Trying To Fix It

"I'm home."

Kazuto said as he opened the door. He had come home from practice from the basketball club. He should be home by at least 06:00 pm or at the latest by 07:00 pm if there is a match with another school coming up.

Then he went up to the floor after taking off and putting his shoes on.

"Where's Misaki?"

About to looking for Misaki to ask forgiveness for the trouble he had caused, before he even looked for her, that person had already appeared before he noticed.

"..."

But instead of getting a warm welcome from his sister as usual, he instead found her glancing away at the corner of the wall with cold eyes. His sister who used to smile at him, now showed him that expression that left him without any word.

"Hmph!"

Misaki snorted coldly after staring for a long time and turned towards the kitchen, apparently returning to preparing her dinner since she was wearing an apron.

"Ugh..."

Kazuto felt a pain in his chest when Misaki treated him like that.

For the past 3 days Misaki had treated him coldly like that. Yet, he at least felt lucky that Misaki greeted him rather than not noticing his existence at all.

Of course the reason why Misaki treated him like that was because she was angry because all her old clothes were thrown away and replaced with the new clothes they bought. Misaki doesn't like wearing things like dresses and skirts, so she wants to make Misaki slowly wear them and get used to it so that she can be like a normal girl with the help of her friends. However, her mother seems impatient and instead donates Misaki's old clothes to a nearby orphanage and replaces them with the clothes they just bought. So now she had to wear them whether she liked it or not. And Misaki became angry and treated him coldly after that.

"Hah, how can I apologize at this point..."

He wondered.

Because whenever he tried to talk to her, Misaki would always either not respond or walk away from him, not giving him a chance to say anything.

Kazuto went to the kitchen to check on Misaki after putting his shoes on.

Inside, she was busy stir-frying for their dinner.

Sweat trickled down at her white face from the heat of the fire, her brown hair in a ponytail swaying as she moved to pick up another spice. This time Misaki wore a sleeveless smooth chiffon dress with a knee-length skirt that was perfect for casual wear or daily activities.

Kazuto always has a warm feeling whenever he sees Misaki's casual look, especially after she wears a dress that makes her look so adorable.

But that warm feeling turned into a cold sweat when he saw that almost all the ingredients for his dinner consisted with peppers. Starting from the stir-fry, zuccini with roasted peppers, omelette mixed with black pepper, plus oyster mushrooms with pepper. There are no foods without peppers as the ingredient!

Seeing this made Kazuto pale. After all, the vegetable he hated the most since childhood was peppers. Because every time he ate it, his mouth would taste inexplicably bitter. Therefore he always distanced himself from this type of vegetable. However, Misaki since the last few weeks has always made food with this ingredient even though not too much. However, today she made a dinner consisting of peppers in all her dishes, how could Kazuto not got a cold sweat when he saw this?

Was she angry to this point?

Kazuto thought.

He certainly couldn't and didn't want to escape from this. After all, it was a dish that his beloved sister made with all her heart. But the thought of himself eating all those bitter peppers made him fade.

Kazuto went to his room to change clothes with complicated feelings about how he would handle his dinner later.

And finally, it was dinner time.

Kazuto tried to make a stoic face with pale skin as he stared at his dinner.

Gulp...

""Itadakimasu.""

He swallowed hard before picking up the chopsticks and eating the meat first while mentally preparing.

On the other hand, Misaki ate quietly without paying attention to Kazuto's inner state. She seemed to be only focused on her food.

Kazuto had finished all of his food shortly after, leaving only the peppers. His face looked reluctant to eat it, because there was too much on his plate.

"Don't want to eat it?"

Misaki's voice awakened him.

He flinched for a moment hearing Misaki speak to him. After all, this was her first time communicating with him. He immediately looked at Misaki who glanced at him with a flat gaze, but there was little attention from her.

"Uhh..... Have you forgiven me?"

Kazuto asked awkwardly.

"Of course not."

Misaki snorted coldly at his question. She still vividly remembers the time she lost her 'chastity' as a man.

Besides, her old clothes had disappeared from her closet, and now she had to wear those pretty dresses, even though she didn't want to! Just remembering that made her angry!

But she immediately cooled her head when she saw Kazuto's guilty face.

She could only sigh inwardly, for treating her former self too well. She somehow regretted her promise to be the 'ideal sister'.

"Th-This...."

Misaki stretched her chopsticks in front of Kazuto's mouth with her face turned away.

"..."

Kazuto only responded in silence and was bewildered by her attitude.

"H-Hurry up, stupid Onii-chan! If I don't do this, you definitely won't finish your meal!"

Misaki snapped as she tried to contain her embarrassment. She actually intended to fix her relationship after hearing Endou's story, but she didn't know how to say and express it.

Kazuto was stunned for a moment before finally understanding and eating it with a happy smile.

"Don't smile. That's annoying."

She said as she handed him her chopsticks again. But Kazuto continued to eat it with that smile, like an angel's hand had fed him, no, Misaki's hand was even more sacred than an angel's to him! This made Misaki feel even more irritated and regretful for trying to forgive him.

"I still haven't forgiven you, you know."

"Mhmm..."

Kazuto replied with a grunt as he chewed on the peppers that should have tasted bitter to him, but with Misaki's hands feeding him made them somehow taste good.

"B-But that doesn't mean I hate Onii-chan. However, I didn't like last week's actions, it pushed me too much."

Misaki complained as she continued to feed Kazuto.

"So don't do anything like that again. Got it?"

This time Misaki looked him straight in the eye. Her gaze, filled with pleading in Kazuto's eyes.

He finally fell silent because he had understood his mistake. He shouldn't have forced his will on Misaki because of his own selfishness.

"Sorry, I shouldn't be selfishly managing your life like a mother. But as your brother, I always try to do my best for you. However, it seems to make you uncomfortable."

Kazuto stroked Misaki's head as a sign of apology. Misaki actually intended to dodge, but eventually gave in and accepted Kazuto's comfortable hand, even though she hadn't forgiven him.

"So..... Do you forgive me?"

Kazuto asked again.

"No, of course not."

Misaki answered straight away.

"As punishment, Onii-chan will continue to eat this much pepper until next week."

She added with a smirk. This time she wasn't going to let her chance to familiarize Kazuto with the peppers he dislike go away. Apparently, making her wear women's clothes wasn't without benefits, even though it felt unfair to her.

Their conversation now wasn't cold and awkward, and it was certain that Misaki was trying to forgive Kazuto.

"Ugh..."

Kazuto started to get goosebumps again at the thought of the number of peppers he was going to eat this week.

But it will pay off as long as Misaki forgives him. He thought.