"You never should have been born," a voice sobbed from inside a dark room. Her weeping voice echoed off the walls. "Oh God, it was a mistake. A mistake. I wish I could take it back. You never should have existed."

The sound of a ceramic cup being placed on the ground. "I know, Mother."

"Don't say that, don't say that. Don't call me that. Oh God! I've made such a mistake!"

"Mother, please drink something. You haven't drank anything since yesterday."

"I said don't call me that, you wretched thing - and don't touch me!"

Some quick footsteps. "I didn't touch you," the second voice promised. "I didn't. Please drink something."

The woman's voice came out in exasperated gasps. "You're going to poison me," she choked. "I know you are. Because I say such awful things to you. You would love to have me dead, wouldn't you, you little monster?"

The second voice sounded strained. "I wouldn't."

"I know." There was a brief moment of silence. "Maybe that's just what I was hoping."

The silence stretched out a little longer. "I'm going out," the second voice said, almost too quiet to hear. "Please drink something while I'm gone. It will calm you down."

"Oh, don't leave! I'm terrified of what will happen if you leave." She started sobbing again. "He'll come get me. He'll come get me again. I don't want him to. Not again."

There was a pause in which only the woman's weeping could be heard. "I'll stay," the second voice mumbled. "If you drink a little."

"You'll poison me."

"I was with you the entire time. You didn't see me put anything in it."

"I wasn't looking at you," she said contemptuously. "I feel sick when I look at you. You never should have been born."

Another pause. "I know."

"Oh, God. I'll drink if you promise it will kill me."

"I can't promise that. I didn't poison it."

She sighed shakily. "I know. You're too cruel to take pity on me like that."

"…"

After Christa had calmed down, Subaru departed from her as quietly as possible to avoid setting her off again. He wasn't far from the tower when he saw Shu, who was sitting on the gazebo with a book and a plate of pastries. Subaru was going to walk right past him and find a place where he could be alone, but since Shu wasn't dreadfully interested in that book, he noticed Subaru and called him over.

Subaru joined him under the gazebo, and Shu smiled at him and held out one of the pastries. "Do you want one? I got enough for two people, but Reiji said he didn't want any." Internally, Shu didn't think it was that funny, but he laughed so as not to worry Subaru.

Subaru shook his head. He wanted to cry really badly and it was hard to hold back.

"Do you like sweet things?"

To avoid dragging on the conversation for any longer, Subaru responded with a noncommittal shrug. He didn't really know anyway. He never had sweet stuff.

"Want to try just one bite?"

It did look pretty tempting. Subaru cautiously reached out and took the pastry from him. He stared at it for a while, but he couldn't see it correctly because his eyes were watering. He took a bite. He was immediately overwhelmed by how sweet it was, and it was filled with jam from some fruit he had never tasted before. It was warm, too, and Subaru thought that it felt really nice. Before he could even swallow that bite, hot tears rolled down his cheeks. He shuddered and started to cry quietly.

Shu wasn't all that surprised, since it had been obvious to him that Subaru was about to cry the whole time. His smile softened and he ruffled Subaru's hair. "Is it good?"

"Yeah," he sobbed through the mouthful of bread.

Shu got off his chair and sat on the ground next to it instead. He patted the spot next to him to invite Subaru to sit next to him. Subaru obliged, wiping the tears off his face with his sleeve. They both sat with their backs against the chair for a while, making no noise aside from Subaru's sniffling.

"Hey, Subaru, want to hear a joke?"

Subaru looked at him curiously. Fresh tears kept spilling down his face no matter how many times he wiped them away.

"Okay, get ready. Why doesn't bread like warm weather?"

Subaru stared expectantly.

"Things get toasty!" Shu grinned.

Subaru paused for a second, not understanding at first. When he did get it, he laughed out loud through the tears. In fact, laughing suddenly only made him cry harder, but at least now he was smiling. His smile was crooked. This was the first time Shu had seen his peculiar smile. Between giggles, Subaru looked down at the half-eaten pastry in his hands, and then he held it up to show to Shu.

"It doesn't like warm weather?"

"Nope. It likes cloudy days, I guess."

"Then why do you cook it in an oven?"

Shu laughed. "You got me! But dough wouldn't taste as good as bread. So it's all right if we bake it." Subaru nodded in agreement and the two continued eating together.

xxx

Despite the doubts of the Sakamaki boys, Christa gave birth to another child. A girl. Laito would have been stunned if he had heard.

Shu had received the news from his father but it had been too much of a bother to tell anyone. Subaru, due to his frequent trips to visit his mother, was able to find out on his own. He even got to see the baby, though only for a brief moment and he wouldn't get close enough to get a good look. He didn't tell anybody either, at first. So nobody knew why Subaru was so upset. He had gone nonverbal and shut himself away.

But of course Subaru couldn't avoid speaking to everyone forever, even though he would have liked to. The matter was weighing too heavily on his mind and he had to tell someone. He decided on Shu, because Shu wouldn't make a big deal out of it.

"Shu?" Subaru's voice cracked because he hadn't used it in so long.

Shu was on the couch as always. If it were anyone else then he might just go on pretending to sleep, but Subaru only ever came to him if something was very wrong. So he opened his eyes. "What is it…? I'm tired…"

Subaru looked emotionally drained. He struggled to figure out where to begin, and Shu yawned as he waited. Finally, he said, "Our sister."

"What about her?"

"We have one," he said cautiously.

"I already know that. That man told me."

Subaru felt awfully stupid, and that made him angry. "Does everybody know?"

Shu raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. "Oh, yeah, I forgot…"

"Forgot what?" He was having trouble raising his voice.

"I was supposed to tell them. Oh well." Shu concluded his thought and settled back down, yawning once more. "You can do it if you want."

"Hah? That's your job, isn't it?"

Shu stared at him seriously. "Listen, Subaru. Right now, this is something that only you and I know." Subaru stiffened a bit. He hadn't realized that. It made him feel somewhat powerful. "The rest of them are totally ignorant. They have no clue," Shu corrected himself. It was better to use simpler words with Subaru.

"Y-Yeah…"

"And you're the only one that can tell them. Because you know and they don't."

That was, admittedly, a pleasing idea. There was almost never a time in which Subaru knew more than everybody else. "I'll go tell them," he said finally.

"Good." Shu shut his eyes again, and Subaru hurried off to find Reiji.

When he found him organizing papers into different folders in his room, Subaru stood in the doorway and glowered at him until he was noticed. Reiji looked up and stared back, taking notice of how empty his face looked. "What is it?"

Subaru spoke slowly. "We-" He stopped himself. "I have a sister."

Reiji stared thoughtfully at him. "You're sleepwalking," he decided, going back to putting papers in folders.

"What?"

"You came into my room looking half dead and speaking nonsense. You're sleepwalking. Ayato and Kanato do it all the time. It's genetic."

Subaru looked confused. "I'm awake!" he insisted. "And I really do have a sister. Shu was supposed to tell you."

"Go back to bed."

He was starting to get angry. "I swear! She's - She's really small, and my mother won't let her go. She hardly has any hair yet. And she doesn't cry much."

Reiji observed him for a moment. Subaru seemed awake, but he still had to doubt that their father would have another child without telling him. "How did you find out?"

"My mother wrote me a letter. And I went to visit her and I got to see-" His eyes lit up suddenly. "That's it! I have proof! Wait here!" He dashed off to retrieve the letter. Reiji followed at a slower pace, curious.

The letter was easy to find because Subaru's room was pretty barren and there weren't too many places for him to put his belongings. The letter read as follows:

My dearest son,

I hope that my past messages have reached you, because I am afraid I did not receive a reply.

I have given birth to a healthy daughter since you have last visited me. I have named her Ruri. She is very strong. The nurses let me hold her very soon after her birth, and they kept my abode very clean for her. I am sorry to say that they did not do the same for you, but I am glad they are doing it now. When you were born, they would not let me hold you for days, because you were such a delicate baby. (Subaru cringed when Reiji read that part aloud.) Ruri very much has a similar face to yours. I cann-t wait for you to see h-r. I hope y- com- visit so-n to s- y-r baby s-st-. I know you w-l get alo-. I d- wa- y-u to -sit us a-ain.

Y- m-.

The last few lines were completely illegible. Subaru could read them without a problem, but Reiji couldn't even read the signature. Subaru already looked terribly ashamed, so Reiji didn't make any comment on it for his sake.

"A daughter…" He mumbled pensively, looking over the wild and sporadic marks of the pen in the last lines.

"I wasn't sleepwalking," Subaru insisted again, snatching the letter back.

"I'm going to tell the others. And give that good-for-nothing a piece of mind for not telling me right away." Reiji marched out with the prideful stature that he showed whenever someone was in trouble. He appeared deep in thought at the same time.

Subaru looked at the letter again, holding it very carefully so as not to damage it. He gazed for a long time at the parts Reiji couldn't read. He felt immensely ashamed. He wished that he had forgotten about the letter, so Reiji wouldn't have had to read it. That was torturous. His eyes stuck on the word "Ruri," which was written with particular care. Then he shoved the letter back in the drawer he had retrieved it from and tried to forget about it.