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Rolling over, Xaetra glared at the numbers of her alarm clock. She couldn't make out what time it was, her vision blurred with the effects of sleep. But judging by the lack of light streaming through her window, and lack of noise from her family, it was sure to be early in the morning.
She grudgingly slid out of bed, unable to sit there and do nothing until the sun came out, and walked over to her dresser. Glancing into the mirror, she stopped reaching for the worn knob, and instead traced the faint rings under her eyes with her finger. She made a mental note to go to bed earlier that night, and continued getting ready for a long day.

Xaetra crept along the hallways as quietly as she could, flanking against the wall to avoid the creaking floorboards. She stopped in front of the kitchen doorway, thoughts of food hooking her senses. Looking around her to make sure no one was up yet, Xaetra made her way towards the refrigerator and peered inside of it. The only thing edible seemed to be Ekado's lunch...
She began to reach for the small bento, stopping herself at the last second. "No, I shouldn't... It's his lunch and I can always go buy something..." Xaetra brought her hand to her chin, feeling guilty from just looking at the thing.
"Then again, he did take my lunch last week..."
A devious smirk on her face, she reached out for the bento again and snatched it. Closing the fridge behind her with her heel, she chuckled as she looked lovingly at the container. "Pay back! Now just to get out without wak--" "X, what are you doing up at this ti... is that my lunch?"

To her horror, the very thing she didn't want to run into was in front of her when she looked up.

Ekado, pajama clad and obviously in a sour mood, was glaring down at her. A large lump formed in her throat. Busted.
"I, uh... er... we-well..." She looked around for an excuse, her brother's anger feeling heavier by the second.

"Catch me if you can!" she whispered, careful not to wake anyone else up, and darted out the window.
He gritted his teeth, rasping a quiet "Why I oughtta...!" before racing after her.
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She ran through the dim streets, the sun barely starting to light up the sky. Xaetra had the upper-hand in this chase, shoes on and dressed, and she was confident she could lose her brother. Winding her way between the stone alleys, she ran for what seemed like an eternity before she hid behind a dumpster. Taking a quick look around her, she made sure she had lost Ekado.
Satisfied, she looked down at the treasure in her lap. Ekado had obviously made it himself, hand carved runes and kanji decorating the entire thing in a sloppy fashion only he could manage. She lifted the top off, hoping his cooking was better than his handwriting, but was stopped by a familiar voice.
"Caught ya."

Standing over her, on top of the dumpster, was none other than the chef himself. Xaetra quickly stood and tried to run, but was stopped by the strong grip on her arm. She was as good as caught, biting her lip and shamefully looking at her brother.
"Give it back."
"..."
"... Give it back."

Finally, Xaetra let out a huff and held out the bento, mumbling something underneath her breath.
"Thank you. Now, was that so har--"
He was stopped as something cold slipped through his fingers and the lunchbox fell. He looked up to see his little sister turning the corner, shouting a taunting "See ya!" as she ran off.
" ... It's too early for this..." Ekado told the air in front of him, scooping the ruined lunch that had spilled back into the box and closing it. He ran after her, determined to pay back the deed.
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"Am I done yet?"
"5 more laps."
"You said 2 last time!"
"I mean 6."
"What? You just said 5!"
"7."
"I can't believe you!"

Ekado erupted into laughter as his sister passed by him for the upteenth time, hands heavily taped, running laps around the training ground as payment for the ruined lunch and his trouble. Xaetra, however, was not as fond of the situation and stopped in front of him.
"I'm not running anymore."
"8..."
"I swear, if I cou--"
"9...!"
She let out a frustrated growl as he had another fit of laughter. Back at the dumpster, she had been able to escape the drowsy Ekado by - luckily - performing jouchaku no jutsu without him noticing, and escaping. It had only been for a few fractions of a second, barely enough time to move out of his grasp, but she was proud of herself for its success.
She hadn't been so lucky the second time though, and was promptly caught. He'd taped her fingers together, to prevent her from making any seals, and forced her to come with him to the training grounds and pay him back through torture.
At last, he stopped laughing.

"Alright, alright. Well, let's work on that jouchaku no jutsu of yours while we're here, you still don't seem to have the hang of it."
As he pulled out his stopwatch, Xaetra felt a bubble of frustration well up inside her, her latest attempt obviously not good enough for him.
"So, what you need to remember when performing this jutsu," he started, "is when you use it, you're basically exploding yourself and moving it all to where you want. The trick is keeping your body... er... repelled from itself. Now try it!"
Xaetra stared in disbelief at the chuunin in front of her, still posed with the stopwatch, ready to click it when she started.
"... Ekado."
"... What's the hold up?"
"I can't perform it with my hands taped up."
She felt her frustration grow a little as he laughed and took the tape off for her.
"Aw, come on X, laugh a little! You're so serious today."
"At least I'm not having more mood swings than a monkey on the run."
"... That doesn't make any sense."
"It makes plenty. Sardines like you just can't understand it."
"... Alright, what's up with you?"
Ekado stood back, folding his arms and looking down at his sister, who was avoiding his gaze and had a sullen look stuck on her face. Several seconds passed, Xaetra refusing to say anything.
"Well?", he prompted.

With a heavy huff, Xaetra turned her head to look at another interesting thing in the distance as she talked with him.
"I dunno... Just... I guess I'm nervous. I mean, you have such a great team, and I'm worried...", she trailed off.
"Worried...?" Ekado prompted her again, wanting her to get to the point faster.
"...Worried I won't have as good a team as you have."
Xaetra shut her eyes as tight as she could, anticipating the mocking laughter that was sure to follow. Instead, a hand gripped her shoulder lightly in comfort. Surprised, she opened one eye to see her brother smiling at her.
"Aw, Xae, I'm sure you'll get a great team...! You got along with everyone okay back at the academy, what's to worry?"
"Yah, I know, but..."
"No buts about it! Besides, a great team requires everyone to contribute an important skill, right?"
"Yah, I guess, b--"
"Then what's to worry about? Instead of letting something like this drag y'down, you should focus on improving yourself so that you can impress your teammates! Now come on, let's see what we can do to lengthen the time you can use the evaporating jutsu."

She lept forward and hugged her brother, glad he was so willing to try and comfort her, even though it didn't really work. And Ekado happily hugged her back.
"Thanks, Mr.Gates."
"Anytime, Agent X."
Xaetra noted that, while he was still the taller sibling, her feet weren't so far from the ground anymore when he lifted her up for a hug. After a few minutes though, as comfortable as it was, Xaetra was more than ready to get down from the giant.
"...Mr.Gates?"
"Yes, Agent X?"
"...Would you mind letting go of me?"
"Well, how would a secret agent get out of my Iron Hug of Death?"
It took a few moments for what he was suggesting to register.
"...You're cruel! There's no way I could hold the jutsu for that long!"
"Well, I guess you're stuck with me then X!"
"Let go of me!"
"Nope!"
"Let go!"
He laughed as she continued to threaten him and try to escape through conventional means, stuck in his hug until she figured out how to get out.
And the eventual realization that she had her kunai in her pouch worked.