Amidst the shadows and the secrets

Night Sixteen

Before Chisana opened her eyes, she felt something cool on her forehead. Why do I sleep so much and still be tired when I wake up? 

"Still no difference?" 

"No," sounded Reiji's voice. "What are you even doing here, you good-for-nothing?" 

So Shu is here? She picked up on the difference between their voices. Wait, am I in Reiji's room again? 

"We all care about this one, alright." Shu put his hand on her forehead and moved it to her cheek. "Why not use a cold washcloth on her forehead? It could help in lowering her temperature." 

"Why go to school if you have no interest in graduating," bounced Reiji back. "And humans sweat a fever out instead of cooling it off. Get out and leave her alone. She benefits most from resting." He also didn't like the idea of his brother so close to the girl. 

She knew she couldn't pretend to be asleep any longer. Why are they so hostile when they are in the same room? I don't get it. They are brothers, aren't they? But it's not like they look like each other. Maybe the same father but not the same mother? 

Reiji noticed first she woke up. "How are you feeling, Chisana?" 

Shu turned to her. "Be careful, you have a fever." 

"Uhm, tired, but I feel like that for a few days. I was hoping it would pass." She got water and a pill from Reiji and took it. "I'm also a little confused." 

"The painkiller first, it should help in getting the fever down." Reiji wanted to know where that came from. "Why confused?" 

"Why are you so hostile towards each other when you are brothers? Sure, you don't look much like each other but you share one parent, right?" She put the cap back on. 

Shu noticed a sleepy look in her eyes and knew he couldn't leave yet. "Actually, Reiji and I are brothers from the same parents. I look like my mother while he looks like our father. We're one year apart from each other, and I'm the oldest." He did wonder what she and Reiji talked about during the breaks at school. 

"With the youngest mentality." Reiji refrained from looking to his brother and focused on Chisana instead. 

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Well, then I definitely don't understand the hostility. You are still family. I wish I had family members." 

Reiji wouldn't know where to start to make amend. "Chisana, we live a long life and much has happened that we can't take back or reverse time to heal things. This is who we are and how we live our lives." 

"If you have a long life and so much time then why can't you mend things with each other? You do care for him because you could have left the house long ago." What is this? Why does it feel like I'm burning from the inside out? She held her arms around her stomach while bending over to find some release from the pain. And what is this? I never felt like this before. "It feels like I'm burning from the inside out." She felt a hand on her forehead. "Not my forehead." Grabbing the hand, she put it under her shirt on her stomach. "That's nice and cold." It helped her cool off a little bit. 

Shu pulled his hand back. "Take her temperature again." He missed something and knew something was up but couldn't place it. Thinking about it, he knew her blood tasted sweet and her aroma drove him crazy. 

Reiji worked fast. "Closer to forty. Chisana, this is bad." He showed it to his brother. 

"I need to know something. I hope I'm wrong." Shu bit her before his brother could react.