Sisters forever

In another district of the Tokyo ruins, inside a ransacked gym, two girls were sitting on a training mat with their backs againts each other, one staring outside through a window, the other wearing a sleeping mask covering her eyes, facing a white wall covered in mold.

“Hey, sis?”

It was the girl looking at the ruined streets who spoke first, closing her lost, hazel eyes softly.

She was rather tall for a woman of Japanese descent, having a well-trained body with visible and lean muscles. Her medium-blond hair was tied in a messy bun, her fair skin glistening with faint traces of sweat—she had just finished a light workout.

“What is it?” asked the second girl, presumably her sister.

She was much shorter than her older sister; her body was petite yet elegant. Her overall appearance was delicate and graceful, her long and straight light-brown hair gently flowing down her back.

“You think we’re gonna survive?” the elder sister wondered.

“Why are you so pessimistic all of a sudden? Do you miss your boyfriend that much?” the younger sister replied to her question with her own.

“I told you he’s not my boyfriend. But yes, I do miss him,” she confirmed with a solemn tone. “But he probably has other things to worry about. When this mess started, he wasn’t answering any of my calls, and now that we lost our phones, I can’t even try reaching him again.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better,” the younger sister spoke, “if he really loved you back, he would be running around the city right about now, searching every single building looking for you.”

“Hahaha,” the older sister laughed sarcastically. “Like some kind of fairy tale Prince Charming?”

There was a long pause before she spoke again.

“What would be your biggest regret if we were to die today, Uyumi?”

“Hmmm,” Uyumi pondered aloud. “I don’t really know. Maybe not traveling enough? I wish I could have done some more sight-seeing.”

“Pfft, nice one.”

“What about you, Takemi?” Uyumi questioned her elder sister.

“Dying a virgin,” Takemi answered without missing a beat.

“Pervert,” Uyumi responded instantly. “And whose fault do you think that is? If you weren’t working all the time and focused just a little more on romance, you would have guys fawning all over you.”

“Well,” Takemi started with a teasing voice, “maybe if I didn’t have such a useless sister, I wouldn’t have to work two to three jobs, would I?”

“Ouch! So mean! So harsh!” Uyumi cried, her fake-hurt voice not convincing anyone.

They both giggled, leaning into each other's backs more heavily.

“I know you don’t like hearing it,” Uyumi began, “but thank you. For everything. I know you think it’s only natural, since we’re sisters, but being family has nothing to do with it. I mean, you know how father treated us, despite being related to us. So, thank you.”

Takemi stayed silent for a long time, then sighed heavily, raising her left arm above her head, making a fist.

“Sisters...” Takemi whispered.

Uyumi’s lips twitched, then formed into a relieved but exhausted smile.

“Forever,” Uyumi finished her sister’s words, raising her right hand into the air, fist bumping Takemi.

“I’m gonna take a quick nap. Wake me up if you see anything, alright?” Takemi exclaimed.

“Heh, I’ll try,” Uyumi snickered.

Takemi lay down on the mat they were sitting on, stretched her entire body, then closed her eyes, mumbling: “Thanks, sis. I can always count on you.”

***

“Takemi! Takemi, come on! Wake up!”

A loud voice awoke Takemi from her slumber, and she slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

“Hmm, Uyumi, what is it?” she mumbled, still not fully awake.

“No, it’s Kengo! Come on, we have to leave, fast!” the voice answered, sounding urgent.

“Kengo...? KENGO?!” Takemi, now fully awake, suddenly screamed and shot up, looking around frantically. Her gaze soon landed on Kengo, who was breathing heavily, looking at her with relief in his deep brown eyes.

Letting out a sigh, he reassured: “Yes, it’s me. Now, come on. We have to leave fast—huh?!”

Out of nowhere, Takemi grabbed Kengo’s collar... and kissed him passionately on the lips, causing his eyes to widen in disbelief.

Kengo, who was too stunned to do anything, seemed to accept his fate—not that he was displeased in any way.

Tamashi, who noticed Kengo started to kiss Takemi back, finally spoke up, realizing this could go on for a long time—time they did not have a lot of.

“Excuse me for being the third wheel, but we should really get going. If we want to get out of here alive, that is.”

Only then realizing that there was someone else in the room, Takemi hurriedly pushed Kengo away, turning around to look at Tamashi with a panicked expression.

Forcing a lazy smile, Tamashi continued, not minding how startled and embarrassed Takemi looked.

“Yes, nice to meet you. I’m Tamashi, Kengo’s older brother. We can get to know each other later, but for now, go grab your sister, since we really do need to leave.”

Learning that the man before her was Kengo’s sibling, who she had spontaneously kissed only a moment ago, her face grew even more red.

Takemi hurriedly looked over to her sister, only to find the mat Uyumi had been sitting on empty. As she looked around the room, her expression slowly turned from confusion to panic.

“U-Uyumi? Uyumi!”

She was about to run off, most likely to search for her now missing sister, but Tamashi grabbed her arm, stopping Takemi immediately.

Before she could retaliate, Tamashi spoke first.

“Kengo, go look for her. If you don’t find her within two minutes, come back immediately. You,” Tamashi addressed Takemi directly, “I need you to follow my instructions very carefully, or I’m leaving both you and your sister here, understood?”

A chill ran down Takemi’s spine, and she looked over to Kengo for help, who just nodded.

“Please listen to him. I’ll explain everything later.”

Takemi turned back to Tamashi, albeit a bit reluctantly, and Kengo ran off, leaving the two of them alone. Suddenly, the ordinary-looking man in front of her seemed even more threatening, leaving her wondering if she had made the right choice.

“Now,” Tamashi started, “say the words: System menu open.”

“S-system menu open?”

Right as she said those words, a blue screen appeared before her—the same one that appeared on the day that everything changed.

A little over two minutes later, Kengo returned—alone.

“Couldn’t find anyone,” he said after catching his breath for a second.

“What?!” Takemi blurted out in shock.

Tamashi muttered a curse under his breath, which was almost immediately followed by his right arm bulging and him hissing in pain.

Only now did Takemi notice Tamashi’s sickening, brown arm, causing her to cover her mouth with disgust.

After calming down, Tamashi addressed Kengo, sounding tortured.

“You two teleport right away, then walk the rest of the way. I’ll look for her with Awayuki.”

“Alright,” Kengo agreed with a pained expression almost instantly, but Takemi was not on board.

“Hell no!” she yelled at Tamashi, her earlier fear of him now nowhere to be found. “I’m not abandoning my little sister! I’d rather die!”

Tamashi gave her a frightening look, causing Takemi to jerk back a little, but she still refused to give in.

“Listen,” Tamashi spat, “right now, you are nothing more than a hindrance. You would do nothing but get in my way. So just shut up and go.”

Tamashi’s harsh words made Takemi snap. She took a step forward and threw a punch so fast and powerful most people would be immediately knocked on their asses.

Tamashi was not most people, though.

He evaded to the side with little effort, but Takemi was not done.

Leaning forward and bracing her hands on the floor for support, she kicked back with her foot, aiming right at Tamashi’s face—but that was still not enough.

Simply catching the leg flying at him with his left hand, Tamashi crouched down and proceeded to sweep her other leg off the floor, causing Takemi to fall on her back, letting out a pained grunt.

Letting go of Takemi’s leg, Tamashi said, fuming: “I made a promise to Kengo to bring both you and your sister to safety, and I intend to keep it. Right now, all you’re doing is prolonging my task, as well as increasing the chances of your sister dying.”

Takemi’s eyes, full of fury, started watering, but Tamashi ignored it.

“Now, just allow me to do what I came to do and get out of my way.”

Without waiting for her response, he turned around and simply left.

Kengo slowly walked up to Takemi, who was still sprawled on the floor, extending his hand.

“I know he could have said it differently, but he’s right. If we stay here, we’ll only be putting ourselves, as well as him and Uyumi, in danger.”

Takemi took his hand, and Kengo pulled her up before continuing.

“Believe me, I understand how you feel right now. To some degree, at least. So trust me when I tell you this: right now, the only thing we can do is simply leave, ensuring our own safety.”

After almost a minute of nothing but Takemi’s soft sobs, she finally nodded silently with tears filling her broken, hazel eyes. A couple seconds later, they both disappeared from the room, leaving it vacant and abandoned once again. About fifteen minutes later, a huge explosion blew up the first floor, and the whole building collapsed.