"You're such a mean brother!"
"And you're already acting like an annoying little sister."
I immediately pointed at him.
"I saw that!"
He stopped walking.
"...Saw what?"
"You smiled!"
"I didn't."
"You did!"
"I didn't."
"You absolutely did!"
Hayato slowly turned his head toward me, his expression completely serious, although the smallest trace of amusement was still hiding at the corner of his mouth.
"You must be imagining things."
"I'm not!"
"You are."
"I'm literally looking at your face!"
"...Then look somewhere else."
I narrowed my eyes at him.
"You're trying to hide it."
"I'm not hiding anything."
"You are!"
He sighed and started walking again.
"...You're exhausting."
I hurried after him, still grinning.
"I knew it! You actually smiled!"
He didn't answer.
"Admit it."
Nothing.
"Just once."
"..."
"Come on."
"..."
"Hayato."
He finally glanced over his shoulder.
"Go to sleep."
My smile immediately faded into a small pout.
"But I want to stay here a little longer."
"You've been walking around all day."
"I'm not tired."
"You nearly fell asleep while cleaning."
"...That was different!"
"How?"
"I was sitting."
He stared at me for a moment.
"...That's your defense?"
I nodded confidently.
"Yes."
"...Go to sleep."
He turned around and continued walking through the forest without waiting for me.
I stood there for a moment, looking back at the pond.
The glowing butterflies were still floating peacefully above the water, and the moonlight still covered the clearing in a soft blue glow.
"...I really wanted to stay a little longer."
But I knew I couldn't stay there alone.
So, with one last glance at the pond, I hurried after him.
"Wait for me!"
He didn't slow down.
"You walk too fast!"
"...Then walk faster."
"That's not how you wait for someone!"
"I wasn't waiting."
"...You're mean!"
The trees eventually began to thin, and the old house appeared between them again.
I followed Hayato inside, rubbing my tired eyes as he walked toward the staircase.
He started going upstairs.
I stopped at the bottom.
My eyes moved toward the dark hallway above.
Earlier, he had specifically told me not to go upstairs.
And now...
He was going up there himself.
I remembered the way he had appeared behind me earlier.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Just thinking about it made me shiver.
Hayato reached the top of the stairs before noticing that my footsteps had stopped.
He looked back.
"...What are you doing?"
I pointed toward the stairs.
"You told me not to go up here."
He stared at me.
Then sighed.
"Come on."
I didn't move.
He continued in the same completely emotionless voice.
"It's not like there are snakes."
I stared at him.
"...That's not reassuring."
"Why?"
"Because you said it like there might actually be snakes."
"There aren't."
"...Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"...What about spiders?"
"No."
"...Bears?"
He stared at me.
"…You idiot, we're inside."
"...R-right."
I slowly climbed the stairs.
"Keep moving."
I quietly followed him down the hallway.
The upstairs was just as old as the rest of the house, with faded wooden floors and doors lining both sides of the hallway.
Hayato stopped in front of one of them and opened it.
I cautiously peeked inside.
It was a bedroom.
There was an old bed against the wall, a small wooden table beside it, and a window overlooking the forest.
Unlike the rest of the house, the room was surprisingly clean.
Not perfect...
But clean enough.
Hayato stepped aside.
"You sleep here."
I looked at the room.
"...Here?"
"Yes."
I slowly stepped inside.
The mattress looked old, but it was still much better than sleeping on the floor.
I turned toward him.
"And..."
I hesitated.
"...You?"
"I'll sleep downstairs."
"...Where?"
"The sofa."
My eyes widened.
"...The sofa?"
"Yes."
"But..."
I looked back at the bed.
Then toward him.
"You can sleep here."
I pointed toward the bed.
"I'll sleep on the sofa."
He immediately shook his head.
"I'll sleep on the sofa."
"But you should sleep here."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I'm not letting a kid sleep on a sofa when there's a perfectly good bed."
I frowned.
"But you're the one who needs the bed!"
"I'm fine."
"You've been outside all day!"
"So have you."
"But you..."
I paused.
"...You still got blood on your clothes."
He looked at me.
The smile disappeared from my face.
"...You could be tired too."
For a moment, Hayato didn't say anything.
Then he simply turned away.
"I'm fine."
"But-"
"Go to sleep."
"I can sleep downstairs."
"No."
"I don't mind."
"I do."
"..."
Before I could argue again, he started walking toward the stairs.
"Wait!"
He didn't stop.
"I'll sleep on the sofa!"
Still nothing.
"Hayato!"
He continued walking.
"I can sleep anywhere!"
Nothing.
"I don't even need a bed!"
He finally reached the bottom of the stairs.
I hurried after him.
"Really, I'm okay with the sofa!"
He glanced back at me.
"...You're not sleeping on the sofa."
"But-"
"Good night."
And before I could finish my sentence, he walked away toward the living room.
I stood halfway down the stairs, completely speechless.
"..."
He didn't even let me finish.
I slowly looked toward the sofa.
Then toward the bedroom upstairs.
"..."
I sighed.
"He really is stubborn."
But...
Somehow...
That stubbornness didn't feel unpleasant.
It felt strangely reassuring.
Because even though he acted like everything was a bother...
He had still given me the bed.
He had still given me food.
He had still brought me to that pond.
And now...
He was willing to sleep on an old sofa just so I wouldn't have to.
I quietly smiled.
"...Thank you, Onii-chan."
From downstairs came an immediate response.
"I heard that."
My eyes widened.
"...!"
I covered my mouth.
"...Sorry!"
"Go to sleep."
"...Okay."
I quietly returned to the bedroom, closed the door, and climbed into the bed.
For the first time in a very long time...
I fell asleep without being afraid of what would happen when I opened my eyes again.
***
Morning came quietly.
The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the sunlight coming through the window, spreading across the floor in thin golden lines.
For a few seconds, I simply stared at the ceiling, trying to remember where I was, because the unfamiliar room had almost made me forget everything that had happened the night before.
Then I remembered.
The forest.
The pond.
Hayato.
And the fact that I was somehow sleeping in his house now.
I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes before getting out of bed. My body still felt a little sore from everything that had happened recently, but it wasn't the same kind of pain I was used to waking up with.
For once, I wasn't waking up wondering what horrible thing would happen that day.
I opened the door quietly and stepped into the hallway.
The house was completely silent.
I glanced toward the staircase.
He's probably still sleeping.
I carefully walked toward the stairs, trying not to make too much noise, but just as I was about to step down, something caught my attention.
One of the doors.
Actually...
There were several doors along the hallway that I hadn't noticed properly the night before.
I stopped.
"...What's in there?"
I stared at the nearest door.
It wasn't locked.
At least...
I didn't think it was.
I looked toward the stairs.
Then back at the door.
"...Just one look."
I slowly reached for the handle.
Click.
The door opened.
The room was dark, but sunlight from the window managed to reach far enough inside for me to see what was there.
My eyes widened.
"..."
Books.
There were books everywhere.
Bookshelves filled almost every wall, and several piles of books were stacked on the floor, on the desk, and even beside the window.
Some were old.
Some looked newer.
There were novels, history books, science books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and books about subjects I didn't even recognize.
I slowly stepped inside.
"...Whoa."
I looked around in complete amazement.
There's so many.
I walked toward one of the shelves and carefully ran my fingers across the dusty spines.
When I was younger, books had always been my escape.
Whenever things at home became too loud, I would hide somewhere quiet and read.
Stories allowed me to visit places I'd never been able to see, while books about science and history made me feel like there was an entire world waiting for me to understand.
I loved learning.
I loved discovering things.
And I especially loved stories.
Even when nobody wanted to listen to me talk about what I had learned, the books always did.
They never told me I was annoying.
They never told me I was useless.
They simply waited for me to open them.
I moved from one shelf to another until a familiar-looking title caught my attention.
My eyes widened.
"...No way."
I pulled the book out carefully.
It was one I had wanted to read for years.
I had seen it once when I was younger, but my parents had refused to buy it because they thought I was wasting time reading things that wouldn't help with anything.
I held it against my chest.
"...I finally found it!"
A huge smile spread across my face.
I immediately sat down on the floor and opened it.
Just one page.
I told myself I'd only read one page.
Then another.
And another.
Before I knew it, I was completely absorbed.
I didn't notice the footsteps approaching behind me.
"Can't you at least ask for permission?"
"AH!"
I jumped so hard that I nearly threw the book across the room.
I spun around.
Hayato stood in the doorway, looking at me with the most tired expression imaginable.
"...H-Hayato!"
He looked at the book in my hands.
Then at the shelves.
Then back at me.
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out.
"I...I was..."
I couldn't even come up with an excuse.
Hayato sighed.
"...You're terrible at lying."
"I'm sorry!"
He shook his head and stepped into the room.
"You really couldn't wait until I woke up?"
"I didn't mean to!"
"I know."
He looked around the room.
Then his eyes returned to me.
"...You're a nerd too, huh?"
I blinked.
"...Too?"
He shrugged.
"You're sitting in a room full of books before breakfast."
"..."
He wasn't wrong.
I slowly nodded.
"...I like reading."
"Obviously."
"I really love books."
"I noticed."
I looked around the room again with a small smile.
"When I was little, I used to read whenever I could."
"I liked stories, but I also liked learning new things."
"I'd read about animals, space, history, science..."
I smiled a little wider.
"...Anything I could find, really."
Hayato stared at me.
"...So you're one of those kids."
I tilted my head.
"What kind?"
"The kind who corrects people when they say something wrong."
"..."
I looked away.
"...Maybe."
"And probably gives unnecessary explanations."
"..."
"...You definitely do."
"I do not!"
"You've been talking for five minutes about books before eating breakfast."
"..."
I puffed my cheeks.
"...That's not unnecessary."
"Sure."
I looked down at the book in my hands.
"But..."
My smile slowly faded.
"...My parents..."
The words stopped there.
I stared at the pages without actually reading them anymore.
"...They didn't like me reading."
Hayato noticed immediately.
His expression changed slightly.
Not dramatically.
Just enough for me to notice that he had stopped teasing.
"..."
I quietly closed the book.
"They said I was wasting my time…and wanted me to do what they told me…So..."
I forced a small smile.
"...I didn't get to read much."
Hayato remained silent for a moment.
Then he sighed.
"I'll find a lamp."
I looked up.
"...Huh?"
"The room's too dark."
He turned around.
"...And if you're going to stay in here, at least don't ruin your eyes."
I blinked.
"...Okay."
He walked out.
I looked down at the book again.
A small smile returned to my face.
A few minutes later, he came back carrying an old lamp.
He placed it beside the desk, plugged it in, and turned it on.
The room immediately became brighter.
"...There."
I smiled.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me."
"Why?"
"Because now you'll probably never leave this room."
"..."
I looked at the books.
"...You're right."
He stared at me.
"...I was joking."
"I wasn't."
"..."
I picked up my book again.
Hayato sighed.
"Just don't stay awake all night."
"I won't."
"...And don't destroy anything."
"I won't."
"...And don't reorganize the shelves."
I paused.
"..."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Don't."
"...Okay."
He left the room.
I waited until his footsteps disappeared down the stairs.
Then I quietly looked at the shelves.
"...Maybe just a little."
I continued reading.
And then...
I found something.
A section of the book caught my attention so completely that I stopped turning the pages.
"...Wait."
I read the paragraph again.
Then again.
My eyes widened.
"...That's..."
I flipped back a few pages.
Then forward again.
"...No way."
I sat up straighter.
The information was fascinating.
Not just interesting.
Really interesting.
The kind of thing that made my brain immediately start connecting ideas together.
I couldn't keep it to myself.
I closed the book and rushed out of the room.
I hurried down the stairs, nearly tripping over the last step before running into the living room.
Hayato was sitting on the sofa.
He looked half-asleep.
He glanced at me.
"...What?"
I stood in front of him, breathing slightly faster.
"Hayato!"
"...What happened?"
"I found something!"
"...Congratulations."
"No, listen!"
He slowly sat up.
"...I'm listening."
I opened the book in front of him.
"Look!"
I pointed at the page.
"This!"
He stared at the page.
Then at me.
Then back at the page.
"...What am I looking at?"
"This part!"
"..."
"It's about…"
I immediately launched into a long explanation.
Hayato's expression slowly became emptier.
I kept talking.
I explained the information.
Then what it meant.
Then why it was interesting.
Then how it connected to something else I'd read before.
Then another thing.
Then another.
Hayato continued staring at me.
At some point, his eyes began drifting toward the ceiling.
"...Are you still listening?"
"Yes."
"You don't look like you're listening."
"I'm listening."
"...Really?"
"No."
"..."
I stared at him.
He sighed.
"You're too energetic in the morning."
"But this is interesting!"
"I've heard that sentence six times."
"Because it is!"
"..."
He rubbed his face.
"Fine."
He pointed at the book.
"Explain it again."
My eyes lit up immediately.
"Really?!"
"...Unfortunately."
I sat down beside him and opened the book again.
Hayato looked like he had already regretted his decision.
But he didn't tell me to stop.
And for some reason...
That made me smile.
Because maybe...
For the first time...
I had finally found someone who would actually listen to me talk about the things I loved.
***
By the time the clock reached 10:30 a.m., I was still talking.
And talking.
And talking.
I had somehow managed to explain an entire subject to Hayato, who had spent most of the morning sitting on the sofa with the same expression a person might have while watching paint dry.
Despite his obvious lack of interest, I had continued explaining every little detail I found fascinating, occasionally stopping only to take a breath before launching into another explanation.
Honestly, I thought I was doing pretty well. It wasn't every day that I found someone willing to sit through my endless rambling, and although Hayato had admitted several times that he wasn't listening, he hadn't actually told me to shut up and leave him alone.
That counted as progress in my book.
"So, you see, that's why-"
"Naoko."
"The whole thing is actually much more complicated than people think, because if you look at it from another perspective-"
"Naoko."
"And there's this other theory that-"
"NAOKO."
I stopped mid-sentence.
Hayato slowly turned his head toward me, his expression so painfully exhausted that I almost felt sorry for him.
"What?" I asked innocently.
He stared at me for several seconds before letting out a long sigh and rubbing his forehead with two fingers.
"Do you ever stop talking?"
"Of course I do!"
"When?"
"When I'm sleeping."
"Wonderful. I'll make sure you get eight hours tonight."
"Hey! Are you making fun of me?!"
"No, I'm making a prayer to whatever god is unfortunate enough to be listening to us right now."
I puffed out my cheeks, glaring at him while he stood up from the sofa and stretched his arms over his head. Then, without giving me any further explanation, he walked toward the wall beside the entrance, where several tools were hanging.
"I need to cut some wood," he announced. "We're running low, and I need to prepare something for lunch."
"Oh! I'll come too!"
"No."
"But-"
"No."
"I haven't even told you why I want to come!"
"You don't need to. The answer is still no."
I followed him as he reached for an axe hanging on the wall, its wooden handle worn from years of use. The metal blade looked old but well-maintained, although there were several dark, dried stains near its edge that I deliberately chose not to ask about.
Considering the kind of person Hayato was, I doubted I would particularly enjoy the answer.
Besides, I had more important matters to attend to.
"Please? I'll be good!" I clasped my hands together and looked up at him as hopefully as I could. "I promise I won't bother you!"
He glanced at me.
Then at the axe.
Then back at me.
"You're already bothering me."
"That's different!"
"How?"
"Because I'm bothering you here!" I pointed at the floor beneath my feet. "If I come with you, I'll be bothering you somewhere else!"
For a moment, Hayato said absolutely nothing.
I couldn't tell whether he was trying to understand my logic or deciding which tree would be most suitable for burying me beneath.
"That might be the stupidest argument I've ever heard."
"But you understood it!"
"Unfortunately."
He turned toward the door, apparently deciding that arguing with me was a waste of the remaining years of his life. I immediately followed, grinning to myself as I slipped on my shoes.
"Does that mean I can come?"
"It means that if you don't stop asking, I'll leave you here and lock the door."
"You wouldn't!"
"Try me."
Naturally, I followed him anyway.
And naturally, he didn't lock the door.
The forest surrounding Hayato's house was much larger than I had initially imagined. Once we walked far enough from the house, the familiar sounds of the old wooden floor and the occasional creaking walls disappeared, replaced by the rustling of leaves, the chirping of birds, and the soft crunch of dry twigs beneath our shoes. Tall trees stretched toward the sky on either side of us, their branches weaving together overhead and allowing only scattered patches of sunlight to reach the forest floor.
It was beautiful, in a way.
Quiet, too.
Although, considering I had spent the entire morning talking, I wasn't sure I was qualified to appreciate quietness.
Hayato eventually stopped beside a cluster of trees and examined the area before setting down the small bag of supplies he'd brought. He chose a tree, positioned himself in front of it, and raised his axe.
The sharp THUNK that followed echoed through the woods.
I flinched a little.
He struck the trunk again.
And again.
Each blow landed with a solid, deliberate force, the blade biting deeper into the wood as small chips scattered around his boots. There was something unsettlingly natural about the way he handled the axe, as though swinging it was no different from picking up a spoon or opening a door.
I watched him for a while before an idea occurred to me.
"Hey, Hayato?"
"What?"
"Can I help?"
"No."
"But I can-"
"No."
"I haven't even said what I want to do!"
"And I haven't changed my answer."
I frowned at him.
"You're so mean."
"Good. Now sit somewhere and don't touch anything sharp."
"How am I supposed to help if I can't touch anything?"
"By not getting in my way. That's a very important job, actually."
I wanted to argue, but he had already returned his attention to the tree, clearly considering the conversation finished.
With a defeated sigh, I wandered over to a relatively flat patch of ground near a large tree stump and sat down, resting my chin on my knees while watching him work.
For approximately three minutes, I behaved myself.
Three whole minutes.
It was probably a personal record.
Unfortunately, sitting still turned out to be much more difficult than I had anticipated.
There was nothing to read, nobody to talk to, and absolutely nothing happening except Hayato repeatedly swinging an axe at a tree. I tried counting the birds I could hear, but I lost track somewhere around seven. Then I tried guessing how many swings it would take him to cut through the trunk, but I got bored of that, too.
Eventually, my eyes wandered toward a narrow path between the trees.
I wonder what's over there.
I tilted my head.
There could be flowers. Or interesting rocks. Or maybe a little stream hidden somewhere nearby. This was a forest, after all! There had to be something worth looking at besides trees.
I stood up and brushed the dirt from my skirt.
I'll just take a quick look. It's not like I'm going far.
I took one step toward the path.
Then another.
"Hey."
I froze.
Hayato was still standing beside the tree, his axe embedded in the trunk as he looked over his shoulder at me.
"Where do you think you're going, moron?"
I scowled at him.
"I'm just looking around! It's not like I'm going to disappear!"
"That's exactly what an idiot says before disappearing."
"Well, I'm sorry that I don't find watching you hit a tree entertaining!"
"Then find something else to do without wandering off into a forest full of things that can kill you."
I rolled my eyes, turning away from him.
"Fine! I'll just sit here and rot, then!"
"That would be preferable to having to search for your body."
"YOU'RE THE WORST!"
"And yet, here you are."
I stuck my tongue out at him before marching toward the narrow path.
I could practically feel his glare burning into the back of my head, but I refused to turn around. He was always like this, treating me as if I were some troublesome child who couldn't be trusted to take three steps without accidentally getting herself killed.
Which was ridiculous.
I was perfectly capable of exploring a forest without getting into trouble….Probably.
Behind me, Hayato muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a curse, but I ignored him. I heard the axe strike the tree again, and I took that as a sign that he had decided to let me go.
Besides, I wasn't going far.
Just a little farther.
The trees grew denser as I followed the path, and the ground gradually sloped downward. Sunlight filtered through the canopy in thin golden beams, illuminating patches of moss and fallen leaves. Somewhere nearby, water trickled over stones, and a small bird hopped across a branch before fluttering out of sight.
See?
Perfectly harmless.
I stepped over a fallen log and continued walking, looking around with growing curiosity. There were strange little mushrooms growing beside the roots of a tree, a cluster of pale flowers tucked between two rocks, and what looked like animal tracks pressed into the soft earth.
I crouched to examine them.
"Huh. I wonder what made these..."
They were larger than I expected.
Maybe a deer?
I had absolutely no idea what deer tracks were supposed to look like, but that seemed like a reasonable guess. Satisfied with my highly scientific conclusion, I stood up and continued down the path.
Then I heard something.
A branch snapping.
I stopped.
The sound had come from somewhere behind the trees to my left.
I turned my head, staring into the gaps between the trunks…
Nothing.
Just shadows, leaves, and the occasional movement of branches swaying in the breeze.
I waited for a few seconds before letting out a quiet breath.
Probably just a bird.
I turned around and took another step.
Something rustled behind me.
This time, it was louder.
My shoulders stiffened.
I slowly turned back toward the sound, my eyes searching the undergrowth as my heartbeat began to pick up for reasons I couldn't quite explain. The forest suddenly seemed much quieter than before. I could no longer hear the birds, and even the trickling water seemed distant, as though the entire world had moved several steps away from me.
"Hello?" I called, my voice coming out smaller than I intended.
No answer.
I swallowed and took a cautious step backward.
Then I heard it again.
A heavy, uneven rustling.
Not the delicate movement of a bird hopping through the leaves. Not the gentle swaying of branches in the wind.
Something was moving through the undergrowth.
Something big.
I turned toward the path I'd taken, intending to return to Hayato before he could yell at me again, but before I could take more than two steps, a sharp cracking sound erupted from the trees behind me.
I froze.
A low growl rolled through the forest.
It was deep enough that I felt it in my chest, and for one terrible second, I couldn't convince myself that the sound had come from an animal at all.
Then the undergrowth exploded.
A massive shape burst between the trees, its heavy paws pounding against the ground as it charged straight toward me. Dark fur, broad shoulders, a huge head, and a pair of eyes fixed on me with terrifying intensity filled my vision so suddenly that my mind refused to understand what I was seeing.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't move.
My thoughts emptied completely as the animal thundered closer, tearing through branches and scattering leaves beneath its weight.
It wasn't a deer.
It wasn't a boar.
It wasn't some harmless little animal I'd imagined finding while wandering around like an idiot…
It was a…
Bear.