Absence

“…What?”

“…Actually, a few days ago… you little sisters came to the house.”

A few days ago (Warning: Offensive Content ahead)

While Aoi-kun went to play with Kiyohito-kun, I was left alone at home, lounging around. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

“Hello?”

“I’m sorry to bother you. Two young ladies who claim to be the master’s younger sisters are here… We didn’t have any prior notice of their visit. Was there any such arrangement?”

“Huh? Um… No, there wasn’t. I’ll come down right away,” I replied, hastily changing clothes and rushing downstairs.

There stood two girls in middle school uniforms.

They looked familiar.

They were the two girls I saw from afar when Aoi-kun’s mother served as a witness for our marriage registration…

“…Um… Aoi-kun’s little sisters… right?” I called out.

“Yes, that’s right… I’m Rion Yamaguchi,” the one who seemed like the older sister said.

“I’m Kanon Yamaguchi,” the younger sister added.

“Aoi-kun isn’t home right now…”

“It’s Shiozaki-san who we need help from today.”

“…Me?”

“Yes… We’d like you to help us.”

“For now, come inside. Aoi-kun won’t be back for a while.”

“O-okay.”

Honestly, I disliked these girls.

As members of the despicable family that had tormented Aoi-kun for years.

Whatever their background might be, neither Aoi-kun nor I would ever forgive them.

But they probably knew that full well, and still, they came to our house, so I figured I should at least hear them out.

So, I led them to the living room and served them some tea.

“Ah, thank you very much.”

“Very much”

“So, what do you want me to help you with?”

“….we have been se*ually assaulted by our father.” She said, dropping a bomb right from the start. 

“….what?”

“I, and my younger sister too….our first time was taken by our father. He forced himself on us in our first year of middle school.” she said, her hands trembling.

“…Onee-chan, before that, we need to talk about….”

“R-right… Honestly, I don’t resent Onii-chan anymore. At first, I did hate him a lot. Since I was also a mother’s girl… But it wasn’t our Onii-chab’s fault; it was that driver’s. So, when he was discharged from the hospital, I tried to welcome him back warmly… But both our mother and father had been bullying him constantly… So, we ended up bullying him too, out of fear of going against them.”

“…I know.”

“Then a few years later….when I entered middle school, father called me…and took me to a hotel. Then, he suddenly told me to take off my clothes…he-he forcefully took them off. …After that, I couldn’t go against father and mother anymore… Two years later, the same thing happened to my little sister. Recently, the new mother and us…he’s doing it with the 3 of us together….I don’t know what to do anymore…”

“…..So? What do you want me to do?”

“…We need your help. I know it’s selfish to ask! But we don’t know what else to do…”

It’s incredibly selfish. 

They want to be saved just because Aoi-kun was saved. Because they claim they never truly hated him? Ridiculous. These girls are utterly ridiculous.

“I’m sorry, but expecting help from someone like me, a mere high schooler, is wrong in itself. I can’t do anything for you. And you know about the contract, right? You’re not supposed to come near Aoi-kun anymore. The incident at the grave was treated as a coincidence, but were you actually waiting for him?” My tone grew harsher as I spoke.

“Ah, that was really just a coincidence… We always used to delay our visits to avoid running into Onii-chan…..This year, our schedules just happened to line up, so we went that day…”

“Hmm. I see. Sorry, but that sounds like a made-up story to me. There’s no proof, and I can’t help but think you’re here because your parents put you up to it. If you don’t have anything more to say, could you leave? If you need advice, go to the police,” I coldly dismiss them.

“…” The younger sister looks up at her older sister with tear-filled eyes.

“…we understand. Could you take a look at this at least?” The older-sister said while starting to undress. 

“….what are you doing?”

Then, when she took off her uniform and was only in her underwear, countless bite marks on body became visible. 

“….father has a habit of biting.” When she said that, the younger sister also took off her uniform. There were countless bite marks on her body as well. 

“….You could have bit each other and faked this. That doesn’t count as proof. Anyway, what exactly do you want me to do to help you?”

“…We don’t know.”

“Surely, you don’t expect to live with us or something, right? If you did that… it would destroy Aoi-kun.”

“…We’re sorry,” they said, bowing their heads and leaving.

I neither trusted nor sympathized with them. In fact, I was furious that they even came to me with such a request. If they had supported Aoi, how much easier would his life have been? But… unless his family issues are resolved, Aoi-kun will never truly be free.

I don’t want to keep witnessing Aoi-kun being tormented by nightmares every night.

With my jaw clenched, I reached for my phone.

“I need you to look into something for me.”

‘Long time no talk. Sure, I’ll do anything for you.’

“…There are two things I need you to investigate.”

(Tl/n: dem Marin kaakoi)