Chapter 5 – Promises in the Dark
The days in Ai's apartment blurred together with the rhythm of childhood. Morning sunlight through the curtains, Ruby tugging at toys with her stubborn determination, Aqua carrying himself with a seriousness that didn't match his age, and me-caught between them, not just as their brother but as someone who carried a secret burden.
I was Alexandrite Hoshino, a child in body but not in mind. The system was there, silent most of the time, only responding when I pushed myself beyond the norm. It didn't speak, didn't comfort. It only measured. And that measurement only served to remind me of something I could not rid myself of: effort was progress.
Ai, though, was our constant. She existed in fragments-our mother at home, a star on the stage, and both characters balanced on the fragile edge of secrecy. She smiled when Ruby wrapped herself in a blanket and used it as a cape, or when Aqua frowned at the cartoons that made no sense to him. She looked at us as if we were the only anchors that kept her from being swept away by fame.
"Ni-san," Aqua's voice cut into my reverie one afternoon. He wore that expression-serious, almost commanding, yet with the slightest hint of a plea behind it. "Can you help me get the book?"
The book was nothing out of the ordinary: a picture book Ai had left on a tall shelf, but Aqua's insistence on formality tugged at me. I theatrical sigh, rising from my seat on the floor. "Very well, my dear little brother, who finally pays his respects to his Oni-san."
Ruby giggled behind her stuffed rabbit. "Nini is Oni-san again!" she chirped, entertained by the nickname wars.
I stretched, pulled the book down, and handed it to Aqua. His eyes softened for a moment. "…Thanks, Ni-san."
That one sentence was warm in my chest. For all his stubbornness, Aqua was still a kid-still my little brother. I wanted to keep it that way.
The system remained quiet until later that evening, when Ai returned from rehearsal. Her hair was still styled, her makeup smudged with exhaustion, but her smile bloomed at the sight of us.
"I'm home," she said, sinking onto the couch as Ruby climbed into her lap.
I climbed up with her, babbling nonsense in rhythm to a melody Ai sang. The syllables dropped from my mouth, almost like words, though I didn't actually shape them. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"You're trying to sing again?" she asked with a tease, her hand brushing across my cheek.
Ding!
Charisma +0.2
Basic Singing Lv. 2 – XP 3/20
It was not much, another step, but the sound in my head resonated more loudly than usual. Not because of the skill-up, but because there was meaning in Ai's smile. She was proud, and that was something.
That night, when the apartment grew quiet and the twins slept, I was not asleep in my crib. My eyes traced the dim outlines of the ceiling. And then-the dreams began.
They were not childhood fantasies. They were shards of recollection of my former life, relived in merciful clarity. Ai on the ground, her clothes covered in blood. Aqua screaming. Ruby too young to understand. The terror that marked the story of Oshi no Ko.
I sat up with a jolt, my heart pounding. My little body trembled, but fear was not what froze me in place. Determination was.
"No," I whispered, though my lips barely formed the sound. "Not this time."
I tightened my fists, as small as they were. The timeline was fuzzy-blurred at the edges, like a partially erased ancient tape. But I knew enough. Ai's murder wasn't far away. Somewhere in the upcoming years, the stalker would come, and the knife would fall.
I would not let it.
The following days had a strange weight to them for me. I watched Ai with sharper eyes, memorizing her routines. I noticed which neighbors greeted her warmly and which avoided her. I watched doors, locks, shadows in front of windows. It felt like kid-like curiosity at age two. Internally, though, it was reconnaissance.
Aqua caught me staring once. "What are you thinking?" he asked, his head tilted to the side.
I summoned a smile. "Thinking about candy."
He raised an eyebrow. "You don't even like candy."
Perceptive as always. But he let it go, muttering, "Weirdo, Ni-san."
There was warmth in the insult.
Ai, blind to the storm clouds gathering in my breast, continued to balance her double existence. She took us with her to small rehearsals from time to time, Ruby clapping along and Aqua observing with that silent intensity. I began to chatter more deliberately, trying not just to mimic sound but rhythm, pauses, sentence structure.
Ding!
Language Comprehension Lv. 1 → Lv. 2
XP 0/20
Ai's eyes glowed. "He's picking up words so quickly." she whispered.
But it was not quick. It was the system reflecting the labor. With every attempt I strove my toddler tongue to create a new syllable, the bar crept forward. Slowly, surely.
That evening, Aqua surprised me again. We lay together, listening to Ruby sing nonsense to her rabbit. He whispered, barely audible: "Do you think… Mommy will always be with us?"
The doubt ate at my stomach. I gazed at him, gazed hard at him-his baby face, the innocence he tried so desperately to hide under forced maturity.
"Yes," I said firmly. "Because I'll see to it."
He blinked, confused, but something in my tone stilled his disbelief. He turned away, muttering, "Ni-san is weird." But there was relief in his voice.
Days turned into weeks. Ai continued to perform, balancing diapers and microphones. Ruby declared herself the next number-one idol at least once a day. Aqua asked me to read with him, although he tried to pretend he didn't need to. And me? I trained. Babbling, singing, even tiny movements incorporated into something meaningful. Each ding of the system wasn't just numbers-it was a reminder.
Progress meant power. And power meant protection.
Another night, another dream. The knife. The blood. But this time, when I shoved Ai out of the way, her eyes met mine-not in surprise, but in trust.
I woke up with tears flowing down my face. My fists clenched the railing of the crib.
"I swear," I muttered to the open air. "I'll change it. Even if the system kills me, even if fate hates me-I won't let her die."
The promise etched itself deeper than any stat point. It wasn't determination anymore. It was destiny I was going to steal.
Progress Log – Week 115 (2 years, 3 months)
Babbling songs with Ai: Charisma +0.2, Basic Singing Lv. 2 – XP 3/20
Practicing syllables: Language Comprehension Lv. 1 → Lv. 2 (XP 0/20)
Assisting Aqua (bonding): Charisma +0.1
[Comprehension System]
Name: Alexandrite Hoshino
Age: 2 years, 3 months
STR: 4.1
AGI: 3.7
INT: 13.5
CHA: 5.6
PER: 2.9
Skills:
-Mumble (Lv. 2 – XP 6/20)→Language Comprehension (Lv. 2 – XP 0/20)
-Basic Body Movement (Lv. 3 – XP 7/40)
-Basic Singing (Lv. 2 – XP 3/20)
-Basic Acting (Lv. 1 – XP 1/10)