After finishing dinner, I casually walked to my room, during that process, I heard the ladies chatting.
"Hey Rin, you could stay here for the night. It's getting pretty late." Lenka commented while the sound of the plates were ringing through my ears
"E-Eh?" Rin replied
"Well, I guess I should just clean the guest room... Wait I should clean it right now!" I heard a deafening sound caused by something fragile, I over reacted, it wasn't necessarily deafening but it sure is loud
"Aah!" They both screamed that made a good excuse for me to come down.
"What happened?" I yelled while stepping down on the stairs
"No-Nothing!" Lenka replied with a panicky voice. As soon as I arrived at the kitchen, a mug was broken.
"I-I'm really sorry!" She immediately bowed her head down and started to clean the shards with her hands, seating on the floor.
"I'll im-immediately clean all of this!" She stuttered while shivering
"Lenka-nee!" Rin started to call a few times until she caught her attention
"Y-Yes?"
"Your hand is bleeding!" Rin rushed towards Lenka while helping her stand.
"A-ah.. Eh?" Lenka stated and looked at her hand, seeing blood descending from her skin
I stared at them for the whole time, trying to relax. But deep inside, I was clearly terrified for a minor injury, though, that wasn't the case. I've never seen Lenka for years, and this, this is the old Lenka I used to know. It was just.. I was just.. Completely petrified.
"Let's get you patched up. Len, where's the med kit?" Rin asked as she held my sister's hand to check whether it was deep or not. She led her to the chair to sit, and not on the cold floor.
I pointed at the med kit right above the refrigerator,at the very top.
"Uh.. I can't reach that,and it's very well hidden." Rin commented,standing on her tip toes still didn't make it better.
I nodded, still unable to speak and grabbed it for her.
She thanked me and messily searched popidone iodine and the alcohol. She started cleaning the cuts, Lenka didn't reacted, showing nothing with her head still bowed down, locks of her ash blonde were covering her entire face.
"And there you go! Just the bandages left!" She said and started to wrap them, carefully and slowly
"I'm sorry." Lenka whispered
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry." The words has gotten loud and louder until you can hear the sobs that could be heard loudly.
"I'm really sorry. I'm such a nuisance. I'm so sorry." Lenka apologized, repeating the words.
I looked at Rin after she finished treating her hand, she got my message and went out of the kitchen towards the living room.
"Lenka..." I finally uttered, slowly walking towards her, taking each step with precaution.
"I'm sorry Len. I'm sorry." She said in a weak tone that crushed my heart for a bit
"I'm sorry that I was so stubborn. I'm sorry that I was so stupid. I'm sorry that I became selfish. I'm sorry that I was-" I've cut her off and hugged her. After a few moments, my shoulder felt wet, she started sobbing more loudly.
"What kind of son are you?! Completely useless!" Mom slapped me hard that made me fell on the floor
"Why won't you be more like Lenka?! Or even Neru?!" Dad commented and smacked me through my stomach. I started to cough blood and glanced at Lenka from the door peeking. From the looks of it, she's planning to tell the truth to our parents, I sent her a sign to stop.
"Worthless piece of crap!" They said in unison and both kicked me until I was unconscious.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw Lenka beside me with her hands entwined together and her head, facing the floor.
"Ey." I said weakly, feigning coolness
"Huh? You're awake." She glanced at me and smiled
"You think?" I laughed at my own joke but she kept a stern face.
"What?" I asked
"What do you mean 'what'? You're injured Len! You're injured for the umpteenth time! Aren't you even tired?!"
"This is all for you." Instead of saying that, I didn't spoke a single word
"Look at you! Why can't you care about yourself?! If this goes on, you might even die!" tears strolled down her cheeks as she was scolding me
"I'll tell everything to mom! You aren't useless! In fact, you're greater than me!" Her statement alarmed me and made me say this:
"Oh really? I'm greater than you? Okay then, you're right." I stared at her directly through her eyes, she was shocked so I continued
"You don't even deserve to be the favorite. You're weak. You're so weak, crying pathetically over nothing. You'll lose to this competition if I started showing my true nature. Aren't you ashamed of yourself?" I chocked the words out, this is the only way.. I'm sorry
"W-What? Is this even Len? No.. No.. This is not Len! The Len I used to know is kind,lovable,smart and mostly selfless.." She forced her saliva down and started shaking fjsc
"Hahaha! You're really funny aren't you? Let's just call you the clown of this family. See? You're a weak,useless,pathetic little girl." I said emphasizing the words out
"No! You're not Len!" She yelled and went outside
"I'm sorry, I'm terrible. I'm a terrible brother..." I whispered and cupped my face and forced the tears in.
"Don't forget that I love you."I said the words once again
The atmosphere felt lighter than earlier and our sibling chivalry must have ended. After what seems like hours (minutes) Lenka told me to approach Rin. I did so and saw her watching the tv.
"Hey."
"Oh, hi." She noticed me and replied
"Are you going to stay here?"
"Oh, no. I still have to take care of Kira since I left her in my house with nobody around and completely dark... I FORGOT ABOUT KIRA!" She panicked and grabbed her purse
"I'll come with you."
"Really?" She stopped and faced me
"Yeah. It's pretty dark outside plus you might be carrying a lot of things so sure." She nodded while I told Lenka I'll be accompanying Rin. We stepped outside to find the nearest pet shop that's still open.
"There it is!" Rin remarked and ran to the pet shop that's gleaming light around the dark corners. I followed her, internally facepalming.
Her eyes twinkled upon visiting the store. She started grabbing cat foods, every flavor she can find,a scratching post, litter box along with the sand, and the collar.. That she's still arguing with herself which color to pick
"Hey Len! What should I pick? Pink,Yellow, orange or Purple?" She asked shoving the collars on my face, I pushed it away gently and examined it
"Orange might suit her." I commented
"I thought so!" She returned every collar back except for the orange one swiftly and dashed to the counter to pay.
I waited for her outside which took her really long,she suddenly bursted out of the door carrying four bags, full of a lot of stuffs.
"Sorry, I'm late! I saw this cute fluffy orange bed for her, and along with these cat toys, then cat nips so I had to buy it." She explained while smiling very wide
"That's good, but isn't that too much? You might run out of money."
"Naah!" I carried three of her bags as we walked to her house
When we arrived, she unlocked the door with Kira jumping on her the moment she saw her
"Woah, woah, calm down little lady. I bought you some things." She said and raised her plastic bag that contained the cat's cat food.
They cuddled for a minute and I bid goodbye
While walking, I heard a loud thump of foot steps
"Len!" I jerked my head to see Rin running
"I bought you this!" She showed me a banana stuff toy that's just the size of my hand.
"I saw it while browsing the stop earlier." I took it and stared at it
"Well, goodnight then!" She ran back her house and I continued walking
While walking, I smirked and held the stuff toy near my face
"This is nice. I haven't thanked her though."