5 Years later...

"It's time for dinner! It's your favorite, I've made tempura with rice and sushi"

"Oooh, I love tempura!" she says while rushing downstairs.

"Tempura has lots of calories. Something like miso or soba would be better"

"Oniisama, but it tastes soooo gooood"

"That's exactly why you're going to get fat," he says without thinking.

...

"Oh, ah, ok... I'll, stop eating tempura then."

"I made these especially for you Hime."

She starts staring at Hiko, while pouting and blushing at the same time, waiting for his approval.

He puts his hand on his chin like an intellectual would and stares at his sister.

-What did I do? Why is she staring at me? Did I really do something wrong?

She starts to blush and puts her hands over her face. "Id..Idiot, what are you looking at."

"You who else?" he says without hesitation.

"Well, well sit down at the table, no need to be bickering"

"Here's your miso soup, I knew you'd want some"

"Thank you very much, mother"

She smiles

"By the way mother, is father once again doing work late?"

"He's working hard, so don't blame him"

"Is that so"

-He must be working really late again for the family. When I'm older I will definitely pay my family back everything they've done for me.

"Hime, can you pass me the rice?"

"Welllll, if you can find out what is different about me today."

He starts running through many questions through his own head:

Change of hairstyle? - No, she still has long straight dark blue hair.

Change of clothes?- Nothing out of the ordinary.

Eyelashes are the same(Medium length, longer than mine)

Eyebrows are the same.

Ah, something is in her hair.

"You're wearing a new hairpin"

"ding, ding, ding, correct!"

"Here's the rice Oniisama."

"Thank you very much, Hime"

"Are you children ready for your first day of school tomorrow?"

"If Oniisama is with me I'll be fine"

"I do not mind, but you should start being more independent"

"But Oni-."

"Mother, Hime and I are already well above the academic decree of primary school. Do we really have to go to school, we won't learn anything new. It just seems really illogical to waste time like that."

"Illogical or not, you must go socialize with other children besides each other. You've both only talked to one another, and probably cannot socialize with other people"

"Oh, you do not have to worry about that, when father brings his friends over, we both engage in conversations with them, right Hime.

She nods.

"You must talk to people your age, even if you are mature for your age, Hime isn't. She is your sister, isn't she. You must treasure her."

"Alright, I understand, if it's for my sister, I guess it's fine

.

.

.

She starts biting her lips to stop herself from crying, but she couldn't hold it when she was talking to her brother. She just starts bursting into tears.

"Sorry..." she says in a low voice.

"Sorry..."

"Sorry..."

"Sorry for being such a burden, Oniisama." She starts speaking in a normal tone but is crying at the same time. "Even though you always helped me study, I messed up your plan to get a job and now you have to go to school with me." She says while her nose is covered with snot and her eyes are red from crying so much.

As the mother was about to speak to ease her daughter. Hiko starts talking which puts a big smile on her face, she even cries a little for some reason.

"It's fine, Hime, It's fine," he says while embracing her head onto his shoulder.

"But, because of me, your important plan is-".

He takes her head off his shoulders and puts it in front of his and looks her right in her eyes. Making such a gentle face and gaze, while he speaks.

"You, are more important than some plan,"

"Really," she says while wiping her own tears away.

"Yes, really"

He takes out his handkerchief from his pocket and wipes her tears away.

When he looks at his mother, she sees her wiping her tears off.

He whispers, "Mother, may I have a quick talk after Hime goes asleep?"

"Ah, sure, but it must be real quick because you must get ready for school tomorrow. Is everything ready?"

"Yes"

After Hime brushes her teeth, she quickly falls asleep in bed.

"Okay, so what did you want to talk about?" This is the first time Hiko had called out to wait after Hime had gone to bed, they'd usually do everything together.

Hiko gets real serious. "Why were you crying?"

"Ah" She put her hands over her mouth and starts looking down.

__

-She hesitated to speak, and her eye movements tell me that something is up and she doesn't want to say it to protect both of us.

"It's noth-"

"Stop lying, just tell me."

"Bu-"

"Mother." He says in a very bold and caring way.

"Is that why father isn't coming home as often anymore. If I recall, it was after you two went to the hospital, wasn't it?"

-Mother has also become more involved with us after that and hasn't been going out to work anymore saying that she had time off. But, I bet she didn't.

"I-It's nothing"

"Is it really nothing mother," he says while looking concerned.

She turns her back.

"Yes, it's really nothing."

"Stop trying to lecture your mother and get to bed now, or you'll wake up later than your sister."

"Understood, but if there really is someth-"

"Nope, it's nothing, now go to bed, okay?!"

__

"Okay," she says again but louder.

"Okay, mother."

After he walks into his room he begins to hear his mother crying beside the wall.

.

.

"How am I supposed to tell my children that I've only got a month to live left," she mutters under her breath while crying.

He stops at his closed door and his eyes suddenly pop out and his pupils become dilated while staring at the door.

-Wait, she only has a month left to live. She isn't even old, did she catch a disease, if she did, is there a way to cure her.

He goes into his bed and puts his face into his pillow while laying down.

"haha, that must be it, mother is just overreacting."

"There's no way that she'll die"

In the back of his mind, he says to himself

-You know you yourself that you're just trying to dilute yourself from reality(cold voice)

"There is no way that mother will d-die, she looked as healthy as before.

-Did she? She didn't even eat anything herself.

"She just wasn't hungry"

-She didn't talk about herself at all today

"She was j-just tired"

-Her face was pale, you could tell she tried to cover it up with makeup. Her hair was messy, you could tell that she forgot to clean it up. Her voice was scratchy, you know that something was wrong. You knew that.

"Yes, I knew something was wrong all along, but why didn't I say anything." He says while squeezing his hair.

He reminisces on his mother's face. Her beautiful smile, her gentle gaze, her nostalgic laugh. The times she reprimanded him. The times she helped me up when I fell while trying to walk as a baby. The times she taught me about stars. And the times she smiled and laughed at me about the stupidest things.

"Uwahhh, mmMother," he screams while crying into his pillow.

Hearing that, Yuri quickly runs to Hiko's room.

She opens the door and sits on her knees by the bed.

"Shhh, it's all right, mother is here, don't worry about anything."

"Bad dreams go away, bad dreams go away, bad dreams go away." she sings until he sleeps.

Before he sleeps he mutters three words, "don't leave me" while squeezing his mother's hand strongly.

She looks at her son's face and begins crying.

"Gomen'nasai(sorry), Hoki, Gomen'nasai"

"Mother doesn't want to leave either." She squeezes his hands while putting her face on his son's little hands.

"Gomen'nasai"

"Mother won't be able to watch you grow up any longer"

"Gomen'nasai" That word slowly fades away into the night.

"Gomen'nasai"

"ᴳᵒᵐᵉⁿ'ⁿᵃˢᵃⁱ"

...'ⁿᵃˢᵃⁱ"