V1Ch1: The Unfading Scar part 4

Reading Settings

Translator: Soafp

---

The day his sister's body was found.

Sho, stunned, could do nothing but spend his days in a daze.

Hikaru too suffered a deep wound in her heart, and for a while, she didn't come out of her room.

Sho only heard this later from Hikaru's mother, but at the time, Hikaru had been so crushed she could hardly be looked at—barely eating, hardly moving.

The words that brought the weakened, exhausted Hikaru back to life were:

“Sho is hurting just the same. Your onee-chan will never come back. But I want you and Sho to live forward, strong and full of life.”

Those were Sho's father's words.

And with those words, Hikaru made the decision to stand up again.

“Sho-chan must be the one suffering the most. Then I'll live as though I'm his replacement big sister. I'll be bright and cheerful, and heal his wounded heart.”

It took some time before her own body recovered, but even so, Hikaru returned to school before Sho did.

Only so that she could be there to welcome the wounded Sho.

“Hey, Sho-chan…”

That feeling hasn't changed, even now at twenty-three.

But inside Hikaru, small changes had begun to grow.

They weren't children anymore.

Hikaru had slowly started to see Sho as the opposite sex.

“We still carry onee-chan's shadow, but that can't be helped. So let's just live with those scars together.”

Still, if she confessed these feelings to Sho, she feared it would shatter the bond they'd kept all this time.

So instead, she told herself—and Sho—things like this:

“Sho-chan, you've got me, your big sister, after all!”

Because being the childhood friend gave her the closest possible place by Sho's side.

“Come on, I'm way more reliable than you.”

Sho laughed.

Yes, as long as she acted cheerful as his childhood friend, Sho would laugh like this.

For her, that was enough.

Just having Sho close, smiling at her—that alone made Hikaru happy.

Their wounds would probably never fully heal.

And maybe, someday, Sho would date someone else, maybe even marry.

If so, until that day came, she wanted to spend as much time as she could by his side.

She was fine with things staying just as they were.

She only wanted to be close to him.

“I'll go lay out the futons. Sho-chan, you should take your bath first, I'll get your towel ready.”

Since they were little, Hikaru had always fussed over Sho.

Even at twenty-three, she still did it, to secure her place in his heart.

---

“Hey… Sho-chan.”

That night.

Whenever Hikaru stayed over, the two of them would always stay up until nearly dawn, chatting about nothing in particular.

Though they grew up together, they didn't work at the same company.

So they'd talk about their work struggles and complaints, and before long, their conversations would wander to the old days, until they realized the sky was already light.

The two never ran out of things to talk about.

“Hm?”

“We're always together like this, but don't you think it's amazing we never get tired of each other?”

“Yeah… true enough.”

There's supposed to be a point when childhood friends drift apart.

Usually around middle school—the so-called “adolescent years.”

It's when boys and girls start clearly recognizing the differences between the sexes, and their behavior and ways of thinking begin to diverge.

That's when being childhood friends often becomes complicated.

But even as their clothes and bodies changed, Sho and Hikaru's bond didn't.

Sho was a bit thrown off by how Hikaru was growing prettier and more womanly, but her personality quickly erased that unease.

“Look, I've grown into a pretty good body, right? Wanna see?”

“I—I don't wanna see!!”

“Can you believe it, such a great woman this close to you? Lucky you, Sho-chan.”

“S-shut up! I only see you like a sister anyway!”

Back then, Hikaru herself would bring up things that might embarrass or fluster Sho.

She didn't want them to grow distant, unable to talk openly.

As a result, Sho grew comfortable with her openness, her lack of walls.

“Huh… we talk about things normal people would never tell each other, embarrassing stuff included. It's like we're real family.”

And from then on, the “awkward atmosphere” between them completely disappeared.

“You know, back then…”

“Back then? When?”

“Never mind. Just… when you openly talked about stuff other girls would never dare to, I decided I shouldn't overthink things anymore.”

“…You could have thought about me more, you know.”

“If I did, I wouldn't let you come stay over like this.”

“…Then don't. But… don't you have at least some interest? In my… body or something?”

Hikaru teased Sho.

This kind of back-and-forth had gone on for almost ten years.

“…Of course I do.”

“…Huh?”

But Sho's reply was different this time.

For once, Hikaru blushed bright red.

“…Just kidding. You always tease me, so I wanted payback.”

“Y-you idiot…!”

And then they both laughed.

Sho and Hikaru's bond, their connection—

It had been strong ever since the day his sister was killed.

“Man… I'm so glad today's Sunday.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

By the time their conversation wound down, the sky was already bright.

It was always like this when Hikaru stayed over.

That's why she usually came on Fridays or Saturdays—so they'd have the next day off.

Once she entered Sho's house, his parents would insist she stay, and she felt guilty turning them down.

“Let's sleep a bit.”

“Yeah. Even if it's the weekend, staying up all night's too much.”

On free days like this, they'd sleep until late morning, then spend the day going out, or lazing around with movies or games at Sho's house.

“You know, it's really pathetic. If you had a boyfriend, you wouldn't waste your time like this.”

“Right back at you. If you had a girlfriend, you'd be waking up early, dressing nice, going out on dates.”

They looked at each other and laughed.

Neither had a boyfriend or girlfriend, but neither felt lonely.

Because they had each other—their childhood friend.

The bond only two people raised almost like siblings could have.

“Hey, Hikaru…”

“What is it?”

“We're lucky to be childhood friends, aren't we?”

“What's this, all of a sudden…?”

Sho had always been grateful to Hikaru for one thing.

“Because of you—because I had you as my childhood friend—I might have been able to get past my sister's death. Maybe that's why I never felt truly alone…”

“Sho-chan…”

That was exactly the kind of childhood friend Hikaru had wanted to be.

And knowing that Sho felt it, she was glad.

“See? Beautiful, kind, sexy childhood friends like me don't exist anywhere else in the world, you know?”

“Sexy…”

“…Don't say another word.”

The grief of losing his sister—there would never be a sorrow worse than that.

Sho carried a scar that would never fade.

And Hikaru, who had cherished his sister like her own, bore a scar just as deep.

Perhaps by being together, supporting each other, they were trying to close those wounds.

“Hey… want to go shopping?”

“Yeah, after lunch.”

“Cooking's a pain, let's just order pizza?”

“…We're splitting the bill.”

“Fine by me.”

And so, time passed for the two of them, as always.