[The new year began.]
[You took the national entrance exam.]
[Because you hadn't studied properly in the past half year, you only got into a not-so-good university.]
[You didn't care. Your heart was fully devoted to the band now!]
[Compared to graduating normally and working in a company where you could see the end of your life from day one, you preferred to chase the distant, uncertain dream.]
[But one thing lingered in your mind these days...]
[Toru had reached school age, but could not enroll.]
[You, newly an adult, could not adopt him, and could not give him a household registry.]
[Life without a registry was hard. Not being able to attend school was only a small part of it.]
[You knew that at this rate, the child would be ruined in your hands.]
[He couldn't learn and play like other children, trapped in a tiny 60-square-meter apartment. His future was pitch-black.]
[Perhaps sensing your worry, Toru comforted you, saying he didn't need to go to school.]
[That only made your guilt worse.]
[You decided: ]
[1. Continue your Genji Plan.]
[2. Ask your parents for help.]
[3. Send him to a welfare home so he can receive basic education.]
Seika read through the options one by one.
Continuing to raise him alone was unrealistic, she would ruin him.
Sending him to a welfare home… then the past months of effort would be wasted.
And Toru himself did not want to go.
After thinking it through, only the second option made sense.
[For the sake of this young child, you put aside your rebellious teenage attitude and chose to tell your parents the truth.]
[On a spring day...]
[You brought Toru back home.]
[The first to spot you was your sister, Ijichi Nijika.]
[When she learned the boy's name was Toru, Nijika was overjoyed.]
Overjoyed?
Why?
Seika couldn't understand her younger sister's logic.
[Your mother learned second.]
[She stared at Toru in disbelief.]
[Dozens of scenarios flashed through her mind. In the end, her eyes filled with tears as she hugged you, comforting you softly.]
["It's okay, Seika. We'll help you raise him."]
[You sighed and pushed her away.]
["Mom, he's not my child."]
["Really?"]
["Really!"]
[Soon…]
[You explained the events of that winter night months ago.]
[After hearing your explanation—]
[Your mother looked at Toru with newfound gentleness.]
[Then you shared the difficulties you'd been facing.]
[Hearing everything, your mother said she and your father would find a way.]
[Only then did you relax.]
[A few days later, your father told you he had a female friend who was child-free by choice but met the requirements to adopt Toru.]
[But she didn't want to raise the child herself. She only agreed to have him registered under her household.]
[So Toru might end up living with the Ijichi family.]
[To your father, this was no issue: "We don't lack chopsticks. One more kid is nothing."]
[A few days later~]
[Toru's paperwork was completed.]
[After this...]
[Toru officially became your younger brother.]
…
[Time flew.]
[Soon the semester began.]
[Since your university wasn't far from home, you didn't move out.]
[During this time.]
[Your band work grew busier, and you became more and more distant from your siblings.]
[Seeing you absorbed in chasing dreams, your mother repeatedly asked you to care more about Nijika's feelings, but you quietly ignored her every time.]
[After several cycles of this.]
[Your mother's nagging made your dissatisfaction pile up.]
[You were like a dormant volcano, accumulating pressure that could erupt at any moment.]
Seika felt the plot going in a bad direction.
Sure enough...
[Finally...]
[At the start of your second university semester, your volcano erupted. You abandoned your family and moved out alone.]
[As you left.]
[Your younger sister Nijika watched you with reluctant, tearful eyes. She didn't want you to go.]
[Your brother Toru tried to follow, but you met him with a cold stare. He opened his mouth… but couldn't say anything to stop you.]
[In the following half year...]
[You rented a room near your university and lived freely on income from your band and part-time work.]
[Your mother called you every day, but you never answered.]
[That year, your band rose rapidly.]
[That year, at nineteen, you were unstoppable.]
…
[Two days before Christmas.]
[After finishing a live show, you returned to your rented room.]
[Because you were terrible at housework, your private life was sloppy frozen meals, convenience store bentos. Aside from your pretty face, you did not resemble a glamorous girl at all.]
[Lying on your bed, you stared at the ceiling.]
[Life like this is so good.]
[No mother nagging, so good.]
[Your dream shimmering so close, so good.]
[As you were thinking that, you suddenly felt a headache.]
[Winter was flu season; many around you had already caught it.]
[You did not expect to be so unlucky yourself.]
[Soon, a fever hit.]
[Careless as you were, you had barely any medicine on hand. The cold medicine you had was useless against the flu.]
[Going out now to buy medicine wasn't realistic. You considered calling your mother, but your pride refused.]
[Growing weaker in bed, your eyes slowly closed.]
[You told yourself sleep would fix it.]
[But as you lay there, your body ached intensely.]
[Tossing and turning, after half an hour your fever worsened. You searched for a long time and finally found a neglected, dusty thermometer.]
[After measuring, you discovered your temperature had reached 39°C and seemed to be rising.]
[Not good.]
[A few minutes later—]
[You put on a mask, preparing to risk going out for medicine.]
[But just as you stepped out the door, you saw a small figure standing in the hallway.]
[Your brother, Toru, holding a bag of medicine.]
Brother?
How did he know to come?
Seika was startled.
["Sis, you're sick and still planning to go out? I just bought fever medicine. Take it and sleep." he said with a cute smile.]
[You were dazed, unable to react, and he dragged you back to the room.]
[After taking two fever pills, you lay down.]
[Your eyes slowly closed under the drowsy effect of the medicine.]
[Right before losing consciousness, you wondered... how did your brother know you were sick?]
[But you were too tired. You slept.]
[A few minutes later...]
[After confirming you were deeply asleep...]
[Toru expressionlessly removed a hidden camera from the corner of your room, then opened the back cover of your phone and installed a small, advanced tracking device.]
[After finishing, he began cleaning the room and cooking porridge for his sick sister.]
"A camera and a tracker?"
Seika tilted her head.
You're telling me a little brother can just install these in his sister's room?
————