V2Ch4: {Imouto}

Translator: Soafp

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I woke up at night feeling thirsty.

The air conditioning was on, but it was summer, yet I still felt thirsty.

I left the room and headed for the vending machine.

The hallway is very dim and haunted, but I still arrive at my destination without incident.

I put a 500 yen coin into the vending machine.

But as I put the change in, I realized that I wasn’t actually that thirsty. It seems I was thirsty only because of my imagination.

I had no choice but to press the return button to collect my money.

I repeated this process about five times before returning to my room.

—I walk down the dimly lit corridor.

I am very tired today. Let’s go back to my room and relax. Or maybe I should sleep. …… but I can’t sleep, what should I do?

—I walk down the dimly lit hallway.

Who should I trust …… Mai, my mother, Usui-kun, Mai’s uncle and aunt. …… How about my uncle Kotaro? At least I can trust him more than Dr. Takamiya.

I trusted that man, and I’m pretty sure he betrayed me because Nee-san came to me right after I told him about my revenge. I have to be careful not to talk nonsense from tomorrow.

—I walked past my room.

The corridor is a bit hot, by the way. …… I think the air conditioning in the corridor is not very effective. Well, it’s a wide area target.

—I am running slowly down the dimly lit corridor.

I don’t remember this hospital …… being this scary. I’m starting to feel cold……No, it’s hot and humid, but it’s cold……I’m not even sure what my body temperature is.

—I’m running slowly down a dimly lit hallway.

The nurse from earlier is following behind me. I bowed to her and she smiled back. She’s a nice person,……, but with the Takamiya doctor’s case, I still have my suspicions.

—I walked past my room.
………………………… ………………………… ………………………… ………………………… ………………………… ………………… I can’t get to where I want to go.

—I’m going back the way I came.

I don’t even know where I want to go in the first place. ……, I’ll just give up and go back to my room. Heading to bed is just fine when I have nowhere else to go.

—I stopped in front of my room.

“…………”

I thought I had been walking straight through life.

But I always end up tripping over something.

There is no flat road in front of me.

I envy everyone else.

I envy everyone else who is able to easily cope with hardship even if it is not a major setback, and who has an escape route in place for when they are in pain.

But I don’t have that.

When I fail, I get kicked mercilessly from behind, and even if there is an escape route, it is immediately confiscated like today. It’s hard, it’s painful,……, but if it’s my destiny, I have no choice but to put up with it.

—I was thirsty from all the running I had done.

I bought some juice from the vending machine and went back to my room, hating God for making me go through this.

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{Good morning…… big brother}

“……………”

Then I saw my younger sister sitting on my bed.

No, it’s not so much a surprise …… I was caught off guard because she didn’t get involved like Nee-san, Nagisa’s habit of doing it.

…… hmmm.

……But even so, what should I do about revenge on my younger sister?

My younger sister isn’t very strong. It doesn’t have to be a big deal like Nee-san’s. …… I can easily make her despair.

And yet I can’t seem to think of a way to do it.

Because Nagisa is not very supportive, my desire for revenge is not rising.

Anyway, Nagisa is too poor at getting hate from me.

If I wanted to take revenge on a grand scale, she’d have to get more and more involved with me… Ah, but if Nagisa was doing something like Nee-san, I’m sure she’d be spending more sleepless nights than now.

When I think about it, thank you …… but I will never forgive her.

I slowly approached my sister’s side.

“What’s going on?”

{….How awfull of you}

“About what?”

You’re the ones who is terrible.

You made me suffer a lot. …… Screw you.

But even though I approached her with an angry feeling, Nagisa didn’t make the slightest move and looked at me with a face like she was about to cry.

{Writing a letter like that…how terrible of you…}

“The letter? The one I put in your shoe?”

{That’s right}

“As I recall, I only wrote one word: ‘Impossible’? What’s so terrible about that exchange …..I don’t understand?”

{Really?}

“Haa?”

{Big brother, did you really write “Impossible”? Wasn’t it a different word? For example, wasn’t it a word like “➖➖”?}

“What did you say?”

I couldn’t hear her well. …… What did my sister see when I wrote the word ‘Impossible’ in the letter?

Or was I writing …… really different letters in response to the letter?

And then what was my sister’s reply?

Was it really “Can we talk today?” “How about today?”

…… Did I write something more?

{Don’t you remember, big brother?}

Yes, remember. ……

But for some reason I feel like I can’t remember. …… but I have to remember. …… but…!

I was in pain.

My sister looks at me sadly like that.

{Big brother,…… don’t forget your kind heart.}

“Don’t look at me like that! It’s like I hurt you!”

{Big brother …… don’t forget those who believe in you…}

“I haven’t forgotten! I haven’t forgotten! But I don’t know what to do!”

I just want to crawl under the covers and run away. ……

But Nagisa is sitting on my bed. ……

I couldn’t come up with any ideas, so I had no choice but to crouch down on the spot.

“Ryosuke.”

At that moment, something warm hugged my back,……, and I turned around to see what that warmth was.

“…Ryosuke…… I’m sorry I’m late, okay?”

The moment I saw her, the pain in my chest, which had been tight and painful, suddenly began to loosen up.

“Really?”

Today’s visiting hours are over,…… why?

No, I don’t care about such a rational thought,…… Mai is by my side,…… that’s all that matters, isn’t it?

“……… Mai?”

“……Yes,……I was so worried about you that I came here………Ryosuke…. I’ll always be by your side, Ryosuke, my most precious and beloved person in the world,……?”

Like Nagisa earlier, she looks like she’s about to cry.

She’s a kind face full of warmth …… that cares about me deeply. …… she’s the most important and beloved girl in the world to me. ……

Aah, really,…… something in me has been cleansed.

As Mai supports me from behind, I can feel the blur in my head clearing away at once. I can’t tell her how much those words saved my life.

“… ah… it was painful… hey, Mai… it’s strange to ask such a thing… but can you sleep with me like this just for today?”

“While holding you?”

“…… yes.”

“Fufu….Okay~”

Saying this, Mai got into bed with me and slept snuggled up with me.

Mai accepts even such an embarrassing request gently. It’s always the same. …… Mai is always kind.

And then I noticed that Nagisa was gone too.

Rather, there is not even a trace of Nagisa’s presence on the bed —- but I don’t care about it.

This is how Mai sleeps with me …… and that’s enough for me.

Is this really Mai…..

Or am I dreaming ……

Either way, I am sure that she is giving me peace of mind.

“…… Mai.”

“What is it?”

“…… thanks for always being with me.”

“……You’re welcome……hehehe.”

I rested my body on Mai’s chest.

And slowly, I close my eyes and fall into a deep sleep ……with Mai hugging me.

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~Mai’s point of view~.

I gently stroked Ryosuke’s head as he slept in my chest.

I’m so glad I rushed over to him. …… I didn’t think he was this weak.

“But I didn’t expect Kaede-san to come.”

Aunt Rinka regrets very much that she did not tell the cause of Ryosuke’s illness so that Kaede would not be hurt.

Kaede is also an important daughter to Rinka after all, she said it was a mistake this time to withhold information so as not to …… hurt her as much as possible.

Instead, she always carried things related to the hospital with her so that Kaede wouldn’t find out, and she didn’t even allow herself to be followed. …… She told Ryosuke’s father to be careful, too.

But this time Ryosuke’s father was busy with work and saw a business card that he forgot to put away. ……I really think he’s being careless.

“I think I’m prepared to tell Kaede-san everything now. I’m prepared to tell Kaede-san that the cause of Ryosuke’s illness is Kaede-san.”

I don’t know how Kaede-san will react.

The only thing I know is that I’ve been abused a lot since I was a kid,……, but as long as she doesn’t get close to Ryosuke,……, that’s all that matters now.

“Why is it only Ryosuke who has to suffer… he didn’t do anything wrong… even though he was falsely accused of only helping a woman…”

It’s too unreasonable.

That time, Ryosuke wandered into a back alley looking for a key chain that Kaede had given him. He kept looking for it, retracing the path he had taken that day,……, because he knew that if he lost it, his sister would be sad.

But Kaede hurt Ryosuke more than anyone else,……!

I still can’t forgive you, Kaede.

I’ll never let her get close to Ryosuke, and I’ll spend happy …… days with him. I’m sorry to say it, but this is the best revenge I can do.

“Ryousuke…….”

I hugged him tightly and he looked happy.

I’ll fall asleep too like this……I’ll be the first to see Ryosuke when I wake up…..ehehe…..I hope Ryosuke will be happy too.

I slowly fell asleep like Ryosuke did.

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