"Be careful, you two."  A male voice called out.<br/><br/>"Yeah, yeah, Nisen."  Another man's voice, almost identical if not for the gruffer tone, snapped back.<br/><br/>Kimekomi Ichigo stood outside the small home where she lived with her brothers, toying with the yellow tie of her boy's uniform as she waited for Sanro to stop arguing with Nisen and walk out of the door.  For all intents and purposes, it seemed a normal day, though she knew well that that the weird happenings had worried the Ningyo twins.  It was the only reason why Sanro adamantly refused to take his motorcycle to work, preferring to escort his sickly sister back and forth from the school that she attended and he worked at.<br/><br/>"Fucking hell, if he is so worried, why doesn't HE escort you..."  A handsome twenty-something man in a perfectly ironed suit marched out of the house, adjusting his tie with a grimace.  If it were not for the polished steel-toed boots on his feet, most would have assumed he was a proper Japanese businessman.  "Imouto-chan, I know you hate us asking so many times, but... all set?"<br/><br/>"Yes, big brother."  The dark-haired girl let out a sigh.  Both brothers would ask three times during different parts of the family's morning routine of getting ready if she had everything together, as if she was still the 12-year-old girl that she had been when they had first come into her life.<br/><br/>"Right."  He nods and adjusts the bright yellow tie that was part of her uniform, grinning as he patted her head.  "Let's get going.  We know how much you hate being woken up early, but I have a staff meeting, and Nisen is on his 'from-scratch ramen' binge.  Again."  He rolled his eyes as Ichigo giggled.<br/><br/>"Sanro-kun, at least he is good at making it!"  She hits his arm playfully as they walked.<br/><br/>"Iya!  Sis, he uses it as an excuse every damn time!"<br/><br/>"Like you saying that you have to grade papers and make me do the cleaning?"<br/><br/>"Hey, English is a..."  The man rubbed his neck where three dots marked him as himself, and not a copy of Nisen, "Well, you know.  Language that shouldn't be coming out of a young lady's mouth, or into her ears."<br/><br/>Again, Ichigo rolled her eyes, an action very much like Sanro's, as he had been made as kin to her, another reminder to the 16-year-old that she was the only 'real' person in the family, with her brothers being made from daydreams and fluff and given heart in a way that she couldn't seem to find out.  Both men were extremely tight-lipped about the details, saying she would learn when it was time and not a moment sooner.<br/><br/>"Come on now, don't sulk.  Guys will be wondering what the hell I did to make you depressed."  Sanro patted her head again as he spoke.  "Even if the dumbasses don't need any encouragement..."<br/><br/>"Language, Sanro."  The correction of his words was automatic, a habit she had gained from Nisen after he began being scandalized by his twin's foul mouth.<br/><br/>"Whatever.  I'm an adult, Ichi.  You still aren't."  The banter continued for the rest of the walk to the school, though as they got closer, the topics switched from the private doings within the home to neutral, sundry things that would protect Sanro's origins as a creation.  When the two finally got to the school gates, Sanro carefully pecked the top of her head and said, "You know the drill.  Be good, pay attention, don't do anything I would do when upset, blah blah."<br/><br/>After a quick text to tell Nisen that she had arrived safely, she took a deep breath, adjusted her clothes, and walked within the walls of the school courtyard.