The person who likes me is a yandere.

I had never heard Qiong call me brother in such a sorrowful voice before, and I couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"...Qiong".

I called her name as if in prayer.

Qiong raised her head.

She looked at me with a mournful face, which almost made me cry too.

"Qiong has been absorbing my brother's luck... He's even absorbing people's luck. Could Qiong be... a monster?"

Qiong indeed discovered her own constitution.

She ran away from home not because I forgot our promise to go shopping together (if only that were the reason). I find it strange. Sora seems to have accepted her special condition.

Do you really think of all this just from hearing the alarm clock's message?

"Qiong...did you hear...something that was accidentally recorded in the alarm clock?"

"...Today, when I came home from school...I heard what sounded like people talking coming from the second floor. I don't know why, but my alarm clock keeps ringing."

This wasn't something someone deliberately set up. It's likely that when the alarm clock fell off the bedside table this morning, it accidentally pressed the setting button as well. Bad luck has found its weakness.

"But just hearing that message, can Qiong really think that she has a constitution that can absorb people's luck? Such a frightening special constitution is impossible, right? That's what most people would think, isn't it?"

"Hmm... If it were just a message from the alarm clock, Qiong probably wouldn't... immediately accept that she has this kind of constitution."

"Besides the comments, is there anything else?"

What happened that made Sora feel like she had a constitution that could absorb luck...?

"Sora... I've been thinking... Besides my brother, whose luck have I absorbed? So far, apart from my brother, I've never hugged anyone. So I'm trying to remember."

"Is there anyone else?"

Although I don't know, does she have a boyfriend?

“Sora has never had a lover, nor has she ever hugged any other girl… But then I remembered. Last Friday, when I went shopping at Ebisuya, Sora hugged a cute plush doll that looked like a cat from Resident Evil at the entrance.”

It looks like Resident Evil, yet people still call it cute. But now is not the time to care about Qiong's aesthetic sense.

"Yes, we did encounter that rag doll."

"The one wearing that is... Xiaojie, right?"

"Why, why would you think that?"

"...Xiaojie was very polite, so I thought I'd help her with her laundry! Then...when I looked at the bag she was carrying, I saw that it contained a Resident Evil cat costume."

"Could it be that they just happen to look alike? Or maybe it's a cat costume that looks a lot like them."

"...Brother, how could you confuse Qian Du-kun with Gachapin? (Author: Qian Du-kun and Gachapin are both well-known Japanese yokimono.) There's no way you could mistake that mascot costume."

What she said is absolutely right. You won't forget something once you've seen it.

"In conclusion, she had to sleep outdoors... because the apartment she was supposed to stay in burned down, right?"

"Yes, the landlord, overjoyed to avoid the trouble of demolition, ran away with the deposit and betrothal gifts... This is truly an event that shows the darkness of human nature."

"The summary of the days when I encountered all sorts of inexplicable bad luck... was it four days ago?"

"Yes, it was last Friday."

"...The day Sora hugged Musubi, who was dressed in a mascot costume...After realizing this—when she heard the alarm clock's message, Sora was still wondering if anyone really had this special constitution—Sora discovered...Sora would undoubtedly absorb the luck of the person she hugged."

I can deny it.

However, a lie that is easily exposed has no comforting effect whatsoever.

"...I see. So Sora is a great detective."

"Um... there's something I don't understand... how does brother know about my constitution? Brother doesn't remember anything about me... right?"

"That's all I remember."

A few stars twinkled in the sky after sunset. There were more stars along the riverbank than in the residential area. A gentle breeze carrying the scent of night rustled across the bridge piers. I felt the sky's gaze fixed on my profile.

"Three years ago, although I lost all memories of people related to me... I don't know why I still remember Qiong's constitution."

Without absorbing luck, one loses vitality and becomes like a ghost, lost in thought.

Even if you absorb a lot of luck, you can only use it for one day; you have to absorb it every day.

...I think I'll remember these things because I have to protect the sky...and I still think that way now."

Perhaps it would be better to look at Sora while saying this. But I felt shy and kept looking down at the rough cement ground.

“...When my brother was eating Kali Kali-kun popsicles, he kept drawing the 'Thank you for your patronage' card, and Sora even teased him about it. I'm so sorry.”

That's true. Qiong gets a free chocolate ball about once every three draws, but I've never gotten one. I really want the silver angel chocolate ball too (Author's note: Chocolate balls are a famous Japanese snack; when you open the package, you can randomly draw a gold or silver angel, which can be used to redeem prizes).

"...My brother's email inbox keeps getting spam...I'm sorry, it's Qiong's fault too."

"That has nothing to do with bad luck. It's just that my curiosity and thirst for knowledge are too strong. What I lack is not luck, but self-control."

...I can't blame my browsing of adult websites on luck.

"Sora... I've always been worried about how unlucky my brother is. I've always found it unbelievable. I've been trying to solve his bad luck problem and have done a lot of research."

I remembered seeing books on divination and feng shui on the bookshelf in the dome this morning.

"But Xiaojie has to protect her brother... 'I will protect Qianyu'... I'm so envious."

That was a quote from Asuna that the alarm clock happened to record.

"Sora also wanted to protect her brother from the bad luck... but unexpectedly, it turned out to be Sora's fault... Isn't that strange? It was Sora who caused her brother's bad luck, yet Sora still wanted to protect him."

Towards the end of her speech, she turned to self-deprecation.

The way Sora spoke to me made me so sad that I couldn't utter a single word. I looked down, and after the sun had set, the river looked like a field of black oil had been poured in; even the slow flow of the water was no longer visible.

"Brother held Sora tightly and protected her... Thank you, brother."

I felt that Qiong was about to leave me at any moment, so I slowly approached her and planned to hug her shoulders.

"do not want!"

Qiong's cry was almost a wail, and I retreated as if I had been pushed away. Qiong stared at me, her eyes filled with fear.

"...Don't come any closer."

She was originally a sister who would forgive her brother and hug her, but there was a strong sense of rejection in her voice.

"Qiong?"

"...Don't touch Qiong. Brother can't touch Qiong anymore...No one can touch Qiong anymore!"

"Calm down."

Just as I lowered my body to get closer, Qiong suddenly stood up as if she had jumped up.

"No! If we touch Qiong, brother... brother will die!"

"die?"

Qiong didn't seem to be joking. She genuinely thought I was going to die. The surroundings were dark, and although I couldn't see Qiong's expression clearly, I knew tears were streaming down her swollen eyes. Qiong was crying her heart out.

What does death mean? What is the process of dying?

"If I touch Qiong... I'll die just like Dad and Mom..."

Qiong collapsed to the ground, utterly powerless.

"Dad...? Mom...?"

My parents died in a fire at a hot spring hotel while they were traveling three years ago.

"Qiong...do you think...Dad and Mom died because of you?"

"...Qiong must have hugged them that day. She hugged them without thinking anything. That must be it."

"..."

Her eyes, wet with Qiong's tears, twinkled like stars for a moment.

"Dad and Mom seemed to be having a great time on the trip. For dinner, we ate snow crab all we could, and the four of us had a competition to see who could peel the crab the fastest... We were so excited. Dad is a bit childish and loves competitions... My older brother won that time. He's really good at peeling snow crabs."

So I have this special skill. It's a secret talent that even I didn't know about.

“…Brother, Qiong should turn herself in…right?”

The sound from the sky, though seemingly close at hand, was actually quite loud, yet it sounded as if it were from a distant horizon.

Chapter Forty: Living Happily

The sound from the sky, though seemingly close at hand, was actually quite loud, yet it sounded as if it were from a distant horizon.

"Confess... What did you say?"

“If it weren’t for Sora, Dad and Mom would be alive… Sora killed Dad and Mom… That’s no different from Sora… killing Dad and Mom, right… Sora is a murderer.”

Qiong didn't wipe away the tears streaming down her cheeks; she cried like a baby.

I was furious. Even though I didn't know why I was angry, I roared:

"What did you say! How could Qiong be a murderer! Besides, you definitely didn't hug them!"

I don't even have a memory of my parents' last day. Nor do I remember eating snow crab to my heart's content. I thought I had never eaten snow crab before.

Perhaps my words are not convincing.

Perhaps my words don't even qualify as comfort.

However, I cannot abandon Qiong, who is grieving for that wretched constitution.

Whether it's useful or not, I have to say something to her anyway.

Was Sora a child who would hug her father or mother when she was in the first year of junior high school?

"No, in daily life... it shouldn't be like that."

"Right. A typical first-year middle school girl wouldn't hug her dad. Nor would her mom. Maybe there'll be some opportunity for you to hug, but generally you wouldn't do that."

Everything is fine. I wanted to squeeze out some words to tell Qiong. I wasn't thinking about anything else, I was just focused on talking.

"That kind of hug you didn't even remember if you hugged them or not, right? It wasn't a long hug, was it? It's impossible to hug for a long time. Children who don't usually hug their parents should remember if they hugged for a long time. And if they hugged for a long time on a day spent with their parents, they would definitely remember. Also, even if you did hug, it would only be for a very short time, at most a few seconds, just a brief hug! I hug Qiong tightly for five seconds every day. But I'm not dead yet. Qiong's hugs don't have the power to kill you!"