Give Me Back My Brother
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To the Reviewers: Thanks for reviewing! And please read and review my fic about the Kiryu twins called "Why Do You Kill?" and I'll write some more chapters for that.
Chapter Five: Awareness
It's been nearly a year since Mutsuki disappeared, and I still think of him everyday. I think of the gravestone and start crying, but when Itsuki asks me what's wrong, I don't tell him. Everyone seems happy again-I can't talk about Mutsuki anymore…
Chitose shut her crimson-colored diary and hid it in one of the many closets she hid in. She looked down at the red chord with bells attached to it that was tied around her small, pale wrist. The cord was looped through a key-the key to Itsuki's room, which he had asked her to give to his friend. She had seen her brother's friend and tried to work up the courage to give him the key, but only ended up running and hiding like always.
Her parents had told her that Itsuki would not be back until the strangers who were visiting the village were gone. She sensed there was more to it than what they were telling her, but knew asking would get her nowhere. Lately, she had been noticing a lot of things that worried her.
There was less food on the table these days and a lot more earthquakes. Just like one year ago, people had nervous, sad looks on their faces all the time, and there were crimson butterflies fluttering outside the window. Itsuki had been acting odd too-spending hours locked away in his room. The Kurosawa twins-Sae and Yae-were visiting a lot more often. And every time, the little girl could swear she overheard them talking to Itsuki about a "ritual". Chitose was terrified that now he was going to leave her, just like Mutsuki had a year ago.
Even weirder, whenever they came over, Sae was always looking at Itsuki so strangely. She always seemed like she wanted to say something to him, but never did. Chitose also noticed her face would get red at these times, so one day she asked: "Miss Sae, are you feeling sick?"
The older girl had seemed surprised and asked what made her think that. Chitose had responded that her face got red whenever she saw Itsuki, which made her get even redder and Itsuki too. Yae just laughed until tears came from her eyes.
Chitose felt certain then that something odd was indeed going on in the village, especially with her brother and his friends. She just hoped it wasn't contagious…