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Aki pats Blank on the knee reassuringly.
"Rina is incredibly shy, and doesn't do to well meeting new people. She had a lot of difficulty in her childhood because of her powers, and was often labeled as a witch. She was isolated from nearly everyone in her village because they were scared of her. Which is totally stupid because she can't even kill a bug without crying. So anyway, she is scared of meeting new people because she thinks they will be afraid of her and bully her. The three of us, Hiroki, and Rina's grandparents are the only people who have ever accepted her fully, and are therefore the only people she ever truly opens up to. Don't be concerned by it, she actually stuck around much longer for you than anyone else I've seen," Aki says, giving him a smile.
"She probably also thinks you're hot, and was too embarrassed by it to be around her more... open friends," Mioko says with a chuckle.

After a couple moments of silence, Manami puts out her cigarette and stands up.
"I think I'm gunna go check on the little one," she says, grabbing her bag. "It was very nice to meet you Blank. I can see that our Aki is in good hands."
She gives Blank a lazy salute, then saunters away.
Aki grins sheepishly and squeezes Blank's thigh again.

Mioko rolls her eyes and smirks at the couple.
"You two are sickening," she jokes.
Aki smiles at her friend, then gives Blank a soft kiss. She wraps her arms around him, then turns back to Mioko.
"So, we going to talk about your brother?" she says, a stern look on her face.
Mioko's eyes flick to Blank for a moment, then back to Aki.
"Well... right now?" she asks, giving Blank another glance.

"You can stay as long as Aki's ok with it..." Mioko says, glancing at her friend.
Aki gives Blank another gentle kiss and shakes her head.
"It's fine, he'll have to know about him eventually," Aki says with a small shrug.

Both girls shake their head, and Aki brings her hand up to Blank's hair and strokes it lightly.
"You really don't have to go, Mioko's just worried you'll be.... upset if you knew more about Hiroki," she says.

Aki and Mioko share a dark look. Mioko leans back in her chair with her arms crossed, staring at Aki.
"Well... I guess I have to explain a little first... You know Hiroki is Mioko's twin. He started here at the same time she did and we were all best friends. He is extremely good looking and had all the girls fawning over him, but he was never interested in them really. He also had a bit of a violent streak though. He got into a lot of fights.
Anyway, after I moved to Balamb, I started seeing Kite; you know that already. I brought him here a couple years ago after we had been dating a while to meet the gang, and Hiroki was reaaally weird about it. They hated each other instantly and that really upset me. A couple nights after we had been here, Hiroki attacked Kite and tried to kill him. We couldn't believe it... we knew he had a temper but we had never seen him act like that before. Hiroki came to my room later that night... I was alone because the doctors wanted to keep Kite in the infirmary over night.
He confessed... that he was in love with me, and claimed he would kill anyone who got in the way of that. I told him that I was sorry, but I didn't feel the same way. Hiroki is like a brother to me and I told him that. Well... he got extremely angry and, well.... attacked me... he started kissing me forcibly and holding me down, and he's a martial artist, so he is very strong. I was crying and screaming.... luckily the girls had come to check on me and heard me screaming. The burst in and Manami managed to knock him out, thankfully before he actually did anything. Kite went crazy when he found out... tried to leave the infirmary to kill Hiroki.
Anyway, he was kicked out of Trabia because of it, and he transferred into Galbadia.... which I really didn't like. But he couldn't come to Balamb either because I was attending there by that time... I haven't seen or talked to him since, which is why I was asking about him. I worry about him, especially in a place like Galbadia," Aki finishes with a heavy sigh.
Mioko glances at Blank, then down to her fingers, and begins picking at her fingernails almost sheepishly, obviously ashamed of her twin.

Aki puts her hand on his arm and gives him a loving look. Mioko leans forward in her chair again and says, "He's not allowed anywhere on the property. I've actually only seen him once since he was kicked out, and that was when we both happened to be in Esthar visiting because my mom was sick. I message him though, we still talk all the time."
Aki nods, and squeezes Blank's arm.
"I knew it would upset you... something isn't right with him. I don't hate him for what happened and I still care for him very much... he just.. needs help. And I worry that Galbadia will only encourage his violence..." she says.
"Well, it has. I got a disturbing message from him the other day... he finally became a SeeD and he mentioned that he was offered a position as a personal SeeD for the sorceress. I'm not sure what he is going to do yet, but from the way his messages have been recently, I think he might just take it," Mioko says gravely.
Aki lets out a long sigh and reaches across the table to take Mioko's hand.