Chapter 15c: Cloud Eight
The alarm is ringing, but I wake up with a smile.
Better said, I wake up with a smile still.
I shouldn't, because I am still failing as a brother.
But what Marc told me is so much better than what I anticipated when I entered that room back then.
When you expect to die, but you only lose an arm, you are happy to have lost that arm to save your life.
It is that sort of smile; I feel just so calm inside. It seems that therapist does know what he is talking about to some degree.
There is still life, according to him. Setsuka doesn't hate me; it is her foster parents that dislike me.
As much as I want to hate them, I feel that just maybe they are a better place for Setsuka to be than I've been thinking. The prideful argument would be that my presence is what is best for her, but I have ruined her life just as much as he has.
The smile finally disappears off my features. To compare myself with him... the apple does not fall far from the tree, does it?
It is time to 'fess up.
I am pathetic. A toxic existence. Even to Setsuka.
And that is why I will fight.
I will become a better person. Someone she can be proud of.
I will finish my therapy.
And I will meet her again.
As if to reinforce my thoughts with actions, I almost literally jump up out of bed in a manner not any inferior to a random cartoon character. From flat to standing in one second flat.
No more laziness. I owe that girl so much.
But... shower first, then breakfast. Or my fighting coach is going to chew me out for passing out again...
I don't need anymore 'fails' added after my name.
From now on, I will 'pass'. And I will graduate.
Wait for me, Setsuka. One last time. Please.