Their Last Valentine

Their Last Valentine

A Valentine Oneshot To Tie With Another Future Story With The Initial Title 'Doghead'.

“Big sis, let’s go out for lunch.”

Only silence answered him.

“Oi big sis,” Ryan called as he knocked on the door.

“Go away,” a muffled voice could be heard from the other side of the door.

“Come on. You’ve been in there since Friday. Don’t you think two days is long enough already?” Ryan said as he knocked on the door again.

“Get me fried noodle with cheese,” the girl on the other side of the door demanded.

“I’m not going to buy anything for you anymore unless you come out.”

“I’ll give you the money!”

“It’s not about the money! Besides, aren’t you afraid of getting fat-ter?”

“I’m not fat!”

Ryan heard the sound of something soft hitting the door.

“Then come out and prove it to me.”

“Just go buy it, you jerk!”

“You’re the big sister! Aren’t you supposed to be more mature than this? Mom and dad left the house to you, remember?”

“Just leave me alone!”

“Up to you, then,” Ryan said as he walked down the stairs, put on his shoes and left through the front door.

In the meantime, Maya’s stomach growled while thinking about dinner.

An hour later, Ryan returned with a pack of fried noodle. Unfortunately, it was without the cheese that Maya ordered. It wasn’t a problem though, as Ryan couldn’t care less what his shut-in older sister wanted.

Ryan knocked on Maya’s door. “I got you the fried noodle. I left it on the dining table.”

“Bring it here,” Maya replied from inside her room.

“Let’s see... huuuu... hmmmm... how about no? Get your fat butt off the bed. Anyway, I’m going to the movies with some friends. Leave the money on the table after you eat,” Ryan said as he walked down the stairs, opened the front door and closed it loudly as if in anger.

Hearing the sound of the front door slamming shut, Maya poked her head out from her thick blankets. Sitting silent, she opened her ears for any misplaced sounds. After feeling satisfied that there was nobody in the house, she slowly crawled out of bed. Barefooted, wearing only a flowery pyjama top and plain cotton panties, she slowly walked towards the door.

She had been doing this since she broke up with her ex-boyfriend. Maya had always been a popular girl. With her cheerful and bubbly personality, good grades, cute face and curvy body, she had been on every boy’s minds. This was proven when she took the third place of most beautiful girl in school ranking from a senior who was a fashion model back during her freshman year. Ever since then, she had only once been kicked to fifth place, but regained her position at the start of the next semester. Now with the number one of the most beautiful girl in school graduated, she rose in rank to number two by default.

She opened the door and poked her head outside. This was her daily ritual since the day she broke up with her boyfriend two days ago and became a shut-in. Perhaps it was shyness, maybe it was shame. It could even be just her wish for solitude. A psychiatrist could likely give tens of reasons and justifications for her actions, but that wouldn’t matter. Maya herself did not know why she felt it preferable to stay locked inside her room. All she knew was that she wanted to be alone.

She gave the hallway another peek, just to make sure. Once she was really sure there was nobody else in the house, she walked out of her room. Covered in only her pyjama top and plain blue cotton panties, she walked down the staircase slowly, her ears sensitive to any and all sounds that should be there. With her hand on the railing, she walked slowly, ever so slowly, until she reached the bottom of the staircase.

In front of her was the dining table. On that table was a pack of fried noodle. It was her fried noodle. Hers. Her stomach growled in anticipation.

She took a step forward. Then another, and another, but suddenly...

“Caught you!” a voice shot out as her right wrist was grabbed from behind.

Maya turned her head around at the voice that stabbed her ears like a sharp knife. It was her younger brother. It was Ryan. She couldn’t make sense of it. She couldn’t understand, didn’t he leave the house earlier?

“You – why are you here?!” Maya said while pulling her hand in protest.

“Heh! I’ve been here the whole time, stupid sister of mine,” Ryan said as he picked her up and carried her up like a princess up the staircase.

“You! What are you doing? Let me go at once!” Maya cried while hitting Ryan’s chest with her fists.

“If you keep doing that, I will probably lose my balance and we’ll both fall,” Ryan stated as he continued to climb the staircase towards the second floor. He was pleased that Maya stopped struggling as she acknowledged the possibility of both of them tumbling down the staircase had she continued beating him.

But damn, she’s heavy, Ryan thought.

Maya’s struggles started again when she realized he was taking her to the bathroom. “You pervert! What are you trying to do to your own sister?”

Ryan didn’t reply, he pushed open the door using Maya’s own flailing legs and entered, still holding Maya in his arms like a princess. Despite her protests, and her attempts to hold on to the door frame, he held firm to her back and thighs. Then he put her into the bath tub and turned the shower on, effectively drenching Maya and turning her thin pyjama top and cotton panties into see-through articles of clothing.

He took the showerhead and sprayed even more water on her face, hair and the rest of her body before putting it back into its holding above Maya’s head. “There, since you’re already fully soaked, why don’t you just take a bath? I’ll prepare your clothes for you.”

“Wait! You asshole! Don’t touch my clothes!” Maya protested as Ryan went out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Of course, Ryan pretended not to hear. Which 15 year old boy wouldn’t be interested or curious about female clothes? More specifically, how many 15 year old boys could resist the impulse to look or touch female lingerie, despite it belonging to their own sisters?

It took about forty minutes before Maya was done with her bath. In the middle of her bath, Ryan simply walked in, placed a bath towel on the bathroom counter and then walked out like a boss. Needless to say, Maya took the effort of getting up from the bath tub to lock the door. She would not allow her little brother to perv on her in her vulnerable state.

Wrapping the towel around her curvy body, she opened the door and peeked at the hallway. She called out to Ryan, asking him where he was. She didn’t want to be caught by surprise again, especially considering that all she had on was a bath towel. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Ryan replied from downstairs, at least he wouldn’t appear suddenly behind her again.

However, what she discovered on her bed made her scream, “RYAN!!!!”

Ryan, her little brother appeared almost instantly as he ran up the staircase three at a time. When he appeared at the open door, he paused to admire the shape of his sister’s butt before tearing his eyes away and raising his head to look at her face. He saw that her face was beet red.

“Uhh, what? Did you see a big cockroach?” Ryan asked while trying his best to keep his eyes on her reddened face instead of looking at the pair of swelling flesh on her chest, covered only in a single piece of bath towel. True, he was her younger brother, but even younger brothers had desires.

“I’m talking about this!” Maya yelled while picking up the offending object and holding it in front of his face.

Ryan tried his best to avoid sniffing the pair of string panties shoved at his face. He didn’t sniff it when he chose it from her panties drawer, and he certainly wouldn’t dig his own grave by sniffing it in front of her now. He was a healthy teenage boy with raging hormones, true, but even he had a line that he wouldn’t cross.

“It looks pretty nice. You have a good fashion sense, big sis,” he commented about the string panties.

“I’m not asking for your opinion! Why did you choose this,” she shook the string panties in front of Ryan’s eyes, “out of all the others. No, forget that! Why are you even choosing my panties in the first place?!”

“Because we’re going out. Duh!”

“THAT DOESN’T ANSWER ANYTHING!!!”

“So loud... Just wear it. We have a movie to catch. Be quick about it.”

“I NEVER SAID I’M GOING TO GO OUT WITH YOU!”

Ryan dug his ears with fingers after having a full blast of his big sister’s shrill screams directly. He flexed his neck left and right as he said, “Seriously, big sis. What do you think mom will say when I tell her you’ve been cooped up in your room crying a fountain of tears for the whole time they’re away? Besides, aren’t you feeling cold?”

Maya’s eyes followed his gaze, until it finally rested on the globes of flesh on her chest.

“GET OUT!!!” Maya yelled as she threw her string panties at his face.

“Aww, you didn’t wear the skirt I chose for you, big sis?” Ryan complained when Maya came down forty minutes later.

“It was too short! Were you trying to make me look like a hooker?”

“Then why did you buy it in the first place?”

“None of your bloody business!”

Ryan ignored Maya’s outburst, turned off the TV and picked up his keys. Then he picked up one of the helmet on his side and handed it to Maya while saying, “Shall we go then?”

“Wait, we’re riding your bike? I just did my hair!” Maya protested while receiving the helmet.

Ryan shrugged. “Not my problem. I didn’t tell you to do your hair.”

“Girls have things we need to prepare before going out!”

“Whatever,” Ryan picked up the helmet from her hands and put it on her head himself, “There, now can we go?”

“I hate you...” Maya said to his back as he went to start his bike.

It was no mundane bike. It was a prototype hybrid motorcycle that Ryan got for cheap when he gave USD600 to a bunch of guys in California who were looking for funds to start their own company through crowd funding. Unlike normal diesel engines, this hybrid engine was designed so that it could run on pure diesel, biodiesel and cooking oil in complement to its main electric motor. Since Ryan rarely rode far, he had not used a single litre of the diesel he put in a month previous.

What surprised him the most wasn’t the fuel efficiency, though. He was actually more surprised that the Road Transport Department branch of the government actually declared the heavily modified motorcycle to be road-worthy. When Ryan received the bike, it only consisted of its steel skeleton, the electric motor parts and the diesel engine parts. He had since modified it to make it look cool, based on the design of the two-seater Honda CTX700, but without the huge engine underneath. Therefore, it couldn’t be compared to high performance power bikes, but it was still able to go as fast as 100 km/h, which was plenty fast compared to walking.

“Hey, where are you taking me?” his sister Maya asked when they parked the bike at a nearby shopping mall.

“Didn’t I already say we’re watching a movie?”

“Which movie?”

“Alone In Healey.”

“Isn’t that a romance? I don’t want to watch a romance with my little brother.”

“That’s the only movie still available. Unless you want to wait six hours for either ‘Pingu The Movie’, ‘Flight of the Penguins’ or ‘Daddy, Danny Stole My Penguin’.”

“I don’t want to hang out with you for that long.”

“Alone In Healey’, then?”

“Fine...”

“Thank you very much for your consideration, princess.”

The next one hour and a half was spent with Maya the cry-baby sobbing to the scenes of the female protagonist walking all over the town of Healey looking for her pet penguin that was hit by a truck early in the movie. Of course, the female protagonist didn’t know that and kept waiting for the penguin to return. When the penguin didn’t return, she started asking around, eventually turning into the typical ‘crazy lady who lost something’. Halfway through the movie, Ryan wondered when the ‘romance’ part of the movie would start. When the movie finally ended, Maya had run out of tears while Ryan snored in his seat. Maya woke him up with a smack on the head.

“Did you have to hit me that hard?” Ryan asked as he rubbed the pain away while they walked out of the cinema.

“It was your fault!” Maya replied, feeling a little miffed.

Ryan turned to Maya, ready with a cynical quip when he saw Maya’s face under the white light. “Whoa! You look like a penguin!”

“Don’t say that! To the washroom, quick!” Maya whispered while holding tight to Ryan’s hand and hiding her face against Ryan’s back.

Ryan was playing ‘Rage of the Penguins’, a game where you build up an army of penguins and pit it against other people’s penguin armies on his phone when Maya came out from the washroom. As expected, all trace of her ‘penguin face’ was gone. In its place was a newly made up, idol-like face of his beautiful older sister. Ryan knew his friends at school would kill him for a chance to go on a date with Maya. With her pretty face, large breasts, tiny waist, pillowy butt, and long well-formed legs, only a gay man wouldn’t be attracted. He suppose a penguin wouldn't be attracted to her either.

“Let’s go window shopping,” Maya asked while tossing around her long black hair, causing the flowery scent of her shampoo to spread in the tight and crowded hallway.

“Weren’t you against this?” Ryan asked without paying her much attention. There was a penguin general that he wanted to encircle and beat up before it could rally another army of penguins. If he failed to surround that general, there was a possibility that it would be reinforced and he’d have to handle a penguin army twice his size and with an experienced general.

In the meantime, the men around him cursed his good luck of having a goddess waiting for him to finish playing. Of course, they didn’t know they were brother and sister. Certainly, Maya would not attempt to correct them, because let’s face it, what would be more embarrassing to a teenage girl than to spend Valentine’s Day at the mall with her little brother?

Maya snatched the phone from Ryan's hands in one swift move. “Look at me when you talk to me.”

“Noooo!!! I was so cloooooose!!!” Ryan cried as he looked at the screen after Maya returned his phone. His heart broke as he recognized his failure to execute a combo of Penguin Slide, Penguin Tackle and Penguin Dance at the right time, causing the annihilation of his rocketeer penguins and bayonet penguins.

“That’d teach you not to ignore me when we’re out together,” Maya said as she crossed her arms under her breasts, causing the already eye-catching pair of bulging flesh to charm the eyes of nearby men.

“Cruel...” Ryan felt like crying as he saw the screen with the words ‘Terrible Defeat’ presented in big, bold letters.

“Oh, what’s this? Wasn’t expecting to see you here today, Maya. Are you here to watch a movie by yourself?”

Maya turned around hearing that voice. She knew who that was even without seeing his face, but she just couldn’t help but react. It was her ex-boyfriend, the one whom she had dumped two days ago for cheating on her. Here he was, with his arm around the waist of another girl.

Ryan looked up from his phone’s screen, not knowing who the boy was, he enquired to his sister, “Who’s he?”

Hearing Ryan’s voice, Maya finally remembered that she wasn’t alone. She quickly hid herself behind Ryan as if using him as a shield of protection. She informed Ryan that it was her ex-boyfriend, Ben, and timidly stayed behind him without another word. Maya might’ve been the school idol, but she was a very sensitive girl and weak to pressure. She hated Ben for cheating on her, but she was also afraid of his reprisals.

“Who the hell are you?” Ben asked while looking down on Ryan, who was shorter than him by about 10 centimetres.

Ryan glanced behind at Maya who was hiding behind him, trembling and clutching the back of his shirt as she tried to make herself as small as possible. “I’m her boyfriend, you have a problem with it?” he declared.

“Ha? Hey Maya, you left me for this scrawny boy? That’s too funny, Maya. Hahaha,” Ben said as he went around Ryan to speak face to face with Maya.

Ryan took a step to the left, putting himself once again between Ben and Maya. “Please don’t make a scene in this crowded place. She’s not interested in talking with you.”

“Ha? And what’re you gonna do about it, huh?” Ben pushed Ryan’s chest, as if daring him for a fight. Ben’s date however, had been pulling his other hand probably because she wasn’t comfortable with the gaze of everyone around.

Ryan allowed Ben’s prodding while still maintaining his position. From the strength of Ben’s pushes, he could tell that Ben was pretty strong, probably stronger than him. That would mean some of the martial arts technique that he learned wouldn’t be of any use. The soft arts would probably work, but it would involve those around them. Regardless, Ryan couldn’t possibly just stand around doing nothing.

“Your jabs kind of hurts, you know,” Ryan said calmly while taking a step forward and discretely placing his right foot to the left of Ben’s feet.

“Yeah? So you gonna fight back, wimp?” Ben said as he glared at the shorter boy.

“Nah, not really. Just want to say you’re full of openings, man,” Ryan stated as he pushed Ben on the chest while at the same time, using his right leg to hook the back of Ben’s knees.

While Ben fell backward from losing his balance, Ryan grabbed Maya’s hand and told her, “Run!”

Maya was only too happy to oblige. Without looking back, Ryan and Maya escaped into the crowd. Before Ben could even realize the position he was in, both Ryan and Maya had disappeared from view. Ben was later dumped by the girl he had a date with for the sin of humiliating her in front of so many people on Valentine’s Day. Normally, it would be a flag for revenge, but things happened shortly afterward that made Ben a little wiser.

Anyhow, the siblings who managed to escape Maya’s ex-boyfriend finally stopped in front of a chocolate store after almost losing each other several times in the crowd. Thankfully, they had firm grip on each other’s hands. No matter how many times they were surrounded or separated by a crowd, they had never lost sight of each other.

“That was pretty exciting,” Maya commented while huffing out of breath. Her hand was still tightly holding on to Ryan’s hand.

“Too much excitement for me,” Ryan chuckled. Unlike Maya, Ryan was a pretty active guy. He didn’t have much muscle, but he could run for hours following the intensive training he took under the School Police Cadet programme. Ryan might only have slightly more than average strength compared to the boys of his age, but he was proud of his stamina.

“Ryan, it’s Uncle Snaps!” Maya pointed at the chocolate shop in front of them. Highlighted in big letters were the words ‘Valentine’s Day Chocolates. Limited Stock’.

“Valentine’s Day chocolate? Is that something special?” Ryan asked as he had never gone on a date before.

“Let’s have a look!” Maya said excited, pulling Ryan’s hand as she opened the door of the door with the chime of a bell.

“So many people,” Ryan complained as they kept bumping against the other patrons while offering apologies.

“It’s V-Day, what do you expect? Why’d you take me out today, anyway?” Maya continued pulling Ryan’s hand while her eyes looked around all the various chocolatey merchandise on display.

“I’ve always wanted to know what it’s like. I’ve never been on a date, as you kept reminding me. So I’ve never experienced going on a date during Valentine’s Day until now.”

“Oh? So you’re saying this is a date?” Maya smiled mischievously.

“Well, I did proclaim myself your boyfriend in front of your ex,” Ryan reminded before he realized his mistake when Maya’s smile turned sour.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Maya forced herself to make a smile. “Nn nn, you said it yourself. Today you’re my boyfriend. So it’s a date.”

“I don’t think that’s quite right? I mean you’re my big sis-”

Maya pressed a finger on his lips. “Today, only today, you’re my boyfriend. So call me Maya,” she said as her mischievous smile returned.

“That’s not quite appropriate-”

“Call me Maya.”

“Uh, well, if you insist, M-Maya,” he said as his face felt flushed.

“Hee, that’s quite a reaction,” Maya grinned as she picked up a penguin-shaped chocolate and pulled him to stand in queue in front of the front counter.

Ryan also grabbed a souvenir that caught his eyes. Although Uncle Snaps was a purveyor of chocolates and special confectioneries, it also had a small section dedicated to couple’s gifts. When Maya let go of his hand to pay for her purchase, Ryan went to another counter and paid for the souvenir he just bought on a whim.

He went out of the store after his purchase, and saw that Maya was already outside waiting for him. When she saw him, she held out her hand. Ryan, being a virgin who had never dated, gave her the balance of the money he paid for the souvenir. Obviously, Ryan misunderstood.

“Hand!” Maya scolded him as she put the money back into his pants pocket, “You’re my boyfriend today, remember? Couples hold hands!”

“Ah!” Ryan hit the palm of his left hand with his right fist as he finally understood what Maya meant. Not wanting to worsen her mood again, Ryan did as told. He grabbed Maya’s right hand with his left and held it firmly, as if not wanting to ever let go.

“Feels like we’re kids again,” Ryan remarked, the similar situation in their shared past causing a feeling of nostalgia within him. Back then, Maya who was two years older would always hold his hands and took care of him. Now it was the opposite.

“You’re bigger than me now, though. Ah, I wonder when you overtook me in height,” Maya said as she leaned against him, not wanting to be swept away by the crowd.

“Probably last year, or the year before. At least you’re no longer bossing me around,” Ryan answered while wrapping his other arm around Maya, not wanting to lose her in the crowd.

Maya made a naughty grin as she thought of something fun. Ryan noticed that grin. Ryan did not feel good. Ryan felt his sister was planning something wicked. Ryan regretted his previous words almost immediately.

“Since I’m your girlfriend for the day, I’m going to demand something selfish!”

I knew it! Ryan thought.

“We’re going to splurge and eat something expensive today. Your treat,” Maya grinned again.

“Hey hey, come on, big – uh – Maya. My Police Cadet allowance isn’t that much, you know.”

“I’ll pay you back later. It’s just for the occasion, Ryan.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“Okay then. Umm, pizza?”

Maya made a look of utter shock. Is he for real? Maya thought. “No! I’ll get fat! I meant to say, let’s go eat some French full course meal!”

As for Ryan, his pure and virgin heart broke into tears. His wallet, already light and devoid of bank notes expressed their admiration at the length he was willing to go to please his big sister. He looked at the debit card in his wallet and he saw them saluting at him, resigned to their fate of being sacrificed for the greater good.

Meanwhile, Maya cheerfully hummed a happy tune as she pulled him towards a French restaurant that was known to be quite expensive.

“Finally home!” Maya stretched her arms as she handed her helmet to Ryan.

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to hide inside your dark cave again,” Ryan said while putting away the two helmets they had just used.

“As if!” Maya stuck out her tongue to object, “I’m just going to change.”

“Well, I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

“Ah. I’ll be in the kitchen after changing clothes.”

Ryan wanted to say, “but you just ate,” but kept his mouth shut. His plan to get his sister out of her room was a success, so it would be counterproductive to make her depressed again. Besides, if she was in the kitchen, it would make it easier for him to do what he wanted. No, he wasn’t going to violate his sister. He doubted ‘having sex’ clause was included in the ‘playing couples’ agreement that his sister proposed, not that he would’ve done it even if offered. There was a definite line that siblings simply should never cross.

Less than 10 minutes later, he was back downstairs, walking closer and closer towards his sister. In his hands was the stuff he had been working on earlier. He wanted to give it to his dear older sister. It was going to be a pleasant surprise, but he had no idea how she would take it.

“Big sis,” he called as he put his hands and the object behind him.

“Hm?” Maya who was wearing a blue and white apron with a picture of a birdie in front turned away from the frying pan with chicken nuggets sizzling inside.

“Can you come closer?” Ryan asked.

Maya was perplexed at Ryan’s sudden attitude change. She looked at Ryan’s face, wondering what was up, but apart from detecting a feeling of doubt and fear, she couldn’t make sense of his sudden behaviour. However, she trusted her little brother. Ryan would never do anything to harm her, though he could be an annoying brat from time to time.

Maya crossed the two steps it took to stand before her little brother. “Is there something wrong?” she asked.

“Please turn around,” Ryan said.

Maya tilted her head to the left, but did as asked. Then she saw his arms bringing something in front of her from behind. In one quick move, she could feel something like a string around her neck and a weight on the top of her breasts. She looked down and saw that it was a silver-coloured pendant.

“What’s this?” she turned around while holding the pendant in her hand.

“You see, I saw that stuff in Uncle Snaps and thought it would do you good. Open it.”

Maya opened the clasp and inside it was a plastic laminated photo of their family. She looked at Ryan with eyes full of question. She said nothing as she had no idea what question she should ask. Should she ask ‘why pendant’, ‘why our family picture’ or just a simply ‘why’?

Ryan understood that gaze. Before she could ask him anything, he said, “Boyfriends will leave you anytime they wish, but family will never leave you behind. So whenever you’re feeling insecure, just remember I always have your back.”

Maya’s eyes moistened and started to fill with tears. Within moments, it overflowed, running down her pretty face, untarnished by make ups. She jumped at Ryan as he welcomed her with arms wide open. Wrapping her arms around his neck and crying against his shoulders, she thanked whichever power that gave her such an awesome little brother. When she felt his arms hugging her tight, she just knew he wasn’t lying to her. He would always have her back, and that thought alone gave her courage and strength.

They held each other for a significant amount of time, until they both started smelling something burning. Realizing she had forgotten the chicken nugget in the fryer, she quickly disengaged and did her best to salvage the chicken nuggets. In the end, half of it was burnt black. She sat at the dining table feeling depressed for ruining something so simple as frying chicken nuggets.

Ryan took one and put it into his mouth, feeling the bitter crunchiness as he chewed. “You’re a terrible cook, big sis.”

Maya glared at him. “This is your fault.”

“Yes yes, everything’s my fault of course. Anything my big sis says is right,” Ryan said as he took another of the charcoal black chicken nuggets into his mouth.

“I thought I told you to call me Maya?” Maya said as she took out the penguin shaped chocolate from the refrigerator.

“Eh? Are we still playing that?”

“The day hasn’t ended yet. Anyway, take it.”

Ryan accepted the penguin-shaped chocolate, but wondered why Maya gave it to him. He was under the impression that Maya wanted to eat it herself. He was a little confused.

“It’s Valentine’s Day. In Japan, girls give chocolates to boys they like. Since you’re my pretend boyfriend, I’m giving it to you. Don’t misunderstand. I’m definitely not giving it to you because I like you in that way.”

“Ah, no problem. I understand. Thanks for the chocolate.”

“You have to reply me on White Day, okay?”

“What’s a White Day?”

“14th March is the day when the boys who receive chocolates from girls on Valentine’s Day return their feelings with chocolates.”

“But we’re just pretending to be couples for today.”

“I. Want. Chocolate. On. White. Day. Do you understand, Ryan?”

Ryan gave up and nodded his head. “Yes, I’ll give you a chocolate on that day, big sis.”

“Maya!”

“Yes, I’ll give you a chocolate on that day, Maya.”

Maya’s face brightened immediately hearing his answer. Snatching the chocolate from Ryan’s hand and putting it back into the refrigerator, she said, “How about a movie?”

“Please spare me from another romance, Maya,” Ryan replied. However, he knew whatever movie his sister chose would be whatever he would end up watching. So he picked up the bowl containing the charcoal-like chicken nuggets and walked towards the living room.

Suddenly Maya pounced from behind and hugged his free arm. “Nn! Let’s watch horror instead.”

For the whole duration of the movie, Maya held Ryan’s left arm tightly in her embrace. She pressed her soft body against his side as the scary parts made her jump. Whenever a gory scene came up, she would bury her face against his upper shoulder while glancing at the TV screen through the corner of her eyes. By the time the movie ended, Maya’s head was on Ryan’s shoulder, fast asleep. Ryan simply allowed her to stay that way for as long as she wanted while he started a sci-fi action movie to pass the time.

In a way, one could say that for Ryan and Maya, it was the perfect valentine.

How could they possibly know this Valentine’s Day would be their last?