HER EYES WERE YELLOW | muichiro tokito

PROLOGUE

"Nii-san," she whisper yelled to get his attention "Psst, nii-san!"

No matter how discreet she tried to be, her voice carried on through the whole room. Luckily, it was after sunrise and majority of the clan was avoiding this part of the mansion. After all, the ceremonies were happening only at night.

Still, you couldn't be sure about whoever was passing through, no matter of their intentions.

His ears immediately perked at the sound, staring right at the entrance. Of course he knew who was calling for him; nobody would care enough to come visit him other than his sister. He softly smiled seeing her head peek from the door.

"You can come, Yua. Nobody is here besides me." After hearing his reply, she no longer cared about hiding and started running towards the huge wooden cage against the wall. Upon reaching it, she kneeled and observed her brother's face. His pale and frail hands took hers and held them tightly.

"I'm grateful you're okay" her voice came out as a sigh of relief, now being assured that he was still there with her, alive.

The siblings were born in an unusual setting to say the least. You would often hear about clans worshiping a certain god for generations and passing these traditions to the youth. Either they were once saved by this deity, decided to dedicate their entire lives towards them, or they were expressing their gratefulness for their kindness. It was no surprise.

The Iguro clan were also worshiping a deity. Or, better said, a demon. This was out of the ordinary for any other human. That's why they were isolated and located deep in the forest, where nobody else dared to step foot in. The Snake Demon was protecting them from other casualties, but not without a price. They had to sacrifice humans to the demon, and sometimes even one of their own.

But the clan also had a special lineage; only women were born here, with the rare exception of a man once a couple hundred years. So you can imagine their shock when they had to welcome a boy into the family, and to add more to this surprise, he had a different color in each eye.

Furthermore, when Obanai Iguro was born, the demon had a revelation. Since he was blessed with heterochromatic eyes, one the color of the dark she was raised and obliged to stay in, and one the color of the sun she feared her entire life, he was going to be the one to fulfill her wish of defeating it. Once he would be 12 years old, she will devour him and gain the last thing she needed.

Until he reaches that age though, she commanded that he was going to be treated as royalty. She demanded that he would only be served fresh and expensive food, and he would be kept in a cage, separated from the rest of his clan.

Obanai was aware of his fate and slowly came to accept it. He had no hope for salvation; no outsider knew about it and he fails to think that someone would care enough to save a nobody like him from a blood thirsty creature. He accepted it, but didn't understand why him? How is he the blessed one when he was going to be dead before he sees the outside for one more time?

But at least, he was going to be the only one suffering such fate.

After 6 years, another girl was born into the clan. She was identical to her brother, from looks to attitude. The only thing different? Her orbs were a deep yellow, so bright that when the Snake Demon first laid eyes on her, she screeched at the top of her lungs. She proclaimed her as the cursed child and was to be kept away from her at all costs.

Yua understood from a young age that she was not wanted in the household. Other than doing chores, she was not allowed out of the estate or near a specific part of it. Everytime she passed by clan members she was met with glares and whispers. 'Look at her, she looks so pitiful!' 'Why does Kami-sama allow her to still live?' 'She should've been killed when born.'

She took the hint that she wasn't wanted when her mother never allowed her to sleep in the same room as her. She was always yelling at her, calling her names and remembering her how her existence by itself was a mistake. Furthermore, the one she was supposed to call mother would take out her anger on the little girl. Feeling the boiling water on her skin was like second nature to her; Yua learnt not to scream in pain because if she did, the water would keep on pouring and pouring.

Her only hope was spending time with her imprisoned sibling. It's as if every scar or injury ingrained on her porcelain skin would fade completely when she was around Obanai. She refuses to leave his side unless she is needed somewhere else.

Obanai smiled softly at her words, but Yua didn't miss the slight frown when inspecting her face. She couldn't blame him, after all, the scars were ugly to the bare eye.

She chose to shake it off. "They're healed now. No need to worry, it doesn't hurt anymore, see!" she smiled with her eyes closed, as if to give a better look for her brother.

The boy was angry at himself; he promised since her birth that he would do his best to be a shield for her. She was just a kid and yet she suffered more than him, taking all the punishment. He couldn't forget about the demon's treatment of her either. Even if his room was on the other side of the mansion, the screams from its chambers were terrifying.

And what hurt most was the fact that they were her screams.

Yua never talked about what exactly the demon did to her, and she wouldn't even answer questions about it. Hell, she diverted the topic of the discussion whenever Obanai asked her. 'Nothing bad! Believe me it's nothing nii-san!"

He wanted to beat himself up for letting this happen to her. He wanted to be the one going through all that. He was the older sibling; it was his duty to protect her. Yet here he was, stuck in this goddamn cage with no way of escaping.

Seeing him deep in his thoughts, Yua took a wrapped bento and offered it to the ravanette "Here, you must be hungry. It's nothing fancy, but I know you like them."

Obanai shifted his attention on the bento and slowly opened it. The smell was so powerful and delicious, and his mouth watered when he saw the steamed pork buns. Suddenly he was reminded that he, in fact, did not eat anything since yesterday by his stomach growling.

He muttered a small 'itadakimasu' and bit into a bun. His eyes sparkled at the rich taste, and he couldn't help but smile. Yua noticed his reaction and she took it as a compliment. While her brother was picky about food, one thing he would never refuse was his sister's cooking.

After relishing in the first bite, he quickly started going through all the buns as if he was on a time limit. "Slow down, nii-san! You will choke if you eat that fast!" the girl lightly scolded him, but even her words couldn't pierce the bubble he was in.

Laughter was resonating in the room, and that finally broke the trance Obanai was in. Seeing his little sister enjoy herself, even if it was because of him, made him happy; he appreciated and cherished these rare moments. He knows that in less than a year he would meet his end, so at least, while he still can, he wants to see Yua smile wholeheartedly. Maybe even outside of this cursed estate, in foreign places past these walls.

If he was to leave this cruel world, he would have one more wish, and that was to see her enjoy herself and live as a normal kid would.

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