Makoto drove slowly, trying to make sense of everything.
Mika's kiss still tingled on his cheek. It had been quick, barely there, but somehow it had turned his whole world upside down.
"Well, there's no way she's getting Yuna to agree to us running together", he thought.
Part of him was relieved. Part of him wasn't.
"Better not get my hopes up. I should just focus on being a good brother." He hummed along with the radio, some pop song he didn't know the words to, trying to pretend his life hadn't just gotten way more complicated.
When he walked through the door, Yuna was on the couch with pizza boxes scattered around her and textbooks she'd clearly given up on.
She had a blanket wrapped around herself, face lit up by her phone screen.
She was pulling on a Genshin gacha banner, tapping the summon button over and over. She didn't even glance up when he came in.
"You're late," she said flatly. "Twenty-two minutes."
She tapped again. Purple light flashed across her face. A four-star weapon.
She made an annoyed sound. "Did you have a nice chat? Tell her all your hopes and dreams? Ask her to marry you?"
Another tap. Another four-star weapon.
She slammed her phone down on the coffee table hard enough to make him wince.
"Well?" Her voice went higher, sharper. "Are you going to say something, or are you just going to stand there smelling like another girl's perfume?"
She finally looked at him, and her eyes were cold.
Makoto grunted and hung up his coat. "Just small talk. Nobody proposed or fucked or anything."
He walked over and leaned down to look at her screen. "Need help with that? Maybe a lucky charm for your weapon pulls?"
Yuna's whole body went stiff when he got close. She could smell something floral on him. Not her scent. Mika's.
"I don't need your help," she said, voice low. "And I definitely don't need your 'lucky charm.'"
She grabbed her phone, movements sharp and jerky. "Actually, I think I'm done for tonight."
She stood up, letting the blanket fall to the floor. "I'm going to bed,"
She stomped away, each footstep deliberate and angry.
But she stopped in the doorway without turning around. "And don't even think about coming into my room tonight. I'm not in the mood for any of your games."
She turned then, and her eyes were wet. "And for the record," her voice cracked, "I'm not giving up that easily, either."
Then she was gone, door clicking shut behind her.
Makoto went to his room feeling oddly empty.
He put on an episode of DanDaDan on Netflix, but he couldn't focus.
His mind kept wandering. "Will Mika text her? What were they doing right now? Were they talking? Planning something?"
His phone sat silent on the nightstand.
No angry texts from Yuna. Nothing flirty from Mika. The silence was worse than any of Yuna's usual outbursts.
He tried watching the anime with its ridiculous action scenes and shameless humor, but his eyes kept drifting to his closed door, to the strip of hallway light underneath.
He could hear Yuna's TV through the wall, just a low murmur that told him nothing.
He was about to give up and try to sleep when his phone finally buzzed.
A text from Yuna.
Yuna: She wants to go for a run with you tomorrow morning.
His stomach dropped. Another buzz.
Yuna: Six AM. Don't be late.
Yuna: And for the record, I'm coming with you.
Yuna: So you had better be wearing your least-flattering sweatpants. And a shirt that covers your disgusting, fat belly.
Then, five minutes later, another buzz.
Yuna: And if you even THINK about looking at her ass while you're running, I will trip you. And then I will laugh.
Yuna: Good night, you fucking traitor.
Feeling daring and mischievous, he typed back.
Makoto: Good night, my lovely stepsis 😉.
Makoto: Got anything for me to fap to tonight? It's hard to sleep.
His phone buzzed immediately, vibrating angrily against the nightstand.
Yuna: Are you KIDDING me right now?
Yuna: After all that shit, and you're still daring to ask me for fap material?
Yuna: Unbelievable.
Silence. He could practically feel her fuming through the walls.
Then another buzz. A picture.
Yuna sat on her bed with her legs crossed, wearing those ridiculous unicorn pajamas.
But the top was unbuttoned just enough to show the curve of her breasts and the dark hickey he'd left earlier.
Her face was furious, eyes like ice, but her other hand rested on her thigh, fingers brushing the hem of her pajama shorts.
Yuna: And for the record, this is the last one you're getting for a week.
Yuna: So you had better make it last.
Yuna: And if you wake me up with your disgusting, grunting noises, I will smother you with your own pillow.
Yuna: Now, good night, you fucking pig.
Makoto couldn't help himself.
Makoto: I can't fap to that. It's too mild.
He took a picture of his half-hard cock and sent it to her.
Then, in what would go down as one of the stupidest moments of his life, his thumb slipped, and he sent the same picture to Mika, too.