Snippet #2690478

“I promise, I’ll call tomorrow, alright? I’ve got… Things I got to do.” Kyosuke glanced upwards towards the clock, checking on the time. He was already late as it was, but he wasn’t about to drop everything for those dorks. They could wait. Hell, they’d probably chickened out without him there to protect them. Bringing his gaze back down to the laptop in front of him, he cracked a bit of a smile at the pouty face on the screen. “Come on now, you’ve been telling me that I don’t have to keep looking out for you, and now you’re sad when I finally have something to do in the evening?”

“That’s not it at all! You’ve got to tell me what you’re up to big brother!” The pink haired bundle of energy had pulled her own tablet up close to her in order to better scrutinise her older brother’s face. Kyosuke’s younger sister Haruka frowned a bit, folding her arms. “You always change the subject when I ask you what it’s like there, you only ask me ‘How was that Manga I sent you?’ ‘What’s dad up to?’ ‘Are the nurses treating you ok?’ I want to hear about you big brother!” Haruka slapped her arms down onto her bed, and ended up knocking the tablet off her stand again, leading to some more fumbling as she righted it once more. She was a slim, frail girl. Not too tall, even for a 13 year old, but she more than made up for that with her boundless personality.

“For real you dweeb, I gotta go.” Kyo sat up from his position seated across from the table, leaning up to hold the roof of the laptop. He only stopped as he heard the wail of his sister to stop, looking down again. Like him, she had the same striking blue eyes, and he could see them intently studying him to read his intentions. Finally, she relented, with a smile. “Okay, I believe you. But next time you gotta tell me all about it! Have fun with your friends you dummy.” Picking up the tablet, she winked. “Love you Kyuu-Chan! Call me again tomorrow!!”

Kyosuke shook his head. “Can’t say the feeling’s mutual you doofus. But yeah, you take care until then, got it?” Despite his words, Kyo smiled once more as he shut the laptop, skilfully ignoring her request as he breathed a contented smile. Sitting a moment to bask in the feeling, It was short lived however as he finally got up to leave and join the others. He was already in a pair of cargo pants and black T-shirt, so he simply grabbed his red jacket and made his way out the door, straightening his grey beanie as he went.

---

Kyosuke was last to arrive. No surprises there. Slinking up to the group with his hands in his pocket, he gave a slight head tilt, followed by a simple “‘Sup Dweebs?” to fully announce his arrival. Most would be used to such a greeting from Kyo, though how they’d take it was anyone’s guess. It was a mixture of endearment and derision depending on how you looked at it. Leaning against a nearby tree, he let the socialites get the pleasantries out of the way before they got into the actual point of the night. Stretching slightly, he yawned, having had a long day...

“What 'bout you, Kyosuke-kun? Don't ya think the stars look pretty nice tonight? What ya can see through the trees, I mean. Ya can't see too much, but it's not that much of a problem, 'cause what you can see is absolutely gorgeous! Don't ya think?” Interrupted midway, Kyosuke returned his hand to his pocket, glancing over to the Miko girl and giving her a bit of an intense stare. Maybe he rattled her with the way she was rambling on, but she did have a tendency to motor-mouth at all times. Kinda like an annoying flap that just kept… “Stars look the same anywhere Miko-Girl. Nothin’ Special.” Kyo replied simply, getting a typical Sanae response in reply. Wisely, she decided to move her attention on to the other members of the group for conversation, letting Kyosuke brood in silence.

Soon enough, he regretted not taking more charge to get everyone moving as Dorktogi started out with his usual shenanigans. Honestly, his act was just an embarrassment. Kyosuke didn’t need much more to remind himself why he didn’t hang out with the loser. He contemplated making a smart-ass comment, but nothing particularly witty came to mind. He’d just have to chalk a mental note to mess with the lame-brain later. Thankfully, it didn’t take too much longer for the kids to settle, Miko-Girl and Izumi Nag getting them back on track to leave. He had to wonder why she was coming along for this – After all, Miko-Girl was into this weird stuff, he had his reasons, and Satogi and uh… Um… ‘Girl’ were pretty weird too, but it was hard to imagine the high and mighty school president coming along to join in what wasn’t really rule-breaking but clearly mischief. Eh, whatever. Maybe she was just keeping tabs on them from doing anything too stupid.

“Awwwright, everyone! Let's take off. If ya still need some time to do somethin', speak now, or forever hold your peace!” Sanae declared with way too much enthusiasm for this time of night.

“’Bout time…” Kyosuke mumbled, kicking off the tree. Being behind the rest of the group, he followed briefly before sensing his opening as Satogi motioned for a celebratory cheer to move forward. Moving up behind him slowly, Kyosuke waited for him to finish before dishing out some ‘well-deserved’ punishment. With a simple pair of motions, Kyosuke dunked Satogi on the head, dragging the boy’s hoodie over his face before snatching up the flashlight, striding towards the front of the pack. “Let’s leave this to a professional, Squirt.” Tapping the flashlight on his shoulder a couple of times, Kyosuke gave a superior grin as he strode down the path. “All the cautious chickens can stay back here. I’m going on ahead.” Shoving past a low tree-branch (And making little effort to hold it aside for those behind him), Kyo would lead the way. Heh, maybe if he could get far enough ahead, he could sneak back around and give those babies a real fright…