*DING!* *DING!* *DING!* *DING!*
Seb rushed forward towards the intersection this time.
To his relief, Luna was right there, alive and breathing.
He slowed down his pace as he got there.
"LUNA!" This time he called out to her first.
The little girl turned around to see her brother reach the intersection a tad out of breath.
A glimpse of a delighted smile could be seen on her face for a split second before it was suppressed into an annoyed scowl.
Seb immediately draped his jacket over her and patted her head.
"I know I was a little late today, I hope you didn't feel too cold."
"It-It's good that you know that you were late! Hmph!"
She complained while puffing up her jittering cheeks.
Seb dotingly smiled at her before offering his hand to her.
"Here, grab my hand. Let's go home."
Whatever Luna was originally planning on saying was instantly forgotten as she grabbed onto Seb's hand with a sheepish grin on her face.
"Hee Hee! What are you up to this time, Seb?"
"Hmm, I am not up to anything. I am just doting on my precious little sister."
"See! You did it again!"
"You are just thinking too much. Oh! Do you want to get ice cream on the way?"
"Brother… why are you being so kind to me today...?"
"Hmm, am I not always nice to you? After all, I have such a cute little sister, I have to be nice to her."
"S-Stop It! You are just embarrassing me now. Why are you being so cheezy today!"
"Just deal with it!"
"YOU! … Ah! Fine! Whatever! Stupid-tian…"
"Sure thing Lulu~"
"Is that supposed to be some sort of nickname for me?"
"Yes! Or would you prefer being called Nana?"
"Idiot."
"Haha, what a lame comeback."
"See! You finally showed your true colours. You called me lame!"
"No, I just called your comeback lame. My little sister is the cutest in the world! I will beat anyone who dares to call her lame."
Luna was immediately brought to a blushing mess before she decided to just give in and go with the flow.
"You know what? Fine! Since you want to be such a pampering big brother today. I am going to act super spoiled and make you spend all your money!"
"Sure thing. What use is the money if I can't spend it on you?"
"UGGHH! I don't know! Go get a girlfriend or something you creep!"
"AHAHAH! Sure thing. Are you sure you won't get jealous though?"
"… on second thought, there is no need to go and get a girlfriend just yet…"
"So you will get jealous after all. But what to do… there is actually this girl I think I have a crush on."
"Shut up…"
.
.
.
Seb and Luna continued down their usual route.
Luna skipped along as she licked away at her chocolate ice cream in relish.
Seb walked half a step behind her, with a vanilla and strawberry mixed scoop on his cone.
They luckily managed to get ice-creams from a fast-food joint that fell along their route.
"Mmm, Seb! Chocolate is the best flavour of all isn't it?"
"You sure love ice cream, don't you? Yes, though my favourite is dark chocolate."
"Then why did you get vanilla and strawberry?"
"…"
"Seb?"
"Ah sorry, I got lost in thought…"
"So… why not take chocolate?"
"Ah… It is so that I do not forget."
"Don't forget what?"
Red. White. Red. White. Red. White.
"Nothing special! I just wanted to try something different today! Anyways… where do you want to go next?"
"Whatever, Let's go to…"
.
.
.
As the sun slowly started to approach the horizon, Seb suddenly stopped walking.
He had never really measured how much time it took between the ringing of the bells and the sunset.
But he knew that the setting sun signalled the end of their day.
"Luna…"
"Yes, brother?"
"I am sorry."
"For what?"
Luna turned around to see something she never could have imagined.
Her older brother was staring at her with an incredibly sorrowful and lonely expression.
Though his eyes were watering and filled with pain, he seemed to be fighting back tears.
"I am sorry Luna…"
"Sorry… for everything."
"What are you talking about, Seb? Hey, I am here with you! Tell me who bullied you! I will go beat them up."
Seb somehow managed to smile at her antics despite the pain in his heart.
"I missed you so much… Luna"
"I am right here you IDIOT! Stop saying stupid things!"
Seb rushed forward and hugged Luna tightly in his embrace.
"I am Sorry. I am Sorry. I am Sorry. I am Sorry. I am Sorry."
The tears that he had been holding back started to flow like rivers as he cried like a baby in his little sister's arms.
"Why are you being like this Seb… You are not allowed to cry… That's supposed to be my job…"
"I am Sorry. I am so Sorry Luna. I don't deserve to be forgiven…"
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be the mature elder brother and I the spoiled little sister? Why are you making me comfort you? This is not fair…"
"Even though I don't deserve to be forgiven … please forgive me… I am sorry Luna."
"Stop saying such things! If you cry so much… you will make me cry too."
"Haha… You were always such a crybaby, weren't you? Always crying for the smallest of things…"
"HEY!"
"Sorry, Luna… I Just...really missed you. More than you'll ever understand or believe. I have been alone… for the longest time."
"Ssh! Not another word! I don't know what happened, but don't forget our promise! We will always be there for each other! So don't ever say that you are alone…"
"Haha… I won't say it okay!"
Sebastian wiped his tears as he forced a smile for her.
"I am fine … for now."
"This is not enough. You have to pinkie promise to me!"
"What?"
"That you will never let yourself feel alone again! Even if I am not right in front of you, I will always be on your side."
"Really?"
"YES! YOU IDIOT!"
"Ok… Let's do it then"
Seb extended the pinkie finger of his right hand and so did Luna.
They curled their fingers around each other and shook it.
"Pinkie promise, if I lie, I will drink 1000 needles, and cut my pinkie!"
"Why is this promise so vicious?!"
"It's so that you don't do something stupid again!"
Seb just shook his head and laughed it off.
His memories of the past 900 loops were still pretty hazy, it was quite possible that she had died in such a manner in one of them.
He kept that thought to himself though.
After walking further down the street, Seb came to a stop again.
"Luna…"
"Yes?"
She turned around partly with concern, partly with annoyance.
This time though, Seb was smiling.
However, seeing that smile made Luna dread his next words.
.
.
.
"Big Brother loves you the most, Luna…"
"…"
"This is Goodbye."
*SCREECH!*
As the truck swerved in their direction, Seb stepped into its way.
He had thought long and hard about it.
He didn't want to do this anymore.
He was so tired.
There was no reason for him to carry on.
Even though he had been killed in the tutorial before, he had never tried killing himself.
For some reason, Seb had this feeling that by killing himself he would be able to give up on the tutorial.
And he intended to do just that.
He was sick of this painful life.
It was time to end it once and for all.
Seb's vision blacked out for a moment as he stared into the headlights of the truck coming his way.
However, when he opened them again… they were met with an extremely familiar sight.
White. Red. White. Red. White. Red. White. Red.
In front of the truck lay Luna's twisted figure.
At the very last moment… she had pushed him out of the way.
Seb crawled his way over to her side.
She still wasn't dead yet.
Seb brought his ears closer to her face, trying to make out what she was saying.
.
.
.
"Luna loves you the most too, Big Brother… I will always be… at your side."
.
.
.
Seb raised his trembling hands and gently closed her eyelids shut.
'Why Luna… Why!'
'Why did you save me…'
'It should have been me'
Seb clenched his fists till they turned white.
His eyes had already dried up so much that even tears refused to fall.
Yet… that still wasn't all.
As if it were mocking him.
Like some sort of cruel joke.
The blood on the ground started to form a new set of words.
.
.
.
[Tutorial – Phase 2 Complete!]
[Completion Rate: 95%]