Chapter 5

Alice heard a coughing laugh from Ray. He mocked them, saying “Is it fun to hurt kids whose fate you’ve twisted? Is it helpful to tell yourself this is help? Go ahead, kill me. Would that truly accomplish anything?” He would often talk back to them, making fun of their efforts. He often watches Alice play in the pond. Alice never seemed to mind being wet, noticing only the bottom of her dress clinging to her thighs.

“It's time for me to go,” Alice said, “I’ll be safe, so don’t worry too much.” Alice continued to say. Ray grunted and told her to stay there. He re-enters the house and returns with a cloth. Ray told her to come to him, gently wiping Alice clean. “I can’t let you go looking like that,” Ray declared.

“Aren’t you someone who needs to look pretty?” Ray continued to say. As he thought he should be the one who takes care of Alice, since she chooses Ray, right? So he had to be the only one Alice needed. Whenever Alice needed to put on clothes, Ray would help her. Ray finished his testing early and returned to find Alice sharing sweets with someone.

Upon closer view, it was Aki, his older brother, who had a different mother but the same father. The day they first crossed paths, they discovered their father had relationships with both their mothers. The mother struggled to get along initially, but eventually did, as both were not going to give up on the father. Aki's mother was always gravely ill, giving birth to a son who inherited her sickness. However, the illness strangely twisted into a curse.

She didn’t want a boy, and the father disliked him for being sickly. Ray’s mother wasn't in the right mind. Their father didn't care for Ray's mother anymore when she started to be crazy because of the father himself. Only wanting Ray to take care of his business, seeing that he was good at everything. Ray greeted, “Hello, how have you been, Aki?”