[It will get better. Even though things seem very difficult right now, everything will eventually improve. Iroha firmly believes this.]
[Noticing that something was wrong with your behavior, Iroha decided to start living with you officially.]
[She spent 24 hours a day with you, putting away all sharp objects in the house—such as utility knives, scissors, and fruit knives—in a locked cabinet in the kitchen.]
[Only she had the key and would take them out only when needed, then immediately put them back.]
[She lied, using the feeble excuse that she had been having nightmares and was scared and needed someone to be with her to feel safe.]
[She set up a sleeping mat in your room.]
[She treated you like an infant. Even while cooking in the kitchen, she would peek her head out every minute to see what you were doing.]
[When you went to the bathroom, she would wait quietly outside the door.]
[When you took a shower, she would insist on drying your back with a towel, trying to keep you within her sight at all times.]
[Despite her efforts, you still did not see the situation you hoped for.]
[You had sacrificed half of your life over the years. You were unwilling to allow any flaws that might ruin everything.]
[Iroha's way of thinking remained unchanged.]
[Driven by guilt, she took good care of you, as per your wife's wishes, but still saw you as a brother and not as a potential romantic partner.]
[For this reason, you felt it was time to implement the final step of your plan.]
[You remembered your original setting: once a resilient, kind, loyal, and hardworking man, now reduced to a state of lethargy and numbness after a series of setbacks.]
[In this state, you would not and could not show any desires. The more numb you were, the better. The more melancholic and pessimistic, the better.]
[No one or nothing could move you, nor could anyone stop what you had decided to do.]
[Unless... within this meaningless world, a source of warmth and hope could appear to support you to continue moving forward.]
[Most importantly, this hope could not be actively pursued by someone with a death wish but had to come to you on its own.]
…
[In the dead of night, Iroha's eyelids twitched slightly as she sensed an unusual smell.]
[While lying on her side, her ear connected to the pillow on the floor, she faintly heard a rhythmic sound.]
[Drip, drip, drip...]
[It wasn't the crisp sound of water drops but slower, thicker, and more eerie, making one shiver involuntarily.]
[Perhaps it was a woman's sixth sense at work. With beads of sweat on her forehead, she slowly woke up.]
[The faint sound she had heard in her dream became clearer upon waking.]
[Feeling something was wrong, she immediately fumbled in the dark for the bedside lamp and illuminated the room.]
[The scene before her made her lose control of her emotions as if struck by lightning.]
[On the bed, you were lying prone, with dark red blood spreading from your right wrist.]
[The blood had soaked a large part of the sheets and dripped onto the floor from the edges.]
[With a pained and twisted expression, she rushed to stop the bleeding and called for an ambulance.]
[When you woke up in the hospital, the first thing you saw was Iroha, who had been crying silently, throwing herself at you and hugging you.]
[Once she had calmed down a little, you slowly pushed her away and said...]
[First-person perspective…]
"Why did you save me? There's no need for a life that's barely hanging on."
"Don't say that, Chisato."
"Please, Iroha, don't waste your time on someone like me. You have a better and brighter future."
"I don't see you as a burden. I…"
"Continuing on is meaningless. No one can stop someone who wants to end their life."
Chisato said these words without hysteria or showing immense pain. It was as if he was discussing a trivial matter in a slow, deliberate manner.
But it was precisely this calmness that frightened Iroha even more.
Her brother, whom she loved the most, so strong and hardworking, had always spoiled and supported her.
Yet now, he was losing his vitality and hope right before her eyes. This was the most terrifying thing she had ever experienced.
She felt that the connection between them had been severed long ago, separated by a sad and obstructive barrier.
They existed in two different worlds—one of light and one of darkness—able to see each other but unable to touch or hear each other's voices.
She could only watch helplessly as he took a step towards the cliff, wanting to stop him but being powerless to do so.
She had always feared that breaking the barrier would harm him, so she had tried gently to warm his heart. But now, it seemed all efforts had been in vain.
Her sister-in-law had said to take good care of Chisato.
As the daughter of the Isshiki family, as Chisato's sister, as an unforgivable sinner, and as... a woman.
Since the situation was approaching the point of no return, there was no time to consider the possibility of Chisato getting hurt by her actions.
Break through the barrier and shatter the chains holding Chisato back.
I have to pull him back!
Iroha's delicate expression vanished. The next moment, she held the object that Chisato feared most in her hand.
It was the razor blade he had used before, stained with his own blood!
Before he could speak, Iroha resolutely raised her wrist and made a swift, decisive cut.
The glaring red slowly trickled down her arm, dripping onto the floor.
She stared at Chisato, who looked terrified, with a smile on her face that mixed relief, liberation, and a hint of joy.
She allowed Chisato to grip her wrist tightly and swat the blade out of her hand.
Seeing him frantically shouting for doctors and nurses, Iroha realized that the barrier between them had been broken, and her message had indeed reached him.
Yes, a person with a death wish cannot be stopped by others.
But now, I am binding myself to you.
If you harm yourself, I will replicate the harm upon myself.
If you leap off a cliff, I will fall into hell with you.
This is a threat using my own body as the stake.
Whether it's a raise or an all-in, no matter how you play your hand, I will go to the end with you.
Because I had already promised my sister-in-law in my heart that I would take good care of you.
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