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1
“Come on, Sayo,” Tsukasa says gently, “just to the back yard?”
Their auncles are out of town. Sayo barely leaves her room , when it’s just the two of them. Tsukasa doesn’t know why he’s trying to get her to go outside. Where… where it happened.
(The sole groundskeeper replaced the burnt grass, but it’s ingrained in his mind, the way his parent couldn’t hide their screams as they burst into flame and fell, ashes. But Tsubasa ignores it as best he can, locking the thought into the back of his mind.
Just like he tries not to think about how he threw away his and Sayo’s bloody clothes, that night.)
“NO!” Sayo all but screeches. “I WON’T GO BACK THERE!”
Tsukasa sighs. He’s doing the best he can. He just knows Aunt Tora will be disappointed. They took care of their siblings all by themself, by his age. Younger, even.
Not like him. He lowers his hand.
“I’m gonna go outside,” he says. “You want soup for dinner?”
“We had it for breakfast.”
“It’ll be a different one,” Tsukasa says. “Curry?”
“…Okay.”
2
Tsukasa pauses, after running in the field. It embarrasses him how long he takes, but it’s not like he leaves the property all that much. He only gets groceries, and a couple of Mom’s old friends will pay him to do deliveries.
Since he’s only half human he’s exempt from child labor laws, according to Auncle Kumo. They say it like a bad thing, but it means he doesn’t have to entirely rely on his auncles.
They must miss his Mom and Parent too, and they have their own responsibilities.
But then he does realize. Turns. Sees Sayo in her room. He runs back over, and she’s sobbing.
“What’s wrong?” He asks.
“You LEFT me!” Sayo says. “I can’t get through.”
Tsukasa blinks.
“That’s weird,” he says. It felt like walking through a… a veil. Not the solid wall Sayo seems to be leaning against. “Just… come over here. There’s definitely no killers here. Or they’d have hurt me by now.”
Sayo shakes her head, leaning against the Veil but unable to go through.
“I can’t,” she says. “Please stay with me, Onii-Chan.”
Tsukasa sighs.
“Alright,” he says. “Let’s try again later.”
3
“Sayo!” Tsukasa says, running up to her room. “I found something cool, come see!”
He takes her hand, opening a Veil to the special world. He wants to show her Kuuga! A monster hero, like mom used to talk about, from her visions. And he’s so cool , and Godai Yusuke is so nice , and…
A force stops him. The veil won’t budge past his wrist… oh.
Sayo frowns. She does that a lot now. Tsukasa hates it, but it’s not like he finds much to smile about, either.
Kuuga, though… he feels like hope.
“I can’t,” she says. “You know that, Onii-Chan.”
Tsukasa sighs.
“Right,” he says. “Sorry. I thought holding my hand would help. I can show you pictures.”
Sayo shakes her head.
“I don’t care,” she says.
“…Oh.”
4
“And this is the World where I found the Pizza balls,” Tsukasa says, as Sayo eats one of them. “And this is one of these Worlds called Topias.”
Sayo nods, listening along. Sometimes she’s willing to, and Tsukasa likes them. They make him feel like he can be himself.
But he doesn’t really know who he is. Most of the time all he can feel is sadness unless he pushes it down. Traveling, and in particular watching Kuuga, Agito, G3 and now the Kamen Riders, makes him feel like himself, though. He likes it.
“I wish I could go with you,” Sayo says. “It’s lonely.”
“Tsukikage-San visits you a lot,” Tsukasa says. “So you aren’t totally alone.”
Sayo shrugs.
“It’s not the same,” she says. “I miss Tou-San and Kaa-San.”
Tsukasa blinks.
“We don’t have a dad.”
“Oya-San means Pops,” Sayo says. “Tsukikage says people will be confused if I call Tou-San Oya like you do.”
“Oh.” Tsukasa frown, quickly collecting his pictures. “I’m going to my room.”
“Onii-Chan, Wait!”
He doesn’t know why he starts to cry.
5
He leaves for a week, after his first kill. Wanders around in a stupor. He had to do it, but— that bloated form. The lack of atmosphere…
He shudders. He’ll remember that forever, but it was to protect Sayo.
And. The Dark One is home, now. Sayo has their auncle. So…
Tsukasa doesn’t eat for days and passes out from exhaustion. A kind stranger takes him home, feeds him.
Tsukasa eats, and then he goes home. Sayo yells at him for leaving, and Tsukasa apologizes. It’s his job to protect her, after all. Like Aunt Tora said, but…
But Aunt Tora killed herself.
(Sometimes, Tsukasa wants to.)
…Not that it matters.
+1
“You run around through the Worlds as Great Leader,” Sayo says, grabbing at his arm and yelling at him. He gets it, he was trying to avoid her, but like… this is why! “Spend time with all sorts — surprised it seems like you’ve been with the same person for a month—”
“Shut up,” Tsukasa grits out. “Shut up. I don’t care , anymore. My Kaitou actually enjoys my presence.”
“I need you—”
“Shut UP! ” Tsukasa yells, shoving her off him… He’s never done that before . He freezes. Watches Sayo’s gaze harden.
He’s done everything he could for her. She doesn’t get it. Great Leader’s title protects her . They’re the only ones left.
But she doesn’t care that he’s hurt too, not this entire time. Even if she is his baby sister, he’s tired , and Daiki is the one thing he has for himself. His broken hero who he loves absolutely.
Who loved Tsukasa , in return, as he slowly forms a new identity as a thief.
Sayo is just…
Tsukasa lowers the hand that pushed her.
Sayo looks away.
Tsukasa leaves without another word.
(It feels final.)