⛧
Ashen settled into the empty bus's last row, his gaze drifting to the window as he struggled to come to terms with the simple, absurd fact… He was back.
It hadn't taken him long to realize that the place he'd teleported to was actually quite close to his house. Close enough, in fact, to still be within the same city.
His first stop was the nearest bank. He'd checked his account and was relieved, genuinely relieved, to see that the money Lucia had baited him with was still there, untouched.
As for his documents, identification, permits, and bank card, Lucia had kept them safe for him, returning them before he left Esperra. He was also thankful for her meticulousness.
Tak.
Getting off at the bus station closest to his home, Ashen continued on foot. A few minutes later, he stood in front of his apartment door.
"...♫"
He had expected the silence of an empty, desolate place.
After all, the only other tenant, Alice, would've surely moved out after their breakup.
But instead, faint music seeped through the door.
"♪ Some days I feel so low… ♪"
"♪ Some days I wish I could just let it all go… ♪"
Ashen's heart skipped. He fumbled for his keys, fingers shaky. The door clicked open, and he stepped inside, almost stumbling in his haste.
"♪ I don't understand why you're always away… ♪"
"♪ I try to be strong, but the nights keep dragging on and on… ♪"
He followed the source of the melody—and froze.
But not for the reason he'd braced for.
"♪ …I wait by the phone, hoping you'll pick up… ♪"
"♪ …Your voice alone keeps me from falling apart… ♪"
There, sprawled across his bed, wearing his pajamas like she owned the place, was a young woman in her early twenties.
Snow-white hair spilled across her back and onto the sheets like strands of silk. Around her neck hung a pair of headphones, still softly echoing the song. And her eyes, an unnatural, vivid pink, lazily locked onto his.
The moment she recognized who was standing before her and before he could utter a word, she launched up like a spring-loaded rabbit, flinging her headphones aside.
"Bro Bro!!"
Her gleeful voice and the sudden, bone-cracking hug dragged him straight back into the moment.
"...Lapis."
His voice cracked, hoarse and heavy with all the words he couldn't say, as his arms tightened around her.
"♪ Where are you now? I miss you so… ♪"
"♪ Feels like forever since you've been gone… ♪"
"♪ Please, come back home… ♪"
The lyrics leaking from the tossed headphones melted into the scene, as if the universe itself had taken pity on her and granted her wish.
Ashen buried his face against her shoulder, holding her just a little tighter.
"I'm home, sister…"
He hadn't realized just how much he missed her. Not until he saw her again.
He had never been more thankful for being alive, real, and right here until now.
How much pain had he left her with, vanishing for half a year without a word?
Lapis had always clung to him growing up. Idolized him. Hung on every word he said like scripture.
Even after he stopped being that perfect brother she once adored.
Even after the flawless image she had of him was shattered.
Even after their father forbade her from getting closer, after everything fell apart.
Still, she stayed.
Stubborn… devoted… and impossibly loyal.
Even when he'd become a ghost of himself, unrecognizable and hollow, she never stopped believing he'd come back.
As Ashen stood there, holding her, the wave of guilt nearly overwhelmed him.
As Ashen kept reminiscing on how adorable and irreplaceable his little sister is, something… strange happened.
"..."
A warm sensation crept along his back, then slid to his sides, crawling across his abdomen and chest.
It was subtle and gentle, like fingers tracing muscle.
His eyes dropped.
They were fingers.
Her fingers.
He blinked. Once. Twice. Was he being groped by his 'adorable' sister now…? When had her hands even slipped under his shirt?
A shiver ran down his spine.
"What… are you doing?" he asked, dumbly, still trying to process the situation.
"Hmm?"
She paused for a beat, then casually slid her hands up to his biceps—like this was the most normal thing in the world.
"I'm checking your body," she said matter-of-factly. "You've turned into a completely different man."
As if the awkwardness weren't already unbearable, the universe decided to pile on as the next song played on her playlist… and what a song it was.
"♪ I'm~ too bulky for this shirt… ♪"
"♪ Too mighty for this hug… ♪"
"♪ Guess I flexed a little too hard… ♪"
Ashen stood frozen, debating how the hell to deal with this, since it was true that his body had indeed had a drastic makeover.
Ashen was kind of at a loss about explaining how he'd ended up with a physique people spent ten years earning in just six months…
But that didn't make it any less weird.
Especially with that song mocking him in the background.
Ashen twitched his lips, exasperated, and muttered, "I think you've felt my body long enough… little sis."
"Oh. Okay."
She retracted her hands, one tap at a time, like she was slowly defusing a bomb.
Ashen sighed, offering her a crooked, bitter smile.
No matter how exasperating Lapis could be, he kept his voice soft.
Snapping at her after six months of silence was the last thing he wanted… especially when she was probably just fumbling for a way to reconnect.
Maybe this was her way of dodging the awkwardness… by handing it to him instead.
Classic Lapis.
She was a bit like Seraphine in this regard, he silently noted.
"So… where have you been? This is the first time you've vanished for this long…" Lapis asked, voice light with curiosity.
Her expression was unreadable. There was no anger, no relief, and certainly no grief…
Just calm neutrality. But only God knew what was really stewing beneath that practiced nonchalance.
Ashen froze, just for a moment, before the excuse he'd rehearsed finally stumbled out of his mouth.
"I–uhh… found a job."
"…A job?"
"…Yes."
"What kind of job?" She tilted her head, eyes narrowing in curiosity.
"Hey, is it that hard to believe I actually landed a job?"
He tried to sound indignant, but even he could hear the doubt in his own voice.
Because he knew the truth.
It was hard to believe.
Not long ago, he could barely muster the will to exist, let alone find employment.
But that was the old him.
Lapis didn't know that yet.
"My dear lazy brother claims he's not unemployed anymore…" she muttered, slowly nodding with a look that screamed 'wasn't it obvious I'd doubt you?'
"And what kind of job keeps you from even calling?" she added, quieter now. "I couldn't reach you at all…"
Her voice cracked at the end.
"I thought something bad happened to you…"
"I was so scared… I thought I'd never see you again…"
Soft sobs slipped into the still air.
"Mom could barely sleep anymore… Dad… he nearly lost his mind searching for you every day… blaming himself, saying it was all his fault…"
Her mask shattered. The calm, cheeky front dissolved, revealing the hurt that had been hiding underneath.
All of it. The fear, the pain, the loneliness.
Ashen stood there, silent, while she clung to his shirt like a lost kitten.