There was nothing simple about this--these people, her parents, the looks in their eyes--but despite it all, Tsubaki rose from her seat with the photo album in her arms without missing a beat. She could do this without letting her pounding heart escape her. She wanted to see them off with a smile.
Even so, it twitched slightly as the figure she knew as her father, the man who’d raised her, played with her, trained her, loved her touched her in such a gentle fashion. But it still stayed. This is… When he spoke next, however, the smile dropped like a stone. She hadn’t expected that at all. Her eyes went wide. She hadn’t misheard, had she? No, but--He’d said--
… My brother. Nii-san. That can’t be. That can’t be.
Illusion or not, fake or not, surely they of all people should know that nii-san was dead.
Tsubaki was struck numb, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She couldn’t do anything but watch them go, album held limply, lips parted. She couldn’t say anything at her mother’s last look. Surely they should know. Else they couldn’t say that so easily, like he were just waiting on the other side of that door, alive, healthy, part of the family.
Even so, it twitched slightly as the figure she knew as her father, the man who’d raised her, played with her, trained her, loved her touched her in such a gentle fashion. But it still stayed. This is… When he spoke next, however, the smile dropped like a stone. She hadn’t expected that at all. Her eyes went wide. She hadn’t misheard, had she? No, but--He’d said--
… My brother. Nii-san. That can’t be. That can’t be.
Illusion or not, fake or not, surely they of all people should know that nii-san was dead.
Tsubaki was struck numb, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She couldn’t do anything but watch them go, album held limply, lips parted. She couldn’t say anything at her mother’s last look. Surely they should know. Else they couldn’t say that so easily, like he were just waiting on the other side of that door, alive, healthy, part of the family.
Surely.
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