CH 38

Since then, my brother’s health has deteriorated in the blink of an eye. Even though he had no appetite and kept coughing severely, he just took sick leave and didn’t seem like he would want to go to the hospital. So on the morning of his overseas trip, when my mother informed me that my brother will absent from that, I wasn’t surprised. Please read this at ChocoCats.

“Mom is going to the office today because I have documents that need to be stamped. But I’ll be back in the afternoon to take your brother to the hospital, so if he’s going to be hospitalized, I’ll let you know.”

“Alright.”

As we passed our days peacefully like this, the day of the tragedy was still getting closer, but I didn’t want to present a trail of dominoes to a sick person. That’s why I’d like to surprise him if he recovers quickly, but I’m genuinely worried that he’s been absent for a long time.

In addition, my mother was usually at home, but today she had to go to work… My mother might have said that for the worst case, but when I heard he might get hospitalized, I became uneasy.

“Mai, if you don’t go soon, you’ll be late.”

“Yeah, I’ll go.”

When I was looking upstairs where my brother was supposed to be, my mother couldn’t help but slap me on the back. If I didn’t go soon, I will be late for school. I left the house together with my mother with a lingering feeling on my back. My mother’s company and my junior high school were in opposite directions, so when I looked back, I could see my mother’s back walking quickly.

The sky looks like it was going to be sunny, it was a clear blue sky without any clouds, but my heart didn’t feel clear at all.

My father had to leave early today too, so my brother is now home alone. Until now, my brother has nearly never caught a cold. That’s why, he might not get used to being sick, and I feel like I couldn’t leave him alone like that.

As I slung my school bag over my shoulder and walked along the familiar school route, my vague emotions began to overflow.

Would it be better for me to not go to school?

After all, it would be reassuring for the person who would always try to do tricks to stay outside… or so I thought, but back before I died… the me who was staring out the window alone in the hospital room overlapped with my brother’s figure, and I turned my heels.

It’s okay to be late for school.

I ran back home. By the time I could see the house, my pent-up and uncertain mind had already made up.

“Huh?”

My heart was set on nursing my resting brother, but my eyes widened when I saw the said person standing next to the shoe rack. His complexion wasn’t particularly bad. If only he didn’t wear his casual attire, I won’t feel bothered at all if he said he will go to school. My brother stared at me with a disinterested look.

Did he find out that I plan to go back? Or was he about to leave the house?

“Onii-chan, why are you…?”

“Because I could see you run back home from my room. What’s wrong? Did you forget something? Or did you forget to take the key?”

Under my brother’s somewhat investigating eyes, I stepped back. But I was already home, there is no turning back, so I went inside and shut the door.

“I’m thinking of taking care of you. I don’t want you to die while everyone is away.”

“Hmm…”

“…I can’t?”

My brother turned his gaze away from me when I asked back because his indifferent answer made me uneasy.

“Do whatever you want. Mother has gone to work, so I will contact Mai’s school.”

“Okay. Then I’ll take care of Onii-chan.”

I took my bag off my shoulder and walked to the living room. My brother without returning to his room made his way towards the home telephone.

“What about breakfast?”

“Haven’t eaten.”

“Do you have any appetite?”

“Maybe a little.”

I rolled up my sleeves while listening to my brother’s brief reply and stood in the kitchen.

Let’s make porridge. If I make it, not only it would be easier for my mother, but even if it couldn’t be eaten now, my brother can eat it after he came back from the hospital. There are many medicines that couldn’t be taken on an empty stomach after all, so it would be better to have them around.

When I was washing my hands in the kitchen, I could see my brother making a phone call over the counter. As the phone connected, I heard a polite and clear voice saying, “Thank you for all of your trust all this time.”

“Hello, I’m Mai Kurobe’s older brother. Yes… I have fever since yesterday, so we are going to the hospital today, but just in case, I want her to take days off for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow…”

Hearing my brother’s words, I was so startled that I almost said “Huh?” out loud, but I endured it.

I could understand if it was just the notice for today’s absence. But why tomorrow and the day after tomorrow too? From tomorrow onwards, my mother would usually be working from home, so there was no need for me to be here… While I was confused, my brother continued to talk to the teacher with an apologetic voice.

“I apologize for the trouble, I’m fine… She caught my cold… Uh, yes… Mother doesn’t want her to go now… I’m sorry, thank you for your help…”

My brother coughed badly and hung up the phone. Maybe because he was having trouble breathing, he then let out a big sigh. I was thinking of passing him some water, but he turned to me with a nonchalant face, so I became dumbfounded.

“Uhm, do you need water? How is your cough?”

“When the call ends, it disappears.”

“Eh… anyway, Onii-chan, why did you make me take days off for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow too…?”

“Because if it’s influenza or a highly contagious disease, Mai might be infected even if you don’t have any symptoms. If that happens, you will spread the virus throughout the school, right? Are you fine with that?”

There was nothing wrong with what my brother said. He was definitely right. However, his figure who spoke in a half-threatening manner didn’t look like he was infected with influenza to me. I wonder if my brother really has influenza. After all, it’s June now. But there might also be the possibility of another disease…

“I’ll tutor you, so don’t worry.”

My brother rested his elbow on the kitchen counter and looked at me. Then, he pressed me with, “Is the porridge not yet done?” and tapped the counter.

I couldn’t help but feel like I was being persuaded to just go along with it. But leaving my brother alone was also a problem, and I wanted him to get well soon.

Would it be fine to sacrifice three days of school for that reason? While I was thinking of that, I started making rice porridge under my brother’s supervision. Please read this at ChocoCats.

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“…Isn’t mother late?”

Please read this at ChocoCats.

My brother finished eating the porridge I made, while also adding an extra comment “today’s meal is normal, huh” in between. When I checked the clock, the hands showed past eleven o’clock. While glancing at the sunlight that has begun to shine through the room, I looked at my brother. My brother who was relaxing on the sofa didn’t appear to be suffering from any illness.

My mother said that she would go to the office for a while, go home, and take my brother to the hospital. She left home around eight in the morning, so three hours had passed. It’s late already.

“I wonder what happened to her?”

“Because of an accident, the line mother used was delayed.”

Because of what? Before I could object, my brother sluggishly swipe through his smartphone and showed it to me. There was information about the delay on the screen, indicating that another route that my mother was using had an accident.

“I recommended it because I thought it was a faster route, but I guess it was a mistake.”

“Huh…”

“I told her it would be faster than her usual route, but it seems by taking that line ended up being the slowest. Apparently, there are many jumps on this route. It seems there are no platform doors in between.”

For a moment, I suspected that it was my brother’s work.

Because my brother looks very happy now. He seemed to want to say “I feel good when things go my way”, and he didn’t look disappointed at all.

But there’s no way he could manipulate an accident on the train route… Besides, I think that my brother would rather want to see the moment of the accident happen first.

“Hey, Onii-chan…”

“I feel like my fever is going down. I’ll tutor you, so let’s go upstairs.”

“Eh, a-alright. Yeah…”

Somehow, I felt like I had been tricked again. While feeling somehow uncomfortable with my brother’s attitude, I took his outstretched hand. Please read this at ChocoCats.

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T/N: Hello, I’m sorry for the late post. Last week was a bit busy for me and my weekend also had been so hectic so I couldn’t finish them all on time. Sorry about that, I will try to keep the schedule on time next.

Anyway, see you in the next chapter! And have a great day!