From the Bottom to the Top

Volume 1: Chapter 5

Masachika nearly lost track of time while he stared owlishly at the sight of Yuki bowing down to him. It’s not even a normal in which she was in a degrading position that’s unbecoming for someone like her.

But she didn’t seem to care about that or how embarrassing this was, because there’s only one thing that matters to her.

“Onii-chan… I can’t survive… without you… please… let me stay with you… don’t throw me away…”

And it was there that Masachika finally snapped out of his stupor, realizing that his sister needed him more than anything else right now.

He quickly knelt and grabbed her shoulders, lifting her up until she was on her knees. As Yuki continued to cry in spite of it, Masachika wasted no time and brought her in for a hug.

“I won’t. I won’t… shhh… it’s okay. I’m here… I’m here, Yuki. Shhh… it’s fine now,” he tried his best to give her some words of comfort, while his hand rubbed her back softly.

“Y-You won’t… throw me out…?”

“I won’t. I promise. Can you get up? Or do you want me to carry you?”

Yuki didn’t say anything. She simply sat down, wrapped her arms around his neck, and raised her legs off the floor. That was all he needed as an answer.

Masachika slipped his arm under her legs, while his other arm supported her back. He took a deep breath and lifted her off the ground, before carrying her towards the bed.

After setting her down carefully, Masachika thought about what he should do next. His sister didn’t want to leave but at the same time, he wanted to sleep already.

He took a deep breath, “Look, Yuki…”

A frightened Yuki looked up at him with eyes full of panic and uneasiness. It was strange seeing her in this state, but it’s also why he can’t just ignore this problem and let her be.

“You can stay here.”

“Really…? I-I can stay with you…?”

He nodded and sat down with her, where he hung his head in shame from what he did. The image of Yuki crying while prostrating herself won’t be leaving his mind anytime soon after this…

“I’m sorry for threatening to kick you out. I didn’t realize… I didn’t realize you were still affected by that day…”

Kuze felt like slapping himself for that weak excuse. How dare he try to downplay things after Yuki subjected herself to such humiliation just change his mind?!

“...no, that’s wrong. It’s not that I didn’t realize. It’s more that I underestimated your reaction. I never thought it hurt you that deeply. I left without even thinking of how you’d feel afterwards.”

He turned his body so that he was facing her, but he couldn’t bring it in himself to look at her… not after his earlier actions.

“I’ve been nothing but a selfish piece of shit. Even to you, Yuki. I don’t think I even deserve to call myself your big brother. Big brothers don’t leave their family behind, especially their little siblings who look up to them.”

Yuki looked like she wanted to say something, but Masachika had a lot more to say than that.

“I failed to be that brother for you, Yuki. You shouldn’t have cried because of me, because I’ve done nothing to deserve your tears,” he clenched his fists in frustration. “So what if I helped you when you were sick all the time? It’s not like anything I did was special. I wasn’t there when you needed me and as much as I want to fix things, it’s too late. It won’t change the fact that I’m a good-for-nothing brother who left you when you needed me.”