Five years earlier…
Cincinnati stood under the cherry blossoms and knew deep down that her life was coming to an end. She could do nothing about it, nothing short of putting on a brave face and moving forward.
"Hello, big sis," Cincinnati groaned as soon as the voice spoke and turned around to see her little brother in school uniform, grinning from ear to ear.
"You're a student at Stone High now, aren't you?" She asked, her shoulders slumped.
"You asked yesterday and the day before. Yes, I'm officially a part of Stone High." Mark seemed excited, even though Cincinnati's standing in the school was as good as ruined since her brother was, for lack of a better term, weird.
"Well, might as well get this over with," she said, walking ahead. Mark had always been a bright child, and being in the same high school with her was his dream. Even though she'd told him times without number to steer clear of her, he never listened.
"Big sister!!!" He followed, and Cincinnati knew deep down that she'd never be able to dislodge him. He was stuck to her tighter than glue.
"What?" Cincinnati snapped when she noticed a trio of girls walking towards her. They were the "in" crowd of the middle strata, and a few upper strata attended the academy. She got in through a scholarship, and Mark did the same too.
"I want to walk with you!" He seemed close to throwing a tantrum, but Cincinnati ignored it.
"Hey, who's that dweeb following you?" One of the trio asked, a look of disdain evident on her face. Cincinnati didn't know how to salvage the situation.
"Big sis, who are they?" Mark stepped forward, standing dangerously close to Cincinnati.
This is exactly what I was avoiding.
"Eww, don't tell me the dweeb is with you. What are you, five?" The leader of the trio spoke, her voice dripping with disgust. Cincinnati was taken aback, but she couldn't side with Mark, not after he had given her public perception a colossal hit.
"He isn't with me; he just follows me everywhere," Cincinnati tried to explain, but Mark just stood there, tears rolling down his eyes. He turned tail and ran, a book slipping from his backpack and crashing on the ground.
"Isn't this your surname?" Sandra, one of the trio, picked up the fallen book and turned it from side to side.
"So, he was your brother. You could have said so. You're not cool, not cool at all," Sandra chided and flung the book at Cincinnati, and the other members of the trio didn't spare her a glance.
After they were gone, Cincinnati picked up the book and saw the name. She flipped the page, and the words stood out like a sore thumb.
Tomorrow, I'll be attending my big sister's school. I am so happy, will I meet her friends? I hope big sister lets me walk with her.
Her hands began to shake, tears blurring her vision.
What have I done?
"Mark, I'm sorry!!!" She screamed, running towards the direction he ran towards, hoping that she wasn't too late in fixing her relationship with her brother.
"Will you sign my book, big sister?"
"Today, the teacher asked me to name my favourite person. I told him it was you."
"Are you happy I'm your brother, big sister?"
"Will you miss me?"
She was running at full speed when Cincinnati noticed a black blob falling from the sky. It was misshapen and ugly, something that had no place in the pristine world she'd come to know.
The black blob suddenly began to multiply, and a grotesque form took its place, a stark contrast to the backdrop of an otherwise peaceful world.
It towered over the academy, a kaiju of an incomprehensible scale.
"Do not panic; stay in your classes; the Defenders have been dispatched.." she heard the headmaster's voice over the intercom drone on, but she didn't know what was happening.
Where's Mark?
She searched for him, but it was to no avail. The school was in an uproar, students and teachers running helter-skelter. But Cincinnati couldn't leave without knowing her brother's whereabouts.
If I didn't mistreat him, he would still be by my side.
"Please, Mark, please be safe, little brother," she prayed to a god she didn't know, her lips quivering.
"What are you doing? Get out of there, it's not safe!" Her teacher screamed at her, but Cincinnati had never been the type of person to listen anyway.
So, she did the next best thing; she pointedly ignored.
She didn't find Mark, and even when she screamed at the top of her lungs and drew the blob's attention, she didn't stop. Even when the occupants of the academy were screaming at her to get to safety, she stood rooted on the spot.
This is my fault, and I have to pay with my life, too.
She readied for death, and a black blob in the shape of a curved scythe came hurtling towards her, no hopes of stopping. She closed her eyes and accepted death.
But it didn't come.
She tentatively opened one eye to see Mark before her, holding his ground.
"I heard you calling me, big sister. I came back for you." He turned to her and smiled, blood dripping from his mouth.
"No, no, you won't do this to me. You should be angry at me and throw a tantrum like someone your age. Please don't leave me, don't forgive me. Please, Mark. I don't mind if you call me big sister because you're my little brother, and I love you so much." She cradled his head, taking no note of the Defenders who'd taken control of the scene and pushing the giant monster back.
She didn't care; everything else felt like white noise to her.
"Please, wake. I beg you," her voice broke, but she didn't care; that wasn't the time to think about appearances.
The rest of the school watched silently, their solemn faces telling her the truth she didn't want to know.
"Why are you all just staring? Help him! He's still with us! Help him, please!" She screamed, but it was to no avail; help wasn't forthcoming, and nobody lifted a finger.
"That-that's the first time you've called me little brother. Today is the best day of my life," those were the last words of Mark Adventa and the event that created a monster known as Death.
~~
The present day…
Darkus was the opposite of Mark, which probably drew him to her. He was alone, and she was too. She found him in The Graveyard and rescued him.
He'd always be her little brother. Not a replacement for Mark, though, nobody could replace him even if they tried for a thousand years.
She adopted the scythe that ended her little brother's life and became one with the smell of blood.
Because when it mattered most, she wasn't there for the one person who loved her above all else, the one she didn't need to pretend to.
The school rescinded her scholarship, and Mark's death was swept under the rug. He wasn't considered a student since it was his first day. She never got to see the trio again.
There were no cherry blossoms in The Graveyard, and just as well because she recreated that sight with her hologram over and over again. It was punishment for the love she made light of, the boy she couldn't save.
Darkus was her second chance, and this time, she was going to do it right. She would make good use of the second chance Crystal gave her.
She'd found a family, and that's all that mattered.