Chapter 8: Older Sister, Group Study, and Open Forum

It was Saturday, 8:30 in the morning. Arisa was standing outside the train station where the guys of the Photography Club who will join the group study will go down. She wore a black shirt with a large cross design on it and white shorts. She also wore flip-flops. By the looks of it, she's wearing her house clothes since she doesn't need to be formal when going to take a visit at Kuromi's house. They're neighbors after all. She just went to the train station to pick up the guys.

"There're still thirty minutes before nine. I hope they'll come earlier so that we can have more time at Kuromi's house," Arisa looked at her wristwatch. It was a black digital clock.

A few minutes later, Arisa started to hear the incoming sound of the train that is about to arrive at the station. The train soon reached the station and stopped there. It then opened its doors and some passengers started to go out of the train. As the passengers went out, Arisa waited for the guys to come out. She waited until the train finally closed its door and started to move again. None of the guys arrived.

"What? I thought they're already on their way? Then, they should have been in that train!" Arisa got confused. She assumed that the guys will come out from that train since it's only a few minutes before the meeting time is up. She stood outside the station for nothing.

"Hey Arisa! There you are!" Arisa heard a familiar voice calling out to her. She looked around and from afar, she saw Tomoki waving at her. Shigeru and Makoto were also with him. They are sweating hard and seemed to be very tired. Arisa was surprised to see them like that. She totally thought they will be coming out of the train station. Now, she wondered what route did this three take to arrive at their meeting place.

Finally, the three guys reached Arisa. They stopped in front of her, catching their breath. Arisa was still wondering about how they arrive at the meeting place without riding the train.

"What happened to the three of you? Where the hell did you go and why are you so tired?" she asked, but the three guys couldn't answer quickly because of exhaustion.

Tomoki was able to recover and stood up straight, "Ahaha! Sorry Arisa! You see, we went down on the wrong station," he started scratching the back of his head while he laughed.

"What do you mean by went down on the wrong station?" Arisa got more confused because of Tomoki's answer. Shigeru and Makoto recovered as well then stood up straight.

Tomoki then continued explaining what happened to them, "Ahaha! How should I put it? Uh…," then Makoto suddenly jumped into the conversation, "IT WAS SHIGERU'S FAULT! He said that the next station will be the one we're going down, but we got the wrong station and we end up walking up to this station!"

"How many stations did you walk to get here?" Arisa asked as she looked at them with pity.

"Uh…. Three," Shigeru raised his right hand with three fingers lifted up while he projected an awkward smile with his eyes turned away from Arisa.

"WH-WHAT? THREE STATIONS?"Arisa was shocked. She couldn't imagine how they were able to walk three stations to get to their meeting place, "Wow… I'm surprised you were able to reach this place, despite the very hot weather."

"Ahaha! Well we're used in walking very far so it's not that much hard for us," Tomoki said and then he turned away and made a gloomy face, "though it's so hot that we're like walking in the desert. We're hungry and thirsty and we can't find any decent store to buy something…."

"APOLOGIZE, SHIGERU! You'd better apologize to us! This is your fault after all!" Makoto scolded Shigeru, but Shigeru flinched and fought back at Makoto, "Hey! I admit that I was wrong about going down on that station, but you're the one who suddenly ran out of the station! If you didn't run outside, we could have ridden the next train!"

Makoto and Shigeru glared at each other with electric sparks between their eyes. Tomoki laughed at them while Arisa just stared at them, "Uh…. Wait. Where are Yukichi and Kenta?"

Tomoki answered while Shigeru and Makoto kept on glaring at each other, "Oh good thing you asked. I almost forgot to say it to you. Unfortunately, Yukichi and Kenta can't go with us today. They sent us a message a while ago while we waited for them. Yukichi said he's in charge of their house today while Kenta said that the supermarket is on sale today so he can't miss that."

"So that's why there are only three of you here. Too bad," Arisa was quite disappointed, but then she didn't mind it, "Oh well! Since the three of you were here, we should enjoy our stay at Kuromi's house and make them regret not coming with us! Let's go!"

The four of them started walking their way to Kuromi's house. Even though they walked three stations, Shigeru, Tomoki, and Makoto doesn't look like they're exhausted at all. This proved how tough they are in walking. Arisa was quite amazed to see them having this kind of strength, "I'm amazed that you three can still walk after walking three stations to get here."

"Like I told you, we're already used to it!" Tomoki repeated what he said a while ago.

"We once walked from school to Makoto's house. It's like passing six train stations," Shigeru added, boasting how tough they are when it comes to walking very far.

Tomoki wore a blue shirt and black shorts that passed his knees. He also wore sandals and he is carrying a shoulder bag with him. Shigeru wore a black shirt with black and white checkered design at the end of the sleeves. He wore short jeans and like Tomoki, he's wearing sandals. Shigeru had a red backpack. Makoto wore a cap and a white shirt with a giant "L" design on it. Unlike the first two guys, he's wearing pants and he's also wearing white rubber shoes. He also had a shoulder bag. He also brought his T-Square.

"By the way,Arisa," Makoto called onto Arisa who turned around her head a bit to look at him, "Why Kuromi didn't meet us at the station? Shouldn't she be the one to bring us to her house?"

Arisa answered as they continued walking, "Ah yes. A while ago, I went to their house so that we can go meet you all, but she's busy cleaning the house. She was actually in panic so she asked me if I could meet you by myself and that's why I'm the only one you saw a while ago. This is her first time inviting a guy at her house after all," Arisa then took her phone from her pocket and sent a message to Kuromi, "There. I told her that we're on our way."

"Hey, how long are we going to walk before we reach her house?" Shigeru asked. Arisa quickly answered him, "About thirty minutes?" she then looked at her phone again and she saw Kuromi's reply, "Oh Kuromi said that she's ready. They're also preparing food for us."

"Wow Kuromi-chan's cooking for us huh? I'd love to try her cooking!" Tomoki excitedly said.

"Well actually she's just helping with the cooking. She's not actually the one cooking," Arisa answered Tomoki.

"Then, who is the one cooking?" Tomoki wondered.

"Her mother, I guess?" Shigeru made a guess.

Arisa shook her head, "Nope. During weekends, her parents are on their work."

"Then, who's the one cooking for us?" Makoto asked.

"Her older sister," Arisa told them.

"Ah her older sister," the three said, placing their closed right hand on their left palm. Then, they went silent for a few seconds, "SHE HAD AN OLDER SISTER?!"

"Oh Kuromi never mentioned that to you. No wonder you're surprised. Well her older sister is already in her last year in college and is about to graduate," Arisa said while she placed her index finger on her lower lip. She then stopped and noticed the three guys seriously talking to each other, "Hey. What are you doing?"

"Kuromi's older sister huh? I wonder how she looks like," Tomoki wondered while trying to imagine the face of Kuromi's older sister, "I bet she's also as pretty as Kuromi or even way prettier!"

Shigeru disagreed, "No! There is this certain theory that if the younger sibling had good looks, the older one is the opposite. Then, that means, she's ugly!"

"Where did you get that theory?" Arisa asked Shigeru. She disagreed on Shigeru's statement, "Anyway, you're wrong Shigeru. Kuromi's older sister is so beautiful! She looked like an older version of Kuromi except that she had white hair instead of silver."

The three guys tried to imagine the face of Kuromi's older sister, "Older version of Kuromi…. Plus white hair….."

"Stop thinking about it. You'll see her later anyway!" Arisa stopped them and continued walking, "I'm leaving you there if you don't stop!" The three eventually stopped and ran after Arisa.

After thirty minutes of walking, they finally reached the Karasawa household. The three guys were amazed seeing the house of Kuromi's family. The place is quite spacious. There is a small garden behind the fences of the house. There is black a gate that serves as the entrance to their house. The house's color is pure white.

"The gate is kind of out of place…," the three guys stared at the gate with pitying eyes.

"Don't mind the gate. I don't know why it's painted black either. Well then, I'll go call Kuromi," Arisa took out her phone again, but before she can call Kuromi, Shigeru suddenly interrupted her, "Wait, Arisa! We're not yet mentally prepared for this!"

"What are you talking about? We're just visiting. You're already used to it right? When you guys once visited our house," Arisa just ignored the three guys' complaint and started dialing Kuromi's phone number.

"Guys! Let us take a deep breath for a while. A very deep breath," Makoto said to Tomoki and Shigeru. The two guys nodded, agreeing with him and they started breathing hard.

"Will you knock it off?" Arisa shouted to them. She's now holding her phone onto her ear as she waited for Kuromi's response.

"We're talking about Kuromi-chan's sister here! What do we do if we met her so suddenly? We must prepare our minds for this!" Tomoki added as they kept on taking a deep breath.

So that was your problem? Arisa waited for Kuromi to answer. Then, she heard Kuromi talking already, "Oh Kuromi! We're already here outside your house. Yes we're here near the gate. Okay we'll wait!" After talking with Kuromi, Arisa removed the phone from her ear and turned back to the three guys who already stopped what they're doing, "Kuromi said she'll come out soon. We'll just wait for a while."

They noticed the door opened. There, Kuromi came out, "Hi guys! I'm glad you made it! Kuromi wore a red shirt and blue shorts. Because of this, Kuromi's slim figure is very noticeable. The three guys were astonished by Kuromi's amazing figure. This is their first time seeing her wearing something else beside her uniform.

"What happened to the three of you? Amazing right? That's my best friend," Arisa proudly said to them though she was ignored by the three guys since their eyes are stuck on Kuromi who is coming near them.

Kuromi opened the gate for them, "Welcome! I'm glad you made it!"

"Wow! As expected of Kuromi-chan! No wonder you're famous in our school! You're beautiful and hot!" Tomoki threw compliments at Kuromi right off the bat which made Kuromi depressed, "Uhh….. Thanks…."

Arisa hit Tomoki on the head, "Idiot! Don't say something like that in front of Kuromi! She gets depressed when she hears compliments about her looks!"

She gets depressed when she hears compliments huh? Hearing what Arisa said, Shigeru tried to say something to Kuromi, "Kuromi…. YOU'RE UGLY! YOU LOOK LIKE A ZOMBIE! And, that figure! You're so thin! Do you even eat? What are you, a Witch? Are you going to cry down there and start attacking us once we startled you? How's that!?"

Arisa beat the hell out of Shigeru, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? INSULTING MY BEST FRIEND LIKE THAT!"

Shigeru, after getting knocked down, was still able to respond to Arisa, "I thought…..if she gets depressed…..by hearing compliments…then, she will be happy…. if she hears insults…that's why…..ugh..," Shigeru fell unconscious.

"WHO THE HELL WOULD FEEL HAPPY AFTER HEARING HARSH INSULTS LIKE THAT? ARE YOU RETARDED?" Arisa continued scolding Shigeru, "Look at Kuromi! She's about to cry now! You're gonna pay for this!" she started cracking her hands.

Suddenly, Kuromi laughed. Arisa, Makoto and Tomoki looked at her confused. Why is she laughing? Shigeru then rose up from the ground and pointed his finger to Kuromi, "HAHA! SEE? She'll be happy if she hears insults! And, I therefore conclude! KUROMI IS A MASOCHIST!" Just before he can finish what he is saying, Shigeru was kicked by Arisa in the tummy which made him roll around on the ground in pain.

"Kuromi I'm sorry about that! He didn't mean what he said! He'll repent I promise! He'll see hell as punishment! Please forgive him!" Arisa screamed to Kuromi.

Tomoki and Makoto stared at the scenario. Can't we go in already? Shigeru was still rolling on the ground in pain.

"Haha! You are so funny! And, I'm not a masochist Shigeru. Haha! Don't mind it Tomoki. I just got used to hearing those words from different guys so I was quite shocked because I thought you're the same as them which made me depressed," Kuromi explained to them her reasons, "Anyway, come in!"

After that, they went inside Kuromi's house. The house has two floors. They first went to the living room. The room was quite spacious and there is a bunch of artworks hanging on the walls. There are three sofas placed around a rectangular, glass table that is placed in front of a television, which is a few meters away from the table.

"You guys stay here for a while. I'll go get some drinks," before Kuromi can get out of their living room, Tomoki halted her and asked something, "Hey Kuromi-chan, Arisa told me you have an older sister. Where is she?"

"Oh, my older sister? Oh yeah I haven't told you about it, right? She's currently at the kitchen. I'll introduce you to her later. Well then, enjoy yourselves," Kuromi left the room. Arisa, Makoto, Tomoki, and Shigeru were left. There was an awkward silence around the room.

Arisa broke the silence, "Hey what's wrong with the three of you? Why did you suddenly turn quiet after getting in here?"

"Like I told you a while ago, we're not mentally prepared for this!" Shigeru complained. Then, he pointed to Makoto who is sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, "Look at Makoto! He's already meditating! Can't you feel the pressure?" though Makoto looked like that, he is just sleeping without snoring.

"What pressure?" Arisa didn't get Shigeru's point. She's gone to Kuromi's house already after all. No wonder she's used to it.

Meanwhile, Tomoki was looking around the room, "Why are there so many artworks here? Was this supposed to be a gallery or something? Ahaha looks weird to me," his smile remained intact while saying that.

"Tomoki…you really need to learn to hold back onto your words," Arisa commented on Tomoki's frank attitude.

Tomoki just giggled, "What are you talking about Arisa? I'm just being honest that's all."

Too honest that it's dangerous! Arisa just stared at Tomoki.

A few minutes later, Kuromi returned to the room, "Ah guys! My sister said that lunch is ready! Let's eat first before starting doing our homework!" hearing that, the three guys froze. They're now about to meet Kuromi's older sister, "O-okay…."

Kuromi noticed the weird behavior of the guys, "Hm? What's wrong?"

Arisa explained to the reason, "They're nervous to see your older sister because they didn't expect that."

Kuromi just laughed at them, "What? Are you saying you're getting scared to meet my sister? Haha! Don't worry. She's very nice! Now let's go to our dining room!"

The four of them left their things on the living room. They then went to the dining room where their lunch and Kuromi's sister waits.

"You know what? When I told my sister that I'll have male visitors for the first time, she started jumping around. She's so excited to see all of you, but why is there only the three of you here?" Kuromi asked them, noticing the number of her visitors today. Arisa briefly told her the reason. Kuromi understood their reason though she still felt a bit of disappointment.

And soon they reached the dining room. As they entered, they were amazed by the amount of dishes prepared for them. The dining room was also filled with artworks hanging on the wall. The dining table was big enough for eight people to eat. There was a refrigerator on the corner and beside it was the kitchen, which is in another room connected to the dining room.

"Whoa! So many!" The four of them exclaimed as they looked at the food in amazement.

"Your older sister made this, right? This is so damn amazing!" Shigeru told Kumori. His eyes were already feasting for the food.

"Well yeah. These are all made by my sister," Kuromi quickly answered.

"By the way, where's your sister? I thought she's waiting here?" Arisa asked, noticing that the older sister wasn't there.

"Huh? What are you talking about Arisa? She's right there," Kuromi pointed to someone who was standing near the fridge. The guys turned to where Kuromi pointed and were shocked to see Kuromi's older sister. Her face was almost identical to Kuromi. Like what Arisa said, she's like an older version of Kuromi except that she had white hair that extends up to her back. She also had red eyes and she had a very slim figure. Like the younger sister, she had an exceptional beauty though hers is in another level. She was just looking at the guys, smiling.

SHE'S LIKE TWICE THE BEAUTY OF KUROMI! Uh no. THREE TIMES! The three guys can't keep their eyes off Kuromi's older sister.

"Ah neechan, these are my club mates Makoto, Shigeru, and Tomoki," Kuromi introduced the three guys to her older sister. The three guys were sweating and quickly bowed to her, "NICE TO MEET YOU KARASAWA-SAN!"

Kuromi's older sister went near them and introduced herself, "Oh so these are the guys you're talking about? Well nice to meet you too! I am Karasawa Mitsuki. Kuromi's older sister. Feel free to call me by my first name…," the three guys looked at her with eyes widen, "but make sure you add -neesan at the end or else I'll hang you on our wall like the artworks you see here and listen to your wonderful pleadings while drinking coffee!"

The three guys suddenly stood straight and were surprised, "Wait…. What?"

Mitsuki realized what she said and was frozen for a while. She then quickly took an iced-tea in the fridge and started drinking it. After that, she returned to her normal and beautiful smile, "Ahaha! W-what did I just said? I-I said I'm glad to see y-you here! Please take good care of my younger sister!" she then bowed before the three guys.

The three just laughed awkwardly, "Ah is that so? We thought we heard something awful just now…ahaha!" Tomoki said.

"If ever one of you laid a hand on my younger sister, I'll lock you inside a doghouse and put you under surveillance," before Mitsuki can go on with her verbal abuse, she drank again another glass of iced-tea, "Ahhh that hit it. As I was saying…..guys like you should just rot in the darkest corner of the earth in shame and admit to yourself that you're a freaking loser AHH GODDAMMIT! ICED-TEA WON'T WORK!" she threw the glass on the floor. The glass was made of plastic so it didn't break.

Kuromi gave her a glass of warm tea. Mitsuki quickly drank the tea which finally calmed her down, "Ah that was good! Ah I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I was just too excited!"

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! I THOUGHT KUROMI SAID SHE WAS KIND! SHE'S VERBALLY ABUSIVE! The three guys froze in shock after hearing harsh insults right on their faces.

"Uh how about, we eat for now and I'll explain everything later….," Kuromi told them.

After having their lunch, the six of them were finally full. They all returned to the living room to have a proper introduction with each other for the previous introductions were totally ruined by Mitsuki's verbal abuse.

"Ehem! Sorry for what I did a while ago. Well then, let me introduce myself again. My name is Karasawa Mitsuki and I am Kuromi's older sister. I always tend to be abusive with my words when I get excited and the remedy for this is drinking tea though I think iced-tea don't work on me. Again, I'm sorry for that!" Mitsuki then projected a beautiful smile which mesmerized the guys.

"Ah don't mind it. It's not your fault!" The three of them said in unison while they started acting shy in front of Mitsuki.

"Really? No I should be the one apologizing! I didn't mean to do that! Please forgive me!" Mitsuki acted cute. Sparkling effects started to appear around her.

SO DAMN MOE! The three of them thought in their mind. They totally fell on Mitsuki's trap.

"Kuromi. Your sister is really a sadist, don't you think?" Arisa whispered to Kuromi.

"Well I can't stop it. My sister is quite abusive with guys after all. That's a long story. Arisa you should have told them about that too!" Kuromi whispered back to Arisa. They just looked at Mitsuki who was just giggling while the three guys were still under her spellbind.

"Hey you three! Snap out already! And, Mitsuki-neesan! Stop making fun of them already! We're here to do our homework!" Arisa finally decided to stop this situation.

"Tch! You're such a killjoy Arisa-chan," Mitsuki pouted.

"STOP ACTING LIKE A CHILD!" Arisa scolded her though she was ignored.

"Seriously neechan. Stop it already," Kuromi joined in as well. Hearing her younger sister, Mitsuki stopped, "Oh well."

Mitsuki then made a serious look at the three guys. The three felt nervous as she gazed on them, "Well I'm done with introducing myself. It's your turn now."

Tomoki started the introduction, "Ah I'm Chikafuji Tomoki. It's nice to meet you Mitsuki-san!"

"Neesan!" Mitsuki glared at Tomoki which scared the hell out of him.

"A-ah y-yes! Neesan!" Tomoki corrected his honorific.

Makoto then introduced himself though in a dull way, "I'm Mashiro Makoto. Nice to meet you…."

Mitsuki move her eyes nearer to Makoto which surprised him, "W-what? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Well I felt something around you. You're in love aren't you?" they were shocked to hear Mitsuki's observation. HOW DID SHE KNOW THAT?! Mitsuki laughed, "That's just a hunch though most of my guesses are 90% correct."

It was then Shigeru's turn to introduce, "I am Shirotsuki Shigeru. Nice to meet you….."

"Shirotsuki?" Mitsuki remembered something, "By any chance, are you a relative of Shirotsuki Yuka?"

Shigeru was surprised, "Huh? Ah yes. That would be my older sister. How did you know her?"

"Well she's my best friend. We're former classmates!" Mitsuki said, "So you're her younger brother huh…. I think we'll get along! I'm sure you've heard of 'that website' right?"

Shigeru understood what Mitsuki was trying to say. He then grinned and nodded, "Ah of course I know that!" they both started laughing in an evil way. The others stared at them confused.

"What's with them?" Kuromi wondered as Mitsuki and Shigeru emit a dark aura around them.

Mitsuki stood up and decided to leave the young ones so that they can start doing their homework, "Well then, I guess I'll be leaving you here for a while. Do your homework now. See you later," she waved at them then went out of the room. Once she closed the door, Mitsuki smiled. I'm happy for you Kuromi! I'm glad you manage to make male friends. Unlike me when I was still studying in Redpine! Ahaha oh well good old days….

They started taking out their notebooks and the paper that Ichiro gave to them to start answering their homework. Each of them tried their best to help each other, but the problems were too hard even if it's already five of them working together. It took them an hour to finish one problem and they weren't even sure if their solution and answer were correct.

"Ahh let's rest for a while!" Arisa suggested.

"I agree. Let us take a break for a while then continue later," Makoto nodded.

While they are taking a break, Shigeru decided to look around the living room in which he noticed a book under the table, "Hm? What's this? Oh, I know this book!"

"Ah that was my sister's favorite novel. She told me to read it and it was very good!" Kuromi responded. She was glad to see that Shigeru also knows the book.

Tomoki joined in with them, "Ah isn't that a novel of Gian Shigure? That's one great author!"

"You also know him Tomoki?" Kuromi was even gladder to see that Tomoki knows it too.

"Haha only a bit," Tomoki answered while he scratched the back of his head.

Makoto saw the cover of the book and decided to join in the conversation as well, "I saw Koichi reading this book once. He told me that this Gian Shigure was his favorite author."

Arisa, feeling out of place, also joined in, "Am I the only one who doesn't know about this book?"

"That's because you only read Beelzebub," Shigeru told Arisa which made the girl to knock him out.

Kuromi then remembered something about Makoto, "Ah Makoto-kun! How are you and Tsugumi-san doing now?"

Makoto was surprised, "W-what the hell? Why did you suddenly jumped to that topic?"

"Oh come on! You never tell me anything about it! I'm curious!"

"Who are you, Chitanda Eru?" Shigeru and Tomoki commented.

"Oh who is this Tsugumi you're talking about?" Arisa got interested as well which gave more pressure to Makoto.

"Makoto is in love with her," Tomoki answered straightforwardly which shocked Makoto, "TOMOKI!"

Arisa and Kuromi got more curious and are now pressuring Makoto to tell everything, "Tell us more about it!" Makoto can't stop them. They are girls after all. If it's love we're talking about, they will always be active about it.

"Tch fine," Makoto gave in, "So, what do you want to know?"

"Tell us more about Tsugumi-san! How did you meet her? How did you come to love her? Something like that!" Kuromi asked. Her eyes were filled with curiosity.

"In that case, let Shigeru tell you more about her since he had a database of all the students of Redpine plus Tsugumi is our classmate!" Tomoki suggested, jumping into their conversation.

Shigeru refused, "I don't mind, but wouldn't it be better if Makoto will be the one to say it? He's the one on the spotlight after all," the others agreed with him. What's the use of talking about someone you like if you're not the one who is going to tell everyone about it?

Makoto sighed. He can't refuse now. He started, "Oh well. Since most of you here already know it, I might as well tell everything. I'll give my trust to all of you so please keep this a secret from the other members. Understand?"

Kuromi and Arisa nodded like children following someone older than them. Shigeru and Tomoki remained silent and just watched at them since they already know the story.

"Well then, here it goes….."

NOTE: Sorry for the cliffhanger! Ahaha! I just had to do that. Anyway, we had a new character! The sadistic older sister of Kuromi. Let's see what role will she have in our story. Next chapter, we get to see the story between Makoto and Tsugumi. How will this arc progress? Wait for the next chapter! :D