Chapter 26

Falling to his knees, Itsuki let his tears flow down his cheeks. Reaching out to the headstone with his little sister's name written on it, Itsuki let out all of his emotions, crying loudly as he clenched his fists. Punching the ground again and again, Itsuki wished it was him who was buried. It should have been him. Why was he the one to continue living with the guilt of knowing he was the reason his little sister was in the ground.

"This wasn't your fault." A woman's voice said softly.

Looking up, Itsuki's mother was talking to Kyto, standing beside him. Tear streaks stained her face as she joined him in looking at the headstone.

Kyto remained silent.

Looking at his younger self, Itsuki could see the healing wounds on his face and neck whilst his arm was rested in a sling.

"Don't blame yourself, Kyto." His mother told him, gently grabbing his arm. "I know you blame yourself, but this was not on you."

Kyto only stared on, his eyes emotionless and dead looking. Every bit of life that was in him was drained.

"She never should have been with me." Kyto said, ignoring his mother's words. "I... I should have told her no."

"You know this isn't your fault."

With those words, the vision of himself and his mother began to fade.

Again, Itsuki was visibly confused, looking back to see Satella slowly approach him.

"None of this is right." Itsuki told her.

"It is." Satella said as Itsuki rose to his feet.

"I remember what she told me clear as day." Itsuki replied. "She said exactly what Iina said. That it was my fault and that I was right to blame myself. This was the day I was disowned by everyone in my family."

"None of that was ever said." Satella told Itsuki.

"What?"

"After what had happened, I believe you wanted to push people away. You wanted everyone to hate you." Satella began. "Even though everyone was comforting you and going through what you were, you wanted to be hated, to be blamed for what happened. And so your mind altered your memories and-"

"Enough!" Ituski shouted. "I don't believe a word of this! Stop acting like you fuckin' know me! I know what was said!"

"You don't." Satella replied. "You're still angry. You haven't moved on."

Itsuki clenched his fists as he tensed before suddenly letting his body relax, his gaze falling to the ground.

"How... can I move on..?"

"By starting here." Satella said, gesturing to the next door.

With a sigh, Itsuki walked through the door.

As soon as he stepped through, Itsuki regretted it.

"Happy birthday, man!" His eldest brother, Soma, said whilst patting his back.

"Happy birthday!" His older sister, Jinn said, smiling brightly.

"Finally seventeen, bro!" His older brother, Ren, grinned.

"Happy birthday!" Ellie cheered.

Surrounded by his siblings, mother and father, Kyto couldn't help but smile.

"Make a wish!" Kyto's mother said, gesturing to the cake that had seventeen candles.

With a smile, Kyto blew out the candles.

"No..." Itsuki said softly, knowing all too well what came next. "I don't want to see this!"

The memory suddenly skipped, putting Itsuki outside of his childhood home while Kyto was led out of the house with a blindfold around his eyes.

"Ready?" His mom asked.

"Yeah!"

Pulling off the blindfold, Kyto stared in shock at a brand new four door car. Looking back at his parents, Kyto was at a loss for words.

"I- it's- this is-"

His father walked over and handed Kyto a set of keys.

"Wanna take it for a spin?"

"More than anything!" Kyto replied.

"Can I come with?" Ellie suddenly asked, moving to the front of the steps.

Kyto looked back at his parents for confirmation.

"I don't see why not." Their mother replied.

"No!" Itsuki shouted. "Please! Say no!"

No matter how much he screamed, he already knew the outcome.

"Yaaay!" Ellie cheered before hopping towards the car and climbing into the passenger seat.

With a chuckle, Kyto followed and took his spot behind the wheel.

Turning on the ignition, Itsuki was suddenly moved into the backseat, watching as his younger self pulled out of the driveway.

"You excited?" Kyto asked Ellie.

"Mhm!" Ellie nodded. "Let's go!"

"No!" Itsuki shouted. "Damnit! No!"

Driving down the road and away from their house, Itsuki could only watch on in horror.

Driving around for about thirty minutes, Ellie was getting visibly tired.

"Ready to head home?" Kyto asked, looking to his younger sister.

Ellie yawned as she nodded her head. Closing her eyes, and resting her head against the door, Kyto smirked.

Looking back to the road, Kyto was going through a four way intersection when a car came speeding towards him, slamming into the back of the passenger's side and rolling the car onto its roof.

It all happened too fast for Kyto to realize what had happened.

Dazed, Kyto's eyes slowly opened and closed a few times before staying closed.

Coming to to the sounds of sirens and men speaking, Kyto was lying beside his car on a gurney. Upon waking up, Kyto saw his car had flipped over but the other car was nowhere to be seen.

"What... happened?" Kyto asked.

"Don't move." One of the paramedics told him.

"Where's Ellie..?" Kyto struggled to sit up.

"Sir, please, try to hold still."

"Where is my sister?!" Kyto growled, trying to sit up.

"Sir, we-"

"Where the hell is Ellie?!" Kyto shouted

"Sir, you must-"

Looking passed the paramedics, Kyto saw them pushing another gurney. A figure lay on it but Kyto couldn't see who it was, a black tarp covering their entire body.

"How is she?!" Kyto shouted, desperate for an answer. "Is she okay?!"

"Sir-"

"Is she okay?!"

Watching the whole thing with tears endlessly flowing down his face, Itsuki looked away. Just as he had, the scene changed to inside the white room of a hospital.

Laying on the hospital bed, hooked up to a few machines, Kyto lay with bandages around his face and neck, his left arm in a sling.

Hearing the door open, Kyto looked over to see his mother walk into the room. She looked horrible. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and her face looked lifeless.

Before she could say a word, Kyto quickly spoke.

"Please tell me Ellie's okay." Kyto begged.

His mother replied by looking to the ground.

"Mom?" Kyto called out to her. "Please! Tell me she's alive! Tell me she's recovering!" Again, he was met with silence. "Tell me she's doing great and that she'll be out of here before I am!" His mom remained silent. "Please!" Kyto began crying. "Tell me I didn't kill my sister!"

His mom looked Kyto in the eyes, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"The impact made it painless." She finally spoke, her voice breaking.

Processing her words, Kyto laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

"No!"

"The doctors and surgeons did all they could, but-"

"NO!"

Kyto began crying uncontrollably at this point. Covering his eyes with his arms, Kyto felt his heart break in two.

"You didn't... kill Ellie..." his mom said between sobs as she walked over to her son.

Kyto didn't listen as he cried harder than he ever had before.

"This is all my... my fault!"

Kyto's mom didn't know what to say.

Soon, the memory faded, leaving Itsuki with a pit in his stomach. Falling to his knees, Itsuki cried.

"You couldn't have known what would happen." Ellie's voice spoke.

"Huh?" Itsuki looked up, seeing his little sister, now about as old as him, standing a few feet away. Her blonde hair and grey eyes made it easy for him to recognize her.

"I never blamed you for what happened, big bro." Ellie said as she walked over and knelt in front of him, gently taking his hand into her own. "You were always kind, and sweet. You gave me plenty of good memories."

Itsuki was too stunned to speak.

He didn't know how he was talking with her like this, but he was more than okay with not knowing that part.

"Life is always unfair." Ellie continued. "But don't blame yourself for what happened. I never did." She gave one of her adorable smiles. The ones she would give him when he made her happy. "Live on, big bro. If there's anyone who can figure this out, I know it's you. Along with that airhead you got with you."

Itsuki wiped his eyes as he got to his feet.

"I gotta go, but I'll be checking in every now and then." Ellie added. "Making sure you aren't getting into too much trouble."

Itsuki smiled.

Smiling back, Ellie suddenly closed the gap between them, hugging Itsuki tight.

"I really like your new name, by the way." Ellie added. "Itsuki. Has a nice ring to it."

Itsuki smiled.

"Thanks."

Pulling away, Ellie smiled once more before turning around and walking away.

"Goodbye." The two said in unison.

Smiling at one another, Ellie said one last word before vanishing.

"Jinx."

Once she was gone, another door appeared before Itsuki.

"This is it." Satella said, appearing next to him.

Itsuki wiped his eyes one final time.

"You saw everything?" He asked.

"I did." Satella nodded.

"Hm." Itsuki couldn't help but smile brightly. "Let's move on. I think I'm ready for the next one."

Approaching the door, Itsuki wrapped his hand around the doorknob and slowly turned it. On the other side however, Itsuki found himself to be staring at a rather familiar ceiling in an all too familiar room.

Pushing himself up, Itsuki took a look around.

Moving his feet off the bed, Itsuki stood up and walked to the door. Opening it, he was shocked to realize he was back in the Roswaal mansion.

"I'm... awake..!"

Looking around, sun shone in through the windows and birds chirped outside.

Wandering the halls, Itsuki still held the smile he wore when talking with his sister. But his thoughts were interrupted when a familiar voice shouted.

"Ki-ki!"

Looking back, Petra, sporting a maid uniform, ran up to Itsuki.

"You're awake!" Petra said. "When did you get up?! Rem-rem said you'd be asleep for a really long time but you weren't!"

Itsuki smiled.

"I just woke up." Itsuki replied. "Speaking of Rem, have you seen her?"

"Mhm!" Petra nodded. "She's in the kitchen helping Frederica with lunch!"

Grabbing his hand, Itsuki let Petra lead him downstairs and to the kitchen.

Walking through the doorway, Petra spotted Rem.

"Rem-rem, look who's awake!" Petra said while gesturing to Itsuki.

Upon seeing Itsuki, Rem dropped the pans she was holding, sending them clattering across the floor.

"Itsuki?" Rem raised her hands to her lips.

Itsuki smiled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Hey, Rem."

Rem immediately rushed over and wrapped her arms around Itsuki in a tight embrace.

"I'm so sorry! It was all my fault!"

"I'd prefer to hear something else upon waking." Itsuki told her as he returned the hug. "It wasn't your fault, Rem."

Their time was cut short, however, as a new voice spoke.

"I hope I'm not interrupting."

Recognizing the voice, Itsuki spun around to see Elsa standing in the doorway, her blade pressing against Petra's throat as she held the small girl hostage.

End of chapter 26