“Of course, I promise. What is it…?”

Lain looks very serious as she thinks over her words. “Well, the first isn’t really confirmed yet… Uhm, the doctors believe that I might be immortal, or like unageing or something…”

“Oh… uhm, congratulations? That is certainly surprising. Why would be worried about…?” I stop myself as Lain looks at me sadly and the pieces soon fall into place. “Oh… I see.”

“Ya… I’ll probably out live everyone that I know and love… It’s hard to think about it, but in a hundred years, I’ll still be like this, and you guys will be…” She lets out a tired breath. “I prefer not to think about it…”

“Is this why you we’re mentioning me becoming like you?”

She gives me a little smile and a shrug.

“Oh, Lain if it means…!” But she stops me from finishing.

“Please. Don’t make any promises… I don’t want to get my hopes up. If the doctors fail… I would be devastated. Please just keep it as something to consider. And please don’t tell mom and dad; I don’t want them to worry about me more than they already do.”

“Lain… I promise. What was the second thing you wanted to tell me. This wasn’t the only thing bothering you, was it?” I say as I place my hand on her shoulder. Though my hand, I can feel as she shakes a bit, but I know that it isn’t from the cold.

“Right…” she swallows nervously, “Well you already know that I am in love with Sky, right?”

“Yes?”

“Hmmm…” Part of why I can’t ask her out yet… it’s because I need to get something off my chest. Something that I have been hiding for a long time, and I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I don’t do it. If I were to start a relationship with her while holding this secret in my heart…”

Her shaking increases, and I can see as tears start to form in her eyes. Concern grows in my heart and I scoot closer to her, “Lain, what is it? You call tell me. I promise, I won’t tell anyone.”

“You promise?” She asks, the first tear already running down her cheek.

“Yes, what is it. Please.”

Taking a shaking breath, she turns to me, “I’ve been in love with you for a long time. I could just never bring myself to tell you… I’m so sorry.” Choking a bit on her last words as the tears fall.

I freeze a bit as my mind tries to process her words and I eventually work up a question, “By love, do you mean…?”

“Yes…”

“Oh, I see… For how long have you…”

“I always had a crush on you. Ever since we first met in high school. I… fell in love with you when you gave me my name. It made me really happy… and I always thought you were beautiful. Especially, when you were playing soccer… or talking about anime and videogames with me…”

“Lain, why are you crying? I mean yeah, I’m surprised. But it’s not like you need to cry over this. I’m not going to hate you for it.”

“Because I feel like a monster! Even though I want to be with Sky, and I have already sworn to take care of her, to be responsible for her… I couldn’t let my feelings for you go. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I was with her, but was always thinking about someone else. Thinking about a relationship that could have been. Thinking about cheating on her with someone else! With someone that is my sister! I can't help but worry that this will ruin everything...”

She covers her eyes with her hands as the tears fall and I can’t help but pull her into a hug.

Gently, I pet her back and talk to her softly, “Lain, please. Please stop crying, everything is going to be alright. You don’t need to worry about anything.”

She leans into me and hugs me tightly without hurting me. Shaking, she asks, “How…?”

“Well…” I say with a tear falling from my eye, “Because I’m going to have to reject your confession… I’m sorry Lain, I only love you as a sister and a best friend. Plus… I’m not gay… I’m only into guys.”

“Really?”

“Ya, so even if you weren’t with Sky. We can’t be lovers.” I tell her sadly.

“You're not lying right? You don’t have to for me. I can take being rejected.” She says into my shoulder.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I shake my head, my face buried in her hair, “No, I’m not lying. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

She pulls away from me a bit and wipes away some of her tears with a tired laugh, “You know… I could never figure out if you were or not. I spent so much time trying to figure out how you swing, and every time I was just left confused, hahaha…”

I tilt my head a bit in confusion as I think, “… Oh! So, all those times when…?”

“Ya, I was testing if you were gay or not…”

“You know you could have just asked? Right?”

“I was too embarrassed; scared that I would weird you out and scare you off.”

“Lain, you are weird. It’s part of why I became your friend. And you should have known that I don’t care if someone is gay or not.”

She looks down, “I know, I was just being an idiot… I should have just told you a long time ago. I just ended up hurting myself by waiting for so long.”

“Yes, you should have.” I tell her as I reach over and give her a big hug, “Then I could have turned you down and helped you find a cute girlfriend like a good best friend should. At least now you have Sky waiting for you, right?”

“Mhm, you're right.” She nods her head against my shoulder and wets it with her tears. “I’m sorry for being an idiot, Anna.”

“It’s ok Lain… You can be as big of a weird idiot as you want. I’m your sister now, and I am going to by your side for all of this. Now that we are sisters, it is going to take a lot more than you having a crush on me for you to scare me away. Just no setting yourself on fire.”

“Ehh… Sky told you about that?” She grimaces with a hint of shame and embarrassment.

“Yes, she did. She really loves you; you know.”

“Hahaha, ya... Thank you for rejecting me, Anna. I really needed it. Even if it really hurts to get rejected. This is the second time, and it still hurts…” She says with a tired laugh, whipping away the rest of her tears.

“Second?”

“Ah, ya. When I met Rookie, I accidentally, sort of maybe, asked her to sleep with me… I’m not sure if you noticed but she has a really nice butt… Sort of made an ass out of myself, haha.”

“Don’t worry, I may be straight, but even I couldn’t help but notice. She really does have a nice butt.”

“I know right!? And she’s small and mousy and cute, and watching her in full armor and carrying around a big ass rifle was not doing me any favors. I’m weak for a girl in uniform.”

“Maybe we should see about getting Sky an army uniform. Have her dress up as a soldier girl for you?”

Lain immediately freezes and just stares at me. Her mind lost in thought and fantasy before she eventually swallows a bit and her eyes finally focus, “My beloved sister, that is a very dangerous thought you just put in my head. Are you trying to kill me?”

I simply give her a big smile, “Oh, does the idea of your cute little girlfriend getting dressed up as a soldier get you excited? I didn’t know that my sister was a pervert. Hahaha!”

“I’m not a pervert! It’s just… dangerous thoughts… We haven’t even gone that far yet. Haven’t even properly kissed yet… Don’t get me thinking about doing that kind of stuff!” Her face lighting up with a blush.

“Hahahaha! To think that my sister that had a ‘Homework Folder’ would be so pure of heart! Hahahaha, I can’t stop laughing!” I exclaim loudly.

“Ah! Stop stop stop! Don’t mention that! Please, my heart can’t take the shame!” She pleads desperately but I can tell that she is having fun.

Slowly, I manage to get myself together as I take her hands into mine. I give her a smile and look her in the eyes, those golden halos resting in the black lakes of her eyes filling my vision.

“Are you feeling better now? Finally got everything off your chest?”

She looks back at me, letting out a slow breath, and nods her head with a sad smile, “Ya… it still hurts. But I feel much better now. Thank you, Anna…”

“I’m older and bigger than you, so that makes me your big sister now. I’m just doing what I can to help my little sister.” I say with a smile. “So, are you going to confess to Sky now? Finally make it official?”

“Mhm.” She nods, rubbing her face and working away some of the stress from crying,” Yes. Not today though. I need a bit of time to calm down after all of this and she is feeling sore from her growing pains. I think I’ll try to make it a special occasion for the two of us… or I’ll just tell her while we are cuddling on the couch. Spur of the moment confession… Whatever feels right.”

“I think that sounds lovely, just don’t take too long to tell her. It’ll only get harder the longer you wait.”

“Mhm, you're right… and you really won’t tell mom and dad about any of this, right?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell them. I’ll take this promise to the grave.” I tell her with a serious look before cracking a smile. “I am telling them that you are going to confess to Sky though. No way that I can keep that a secret. Hahaha!”

“Traitor!”

“Sorry, mom and dad are way too excited for you to finally have a girlfriend, and this is just too much for me to keep to myself. A little sister having a crush on her big sister? That's easy to keep, no big deal, but not this. At the very least I will make sure that they don’t ruin the surprise for Sky.”

“They are going to be harassing the shit out of me until I do it…” She says with a dead look in her eyes.

“Yup, so you better hurry up and confess to her. No time for getting scared and waiting forever for the right moment.”

Shaking her head, she laughs a bit and then gives another hug, “Thank you for today, and… thank you for being my sister. I’m still getting used to the idea, but I think that I am quickly warming up to it.” Taking in a deep breath, she stands up and lets it out with a big breath. “Come on, I’ll walk you to the gate. I still need to get back home and make Sky her food.” She says as she offers me her hand.

Taking it, I stand up and collect my things. As we walk to the gate, we happily talk about different things, things that don’t matter, and things that are funny. We walk hand in hand, and while I can tell that she is still sad, I can also tell that a weight has been lifted from her conscience, her shoulders looking a bit lighter. Arriving at the gate, we share one more hug, and then part ways. Lain heading home to be with her cute not-yet girlfriend, and me heading home to tell mom and dad the good news.

When I tell them, they end up getting a bit too excited, and I have to forcefully stop them from running off to go harass Lain. Luckily, I manage to get them to promise to give her a week before they start and by the end, I find myself sort of wishing that I didn’t tell them at all… They looked rather evil as they worked to plan out how to best torment their poor daughter.