Even after hearing these words from my mother's mouth, I refused to believe what she had said :
"No! No, it's not possible, he can't be dead, it's impossible !
This is a joke, right ? Are you all playing a joke on me ?"
She hugged me even tighter and said something I didn't understand, because at the same time the pressure, the stress, the fatigue and probably the shock made me lose consciousness and I unconsciously fell asleep.
"Yù..... .....Wa.... .....Up !
Yùichi, wake up !"
This is what I heard when I regained consciousness.
I was conscious, I think, but unable to open my eyes, speak or even move any part of my body. All I could do was hear what was being said next to me, smell the odours around me and feel the bed I was lying on.
But this strange phase didn't last more than twenty seconds, because I already felt that I was falling asleep again suddenly.
It was during my second "awakening" that I could finally move, but this time I heard nothing, but the same smell continued to float in the air, a mixture of hot blood that had dried and earth.
I opened my eyes as best I could, but closed them again almost at the same time, for I was dazzled by the sun's rays reflecting against the windows, and after I had got used to its rays I could see where I was and what was beside me.
I was in a bed, my own, I was in my room with my window on my right, my wardrobe on my left and my door, closed, in front of me, and next to me, on the bed, my sister Nomiko who was asleep.
Suddenly, everything came back to my mind: my brother stuck in the hole, our run in the forest, and even his death. Everything. I remembered everything. And then, uncontrollably, I started to cry. In all my memories, it must be the first time I cried so much. I cried so much that I finally woke up Nomiko who was sleeping.
The first thing she said to me was :
"That's it, you've come to your senses."
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you.
But how long have I been sleeping ?" I replied.
"It's one o'clock in the afternoon, and you fell asleep at about eleven o'clock."
"Oh, so it's been almost two hours. I felt like I'd been asleep forever."
"And by the way, what did you want to tell me when you called me in the woods ?"
"Oh, that? Considering what happened, it's almost trivial. "
"What do you mean 'almost trivial' ?"
"Do you remember when, before you left, you told me to call you if something unbelievable happened on TV ?"
"Yes, yes, I remember it well, so what ? What happened ?"
"Well, for the first time in 10 years, the 8 Great Patriarchs are going to make a worldwide announcement."
"WHAT ? You say it's futile ? Their speeches are the most watched and publicized things in the world, no one can miss one of them ! And when are they going to make their announcement ?"
"This afternoon at 2pm."
"What? But it's in less than an hour, you should have woken me up instead of falling asleep next to me."
I didn't wait for his answer and got up and got off my bed, I staggered, but managed to balance myself and went towards the door in front of me. I was just in front of the handle when Nomiko pulled my arm back.
"No, sorry, but you don't have to go downstairs." She said.
"But why ? They're going to make their announcement, I can't miss it."
"I know, but you're not coming down until I tell you to."
"Let me go, and let me down."
I made her let go of my arm and turned towards the door. At the same time she stood up, slapped me and got angry.
"Stop, this time you listen to me. I'm tired of you doing what you want. You sit down and don't move until I tell you to. she ordered me.
It's very rare that she got angry, but to slap me, that must be the first time in my whole life.
I calmed down and went to sit on my bed without a word. And it was she who started the discussion again :
"You can go back to sleep if you want, I'll wake you up just before the speech." She said in a soft, calm voice.
"Don't worry, I can wait."
These were the only words we exchanged as we waited to get off.
A good fifteen minutes had passed since the last words I spoke. Fifteen silent minutes where no noise had its place.
Until suddenly, without warning, Nomiko grabbed my arm and forced me to stand up.
"What's going on ? Should we go downstairs ?" I asked her.
"Shh, don't ask questions and follow me." She replied.
I followed her without a sound.
We left my room, went down the stairs to the ground floor and headed for the living room.
When we got there, everything was clean, no more bodies, no more dirt, no more mess and no more blood. It was then that I realised that even I was clean with no blood on me.
My mother was the first to speak:
"Are you alright Yùichi, did you have a good rest? "
But I didn't even have the time to answer when my father went on directly with a calm and soft voice :
"I know that you are sad and that you are angry for not having brought him back in time. But we want you to know that you shouldn't blame yourself. Just before he went, your brother woke up and despite the pain, the fatigue and the lack of blood, he started to speak and gave us..., no, he gave you these last words. I wrote them down to make sure I remembered them. I'll let you read those last words."
I took the paper in my hands and began to read it in my head :
"Yùichi, thank you. Thank you for having found me and for having done everything to save me. I remember almost nothing, but I'm sure you gave it your all, so thank you for everything."
It's strange, but at that moment, my tears didn't flow, on the contrary, I started to smile, as if to pay a last tribute to my brother: Nath.