Author: Inaida Sou
Translator: Kei of ChocoCats
Proofreader: Cinnamon-san

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○ 56 DAYS AGO

Since then, my brother’s health had deteriorated in the blink of an eye. Even though he had no appetite and kept coughing severely, he just took sick leave and didn’t seem like he would want to go to the hospital. So on the morning of his overseas trip, when my mother informed me that my brother would be absent from that, I wasn’t surprised.

“Mom is going to the office today because I have documents that need to be stamped. But I’ll be back in the afternoon to take your brother to the hospital, so if he’s going to be hospitalized, I’ll let you know.”

“Alright.”

As we passed our days peacefully like this, the day of the tragedy was still getting closer, but I didn’t want to present a trail of dominoes to a sick person. That’s why I would have liked to surprise him if he recovered quickly, but I was genuinely worried that he’d been absent for a long time.

In addition, my mother was usually at home, but today she had to go to work… My mother might have said that for the worst case, but when I heard he might get hospitalized, I became uneasy.

“Mai, if you don’t go soon, you’ll be late.”

“Yeah, I’ll go.”

When I was looking upstairs where my brother was supposed to be, my mother couldn’t help but slap me on the back. If I didn’t go soon, I would be late for school. I left the house together with my mother, feeling as though I was being pulled back by the hair. My mother’s company and my junior high school were in opposite directions, so when I looked back, I could see my mother’s back walking away quickly.

The sky looked like it was going to be sunny, a clear blue sky without any clouds, but my heart didn’t feel clear at all.

My father had to leave early today too, so my brother was now home alone. Until now, my brother had nearly never caught a cold. That’s why, he might not be used to being sick, and I felt like I couldn’t leave him alone like that.

As I slung my school bag over my shoulder and walked along the familiar school route, my vague emotions began to overflow.

Would it be better for me to not go to school?

After all, it would be reassuring if the person who would always try to play tricks on you were to stay outside… or so I thought, but once you’re dead… the me who was staring out the window alone in the hospital room overlapped with my brother’s figure, and I turned on my heels.

It’s okay to be late for school.

I ran back home. By the time I could see the house, my uncertain and muddled mind had been completely made up.

“Huh?”

My heart was set on nursing my resting brother, but my eyes widened when I saw the said person standing next to the shoe rack. His complexion wasn’t particularly bad. If only he wasn’t wearing his loungewear, I wouldn’t feel bothered at all if he said he would go to school. My brother stared at me with a disinterested look.

Did he find out that I planned to go back? Or was he about to leave the house?

“Onii-chan, why are you…?”

“Because I could see you run back home from my room. What’s wrong? Did you forget something? Or did you forget to take the key?”

Under my brother’s somewhat analyzing eyes, I stepped back. But I was already home, there was no turning back, so I went inside and shut the door.

“I’m thinking of taking care of you. I don’t want you to die while everyone is away.”

“Hmm…”

“…I can’t?”

My brother turned his gaze away from me when I asked back because his indifferent answer made me uneasy.

“Do whatever you want. Mother has gone to work, so I will contact Mai’s school.”

“Okay. Then I’ll take care of Onii-chan.”

I took my bag off my shoulder and walked to the living room. My brother without returning to his room made his way towards the home telephone.

“What about breakfast?”

“Haven’t eaten.”

“Do you have any appetite?”

“Maybe a little.”

I rolled up my sleeves while listening to my brother’s brief reply and stood in the kitchen.

Let’s make porridge. If I made it, not only would it be easier for my mother, but even if it couldn’t be eaten now, my brother could eat it after he came back from the hospital. There are many medicines that can’t be taken on an empty stomach after all, so it would be better to have them around.

When I was washing my hands in the kitchen, I could see my brother making a phone call over the counter. As the phone connected, I heard a polite and clear voice saying, “Thank you for all of your trust all this time.”

“Hello, I’m Mai Kurobe’s older brother. Yes… I’ve had a fever since yesterday, so we are going to the hospital today, but just in case, I want her to take days off for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow…”

Hearing my brother’s words, I was so startled that I almost said “Huh?” out loud, but I endured it.

I could understand if it was just the notice for today’s absence. But why tomorrow and the day after tomorrow too? From tomorrow onwards, my mother would usually be working from home, so there was no need for me to be here… While I was confused, my brother continued to talk to the teacher with an apologetic voice.

“I apologize for the trouble, I’m fine… She caught my cold… Uh, yes… Mother doesn’t want her to go now… I’m sorry, thank you for your help…”

My brother coughed badly and hung up the phone. Maybe because he was having trouble breathing, he then let out a big sigh. I was thinking of passing him some water, but he turned to me with a nonchalant face, so I became dumbfounded.

“Uhm, do you need water? How is your cough?”

“When the call ends, it disappears.”

“Eh… anyway, Onii-chan, why did you make me take days off for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow too…?”

“Because if it’s influenza or a highly contagious disease, Mai might be infected even if you don’t have any symptoms. If that happens, you will spread the virus throughout the school, right? Are you fine with that?”

There was nothing wrong with what my brother said. He was definitely right. However, his figure who spoke in a half-threatening manner didn’t look like he was infected with influenza to me. I wondered if my brother really had influenza. After all, it was June now. But there might also be the possibility of another disease…

“I’ll tutor you, so don’t worry.”

My brother rested his elbow on the kitchen counter and looked at me. Then, he pressed me with, “Is the porridge not yet done?” and tapped the counter.

I couldn’t help but feel like I was being persuaded to just go along with it. But leaving my brother alone was also a problem, and I wanted him to get well soon.

Would it be fine to sacrifice three days of school for that reason? While I was thinking of that, I started making rice porridge under my brother’s supervision. Please read this at ChocoCats.

◇

“…Isn’t mother late?”

Please read this at ChocoCats.

My brother finished eating the porridge I made, while also adding an extra comment “today’s meal is normal, huh” in between. When I checked the clock, the hands showed past eleven o’clock. While glancing at the sunlight that had begun to shine through the room, I looked at my brother. My brother who was relaxing on the sofa didn’t appear to be suffering from any illness.

My mother said that she would go to the office for a while, go home, and take my brother to the hospital. She left home around eight in the morning, so three hours had passed. It was late already.

“I wonder what happened to her?”

“Because of an accident, the line mother used was delayed.”

Because of what? Before I could object, my brother sluggishly swipe through his smartphone and showed it to me. There was information about the delay on the screen, indicating that another route that my mother was using had an accident.

“I recommended it because I thought it was a faster route, but I guess it was a mistake.”

“Huh…”

“I told her it would be faster than her usual route, but by taking that line it seems like it ended up being the slowest.  Apparently, there are many jumpers* on this route. It seems there are no platforms in between.”

*T/N: he means the people who jump off the train line to suicide.

For a moment, I suspected that it was my brother’s work.

Because my brother looked very happy now. He seemed to want to say “I feel good when things go my way”, and he didn’t look disappointed at all.

But there was no way he could manipulate an accident on the train route… Besides, I think that my brother would prefer to see the moment of the accident happen first.

“Hey, Onii-chan…”

“I feel like my fever is going down. I’ll help you study, so let’s go upstairs.”

“Eh, a-alright. Yeah…”

Somehow, I felt like I had been tricked again. While feeling somehow uncomfortable with my brother’s attitude, I took his outstretched hand. Please read this at ChocoCats.

◇

T/N: Hello, I’m sorry for the late post. Last week was a bit busy for me and my weekend also had been so hectic that I couldn’t finish them all on time. Sorry about that, I will try to keep the schedule on time next.
Anyway, see you in the next chapter! And have a great day!

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