Vol 2 Chapter 8 – Escape【Vol 2 — Youth in the Midst of Calamity】

Unable to get off the bed, I finally understood everything.

Three days. Three whole days.

“Ehe, ehehe, Onii-chan…”

Elena wore that cute, bliss-melted expression as she wrapped her body around mine.

Only now, with her pressed this close to me, did I finally notice how much my little sister’s body had grown.

Elena was a proper girl.

“Onii-chan, Onii-chan, Onii-chan, Onii-chan… love you, love you, love youuu… love you so muchhh…”

Three days. Just three days.

And for those three days, my freedom belonged to Elena.

Most of the time, Elena stayed on the bed with me.

And the whole time, she stayed pressed against me.

She poured out that overwhelming obsession she had with her brother, with me, together with her affection and love.

After being bathed in the full force of Elena’s utterly genuine feelings, I finally understood.

“Onii-chan, I love you.”

Her wet, mismatched eyes glimmered faintly in the moonlight as they stared straight at me.

At the same time, Elena kissed me.

Elena’s tongue slipped into my mouth, and I couldn’t do anything.

I mustn’t do anything.

I could do nothing.

“I love you, love you, I love you, Onii-chan, love… love…”

Elena’s arms and legs wrapped around me even tighter, with no sign of loosening at all.

I finally understood.

—Yes, Elena loves me…

○

Since when had Elena loved me?

If someone asked me that, I’d have no choice but to answer that she always had.

Because Elena’s attitude toward me had never changed.

No matter how twisted the feelings behind it were, no matter what misunderstandings lay there—

—there was no mistaking that Elena liked me.

I was liked by Elena, loved by Elena, obsessed over by Elena.

I never noticed.

Maybe because she was my little sister, I never tried to face it head-on.

Either way, the reason my little sister’s obsession with me had gotten this bad… was my fault.

Because of me, Elena had become obsessively attached to me at a terrifying pace.

She had fallen for me.

She loved me.

Honestly, what a thing for an older brother, what a thing for a man, to be proud of.

Trapped by a binding barrier and unable to get off the bed, I thought that blankly.

Right now, Elena wasn’t here.

A little while ago, after showing an ominous, unsettled look like something was bothering her, she left the room.

“Sorry, Onii-chan. Elena suddenly has something she needs to do, so stay here, okay? Ah, come to think of it, it’s already night, huh? If you want, you can go ahead and sleep, okay? I’ll even put up a binding barrier so you can sleep peacefully. So, Onii-chan, stay right here, okay? Elena just has to leave for a little bit.”

Saying that, Elena put up a binding barrier around me and left.

Left alone in the dark, silent room, I suddenly wondered—

What would happen if I stayed like this and did nothing, if I just kept leaving myself in Elena’s hands?

“—Ugh!”

The instant I tried to imagine it, a chill ran through me.

No. I can’t stay here.

I can’t.

Elena loves me.

And I love Elena.

But I can’t let this keep going.

I can’t.

Again, a shiver shot up my spine.

I jerked upright, then tried to get off the bed, only to be thrown back by something invisible.

“Tsk…!”

The barrier.

I’d completely forgotten about the binding barrier.

No, this is bad. I’m losing it.

I already forgot what I confirmed just a moment ago.

Calm down.

Calm down, me.

Just calm down.

I took a deep breath.

This was a barrier Elena had put up.

Elena, the one Father, Lucas, used to praise as a genius of magic.

As far as I knew, the only people who could possibly counter a barrier Elena had cast were Aria, Sophia, and our father Lucas, the one who taught all three of them magic.

If it were Lucas, then maybe…

But Father isn’t here.

Mother isn’t here.

No one is here.

I have no one on my side.

What do I do? How do I get out? Should I run? And then what? Where would I go? Could I even run in the first place? Am I really going to run? From Elena? Impossible. Impossible. Impossible, impossible, impossible. No, no, no, no way. I can’t escape. There’s no way I can escape. I absolutely can’t run. That’s wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. What’s wrong?

My body started trembling.

“—Ah, Onii-chan, what are you trying to do?”

“—Ahh!!”

I heard Elena’s voice and instinctively snapped my head up.

But there wasn’t a single person there, let alone Elena.

“Hah…! Hah, hah, hah… ngh!”

I was drenched in sweat.

“This is bad… calm down. I’m confused. Calm down and think, really think.”

My first objective is—

Right as I thought that, I noticed the barrier surrounding the bed had grown thinner.

“…Huh?”

As a test, I slammed it with every bit of magic power I had.

With a sharp crack, the binding barrier that had held me captive shattered with absurd ease.

“…………I have to run.”

I ran.

Ignoring the voice in my head screaming DON’T DO IT, I bolted out of the room.

○

The hallway of our house was long, dim, oppressive, bleak.

It felt absurdly long.

If I go straight down here, down the stairs, then straight down the hall again, that’s the front door.

I can get outside.

I can escape.

Carefully, carefully, staying alert for Elena even though I had no idea where she was, I slowly made my way down the hall.

And then, suddenly—

—the wind rattled the window.

My attention snapped toward it, thinking Elena was coming closer, and my whole body shuddered violently.

An unnameable cold fear crawled up my back.

But when I looked toward the source of the sound, all I saw was a beautiful hazy moon.

Floating dimly in the night beyond the hallway window, it didn’t look all that different from the moon I used to see back when I was still Japanese.

As I kept moving down the hall, suppressing even my presence, thick clouds swallowed the moon, the only light, and the mansion was engulfed in deep darkness.

For some reason, dread ran through me.

I have a bad feeling. I have a bad feeling. I have a bad feeling. I have a bad feeling. I HAVE A BAD FEELING.

I need to get out of this house.

Fast.

—and then,

“Ahaha, what’s wrong, Onii-chan, standing around in a place like this…? I even put up a binding barrier so you could sleep nice and sound… honestly, what am I going to do with you?”

A bright voice.

No different from usual at all.

Elena’s voice.

“…E-Elena…?”

“Yeah… it’s Elena. The little sister who loves Onii-chan more than anyone else in the world.”

From behind, Elena wrapped her arms around me.

Tenderly, gently, as if she were cradling something fragile that might crumble apart from a touch alone, she slowly embraced me.

“But, Onii-chan? Even if Elena loves Onii-chan very, very much, I don’t think it’s very nice to break a promise with your little sister.”

“N-No, this is…”

“Hey, Onii-chan, Elena told you to stay in your room, right? Could it be you weren’t listening? Mm, well, if that’s what happened, then I guess it can’t be helped. Mm. But next time, Onii-chan, be good, okay?”

Tilting her head, Elena smiled.

My instincts had been warning me all along.

That’s why they told me not to do it.

“N-No, I was just… worried about where you’d gone, Elena…”

“Huh, really?”

A lie.

“Y-Yeah.”

“S-Sorry, Onii-chan. Elena wasn’t thinking about Onii-chan at all. I’m sorry, Onii-chan, I’m sorry. D-Did you… start hating Elena?”

Looking frightened, Elena peered up at me with eyes stained with fear.

“There’s no way I could ever hate you, Elena.”

Even I was surprised by how calm my voice sounded.

“Thank goodness… Onii-chan really is kind. Kind. That’s why I love you, I love you so much.”

Elena hugged me even tighter.

“I love you, love you so much, …Onii-chan.

——…I’m never letting you go.”

“——————”

—I can’t do this.

I pointed behind Elena.

“Elena, I think something just moved over there…”

“—!?”

The way Elena moved then was abnormal.

She spun around so fast it cut the air, with such force it felt like killing intent.

“…Hey, I’m not giving Onii-chan to anyone, okay? Even if my barrier got broken, I’ll never—”

For an instant, just an instant, Elena’s attention slipped away from me.

“—!”

I detonated my magic.

Mana fragments flashed into view, forming a smoke screen for just a moment.

It blocked Elena’s vision.

I kicked off the floor and ran.

I sprinted flat out and tore down the stairs to the first floor.

Using every last bit of magic I had without holding back, I hid my traces, buried them, disguised them.

Even against Elena, it should buy me at least a little time.

I hurled myself at the nearest door and tumbled inside.

Then I slammed it shut and placed an exclusion barrier directly on the door with every ounce of strength I had.

“Hah…! Hah…! Hah, hah…!”

I forcibly steadied my ragged breathing, gradually making it quieter and quieter.

Then I suppressed even my presence and curled up in the corner of the small room with my knees hugged to my chest.

—What do I do…? What am I supposed to do?

What am I supposed to do? What do I do? What am I going to do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do? What do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do?

At that moment—

————I heard the window open.