I had a dream from a long time ago.
The summer sun was beating against my cheeks.
Cicadas completely covered my sense of hearing. They were everywhere around me, in the garden of the mansion, which is like a small forest.
But among all this.
My sight is tinged with a reddish hue that prevents me from being calm in that dream.
----Stab.
----Wash.
----Pierce.
Grotesque sounds fill my ears at some point, but are dulled entirely by a cry.
- Uu... uh...
I feel my consciousness fade.
Like a sway, I mean.
But for some strange reason.
Inside that dream from the distant past... I wanted to say "Don't cry anymore, Akiha".
After that, I woke up.
. . .
. . .
. . .
When I opened my eyes, the first thing my eyes glimpsed was the ceiling of Akiha's room. But, with a slight headache, throbbing lines were born in the material of the ceiling, which makes me go completely silent.
It's been years and I'm still not used to seeing these things from the morning.
But that's ok.
As long as I have my glasses with me, I can fix this.
Like a filter applied to my reality, the moment I put on my glasses, the ceiling went back to how it was originally, without any lines on top of it.
I got out of bed then...
And I didn't look at Akiha anywhere.
!
My alarm bells went off immediately.
Even though I just got up, I don't have time to correct my bad sleeping habits. I get out of bed, put on my shoes and get ready to leave the room as quickly as possible.
Why was I in Akiha's bed?
Did something out of the ordinary happen?
How come I didn't notice?
A feeling of impatience rules over my heart and makes me start running around looking for Akiha.
─Akiha!
I open a random door, but it turns out to be just a storage room.
I have to keep running.
─Akiha, where are you?!
Opening one door after another, it was like I couldn't stand still right now.
I'm more worried than ever.
Going through almost every door in the east wing of the mansion, it falls to me to open one last one of these. A room I had never been allowed to be in before.
My father's office.
The one place in this mansion I have never set foot in, because my father forbade me to.
How likely is it that Akiha is here?
I put my hand on the doorknob. Oh, it's open.
I hastily rush to open the door, and then...
─Akiha...!
I stop my voice after opening the door.
Because my heart relaxed enough to do so.
It was here that I found Akiha. Her long black hair is spread out on her back, as she looks through the window. She is wearing her school uniform.
Accompanying Akiha here is Kohaku-san (also in her uniform), standing in the corner of the office.
The atmosphere is tense. I sense that something has changed.
─I see you've woken up, Nii-san. You're a heavy sleeper, I'd say.
When Akiha turns around, I notice that her expression is different. No. Rather, the whole atmosphere around her is different from the one I looked at Akiha yesterday.
This new attitude makes me unconsciously swallow my breath. What happened while I was asleep?
The Akiha of now looks so... similar to Makihisa, it sends shivers down my spine.
Where was the image of my little sister who had thrown herself into my arms and cried?
I don't know.
It feels like everything that happened yesterday was just a dream.
─Ah... yes...
I didn't know how to respond. I was completely confused about what's happening right now.
Akiha gives me a cold look then, one I've never felt coming from my younger sister before.
─You should prepare for school, Nii-san. We can't miss because of a simple negligence like our father's death.
─But...
─Don't worry about the funeral, it all took place while you were sleeping. Nii-san wasn't obliged to participate and I understand that.
She stole the words right out of my mouth.
Acting with such a dignified personality, it seriously makes me doubt if she's the same Akiha from last night.
Something must have happened...
By her very nature, I understand that better than anyone. As her older brother, I can notice things that happen to Akiha even if she doesn't tell me.
Is there anything I can do?
─Akiha... are you alright?
That question escapes from between my lips, out of the concern I feel towards her right now.
Seeing my hesitation, Akiha sighs in resignation.
─Don't worry about me, Nii-san. Worry about your health, okay?
I keep quiet then.
Akiha, dressed in my school uniform, communicates to me:
─Go get ready for school. We have to leave in forty minutes so there's not much time we have right now.
─Wait, Akiha... is something wrong with you?
─Absolutely nothing, Nii-san. I apologise wholeheartedly for my attitude last night, I couldn't be strong enough and burst into tears, sorry for all the trouble I've caused you, Nii-san.
─No, it's no problem. We are brothers after all.
─Exactly, we are brothers and I respect you as my older brother... but Nii-san, now that Makihisa Tohno has died, the title of leader of the [Tohno Family] has passed to me.
─Eh...
Akiha... is now the leader of the family...?
She continues speaking:
─I dismissed all the servants except Kohaku and Hisui, all of whom were my father's dependents and when I asked them to swear loyalty they turned their backs on me. I also dismissed to the streets those whom my father gave lodging just because they were his relatives or friends, as well as asked the Aozaki sisters to return home.
─! Aoko-san and Touko-san...
─I told them that they could come back to visit you, because you, Nii-san, will be living in the mansion from now on.
. . .
Again I don't know what I can say.
I feel a lump in my throat...
─You may think it's selfish, but it's to lessen the risks. Nii-san, all that's left of the [Tohno Family] is you and me, I've taken the necessary actions in order to protect our blood, I hope you understand.
Akiha ducks her head a little, as if apologising to me.
Eh...
I'm not going to... be with Aoko-san or Touko-san...?
You can go visit them all you want, Nii-san. I'm not going to restrict you from anything like that, but what I'm asking you from the bottom of my heart is to stay living here.
. . .
I understand.
I'm going to accept what Akiha says and just keep quiet. She's absolutely right.
Aoko-san and Touko-san can defend themselves, so it behooves me to stay here by my younger sister's side at least until the threats are completely neutralized without a doubt.
Well...
That's what I'm going to do.
----At school.
After Akiha, Kohaku-san and Hisui-san went to their classrooms, I went my usual way to my own.
The school is as noisy as ever and the last weekend felt so long that I thought it was going to take forever. Too many things happened, but I must return to my ordinary life, as expected.
When I opened the door to the lounge....
A cloud of dust immediately rose above my head. With no chance to dodge or block it, my head, hair, shoulders and clothes in general were filled with a white powder.
The classroom fell silent.
Everyone turned to look at me, and paused their activities to look directly at me.
I don't know how to react to this situation.
─Hey, Tohno-kun, are you okay?
─It's a bad joke.... who left the blackboard erasers there?
─Wow, you can go wish up if you want to, Tohno.
...
Amidst the multitude of comments showing their concern towards me, there is only one person who would do this and do their best to endure laughter.
─Hehehe... hehe... hehe...
I focus my gaze towards that delinquent-looking fellow who is like an idiot doing his best not to laugh audibly at the situation.
The sole perpetrator of this shenanigans...
I'm going to shout his name.
─Ariiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiihiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikoooooooooooooooo!
With a little run and a jump with momentum, I catch up to this red-haired guy who's laughing his ass off at all this. Dropping my backpack, I start strangling this asshole.
─Hahahahahahahahahahaha! You look super funny, Tohno! Hahahahahahahaha! Uogh...! Hey, don't be too rough, you might break my neck, you idiot!
Arihiko bursts into open laughter. His mocking laughter makes my anger rise higher and higher.
Fucking asshole.
─What did you think of doing that stupid thing, Arihiko?!
─Hey, hey, Tohno...! I'm running out of air...!
─Ah, sorry.
Then I let Arihiko go. It's not like I seriously wanted to hurt him irreparably, it was just a way to get momentary revenge on him.
Though still annoyed, I still look at Arihiko with a frown.
─Sorry, Tohno. I wanted to play a little joke on you, so I came up with the brilliant idea of putting the blackboard erasers between the door frame! Hehe, pretty good idea, huh?!
─If by good idea you mean something that will make me angry, you're absolutely right, Arihiko.
─Yes... ─. Interrupting his words for a moment, Arihiko stands up. And then----
Before I knew it, Arihiko was hugging me.
This seems weird at first instance, I was going to push him away with a right hook, but with the next thing he said, this idea was completely gone. For in a complex tone of voice, Arihiko says:
─Tohno, I'm sorry about your father. I know you didn't get along with him at all, but still... you may have been putting up with a lot more than you put up with, so it would be better if you got it off your chest, Tohno.
─... Arihiko...
Suddenly, I was a little moved by what he said.
Arihiko is never this sentimental towards me. But I guess it's some empathy directed towards me. After all, Arihiko lost her parents too.
That's true. Arihiko understands the pain of losing a parent.
It's not entirely about the old man, but... what Arihiko said hit the nail on the head.
These last few days I've been more on the supernatural side than before. I've been exposed to too many things.
Arcueid, Yumizuka-san, the [Dead Apostle Ancestors], my father's death, and various other things. In these past three days, I've been "Shiki Tohno" for a very short time. I had almost completely forgotten what my ordinary life was like.
So.
I push Arihiko away a little forcefully, and making a calm smile, I reply to my friend:
─Thanks for your support, Arihiko. I'll treat you to lunch with Ciel-senpai as compensation.
─Hey, there's nothing you have to pay me back, it's just my support as Shiki Tohno's best friend, so don't stop being yourself, you idiot!
I never thought a guy like Arihiko would give me words like that.
It seems I have to reconsider a bit how I see Arihiko.