By: hase
Written for minato

Initial D © Shigeno Shuichi/Kodansha/to'max/OB Planning.

'The new Active Torque Control system, or ATC, uses sensors to monitor the car's lateral acceleration and steering wheel angle-'

There was a knock on my door before Keisuke's voice called out, "Aniki?"

I shrugged and stopped working on my laptop. I needed a break from all that typing anyway. "Come in, Keisuke."

The door opened; my younger brother stepped inside the room. He immediately sat down on my bed. I swiveled my chair around to look at him, wondering what he wanted. "What is it, Keisuke?"

To my surprise, Keisuke's cheeks turned slightly red as he squirmed uncomfortably. I raised one eyebrow and asked, "Keisuke, what's the matter with you?"

My younger brother smiled shyly as he answered, "Aniki, I need your help."

"Sure," I said.

"But first," Keisuke said, his cheeks turning even redder, "I guess I should tell you a few things."

I took a long, good look at my younger brother and noticed the expression on his face; he was embarrassed, nervous, proud, and yet extremely happy, all at the same time. I smiled, and I knew just what this conversation was going to be about.

"Aniki, I - Nakazato..." Keisuke stammered.

He expected me to be surprised at his announcement, and was considerably startled when all I said in reply was, "I know."

"What?" he said, blinking.

"I know," I repeated, smiling. "Oh, you've been seeing Nakazato for over a month now, correct?"

Keisuke stared at me, his mouth wide open in surprise. "How did you know?" he demanded.

I decided to amuse myself a little and tease Keisuke a bit. My younger brother is always fun to tease, since he gets all defensive and sulky. "Let's see," I said as I counted off my fingers, "I suppose it could be all those occasions when you sneaked off to Myougi and thought I didn't know. Or perhaps it was when you started writing his name with a little heart instead of a dot at the letter 'I'?" I shook my head. "No, that's not it either."

I eyed my brother, who was cringing in embarrassment as he sat on the bed. "Actually, I knew you were seeing Nakazato when you returned home late one night with bruises on your neck, and you were wearing his blue shirt." I laughed at the expression on Keisuke's face. "How else would you end up wearing his shirt?"

Keisuke was absolutely mortified. He changed the subject of the conversation. "Do you think anyone else knows?"

I shook my head. "No. I think I'm the only one who knows about you and Nakazato." I smiled mischievously at Keisuke. "So," I said, "how did you tell him that you liked him?"

"I just drove up to his apartment and told him the truth."

I raised one eyebrow in surprise. "Really? And then what happened?"

"He just stared at me with a bewildered look on his face and started stammering. I thought he didn't hear what I said, so I repeated what I told him." Keisuke smiled wryly.

"And what?"

"He punched me."

I laughed. "He punched you?!"

Keisuke nodded. "I almost hit him back, but I changed my mind when he said he was sorry. He said that he was just surprised." Keisuke grinned. "And then he kissed me."

"No wonder you changed your mind..."

"He said that he had to make sure he wasn't dreaming, so he punched me. When he saw me crashing down on the floor, he realised that it was for real so before I could get up and hit him back, he grabbed my collar and gave me a quick smooch." Keisuke grinned again. "Do you want to know what happened next?"

"Ah, no. Thanks anyway, but I can imagine just what happened next."

Keisuke looked disappointed, but he went on to ask, "Do you know what's tomorrow's date?"

"February 14th. Valentine's Day..."

"So..."

"What?"

Keisuke sighed. "What do you think I should get him for Valentine's Day?"

I laughed again, as my brother sat there with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Aniki!"

I stifled my laughter and forced myself to calm down. "Keisuke, I'm sure Nakazato will like whatever present you'd buy for him," I told him.

"Really?"

"Really." I didn't have the heart to tell him that I didn't know what would be an appropriate gift for Nakazato.

"Thank you, aniki." Keisuke smiled at me and left the room.

'Keisuke's in love.' I smiled at the thought and resumed typing at the keyboard.