Don't Leave Me

Third-Person POV:

"No."

With just one word, the atmosphere changed drastically. Darien still looked at his brother with a stunned and confused expression, while the blond boy only looked down, the shadow from his bangs making his facial expression unreadable.

Darien had expected that his brother would object to the idea, but that tone just now... was it fear? That tone is so cold. He didn't know what else, but what he was feeling now was unsettling.

'... Did something happen? Or...'

"... Eiri-niichan?"

"..."

Darien felt more confused and uneasy seeing his brother act so strangely now.'... He was fine just now. What made him act like this? Was it because I mentioned using my power?'

The novelist took a deep breath and let it out to calm himself down, trying to think positively, even though his brain was starting to overthink. And the feelings he feels right now are almost too much to ignore anymore.

"Eiri-niichan, don't worry. I'm just going to test my power and won't do anything more than that. Even though Hishi-nii told me I've fully recovered, I know my body's limits. Besides, it's almost night now, and Aidan-san won't allow us to wander in the forest at night, and there's going to be a storm today...

So... Oh! Eiri-niichan, you know what! I got a new skill, so I thought I'd try to test my power today to figure out what else it can do, and I also wanted to ask for your help. We can work together--"

"No."

Darien flinched this time because of that tone again, and this time, he could hear it more clearly. It was full of coldness and seriousness, but there was another emotion in it. Like anxiety about something. That made the novelist feel more confused.

The atmosphere grew more tense with the gentle breeze and the sound of the flowing stream as their background noise. Darien tried to be brave and ask his brother.

"... Why, Eiri-niichan? Did something happen? If not today... Um... We can do it another day--"

"You will not use your power."

"Huh?"

'What did he just say?' Darien didn't understand. He didn't understand why his brother was acting like this now. It was making him feel more worried and scared. A sense of anxiety was gripping him, and the pit in his stomach was getting bigger.

"Why?"

"..."

"Eiri-niichan... You need to tell me why," this time, Darien was the one who became serious. He was feeling annoyed now because Eirian kept him on the edge, making him want to know why he couldn't. And why was Eirian acting like this? it was seriously going to drive him crazy.

"Eiri-niichan... I understand if you're actually worried about me, but if we don't start learning to control our power, what if that scenario happens again? Suddenly? Like that day, we need to be ready for--"

"How do you know?"

"!!!"

Darien was startled by that question, but he tried to compose himself and act serious again. 'It's true that I know what scenario will happen, even though I'm not sure if it will really happen or not, because I can't control this world now.

But, just in case, we still need to learn so we can protect ourselves. Sigh, for a second thought there... I thought Eirian knew my real identity.'

"Eiri-niichan... Did you forget what the system told us before? A second main scenario, like the previous one, will happen. I'm not sure when, but now I know we don't have much time to waste. We need to learn to use our power so we can be ready and protect ourselves--"

"You don't need to."

Darien was stunned and then felt more annoyed because Eirian kept cutting him off. And his tone.... now Darien noticed that it was like a tone without any emotion. Like a robot that had just been turned on. Cold and empty.

This was seriously testing his patience. The novelist knew he was a very patient person, never complained or fought back. That's what everyone said in his original world. Darien shook his head to throw that memory away. He had an important task now.

"Why?"

"..."

He gritted his teeth out of frustration and raised his voice this time, not too loud, but a sense of annoyance and confusion was there.

"Can you tell me the reason why I don't need to learn to use my power, Eiri-niichan!? You were fine before! Why did you suddenly change your mind? Did you forget that the second main scenario might happen at any time! We need to learn to use our power so we can--"

But Eirian cut him off again, and this time, he also raised his voice, only louder, as if he was releasing all the emotions he had suppressed all this time. He looked distressed...

"I SAID you don't need to learn! I'll be the only one who learns! You don't need to do anything and just stay behind me! I can protect you!"

The remarks that burst from Eirian truly made him silent and confused. Eirian looked angry, but at the same time, he looked scared.

"Don't you remember what happened before after you tried to release your power!? Did you FORGET!? You almost lost your life when you removed that protective wall!?  You almost died! Your body is too weak! Your power is too strong! Too terrifying!"

Darien's eyes widened in shock. He hadn't expected that from Eirian.

"What if your power gets out of control again!? What if you hurt yourself and others around you!!?"

Darien's hands trembled as he bit his lip, as if holding himself back from bursting too, even though tears had already started to well up in his crimson-red eyes.

"You're going to leave me too!? Just like my brother left me before you took his body!?"

"!!!"

Gasp!

'W... What? What was that?' Darien felt so shocked. As if he had been splashed with a bucket of ice water. His eyes widened, tears welling up in them, making them glassy, almost about to flow.

The novelist hadn't expected that all this time, it was true. Eirian knew he wasn't the real Darien. '... So, he's just been pretending with me all this time? All the time we spend together, the promise he made... Is it all that is fake too?', his thought felt a pain in his chest.

"... What... What did... Eiri-niichan say?"

"DON'T call me Eiri-niichan again!!"

"!!!"

Darien flinched hard this time, and he felt his feelings were being hurt even more, as if his heart was being sliced by a sharp knife.

"I've known for a long time... I've known for a long time, hiks... That's you're not my Darien. Not my brother... I don't know who you are, hiks! Why are you in my brother's body... Why did Darien die? Sob... I just couldn't accept the reality of it... But I tried to accept you even after all that!"

The novelist then looked down, with tears streaming from his two beautiful crimson eyes. A sense of guilt and sadness filled him. A pain that he never expected to feel again.

"... That's why! Just because you're not my brother! Just because you're in that body! You can't just do whatever you want with that body! It's my brother's body! Not yours!!!"

"..."

"Hiks... Why? Hiks... Why did you take Darien from me? Sob... What sin did the two of us commit to have to live like this sob sob..."

"... Eiri-niichan..." the novelist tried to approach him, tried to reach for him, but his hand was immediately swatted away by Eirian roughly, leaving him full of shock and even worse heartache. Especially, those beautiful mint-green eyes were full of despair, anger, and sadness.

'... This wasn't supposed to happen...'

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"...No... Sob... Eiri-niichan, please---"

"I ALREADY said don't call me that! You're not my brother! Leave me alone!" Eirian screamed, closing his eyes and covering both of his ears. That made Darien hesitate.

Then Eirian realized what he had said; the feelings of shock and then guilt were crawling up his throat. He realized that he had just said something that hurt Darien's feelings, and he didn't mean it at all, so he ran away from there, leaving Darien behind.

The novelist felt as if his world had been destroyed... Again... He could only watch Eirian's back disappear behind the shadow that had already appeared because the sun was setting, and the black clouds, signaling that rain was about to fall, were making the atmosphere even more gloomy.

The rain then suddenly fell heavily, as if joining him in this deep sadness. His mouth was still slightly agape as he tried to call his brother one more time before he disappeared behind the darkness of the shadow, and his hand, which tried to reach for his brother, was still in the air.

The shadow from his bangs made his facial expression unreadable, and the tears that had been flowing had merged with the rain that was falling heavily and the strong wind.

Just now, the weather was nice, the atmosphere was good, now... 

'What just happened? How did he know? How long has he known? Why did he never talk to me about this? What did I do to make this situation like this? Is it... My fault again?' That last sentence kept echoing in his head, trying to remind him of his failures and mistakes back in his original world.

The image of the black-haired boy appeared again, then the boy's voice made a promise, "I promise you, Hikaru, I will never leave you." Then Eirian's promise to him the other day, just like that black-haired boy, kept playing in his mind.

And, an image of Darien, from who knows where, was smiling at him with a sad but grateful look. He seemed to be saying something, but the novelist couldn't hear it.

He had guessed that one day, when everything was revealed, Eirian might hate him and leave him. He knew! But he never expected it to happen so fast... He wasn't ready yet.

All of Eirian's kindness to him all this time left a bitter taste on his tongue. tears kept flowing, and the pain in his chest got worse.

"Liar..." he whispered, his voice sounding hoarse because he was crying or from a sore throat. After all, it was cold now due to the rain and wind.

"... You guys said you wouldn't leave me. You promised me... Gave me hope... Light... So, why? Hiks... Sobbing... What did I do wrong? Why leave me again?" He whispered to himself.

...

"... Please... Don't leave me..." The image of the black-haired boy appeared again. This time, the mysterious boy gave a final smile before turning away from his gaze and leaving. The image changed to Eirian, who had run away earlier, not looking back either.

He bit his lips even harder this time until it bled. The hazelnut-haired boy started to take a step to chase Eirian, but something pulled him from behind, which surprised him, and he didn't have time to react when he was pulled from behind, almost falling onto the ground, but instead, there was a big hole just enough for him to fall into.

"Eh?"

And, Darien fell into the holes as if he had entered through a door when the novelist realized he was in the air now, and the hole he had just passed through was gone, before he realized he was falling from a slight height, not very high, but still high.

The hazelnut-haired boy didn't have time to do anything because he was almost close to the ground when he fell, but it still had a strong impact, especially on his fragile body.

Thud!

Darkness immediately enveloped him as soon as he made contact with the ground. He fell hard on his side, which made him gasp in pain and then faint.

Skip...
At Aidan's mansion...

The front door opened, revealing Aidan, who looked exhausted, which showed he had just returned from work again. He gave his coat to one of the maids who was already standing by and stopped his steps when he saw someone in front of him.

"Ah, welcome home, Aidan-san..." Hirayuki greeted with his charming smile. Aidan just nodded at him and walked toward the young detective. "I thought you were with the two kids now..."

"Yeah, but I just arrived because I forgot something on the way here, and they're gone! I don't know where they are and was just about to ask Suhee-san."

Aidan raised one eyebrow at Hirayuki's remarks. His face then changed as if he had just remembered something, and he seemed to facepalm himself for forgetting about it.

"... I didn't tell you, did I?"

"Huh? Tell me what?"

Aidan wanted to slap his forehead now for forgetting to tell the young detective about the two kids, "Sigh.. Actually, Darien and Eirian went into the forest today, near the stream there..."

Hirayuki blinked many times with a look of disbelief. Then he turned to look at Suhee, Ayumu, and the other maids to make sure he didn't hear wrong. They just gave an awkward smile and nodded that yes, they also knew about this.

The young detective then turned to look at Aidan, this time, with a shocked look as if he was having a heart attack. "YOU LET THEM GO INTO THE FOREST NOW!!?" his voice echoed in the house, which made a maid who was carrying many books drop them.

Aidan had already covered his ears as if he had expected that reaction. "Why are you shocked? The forest here has no dangerous monsters, animals, or insects. You should know about that."

"Yes! I know! But! What are the two of them doing in the forest at this time!? It's almost night, and did you forget that there's going to be a storm today!?"

"Ah."

Hirayuki looked like he was about to faint now. "... Aidan-san, can I know why they're in the forest now and... Do they know that they can't go into the other side of the forest?"

"Yes, Darien knows everything, especially about the dangers of the forest on the other side. He promised not to go to the other side," Aidan explained as if he was talking about the weather. 

Then he left from there, gesturing to his maids with Suhee and Ayumu not to follow him, and then gesturing to Hirayuki to follow him to sit in the living room.

"What? Dari-chan? That means Eiri-chan doesn't know about this?" Hirayuki asked, sitting on the sofa facing Aidan, who was sitting in front of him.

"Yes, because Eirian probably wouldn't allow it, so he will just drag his brother there."

"... What does Dari-chan want to do there?"

"He wants to try to test his power again. You know,  the second main scenario will likely happen later, right? Darien said the same thing too, the survivors from that game said the same thing will happen again..."

"So, Dari-chan wants to learn to control his power so he'll be ready for whatever happens later? Well, it's actually a good idea. After all, his power is too... Strong," Hirayuki muttered, sounding serious this time.

"That's right, he and his brother can learn to get to know their power first, then control it. I'll try to help them as much as I can... Now, Darien said he wants to test his power first with Eirian."

"But... Didn't he just recover?" asked the young detective, looking worried.

"Don't worry, Hoshiyuki told me that he's fully recovered, just don't overdo it. Darien is a smart kid just like his brother. He knows his body's limits and what he needs to do. Now let's get off that topic. Did you get what I asked for?"

Aidan and Hirayuki were silent, looking at each other with a serious expression, before the young detective let out a long sigh and handed a file manila to Aidan.

"Yes, it was quite difficult, but I managed to get it. And this is also why I was late, haha. I left it on my study table." Aidan hummed in understanding, then opened the file, starting to read it one page after another.

His forehead furrowed more every time he finished reading a page, and his grip on the file almost crumpled the papers.

"... After 2 years of their parents' death, a couple adopted the two of them, but it didn't last long, though. After about a year, Darien was admitted to the hospital, brought by Eirian himself.

The doctor who treated them found a lot of old and new bruises on both of them, and Eirian's arm was badly sprained at that time, but Darien's condition was the most critical. He almost couldn't be saved that night...", explained Hirayuki with a murderous look.

The atmosphere became tense and silent. Aidan looked like he wanted to torture the people who did this to the two brothers, and Hirayuki also looked like he wanted to find someone.

"What happened to the couple?"

"The two of them managed to run away and haven't been found until now... I hope I don't see them, or I might kill them, haha," Hirayuki said as if trying to joke, even though Aidan could tell he was serious.

Suddenly, the rain fell heavily, and the wind was strong, which made the two of them realize how much time had passed. "Have the two of them come back?'

"... Not sure, but let's go. It's almost night now..."

Aidan and Hirayuki got up and went to the front door of the house. When they were almost there, they noticed a lot of maids, including Suhee, Ayumu, the three friends, and the chef, were waiting there with worried, anxious, and panicked expressions.

"Have the two of them not come back yet?" Aidan asked Ayumu, who just shook his head. "... Maybe they're running here now because it's raining. Besides, it shouldn't be far from the place you mentioned..."

"... Yeah, that's right. Let's wait a little longer. Get ready with towels and hot water. Those kids will arrive drenched."

"Alright!"

Skip...
10 minutes passed...

Everyone didn't feel like they could sit still now. Len kept pacing in front of the door with a frustrated and worried look, while the others just watched from the side with a scared and worried look.

Aidan and Hirayuki knew now that they couldn't wait any longer, not after learning about the two brothers' dark past. So, the two of them went towards the door. "Len, Nana, follow me."

Without being told, the two of them followed their master from behind, and before Aidan's hand could reach the doorknob, the door suddenly opened, and Eirian was on the other side, drenched and panting as he had just run as fast as he could to get there.

But what made them even more worried and confused was that they didn't see Darien, the little brother. Before Aidan could ask where Darien was, Eirian reached for his hand, holding it with both of his hands.

Eirian's hands were trembling violently, unsure if it was because of the cold or what, but seeing Eirian's face full of panic and worry with tears flowing, made him feel that something bad had happened to Darien.

"Aidan! Help! Hiks... Darien... Darien! He's gone! I... It's all my fault, sob sob... If I... If I hadn't left him! He wouldn't have been taken!"

'... What?'