-In 2023, not all parents hold their children to traditional standards for love and marriage, but modern lifestyles are still not always accepted. Especially not when your younger sibling is getting married first and your parents are practically jum...
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After you rush out of the kitchen from Sawamura, Fuyuko, and your glass of milk, you remove your hand from your mouth and let out a sigh.
You then begin to wander around the house. In one room, which you suppose is the family room as Fuyuko had said, you hear the television going and see the back of two heads on the couch nearby.
Moving on, you check one room at a time until you stumble on a room painted white with a large green bed frame and pink sheets.
You quietly step inside and shut the door behind you, locking it for extra measure. Then, using the flashlight on your phone, you begin looking around the dim room.
When you get closer to the bed, a small red stain on the rug catches your eye. You bend down to get a closer look, only to find a single storage container underneath the bed.
Having flashbacks to what you found under Adam's bed, you pull out the storage container and open it up. A few sweaters lay perfectly folded on top, but when you pull them to the side, you see a large pile of jewelry underneath.
"Holy crap," you whisper to yourself upon realizing most of the jewelry here is men's jewelry. You've never even seen Fuyuko wear any of it before, either.
However, there is one piece you find vaguely familiar. You gently pick it up- a stainless steel chain necklace- and immediately it hits you. The necklace is the very same one you gave to Sawamura two years ago for his birthday. He had told you he'd lost it. Perhaps this is where it went.
You quickly place the chain necklace into your back pocket along with a few other pieces.
Just as you're about to exit the room and your hand reaches the doorknob, you notice a framed picture of Fuyuko and Adam. Immediately, you rush over and pull the photograph out, tucking it alongside the other pieces of jewelry.
Finally, you exit the room and make your way back down the hall toward the kitchen. When Fuyuko notices you, she stands up straight and watches you carefully.
Putting your act back on, you stumble drunkenly over to your brother.
"Sawamura," you grumble as you drop your head down on his, "I don't feel so good. Can we go home now?"
"It's okay, Y/N," Fuyuko interrupts. "You can stay here for the night."
"No," Sawamura disagrees, shaking his head and standing up. "I'm feeling a bit better. If Y/N's sick, I should really bring her home. Thanks for everything Fuyuko," he then smiles softly before kissing her on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Please be careful," she murmurs to your brother. "Drive slowly. Don't speed, okay? If you get into an accident you won't be helping your sister."
"I got it," he nods as he walks toward the door with you following close beside him. "Goodnight, Fuyuko."
"Goodnight, guys. Get home safely, please! Don't let him speed, Y/N!"
"I got it!" you grumble drunkenly while giving her a thumbs up. "Night!"
The two of you then walk back slowly to the car. Without saying much, Sawamura drives away until the house is out of sight. He then pulls over and puts the car in park.
"What the hell was that?" he asks. "What'd you do?"
"First of all, don't get all upset. You didn't tell me what the plan was. I didn't know if we were confronting her or what. I mean, she obviously knows we're onto her, right?" you ask.
"Shit," he grumbles at your answer. "Tell me what you did first and then I'll answer you."
"Okay," you sigh, pulling out the jewelry from your pocket. "Look what I found. It's the necklace I gave you for your birthday. She had a whole container of this stuff. Men's jewelry that she was hiding, Sawamura. What does that mean?"
"It means she's probably been secretly stealing jewelry from other guys, too," he thinks aloud. "Did you find anything else?"
"I got this," you hum as you unfold the stolen photo from Fuyuko's room. "She just had it sitting on her dresser like she wanted me to find it or something. It was even framed, Sawamura."
"Yeah," he then nods softly as he looks at the picture of Fuyuko and Adam. "She knows, Y/N. You did a good job finding all this stuff, but she's onto us now. We've got to be careful from here on out. We don't know what the two of them are planning."
"I think you're right," you nod. "So what do you think we should do now then?"
"I'm going to bring you home. You need to get some rest. I'll bring you to mom and dad's so you'll be safe there tonight."
"And what about you?" you then ask. "Do you think it's safe to stay at your place?"
"I don't know," he sighs. "Give me the gun back, Y/N. It's time."
"I don't think that's such a good idea, Sawamura. Remember what you said about making rash decisions? Are you trying to get yourself dismembered?" you look at him worriedly.
"You read that, huh?" he sighs.
"What do you think I was doing while I was waiting for you?" you shake your head. "Sawamura, please don't go back to your house. Stay with me at mom and dad's place."
"I can't do that," he sighs. "I can't put the three of you in even more danger."
"Then at least stay at my place. Since I'll be with mom and dad, you'll have it to yourself. If you promise to go there, then I'll give you the gun. Deal?"
"Yeah, that's not such a bad idea," he nods. "It's a deal."
After you place the gun back into your brother's hand, he drives off until you get to your parents' house. You hug him tight the second he parks and you know you're going to be leaving him vulnerable to Fuyuko and Adam.
"Be careful, okay?" you whisper before pulling back.
"I will," he smiles nervously.
"Promise?" you ask softly, on the verge of tears and hating yourself to be so quick to cry.
"I promise, little sister. Go take care of mom and dad for me, okay?" he hums, his voice breaking just at the end.
