And so, the school day once again passed by, and it came time for the end of classes. It was a struggle to walk around carrying so much chocolate, so I’d decided to go straight home. I’d lately been spending time with Sorahashi-san until the late evenings, so it was a nice change of pace to be getting back before the sun went down.

     I left my bag and the chocolates in my room and headed out to the hallway.

     Maybe the collar was still somewhere in the house. Luckily, neither my parents nor Mizuki had come back yet, so I was free to search wherever I wanted. Between the living room, dining room, and bathroom, I had gone through every nook and cranny.

     But of course, the collar didn’t turn up.

     I sighed.

     I was so preoccupied with looking for it that I hadn’t even gotten any chocolates for my friends today. I absolutely had to make up for it on White Day.

     When I went back to my room, I noticed my phone vibrating. I hurriedly picked it up to see that Sorahashi-san was calling. I immediately tapped to answer.

     『Hi, Kurumi? Did you get home safe?』

     「Yep, safe and sound.」

     『I see, I see. That’s wonderful. You had so much chocolate weighing you down. I was worried.』

     「You had a ton too. Were you fine?」

     『Mhm. I’ve safely arrived back home.』

     「I see. I’m sorry I didn’t have any chocolate for you today.」

     『That’s okay. Kurumi, you’ve seemed a bit down lately… is everything okay?』

     I was surprised. I hadn’t told her about the missing collar. There was no way I could tell her I had lost a gift from her, after all.

     「No, it’s nothing. I’m just a little tired.」

     『Hmm… That’s fine, then. But tell me if anything comes up, okay? If you give the order, I’ll do anything you ask. I’m a good dog.』

     「Thank you.」

     Maybe I’d never find it. It would be dishonest to keep it a secret. It’d already been a week, so I considered just giving up and telling her.

     Gathering my resolve, I began to speak.

     「Um, Sorahashi-san. I—」

     「I’m home.」

     I heard a voice coming from the entrance. It was Mizuki. Surprised, I left my room.

     「Sorry. I’ll call you back later.」

     『Okay. Later, then.』

     I hung up. I hadn’t had many chances to welcome Mizuki home lately, so I wanted to make sure I did so today. As I walked to the front door, I saw Mizuki in her bulky coat.

     I smiled.

     「Welcome back, Mizuki.」

     「Mm, thanks. …Wait, did you bring someone home today?」

     「Nope. I was just on the phone.」

     「Hmm…」

     She said with an uninterested expression. Then, as if suddenly realizing something, she rummaged through her bag and took out a small package to hand to me.

     「Here, take it. I just bought it.」

     「Is it chocolate? Thank you, Mizuki.」

     Seeing me accept the chocolate, she seemed satisfied and walked past me toward her room.

     「Ah, wait up. I’ll get you something warm to drink. Let’s have the chocolate together.」

     「Sure.」

     I went to the kitchen and boiled some water in the kettle. Seeing that the tea was still where it always was put me at ease. I prepared two cups and got the tea started. Having taken off her coat, Mizuki came in and sat down on the sofa.

     I sat next to her and put the cups on the table.

     I opened the wrapper to find adorably-shaped chocolates — hearts, spheres, and animals. She used to make them herself, but I supposed she’d started to buy them instead.

     It made me a bit emotional. Certainly, Mizuki was no longer just a kid.

     I smiled as I thought back to how we used to make chocolates together and spray all sorts of colors on them.

     As I ate one chocolate, Mizuki took one as well. Doing this, just the two of us, made me a little happy. It was as if I’d gone back in time.

     We took turns having a piece until there was only one left. I tried to give that final piece to her, but she refused to touch it and just stared at me.

     「Kurumi. You seem kinda tired.」

     Was it really that obvious? I averted my gaze.

     「It’s probably because I have tests coming up.」

     「…Kurumi, you’ve been lying so much lately. You don’t ever have trouble studying for tests. But you’re saying that anyway.」

     「High school’s pretty hard.」

     「…Ahaha.」

     For some reason, she smiled.

     As I stared at her, she brought her face closer to me, as if she were an innocent child.

     「You started lying when… you became friends with Sorahashi Sera, I think.」

     Her voice was cold, the complete opposite of her cheerful smile.

     「Does she really mean that much to you? So much that you’d lie to me?」

     「She’s an important friend…」

     「Lying again.」

     She giggled.

     「I guess people really do tell even more lies after telling one to keep their story straight. …Hehe. Don’t lie, okay? I guess ethics classes aren’t useless after all.」

     「Mizuki…?」

     「Let me guess why you’ve been so tired lately.」

     She said with a childlike smile. I had no words. All I could do was stare into her eyes. They were black. That was their natural color, so of course they were.

     But her gaze seemed much darker than usual. Perhaps that was because they were hidden behind an immeasurable shadow.

     「Before I do that, close your eyes. It’ll be hard to do if you’re looking at me.」

     Her words made me uneasy. I had no reason to refuse, though, so I did as she asked and shut my eyes.

     I felt a breath on my neck. It was just like when Sorahashi-san was putting a collar on me. Right as I imagined that this couldn’t possibly be what was happening, I felt something wrap around my neck. It was a tighter feeling than usual, and without a doubt —

     I instinctively opened my eyes, and Mizuki let out a small sigh.

     「I told you to close your eyes.」

     「Why…」

     「Hm?」

     「Why do you have the collar?」

     I didn’t even need to look to know that what was around my neck was the collar I had received from Sorahashi-san. I’d worn it so many times by now, after all.

     But why did Mizuki have it?

     My heart was racing. How much did she know about the two of us? And more importantly…

     「Wait, did you take the —」

     「You’re realizing that now?」

     「Wh-why? Why did you do that?」

     「Do you really not know?」

     Of course not. What reason would she have to take the collar? And how did she even know it was in the treasure chest in the first place?

     「I’ll tell you why. …I wanted to find out what Sorahashi Sera means to you, Onee-chan.」

     She spoke in a lowered tone.

     As she did, she pushed down on my chest. She did so with more force than I expected, and I lost my balance. I fell flat against the sofa. It was at that moment that I realized how much I was sweating.

     「You’re awful. I told you before that it was a Mizuki memory box. But you put something you got from someone else in it. …All you do is lie.」

     「Um, Mizuki…」

     「What’s the next lie going to be, Onee-chan?」

     She said as she straddled me.

     「I know. I know what you’re doing with Sorahashi-san, Onee-chan. She might have deleted the video, but… I know you’re doing things that you can’t tell anyone else about. And I also know that she gave you this collar. I mean, you always keep it in your bag, right? Like it’s something special to you?」

     A video.

     Hearing those words made me think back to how her phone had been in my room before. Had it been recording back then? Maybe Sorahashi-san had noticed, and that was why she had been fiddling with Mizuki’s phone.

     I got goosebumps. I couldn’t believe that the person looking down at me was the same little Mizuki from my memories.

     「She’s more important to you than I am. A total stranger. You haven’t even known her for a year. But she’s important enough that you do perverted stuff with her.」

     「That’s not…!」

     「Then!」

     Her voice resounded through the living room.

     「Then why can’t you rely on me^[1]?」

   Her grip on my clothes was so tight that it hurt.

     「You promised. That when I grew up, that when I got cool, that when I became an adult you could rely on, you would rely on me. That you’d rely only on me.」

     When she said that, I remembered.

     It was the continuation of that dream I’d seen before. And certainly, something like that had really—

     「You said that game was our secret. You promised me. But all of those — every single one! You broke them all! Onee-chan, you couldn’t keep a single promise!」

     She pounded at my chest.

     I didn’t know what to say.

     I thought she’d changed. I thought that she wasn’t that little girl from my memories anymore, that she had started to live her own life. But maybe I was wrong.

     「Onee-chan. I’ve gotten stronger. I’m not the weak Mizuki that depended on you, relied on you, had to be led around by you anymore. I can wake up on my own, I can cook my own meals, I can even sleep over at my friend’s house. And I can even pick out the right presents for you.」

     She continued.

     「I can tell that you can’t smile when you’re at home, Onee-chan. That’s why I make sure I do. And I get along with Mom and Dad. A lot better than you do. Is that still not enough? Am I still not someone you can rely on? Am I still just a little sister?」

     The light reflected off her large eyes as if they were the ocean. Faced with a gaze that seemed ready to overflow with emotions at a moment’s notice, I couldn’t spare even a single breath.

     「I’m even taller than you now, Onee-chan. And stronger. But…」

     Her hands were shaking much more violently than back when she cried because of how lonely she was.

     「Please, look at me. Only me. Don’t look at the past. I’m not just some memory. I’m here now. I know you’re becoming an adult three years earlier, so maybe I seem like a kid to you. But I’ve worked so hard and gotten so strong. I’m an adult now. I’ve always wanted to protect you, Onee-chan, and now it’s my turn to…」

     My clothes were beginning to stain. She turned her gaze downwards and sobbed like a little child.

     I didn’t understand anything. Our promises weren’t just fond memories to her. She was still trying to keep them, even now. She was still trying to look out for me like she did back then. I hadn’t tried to understand even that. I had just thought that she was good at adapting herself to new environments.

     But it was all for me.

     Maybe her bluntness was her way of showing that she was independent enough to not have to rely on me. If so, then I… What was I supposed to do?

     「What do I need to do? How can I stop anybody from taking you away from me, Onee-chan? I don’t care about anyone else. If I could have you with me, then I wouldn’t need Dad, or Mom, or any of my friends. Please want me, Onee-chan. You’re all I have.」

     Mizuki was crying. And it was my fault. If it had been because of anything else, I could have been there to comfort her. I could have patted her back and told her everything was okay. But at the realization that her tears were because of me, my hands wouldn’t move how I wanted them to.

     I could only look up at her.

     「What does Sorahashi-san mean to you, Onee-chan? Please. Make it make sense. If you do, then even I…」

     「…I’m sorry, Mizuki.」

     「That’s not what I want to hear…」

     But it was the only thing I could say.

     The fact that we had been together all this time, but I still didn’t understand her at all; the fact that I had lied to her; the fact that I had made her cry — it was all my fault.

     Mizuki just kept on crying.

     As she did, all I could do was hold her hand.

     I was a failure of a big sister.

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^[1] In this line, Mizuki swaps to using her own name for her first-person pronoun. This continues until near the end of the chapter.

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