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Aponia's contact information was brand new—so new, in fact, that it looked like a freshly registered account without a single post on its timeline.
"My apologies. My previous account's friend list reached its limit. My work is somewhat specialized, and I generally cannot bring myself to delete visitors," she explained, her voice remaining soft.
Kaito could understand. It was like people working at the power company or an ISP; their friend lists were usually packed to the brim.
Walking out of the clinic, the night breeze carried a slight chill. He turned to look at his sister's silly expression, and for some reason, Kaito suddenly burst into laughter.
"Time to head home, Sis."
"A-Ah... what did the doctor say?"
Elysia leaned in curiously. From the look of things, Kaito didn't seem to want to keep chatting with the doctor.
Did Aponia say something that upset him?
She should have warned him beforehand that Aponia's words could be quite piercing.
"The doctor said—she said you have delusional disorder, but it's no big deal."
Elysia puffed out her cheeks, looking thoroughly dissatisfied. "Liar. You're tricking me again."
If she really had delusional disorder, there was no way Aponia wouldn't have told her. They were best friends!
The two stood at the clinic entrance, gazing up at the brilliant night sky.
"It's so beautiful."
Elysia took a deep breath, her hands behind her back and her expression relaxed.
"What do you want to eat tonight?"
Kaito's tone was light. "I'll cook personally. Let's just have a happy day today and stop bickering."
No wonder my sister became a different person after graduating; she was driven mad by the job hunt. He told himself that there was no way Elysia would have willingly just stayed in bed for two years.
"As long as you don't bully me in the dreams," Elysia muttered under her breath, giving Kaito a gentle nudge.
Kaito shrugged. "I'll try."
"By the way, how exactly do I bully you in the dreams?"
While it wasn't great form to ask a mental patient such a question... he felt a strange urge to know.
Elysia hopped onto the motorcycle seat, swinging her legs back and forth. Her tone grew somewhat unsteady. "You became a Herrscher."
A Herrscher?
Oh, the setting from the Boss's game. Is Sis just playing too many games?
"And then?" Kaito tapped his head, instinctively pressing for more.
"And then..."
Elysia suddenly clutched her head. A deep, instinctual throb made her freeze, and the scenery before her began to spin and blur.
"Sis? Sis!"
Don't scare me like that! I won't ask about sad things anymore! His strange curiosity vanished instantly.
He scooped the limp Elysia up in a princess carry and sprinted back into the clinic, his voice cracking with panic.
"Doctor! Doctor!"
"Doctor, don't leave yet!"
Kaito's face was deathly pale. After leaning on each other for so many years, why was he possessed by a ghost to ask something like that?
I must be out of my mind.
After the examination, Aponia looked equally bewildered. "Based on her physiological indicators, it seems... she just fell asleep."
Kaito: "?"
Do people laugh when they are utterly speechless? Maybe.
He fell silent for a moment, looking at his sister, whose hair was plastered against her cheek. Suddenly, he let out a chuckle.
"If you don't want to talk about it, then don't. It's just a hollow, fleeting dream; it's not like it can kill a person."
He couldn't understand his sister's delusions, but then again, it was hard for a sane person to understand mental illness. It didn't matter. He couldn't just leave her behind.
Not long after, with a weak whimper, the small hand Kaito was holding tightly began to twitch.
"You're awake?"
"I..."
Kaito shook his head and handed her a paper cup; the water inside was just the right temperature.
"Do you want to eat here or go home?"
"Let's go home."
Elysia touched her chest, choosing not to complain about the vividness of the dream. She felt that if she spoke it out loud, things would change in a direction no one wanted to see.
Whatever. She was the big sister in reality. How hard could it be to stop Kaito in a dream?
She would gather the power of her "friends" and show that "Fake Kaito" in the dream what's what!
"Dinner is ready, though I don't know if it'll suit your—Wait, where'd they go?"
A few minutes later, Aponia pushed open the door and blinked at the empty room. She took out her phone, but Elysia hadn't sent her a message.
Her lip curled slightly. Ellie, oh Ellie. Can't you even squeeze out a second to send me a text?
And Kaito! He seemed so polite before. How could he not even send a—Wait, hold on.
"Oh, he sent one on the new account."
Aponia saw the brief thank-you on the new account and sighed. Because she had switched accounts, she truly hadn't noticed.
Because of the sudden incident, Kaito didn't cook. They settled their dinner at a nearby noodle shop.
"Do you have any wishes, Sis?"
"Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden?"
Elysia was startled for a moment, but she still contentedly poked the two fried eggs in her bowl, breaking them into pieces and mixing them into the noodles.
I'm afraid that if something happens to you one day, you won't even leave a final wish behind. We're siblings, after all; when I get married, you'll probably have to take the place of our parents and sit in the seat of honor.
Kaito grumbled in his head, but his face wore a relaxed smile. "I just feel like it's been a long time since we've messed around together. Come to think of it, those wishes we wrote down in our notebooks back in school... we haven't thought about fulfilling a single one since graduation."
Elysia's eyes lit up. She hadn't expected Kaito to bring that up.
"Then when you have a day off, let's go to the city center and hold a 'concert'!"
She suggested it excitedly, her face full of anticipation.
The smile on Kaito's face froze instantly.
"I'll play the guitar and be the lead singer, and you can play the violin next to me, Kaito! What do you think?"
Elysia was beaming. She had rented a guitar today and found that she hadn't forgotten what she'd learned back then. In fact, the moment she held the guitar, her youth came rushing back to her.
She was still young! She should live life freely!
Even if the earth was round and "poetry and distant lands" just meant home, as long as Kaito was with her, she could leave whenever she wanted.
Where wouldn't be home?
"...Do you really have to do something with that much 'Social Butterfly' energy?"
Kaito's voice trembled. Although the doctor said strengthening real-world anchors was the right move, he never imagined his sister's wish would be this kind of... performance art.
"I'll call some other friends, too. We can totally form a band!"
"But I won't call Eden. It would be awkward for her."
Elysia grew more excited as she spoke, completely immersed in her fantasies of the future. She didn't even feel as much dread for the coming night anymore.
"Kaito! You really are the best to me!"
She grinned from ear to ear, put down her chopsticks, and pulled her brother into a bear hug, planting kisses all over his face.
She had wanted to do this for a long time!
The band thing, she meant.
After the kisses, she gave a little "hehe" giggle and sat back down, satisfied.
"I guess... sure."
Kaito wiped his cheek, his voice still shaking.
It's not like he hadn't played in university—after all, he learned instruments specifically to show off—but... doing it in the city center? That was a serious "social death" test.
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