Saviour: Syo

Part 5

Souta hadn't said anything to anyone yet. Despite this, all he wanted to do was run to his mother and tell her everything. Syo never told him anything more. All he could think about was how he had seen the same thing happening to his girlfriend not too long ago.

However, now she was okay. She was better. She opened up more and talked to everyone. It wouldn't help Syo at all if he went around telling everyone who could help him in some way. He needed to tell people and accept everything himself.

Letting people know about his problems carelessly would't help Syo in any way. Forcing him out of the house and sending him directly to for cognitive behavioral therapy won't help him. Instead, he went to his girlfriend's therapist himself.

Why were everyone's efforts so fruitless to me?

***

"GODDAMMIT!!!"

Katashi and Mirai jumped.

"What's up, Haruna-chan?" Mirai asked shakily.

"I'm so sick of this!" Haruna groaned, banging her head on her table. "I can't think of anything! I can't do anything! I don't even know where to start!" Haruna looked up at them. "And if all of that isn't bad enough, Ricchan isn't saying a thing, when clearly she knows something!" Haruna kicked her legs angrily. "Both Syo-chan and Ricchan, they're stupid, stupid, stuuupid!!"

"Calm down, Haruna-chan," Mirai told her calmly. "We'll think of something. Right?" He turned to Katashi for help, but he just looked up and gave a half-hearted shrug.

Eventually they all were silent. The bell for dispersal had rung a long time ago, and now the announcement for all students to leave the building had come up.

"Let's go?" Katashi said, and they nodded and got up, but they didn't talk at all. Even though they knew that they help Syo in some way, but they had zero idea how.

***

"What's wrong, Haruna?"

"Huh?" Haruna turned up to look at her brother's anxious face. Now she was making her poor brother worry as well, as if he didn't have enough to worry about.

Rui looked disheartened. "Is the dinner not good?"

"What? No, no, it's delicious Ani!!" Haruna said quickly, shovelling her dinner into her mouth. "Yum..."

"Oh, that's good..." Rui smiled softly and ate his own dinner.

"Um, Ani," Haruna said suddenly. "You can go to bed early. I'll do the dishes tonight."

"Are you sure?" Rui asked anxiously.

"Yes, of course I'm sure. Ani, you should just rest up well!" Haruna insisted. "And if you don't, I'll tie you in bed."

"Okay, okay," Rui laughed, raising his arms a little in surrender. But even so, Haruna had zoned out when she was done eating, lying across the table and staring at a small shrine in the corner of the room. Rui stealthily picked up her plate along with his, and approached the sink. It was actually rather surprising that Haruna hadn't noticed him.

Haruna continued to seemingly stare at the shrine, but she wasn't really seeing it.

"What's wrong, Haruna?" Rui asked again. "Do you want to light some incense?"

"Huh?" Haruna sat up, and looked around at him. "Um, okay, sure."

"Go ahead."

Haruna stood up and got out an incense stick, lit it, and sat in front of the shrine. She put her hands together and closed her eyes, offering her prayers. It also allowed her to clear her head.