"Onii-chan!" a girl yelled.
The voice cut sharp and loud across the empty dirt. Zenjiro flinched hard. His shoulders jerked up to his ears. He spun around instantly. He looked past the tall green weeds and stared at the corner of the rusted brick wall.
He expected Asuka to be standing right there. He expected her to hear the voice and panic about her secret.
The space was completely empty. Asuka was already gone. She probably saw Liora walking toward the old gymnasium from a distance. She likely slipped away through the back gate to hide herself.
Zenjiro let out a long, shaky breath. A small fraction of the heavy tension drained out of his tight chest.
Footsteps crunched violently against the dry gravel.
Liora stomped around the corner of the brick building. She wore her dark high school uniform. Her pleated skirt swished wildly around her knees. Her chest heaved up and down in rapid, heavy gasps. Sweat stuck a few strands of blonde hair to her forehead.
She stopped half meter away from him. She crossed her arms over her chest. She looked absolutely furious.
"Where have you been, Onii-chan?" Liora demanded. Her voice cracked slightly. "I have been looking all over for you. I almost walked the entire campus twice. You weren't at the shoe lockers. You weren't at the main gate."
Zenjiro stared at her. He didn't inform her that he would be late. The blinding nervousness of his planned confession had completely erased everything else from his brain. He forgot their daily routine entirely.
"I am sorry," Zenjiro said. His voice sounded thin and incredibly weak. "I was looking for my handkerchief. I dropped it somewhere near the hallway. I ended up looking all the way back here."
He kept his hands shoved deep inside his pockets. He didn't have a handkerchief to show her.
Liora uncrossed her arms. She stepped closer. She tilted her head up and stared directly into his face. The fierce anger in her blue eyes flickered. Confusion replaced the heavy glare.
"What happened to your eyes?" Liora asked. She reached out toward his face. "They are completely red."
Zenjiro stepped backward quickly. He avoided her hand. Panic spiked hot in his throat.
"A sudden wind came up," Zenjiro lied. He looked down at the dirty concrete. "A lot of dry dust hit my eyes. It stung badly."
Liora took another step forward. She refused to let him retreat. "Let me see. Bend down. I will blow it out for you."
"It is fine," Zenjiro said fast. He turned his body away from her. "It is already gone. I blinked it out."
Liora let her hand drop to her side. She let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Onii-chan," Liora said quietly. "This is the very first time you have ever made me mad."
She crossed her arms again. She squeezed her elbows tight against her sides.
"You never do this to me," she continued. "You never hide. You never lie about your schedule. What is going on? Do you have a secret from me or something?"
"No," Zenjiro said immediately. "Of course not. Why would I do that?"
He forced himself to look right at her. He kept his facial expression entirely blank. He built a thick, solid wall of complete neutrality over his features.
Liora stared hard at him for five full seconds. She searched his dark eyes for any cracks. She didn't find any. Her rigid posture slowly relaxed. Her shoulders dropped. The angry red flush faded from her cheeks. She exhaled loudly.
"I am so tired," she complained. "My feet hurt. Let's go home."
They walked away from the old gymnasium together. They passed through the main school gates and stepped onto the paved sidewalk.
Liora walked right beside him. She started talking immediately. She complained about her heavy bag. She complained about the long walk.
Zenjiro stayed completely silent.
He didn't hear a single word she said. He just put one foot in front of the other. The cold spring wind hit his face. His chest felt like a deep, empty hole. This was the very first time he had ever felt a broken heart. It was a brutal, ugly sensation.
He didn't just receive a simple rejection. He learned a terrible truth about himself.
He was ugly.
He never once thought about that specific word before. He knew he was heavy. He knew he wasn't popular. But he never considered his face to be an actual source of disgust. Asuka sounded completely cruel, but a dark, heavy thought whispered in the back of his mind. She was probably just stating a plain, objective fact. The pain crushed his ribs. It made it hard to pull air into his lungs.
"Onii-chan," Liora said. She bumped her shoulder against his arm. "You won't believe it. Mom told me something crazy this morning."
Zenjiro blinked. "What?"
"My biological father contacted her," Liora said. She kicked a small pebble across the concrete. "He actually called the house phone."
Zenjiro turned his head slightly. That was a big event. The man had completely vanished from their lives over a decade ago.
"And you know what Mom did?" Liora asked. A small, proud smile touched her lips. "She cursed him right out. She yelled so loud the kitchen windows rattled. Then she slammed the phone down."
Liora reached over. She wrapped both of her arms tight around Zenjiro's right bicep. She hugged his arm directly against her chest. She matched his walking pace perfectly.
"As for me," Liora said casually. "I don't want to see him at all. I have my new father now. And of course, I have my Onii-chan. I am completely contented with my new family."
Zenjiro did not respond. He just let her hang her body weight off his arm. He kept his eyes glued to the cracked pavement ahead.
"Onii-chan," Liora said. She squeezed his arm harder. "Are you even listening to me?"
"I am listening," Zenjiro lied. He forced his voice to sound perfectly normal. "Are you sure you are completely fine with that? He is your real father."
"I am totally fine," she answered quickly. "I already moved on from him. I forgot about him a long time ago. He means absolutely nothing to me."
Liora continued talking. She shifted the topic back to her annoying classmates. Zenjiro offered short nods and quiet grunts to pretend he was paying attention.
Deep inside, he was drowning in real, emotional pain. He just wanted to get home. He wanted to lock his bedroom door. He wanted to lie flat on his mattress and disappear into the dark.
They finally reached the house. Zenjiro pushed the heavy front door open. He took off his street shoes in the entryway and walked straight into the living room.
He dropped his heavy bag onto the floor. He collapsed onto the brown sofa. The soft cushions sank under his weight.
Clara stood in the kitchen. She wiped a ceramic plate with a dry cloth. She looked up and noticed him sitting there. She saw the heavy slump of his shoulders. She saw the raw, red edges of his eyes.
"Zenjiro-kun," Clara said. She put the white plate down on the counter. "Did something happen?"
Liora walked into the living room. She looked at Clara in total confusion. She didn't understand why her mother sounded so worried.
"Dust hit my eyes," Zenjiro said quietly. He stared at the blank television screen. "It blew hard across the playground. But it is fine now."
Clara was an adult. She possessed years of hard life experience. She knew exactly what a cry look like. She knew the difference between physical irritation and deep emotional devastation. She didn't buy the dust excuse for a single second.
She walked slowly out of the kitchen. She stopped near the edge of the living room rug.
"Zenjiro-kun," Clara said. Her voice was incredibly soft. "If there is something you need, just tell me. I will help you with whatever it is."
Liora dropped her school bag. She rushed over to the sofa. She leaned over Zenjiro's shoulder.
"Is there someone bothering you in school, Onii-chan?" Liora asked. Her blue eyes narrowed fiercely. "Tell me right now. I will march in there tomorrow and give them a big piece of my mind."
"No," Zenjiro said flatly. "Nobody is bothering me. My eyes just got hit by some dust."
He looked up at his step-mother.
"Thanks, Mother," Zenjiro said. "If there is anything I want, I will tell you when I really need it."
Clara stared at his face for a long time. She finally nodded her head.
"Good," Clara said. Her tone grew deeply serious. "I promise you right now. If you ever need help, I will help you without a single second thought. If you ask any favor or make any request, just tell me. I will absolutely grant it."
Zenjiro shook his head. "You don't have to do that, Mother. You can decline if the request is impossible. I don't want to bother you."
Clara took a step closer. She stood directly in front of the sofa. She looked down at him with intense, unbroken focus.
"My ex-husband called this morning," Clara said. Her voice tightened. "Hearing his voice reminded me of how easily people just run away when things get hard. But you never ran away, Zenjiro-kun. You did an incredible amount for my daughter when she lost her biological father. You caught her when she fell apart. You protected her. You treat her like a real little sister."
Clara placed her hands firmly on her hips.
"I owe you a lot," she said. "There is absolutely no need to be a stranger in this house. I insist. If you ever have a request or a favor in the future, anything at all, even if it will hurt me or put me in a terrible situation, I will gladly do it. That is a solid promise.