Chapter 93: You’ve Earned My Trust
The look of shock across her face said it all, she didn’t expect me to mention the star from all those years ago. Who would expect someone to be looking for it when we don’t know a thing about it.
"I’d say that alone earns my trust. No one has mentioned anything about it since it disappeared all those years ago." Aria says with a bit of relief in her voice.
"It took a lot away from people and I don’t want others to keep suffering." I reply while trying to calm myself down.
This is one thing that gets to me more than anything else I’ve dealt with. The realization that my family was taken in front of my eyes and I couldn’t do anything about it.
All while this mysterious star watches from wherever the hell it is now.
I can feel something starting to grip my hand as the anger begins to die down. I look down to see that she’s holding onto my hand now.
"You’re still suffering aren’t you?" Aria asks with a sympathetic tone.
Flashes of minami’s face were all I could see all of a sudden. The memories I’ve kept in the darkness for so long so I don’t have to relive that day.
Her green eyes staring back at me as she stands in the distance, blood dripping down her face.
"I was absolutely powerless to stop anything from happening." I say without thinking as I feel tears go down my face.
Crying, it has been quite some time since I’ve cried hasn’t it? I never really acknowledged anything all these years because it was pointless to dwell on it.
The fact of it all was that I didn’t have any power and it was part of fate for my sister to die. It is the harsh truth that I’ve been forcing myself to accept all these years.
"You can tell me about it, if it’ll help." Aria responds with a caring tone before wrapping her arms around me.
That warmth was always so comforting, the feeling of someone else hugging me with such care in their words. Maybe it wouldn’t be the end of the world to tell someone for once.
"Sure..." I say with sadness in my voice.
(2096. 12 years ago right as the collapse was happening.)
People were screaming outside and Minami just closed the door since we weren’t going to head outside anymore.
"Why don’t we play a game or watch a movie?" Minami asks while trying to hide the panic in her voice.
The screams only continue to get louder with each passing second. "But something doesn’t sound right outside Mina." I respond while looking back towards the door.
It was dumb for me to worry about everything outside when she was trying so hard to keep it together for me. I was a kid though so what was I supposed to expect.
She came over and grabbed my hand, dragging me to her room. "It just isn’t a good day to go out. Maybe tomorrow will be better." Minami says while putting a smile on.
"Okay... What are we going to watch then?" I ask with a bit of hesitation.
Rumble! Rumble!! Smash!!!! I could hear the door break in the distance after the ground finishes rumbling. It only causes my sister to panic more.
It was only then that her door was suddenly being banged on by something. "Rokuro hide under the bed." Mina instructs me quietly.
"B-But why would I do that without you...?" I ask with panic in my voice.
She kisses my forehead before messing with my hair a bit. I could clearly see the fear in her eyes but she was the older sibling.
"Your sister has to keep you safe. I wont let anything happen to you, okay? Just hide under my bed." Minami responds while giving me a smile.
I didn’t want to upset her so I quickly went under the bed. Watching to see what was happening, she grabbed an old bat from the corner of her room.
The door broke open and a tall skeleton looking monster stood there. It was a bit taller than the doorframe, wearing raggedy clothes, glowing red eyes, and holding a dagger in its hand.
"Let’s go already you jerk!" Minami shouts while gripping onto the bat.
It didn’t say anything back before it ducked under the doorframe to enter the room. Slam!!! She hit it across the face with the bat and it didn’t really react at first.
Crack. It turns back to face her and within a matter of moments it jams the blade into her chest.
M...Minami... I wanted to call out but I knew that it would ruin all her efforts. It also felt impossible for me to do anyway, my voice didn’t want to work.
Drip. Drip. It pulls the dagger out from her chest and she falls onto the ground with a loud thud. "No matter what, don’t come out... I...love you Rokuro.." She says weakly as she turns to look towards me.
Even now... The smile was on her face as the tears slowly went down her face. I probably looked terrified to her and the tears going down my face made everything blurry.
Stomp. Stomp. It was louder this time as it left the room and eventually it no longer sounded like it was in the house.
I quickly crawled out from under the bed and ran over to Minami. Words felt impossible for me to get out so I just hugged her... But it didn’t matter.
She was already gone.
(2108. The current year.)
"Losing a sibling, especially your only one... I can imagine how hard that is on you but there wasn’t anything you could do. It wasn’t your fault." Aria tries to reassure me as she holds onto me.
People will always try to tell me that I was a kid so it’s understandable that I couldn’t do anything but so was she. She was a kid too and she at least stood against the damn monster.
It all happened so fast... Her death... The world changing... It was all so damn quick.