The house is wrapped in the kind of silence that only comes after something has shattered.
The front door is locked, double-bolted.
The curtains are drawn so tight not even moonlight can slip through.
The only light is the small amber lamp on the living-room table, painting everything in soft, trembling gold.
The kotatsu sits in the middle of the room like an island, its blanket folded neatly, waiting for someone to crawl under it and hide from the world.
I'm already hiding.
I'm lying on the couch, head in Kiyomi's lap, the way I used to when we were eight and the thunder was too loud.
My shoes are kicked off somewhere by the genkan.
My uniform jacket is draped over the armrest.
My tie is gone; Kiyomi loosened it the moment we stepped inside, fingers trembling but sure.
She sits with her back straight, legs crossed under the kotatsu blanket, one hand resting protectively on my chest, the other slowly, rhythmically combing through my hair.
Her fingers are gentle, but I can feel the tiny tremors in them.
She's still crying, quiet tears that fall onto my temple and cool instantly.
Neither of us has spoken in almost twenty minutes.
The clock on the wall ticks too loudly.
Finally, I break the silence.
Me (voice hoarse, small)
I need to tell you everything.
Even the parts that make me sound completely insane.
Especially those parts.
Kiyomi's hand stills for a second, then resumes its slow path through my hair.
Kiyomi (soft, steady)
I'm listening.
I'm not going anywhere.
I close my eyes.
The words feel like glass in my throat.
Me
When I woke up that first morning… I honestly thought I was someone else.
A stranger who had stolen your brother's body.
I thought the real Kiyoshi was dead.
Or erased.
Or punished.
I spent weeks terrified that one day he would come back and throw me out of his life like a squatter.
I swallow hard.
Me
Then I dreamed of him.
The real Kiyoshi.
He looked exactly like me, talked like me, but… brighter.
Sharper.
Like someone who had never learned how to be afraid.
He laughed at me.
Called me an idiot.
Told me it wasn't body theft at all.
Kiyomi's fingers pause again.
Kiyomi
Then what was it?
Me
Trauma.
Something happened; something so bad my brain decided the only way to keep me alive was to delete everything personal.
How I think.
Who I loved.
How many people I had.
Every friend, every enemy, every promise I ever made… gone.
Like pressing factory reset on a soul.
I open my eyes, stare at the ceiling.
Me
When I first opened my eyes in this bed, only two names survived.
Yours… and Aiko's.
Kiyomi's breath catches, very quietly.
Kiyomi
Aiko…
Is she someone I know?
Me
I don't think so.
I don't have a face.
No voice.
No memory of where we met or what she looked like when she laughed.
Just the feeling.
Like someone reached into my chest and carved out a space that only fits her shape.
I know I love her.
More than anything in any life.
That's all that was left.
My voice cracks.
Me
Then I met you again.
And slowly the world started filling in, not with memories, but with feelings.
The way you smell after a shower.
The way you flick my forehead when you're annoyed.
The way you hum off-key when you think no one's listening.
You became the second thing my heart recognized.
Kiyomi leans down, rests her forehead against mine.
Kiyomi (whisper)
I'm still here.
I'm still yours.
Me
Tonight… when they said "six pieces"… something inside me recognized the pattern.
I've chased him before.
The killer.
I just can't remember why, or how it ended, or why it hurt so much that forgetting everything was the only way to survive it.
I turn my face into her lap, voice muffled against her dress.
Me
I'm not brave, Kiyomi.
I thought I was getting there.
I thought I could stand up and hunt him and finish whatever I started.
But I'm not.
I'm terrified.
I'm a coward who just wants to hide under this blanket with you and pretend the world isn't on fire.
Kiyomi's arms tighten around me.
Kiyomi (fierce, unwavering)
Then hide.
Be a coward.
I don't care.
You are not chasing that monster.
Not tonight.
Not tomorrow.
Not ever, if I have anything to say about it.
Me (weak protest)
But he—Kiyomi
Let him vanish.
Let him run.
Let him think he won.
We lock the doors.
We keep the lights on.
We live quiet, boring, safe lives until the memories come back on their own—or until they never do.
I don't care which.
You are not walking out that door to chase ghosts that already broke you once.
She cups my face with both hands, forces me to look at her.
Tears are streaming down her cheeks, but her eyes are steel.
Kiyomi
You stay here.
With me.
With Tada.
With the people who would notice if you disappeared.
We wait for Aiko together.
Whoever she is, wherever she is.
When she finds you, she'll find both of us.
Because I am not letting you face anything alone ever again.
I search her face, looking for judgment, for disappointment.
I find only love—fierce, exhausted, unbreakable.
Me (voice cracking)
I'm sorry I'm not stronger.
Kiyomi
Don't be.
You're strong enough to stay.
That's harder.
She pulls me up until I'm sitting, then wraps her arms around my shoulders and holds me so tightly I can feel her heartbeat.
Kiyomi
Promise me.
Promise me you'll stop chasing him.
I bury my face in her shoulder.
The scent of strawberry shampoo and warm skin and home.
Me
I promise.
I'll stay.
I don't want to face that danger again.
Not if it means losing you.
Kiyomi (voice muffled against my hair)
Good.
That's all I needed to hear.
We stay like that for a long time.
Two siblings on an old couch, holding each other like the world might end if we let go.
Outside, the city keeps breathing—dangerous, alive, full of shadows.
Inside, the lamp flickers once, then steadies.
And for the first time in months,
I let myself believe that staying
might be the only victory we need right now.
The hunt can wait.
The killer can wait.
Aiko can wait.
Tonight,
I'm just Kiyoshi.
Kiyomi's brother.
Safe.
Terrified.
Alive.
And that is enough.