Hoshino's POV:
"...Bro..ther…?"
I let out an internal sigh of relief, feeling my body slowly ease up.
Thank goodness…
A part of me doubted whether or not I had the right to help my sister, much less pull it off. If I were being honest, there was still a little part of me that felt ashamed—and disgusted.
But none of that mattered right now. Seeing her—at the very least—not sobbing her eyes out anymore made it all worth it.
Actually, that way of thinking was shallow. To me, it seemed she had simply stopped crying. But to her, it was more. There was nothing harder in the world than giving your faith to someone—especially if that person was someone you were unsure of. I was fully aware of how shitty our relationship was. And because of that, my sister deserved nothing more than respect.
Good job, brat.
But it was still too early to celebrate. There were still plenty of things that needed to be done. So many that I didn't even know where to begin.
After careful deliberation, the first thing I decided to take a good look at the state my sister was in—since she finally stopped hiding from me. She was curled up on the floor like a baby, eyes swollen from the tears, leaving behind smudges of her makeup that she had worked hard to apply in the morning. Her hands and knees were still shaking due to the lack of oxygen from sobbing for minutes on end. But what hurt me the most was that the light in my once loud and obnoxious sister's eyes was… gone—replaced with a look of resigned horror a kid would give waiting to get hit.
It was a look she used to show me all the time. No, not just her—it was a look that I saw in myself for the longest time, too. But now, even as a 15-year-old, that fear was still there, like it had never left.
Seeing her in this state with my own two eyes was… a lot harder than I thought it would be. How was I supposed to console her here? How was I supposed to maintain the image of a cool, reliable Older Brother? I felt my eyes sting for a moment, but I quickly closed them.
No, I decided that I'd do this.
This is my responsibility.
So I can't run, and I can't back away.
If I don't do anything here, I can't call myself her Older Brother.
My sister and I may not seem alike—but there's no one in the world who was more similar to me. Whether I liked it or not, my sister would pick up on my habits. So, I knew for a fact that what my sister wanted the most from me—aside from support—was for me to just be myself.
Opening my eyes once more, I pushed out a quiet sigh. Enough that it'd get her attention, but not so much that she'd get the wrong idea.
"How long are you going to be lying on the ground for? Your back is going to get more hunched than it already is."
Her eyes widened slightly, and she gave me an expression mixed with relief, confusion, and annoyance as she paused, unsure what to say. Then—as if catching herself—she let out a small pout.
"C-Can't you just be nice to me for one time in your life?!"
I shrugged. "I was nice to you, but now I'm not. It's cringy being an older brother who fawns over his little sister. If you don't like what you have, get a new one."
"Hmph!"
She crossed her arms and stubbornly looked away from me.
Seeing her be so overdramatic again, a wry smile made its way to my face.
...Maybe I should be just a little nicer to her this one time. If not now, then when?
I suppressed my feelings of protest, already feeling embarrassed over the thought of what I was about to do next.
God, I can't believe I'm actually gonna do this.
But if this is what it took to make my sister happy, then so be it.
"Ahem."
I loudly cleared my throat to get her attention. She looked at me while cocking her head to the side. I couldn't look at her back.
"?"
"Just gimme a damn moment," I muttered.
I tried to play it off as a joke, like I usually do, just to make it a tiny bit easier for me.
"Y-you know… You know I'll always love you, right?"
I hung my head, utterly embarrassed. Admitting to your sibling that you actually loved them was really hard. This is why it was so much easier to show it while joking around.
A stale silence grew between us.
I expected her to make fun of me or something. But after waiting a little while longer… nothing happened.
Is she okay?
I gradually raised my head. The instant I did, I froze.
Tears overflowed from her eyes. But it wasn't the same sobbing tears she gave earlier. It was a calm, silent cry.
She opened her trembling lips, struggling to push the words from her chest. "Wh- what did you just say?"
I looked away from her, my hand scratching the back of my neck, somewhat confused. "Uhh, I said I love you?"
My sister's eyes wavered as she slowly pushed herself off the ground and took a step closer to me. "D-do you… Mean that?"
Why does she keep me this? I already told her once.
I let out an exasperated breath. "Ugh. I wouldn't be saying it if I didn't mean it. Stop asking me-"
All of a sudden, she came running into my arms, hugging me tightly. The moment she buried her face into my stomach, she began sobbing uncontrollably. I could feel her hands shaking around my waist with each breath she took.
"I-It's been so long! You haven't told me that you love me in so long! I've always wanted to hear you say it!"
Those words shattered me, making me fight back the tears that had already been threatening to come out, but my pride held them in.
It wasn't that I hated her or anything. Well—there was a point where I did, as for all siblings—but I've just been too embarrassed to say it. I couldn't be the openly loving Brother she wanted me to be. That wasn't who I am. And she accepted—it most of the time. But this time isn't one of them. Just this one time, I could allow myself to show her how I feel.
I gently hugged her with one hand and patted her head with the other.
"Well, you do annoy the shit out of me sometimes, and we do fight—a LOT."
She lightly stomped on my foot, pushing me to get to the point.
I sighed. "...But no matter what, just remember that at the end of the day, I'll always love you. Even if our parents don't, I will always be with you—unless something happens to me."
Of course, I had to make room for the little joke near the end.
But she simply ignored it as she squeezed me even tighter. I could feel her tears soak through my clothes. I had spent quite a bit of money on these clothes, so it was a shame, but I didn't pull her away.
"Do you really mean that?" she murmured.
I rolled my eyes. "I wouldn't be here right now if I weren't, genius."
She buried her face into my chest and trembled slightly. "I-I was so scared..."
"I know."
"I was scared of being alone."
"I know."
"But.. I didn't want you to leave me. I just didn't know what to do."
"Well, it's okay now. So hurry up and stop crying. My clothes are getting wet."
She looked up at me... and smiled. It was a smile I haven't seen from her in a long time. No, it was always there. I just never saw it.
That smile… If she could smile like that a little more, maybe she'd be easier to deal with.
"Thank you. I love you too!"