Two and Two...

Keiko yawned as she shifted her briefcase so that she could stretch a little better without breaking her stride. After an extremely tiring day, she and Otaru were on their way back to their rooms. She yawned again and narrowly missed whacking Otaru in the head with the case. When no protest was made, Keiko glanced over curiously. Otaru was obviously deep in thought, walking rather slowly and staring into space. Aside from his upright state, there was no real evidence that he wasn’t asleep.

"Otaru... Otaaaaaaaru!" Keiko said in a singsong voice, poking him in the side. When he didn’t respond, Keiko frowned and poked harder. "Otaru!"

The boy was still wrapped up in his thoughts and didn’t respond. Keiko sighed, deciding that she would just have to wait until he finished whatever it was he was working out. After all, she had always heard that you weren’t supposed to awaken sleepwalkers... Shrugging, she reached up and began to tighten her ponytail. This time she didn’t miss with the briefcase.

"Ahh!" Otaru yelped, putting his hand to his head. Blinking, he looked around until his gaze fell on Keiko. He smiled. "Sempai, did you want something?"

Keiko sweatdropped. "What’s so interesting?"

Otaru looked thoughtful again. Keiko was beginning to consider using the case once more by the time he looked back at her.

"You have a picture of Amuro Keiko, don’t you?"

"Umm..." Keiko stalled, trying to figure out whether it was a rhetorical question or not. Deciding it was better to assume yes than get caught in another lie, she began fishing through her bag. "Sure," she said nervously as she pulled out her wallet, examining the photo quickly before handing it over to Otaru. It wasn’t a very good likeness, really. It was a crowded picture anyway, with all her friends there. Besides, he’d seen it before, if she remembered correctly, and nothing happened. He’d never get it.

"You two look a lot alike, you know?" Otaru mused as he studied the photo, still walking.

Keiko faltered for a few steps before replying. "Ah... that’s not a very good picture. We’re really not very much alike, if you ever saw us together you’d see-" She cut herself off before her babbling gave her away even more. Eh, he was too close for comfort!

"You do, though!" Otaru insisted, looking closer. "You have the same color hair, and the same length- well, yours is a little shorter because it’s in a ponytail, but when you take it down... Your eyes are a lot alike too, when you don’t have your glasses on. It’s hard to see her face in the picture, but it looks as if you have remarkably similar features... You say you have a special relationship with her, but that you don’t date. For that matter, you seem to have a good relationship with her brother. I wonder..." Otaru trailed off, frowning a bit.

By now, Keiko was frantic inside. Going over her options quickly, she decided that she had better tell the truth now before he figured it out for himself. Taking a deep breath, she began. "Otaru, I-"

"I know!" Otaru said triumphantly.

Keiko gulped. "You... do?" she asked faintly.

"You’re cousins, right?" He beamed proudly, pleased with himself. "Right, Sempai? ...Sempai?" Otaru realized rather belatedly that his Sempai was no longer walking beside him. He stopped and turned around. "Sempai?"

Keiko had crashed to the ground, one foot twitching in the air. "R-right, Otaru." ‘I guess that if you’re creative enough, two and two don’t have to equal four...’