Identity ~ Ima Aru Jibun

", look after your brother. You know that he's very shy and doesn't make friends easily. Ok?"

, newly transferred second year student of Seigaku, sighed and flicked a stray strand of hair back. "Yes 'kaasan, I'll keep an eye on Leon today."

Leon himself entered the kitchen. "Good morning 'kaasan, oneesan." His short mop of black hair was carefully brushed but his fringe still fell into his eyes.

couldn't help but smile and ruffle his hair. No matter how much everyone ranted on about her 'tensai' little brother, Leon was still the cutest little thing to her. "Morning, Leon."

He scowled at her for messing his hair. "Don't do that! Do you know how long I spent brushing it?"

She continued to smile and patted his head.

"'KAASAN!" Leon yelled, "'s picking on me again!"

**********

"Hey, isn't that the little tensai, Leon?"

"Did you hear? He's going to be attending third year mathematics and science classes."

"Who's the girl next to him?"

"Maybe that's his sister…"

ignored the whispers and looks cast at their back. She clenched her teeth and felt like running home. It was only halfway through the day and it was already this bad. didn't want to know how much worse it could get. It had been the same through grade school. It was as if she didn't have an identity of her own apart from being 'Leon no oneesan'.

She gritted her teeth and knocked on the door of the principal's office. He had sent a note requesting their presence in his office during lunch break. 'No doubt to welcome Leon.' thought cynically. It was always the same everywhere she went.

Leon no oneesan… Leon no oneesan… Never just . She just hoped that someone in this place remembered who she really was.

**********

Leon looked around at his class, feeling a little bewildered and more than a little frightened. It was his first time in a senior classroom. He wished that had come in with him.

"Are you Leon-kun?" A soft voice asked from next to him.

Leon looked over and found a smiling, brown haired boy with closed eyes. He nodded slightly.

"Nya!" A bouncy red head suddenly appeared next to the smiling boy and hung off the other boy's neck. "Fuji! It's the little tensai! Hajimemashite Leon-kun, I'm Kikumaru Eiji and your classmate for this mathematics class and science too."

Fuji watched the much younger boy closely and held out a hand. "Fuji Syuusuke, Yoroshiku."

Leon's eyes widened as he took the hand. He liked to play tennis and many of his old friends had often talked about the tennis tensai Fuji Shuusuke. "You… You're that Fuji!"

The other boy never stopped smiling.

He was still smiling when they went out of class with a much more vocal Leon next to him.

"Oneesan!" Leon spotted his older sister and ran over waving a quick goodbye to Fuji and Kikumaru. gave him a fond smile and patted his head causing him to scowl.

"How was school today?" They walked out of the school gates together and turned onto the road that would lead them home.

"It was good! I met these two really nice senpais and…" Leon started chattering away.

tuned it out a little. She felt glad that Leon was comfortable in his classes. The same couldn't be said for her. Her classmates and even some of her teachers had asked if it was true that she was 'Leon no oneesan'.

A tugging on her arm made her look down. Leon's voice was small, "Oneesan? Are you angry with me?"

She ruffled his hair. "No. Why should I be?"

His small face was serious as he answered. "Fuji-senpai said that I mustn't take it personally if you're angry at me, so it's alright if you are."

's eyes narrowed. "Who's this Fuji-senpai?"

"Fuji Syuusuke! He's the genius tennis player. I wish I was a tensai at tennis instead of math and science…" Leon started babbling on about his most favorite person in the world.

She stopped walking and crouched down, interrupting his words. "Why would Fuji-senpai say something like that to you?"

"Because he says he has a younger brother, Yuuta, who plays tennis as well and he hated being called Fuji no otouto so much that he changed schools and used to never speak to Fuji-senpai. They're back to being good friends now." Leon assured her quickly but then looked down at the ground.

"Oneesan… You won't leave me by myself would you?" His voice sounded slightly panicked at the very thought.

's gaze softened and she hugged Leon tightly. "Never." However, her eyes were distant as she thought about the boy named Yuuta.

**********

"Oneesan… Oneesan!" looked down to find Leon shifting from one foot to the other.

They had settled in well in the past month. rarely missed her old school and her classmates, after that first week, rarely asked about Leon or referred to her as 'Leon no oneesan' anymore. She had watched fondly as Leon bonded closely with some of the third year boys, especially Fuji Syuusuke and Kikumaru Eiji. Almost by default, and the two became friends.

"-chan!" Kikumaru's voice sounded right next to her ear.

"Eiji-senpai!" Leon's voice grew even more excited. "Have you come to tell oneesan too?"

"Tell me what?"

"That we can go and watch the practice match against St. Rudolph this Sunday!" Leon piped up again, now jumping up and down.

When looked unsure, Leon pouted, "Please? I really want to go and 'kaasan won't let me go if you don't…"

Kikumaru joined in with a pleading look of his own. "Come on -chan…"

An innocent smile. "You know… Fuji Yuuta goes to St. Rudolph. I'm sure Fuji will be glad to introduce the two of you…"

flushed and stammered out. "That's not it… I…" In desperation, turned to Leon, "Fine. We'll go this Sunday. I'm sure you know the time and place?"

He nodded vehemently and grinned, slapping a high-five with Kikumaru. "Yeah!"

She shook her head but let out a sigh of relief. Over the past month, Fuji had been talking about his younger brother non stop in front of her. had been interested and listened intently as Fuji told her all about the sibling rivalry that he and Yuuta had. She had been glad that she and Leon got along much better but was much more interested in learning about Yuuta. He sounded like such a nice boy, despite the fact that he sometimes ignored Fuji. understood how he felt since she felt that way sometimes when everyone fussed over Leon. Little by little, began listening to Fuji just to hear about Yuuta.

Then, out of the blue one day, Fuji had given her a picture of Yuuta and had fallen head over heels in love with him.

adored the slight scowl that Yuuta wore in the photo. Fuji had smilingly informed her that he had taken the picture just a month ago. Ever since then, had been unable to get Yuuta out of her mind and she hadn't even met him yet!

"…-chan?" Fuji's soft voice drew her out of her musings.

She jerked up and tried not to blush under his gaze. "Fuji-senpai! What are you doing here? Don't you have practice today?"

He smiled; in fact, had never seen him without a smile. "Nope. Since we have a practice match against St. Rudolph on Sunday, Tezuka let us have a day off today."

Blue eyes opened and watched her, suddenly serious, "Say, -chan? You are coming on Sunday to cheer us on right?"

nodded. "Hai…"

Fuji's eyes became closed like they normally were. "Good. I'll be sure to introduce you to Yuuta. He's very interested in you."

Her eyes widened and she flushed. Kikumaru and Leon exchanged a grin like they knew something she didn't.

didn't have a good feeling about this.

**********

Fuji Yuuta scowled as his team was greeted by the Seigaku captain and regulars. His captain Akazawa Yoshirou and manager, Mizuki Hajime, were doing all the talking on behalf of the team.

Yuuta let his eyes roam and they landed on his brother.

"Yuuta!" Fuji waved and Yuuta scowled harder, looking away immediately. As soon as Mizuki and Akazawa came back to discuss the line up, he told them that he was going to refill his water bottle.

Mizuki twirled a lock of hair around his finger, "Be sure to come back in five minutes Yuuta-kun."

"Sure, sure." The second year nodded and took off at a run, not wanting his aniki to come chasing after him.

Still, Yuuta should still have been paying attention to where he was going. That way, he may have avoided the collision.

"Ow!" He only stumbled back a couple of steps but the other person landed on the floor with a thump and her bag went flying.

Yuuta blinked and quickly pulled the girl up, "I'm sorry. I should have been watching…" He dusted her bag off and handed it back to her.

She looked at him and gasped. Yuuta didn't pay any attention. Instead he bent down and picked up her wallet, which had fallen out of her bag. Yuuta couldn't help but notice the picture of himself stuck in it.

"Eh…?!" Yuuta looked up at the girl and realization dawned along with a blush. "Ah… You're -chan right?"

took another quick peek at Yuuta before lowering her head in embarrassment. "Hai… I'm so sorry Yuuta-kun. I…"

Something registered, she looked up puzzled. "How do you know my name? I don't think we've met before."

This time he flushed. "Ah..."

Yuuta cleared his throat, "Erm. Aniki mentioned you a couple of times and… and he gave me your picture." The flushing boy's voice almost squeaked on the last couple of words.

"Oh…" Both of them fell into silence, not knowing what to say to the other.

"Here." Yuuta managed to regain control of his blush and dropped the wallet into her hand.

"Then you don't mind me having your picture in here?" asked shyly.

He grinned and red slowly infused his cheeks again. couldn't help but think that it made him look cuter than ever. "It's alright."

Yuuta waved at her and ran back towards the courts, "It's fair since I have yours in my wallet too…"

Staring after his rapidly disappearing shadow, hugged her wallet to her. Yuuta's a very special person.

**********

After the practice matches, Fuji took the chance to sneak up on his younger brother. "Yuuta."

The younger boy stiffened before relaxing. "Aniki." A quick glance around told him that Mizuki-san and Akazawa-buchou were both occupied. "What is it?"

Fuji's smile didn't dim a watt. "Have you met -chan yet?" He watched in satisfaction as Yuuta's cheeks colored.

"Maa… No need to be embarrassed Yuuta. I'm sure she'll agree if you ask her out." Fuji spoke, his smiling expression unchanging.

The now heavily red, Yuuta stood and huffed. "I'm not going to aniki. We've just met and…"

"Fuji-senpai? Eiji-senpai told me to…" 's bright voice trailed off as she spotted Yuuta. She flushed, remembering before and bowed a little. "Yuuta-kun."

He nodded awkwardly back.

Fuji turned to . "Ne, -chan? Yuuta wants to ask you out. Are you going to say yes?"

Both parties mentioned went wide eyed and thought of dying of embarrassment.

"Aniki!" Yuuta hissed and looked mortified.

"Fuji-senpai!" squeaked at the same time.

"There's no need to be embarrassed!" The elder Fuji stated clearly pleased by their reactions. A slightly sly smile replaced his usual one. "However, if Yuuta doesn't intend to ask you out, I will…"

Fuji slid an arm around and hugged her close. Yuuta's mortified expression changed to a scowl and he grabbed 's hand and tugged her out of Syuusuke's grasp. "Aniki!" This time, his tone was a warning.

The original smile was back. "See, Yuuta. That wasn't so hard, was it?" Yuuta scowled harder when he realized he had been tricked. Before he could do anything, however a new voice was heard.

"Nya! That is so cute!" Kikumaru popped out from behind a tree. "So are you guys official now?"

had become mute from embarrassment and having Yuuta hold her hand.

Yuuta gripped her hand tighter and glared at his brother and his brother's best friend. "So what if we are?"

made a suffocated squeaking noise from beside him. Yuuta immediately turned to her with a flush of red, "Are you alright -chan?"

She couldn't trust her voice, so she nodded.

"You don't mind do you?" looked up confused at Yuuta's question. He looked away for a brief moment and then back at her. He was blushing furiously again. "About going out with me? I do really like you…"

"N… No. I mean, I… I li… like you a lot too." took a deep breath and made herself calm down. She continued, slightly calmer, "I want to go out with you too."

His smile was all she needed for reassurance that she wasn't having a dream.

Kikumaru couldn't help it. "Awwww… Kawaii!"

Fuji just continued to smile.

**********

That night, walked home with Leon and Yuuta. Leon was very amused by the whole thing.

"I knew it all along!" He laughed. "Fuji-senpai told me that you two were going to be perfect for each other …"

and Yuuta looked at each other, both slightly embarrassed.

Leon ran ahead of them and turned, "I'll go home by myself today oneesan. I'll tell 'kaasan that you'll be out with your boyfriend."

tried to call him back but to no avail. She looked helplessly at Yuuta who shrugged and smiled. "Want to go over to the park? It can be our first date…"

She couldn't help the smile that crept over her face along with the almost permanent flush she had. "Sure."

Only the slightly swaying flowers and the floating leaves saw Yuuta reach out to gently tug closer and place a kiss on her cheek. And only the softly blowing wind knew the words that he whispered in her ear.

"I love you."

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