บท 2: Prelude II
Prelude II — Accursed Fate II
From an early age. Kurumi had always been a kind-hearted young girl.
I know that better than anyone.
We were born into a wealthy family, unrestricted by the typical boundaries others faced.
Our parents never imposed suffocating rules on us, which left us free to pursue our interests.
And I knew…
Whenever she stared at the television, listening to reports about people facing hardships….
She'd look sad, as if their problem was hers.
Naturally most of this—the root of this—stems from the Eurasia disaster caused by that woman.
But… it was thanks to this empathy that wrought deep into her heart, and that's why…
[Breaking News]
[Border Conflict Worsens: "It's like hell…"]
["Civil War Displaces 20,000 refugees"]
[Their town destroyed by civil war, 20,000 refugees have fled to camp.]
[In these unsanitary camps, disease runs rampant.]
Kurumi stopped abruptly in front of a shop window, her gaze locked on the news playing on a showcase TV.
Naturally, both Sawa and I halted as well, glancing at her.
"..."
Me and Sawa both looked at each other for a brief moment before I then looked back at Kurumi.
I sighed.
"Haah. You really can't help it, huh?"
"Eh?"
Kurumi blinked, turning to face me with a mixture of surprise and guilt.
Her reaction made me sigh again, a small smile tugging at my lips.
It wasn't that I disapproved of her compassion—far from it.
I was proud of her, but—
"I've always told you—"
"I know… Brother has always told me that: "it's not possible for even an Omnipotent God to help everybody"—"
She cut me off. And yeah.
That's true, I've always been pragmatic about things like this.
"But weren't you the one who also said: "as long as we have the power to, we should help those in need"?"
Kurumi said as she tightened her lips, her hand on her chest so.
Huh? Did I ever sounded that philosophical?
I supposed I have, considering I had a father who also spoke of such views to me.
But to think… This girl, from a young age, has held my words to heart.
—Technically, I learnt that from father and passed it to her, but eh, it works—
Anyways…. it's because of this I dread the future.
Mio would come to take advantage of her sense of justice.
"Haah. I'm happy you hold my words so dearly, little sis."
I said so, stepping forward and placing a hand on her head, pulling her closer into a loose embrace.
Her soft hair brushed against my chin as I continued.
"But don't worry. The government wouldn't ignore their plight so easily."
"Though 20,000 may seem much, there are many ways the current government could help them."
…. Honestly. I wasn't sure.
Heck, deep down, I could go as far as say, there's little hope for them.
Afterall, I doubt the government would just accept 20,000 freeloaders just like that.
Say I'm cruel, but that's what I think…
Think about the situation of this world for a moment.
Government, though rarely active, pays attention to the spacequakes happening around.
I find it hard to believe DEM in a way isn't receiving funds from even the government.
Let's be real, the AST's teams deals with the spacequakes and rebuild the city while people are hidden in bunkers.
As the only people who can handle such a situation, it's hard to believe the government, to some extent, isn't aware of this.
But then again, we're currently in the year where Spirits are more than rampant around the world.
And of course, this is all thanks to that woman and her obsession.
But for her sake, I kept my doubts hidden.
"Thank you, Brother."
Kurumi says so as she nestled against me.
Beside us, Sawa let out an exaggerated sigh, her hands resting on her hips.
"Mou~ You two are always like this, huh? Always leaving me out and getting lost in your own little world!"
Sawa said so in attempts to lighten the mood, but—
Her pout was so comical that I couldn't help but chuckle under my breath.
Kurumi smiled as well, stepping away from me.
"My, my, Sawa-san, jealous, are we?"
"The fact that you're not denying it, Kurumi-san."
"Eh? Denying what?"
Sawa gave her a shaky smile before shaking her head with mock resignation.
"Don't worry, Kurumi-san. I won't judge. I always knew you had a brother complex though."
She said that in a suggestive way that made me look away.
Talks like these had a way of steering into territory I'd rather avoid, especially when it involved them teasing me.
"Ah, look, Ikari-san is pretending not to hear us again."
"Oh my, sometimes, Bother can really become a coward, can't he?"
Really, one could go as far as say, I'm an open book to these two, as expected of the closest people to me.
… We continued our way with me at their back.
I glanced at them and surely—
"If it would work, then…"
A thought crossed my mind, but soon faded as I heard from a playground we were passing by.
"Come down!"
"Meow~!"
We heard such a noise coming from the playgrounds.
"That is—"
"Let's go see, Kurumi-san."
Sawa and Kurumi launched off to a young girl standing beneath a tree, pleading with her cat to come down.
But the little thing was too scared of heights.
"Aiya. He looks scared, maybe if we give it a hand—"
Sawa had already said that, but I interrupted by handing my bag I slugged over my shoulder to Kurumi.
"Eh? Brother?"
I didn't respond, shrugging off my blazer and passing it to Sawa.
"W-what are you doing Ikari-san!?"
Sawa panicked too as I looked at both of them who in turn were looking at me oddly.
"Uhh–is it strange I want to help that cat down?"
"Oh… so that's it?"
"What do you mean, 'so that's it?' And Kurumi, why do you look disappointed?"
Both of them averted their gazes, trying to feign innocence.
Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to the tree.
While I wasn't good at cooking foods like Kurumi can since, it took a lot of convincing to let them accept this.
I had attended a lot of schools, as per some tradition male-heir to the corporate business.
And by school, I mean, fighting schools like Gymnastics, Judo, Aikido, and a lot of other incorporated schools.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
I had ran back to build momentum, and with a short burst, I ran towards the trunk and planted my feet on the trunk.
Using that as a springboard, I then jumped toward the branch.
It was strong enough to hold me so I held on to it and managed to hurl myself up.
"Meow~"
"It's okay now, come here."
I coaxed the kitten gently, and after a moment of hesitation, it scurried toward me, its claws gripping onto my shirt.
"Ikari-san…"
"Brother…"
The girl whose cat had hung on the tree looked surpised, more so, Sawa, who practically had her eyes wide opened.
Even Kurumi looked surprised.
Now that I think about it, it's been quite sometime since I stopped going to the training, and that was after entering senior highschool.
Looks like my body still has the hang of things.
"Hold on tight, little one."
I patted the small cat, as I jumped down from the branch, landing perfectly on the ground.
Thud!
"Ouch."
I winced a little, but stood up and gave the girl her cat who nodded repeatedly.
"Onii-san, thank you very much, thank you."
"Ah, don't worry about it."
I gave the girl a smile who then cuddles her cat.
"And you, no climbing of trees anymore, you'll scare your owner."
I didn't think much of it as I said those words, but as if it could understand me:
"Meow~!"
It meowed, which took me by surprise.
"I see the little one understands me. Anyways, it's getting late, you should be heading home."
It was a little past 5 afterall, the sky was already orange and all.
"A-ahh, that's right. Thank you once again, onii-san."
As I waved the little girl off, I then turned towards the two.
"Nee. Kurumi-san, did you ever know Ikari-san was that cool?"
"N-no, this is the first I've seen him like this."
"Eeh? So you're telling me you didn't know?"
"I knew he always went for lessons, but I didn't know it was those lessons."
The two turned their back at me, cuddling together as they talked about me.
Naturally, both didn't bother to hide their voices, which sometimes, I find surprising.
Well, we've known each other for sometime now.
"You two, you do know I'm here, right?"
With a raised eyebrow, I said such.
Then, both of them turned to me with wide smiles, their innocent expressions anything but convincing.
"Whatever could you be talking about Brother?"
"You know, things don't work like that?"
"By that, what do you mean, Ikari-san…?"
I see, these little girls… my lips couldn't help but twitch, but they soon turned into a smile.
"Hmph. Well, thanks for helping me with my loads then."
I said with a wave, turning, and leaving the pack, as I heard their slightly panicked voice from the back.
"E–eh?"
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