*Gasp!* Misaki suddenly woke up.
'Ugh... my head hurts...' Misaki thought.
"Oh no..."
"Huh? Is that you, system?" Misaki asked.
"Um... Misaki... I'm sorry but... there seems to be some kind of glitch between this world and your previous world..." The system said.
". . . What...?" Misaki asked in confusion.
"Well... you see... um... how do I explain..." The system said.
"... What are you trying to say?" Misaki asked.
"Um... You see, when you first came, your personality, memories, basically your soul, is brought into an already prepared healthy body with a face that is similar or better than your previous body." The system explained.
"O... kay...?" Misaki said.
"However, something like a glitch happened and now you have the same body condition with your previous body." The system said.
"... Are you saying I have that same sickly body that I have in my previous life?" Misaki asked.
"... Yes..." The system answered.
Misaki let out a long sigh and ask "And why did that happen?"
"It seems sending you back to your world after you accept to stay come with a consequences." The system answered.
"And you didn't tell me anything about it." Misaki said.
"Cause I am not a flawless being, I didn't actually know about this "consequences"." The system said.
"... Sigh... it already happened so there's nothing either of us can do." Misaki said.
"Hey, Misaki." said the system.
"What is it?" Misaki asked.
"Why do you leave after arguing with your family in the past?" The system asked.
"..." Misaki hesitated. "... It's kinda my roundabout way to get out of that house." Misaki answered.
"??"
"... If I were to run away, my family would call the cops to find me BUT if they themselves kick me out then they won't search for me unless it's an emergency." Misaki explained.
"Mind telling me your previous family situation so I can understand why you don't like them?" The system said.
Again Misaki hesitated.
"Don't worry, I may make mistake once in a while but I'm "definitely" on your side." The system said.
Hearing that Misaki decided to talk. "To be honest... my family used to be a "real" family. Especially mom..."
°• Flashback •°
- Misaki is 4 years old -
"Misaki~ Which clothes do you want?" Misaki's mom asked as she hold two pairs of clothes.
"Hmm... can I have that one?" Misaki asked while pointing towards a cute dress behind her mom.
Her mom turn around to see which clothes is she pointing at. "?!" The price of the cute dress is too expensive so her mom said "That dress isn't pretty... how about this one?" she points to a cheaper dress.
Misaki shakes her head. "No I don't want this one..."
"Then how about we search for something else?" her mom asked.
Misaki shakes her head again. "I don't want any of the dress anymore."
"You sure?" her mom asked.
"Hm." Misaki answered.
'If I can't get the one I wanted then I don't want anything else...' Misaki thought.
"Mom, when are we going home?" Misaki asked.
"We still need search some clothes for your sisters." her mom answered.
Misaki pouted as she don't want to be near the cute dress that she can't have.
Her mom sighed and said "Let's search for a dress in another store later, okay?"
"Really?!" Misaki asked.
"Yeah." her mom answered.
'Yay!' Misaki thought with excitement.
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- Misaki is 5 years old -
"Mom! I can't reach my back." Misaki said as she tries to reach the button at the back of her dress.
"Let me help you then." her mom said. "Alright! You're done! Now, let's go eat out."
"Hm." Misaki said as she nodded.
'Eat out~ Eat out~ Eat out~' Misaki thought happily.
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- Misaki is 6 years old -
Misaki look at her mother cooking dinner in the kitchen with a tired face.
'Hmm... I wanna help but... I don't know how to help... Ah!' Misaki thought as she got an idea.
'Maybe mom would teach me if I said I'm bored!' Misaki thought.
She went to her mother in the kitchen and said "Mom~"
"What." Her mom answered.
"Mom, I'm bored." Misaki said.
"BORED?! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M WORKING HERE?! NOBODY IN THIS HOUSE CAN HELP ME COOK SO, I HAVE TO COOK WETHER I LIKE IT OR NOT!!" Her mom screamed.
Misaki started crying but... even though Misaki thought she cried because she's scared, the tears wasn't from fear it was from disappointment. She just... wanted to help...
That evening, Misaki didn't stop crying until...
"AGH! STOP CRYING ALREADY!!" Her dad came, pick her up and... attempt to throw her off the balcony. They lived on the 7th floor... If Misaki fell she'll...
Her older sisters saved her out of whim. Maybe they don't want to have a criminal as they're father.
- Misaki is 7 years old -
Misaki's family is paying less and less attention to Misaki. Not having enough attention, Misaki starts crying out of reflex and everytime she cried her parents and older sisters would get angry at her.
And ever since, they would, put any blame they can find on Misaki, ignored her when she needed them, scolding her when she makes troubles for them, etc, etc.
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Little by little, she started "hating them" but... she don't want to hate them. So she kept on reminding herself that she only "dislike them".
All of this is breaking her mentally. If she stay with them for too long she might actually... die...
At one point, she couldn't take it anymore but she was only 15, she don't want to leave without her parents permission. So, she accidentally thought,
'If I cut my wrist will I be able to hang on a little longer... but if I cut my wrist or anywhere else they would realize it... I can't hurt myself physically... but they won't realize if it was mentally... right?' Misaki thought.
Ever since, she'll always recite things like,
'I'll die one of these days so wait a little longer.'
'Dead people don't need emotions so I don't need to be angry.'
'I'm half-dead so there's no need to care...'
And one day,
Misaki just finished doing the laundry. Suddenly everything went black.
'Huh?' Misaki thought. 'Wait, what happened?!'
At that moment, she could feel her breath and the beating of her heart slows down. Panicking, she tries to wake herself up and... fortunately she woke up.
When she's able to see again, she sees herself near her bedroom despite being at the laundry room just now.
She was going on full auto-pilot. She was "dead" and "alive" at the SAME TIME. She was very terrified at the ability to control her brain. She realized, what she did is no different then the brainwashing she sees in horror movies.
She was scared... very scared...
°• End Of Flashback •°
Misaki is crying quietly while the system only floating there, speechless at what Misaki has gone through.
"It's almost like we're playing "Family" in a twisted way. In that game, my role is the child who received the negative sides of everyone. But by doing so, I kinda keep the family stable. For example, if my mom kept everything to herself rather than letting it out on me, she and dad might've gotten divorce not long after my youngest sister was born because of his hot-headed personality and the family might've been broken..." Misaki kept talking.
For the whole night, the system could only stay by Misaki's side and listen to her to make her feel better.
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