Chapter 4: The Past

When I became a second-grader, Otou-san remarried.

My real mother died right after giving birth to me, so he probably wanted a partner.

That's when I gained a step-sister too.

Even though we were the same age, she looked so young it left a strong impression.

『Onii-chan! Let's play tagー!』

『It's no fun with just two people, so no.』

『Ehh, then... hide-and-seek!』

『That's the same thing!』

Otou-san and my stepmother often left us alone to enter their own little world, so we naturally became close.

Also, remarrying meant I stopped receiving violence from Otou-san.

When Otou-san got drunk, he would often shout Okaa-san's name while hitting me repeatedly, saying, "You're a cursed child. If you hadn't been born, Yukari wouldn't have died".

It was really scary, and it hurt so much I thought I might die.

So I was truly happy when it stopped.

But in reality, it hadn't stopped.

It was one day during winter break of my first year in middle school.

I woke up in the middle of the night and was walking down the hallway to the living room to get water when I passed by my step-sister's room.

──I heard a sobbing.

I opened the door to her room without even knocking and went in.

Because she was always notable for her smiles, I was worried sick.

The room was pitch black.

She was crying on her bed with her face buried in her pillow.

She seemed completely unaware that I had entered the room.

I sat down beside her.

Then she looked up with a startled expression.

For a moment, I thought I saw fear in her eyes.

So I gently placed my hand on her head and stroked it softly.

She said nothing.

But her delicate body was trembling slightly.

All I could do was keep stroking.

I tried to find words to say.

But I couldn't find the right ones.

Eventually, she muttered as if talking to herself.

「Step-dad hits me. He says he can't forgive that I have the blood of Okaa-san's ex-husband...」

The tears pooling at the corners of her eyes grew larger.

I couldn't immediately understand the meaning of her words.

But the more I thought about it, the more clearly I could feel my spine freezing.

──Otou-san saw her as "another man's child".

While he became kind to me, now his violence was directed at her instead.

Before I knew it, I was holding her tightly.

I wanted to ease her pain even a little. To share it.

I started crying.

She began flowing tears like never before.

「You've been enduring alone all this time, it must have been so hard, Runa.」

I call her name gently.

Runa's breath, her tears, that warmth graze my shoulder.

Her trembling grows smaller.

If only I had noticed sooner. Such what-ifs kept disappearing and reappearing.

「From now on, rely on me more. At least I can stay by your side...」

「Gikei-chan...」

She said, her eyes trembling intensely.

At that moment, as her brother, I swore from the bottom of my heart to protect Runa.

I never want Runa to cry like this again.

I want her to always be smiling.

Less than half a month later, Otou-san and Runa's mother divorced.

From the day I swore to protect Runa, I stayed with her constantly.

So Otou-san probably couldn't get near Runa.

That's why he apparently started taking it out on my stepmother instead.

Police for assault charges.

And divorce followed in the blink of an eye.

I was furious that this father's blood flowed through my veins.

But thinking that Runa and my stepmother could finally be happy, relief spread greatly in my chest.

But there was one thing I absolutely hated.

That was becoming strangers with Runa.

Even though we had been so close, I would no longer be involved in her life.

「See you later. Gikei-chan...」

Those were her last words.

As if a huge hole had opened in my heart, I couldn't move.

"See you later", as if there would be one. We're strangers now...

I screamed a sob that could never reach her in the corner of my heart.

Back then, neither of us had smartphones, so we couldn't even exchange contact information.

So the me of that time probably never imagined I'd be able to meet Runa again like this.