Nanami was hell bent on making sure Sakiko's screw up didn't effect him while also trying his best to support his sister in not pulling those same mistakes again. And it worked. For two months that is.

This time, Nanami was running errands for their gym teacher when he spotted Sakiko sneaking out of the janitor's closet. They were in separate classes and Nanami knew she was supposed to be nose deep in math- not the storage closet.

"What are you doing?" Sakiko asks, trying to deflect immediately.

"Dropping papers off in the office for Coach Briar.." Nanami answers, squinting to her, "What are you doing?"

Sakiko holds up her hall pass as defense, "Helping."

"Helping with what?" Nanami interrogates.

"Helping with this," the motions to the door with a shrug, "I have to go."

As she walks away, Nanami hurries to grab her other arm, pulling it to him.

"Hey!" Sakiko cries, jerking her arm out of his grasp.

As they lose contact, the change and dollars in her and clatter to the floor.

"Sakiko!" Nanami scolds, hurriedly squatting to the ground and piling the money together.

Sakiko's hands ball into fists by her side, her foot stomping in annoyance.

"God, Nanami! Why can't you just leave me alone!"

"You're stealing again! They're going to call dad to the school again!" he angrily reminds.

"Dad is the reason I'm doing it! We need the money!" she argues, "You want to act like everything is fine, but it's not! I'm just trying to help dad and it's not like I can get a job. This is all I can do to help."

Nanami looks up at her from his bent down position on the floor, shaking his head, "I know what's happening. Dad says not to worry because he can handle it."

"He got fired, Nanami," she lightly explains with a frown.

A dollar slips from the boy's hand, "He.. What?"

"Last week. They fired him from the carp shop," she reveals, "He's trying to act like it's fine, but it's only going to get worse now that he doesn't have a job."

Nanami shakes his head, piling the money in his hands and standing up, "How do you know?"

"I heard him on the phone trying to get a new job. Then, he started talking to.." she nervously looks to her shoes, "He started talking to mom."

The twins' mom was a sensitive subject. She'd only been gone for two years now, but the empty space spoke volumes in the house.

Shinsuke didn't always speak to his wife, only when he was stressed. Nanami had walked in when he'd been mid-conversation and Shinsuke sat them both down to explain that he didn't really see the woman, rather it was more like he was praying to her.

"Bills are behind. Dad is walking us to school because he doesn't have the gas money- not because it's 'good weather'. He skipped dinner last night and the night before because there was only enough for us, not because he ate late," Sakiko names off.

Nanami cringes, now wishing he'd seen the signs his sister had.

"Things are only going to get harder. For him and us. So if me doing this helps all three of us, who cares if I have to sit in detention?" Sakiko questions, looking to the money in her brother's hand.

Nanami knew better. He knew this was wrong. He knew that once she was caught, Sakiko would be in even more trouble than before.

But, what if it was both and not just one? What if it was a 'if' they get caught and not a 'when'?

Nanami looks to the money, a pit in his stomach as he counts around twenty dollars with his eyes- maybe more.

"Only this one," he speaks, already regretting the words.

"Nana," Sakiko whispers with hope.

"Only this time," he repeats, "No more after this."

"Okay," she nods, holding her hands out.

"I'll hold on to it," he shakes his head, placing the money in his pocket, "They know you. You've done this before. They trust me more. I won't get caught."

"Mean. But, okay," Sakiko mutters.

"Go back to class. We'll figure out a way to get this to dad later."

Sakiko grins, happily turning on her heels and all but skipping back to class. Nanami could only make his way back to the gym with his pocket and shoulders feeling like they weighed the world.

--

Later that night, the twins sat on the back porch as they came up with a plan to sneak the money to their father while making sure the source of the money wasn't caught.

Their answer came into fruition when the trio went to the store that weekend- Nanami slyly dropping the cash on the ground to which Sakiko happily points out to her dad.

"Look!" she urges, pointing to the grass.

Cluelessly, Shinsuke bends down and picks up the money. He looks around- people walking aimlessly or with purpose on the sides of the road or driving to their destinations. No one looked as though they were missing this. A sense of hidden relief rises in him as he stands back up.

"Well, kids, I guess it's our lucky day," he decides, patting Nanami's head.

Shinsuke pockets the money, planning for the secret gift to go to their incoming light bill he'd been stressing over.

Nanami and Sakiko trade a hidden look- their eyes telling the other everything.

They got away with it. They helped.

Nanami now saw why Sakiko did what she did.

Sakiko was already planning the next heist.

𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈--

i have too many chapters ready idk how many times i should upload haha 🤸‍♀️🕳