The school bell rang—Ding-Dong—the students in the hallway and outside the classrooms spontaneously returned to their seats. But Alex's location was an exception. Yuuji Tsubakihara, sprawled on the ground clutching his stomach, ignored the bell. He gasped for air, glaring at Alex with eyes that seemed to burn with fury. The scene and the rage he'd just witnessed almost melted his sanity, but the pain in his body prevented him from standing up. He had experienced this feeling once before, leaving him nearly insane, yet he couldn't do anything but let out a miserable growl.
"What did you do?! What else did you do to Yuna?!!"
The situation had changed too quickly. Yuna, who had been questioned by her sister and then saw Yuuji... her brain had stalled for a while.
"Hard to tell, you two seem to be quite close," Alex said, smiling. "What, did you think I made a move on her?"
"You—" Yuuji tried to climb up but fell back down.
"Wait, it's not what you think," Yuna finally snapped back to reality and hurried over to explain, her hair fluttering in the air, tension visible on her beautiful face. "Yuuji, what are you talking about! Alex didn't do anything like that to me!"
"Impossible! Yuna, don't lie to me—" Yuuji didn't believe it. He knew Yuna's shy nature better than anyone. "Are you trying to say you approached him willingly? You wouldn't do that, it must be him—!"
CRACK!!! Another kick, this time delivered right in front of Yuna, stomping on Yuuji's body.
"Tsk. I consider myself your savior, and yet you charged at me like that? I'm truly surprised. No sense of gratitude at all. Of course, it was a transaction, so no gratitude is actually necessary." Alex said with a faint, mocking smile.
"Alex..." Yuna looked at Alex with pitiful eyes. She was nervous and slightly afraid as she looked at the expressionless boy. It was strange; she should have been afraid that the boy on the ground, Yuuji, was being beaten... but deep down, what the girl truly feared was Alex disliking her. Of course, Yuna was worried about her stepbrother too.
At least this time was a genuine misunderstanding, and Yuna wanted to talk about her relationship with Alex, about how he saved her, but Alex cut her off before she could speak.
"Since you dared to attack without any fear, don't blame me. Since I can save you from the abyss, I can certainly push you back down," Alex ignored the girl clutching his sleeve, his lips curling into a demonic smile. The power of
Time
flowed, continuously draining life force from Yuuji.
"Alex..." Yuna watched in horror as Yuuji slowly weakened, his eyes growing duller. "Alex, don't."
"You saw it, didn't you? He was the one who struck first this time." Alex narrowed his eyes. "What, are you going to stop me?"
"H-he's still my stepbrother..." Yuna bit her cherry lip. She looked at Yuuji, who was pinned to the ground, then suddenly grabbed Alex's hand and pressed it to her chest. "I'm sorry, I... I can compensate for the harm he caused you."
Nina, standing behind them, frowned. Alex laughed playfully. "Oh? Compensate?"
"Please, let Yuuji go. I'm willing to be like my mother," Yuna lowered her head, her face partially visible beneath her bangs. "To be your, to be your..."
"Be my dog," Alex stated confidently.
"..." Whoosh. Her face flushed red. Yuna nearly turned and fled in shame and indignation, but she still nodded. "Yes... I'm willing to be Alex's dog..."
"Yuna! You, cough, cough—what are you saying!!!" Even though he'd been kicked several times and his 'Time' was draining away, nothing was more painful or despairing than hearing Yuna's words. He looked in disbelief as his dear sister nestled into Alex's arms, avoiding his gaze. Witnessing his sister fall into the embrace of another man was a colossal blow.
"Why the long face? Didn't you cause this yourself? Why pretend to be the victim?" Alex shrugged. He sensed something was slightly off with the girl leaning on him but didn't dwell on it, choosing instead to mock Yuuji. "After Mrs. Mira, now it's your dear sister? Tsk tsk, this is truly..."
Alex withdrew his foot. "OK, I accept. However, the thirty years of life I've taken won't be returned... Remember, I saved your life, and I can take it back whenever I want. Feel free to challenge me again."
"Yuuji... I told you it was a misunderstanding. Alex and I didn't..." Even after being resigned to the fate of becoming Alex's dog, just like her mother, strangely, Yuna showed no despair or sadness on her face; it was as if it were a small matter. Only when she looked at Yuuji was her gaze somewhat complex and sad. "Don't go looking for trouble with Alex anymore."
"Yuna..." The feeling of heartbreak and pain spread throughout Yuuji's body. He lay there like a dog, watching Yuna turn and leave. His childhood friend, his incredibly close sister, had just walked away from him. He couldn't comprehend it. He felt he was helping Yuna, saving her from that scumbag, that devil, so why had things turned out this way?
Nina, who had been silently watching the entire event, looked at her sister with a very subtle and strange expression.
"You don't look sad at all?" Nina adjusted her glasses, glancing at her sister, as if re-examining her.
"What?" Yuna, who had been spaced out, turned her head as if just snapping back to attention.
"You've been reduced to his plaything... sharing the same fate as Mom, losing your freedom. Yuna, you don't look sad at all?" Nina had clearly noticed that her sister showed absolutely no sign of pain or grief.
"No way, I... I'm sad, of course I am," Yuna's face was slightly stiff, and she instinctively avoided her sister's gaze, her eyes darting around.
"No, for something like this, you should be more than just sad. Not only have you become another person's property, but Yuuji has been left in that state... Yuna, you look perfectly fine, not suffering at all." Nina wouldn't believe her excuse; a spark of intelligence seemed to flash behind her glasses.
"Yuuji brought this upon himself. Besides, Alex and I were already..." Nina paused for a few seconds. "And I'm doing this to help Yuuji, otherwise..."
"Indeed, Yuna, you sacrificed yourself for Yuuji. That's how it should be, but I look at you and you seem to be... enjoying it?"
Click. Yuna froze. She had been called out.
"Tell me, what exactly happened between you two? Yuna, what is your relationship with him?" Nina looked at her sister with a complex gaze.
"Oh, stop asking all these questions. It's already done; we can't change it. Let's hurry back to class." Pushing her sister away, Yuna shook her head desperately, giving evasive answers while sinking into thought.
Enjoying it, huh... I guess... I really am a little happy...