Inside a dark room lit up with various neon lights, two brothers intensely gaze at a monitor. With their backs hunched over, they tune out everything outside of the digital world they are immersed in–not even the little girl playing on the older brother's lap could take them out of the moment.
"Wow little bro, you've become much better at this fighting game than I thought!"
"It's only natural that I surpass you, Tensen. While you're busy being an adult, I've continued to improve my skills. Honestly, you have gotten weaker."
"Hey, that's not fair. A ten year old like you couldn't fathom how much more difficult life gets after fifteen! Not to mention having to take care of two rambunctious little girls."
"Your excuses are tiresome. There are several other elite competitors who are 17 just like you–there are even more older than that!"
"Oh yeah? Well, cut me some slack, will ya? Rika's in my lap and she won't keep her hands off my controller. I swear, if she weren't distracting me…"
"Aha, so you offered me to hold Rika in my lap earlier despite knowing that she was going to be a hindrance! You deserve this beating, bro–no mercy."
"Tch! You little rascal!"
"Heh, at this point, I could even beat you with a toddler handicap."
"Oh really? Then after this game, I will tell Rika to sit on your lap. What do you think, Rika? Are you ready to see daddy put your uncle in his place like he used to do all the time?"
"Yay!"
Excited at her father's suggestion, Rika joyfully bounces in Tensen's lap, innocently throwing her hands into the air. This motion inadvertently scraped the tip of Tensen's eye.
"Youch!"
"And that's game, bro! Ggs."
Blissfully unaware of the carnage she has caused, Rika chuckles at her father's "funny face"--a face made from cringing at the sting of a pink eye.
"Did you see that? Rika hit my eye so I couldn't see!"
"You had no chance of winning that match anyway, so Rika was just putting you out of your misery. Good girl, Rika!"
Gene gives Rika a big thumbs-up and a cheeky smile, Rika–being the impressionable baby that she is–playfully mimics her uncle.
"Oh, you are so done for now! I can't wait to wipe that smug look off your face!"
"Sure bro, good luck with that. Come on Rika, come sit with uncle Gene–"
"Tensen, Gene, this is an emergency!!!"
Helia suddenly bursts into the gaming room, flashbanging the place with the bright light from the outside world. Her cousins' natural instinct was to immediately shield their eyes, shortly after, her outcry registers in their mind. Without further hesitation, they put down their controllers.
"Helia, what's the emergency? I thought you and my wife were playing with Kira in the front yard!"
"We were until…until…until…"
Helia's eyes darken, unable to convey the words from her brain, her mouth breaks into a loop.
"Until what? Please tell me!"
"...Kira suddenly collapsed onto the ground and she's not waking up!"
With her mouth and mind in sync once again, Helia was able to communicate her intended message she could not bring herself to utter. A message that spread dread throughout the room.
"No…no way! Is she…is she still–"
"Gene, I need you to carry Rika for me. We're going to the hospital immediately!"
Taking immediate action, Tensen gets up from his gaming chair and bolts out of the room. Helia and Gene look at each other's faces, not daring to say anything. Or rather, they are unable to say anything more than what their faces can communicate.
How could this have happened?! Was she attacked? Was she cursed? Is she sick?
Please Kira, please be okay!
___________________________________________________________________________
"Doc, what's the situation with our daughter? Can you tell us what's wrong with her?"
Tensen, Dianne, Gene, Helia, and Rika are in the hospital operating room, tending to the helpless Kira. Dianne is holding Rika (who is sleeping) while Tensen is confronting the doctor. His choice of tone, a respectful assertiveness, pressures the doctor into careful submission.
"Mr. Neas, I'll be upfront with you–your daughter will likely not survive."
"What?! You have been operating on her for the past five hours and none of you could cure her?! Have you been messing around?!"
"Darling, please…"
Tensen bares his teeth at the doctor, lashing out at the unwanted news his heart did not want to bear. Despite Tensen's growing aggression, the doctor maintains a stern face, showing no strong emotion.
I've never seen my brother so upset before. This situation is bizarre and scary…
…I can feel my blood pulsing in my veins.
"Mr. Neas, we found a heart-like organ inside of her chest. We have confirmed that it is draining the life force out of Kira's body. As of now, she hardly has any life left to keep her body active."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Take that parasite out of her!"
"We have tried that numerous times, but to no avail. Every time we tried to come close to the organ, it instantly disappeared, seemingly as a defense mechanism. Even our endoscopy cameras can't get too close to it without it disappearing."
"Then give her some medicine! I'm sure you have special medicine for this kind of emergency!"
"Mr. Neas, we do not have such medicine. We have tried a few parasite killers, but none have had an effect. We suspect that this organ isn't organic, but rather it's due to her curse awakening."
"Her curse awakening? How could that be the cause?"
"Since she is a twin, a younger twin at that, we assume that this sudden inexplicable occurrence is due to her curse becoming active. This kind of parasitic organ has never been documented to our knowledge, so we believe that our assumption is likely correct. We performed a brain scan to check her brain activity and our results were peculiar. When Kira felt intense stimulation, the organ beat more rapidly, draining more energy from her body."
"So the more stimulation my daughter feels, the more life energy it saps from her body?"
"More or less. With your daughter being so young, the effects are more devastating on her body. Perhaps it could be better mitigated when she is older, but right now there's not much life left inside her."
"Then do something to fix that! As long as she is breathing, you should work night and day until you find a solution!"
"Mr. Neas, we're afraid that that's not the last of our concerns. Since Kira and Rika are twins, it's all but guaranteed that this curse will transfer itself to Rika's body if she passes away. There's no way for us to interfere with that process, so we advise preparing Rika's body to–"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence! I'd die before letting that thing steal Kira's life, let alone get anywhere close to Rika!"
He stares down the doctor, his eyes throwing daggers through hers. After a moment of silence, she sighs, her face remains stoic.
"Understood, Mr. Neas. We will do our best to ensure Kira's survival. If you'd excuse me for a moment."
She bows her head, dismissing herself from the room. Tensen, relaxing his face, embraces his wife and unconscious daughter, crying silent tears. Gene and Helia get closer to Kira's body, peacefully sleeping on the hospital bed in sharp contrast to the war inside of her.
" Kira…please please please…"
My head is spinning.
My stomach is churning.
And above all…
…My blood is pulsating inside of me.
It feels like I'm going to explode!
"Gene! Gene, your nose! It's–"
"?"
Helia's sudden outburst took me by surprise and it even caught the attention of Tensen and Dianne. I touched my nostril, feeling a warm sensation that was all too familiar.
My nose is leaking blood.
"Bro, are you okay? Don't tell me you're sick too!"
"No no, I'm really okay. I just need to wipe my nose…"
"This is a good thing, Tensen!"
"Gene's nose bleed? I beg your pardon?"
Clinging on to desperate hope, Helia interjects.
"It's Gene's curse! His blood can heal anything, so we can just give it to Kira and–"
"Don't mind her, she is just delusional! Knock it off, Helia."
"What? But Gene, you healed me with your blood before–"
"I said, knock it off! It's not the time for your wild delusions that would never work! We are all worried about Kira, but there's no need to be so desperate to try such a foolish idea! Now if you'd excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom for a moment…"
"Gene…"
Helia frowns at Gene, her sudden hope being taken from her, bewilderment takes its place. Gene scowls back, but quickly adverts his eyes.
"Cousin, thank you for your concern. No, thank the both of you. Right now, I need to discuss something with my wife. Helia, could you walk with Gene out into the waiting lobby? Thanks."
"..."
"Come on, Helia, you heard him. I'll meet you in the lobby after I return from cleaning my nose."
Without saying another word to each other, they silently walk out. Helia, confused and distraught, turns her head away from Gene–lest he sees her tear-filled eyes that are waiting to erupt.
Walking down the hall int the opposite direction, Gene covers his nose with one hand and grips his chest tightly with the other.
I can't do it.
The pain…
I can't do it.
I can't do it.
I really can't do it.
Sorry brother.
Sorry Dianne.
Sorry Rika.
Sorry Helia.
Sorry… Kira.
Sorry for being the worst uncle ever.
A spring of tears leak from his eyes drop by drop. Though from a certain perspective, one cannot be blamed for mistaking those tears as drops of blood.