When I woke up, something felt different. There was a soft, warm sensation next to me—oh right, my sister was sleeping beside me. I wanted to sleep a bit more, but when I tried to roll over, something heavy prevented me from moving. My right leg felt unusually weighed down. The moment I realized what it was, I snapped awake. That's right, I had a shackle on my leg.
"Sis, wake up! You're awake, aren't you? What are you doing just lying there?"
"I was watching you sleep, Kaya. Good morning."
"Oh, uh, good morning."
Her calm greeting, as if nothing was wrong, completely disarmed me.
"No, wait, that's not the point! The shackle! You need to take it off, Sis. Middle school is starting today!"
"Why?"
"Why? Because I have to go to school, obviously!"
Why wouldn't I need to go to school?
"Why? Is there really any need to?"
"Of course there is! We have to go to school! Besides, you promised you'd take it off in the morning!"
"I never said anything like that. You just assumed I would. And I don't see why you need to go to school. Just stay here quietly in your room."
With that, she left the room, closing the door behind her. As soon as she was gone, I tried everything to remove the shackle, but it wouldn't budge. How could my sister have something like this? Maybe I could lift the bed and slip the chain off the leg... No, I wasn't strong enough. I tried pulling the chain to see if it would break, but it only made a loud, metallic clanging sound, echoing through the room. While I was struggling, my sister came back.
"Kaya, what do you think you're doing? Even if you manage to break the chain, the shackle will still be on your leg, won't it? If you keep this up, I'll have to restrain you even more."
"You could just take it off!"
"I can't do that. Now, let's have breakfast. I brought enough for both of us, so we can eat together here."
"Fine."
Realizing there was no arguing with her, I reluctantly agreed to eat breakfast with her. She had brought a small table into the room, so we sat around it and ate. As always, her cooking was delicious.
After we finished eating, I started cleaning up the dishes, an idea suddenly came to me. This might just be the perfect way to get her to remove the shackle.
"Sis, I need to go to the bathroom. Could you take this off? You know I can't go in here."
"What? Just do it here."
"What?!"
Here? No way…
"Haha, just kidding. Wait a minute. I'll go get something."
With that, she took the dishes and left the room. That joke caught me off guard—I never expected her to say something like that. After a few minutes, she came back, hiding something behind her back.
"What did you bring?"
"A key. Now, stretch out your legs, both of them together."
Finally, she was going to take it off. As soon as she did, I would make a run for it. I stretched out my legs, getting ready to jump up as soon as the shackle was removed. But just as I prepared to stand, I realized I couldn't move. Panicking, I looked down and saw that both my ankles were now shackled together.
"I knew you were planning to run away. But I won't ask you why anymore. Now, let's get you to the bathroom."
She finally unlocked the chain connecting me to the bed, but with my ankles bound together, I couldn't move on my own.
"I can't even walk like this—whoa!"
Before I could finish complaining, she scooped me up in her arms, carrying me like a princess.
"Sis, put me down!"
"Don't struggle, Kaya. It's dangerous."
She scolded me, and I realized she was right. It would be risky to struggle, so I stayed still as she carried me to the bathroom. Once inside, she gently set me down.
"There, you're all set. When you're done, just open the door, and I'll carry you back to the room. If you need help, just call me."
With that, she left, closing the door behind her. She was probably waiting right outside. I thought this plan would work, but it didn't. Well, I did really need to use the bathroom, but having my sister listen in was embarrassing.
"Hey, Sis, could you step away for a bit? So you don't hear anything."
"I'll cover my ears; it's fine."
I wanted her to leave, but there was no point in wasting any more time. Resigned, I did what I had to. When I was done, I opened the door and told her.
"I'm finished, but you didn't hear anything, right?"
"I didn't hear a thing. Now, let's head back—oh, but first, the washroom."
She carried me to the washroom, where I washed my hands and face. Then, she carried me back to my room and placed me on the bed. She locked the chain back to the bed leg but removed the shackle from my ankles. I was still trapped.
"Alright, that's settled. Now, Kaya, I'm off to school, so be good and stay here, okay? Think about what you'd like to do while you're here. I'll see you later."
"O-okay… but please take this off! Sis, wait!"
She left before I could finish. What should I do now? At this rate, I really wouldn't be able to go to school. I had to find a way out of here.
I spent the entire morning trying, but in the end, I couldn't break free. I missed the entrance ceremony, but I decided to focus on getting to school tomorrow. Surely, my sister would come to her senses by then and let me go. As I sat there, the sound of the front door opening reached my ears—she was back.
"I'm home, Kaya. Did you behave while I was gone? Oh, look at these scratches on the chain… Were you trying to get out? Do you really want to leave that badly? Do you really want to get away from me that much?"
"W-welcome home, Sis. It's not that I want to get away from you, but locking me up in my room like this isn't right! I understand now, really. I won't try to kill myself anymore, so please let me go. I'm begging you."
"Let you go? What for? I've told you before, I'm not angry, and I'm not trying to punish you. I'm doing this because I want you to live, Kaya. You don't have to understand right now. You must be hungry, right? Let's have lunch. Would you like to eat here or in the living room?"
Knowing that choosing the living room would just result in more shackles, I opted for it anyway, thinking it might be better than staying in my room. As expected, she shackled my ankles together before carrying me downstairs. Even in this strange situation, I couldn't help but admire how easily she carried me down the stairs.