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Perched on her brother's back despite the fact that she was fast approaching his own height, Koga Shizuka couldn't have been happier. Her arms were wound tightly around his shoulders, pressed down against his collar so as not to choke him while they walked, and in one fist, she held a brightly colored candy treat. It hadn't been all that difficult for her to convince her brother to carry her, mostly because there seemed to be some sort of performance going on and he didn't want her jostled, but she liked it all the same. No one gave piggybacks like Yuu, she said.

He thought it was cute that she loved them so much, but he was rapidly finding that she was getting much too big for them. His pride wouldn't allow him to admit it, but he was finding himself a little short of breath after hauling her about for the better part of an hour.

"Yuudai." Shifting, she pointed down the street, delight creeping into her voice. "There they are! Can we listen to them?"

Grateful for the excuse to put her down, Yuudai stepped aside, allowing the crowd to push along without them. Shizuka shimmied off his back, rearranging her garments and beaming at him as she did so.

"We have some time, so why not?" She slipped her hand into his, and they ventured closer, but were careful to avoid getting in the way of the regular traffic on Main Street.

Music filtered to them through the sounds of the regular crowd, a pleasant and upbeat song suited to the mood of the day. Before he knew it, he was tapping his foot, a smile curving his mouth as he began to recognize the time of the music. At his side, Shizuka worked studiously on her candy, swaying a bit from side to side.

After a few moments, she popped the sucker out of her mouth, looking over at Yuudai with a faint frown. "There's someone else listening to the music, but she's alone. We should go say hello to her."

Following his sister's gaze, Yuudai observed an elegant looking young woman apart from the rest of the crowd. It was obvious that she was listening to the music, though that alone likely would not have prompted Yuudai to approach her; the look on Shizuka's face, however, did. She was peering at him patiently, expectantly, and tugging at his hand.

"All right." Glancing from side to side, he began to lead his sister over, a faint smile on his face. He hoped the woman was friendly.

It was easy enough to assume that they were not approaching her, so Yuudai didn't take offense when the woman glanced at them and looked away again. Instead, he simply leaned forward, knowing that his voice wouldn't be heard unless he spoke over the top of the music, and pulled his sister closer to his side.

"Hello. Do you mind if we share the bench?" At his side, Shizuka shifted her weight, then reached up and tucked some of her flyaway hair behind her ear.

Her smile was wider than her brother's, much friendlier. "We're enjoying the music, too, so... we can enjoy it together."

Chomping down on her lollipop, she dug in her brother's pocket, producing a handful of brightly wrapped candies. She offered these as a bargain, clearly hoping to buy her way into favor.

After a beat, he added, "We come bearing gifts, it seems."

Shizuka hopped up to sit next to the woman, very pleased with herself for negotiating the situation so favorably. A moment later Yuudai lowered himself to the bench as well, crossing one leg over the top of the other in his habitual sitting pose. While it was true that he had things to do later in the day, there was no harm in taking a few moments to just enjoy the morning. He might have insisted they move along if he had been with anyone else, but it was a well known fact around the family that Shizuka was his particular favorite. He simply found it difficult to say no to her when she actually asked him for something.

The woman's posture wasn't exactly inviting, but she didn't seem to be discouraging conversation, either. Shizuka looked between them, sucking thoughtfully on her lollipop, and tugged on her brother's hand again.

"I am Koga Yuudai," he said, reaching up to pass a hand down his sister's hair. "And this is my little sister, Shizuka."

"It's nice to meet you," she said chirpily, wiggling a little on the bench. "You have really pretty hair. Doesn't she, Yuu?"

He had just been admiring her hair moments before, and so he chuckled, much more at ease than he normally would have been in such a situation. "Yes, very lovely. We apologize for startling you."

"Very sorry," Shizuka added sincerely, twirling the stick of the sucker between her hands.

Shizuka swelled with pride, and before Yuudai could respond, she nodded fervently. "He does. Yuudai goes to the academy, and he's going to fight bravely to protect everyone." She didn't mention for which side, but only because she'd been firmly instructed not to flaunt her brother's allegiance in mixed company. The results could be disastrous, after all, and the last thing she wanted was to cause trouble for her brother.

Yuudai cast an amused look down to his sister, then lifted his shoulders in a faint shrug. "I am a student, yes. Thank you, Shizuka."

He studied Shin-Mu a moment, wondering why he hadn't noticed her in any of his classes. It was likely he simply hadn't been paying attention; though friendly enough on an individual basis, he rarely went out of his way to initiate conversation. Often he was busy or simply lost in his thoughts, and it didn't occur to him to make friends.

After all, who knew if the people at the academy would be his friend or foe the next time they met?

"I don't believe we've met before. Perhaps we don't share any classes."

The musicians were switching to a new song, one that Yuudai found more pleasant than the last. He began to tap his foot in time to it, and though he didn't smile, the edges of his mouth eased a bit in their severity. He had a good, but untrained, singing voice, and had he been a bit better, he might have joined in when the music allowed. He did not, however, want to be sitting on a bench belting out lines to a song while his little sister was attempting conversation with a lady.

"It's a pleasure," he said, and when Shizuka sought his hand, he curled his larger one loosely around it.

"Yes, very much." Shizuka beamed up at Shin-mu, wiggling a little closer to the other female now that she had the security of her brother's hand. They still weren't touching, but it was obvious she was here for conversation with her, and not her brother. "Music is lovely. Sometimes Yuu sings me to sleep, or he sings when he does dishes or cleans."

Yuudai wasn't embarrassed, but he glanced over and gave his little sister a mildly reproving look. "Anything else you'd like to tell her?" he asked, dryly.

Shizuka considered it, an impish smile on her face, and added, "His favorite color is blue. What about you?"

He was not a modest man, in that he would promptly and honestly recite his own strong points, but he was also not a braggart. Yuudai didn't claim skills that he didn't own, mostly because he found that sort of thing to be a waste of his time -- he would have to work harder to become good at something that he'd already claimed came easily when he could simply play to his strengths in the first place. He was a busy man on a good day, and wasting time like that was hardly an activity he wanted to engage in.

"I am tolerable," he said, which wasn't generous and it wasn't modest. "I never trained my voice professionally, but I often sang lullabies to my sisters, so there was a lot of practice, anyhow."

The youngest Koga girl seemed pleased by her answer, and she confided, "I like purple the best, but green is pretty, too. I think purple and green are nice together, like on flowers."

Then, a mischievous smile on her lips, she added, "Yuudai presses flowers! He makes very pretty things. You should come by the inn and see them."

Yuudai offered his sister a bland look. "I've never known her to be a walking advertisement before. My apologies."

Defensively, Shizuka said, "I like her!" and then flushed a little, adding, "She seems nice."

Deciding for the time being that he was merely a means to an end, Yuudai sighed and leaned back a little, allowing Shizuka to take the reigns of the conversation. Truth be told, had it been any of his other sisters he would have been irritated with them for being so forthcoming with information about him, but this was Shizuka. She was the baby of the family, and more importantly, she was Yuudai's favorite sister; his constant companion, the person who looked up to him the most. It led to him having a gentler hand with her, though he told himself that was partially due to the fact that she rarely required scolding.

Shizuka was a good girl, much more like Masami than she was either Junko or Natsuko. Of course, she wasn't old enough to be troubling him by running around after boys, but that day would come.

He was not looking forward to that day. In fact, he was already preparing himself mentally for it, because he would be much, much worse than their father when it came time to inspecting possible suitors for Shizuka.

Drawn back into the present by a question, Yuudai blinked and folded his hands in his lap. "I do. I sell greeting cards and the like at the inn. You're welcome to stop by whenever you like."

Between them, Shizuka said chirpily, "I'd like it if you did."