Another

Chapter 37: Quiet

Bright lights greeted me. They were soft, flickering like candlelight or a drowsy campfire in the middle of the night. It felt peaceful.

Even pleasant. 

But of course, this was all a mirage. Just another dream. My brother had tried to kill me, or at least whatever had possessed him tried to. 

It couldn't be him. There is no way my older brother would ever try to hurt me like that. It's completely against who he is! Even if it wore his face, my brother was always kind and loving. He would never try to hurt me! No matter the reason!  

So why? 

Tamayo-san and Yushiro, as I had quickly learned their names to be, almost died keeping him off of me. A second longer, and that thing would have killed me. He would have killed me. I would have died at his hands. I know I'm a demon, and can't die like that, shouldn't be able to die like that. Something was off. Something was wrong! It felt different, I'm sure! My very body wouldn't listen to me, and I wouldn't heal. I couldn't heal. 

I don't know if it was a matter of if the two were stronger than him, but that monster had become enraged as soon as he saw Tamayo-san. He mocked her in an unfamiliarly rageful voice-about events that my brother has never even experienced. He was like another person! He let me drop onto the floor, bleeding and dying. He took a single step in her direction. 

Slowly. 

As if he had all the time in the world. 

And then he was gone. Tamayo-san was suddenly a few feet away on the floor, and Yushiro was in his hands, his throat crushed between his fingers. 

I stared at the ceiling. I don't know where I am. One moment, I was watching my brother, still in the rain with his hands over his ears and eyes blown wide following the aftermath. Scared. And then, I was asleep and dreaming of another life. 

Now I am here.  

And my brother is somewhere else, far away from me and that promise we made. 

He said that'd we stick together. 

He promised. 

He promised. 

My throat burned in that stupidly familar way. I wiped at my eyes, the sobs already wrecking my chest. No matter how I tried to get my breathing under control, it was no use. The tears came anyway, and with it the pain. 

I curled around my stomach. The tears were hot, and I tasted blood. I couldn't stop. Everything hurt, even though my wounds were long gone-thanks to whatever Tamayo-san injected me with. But everything hurts. It still hurts, so bad. 

A hand glided over my hair, and I thought of my mother before I could help it. Okaa-san is dead.  But I didn't have the will or energy to push Tamayo-san's hand away. She said nothing, and for that I was thankful. She and Yushiro saved me from my brother. They were willing to put their lives on the line for me. They almost died defending me. 

So why am I so angry right now? At Tamayo-san and Yushiro? Of all people? I don't have a reason! None! I should be angry at my brother, if anyone! I should hate him! For hurting me like this. For refusing to trust me and let me help him if he needed it. He's always been like this! Never saying anything when he is in pain. He always shouldered everything by himself! Even if he was hurting deep down, even if he was struggling, he'd never tell us! Tell me! 

Until it's too late! 

And yet, I could never bring myself to hate my brother. I know he does it to try and fill the hole my father left when he passed away. I could never hate him. To hate my only family left. Not for that. He's my brother. He will always be my older brother. And he's probably hurting as much as I'm hurting right now. I saw his eyes when he first attacked me. The dullness in them. Those weren't his eyes. The unmistakable fear. They were practically shattered when I was taken away in the rain from him. A rare vulnerability I've only seen once before. But I recognized it. He was as scared as I was.