Hangover (2)
A pristine white hospital room.
Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains.
The woman awoke to the gentle atmosphere.
“……”
Her eyelids fluttered open.
Revealing crimson irises.
Her drowsy gaze registered the arrival of morning.
Selena was lying in the hospital bed.
There was nothing particularly injured or uncomfortable about her, but it was due to her disciple's earnest request that she rest.
The drunkard hesitated, unable to refuse the eyes that looked up at her.
Thanks to that, she became bored.
-I'll take care of the aftermath.
-Please, Master, take care of your body and mind.
-It is my disciple's earnest request and wish.
Even so.
It wasn't a bad feeling.
Someone else's concern was quite awkward, yet there was something that gently tapped at her heart.
She mumbled, feeling her face flush for no reason.
'I really don't know.'
Whether she should say he's full of worries.
Or whether she should say he's kind.
The drunkard chuckled, thinking of the boy. Then, she shook off the lingering thoughts like a hangover.
Leaving behind the fleeting afterglow, she slowly raised her upper body.
"Hmm."
A newly dawned day.
A monotonous hospital life.
In other words, a peaceful daily life.
Just as she was raising her head, wondering, 'What should I do to kill time today?'
A voice from somewhere caught her ear.
"You're awake?"
It was a youthful voice.
Selena momentarily stopped breathing.
“……”
Stiffened shoulders.
Shaking eyes.
Perhaps it was because it was a voice she hadn't heard in too long.
The woman couldn't hide the question and bewilderment on her face.
The voice she had forgotten, had to forget, and didn't want to forget for the past 10 years was lingering in her ears.
Right next to the hospital bed.
“……”
The drunkard turned to her side.
Curtains fluttering by the window.
In the pristine white scenery, a girl was looking at her.
It was also a face she hadn't seen in too long.
But.
"Still a late sleeper, huh? Not even knowing someone's next to you."
She hadn't forgotten.
How could she forget your face?
It was half of the world she had lost.
Selena uttered the name with her lips parted in a daze.
“……Rianne?”
[T/N: Rianne -> Rianne to be more accurate]
“Sister.”
The girl smiled brightly upon hearing her name called.
Even that appearance was exactly as she remembered.
Rianne Drunkard.
The drunkard was facing the ghost of her younger sister.
A tremor gradually settled in her red pupils.
"How...?"
Was this a hallucination?
Or a dream?
Selena couldn't tell.
She only realized that it was definitely not reality.
Otherwise, her consciousness couldn't be so clear.
'This is.'
The girl hadn't changed at all.
The same as she remembered her last.
That's why she was even more certain.
Even though her life might have stopped at fifteen, 10 years had passed for those left behind.
Selena's reason whispered that all the scenery was nothing more than an illusion.
But.
"Rin...!"
What did that matter?
Emotion was, by nature, a step ahead of reason.
Whack-!
The woman hugged the girl in front of her.
Tightly, as if revealing her longing.
'Rin.'
The nickname she used to call her younger sister.
It had been almost 10 years.
Since such pronunciation and resonance had come from the drunkard's mouth.
Because there had been no reason to call it after Rianne died.
"Kyaa! Isn't your reaction a bit too intense? Did my sister miss her cute little sister too?"
It was a voice that was still innocent.
The faint yet distinct warmth completely dyed the drunkard's embrace.
It was warm.
"Ah, aah..."
Perhaps it was because of the lump in her throat.
Words wouldn't come out.
She certainly had a lot she wanted to say.
If only she could meet you again, she had piled up stories as if she would share them for the rest of her life.
Stories about magic, stories about the old days, stories about the days without you... all of them piled up and formed mountains and seas in her heart.
She couldn't bring herself to say them.
As if she had been cast under a terrible spell.
"Rianne, Rin..."
Selena was simply repeating the precious name once again.
Like a drunk person.
"Sister."
Perhaps she understood her sister's heart.
The girl smiled briefly in her arms, then gently patted the woman's back with her small hand.
As if telling her not to cry.
"It must have been hard, right?"
“……”
"Don't suffer. Because I know that my sister tried her best."
"No... Rianne. I almost ruined everything. You shouldn't comfort me with those words..."
"Shh."
Emotions gradually rising.
Rianne cut off her sister's self-blame.
"Sister. Do you remember?"
The conversation we had on the last day.
I said I was sorry.
I wanted to stay by my sister's side, I wanted my sister to stay by my side... I was sorry that I couldn't.
I always wanted to apologize.
Because it seemed like those words hurt my sister even more.
Because it felt like my sadness had tainted my sister.
So.
"I was sorry."
"No... Rianne, I'm sorry. I'm the one who's sorry."
"My sister has absolutely no need to apologize."
"But...!"
"Because my sister is still the coolest sister in my world!"
Tightly.
A hand that couldn't become an adult.
It hugged her sister tightly, just as her sister had done to her.
Both of their eyes were already as red as the sunset in spring.
The girl whispered.
"I don't want my sister to be sad."
I hope you stop drinking too.
I hope you smile more often.
I hope you don't suffer from nightmares.
I hope you build relationships with other people and aren't alone anymore.
I hope you reconcile with your teacher, who is now distant.
I.
"I want my sister to be happy."
“……”
Following the calm resonance, tears finally fell.
The streaks that flowed down her cheeks were hot.
The drunkard replied with a voice full of tears.
About the sincerity she had been suffering from for the past 10 years.
"I wanted to protect you."
I wanted to protect you.
Because we had no one else to rely on in that goddamn bottom-of-the-barrel life.
I thought that as long as I was with you, no matter what I did, it would be okay.
But.
"I'm sorry."
In the end.
Because I couldn't protect you.
"Ugh... I'm sorry for giving up. I'm sorry for not dying with you. I wanted to hurt instead of you, but I couldn't even do that. I'm sorry because I feel like I ruined everything. I'm sorry for being a sister who couldn't do anything..."
"Don't cry, sister. I'm sad too if you're sad."
Lukewarm warmth.
Even with all the sobbing, the meaning was clear.
Emotions that had been built up for a very long time.
Selena didn't stop talking, even as her pronunciation was broken and her voice was muffled.
How many times did she repeat her resting voice like that?
"Ah."
The woman sensed it.
That she was about to wake up from the dream.
Her clear consciousness was fading.
"Rianne."
The end was already approaching.
The sweet time was crumbling as the word 'moment'.
What she loved was scattering like mist.
Waking up in the morning would surely be painful.
'Before that.'
There was something she wanted to say.
And there was something she had to say.
The drunkard struggled to stop crying.
She steadied her shaking breath.
She put on a clumsy smile on her lips, and looked at the eyes that resembled her own.
As if proving that they were blood relatives, the surface was red and red.
Selena opened her mouth towards the transparent pupils.
"I... I'm going to try to live properly from now on."
The drunkard realized through a series of events.
How foolish her own life had been.
-I'll die.
That's why.
Immediately after realizing it, she tried to give up everything.
Saying that there were no more chances left.
-Selena Drunkard.
-I will forgive you.
But.
A certain boy had saved her.
He told her to go back together.
She knew that it was an undeserved affection for an ugly adultRather, that's why she didn't want to miss the present moment.
Selena Drunkard.
She was no longer alone.
"I won't be sad anymore."
I'm going to quit drinking now.
I'm going to smile at my students more often.
I won't stay up all night with bad thoughts.
I won't be prickly with my fellow professors, and I'll try to be as kind as possible.
I'm going to apologize to my teacher, who is now distant.
I.
"I'm going to try to be happy."
The hospital room was collapsing little by little.
The dream was collapsing.
At the same time, her consciousness was gradually fading, and her younger sister was scattering into dust.
The drunkard smiled with tears wetting her sleeves.
Leaving her last words.
"If I... grow old enough, and reach you later, I'll tell you a lot of stories that you haven't experienced."
At that time, for sure.
Let's meet each other without crying.
"Goodbye. My eternal other half."
Clang-!
The sound of glass breaking was heard from somewhere.
Selena's consciousness quickly faded away.
What she saw at the end of the scattering dream was none other than the girl nodding her head.
The answer from the other side of the imagination left an afterimage as if echoing.
Clearly.
"Okay! I'll look forward to it...!"
Immediately after.
The woman woke up from her dream.
***
A pristine white hospital room.
Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains.
The woman awoke to the gentle atmosphere.
“……”
Her eyelids fluttered open.
Revealing crimson irises.
The moisture remaining in her eyes registered the arrival of morning.
Selena was lying in the hospital bed.
As she was savoring the afterglow of last night, suddenly, she heard a voice again.
"You're awake, Master."
It was a blond boy.
He was standing in the same spot where her younger sister had been standing just before, in the exact same way.
The woman hurriedly wiped away the tears from her messy face.
Then, she asked softly.
"Student Judas."
"Yes."
"The dream I just had. Is that also your ability? Or..."
"Do you truly wish to hear the answer?"
“……Forget about it.”
After thinking for a moment, Selena shook her head.
Instead of hearing the answer, she opened her arms and hugged the boy who was standing next to her.
Just like she had done to her younger sister.
But a little differently.
"Thank you."
Her face buried in his chest.
The drunkard muttered so that her expression couldn't be seen.
The boy patted the woman's back while being hugged.
Just like her younger sister had done to her.
But a little differently.
"For lying to me."
Lies don't contain the truth.
That's why some might evaluate it as wrong or meaningless.
But there are also those who live by relying on such emptiness.
Humans are weak, so they gain comfort from lies.
Especially adults.
"You're welcome."
"Please take good care of me in the future too."
"I should be the one saying that, please take good care of me."
Only now.
The drunkard was able to completely shake off her scarred past.
She was hugging a snake for a long time.
Until their body temperatures were completely mixed.
***
The next day.
All the problems were resolved.
I ended up having a one-on-one meeting with an unexpected person.
It was more like I unilaterally barged in than a one-on-one meeting.
I picked up a teacup.
"So."
A white-haired old man was sitting across the table.
He was also holding a cup of black tea.
He asked.
"What is the reason for your visit?"
Headmaster, Gaston Gallimard.
I had the [Prophet of the apocalypse] in front of my eyes.
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