chapter 1

I started to remember, when I was young, what I had promised her in this room — Her health had heavily worsened when she was 5 years old, and she was hospitalized in this place.

Our parents had to go through all sorts of formalities to sign up for her to stay in the hospital, since I was too tiny to do so.

Thus the only thing I could do was to stay here with my crying little sister.

"Maybe Rion was destined to be unable to leave here since when I was infected by the disease…"

Just as she finished speaking, Rion — the girl who always accompanied me since we were tiny, started sobbing.

Ever since I was younger I've disliked seeing girls cry so, for both our sakes, I immediately started to pat my sister's head.

"Uh… Don't- don't cry, if, uh… You have to stay hospitalized… I will be with you! I will visit you every day!"

I turned my head away, afraid of looking straight at her face.

"Really?"

She stopped wiping her tears and stared at my face with her aquamarine eyes.

I hit my chest while patting her head, "A man will never go back on his word!"

"Then… pinky swear…"

Rion carefully stretched her little finger, preparing a pinky promise with me.

"Y- yeah… I swear…"

I hooked her little finger with mine.

"Whoever breaks it will have to suffer from swallowing a thousand needles."

"Sounds frightening enough…"

She immediately burst into laughter when she heard that, it sounded like music to my ears.

I had thought about protecting her at that exact moment, regardless of time and space —

She was born with such a disease. When other kids could go outside and hang around with each other, she could only stay in this room, alone on her sickbed.

She was getting better for a few years, yet she's now back in this prison-like white space again.

I sympathize with her as much as I feel sorry for her, which was why I tried to make as much time as I possibly could to accompany her.

Visiting her every day was only feasible when I was young.

Now that I grew up, there were more things to be concerned about.

Nikaidou was a large family that could afford her medical expenses… but that only lasted while our parents were still alive. By the time I was ten years old, and the second year that Rion was hospitalized, our parents passed away from a traffic accident..

They had been framed after death, causing their assets to be frozen

From then on, the both of us were truly alone.

We could only rely on each other, yet… the bills, both our daily needs and her medical expenses were heavily weighing down on me.

Fortunately, both the fiancée of the Nikaidou's, Mamoru Mayuko, and her father, Mamoru Takuto, helped us on Rion's bills.

And I also dropped out from my high school, to learn programming as an apprentice.

It was only until I contracted with Takuto's corporation that I was able to gradually cover for Rion's astronomical medical expenses.

For the debts I had owed and whatever other reasons there were, our wedding was set in the stone.

—Now in present, I could only see Rion's tears dropping onto her clean-white blankets.

Her emaciated look is probably due to her not having a proper meal , too.

"But we made a promise, brother had promised to stay with me… If that's the result, Rion shouldn't have chosen to be cured! Brother also thought about Rion as a burden… right…!?"

"No, I have never thought about that… You are not my burden whatsoever!"

I replied in a firm voice, and started patting her head gently.

"I just wanted to cure your disease. As you can see I'm now a worker class so I don't have plenty of time to visit you… So I decided to let Mayuko do the job afterwards…"

"No, never, I don't need it anymore. Never bring that woman in front of Rion and never visit Rion ever again!!! If it's bound to be like this… wouldn't it be great if we just die together? You think so too right, brother? All and all Rion will never hand you to that woman! Never! NEVER!!!"

Rion stated again and again. For whatever reason, her statements and her smile caused a feeling of dread to well up in me.

I was very afraid of what she was going to do next, so I started asking in trembling voice:

"What are you doing? Don't do anything silly, Rion…"

"Hehe, don't worry, Rion will never do anything silly. My fate was already predestined, after all. Don't be afraid, let me be the one who protects my brother…"

I didn't understand what she meant back then… until the moment I fell to the ground. Blood came out from the source of the stabbing pain on my back and stained my white T-shirt red.

Using both my hands, I tried to crawl away, but then an excruciating pain was transmitted from my ankle.

"Aaaaaaahh!!…"

It made me scream.

I slightly leaned over to glance at the one who attacked me.

Under the moonlight, her body appeared in my vision, including her seemingly estranged eyes and familiar face.

My sister. Nikaidou Rion.

Her deadpan eyes were covered by her bangs and her face was tainted by blood. Instead of the white gown she normally wore, it was now replaced by a cute gothic lace dress colored in black and white.

—How did this happen?

I started recalling what happened 10 minutes ago.

—I went right back to work after the hospital visit, leaving everything she said behind. I thought she was just joking.

Since I left something at home, I went back to the Nikaidou's.

Yet I couldn't turn on the light, no matter how much I tried.

—Maybe the breaker was blown? I'll leave it to tomorrow for fixing.

I took off my shoes and stepped into my home.

The wooden floor creaked. The house was already getting on in years, it wasn't anything strange for the planks to start making sounds under my weight.

Meh, I didn't have the money for maintenance services.

I sighed, pulled the door and entered the dining room, and picked up what I had left on the table.

I was working in this room and saved all the data in this laptop, I wouldn't be able to finish the last step of my work if these materials were lost.

It was then I felt a stab on my back.

Just like something came in and out violently.

Eh?

The pain-induced loss of strength made me fall on the ground.

My mind was all blank, I couldn't comprehend what's going on.

Some warm liquid kept coming out of my back.

—It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts—

"AAAAAAaaa——"

The burning pain made me scream out loud.

I crawled towards the entrance under my will of living.

Then I saw Rion's face with her eyes of terror.

"Brother, since Rion cannot live much longer anymore, Rion will also die after killing brother, it's all~ brother's fault! Day after day, I was expecting brother's visit! But no matter how I wait, brother will always call my number and say he can't make it! It's all brother's fault, all of it!

Wouldn't it be great if brother and Rion are the only ones remaining in the world?"

"Uuurgh, haa… haaa, urngh…"

Rion reached with her hand to my wound… She was using my pain as a form of torture and a broken smile appeared on her face.

"Let's leave with Rion, let's leave this accursed world! Hahahahaha!! Let's meet our parents again!! Hahahahaha!!!"

Once again, she used the kitchen knife to penetrate my belly.

My skin was being torn apart by a cold and sharp steel, which proceeded to wreck my internal organs soon after.

I knew it. She wanted to torment me with the pain in my last moment.

Dammit. The heat… it's too hot, too hot.

The amount of blood from my stomach soaked my shirt, it was hot and painful. The damage wasn't critical, but I hoped it was.

The worst, most painful death, is to die in such tormenting pain.

"Hahahaha! How cute the color is! The blood, I have never thought it tasted like that! Great, so great, my brother's face in agony! Don't worry, my dearest brother, Rion won't let you die so easily, Rion will let you enjoy the most excruciating pain before we depart from this world together. Hahahahahaha! Brother, do you know how much blood a person can bleed? Rion has never been to school, so I don't know… let's test it out shall we?!"

"No, uaarghh…."

My blood moistened her pink lips.

She reached out to my wound with her hands, and started stirring it up…

Gurgling noises came out from my wound, I knew it was the sound of my flesh being blended.

I'll die, I'll die!!! I heavily breathed in pain, struggled to lay my back on the wall, with blood dripping from the corner of my mouth.

Despite the pain that I was feeling, my thoughts started flying away to a distant place.

When did it all start? When did she become this twisted?

I had no idea why she decided to kill me.

…or did I?

Memories of the past flashed in my mind like a revolving lantern. Perhaps this was the so-called flashbacks before death.

Maybe, maybe I was really the only one she could depend on.

She only enjoyed staying with me since she was young, and I was her only companion in the hospital.

After our parents died, she had always been imprisoned in the hospital, I was the only one she could truly depend on.

But I, I betrayed her. The so-called "cruel reality" shattered my ability to be with her.

I had to marry Mayuko to settle my debt.

Maybe that was why she became so twisted.

Life is so different from RPG games… it could never be the same as that fantasy world.

I could only feel truly relaxed when I play games.

Everything would be fine if I could escape there.

Both of us could escape from this cruel reality.

The pain from the stomach pulled me back.

"Brother has a cute little belly, would it be cuter if I expose every single organ of yours? Hahahahahaha… It's all brother's fault, it's all your fault! Brother betrayed Rion, at least Rion could stay with brother in his last moments."

At the corner of my vision was the reflection of her crazy yet sad expression.

I used all my remaining power to hug her tightly in my arms.

She was surprised, but still, I got close to her ear, and blurted out what used to be hard to say.

"I'm… so… sorry."

I couldn't even speak continuously.

Then, I felt my mind drifting away.e