25 NINETH STEP

"Hey Aki..."

Instead of getting into the car, Aki went around the vehicle and knocked on the window.

"Sis Shiro..." called Aki.

deg

So that's Aki's brother. What his lover said was Takeda's own obsession.

Glek.

Fuyu also swallowed hard saliva. He looked at the scene in front of him with frozen feet. Open front window. The snow that started to fall then fell on Aki's head and shoulders. Shiro's weak smile. Then Aki's breath hitched as they stared at each other.

"Brother, why are you here?" asked Aki.

Shiro was white and pale like his name. Aki's older brother said quietly when he saw his sister's worried face. "Come in," he said. "Sister wants treatment at the Tokyo General Hospital. If you don't mind, come to my room after school."

"Sister is sick?" asked Aki worriedly. "What pain? Please tell me right now."

"It's nothing, Aki," Shiro said. Then reached out to clean up the melted snow that had started to accumulate on Aki's shoulders. "Come in. Do you want to get sick like me too?"

In that instant, Aki immediately glared at Takeda fiercely. His eyebrows knit together. His jaw hardened. And Takeda pretended not to know to fix the scarf around Shiro's neck.

"You better close the window quickly. Let your sister. Later he will definitely go in and come along," said Takeda. Then looked at Fuyu with a faint smile. "Isn't that right, son?"

Even Fuyu had no better choice. He grabbed Aki's hand and coaxed her to come inside immediately. "Come on, Aki."