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“You’re letting your imagination get the better of you.”
The words stung, and Taichiro bit back, “Am not.”
Yet at the end of the day, he kept himself holed up in his room after Aya disappeared, imagining the worst thing having happened to her, always blaming their father and thus not wanting to interact with the family in general because—
The words rang harsher than perhaps normal, remembering that Asuma was—
Taichiro bit at his bottom lip, thinking over their exchange, the way Asuma said he was looking to bring a friend from the game back to reality, rather than owning up to being a part of the family.
“She may still be…”
“It’s been forever,” Taichiro bit back. “So how could that even be a reality? A possibility?”
“Is that why you’re always escaping reality? Because you’ve given up on Aya being alive?”
“Given up on reality?” Taichiro stared, then, “This friend you wanted to bring back to reality? Who, maybe, is it?”
“You wouldn’t know them,” Asuma said.
“Right. So then…”
“I mean, they’d be, I think, a stranger to you now. They certainly are to me.”
Taichiro stared, then the corner of his mouth twitched. “No way I can’t take that as an insult. I know he hates what I’ve become, and he looks down upon me, but to call me a stranger.”
“Did I say something wrong?”
“I wish you luck on bringing this friend back home,” Taichiro said. “I can attest personally to how hard it can be to face reality.”
Asuma stared, then said something expected. “Well, I just wish this friend would understand he wouldn’t have to face reality on his own, you know.”
“Ah.” Taichiro found himself conflicted even more with what his younger brother said, being that he didn’t understand why his younger brother would be so emphatic about declaring such a thing, but then perhaps—
Perhaps all Asuma wanted was for his older brother to come home and back to reality at the end of the day, rather than closing himself off and escaping into virtual reality.