After lights out, the room felt like plain tofu simred in clear water, quiet, bland, with just a faint trace of bitterness.
In the past, before falling asleep, Harutaki liked to set a tir for so soft music, like pouring soy sauce over that tasteless tofu, infusing it with flavor, and letting it steep into a pleasant dream.
But ever since he was reborn, he had grown fond of the stillness itself. Even a few monts of emptiness could sink his thoughts into a cheesecake-soft, creamy haze. Sotis it was drizzled with rich maple syrup; those were the nights he dread of impossibly bright futures. Other tis, it was topped with liqueur-soaked cherries, a mix of sweet and tart that left him dizzy and warm inside.
In dreams like those, he often saw Chouko or Nogami. Sotis, unbelievably, even his own sisters.
But tonight, for the first ti in nearly a month, Harutaki found himself unable to sleep in this quiet, tofu-plain night.
And the reason was simple.
“Fuyuno... what the hell are you doing in my bed in the middle of the night!?”
“Why, to accept the blessing of the divine, of course~”
He threw off the blanket, and in the pale moonlight that slipped through the curtains, his eyes t a pair of dreamy, sakura-pink irises.
……
Once upon a ti, Hoshikawa Fuyuno wanted to be a good child, obedient, kind, the sort of girl everyone praised.
But the world was cruel. Cruel enough that it rarely led anyone toward the future they wished for.
She was bright, precocious, so much so that when she realized she was different, she was only six years old. Among the children in kindergarten and elentary school, she stood out like a crane among chicks and could never quite blend in.
Children would fight over so dull little toy, throwing punches and bawling until the teachers ca running, flustered and tired.
Boys would pull pranks, lifting skirts, snatching pencils, just to get the attention of the girl they liked.
Fuyuno thought they were noisy, foolish creatures.
She didn’t need such childish playmates. She had two caring older sisters, one brother who took her out to play, and loving parents who doted on them all.
All those pieces fit together like a perfect puzzle. By all rights, Fuyuno’s life should have been smooth and happy, free of worries.
In school, her sisters and brother would protect her. After graduation, they’d guide her into adulthood. Together, the six of them would live in harmony, working, laughing, and spending peaceful evenings as a family.
That was how her life should have been.
But everything changed not long after she entered elentary school.
Her brother, Harutaki, began locking himself in his room. No one, neither their parents nor her sisters, Ayaka and Chiaki, could get him to co out.
No one knew why the once-lively boy had beco that way. From the mont he shut his door, the family only ever gathered at weekend lunches and nightly dinners.
And when their parents beca busier with work, even dinners grew cold and lonely.
Dad, Mom, Ayaka, Chiaki, and Fuyuno.
Mom or Dad, Ayaka, Chiaki, and Fuyuno.
Ayaka, Chiaki, and Fuyuno.
And finally, after buying a computer with her allowance and New Year’s money, just like her brother had done, Chiaki too began treading the sa path. Instead of watching TV or eating snacks with her sisters, she preferred to stay holed up in her room, staring at a glowing screen.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
One day, Fuyuno wrote a school essay over sumr break about families with multiple children.
When parents have a second, third, or even more kids, what happens then?
Do all the children receive equal love and attention?
Do sons get favored more than daughters?
Do daughters get doted on more than sons?
Does the eldest occupy most of the parents’ thoughts?
Or does the youngest take up most of their ti?
Among siblings, does the eldest brother earn the trust of the younger ones?
Or... does the youngest sister get the most care and affection?
Maybe, in the beginning, that was true,
“Good girl, good girl... Fuyuno’s such a good girl.”
“Fuyuno’s so smart, she’ll grow up to be soone amazing.”
“She’s so cute, maybe she’ll be a famous star one day!”
“Fuyuno’s so obedient, not like the other kids. Who could ever dislike her?”
But nothing in this world stays the sa forever. If sothing claims to, it’s a lie.
“Fuyuno, give us a break, okay? You’re the best-behaved one.”
Her parents would sigh and pat her on the head as they turned down her request to go see the pandas at the zoo.
“Dad and Mom have to work. I’ve got house chores and als to handle. You understand, don’t you? Just watch TV by yourself, okay?”
Ayaka, who used to love having Fuyuno tag along, grew distant too. Sotis, she’d snap over the smallest things.
“You’re so smart and mature, why can’t you just be less trouble?!”
From the mont Harutaki shut himself away, a shadow fell over the Hoshikawa household.
Their parents’ attention turned completely to him. Sotis, Fuyuno could even hear them arguing behind closed doors about what to do.
They reached out to his best friends, his teachers, and even a famous psychologist. Just when they were considering moving to a new neighborhood, he finally ca out of his room.
But he was no longer the cheerful brother she once knew. His eyes were darker, his voice quieter, and Chiaki, who’d always been shy, grew even more withdrawn.
Though her parents sighed in relief, convinced their son had recovered, Fuyuno could tell he hadn’t.
He had simply found refuge in another world, one that didn’t really exist.
A world called “the 2D world.”
Ani and gas.
Could such things really be that fun?
When she saw her brother co out of his room, cheeks flushed, eyes shining strangely, Fuyuno grew curious about the mysterious world that had changed him so.
Fuyuno was a clever, precocious girl.
After watching Chiaki use the computer a few tis, she quickly learned how to operate it herself.
One day after school, when her brother was still in his middle school classes, she snuck into his room and turned on his computer. He hadn’t even set a password.
Inside were gas featuring icons of swords, guns, and cartoon faces, as well as nurous folders. None of that interested her.
What she wanted to understand was him, what her brother was thinking.
Did he feel guilty for worrying their parents so much?
Did he feel sorry for neglecting his cute sisters, for stealing all their parents’ attention?
She searched.
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