Scold

Following the guard, Gurumi enters the dungeon.

Small, cramped corridors. Tight, yet safe. Comfortable despite knowing it's a prison.

At the end of the hall stands her brother. Though locked behind bars and chained to the wall, he's by far the least restrained one.

She often wonders what it would feel like to be as unchained as him. But she knows it's too dangerous.

There are consequences to acting on your impulses—this whole situation is proof of that.

"Nii, I'm here to pick you up."

"Eh? I was supposed to stay the night." The guard opens the cell.

"We can't leave Ma alone that long. That's why these nice misters agreed to let you go with just a warning." She glances back at the guards. "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome, kid. Just make sure your bro stays out of trouble. Hard to tell who the older one is." She sees her brother furrow his brow—so she launches herself at him for a hug.

"Nii, I've missed you so much! Let's go home together, 'kay?"

༻──⋆༺𓆩⋆𓆪༻⋆──༺

Once outside, walking through the wide streets, things don't look much different from the dungeon. And they don't feel any different either.

"You can't get in fights with the guards, Nii."

"It's their fault. They got on my nerves when I was already at my limit because of that bas…" He clears his throat. "Because of Raba." Grumpier than usual.

"Let's forget about that bully. How was training?" An indirect question may give her some clues.

"The stupid instructor gave me an earful just because one of the weaklings I was sparring with got hurt."

"You must be getting good grades being that strong, right?"

"Barely above average, and apparently my aim is mediocre."

"Oh, you should work on that." An idea sparks. "How about we practice in the forest tomorrow? I can paint some trees for you to—" Gurumi stops. Her brother is staring at her in that way again.

"Say, why is aim important? You know guards use a lance as their main weapon."

Oh...

"B-because you'll get more ranged weapons from the enemies you defeat with how strong you are. So you need to have a good aim to use them, right?" He stares at her closely.

Did I mess up?

"Fine, I'll take you up on your offer."

She holds back a sigh and forces her smile to widen.

"You can count on me, Nii."

༻──⋆༺𓆩⋆𓆪༻⋆──༺

It's a warm sunny day, as usual. Gurumi sits comfortably in the shade.

Birds chirp a pleasant tune, their song punctuated every few seconds by the steady 'thunk' of something striking the trees.

At this distance, she can't tell whether her brother is hitting the mark, so she'll take a closer look once he's thrown all the stones.

They're just trees this time. But next, it'll be people—people who'll be trying to kill him, too, and—

"Turns out the top cadets get a weapon," he says, throwing another stone.

Gurumi pushes aside her thoughts and forces a smile.

"Waah, really? You'll get a wand of your own?" Better to sound as impressed as possible.

"We were told so during this morning's drill."

"That's great news, Nii!" A weapon means he'll be safer. She forces herself to focus on that and acts like everything's normal.

"Still, they won't tell us how they suddenly got a ton of those cursed items."

"Hm? Do you dislike magic items?"

"Of course I do, they are the reason all this shit is happening!"

"Nii!" Kaji ruffles his hair, and after some hesitation, speaks again.

"Sorry for the swear."

"Lately..." How should she bring this up? "It feels like you're under a lot of pressure."

"Of course I am, with this whole stupid war going on."

"Is that all there is to it?" For a moment, he gives her a mean stare—something Nii never does. Maybe she shouldn't press further...

He speaks again. "There's something that's been bothering me for a while." Gurumi's jaw drops. Will he open up?

"Have you been using your skills again?"

Crap!

"O-only to get you out of the dungeon! Nothing more, I swear!"

"Then why didn't you ask me more questions about the magic items? You are always curious about these things."

"B-because you seem to hate talking about them."

"And why did you call them wands? I never used that word." Boogers! Now she's busted. "Always the same with you. What did you do this time? Were you asking the guards about the weapons?"

Further lies will only dig her deeper.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Nii."

"Stop deceiving people like that before you get in trouble!"

"But you get in trouble all the time. Why is it so bad for me to spread a few white lies to help you?"

"Because you'll end up just like Giaro!" They both fall silent.

He has a point, yet...

"That's fine," she says. Kaji blinks several times.

"What!?" He starts walking towards her.

"If I leave you alone you'll end up dead or imprisoned. At least let me use my talents to help you! Stop trying to do everything alone!" Kaji slaps her, shackling Gurumi into another silence. Tears well in her eyes.

I've gone too far, from now on he'll treat me like everyone else, he'll close up and I will end all alone again…

I can't support Mother by myself, I could barely take care of a garden.

Why is he so aggressive lately? Is this really just because of the war? No, there must be something else that's bothering him.

She knows her brother is always struggling with himself. She's the same, though her struggle is different—she's a coward.

If they both close up to each other…

If her brother keeps acting like this during a war...

She has to do something. Otherwise, the worst could happen. She's already messed up; things can't get much worse.

So let's go all out!

Gurumi jumps and slaps her brother. He's so stunned, he barely reacts.

"Nii, you coward! Stop pushing everyone away just because you're afraid of showing weakness!"

She knows she looks like a child throwing a tantrum—but that makes two of them.

"So what if Father betrayed us? So what if you're the pillar of the house? You're still a kid! And because Mother's too kind, no one ever calls you out when you act like a brat."

She's on her tiptoes now, fists clenched. "Well, I will. From now on, I'm going to be the one scolding you, you immature, grumpy idiot!"

For once, her brother is at a loss for words.

Is he speechless because he's thinking over what she said?

Or is he so angry he's about to explode?

,,,

He turns around.

In a low, cold voice, he says, "Whatever. I'm not your father, so do what you want. You're smart enough to figure things out on your own."

He walks away, growing darker and blurrier with each step.

Did she manage to get through to him? Will he take her words to heart?

For this moment to mean something, she has to keep moving forward. Tomorrow, she'll talk to him again—and if he tries to shut her down a second time, she'll push back harder.

A small chuckle, heard by no one, escapes her.

In the end, breaking free isn't so hard.

All it took was forcing herself into a moment where the only good option was to speak her mind.