Learning about her

When he decided to take Kotori away from the hospital, he did not do so randomly. He visited her family expecting to speak to her parents, but to his surprise, the one who answered the door that time was Kotori's sister. He didn't even know she had a sister; he thought she only had brothers. Moreover, her parents have never mentioned having another daughter.

But when he saw her in a wheelchair, something inside him clicked.

Every family has their scars, and he has no right to pry.

It did not take him long before he reached the room where Kotori's sister Ayase Mayu was. She sat in her wheelchair with a cup of tea in her hands. At least they did something sensible. The guards treated them terribly the last time he had a guest over.

Then again, the people here may be crazy at times, but they won't behave terribly towards someone in a wheelchair.

"Kotori is just cooking; she will be over shortly."

Mayu looked over with bright eyes. "I haven't had her cooking in a long time. I am looking forward to it."

"How do you feel today, Mayu-san?"

"Much better. I apologize that you had to go through the trouble of relocating our accommodation. We were fine in the place before."

Kiryu shook his head. "That place wasn't good enough." The moment they formed the assembly and he had more power than before, the first thing he did was move Kotori's family.

He owes the girl a debt that he can never repay after all. The least he could do was make sure her family was safe.

"Your very kind Kiryu-kun. Oh, how is it going with the girl you like? Did you get turned down yet?"

Kiryu's sweat fell. "Your very blunt Mayu-san."

"I am Kotori-chan's number one supporter, after all. I want that child to be happy, and if she can find happiness with a good person like you, it would reassure me."

Kiryu looked down with a guilty expression on his face. "Sorry, right now I-"

'I can only think of Lila.' Kotori is a good friend, and he does enjoy her company. But it won't be any more than that.

"Last time we met, you wanted to know the details regarding my accident, right?"

"I apologize if I am being too pushy. It's just I thought it might have something to do with why Kotori pushes people away sometimes." Kiryu admitted.

Even though he treated her well after the accident, sometimes she would push him away.

Mayu was quiet again, but she spoke up after taking a deep breath " A few years back, I was an upcoming and rising ballet dancer. Do you know a group called ' WM?' "

"You were part of them?"

"Yes, and I was a rising star with promise. Before I joined the group, some issues delayed my joining. Even before the accident, my body had always been weak. But regardless, I found my passion. When my father gave me the okay, I made sure to practice extra hard before my first day. It paid off far too well. There was an upcoming recital, and they switched the present lead to me. Although I was happy about it. From that time onwards, I noticed things around me gradually changed "

Kiryu immediately understood that change; it's probably jealousy. A girl's jealousy is truly something others should not underestimate. Kiryu paused in mid-thought and sighed. But didn't he underestimate it?

He underestimated a girl's jealousy, and as a result, he failed to see how much Rosalia disliked Lila. At first, Rosalia did not appear hostile towards Lila; she even gave him loads of advice on pursuing her. But at some point, something had changed.

"You started getting bullied. " Kiryu guessed.

"Yes. Even then, I did not let it get to me. I truly fell in love with ballet and continued it regardless. But then that incident happened. " Mayu trails off. "There was a hole for one of the scenes, and somebody shoved me into the debris; at the beginning, it looked like an accident, and the staff quickly rushed on stage to fix things. But then I heard gunfire. Somebody pushed me, but my legs still had mobility. I was able to climb back up, but the scene was chaotic. There was smoke everywhere."

Kiryu saw the incident's images but heard her describe it; it almost felt like he was there.

"Kotori-chan-chan and our brothers had sat in the front row, so I wanted to find them quickly. But as one would expect in that situation, it was difficult to navigate around. At that time, I felt someone had been following me. When I was evading a certain area that looked like it would crumble, somebody pushed me again, resulting in my legs being crushed. With the sounds of gunfire all around me, I was losing consciousness. Someone wanted me gone."

'I heard the details regarding this incident as an outsider before. But now that he knew the people involved, it hurts.' Why do such good people have to suffer and endure so much pain before finding happiness? Why do the bad people never get punished?

"During the incident, someone dear to Kotori-chan got hurt." Mayu gripped the handle of her chair tighter, and he watched as tears formed in the corner of her eyes.

"I saw it. I saw it all," Mayu continued."It happened so fast, but I remember. He was on top of me. He protected me from the bullets, and I still got hurt." She started to cry.

Kiryu did not know what to do. How does he deal with girls who aren't Lila? If it was Lila- Kiryu walked over and patted her back.

"I remember his body was warm, but he wasn't there anymore. His eyes were like blotches of purple ink, and his blood surrounded us."

The more the girl spoke, the more he felt her tremble. "Mayu-san, if this is too much, then I don't need to-"

He wants to understand Kotori, but he doesn't want to upset her sister to this extent.

"Bullets pierced my legs and bones," she continued as if she didn't hear him, "After seeing him, I couldn't see. It was as if I didn't want to see anymore. But I still felt pain in my legs. I felt a burning sensation, and yet it was so cold. Ever since the accident, I have tried numerous times to forget it. My therapist told me it was not good for me to look back in such vivid detail. But no matter how much I try to forget it, I just can't. Do you know why?

Kiryu didn't have the heart to continue this topic any further. 'Should I knock her out? This surely isn't good for her.' Before he could do that, however, he heard Mayu's response.

"Kotori's scream," Mayu said.

"Her scream?"Kiryu repeated, slightly shocked. He couldn't imagine the usually calm Kotori panicking. In a situation like that, though, perhaps it was possible.

'No, it is not hard to imagine. I can still clearly remember her screams that day when I lost control of my powers.' But she still stupidly remained by his side. Back then, he had no idea that she had feelings for him.

He did not understand why she reacted like that.