The boy's room was quiet, the stillness broken only by the rustle of paper as he turned a page. A single lamp lit the desk, its glow caught in the ink of the latest One Piece volume he had saved up for. Outside those fragile walls, the night was far from still.
The sound began as it always did raised voices below, sharp enough to pierce the silence. Glass shattered. Wood cracked. His father's thunderous roar tangled with his mother's shrill accusations, weaving into a storm that shook the house from its foundations.
He closed the book, pressing his palm against the worn cover. His hand lingered there, trembling slightly. Without thinking, he rose and crossed the small room. His fingers touched the door and pulled it shut with care, as though the simple act could build a shield against the chaos below. He had done this countless times before, when his twin sisters were alive. Protecting them in little ways. Pretending his arms could be walls strong enough to keep them safe.
Even now, with no one left to protect, his body remembered the ritual. His lips moved, the words escaping as a hushed breath.
"Don't worry, Anna. Lilia. I'll keep you safe."
The lie stung his throat.
He descended the stairs, each step tightening in his chest. The air was thick, sour with the scent of spilled alcohol. His father loomed in the center of the room, face flushed, veins raised like cords on his neck. His mother stood opposite, arms folded, eyes narrowed to slits of contempt.
The instant the boy appeared, the man's fury shifted. Rage found a new target."What are you looking at, you worthless brat?"
The blow came before he could answer. A sudden flash, the world tilting. Pain exploded in his skull, hot and wet trickling down his temple. He staggered, vision swimming, and looked to his mother as though some flicker of mercy might live in her gaze.
There was none. Only a look colder than the floor beneath his knees.
The silence inside him was louder than their voices. He turned and fled.
The streets blurred beneath his feet, damp asphalt reflecting the amber glow of distant lamps. He didn't stop running until the noise of the world thinned into a whisper and the graveyard rose before him, rows of stone standing against the night like watchful sentinels.
He knew the way without thinking. His body carried him to the two smallest headstones, side by side, weathered letters etched deep into their faces.
Anna.
Lilia.
His knees struck the earth. His forehead pressed against the cold stone, blood and tears mixing, seeping into the cracks. The cry tore from his chest raw and broken, carried into the night.
"Why did you both leave me? Why didn't you take me with you?"
The earth had no answer.
His gaze fell upon a shard of metal lying nearby, jagged, gleaming faintly under the moonlight. His hand reached for it, fingers curling as though pulled by a thread. The weight felt final. Heavy with promise.
He lifted his eyes one last time to the names carved into stone.His lips parted in a whisper meant only for them.
"I'll see you both again."
And then like a dream he saw them. His sisters, standing just beyond the graves. Smiling. Their arms outstretched, their voices carrying soft and sweet through the dark.
"Come play with us."
The sight was enough to quiet the storm inside him. A faint curve touched his lips, not of joy, but of release.
The night drew its curtain.