Sakamaki Sister

She runs off somewhere with teary eyes and an almost shattered heart. She disliked that sight, but she can't help it; something was making her stay to listen to them argue, maybe it's a sign for future situations? Or maybe it's just to make her feel down?

While running, Aria bumps into someone, resulting to both of them toppling down. The first thing that she notices is a stuffed bear – none other than Teddy – falling close to her. Her eyes shift to the person in front of her, and of course, Kanato is there; looking irritated.

"Be careful! Y- Sister? Why are you… crying?" his tone of voice suddenly turns dark and threatening, "Who made you cry?".

"A-ah, it's um… n-nothing, it's alright, I'm fine" the sobbing between her words doesn't convince him one bit.

"I asked you a question. Answer me!" she flinches at the loud volume of his voice.

Impatiently waiting for her to answer, he pulls her arm and drags her to the wax doll room.

Confused, she wants to ask him why, but is cut off by him.

"If it bothers you that much to answer now, then stay here until you can answer me" he states before walking towards a mannequin wearing a plain white dress.

He then moves it behind a thick, black curtain; not letting her look at his work. Asking what it is will no doubt result to him getting eve more annoyed, but it makes her wonder about his next work.

Leaving the matter for now, Aria walks around the very large yet dimly lit room. She sees a mannequin that's wearing the dress that he made for her not too long ago. It makes her feel a bit better at how pretty the dress is; shame that she's not confident enough to wear it. She looks around the room some more, and she feels even better each time she sees a dress that catches her fancy. She adores dresses, let it be for weddings or funerals and anything in between, but she doesn't fancy wearing them for certain reasons.

Continuing her walk farther away from Kanato and his new work, she notices that all of the wax dolls are wearing wedding dresses. The designs are far simpler, though – in comparison to the dress that Kanato made for her. And also, her special dress is the only one that's dark in color. The term bride fits all of the dolls perfectly, so she wonders if the dresses are preparation for someone's wedding or something of the sort.

After some time, Kanato appears again from behind the curtain and sees that his sister is wandering about his collection. From the look in her eyes, he's certain that she has a lot of interest in dresses.

"Do you like them, Sister?" he asks while stepping closer to her.

With a nod, she doesn't really focus on his question. Though, she still answers "I really like them".

With a small smile, Kanato watches his sister smile happily at each of the dresses that he made; while also looking for some inspiration from his already finished ones. He notices that she's crying no more, and that somehow makes him feel a bit lighter. He wonders about the feeling, but another thing is more important right now.

"Sister, what happened back then? Why were you crying" he asks casually, minding not too much if the memory ruins her mood.

"Oh… Subaru and Raito were having an argument… about me. And I guess it got carried away at some point…" her voice grows quiet.

"Is that how it is? You're not lying, are you? Why would you let your filthy tears fall for the likes of them?" his voice grows darker with every question he throws at her.

Silently, she nods to his questions, followed by her answering with a quiet voice. "I can never lie to you and the others. And I… can't help but feel like that whenever any of you argue".

Reminding himself that Aria completely knows nothing about what he and the others experienced as kids, he doesn't bring up the subject any further so that he won't see her filthy tears again. It's most likely of how their mothers treated them when they were young, but she spend almost half her life in the hospital; she lived in a different environment, but the wounds she experienced are more physically, rather than mentally. There's a large gap in between.

"Brother, if I may ask. What were you making behind the curtain?" she asks him a little too bluntly.

"I can't tell you, you'll have to wait until it's time" he answers blankly.

"When will that be?"

"That depends on you" his gaze shifts sideways.

"… What does that mean?"

Getting a bit irritated of her questions, he answers her with a tone following his mood. "Think of it yourself. You're not stupid, right? So stop being an idiot and stop asking me questions".

His words results to a sharp piercing feel in her heart. But all she can do to not make him say anything else is to look down and apologize. Not really the answer that she's hoping for, but what else can she do now? Beside her, Kanato looks at her blankly as if not caring of how he made her feel. However, that changes when he sees the look in her eyes, and it's not that he feels guilty, it's something else; something unusual for siblings to feel.

"You poor thing, did I scare you?" he moves closer to her and holds her tightly.

Surprised, she flinches at his touch, but still remains calm so he can do what he pleases.

"I told you that I'll protect you, didn't I, Sister? Or have you forgotten already?" his voice suddenly sounds so mellow.

"I… um…" she loses her words.

"Sister is very forgetful isn't she?" a soft chuckle follows his words.

After a while, Aria leaves the room to go to bed. Kanato – who, of course, is still wide awake – decides to resume his delayed work.

"Sister will look very cute in this" he mumbles to himself as he continues the wedding dress.