"Arisa I'm home!" 

"Ah, about time I was getting worried!  Oh, Umi senpai hello."  Arisa called out to me and met us at the door.  Surprised to see Umi she bowed and greeted her immediately.

"Pardon my intrusion." Umi bowed back to her embarrassed to be in the household.

"Oh it's no intrusion, you're always welcomed!  This is perfect too, I made extra dinner on accident so there will be more than enough for us." Arisa smiled and headed back into the kitchen.

"Lets take our stuff to my room then we'll go eat."  I smiled at her hoping to make her feel more comfortable.  As stubborn as she is, she's still naturally shy. 

"Okay."

We made our way up the stairs and entered my room. 

"Pardon the mess." I said even though the only thing out of place was a book on my bed and some papers on my desk.

"Mess?  If Honoka's room looked like this I'd die of shock!"  We both started laughing.  I could see her body begin to relax as she moved across the room and set her bag on my bed.

"Come on let's eat, you look hungry." I said to her.  I guess I nailed it because she looked away and blushed. 

We went down to the kitchen and sat at the table together.  At first I notice she didn't eat much but after we talked a bit she ate more.  I couldn't help but wonder how many lunches, dinners, and breakfast she's missed by working so much.  I guess I was thinking about her so much I started to unconsciously stare at her.

"You okay Eli?" Umi said to me as we locked eyes.

"Oh, yes sorry I was zoning out..." I felt embarrassed at the fact I was genuinely staring at her. 

"You know it's been awhile since we've had someone come over that wasn't Nozomi onee-San."  Arisa smiled.

"You're right.  Ooo, I know let's eat some of the chocolate grandma sent us!"  I wanted to make sure Umi felt as though she was special.  That she wasn't alone.

"I'll go get it!"  Arisa stood and made her was over to the stairs.

"You don't need to celebrate just because I came over..." and smiled and let out a little giggle.

"Don't say that, you're special to me."

"What?" Umi became flustered with my sudden response.

"I-I mean we!  As in us! Me and Arisa.  Arisa and...I...." I can't believe I said that out loud.  Such a direct answer made even me feel flustered.  Come on Arisa break this awkwardness!

Arisa eventually came back with a box of unopened chocolates, she set them in the middle of the table and we all tried some. 

"Wow, these are really good!"  Umi was surprised and I could tell on her face she enjoyed every bit of it.

We all ate our share and helped clean the table. 

"Umi why don't you take a bath first, we'll finish up, I'll leave some clothes for you once we're finshed."  I said to her. 

"Okay..."  I could tell she was still shy, so I lead her to the bathroom and gave her a towel. 

"Let me know if you need anything else."  I smiled and left after she gave me a nod.

As soon as I closed the door my head nearly exploded. 

How am I supposed to take a bath after her!  I could feel my face heating up and wild thought started running through my head. 

I wobbled my way into my room and grabbed some clothes for her to wear to bed.  I made my way back to the bathroom and mustered up the courage to knock.

"I-I have your clothes here."  I said biting my lip afterwards.

"Oh, you can set them down in here!"  She said giving me permission to open the door.

I opened it slowly and saw her back covered in her long blue hair.  Although she looked pale from the lack of nutrients she'd been getting, she still looked like a porcelain doll.  I quickly stopped my staring and set the clothes down on the sink.  Before I closed the door I took one last glance at her back.  At that point I'm pretty sure I died inside.

I made my way back to the kitchen and wiped down the table.  I kept picturing her perfect skin and hazel eyes... I noticed I was continuously wiping the same spot over and over again.

I shook my head and threw away the paper towel I used. 

"You okay sis? You look red."  Arisa was finishing up the last dish as she watched me silk to the garbage can.

"I'm fine, just thinking about stuff..." I avoided her eyes and itched my cheek.  How can I look at my sister when I have these thought roaming around in my head.

"You can take a bath next, I washed the futon earlier since it was getting dusty, I'll grab it from drying outside."  She started to put away the dishes as I nodded to her and went back upstairs.  I noticed the bathroom was empty and my room door was open. 

She must have finished.

I entered the room and saw umi looking at herself in my mirror.  She was twisting her body to see her backside covered by the oversized t shirt.  It was somewhat big on me but since I'm taller and have a bigger chest size than her, it appeared to be even bigger on her.

I have a light knock on the door to let her know I was there.  She jumped a little surprised then became flustered knowing she was caught in the act of looking at herself. 

"I can find a smaller shirt for you if you'd like?" I said motioning to my closet.

"No this is okay, it's comfortable." She said shying away.

"Hey, do you remember when we went on that trip together as a group and we had one huge sleepover?" I said sitting on my bed remembering the past times.

"How can I forget?  You all started a pillow fight." She let out a soft laugh.

"Yea and I thought you were going to kill us."  We relaxed reliving memories of the trip. 

"You know, you Kotori and Honoka have been friends for a while right?  You must have sleepovers all the time."  I said feeling a bit lonely since I missed out on friendships my first two years of high school because of how busy I was.

"Well...we used too until...it's been awhile since we even hung out."  She started.  I could tell she was almost there, almost ready to talk but something was still keeping her from relaxing and letting her feelings out.  I didn't want to force her so I let her be for a moment as I went to take a bath.

"I'm going to go wash up, I'll be right back ask Arisa for anything you need."  I gave her a soft smile before I left with clothes in hand.

As I walked down the hallway I noticed Arisa...wet?

"Uhh...Onee-sama?  About the futon..."