To Slowly Move On [Part 1]

I felt weird. I couldn't move, I felt suffocated and trapped. Everything was dark.

I.... Where am I?

I felt like I was inside something and there was also something beside me. Leaving that for the side I try recalling what happened for me to get stuck in such a situation.

Tremors... debris.... SAKURA!!

I remember.

I remember what happened....But Why? Why do I remember that?

Shit! Pathetic! Useless! I couldn't even protect the only thing dear to me. Remembering her eyes filled with grief made me want to end myself.

Why can I even think? Didn't I die? Why did our house suddenly crumble down?

But before I could contemplate any further I felt my mind go blank.

6 Hours Later,

I tried to get a sense of my surroundings but I once again was not able to move a bit. I don't think I survived that. I just couldn't do anything.

Is this hell? Do I have to finally pay for the things I did?

To die with endless guilt and regret....and just exist with my own thoughts. If this isn't torturing then what is?

I let out a non-existent sigh while reminiscing about my past. When was it that my own Sister became so precious to me?

She just went from my sister to my love interest so fast that I didn't even have time to think about these feelings properly.

What made me so obsessive over her?

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A 14-year-old Akira that was about 172 cm was returning from school along with his sister. He had a worried look on his face as saw a bruise on his sister's face. He felt something inside of him change seeing his sister hurt. A feeling he didn't know how to describe.

"How did this happen?" He asked her without any change in his tone.

A 13-year-old Sakura that was about 159 cm looked over to her brother and saw his usual bored face.

'Since when was he like this? Did it start when mother and father started fighting?' Her brother always had this dull look on his face.

She felt sullen remembering her parent's daily verbal abuse of each other but she was glad that they weren't physical with each other.

She usually puts on her headphones but what about brother? He had been distancing himself from everyone since mother and father started fighting.

Coming back to the question he had asked her, "Eh, I was accidentally hit by a soccer ball in P.E" She lied straight through her teeth. She wasn't sure how her brother was dealing with mother and father's fights, She didn't want to add another thing for him to worry about.

Akira stopped walking and slowly turned to meet her gaze with a stoic face. He didn't remove his gaze from her and kept looking at her as she fidgeted under his stare.

She was about to tell the truth out of pressure but Akira just started walking again. "I see. You should pay more attention while playing."

She nodded and whispered "Hai Onii-Chan" She felt glad that he didn't interrogate her any further but she was a little disappointed as well. 'Does brother not care about me?' She knew a pathetic lie like that wouldn't work on him.

She erased such thoughts and enjoyed her walk with him.

Days passed like this but there was an increase in the number of bruises on her face, arms, and legs. They weren't easily visible unless one paid attention.

Akira did nothing but observe her the past few days. Sakura said nothing as well, Just more awkward around Akira now.

It was the start of another day as they walked to school and split midway. They went to schools that were quite a distance from each other.

As soon as she left his usual dull look turned serious as his eyes gave off an icy feeling, unbefitting a child that was only 14.

He walked towards his school and entered it. Opening the door of his classroom he stepped inside. The chattering stopped as the students collectively looked at him for a few seconds.

Akira went to his seat and sat down placing his hand on his chin while gazing out of the window.

They returned to what they were doing besides a few girls glancing at him and discussing about him every now and then.

Half the day passed and lunch break started.

Akira got up from his seat and walked toward one of the students in his class. It was an unamusing average brown-haired kid wearing glasses.

His name was Oriyama.

Seeing the school's Ice Prince walk toward him Oriyama panicked and started getting nervous.

Yes, Ice Prince. He was dubbed this nickname by his fangirls throughout the school. Not to mention Akira himself was quite infamous for being brutal.

There was once a kid named Ryu that got into an argument with Akira. It was all fun and games until Ryu accidentally mentioned something in a sexual way about Akira's sister in the argument.

Everyone one of them remembers what happened that day.

Just for mentioning his sister Akira grabbed Ryu's head and smashed it into the desk.

Ryu's nose started bleeding and everyone was startled by the outburst. Now that wasn't where it ended. Akira grabbed his hair and repeatedly punched him in the face.

Again and again, until he turned into a bloody mess. Everyone was in a daze as Ryu whimpered on the ground "I-I'm s-s-sorry please s-stop." It wasn't until Akira kicked Ryu in the gut did someone start screaming and panicking.

What further sent a chill down everyone's back was that he still had the same dull look on his face as he brutalized Ryu. The teachers appeared on the scene and stopped him from hitting him any further.

Ryu was sent to the hospital while Akira was sent to the principal's office. No one knew what happened after that since Ryu never came to school again but Akira was never given any punishment besides have to do thrice the amount of homework but what kind of punishment was that? Especially for a student who always scored a perfect score.

He could even be called one of those real-life Gary Stues besides his inability to control his anger.

One of Ryu's friends mentioned that he changed schools.

A few clever students deducted that the school must be behind it. Akira was what could be called a 'Perfect Student'. Perfect score in every test. A top-ranking in National Exams along with a lot of wins for various sports tournaments. The more Akira achieved the better it was for the school.

Since then no one went against Akira but Akira never targeted anyone too so they weren't that scared of him now. They knew to never talk about his sister in front of him again.

Returning to the present, Akira stopped in front of him and said "Meet me at the rooftop"

Saying this he glanced at everyone in the class clearly indicating that it was private and left.

No one was stupid enough to follow him.

Oriyama was stunned by the sudden order but he didn't even have the chance to reject....not like he would.

His deskmate glanced at him "Hey Oriyama did you somehow piss off Akira!?" Everyone looked over at him with pity.

Oriyama knew he did nothing but still, a seed of fear was planted inside of him.

He shakily reached the rooftop and opened the door. He saw Akira standing there with his arms crossed.

"D-Did you need something from me?" He asked nervously.

"Your brother is in the same school and class as my sister, Is he not?" Akira looked over at him and asked.

"I-I-I" Oriyama stuttered. He was having a mental breakdown. Did his brother do something to Akira's sister? 'DAMN!'

He immediately bowed 90° "IM SORRY!, I'm sorry if my brother did something I-I'll make sure to educate him. Please don't get angry"

He stayed like that for a few minutes as sweat trickled down his face.

"You know, My sister is coming home from school with various new bruises every day." He paused and let Oriyama digest what he just said.

Oriyama was still bowing but his eyes widened to epic proportions. 'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.'

"I'm sure my brother is not involved in...the cause of her v-various bruises." He raised his head and said with clenched fists. He knew his brother was playful but he was in no way a bully.

"I know that Oriyama. We were friends in middle school. I just want to have you do something for me." Said Akira while looking at his old friend.

Relief spread throughout Oriyama as he let go of his sweaty clenched hands. 'Akira from middle school was way better. What happened to him in this short time?'

"What do you need me to do?" Now that he wasn't in a position of being harmed his anxiousness subsided.

"I want the names of the people that bullied my sister."

"I-I see" 'Out of all the people available they just had to pick his sister out. R.I.P' He mentally prayed for the kids that bullied Akira's sister.

"I want it by tomorrow" Saying this Akira left but not before throwing a final glance at Oriyama "If anyone finds out that we had this talk..." He didn't continue further and left.

Oriyama just stood there contemplating how to finish the job. He couldn't just go to his brother and say 'I want all the names of kids that bully Sakura'.

He eventually decided to slowly bring it out of his brother in a casual conversation.

He sighed.

...

Akira walked along with his sister home once again as they walked in silence. Akira glanced at her arm. It had another bruise on it.

Sakura avoided looking into his eyes. Seeing that she was uncomfortable he gave her something. "Sakura do you remember that idol you were watching on T.V yesterday?"

Sakura was confused by the sudden question.

"Hmm, Yeah I like her a lot. She's cheerful and funny while also super great at singing"

"I got some tickets for her concert." Sakura's widened as she accepted the tickets. "Will you be going with me Onii-chan?" She gripped her hands as she nervously waited for him to answer.

"No. I have something to do these few days, Forgive me." She deflated like a balloon and nodded. Akira couldn't withstand seeing her like that.

He patted her head and whispered to her "Don't worry, I'll go with you the next time and it'll be just the two of us~" Her face turned red.

She happily nodded her head. "I'll go with Aika then." Aika was her friend in the neighborhood.

"Hmm, You should go ahead of time and have fun, Know what? Take a few days off from school as well. I'll help you with your homework and studies when you're back."

She didn't like it at school so she readily agreed and pecked him on the cheek "Thanks Onii-Chan you're the best" She cheerfully smiled and started skipping her way home while humming.

Looking at her he felt warm in his heart. He would never let her be hurt again.

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[End] [1900 Words]

[A/N]~ Fleshing out their characters

more. A few more chapters before the actual story starts.