact that Higura was acting completely deranged. The boy let go of Kokoro and ran out of the alley as Higura threw the second bottle near the boy's feet. After he ran away Higura went back to being his real self.

"Sorry Kokoro, that must've scared you pretty bad."

"…Thank you…For saving me…"

"No problem."

He held up a thumbs up as Kokoro dived in to give him a hug. She squeezed him extremely tightly while letting out tears.

"I…I-I lov-Love you…"

"I love you too…"

He started patting her head as she started to squeeze in even harder.

"I'll make sure nothing like that happens again…You have my promise."

After awhile she calmed down and he walked her back home. Afterwards he left again and told her friends that she wasn't able to make it today since she suddenly got sick and had a high fever. He also tracked down the boy who was attacking Kokoro and told his family about what happened. After that day the boy no longer went to school and moved out of the area.

The days following the incident Higura walked to school everyday with her until she felt completely safe to walk on her own again. They walked to school together for about 2 years before Higura thought it was time for her to get used to going on her own. He still would remain wary everyday in case something like that day ever happened again.

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Kokoro opened her eyes to the present day as she had dreamed of the day she first started having feelings for her brother.

"Guess I should get ready for school."

There was a knock on her door and she looked over to see who had knocked. Higura entered the room which was a rare occurrence.

"Do you want to walk to school together?"

"…Huh?"

"Just had some old memories come up so I thought it could be a nice change of pace."

"Yes! I would love to walk to school with you!"

"I'm now starting to regret my asking."

"Huh? Why?!"

"I think you know why."

He laughed a little and left her room. She followed him out and they walked to school together as they used to in the years prior.

'Just for a change of pace, huh…If only we could do this everyday…'

She smiled softly to herself as she was walking down the streets with Higura. They talked about little things and it was one of the best mornings for Kokoro in a long time.

'I'll always keep my feelings for you…Nothing will change that…'