The breath of the sun

Thirty-one: Please don't....

"You're so funny, Older Brother." I said to my brother who held my hand. He had always stood taller than me. No matter what age we were at, i never once looked down at him.

"How?" He was still 7. The sun's glowed around him as we walked in the field. "I only speak the truth. I would risk my life to save you, baby sister." He spoke like a grown boy. His hand squeezed mine as he said that, it was comforting.

"Don't say such funny things. I think I might die from how funny you are!" I found myself insulting him. My young mind couldn't comprehend that what my brother was saying meant a lot.

A life; something to not the taken advantage of.

"Your brother..." Shinobu said softly looking at my brother, avoiding my eye contact. I had felt myself already starting to tear up. 'Why am I crying?'

"He's special..." she spoke as if she was talking to a small child. "He hasn't woken up in a while...." she finally looked up at me. "After healing you...."

My brain didn't understand. 'He's healed be once before!!' (Refer to Ch.4-5) 'What's so different about now?!'

"What are you trying to say?!," I heard myself yell. The sound of my voice was unrecognizable, it cracked mid-way through. The sound of it caused something wet to fall from my face and onto my lap.

Shinobu gave me a sincere smile. "What I'm trying to say is...he's been through a lot of trauma...and it's possible he may never wake up."

I could hear my own teeth grit from the sound of her voice. When she said that I didn't hold back. All the tears came out, and I couldn't stop it. My voice cracked with every sentence.

"You must take me for a fool," I gripped my brother's hand tighter. "He will wake up. And he will be my older brother, no matter what you say! He is strong so he will wake up!" I was raising my voice at her, yet all she gave me was saddened eyes. I turned my face from her and looked to my unconscious brother. "I will be the first to greet him."

"Rukika-san..." Shinobu placed her hand on my shoulder. I didn't shake her off. "I understand."

Third Person Point of View

Shinobu placed her hand on Rukika softly, afraid to break her. She had only once seen someone this vulnerable before, her sister. Rukika reminded Shinobu of how free spirited her Sister and her had been when they were younger. How no matter how hard Rukika fought, she never once thought of herself.

She could only feel pity for the girl. She had remembered talking to Rikiya that day. The day he fell into deep sleep.

"What did you do to her?!" She question the boy who sat up in his bed, in his hands was the ribbon he used to tie Rukika's hair.

He never looked up at her when he spoke. "What do you mean, Kocho-sama?"

"You know damn well what I'm speaking about!! She was so sick and hurt! She shouldn't have waken up for a few more months! But after you visited today..." she paused, she wasn't upset that he healed the girl, just upset that she didn't understand how.

Rikiya smiled. Finally looking up at her. "It's simple really..."  Shinobu looked at him confused. "I transferred all of Rukika's injures me....of course I couldn't do all of it, or her body might die from the sudden change." Shinobu's eyes widened.

"You healed her?!"

"Yes...she's my youngest sister. I would do anything to save her, even if it means my demise." He looked back down.

"What do you mean, Rikiya-san?"

"It doesn't matter..."

Shinobu could only remember Rikiya's words as he lay on the bed without movement. It saddened her looking at the two siblings. Both of them were too dumb to realize how much the other cared, even to risk their own life.

The way Rukika felt was something she had never thought she'd have to feel again. It was pain. Pure and utter pain. It felt like her whole body was on fire and she didn't understand how to stop it. Her tears just rolled down her cheeks to her clothes.

She whispered to her brother, squeezing his hand tightly. "You idiot, older brother. You will wake up. You will not leave me here alone." All she could think about was the possibility stood that he may not wake up. The possibility that Rikiya might never wake up.

How would she have known that her brother had something no one understood but him. He had only figured out his ability during their first mission. He only wanted Rukika to get better quickly, he didn't expect her wounds to be healed at his touch.

He used this gift, endlessly. After any mission and at Wisteria; he used his ability to lighten the weight on Rukika and place it onto himself. "I would never let you carry all the burden alone." He would say as he healed her, or rather transferred her pain to him.

He could not lie and say it was not painful. He found out that taking her pain meant giving it to himself 10 times worse. "Anything to keep you safe." He's say.

But now, he laid in the bed. The amount of pain he was suffering was sending his body into shock. Even though he was no longer human, the sudden change resulted into him going into a deep deep sleep.

Shinobu had soon left Katsuki siblings. Rukika had not left her brother's side that night, crying as she held him tightly. And Rikiya had stayed asleep, his body trying to heal itself.