Morning sunlight cut sharply through the tall living room windows. Dust motes drifted lazily in the bright, warm beams. Zenjiro sat heavily on the brown sofa.
He wore his crisp, dark high school uniform. The stiff fabric of the collar scratched uncomfortably against his neck. It was only the third day of the new school term.
Across the room, the sharp clatter of ceramic dishes broke the quiet air. Clara moved rapidly around the kitchen and placed hot plates of food onto the low dining table.
Footsteps padded softly down the hallway. Liora walked into the bright living room. She wore her spare dark school uniform. The thick, pleated fabric of her skirt swayed heavily with every single step she took.
Beneath the dark hem, her pale, bare thighs caught the morning light. Zenjiro stared directly at her legs. A heavy, tight knot formed instantly in his stomach.
Damn. I am really pathetic. I am drooling by just watching my sister's thighs.
Near the edge of the woven tatami mat, Liora stopped walking. She grabbed a blue plastic brush from a small wooden shelf and began running it through her messy blonde hair. As she raised her arms high over her head, the upward motion pulled the dark fabric of her skirt slightly higher. More smooth, pale skin became entirely exposed to the cool morning air.
I wanna lift her skirt so bad to see what's underneath.
Suddenly, Liora stopped brushing her hair. She looked directly at him sitting quietly on the sofa. She dropped the plastic brush onto the shelf and walked straight toward him. She did not head for the dining table at all.
Closing the short distance, she sat down completely sideways. She faced the left side of the room. Her waist slotted perfectly right in between Zenjiro's open legs. The soft, heavy weight of her bare thighs settled directly onto his left lap. She stretched her feet straight out across the length of the long cushions.
By the kitchen counter, Clara looked over her shoulder at them. She let out a long, tired sigh and went back to arranging the wooden chopsticks.
Zenjiro jumped slightly. He was completely startled by the sudden physical impact. He looked directly below his own chest. The thick edge of her pleated skirt rested right against his leg. Just to the left of the heavy dark fabric, the smooth expanse of Liora's pale thigh burned fiercely against his dark uniform pants.
In his mind, the dark craving spiked hot and fast. He wanted to reach out and lift that skirt completely out of the way. A sudden, tight pressure built rapidly below his stomach. He could feel himself reacting to the intense heat. It grew completely hard against the rough fabric of his trousers.
"Onii-chan," Liora said brightly. "I feel really better now."
Zenjiro forced his heavy head upward. Liora's face hovered dangerously close to his face. The sweet, floral scent of her shampoo filled his lungs instantly. She faced straight ahead, staring blankly at the wall.
"I wish we are in the same class," Liora complained loudly. "I hate those new classmates of me, always staring."
Swallowing a dry lump in his throat, Zenjiro forced his vocal cords to work. "What's the matter with staring?"
"They're boys," she huffed. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "I hate when they stare."
"But I am staring at you."
Liora finally turned her head and looked directly into his eyes. "It's different story, Onii-chan." She uncrossed her arms and leaned her upper body heavily to the left. She crashed directly into his chest and wrapped her arms tight around his waist. "Those boys are staring because they are a bunch of perverts. I hate perverts."
Against his ribs, she squeezed him in a tight hug. "But... my Onii-chan is not a pervert. Staring is fine, but it will be bad if they stare maliciously."
The sharp clatter of plates completely stopped. Clara overheard the loud complaint from the kitchen counter.
"Liora, be careful in school," Clara warned softly. "Avoid isolated places."
Keeping her arms locked firmly around Zenjiro's waist, Liora turned her face toward the dining area. "I know, Mom. I will never go to isolated places with other people, unless it is Onii-chan, of course."
"Good," Clara replied firmly. "Just make sure to remember that."
"Yes, Mom."
A crushing weight of pure guilt slammed violently into Zenjiro's chest. He could not focus on the breakfast smells or the bright morning light. Liora squeezed him harder. He felt the intense, burning heat of her soft body pressing flat against his own skin.
His thoughts were entirely malicious because he craved the exact thing Liora just claimed to hate. He just realized the terrible, ugly truth.
I am a pervert.
The harsh word struck him hard like an uppercut to the jaw. It was a flawless, perfect description of his current mental state. He was a complete fraud hiding behind a safe, brotherly title.
On the soft cushions, Liora shifted her weight. She shook her upper body slightly as she adjusted her tight hug. Every single time her body moved against him, the heavy friction sent a violent shock straight down his spine. The heavy pressure below his stomach grew painfully harder. He felt the raw, physical ache of it struggling against the tight seams of his uniform pants.
Staring blankly ahead, he imagined the dark pleats of her skirt again. He desperately wanted to lift it up to see exactly what lay hidden underneath.
Zenjiro was completely losing his mind right there in the bright living room. If he did not break free from her tight grip, he might lose all control entirely. He might actually reach down and lift her skirt right in front of their mother.
"Alright, let me go now," Zenjiro said fast. His voice sounded thin and strained. "We have to go to school."
He reached down and grabbed her wrists. He tried to pull her arms away from his waist, but Liora just tightened her grip further. Her fingernails dug firmly into his dark shirt.
"That's enough, Liora," Clara called out from the dining table. "Let go of your brother. The breakfast is almost ready."
Liora completely disobeyed the clear command. She stubbornly buried her face into his shoulder and hugged him even tighter.
Clara just sighed loudly and picked up a white ceramic bowl.
Zenjiro was about to snap. The suffocating heat and the painful physical pressure pushed him straight to the limit. He needed a fast, physical distraction to break the dangerous tension.
He thought of a childish weakness. He dropped his right hand and poked his index finger firmly and directly into Liora's left underarm.
Liora gasped loudly. The sudden, sharp tickle shot straight through her ribs. She almost let go of his waist. Zenjiro immediately repeated the fast motion. He poked her underarm again, and then he jammed his fingers lightly into her sensitive ribs. He attacked both her ribs and her underarm in rapid, alternating strikes.
Shrieking loudly, she completely broke her tight grip. She involuntarily let go of him and squirmed backward on the sofa cushions to escape the tickling fingers.
"Stand up now, princess," Zenjiro ordered quietly. He pulled his hands back. "We are going to be late."
Liora stopped squirming. She looked up at him with wide, demanding blue eyes. "Carry me."
At the table, Clara slammed a pair of wooden chopsticks down. "Liora, stop being a child."
"But I am still a child, Mom," Liora whined loudly.
Clara threw her hands up in the air. She completely gave up the argument. "Just carry her here, Zenjiro-kun. She will not stop until she gets what she wants."
Zenjiro stared at his tired stepmother.
She is right, he deduced silently. Liora will throw a big, loud tantrum at me if I ignore her demand. To keep the morning peaceful and completely safe, I have to comply with this ridiculous demand.
He looked directly down at the sofa.
After scrambling violently away from his tickling fingers, Liora had drastically shifted her posture. She sat with her knees bent sharply upward against her chest.
The sudden change in geometry altered the fabric of her school uniform. Gravity pulled the heavy dark cloth of her pleated skirt straight down toward the soft brown cushions.
In his direct line of sight, he could clearly see the thick edge of the pleated skirt resting against the side of her pale knee.
The angle was incredibly dangerous. Just a tiny movement of the heavy skirt to the right, combined with the downward pull of gravity, would entirely open the visual angle. His eyesight would bypass the thick fabric barrier completely. He would finally see the hidden undergarment beneath the dark pleats.
On the cushions, Liora moved slowly. She shifted her weight to prepare for him to lift her. The thick skirt moved slightly to the right. Gravity pulled the heavy hem down by just about a single millimeter.
Zenjiro froze entirely. His breath caught sharply in his throat.
Come on, move a little more, he begged silently in his head. A little more.
"Hurry up, Onii-chan, or we will be late," Liora complained.
She shifted her hips again. The dark skirt moved again. It slid about two millimeters to the right.