Nerusona

Chapter 16

Part 1: April

Chapter 16

“That must be his Shadow,” Idola said, holding onto Teddy’s arm to prevent the child running towards Mamoru’s lookalike.

“We can’t even see if he has yellow eyes,” said Raku, pointing her gun at the person with the paper on his face.

“Nii-san! We’re here to save you!” shouted Teddy, trying to wriggle free from his step-sister’s grasp.

The male student, who was crouched on the floor while clutching his head with his hands, raised his gaze. Tears streamed down his visage, and his face looked as if he had been crying for awhile. “You…”

“You backstabbing bitches,” the fake Mamoru spoke, stepping away from the desk he was at. “I expected you two devil children to be here.” From behind the piece of paper covering his face, the doppelganger sneered.

“Stop,” the real Mamoru pleaded, clenching his head tighter while covering his ears. No matter what he did, he could still hear everyone’s voices loud and clear.

“I see you’re still holding on to a couple of grudges.” Idola grinned, not afraid of Shadow Mamoru at all. “No matter how many times I apologize, you just won’t accept them.”

Teddy fell silent, not wanting to join the two siblings’ conflict. Judging from his expression, he knew what the argument was about that the rest of the group didn’t.

“You never apologized. Not even once.” The doppelganger made his way towards the original Mamoru. “Or maybe I wasn’t listening to you. I don’t want to affiliate myself with a whore.”

Idola clenched her fists tightly. “I guess nothing will make you accept my apology, huh? You’re so stubborn.”

“Do you know how embarrassed I’ve been ever since knowing your filthy little secret?” The fake turned towards Idola’s direction. “I hate being seen in public with you. I get weird stares from classmates—they think I’m just as tacky as you are!” He let out a laugh.

Despite having harsh words thrown in her direction, Idola tried to quickly counter the fake’s statements. “Is that why you’ve been locking yourself in your room? Because you don’t want to be around me?”

Teddy constantly switched gazes from Idola to Shadow Mamoru.

“I hate myself because of you.” Shadow Mamoru lifted the real Mamoru off the ground, grabbing his arms and moving them around as if manipulating a puppet or marionette. “I’m just your puppet, aren’t I? I have to listen to Idola-nee’s commands or else.”

The original Mamoru still had tears flowing down his face, and he made no movements as his Shadow controlled him.

Idola’s confident expression cracked, now revealing hesitance.”You just won’t let the past go.”

“Because it will live with me forever,” retorted Shadow Mamoru. “You took all my fucking pride and stepped on it.” The Shadow let the original Mamoru drop to the ground, and he pointed his finger at Idola. “You’re the worst kind of human being.”

“Stop fighting,” interjected Teddy, tugging on Idola’s arm while staring at the Shadow. “Just accept Idola-nee’s apology and move on.”

“Move on? You expect me to move on after all she’s done? Teddy, are you not even aware of her noxious personality?” Shadow Mamoru began to make his way towards the child. “Has she manipulated you, Teddy?”