Lesson Learned

You Could do Better

Gakushuu's expression tightened as his eyes narrowed more. "You don't even know if she likes you the same way."

Her smile dropped, swallowing a bad taste. "I know she does."

Her brother scoffed quietly, shaking his head as he leaned back. "You haven't even told her."

"Just..." Mitsuko smothered a painful feeling which had started to spread, keeping calm. "Just stop it, okay." She clasped her hands tight on her lap. "If you keep doing this, I'm leaving and you can pay the bill."

He scrutinised her for a moment before scowling. "Fine." He straightened up and slipped the notebook back in his pocket. "Be stubborn about it." He sighed, drinking some more water. "But you know I'm right."

Mitsuko kept her temper in check, letting out a deep breath and picked up the dessert menu. "I'm bored with this conversation. Let's order dessert."

***

"Wow...Your brother's an asshole." Sugaya looked up from his sketchpad, his fingers were already stained with ink.

"I know right!" Mitsuko agreed, pacing back and forth in front of his desk.

Sugaya shrugged, placing the half-finished drawing down to pick up his sister's tabby cat that had wandered in. "Is he really always that controlling?"

She grimaced, pausing in front of the window. "...Well, yeah I guess..." An uncomfortable feeling settled in her stomach. "He's older so it makes sense." She turned around. "He just wants to protect me, so..."

"I guess, but it's still weird." Sugaya frowned, stroking the cat on his lap behind the ears until it purred. "He just seems really over-controlling."

Mitsuko sighed, sitting on the bed opposite him. "It's complicated." She laid back and stared at the ceiling. "I like the fact that he'll always protect me, and I appreciate it, but...he's starting to get worse than the Principal sometimes."

"That's...kind of terrifying," he replied bluntly.

She rolled her eyes and sat up. "The main problem is that he doesn't like Rio...well, looking back he's never really liked her anyway—but he could at least respect my decision."

Sugaya sighed, leaning against the desk. "Listen, you need to stop caring so much about your family disliking Rio. Otherwise, you'll just let it mess things up."

Mitsuko scowled, burying her face in his pillow. "I know, it's stupid!" she mumbled into the pillow, wanting to bash her head against the wall. "But I can't help it, okay! It bothers me."

She heard him sigh again and get up from the chair. "Dude, seriously, just chill." He dropped the cat next to her, earning her a whack in the face from its tail. "They're a bunch of jerks anyway."

"Ugh!" She shoved the fat heap of fur away when it tried to climb on her. "Stop."

Sugaya smirked, sitting next to her. "Look, tons of girlfriends and boyfriends get rejected by the parents, just don't let it get to you and...I don't know, make it clear that you're going to stick by Nakamura regardless."

Mitsuko sighed, resting her head on the pillow as the cat wandered over to Sugaya. "That could backfire badly..." She propped herself up on her elbows and looked over at him.

He shrugged, stroking that fat furball's ears again. "Yeah, well, you're going to have to introduce her properly to your family as your girlfriend eventually so..."

"I know." She chewed her lip, frowning. "It's only a matter of time..." Her stomach churned with dread. "We'll have to have dinner with them."

Sugaya's gaze widened. "Wait, so you're actually gonna tell Nakamura—?"