Alinea

"Pretty boy archer sempai!"

The nickname rang in the house, and Ara quickly clamped her hand on her mouth again. She had no idea why, but today she had trouble keeping her thoughts in.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA."

This time, the earlier unhappy Kazehaya finally burst into laughter as he looked at the newcomer's poker expression.

"Pretty boy archer sempai?'' The familiar boy asked, but his handsome face didn't betray any emotion, so Ara wasn't sure if he was offended or not.

"Errrr… Sorry," Ara apologized again. "Please come in," she said hurriedly, before turning to clear the couch of her stuffs and put them somewhere others wouldn't see.

She would die if these two would see her sketches.

Who would've thought that the person whom she just brought up as a topic randomly days ago at the hospital, the one who helped kill the rumor between her and Sonoda, the one whom she just drew in detail earlier would really appear in her life once more?

To say that she felt like someone who was caught doing something really bad was an understatement. Even if it was a misunderstanding on her classmates' part, she still felt so bad using him as a scapegoat.

And she just had to call him pretty boy to his face too…

"Urgh…"Ara prayed he's not mad, given that he seemed to be Aki's friend.

The two men followed her in the living room, and she made them sit on the sofa. She signaled the maid, and the latter hurried to get them some drinks.

"It's better to have coffee before you go back home. Get some of the alcohol out of your system," she said sweetly so that they would forget her faux pas or let her off.

But they didn't. Or at least the c.h.e.s.tnut colored chipmunk didn't. As soon as the coffee arrived, they just took a sip and started grilling her again.

"So? Why is he a pretty boy sempai?" Kazehaya asked, with obvious merriment dancing in his hazel eyes.

DIE

Ara wanted nothing more than to be able to wring this Alistair-lookalike-weird-chipmunk's neck. But remembering that her brother specifically told her to be nice to this guy because he's the CEO of Homura International, she had to persevere.

"What are you talking about Kaze-nii? Aren't you a pretty boy yourself?" She hoped to put the attention off herself, and she seemed to succeed.

Kazehaya Gin's eyes widened in delight, and he laughed, totally gloating.

"Ah ojouchan! You finally admit I look good huh?" He was so happy.

One thing about Kazehaya Gin though, why he was so good at his job was his memory. "So, why is he a pretty boy sempai?" He asked again afterwards.

There was no shaking the chipmunk off.

DIE DIE DIE

Ara had no way to escape answering that one now, most especially when the man himself finally showed an expression on his face. He was looking at her like he was also waiting for an answer, and so Ara gave up.

"Well, because when we first saw sempai, he was wearing his kyudo uniform. He was standing under the sakura, and it was in full bloom so the petals were raining down on him. He made a pretty good picture."

"We" of course pertained to Ara and her classmates in middle school. She was not the only one who found the sempai very beautiful that day – there were a whole class of them or more.

"Oh so you fell in love?" Kazehaya teased, hoping to make her blush. But instead, Ara frowned at him.

"Kaze-nii, are you dumb?" Ara asked, deadpan. She had no idea how this man's brain worked.

"What? Who's dumb? Why am I dumb?" Kazehaya was taken aback. He'd never been insulted to his face by anyone else aside from Koutaishidenka.

"I told you you're pretty too, does that mean I fell in love with you too?" she asked, and Kazehaya finally had a scared look on his face.

"Oh please don't - of course not," he said hastily, giving the man next to him who seemed a bit upset a glance before turning back to Ara. "Ojouchan, I was just teasing you."

Ara seemed to finally relax as she took the seat opposite the guests. "Well, I believe in plain speaking. It'll prevent misunderstandings. I already reached my quota on that. So if I find things beautiful I'll say they're beautiful. Ugly if they're ugly, and so on," she continued.

"Besides, if it's a compliment, wouldn't that make the other party happy?"

Saying this, Ara gave the two a dazzling smile, before turning her attention to the quiet young man. "Sorry sempai, I don't know what to call you."

She just heard he was called Kou by his teammate. But considering it's their first time meeting, it's rude to call him that. Also, he's so unlike Kazehaya who was easier to talk to.

"Ryuu," the young man answered almost immediately she was surprised.

So it wasn't Kou? She swore it's what she heard his teammate call him before. It wasn't his name then?

"Ryuu-sempai," Ara nodded, and the young man shook his head.

"Just Ryuu. We didn't attend the same school. I'm not your sempai," he explained, and when she looked hesitant, he sighed.

"Then call me Kou instead."

"Kou?"Ara was confused. Ah, so he really was Kou? She thought his name was Ryuu?

"It's a respectful title in my clan's dialect," he expounded. "If you cannot call me by my name then use that."

Oh, a dialect. Ara finally understood. If it's like that then there's no problem.

"Okay Kou," she said, and the other nodded in approval.

Afterwards, the two finished their cups of coffee.

"We're leaving now ojouchan,"Kazehaya said, and she did not stop them.

She also stood up and walked them to the door. "Be careful on your way," she told them. "Thanks for bringing my brother home."

"You're welcome ojouchan. We'll kidnap Aki-kun again for a night out some time,"Kazehaya said as he stepped out of the door.

Kou followed behind, but before he stepped out as well, he turned to Ara, his blue gaze on her questioning face.

"You said compliments will make people happy," Kou reminded her, confirming her words earlier, and she nodded.

"Then…"Kou hesitated for a while, before sighing and completing his words.

"Yes?"Ara was unsure what's going on, but she finally found out right after.

"Then you're beautiful," he suddenly flattered her that she was stunned.

"Good night. See you tomorrow," Kou continued and then turned around and walked out of the house into the night.