“Miyuki? What’s wrong?”
Ciel reverted her eyes on the pendant.
“That’s yours, isn’t it?” Ciel then gave Miyuki a smirk and smiling eyes, “He’s hot is what you’re thinking, isn’t it?”
“He...” Miyuki failed to utter her sentence as she continued to stare at the boy, “You...”
“...I believe this is yours—“ the boy seemed to spit out, quickly placing the necklace on the table and swiftly walking away.
“Huh... That was weird,” Ciel said as she watched the boy walk off.
The boy suddenly came to a stop before he left the scene. He turned his head to look slightly back with a disturbed look and continued on his way.
“Hm, wonder what that was for,” Ciel thought to herself.
Ciel placed her eyes back upon the pendant and picked it up with one hand.
“You must have dropped it on the way here,” Ciel assumed, playing with it in her hand. “Here, take it back.”
Ciel placed the necklace in front of her friend, who still seemed to be bothered.
“What’s wrong with you, anyway?” Ciel wrinkled her eyebrows and folded her arms, leaning in. “You haven’t said anything for awhile now.”
“That... That guy... Looked a lot like the one from yesterday...” Miyuki finally managed to say.
“That was him?!” Ciel shot up from her chair, attracting some attention.
“Uh—No... I-I don’t think it was him...”
Ciel sat back down, sighing, “Don’t scare me like that...”
“He had red eyes... They can’t be the same person.”
“Do they look that similar?”
“Well, he looks a lot neater... The one who attacked me yesterday has different eyes... Demonic... yellow—fierce,” Miyuki described to her friend seriously.
“I’d hate to be in your place in the case of yesterday...” Ciel said worriedly.
“And the one from yesterday is hardly human, right? How can they be the same person? That’s impossible...”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about it. There are people who look alike in this world, right? That’s probably it.”
“Mm...” Miyuki nodded, convinced.
“Although his clothes were a bit weird, huh?”
“Yeah...” Miyuki agreed.
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On a quiet street in front of a store, titled Shitsu Koki, the red-haired boy stood looking at the windows. Suddenly, a bell lightly sounded as the door to the store opened. Out came a man wearing glasses in his mid twenties in a dress shirt and pants, holding keys in his hand. He stopped as he saw the boy stand there, still.
“...Kier,” the man said surprised.
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In a dimly lit room which seemed like a basement, beautiful antique sat displayed around the room.
“Come down,” the young man looked at Kier, the red-haired boy, standing atop the stairs.
The man walked further into the room and lay pillows on the floor around a small table as Kier made his way down the stairs.
“Sit,” the young man demanded as he sat on one of the pillows himself.
When they were both seated, the young man placed his hands on his knees and looked at the quiet boy.
“So how have you been doing?”
“I was unconscious for several months...” Kier said depressingly.
“My, that must be hard on you... I know how you hate when you lose control of your own body,” the young man said concerned.
“But I’m glad you still remember this place... and me,” he said smiling.
“Of course I won’t forget you, Atsushi. You’ve done so much for me.”
“Haha... But you look like you haven’t had a meal in a very long time... You want me to get you something?”
“Please...”
Atsushi got up and walked into another room, turning the light on. He opened a refrigerator and looked in.
“These have been waiting for you, Kier,” Atsushi called to the boy sitting in the other room.
Kier looked up at the room in which Atsushi was in and heard a door shut. Atsushi walked back into the room and placed a bottle of thick red liquid as he sat down.
“This is...” Kier stared at the bottle.
“Blood.”
Kier turned away, bothered, “You know how I feel about that...”
“Yes, but you’re very deprived right now. I could see it in your eyes. If you’re as deprived of energy like you are now, a gourmet isn’t going to satisfy you. Look how dull the red in your eyes are. If you don’t take it in, you’re going to pass out and become the monster you detest.”
Kier winced. He grunted and grabbed the cold bottle, forcing himself to drink it all.
“Good. But you still have to take smaller doses of these if you want to keep the beast away,” Atsushi reminded.
Kier sighed, wrinkling his eyebrows.
“So I’m guessing you’re back to stay, right? You turned a couple months ago and took off... I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“I’m sorry...” Kier said, putting his head down.
“It’s not your fault, what are you apologizing for? Anyway, you can take the room you were using before. And let’s transfer you to another school; there’s going to be a lot of problems if you go back to the old one.”
“Thanks a lot, Atsushi... I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t sweat it. We’re like family now,” Atsushi said, putting his hand on Kier’s shoulder. “And, uh, get changed, alright? Nobody dresses in rags like that and lives with me.”
“U-understood...”
“Good. Now go take a shower and get comfortable.
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Miyuki and Ciel entered the school and opened their lockers. When Miyuki opened hers, there sat an envelope. Ciel noticed this, too, and wondered in curiosity.
“Hm? What’s that?”
“I don’t know...”
Miyuki took the letter out and looked at the back and front.
“There’s no name or anything...”
“Could it be—?! A love letter?!” Ciel shouted.
“Y-you think so?!”
“Open it! Come on, open it!” Ciel yelled in excitement.
“Okay, okay...”
Miyuki took the letter out of the envelope and unfolded it.
“Wow... neat handwriting...” Ciel commented, “Could it be a girl?”
“Ciel!”
“Haha, I’m kidding!”
Dear Miyuki,
I never knew you existed until I saw you at the café one day. Ever since then, I haven’t been able to forget you. You’re so cute.
“What? That’s it?” Ciel grabbed the paper and thoroughly observed it, “Didn’t even leave a name.”
“That’s the first time someone ever gave me a love letter...” Miyuki sighed.
“Well, you can’t do anything with this,” Ciel threw the paper behind her, and Miyuki panicked to catch it. “Maybe you’ll get another one tomorrow.”
Miyuki looked up at Ciel and smiled to herself, holding the letter to her chest.
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The bells rang, and everyone got ready to get up.
“Miyuki!” a female voice called out.
“Y-yes?”
“Do you want to eat lunch with us?”
Miyuki looked behind the girl to see a group of other girls, “Oh, sorry... Not today...”
“Okay, no problem. Some other time, okay?”
The girl ran back to her friends and Miyuki got her lunch ready and walked out of the classroom.
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On the roof of the school, Miyuki took out the letter she received and started to read it again. A smile came across her face. Suddenly, a voice disrupted her moment of happiness.
“Hi,” a boy stood, one hand in his pocket, his yellow-orange piercing glistening under the sun.
Miyuki shot her head up and was shocked to see someone, “Wow... He’s so good-looking...” she thought to herself. “H-hi!”
“May I?” he gestured to the empty spot on the ground next to her.
“S-sure!...”
The boy smiled and lied down beside her. Miyuki had been taken by surprise and was now just staring at the letter she was holding blankly. The boy had his hands behind his head as he was looking up at the sky. He then shifted his eyes to the piece of paper Miyuki was holding and looked back up at the sky.
“What is that? A love letter?”
“Ah!” Miyuki had forgotten that she still had the letter out and fumbled to put it in her bag.
“There’s no need to get nervous,” the boy said smiling, “I get a lot of those.”
“Miyuki shot back, “Wait... Why am I so surprised... He’s so good-looking, even I would give him a love letter,” she thought to herself.
Miyuki then shook her head and covered her face, “Ah! What am I thinking!?”
“Are you okay? Your face is all red.”
“Wha—?!” Miyuki took her hands away from her face, “Y-yes!”
So embarrassed, Miyuki turned her head away and hoped that the boy would stop looking. But he didn’t.
“I’m Tatsuya Kurosawa. I’m in the third year, class 3-A.”
“An upperclassman...” Miyuki said to herself. “Oh! I-I’m Miyuki Asano. I’m a second year, class 2-C.”
“I know,” the boy said smiling.
“I’m sorry?” Miyuki responded, puzzled.
“Hm? Nothing.”
“Oh...” Miyuki said quietly, still a little confused.
Tatsuya kept his eyes locked on the clouds. He then sighed and Miyuki noticed him smiling.
“I actually come here very often,” the boy then looked up at Miyuki and smiled, “Every day during lunch... So it’s new to see you here. Usually, no one is here. That’s why I like it.”
“O-oh, really?! Then should I go?... I’ll go,” Miyuki quickly grabbed her bag.
“No,” Tatsuya suddenly grabbed her ankle, causing Miyuki to freeze, “Stay,” he smiled once more and looked back up at the clouds.
Miyuki stay frozen, staring at the spot on her ankle Tatsuya had suddenly laid his hand upon.
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The next morning, Miyuki stood in front of her locker, simply staring at it.
“What are you doing?” Ciel said, a bit impatiently, “Open it already.”
Miyuki looked at Ciel, then nervously opened her locker. There, she saw an envelope just like the one from the day before.
“Oh yeah, baby!” Ciel shouted in excitement. “Tear that thing open like a beast!”
Embarrassed, Miyuki took the letter out and unfolded the sheet of paper.
Miyuki,
I can’t wait to meet you face-to-face. Please wait for me at the school garden during lunch.Yours truly,
Your secret admirer
“Woohoo!” Ciel jumped up, “Dude’s finally going to show himself!”
“Why do you seem more excited than me...” Miyuki sighed to herself.
“Well, I’ll be keeping a close eye, so good luck! Haha!”
Ciel patted Miyuki’s shoulder and walked off, laughing to herself.
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The moment had finally arrived. Miyuki nervously but steadily walked onto the school garden, filled with cherry blossoms. She waited for awhile, looking around to see if anyone was coming. Suddenly, a voice from behind her called.
“...Miyuki!”
Miyuki spun around to see a boy with thick glasses and a bob. Shocked with surprise, she was speechless.
From afar, Ciel hid behind a wall, peeking at the situation Miyuki was in.
“...What the—?” Ciel shot her head back and wrinkled her eyebrows, “That’s him?... What a let down...”
“Oh, Miyuki!” the boy had his hands clasped together, “I’m so happy to finally have you in front of me...!”
Sensing something suspicious, Miyuki took a step back.
“There are so many things...” the boy took a step forward, “that I want to do with you...”
Seeing the devious eyes of the boy, Miyuki became worried. She stepped further back, but the boy only followed.
“Ah... Miyuki...!” the boy blushed severely and abruptly grabbed her arm.
Miyuki gasped and tried to get free from the strange boy’s grasp.
“Hey—“ Ciel shouted from afar, but too far to be heard. “That guy’s a perv!”
“...Miyuki!” the boy repeated and tightly grasped both her arms, almost hurting her.
“No...!!” Miyuki screamed.
When Ciel was going to run to Miyuki’s rescue, someone had gotten there before her. The boy was thrown back onto the ground and a boy with red hair stood in front of Miyuki, ready to protect her.
“T-the dude from the café!” Ciel shouted surprised.
Before she was seen, Ciel quickly ran back behind the wall to continue the role of a spectator.
“W-what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” the boy on the ground cried, holding his cheek.
Surprised herself, Miyuki looked up at the boy, unaware of who it was that came to her rescue. The boy said nothing, then took Miyuki’s hand and pulled her with him.
“W-wait! Where do you think you’re taking my sweetheart?!” the pathetic boy on the ground extended his arms at them, watching them walk away.
Seeing the scene, Ciel came out from behind the wall. “Wha—? Where is he taking her??”
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After awhile of walking, Miyuki finally said something.
“U-um... Excuse me...”
Hearing Miyuki, the boy stopped and turned around.
“Are you okay?”
Realizing it was the boy from the other day who helped her return her pendant, she stuttered to respond, “Y-yes...”
Miyuki then slowly looked down. The boy followed her focus and realized they were still holding hands. Embarrassed, he immediately let go and turned his face away.
“...Thank you... and also for returning my locket...”
“No... It’s nothing...” the boy responded quietly.
“Are... you new here?” Miyuki looked up at him, “I’ve never seen you around...”
“... I just transferred here...” he replied hesitantly.
“Oh, I see...” Miyuki then smiled, “Welcome!”
A little bashful, the boy turned away, “I... have to go...”
With that, the boy began to walk off.
“Wait!... What’s your name?”
“...Kier,” the boy answered and continued on his way.
“Kier...” Miyuki echoed as she watched the boy walk away.
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After school, Ciel quickly ran to Miyuki to get the other half of the story. As they were talking, they made their way to Akasako.
“Hey! Unfortunately, the writer of that letter is a freak, huh?” Ciel frowned.
“Yeah...”
“So I saw what happened,” Ciel suddenly got impatient, “What happened after that guy took you away? He’s the one from the other day, right?”
“Yeah... Nothing really happened... He said he just transferred to Tokimekore. His name is Kier.”
“Kier? Is he a foreigner or something?”
“Maybe...”
“That would explain why he looks strange, I guess...”
Ciel thought. “Hey! Let’s check out the new store that opened!”
“Sure!”
As the two girls walked, they were stopped in their tracks by a pink blob of coldness.
“Ah! My strawberry ice cream!” a boy cried.
“Aghh!! My uniform!!” Ciel followed.
Ciel looked up to see a teenage boy with yellow hair, his eyebrows wrinkled, and his blue eyes staring at his empty cone. Next to him stood a well-groomed guy with black hair and purple eyes.
“Wha—What the hell?!” Ciel shouted even louder. “Why don’t you forget about your stupid ice cream and start worrying about the horrible accident that you’ve caused!”
The boy with the blonde hair looked up from his ice cream and frowned.
“You’re the one who wasn’t watching where they were going!” he pouted.
“Excuse me?!!”
“Ah, I’m sorry...” the boy with black hair said, “Please excuse my friend here...”
“Why are you apologizing, Kazu?!” the other boy responded, “It’s her fault!”
“Why you—!” Ciel began to get riled.
“I told you to be careful with that, Koichi!” the guy with black hair scolded, “You’re always sloppy like that.”
“Poo...” his friend frowned.
“What are you, five?!” Ciel scorned. “Why are you even with this guy?” she looked at the boy with the black hair, “You’re a lot better than him,” Ciel said sickenly, looking at the messy-looking boy up and down.
“Haha...” the dark-haired boy laughed embarrassingly, “We’re close friends...”
The boy then turned his gaze at Miyuki.
“...Hey! You’re that girl from Reveria!” he recalled shockingly.
“H-huh? Who, me?” Miyuki pointed at herself puzzled.
“Yeah!” he then turned to look at Ciel again, “Oh! You’re that girl who was chasing that other girl... Come to think of it, you were all chasing each other...”
Miyuki and Ciel exchanged looks. They then both widened their eyes as if they had an epiphany.
“That time!” they both shouted in unison.
“Hey... How do you know about that?” Ciel questioned.
“I also work for Concordia,” he smiled politely.
“Kazu... Let’s go...” the other boy complained.
“Do you think I’m just going to let you get away with this, little boy?” Ciel glared.
“I’m sure you can wash it off, but for now we could get you a spare shirt to wear, if that’s okay with you,” the gentlemen suggested.
Miyuki looked at her friend, “Ciel, let’s just leave it. It’s just an accident; let’s not make such a big deal out of it...”
Ciel sighed, “If you say so...”
“Are you sure?” the boy asked.
“Yes...” Miyuki responded. “Thank you for the offer, though... Come on, let’s go, Ciel.”
“Wait—“ the boy quickly called, “Just in case you ever need anything, we go to the same school, “he said as he looked at their uniforms.
“Oh, he’s right...” Miyuki examined.
“My name is Kazuhiko Sato. And my friend here is Koichi Wakahisa,” he said as he gestured to his left.
“Hmph,” Koichi turned his head as he heard his name.
“We’re both in class 3-B. So if anything, you can come look for us.
“Yeah, sure...” Ciel loosely accepted.
The girls then turned around, walking off.
“...Bye...” Miyuki turned around to the boys.
Kazuhiko smiled and acknowledged the farewell with the nod of his head as Koichi was still saddened about the loss of his strawberry ice cream.
“That guy was really nice, huh...” Miyuki commented, turning back around.
“Yeah...” Ciel replied, looking down at her stained uniform, depressed.
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“Satoshi!”
A girl was screaming and running, her hand trying to reach out to something. No one was around her, however. The surroundings were blank, and everything looked blurry, including the girl’s face.
“Satoshi!”
Suddenly, the girl was shot from behind. Her eyes widened and everything seemed to be slowing down. The girl, losing all movement, dropped to the ground.
Ciel shot up from her bed and was breathing heard, sweating all around. She shut her eyes tightly and forced her face into her hands. She suddenly began to cry and make slight sounds as if terrified.
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On the path to school, Ciel walked slowly, looking practically lifeless.
“Ciel!” a voice was heard, along with running footsteps.
Ciel stopped walking, but didn’t bother to turn around. Miyuki showed up and looked at her friend strangely.
“Hey, your mom said you just went ahead... What’s wrong? You don’t look so good.”
Ciel continued to walk, her shoulders drooping; Miyuki followed her pace.
“I recalled that horrible incident that happened last year... again,” Ciel said depressingly.
“You mean... that day when you last saw Satoshi?!”
“Mm...” Ciel breathed.
“That’s horrible! Why does it always come back to you as a nightmare?! That’s not right...”
“I want to forget it...” Ciel cried, her eyes more depressed than ever, “I want to forget all of it!... But I can’t...”
“Ciel...” Miyuki stared helplessly.
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When the bells rang for lunch, Miyuki stayed sitting as she stared out the window. She finally decided to get up and head for the roof.
Before Miyuki took the stairs up, she saw Kier walking down. She was going to greet him, but he had already gone. Standing there for a little longer, she finally made her way to the roof. Before she turned the knob, she withdrew her hand as she hesitated.
“What am I doing...? Why did I come here?...”
Confused, Miyuki turned back. But she didn’t move, for there on the stairs she saw Tatsuya.
“Why, hello. Did you come to see me?” he smiled charmingly.
Miyuki blushed, embarrassed to have been caught.
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On the roof, Miyuki and Tatsuya lay in the same positions they were in when she first met him. Miyuki was a little coiled, still uncomfortable about what happened at the door.
“So what brings you here?” Tatsuya started.
“Uh—Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you...”
“Why? I like it when you’re here,” he smiled.
Abashed, Miyuki turned away, a little flattered.
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In the gym, Ciel stood blankly in the middle of the volleyball court, staring at the floor. In one corner of the court, a girl set the ball to another girl at the other end of the court.
“Nice set!”
That same girl readied herself to bump the ball towards Ciel. After the ball made contact with her forearms, she realized Ciel hadn’t been paying attention.
“Ciel!”
Hearing her name, Ciel looked up to see the volleyball drop from the air, bouncing off the floor in front of her. Surprised, she flinched.
“Ciel! What are you doing?! Pay attention!” the coach shouted.
“S-sorry...” Ciel replied bleakly and got back in position as her teammates stared at her strangely.
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Behind the school, Kier sat against one of the walls, alone. His hands lay limp on his knees as he stared at them.
“This is...” Kier stared at the bottle.
“Blood.”
Kier turned away, bothered. He grunted and grabbed the cold bottle, forcing himself to drink it all.
“Good. But you still have to take smaller doses of these if you want to keep the beast away,” Atsushi reminded.
Feeling frustrated, Kier closed his hands, clenching his fists.
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The school bells rang for dismissal. Ciel walked off campus sullenly as Miyuki ran to catch up.
“Ciel! How are you feeling?”
“Sorry... I just feel like going home today...”
“Oh...” Miyuki stopped as she watched her friend walk away.
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In front of Ciel’s house, Ciel slowly walked up the stairs and opened the door.
As she entered her room, she dropped her bag on the floor once she step foot inside, going straight towards the bed and lying down on her stomach. She stared at one side of her room, and remembered something. She got up and walked towards two doors. Opening them, she looked at a uniform on one end of the closet. It was a men’s uniform from Tokimekore High School. She took one of the sleeves with saddened eyes.
“Satoshi...” she said quietly, starting to tear.
Suddenly, the phone went off. Taken by surprise, Ciel let go of the sleeve. Coming back to reality, she wiped her eyes and went into her pocket to take a look at her phone. As she flicked it open, she saw on the screen: 1 new message
Ciel pressed a button on the phone to read what it said.
Please deliver a package to the next town. Visit online or the main building for more details. Reply with ‘1’ to accept, or ‘2’ to decline.
Thank you for your cooperation.— Concordia
Ciel stared at the screen for awhile. She then replied to the message with ‘1’. She shut the phone and got ready to head to the main building.
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A car pulled up near a couple of houses. Apparently, it had been raining. Ciel got out of the car and opened up her umbrella as she started walking up the street, looking at a piece of paper with an address on it. In her other hand, she held a medium-sized box wrapped in brown paper. As she continued to walk, she looked up and decided to turn right. The streets were rather quiet and empty. It was getting dark, and Ciel just wanted to deliver the package and head home. As she walked, her cell phone rang. She stopped to pick it up.
“Hello?”
“Hello—Hi,” a man said on the other end of the line. “This is your driver from Concordia. Something really important came up, and I can’t stay to drive you back. I hope you don’t mind—I’m really sorry about this.”
“Is that so?” Ciel replied, “If that’s the case, then it’s fine. I’ll just find some bus to get back or something.”
“Oh—Thank you so much! Again, I’m really sorry this had to happen!”
“It’s okay, take care,” Ciel hung up.
Ciel put down her phone. She looked around at her surroundings, feeling lost, and sighed. With no other choice, she continued on her way to find the address that was given to her.
As Ciel walked, once or twice, she felt that she had been going in circles. Feeling a little irritated, she turned a corner she felt was different. The rain slowly came to a stop. After awhile of walking from there, she came across a large empty area of land. As she looked up, she noticed a semi-tall building of a hotel, with several lights still on. Suddenly, an image of a hospital burning down in the place of the hotel flashed through Ciel’s mind. As soon as she realized what the image was, she dropped the package as well as her umbrella and froze in her position, staring at the brightly lit hotel. Hearing a sudden sound, a girl from across the street turned to the direction of Ciel. She had wavy hair that was tied back with a bow. She had a very petite body, but held herself well. Noticing Ciel’s uniform, she quickly headed towards her.
Ciel was shaken, almost unable to move. More images flashed through her head:
On a day where it was very windy and gloomy, after the rain had stopped, a boy and a girl stood side by side in front of a burning hospital. The boy looked at the girl and saw that she had her arms wrapped around herself.
“Are you still cold?” his lips seemed to ask.
The girl was Ciel. All she was able to do was nod. Just then, the boy took off his jacket, which was part of the school uniform, and put it around Ciel. The girl looked up at him and wrapped her hands on the jacket.
Suddenly, a man ran up to the boy and girl. He looked like a normal passerby. His mouth was moving, but you couldn’t make out what he said. The boy standing next to Ciel stepped forward, and Ciel immediately put on a worried face. The two men started to run off as Ciel reached out her arm to the boy. He didn’t stop, but he turned around to shout something to Ciel. Feeling helpless, Ciel could only watch the boy as he disappeared into the building.
Ciel’s legs were shaking. She almost fell to her knees before the girl with wavy hair called to her.
“Hey!”
Surprised to hear a voice, Ciel spun around to see a girl a little shorter than Miyuki.
“Are you from Concordia?” she asked.
Ciel shot back, just remembering the reason why she was there. The little girl looked down and saw the package.
“Ah! This is it!” she bent down to pick up the now soaked package, but didn’t seem to mind.
“This was taking a long time to come, so I thought I’d come out and see if the messenger was lost.”
“S-sorry...” Ciel put her head down, ashamed.
The girl tilted her head, looking up at Ciel, “Are you okay?”
Ciel blushed a little in embarrassment, “Y-yeah...”
“Well, I have to rush back,” the girl turned, ready to run, “Thank you for this!” she shouted, holding up the package.
Ciel watched the girl run off and lowered her eyes, sighing. She bent down to pick up the umbrella and started to head home. As she walked further away from the hotel, she heard a male’s voice.
“Hey, you’re...”
She looked up to see a familiar face. It was Kazuhiko. Ciel was bewildered, but then smiled a sigh of relief.”
The two walked together. Ciel had her head down. Kazuhiko looked down at Ciel and smiled.
“We seem to cross paths a lot, don’t we?”
“Huh?” Ciel looked up at the boy.
“First at Reveria, then at the shopping district... And now here, in the next town!”
Ciel relaxed her head and thought, “I guess...” she smiled.
The two were quiet for awhile.
“Ciel...”
“Hm?” the boy said confused.
“My name is Ciel...”
“Ah, right—You didn’t tell me your name the other time,” Kazuhiko held his head, laughing to himself. “So, what are you doing here anyway, Ciel?”
“Oh... A job for Concordia,” Ciel then smiled a little, “But I’m thankful you’re here... I’ve been lost for awhile...”
“I see... Haha.”
“Speaking of which, why are you here?”
“I take piano lessons here two times a week... It’s a hobby,” he smiled.
“You play the piano?! That’s amazing!” Ciel shouted, amused.
“It’s not a big deal...”
“Will you let me listen to you play sometime?”
“Uhm—S-sure...” Kazuhiko blushed a little, abashed.
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A girl rushed into a house and dropped her umbrella into a can next to the door. It was the petite girl with wavy hair and the bow. She ran into a room and saw no one. She then looked into the next room and saw a boy wearing pajamas, looking out the window.
“Brother!” she called to him.
The boy turned around. He wore glasses and had black hair and green eyes. As he saw the girl, he smiled at her.
“I told you not to get up! I leave the house for a little bit, and you’re already running about,” she scolded.
“I’m sorry, Ai,” the boy said softly, still smiling.
“Here, I got the medicine for you,” the petite girl said, tearing the brown paper off the package.
“Why is it so wet?” the boy asked curiously.
“The girl dropped it in the rain. But it doesn’t matter, it’s still useable. Now lie down! What are you waiting for??”
“Yes, yes...”
The two walked back into the next room and the boy sat up on the bed, covering his legs with the blanket. The girl took a pill from a bottle from the package and grabbed a cup of water sitting nearby. She handed the boy the pill and waiting for him to put it in his mouth before handing him the cup. He swallowed the water and then returned it. The girl placed the now empty cup back onto the tray on the table.
“Take those off. It’s not good to sleep with them on,” the girl said, reaching for his glasses.
“Don’t,” the boy stopped her.
Looking into the boy’s eyes, she lowered her hands.
“When I get better, I’ll take you to the amusement park. And we can have a lot of fun,” the boy smiled at the girl kneeling on the floor.
“...Satoshi!” she jumped up and hugged the boy, shouting in happiness.
The boy chuckled softly and gently laid his hand upon her head.
