The hospital was too quiet. The fluorescent lights flickered in the silent, eerie hallway, the air reeked of antiseptic.
I stood frozen in the doorway, barely eight years old, my fists clenched so tight my nails cut into my palms, shaking, trembling.
They told me I had a sister now.
I didn't want one.
For eight whole years, I was the sun around which my parents orbited. Every kiss, every bedtime story, every proud smile was mine. All mine. And now I was expected to share it all? To split them with some crying, helpless lump swaddled in cloth?
Gods…
I hated her.
At least, I thought I did.
Before I stepped into the room.
Before I saw her.
There, cradled in our mother's trembling arms, she looked so tiny, so breakably small, red and wrinkled. And she was just breathing, sleeping, softly, gently.
Our mother looked up at me then. Her face was pale, slick with sweat and exhaustion, her lips were white from anemia, but her smile was so bright, it was as if she were holding a miracle.
She brought the baby a little closer to her chest. With a voice so fragile but filled with joy, she whispered my name.
"Jack, come here, come meet your little sister! Her name is Anna. Come say hello."
I didn't move.
I simply couldn't.
My legs felt like stone, my chest full of pressure I didn't understand.
Still, I took a step. Then another. Until I was beside the bed, peering down at that tiny bundle in her arms.
Anna stirred, just a twitch, a flutter of fingers, curled like petals asleep in the sun.
Then, slowly, her eyes opened.
And the world stopped.
She looked at me, right at me.
And gods, I was enamored!
In that one look, all my earlier apprehensions, the reluctance, the jealousy, they just... melted away. In their place now grew an overwhelming surge of love and responsibility.
I extended a tentative finger towards her, and felt her minute hand wrap around it with surprising strength.
And as she held onto me, I made a silent promise. I vowed to be her protector, her confidant, her forever friend.
And just like that, a bond was forged in that room, unbreakable and immortal. It was the most magical thing that happened to me in my life, the most sacred.
And now, this world dared to break apart that bond? To erase her from me?
Like hell was I gonna let that happen!
This precious memory… even if it meant my death, I would never let it go. I would never let this world take her away!
And somehow, magically, as I was doing that, fighting that damned phenomenon that wanted to erase my little sister from existence, I started to remember other memories too.
Yes, I remembered everything — every second, every minute that we spent together. And with that, I was sure of it. My little sister was not fake, or neither was she an illusion. She was real! She was a part of me!
Even if the whole world had cast her into oblivion, I would eternally hold her in remembrance! If no one was going to help me find her, help me bring her back, then I would do it myself!
Thus, this marked the beginning of my unwavering twenty-years pursuit.
I then delved into research, undertook rigorous training, and submerged myself in studies with fervent zeal as if each day was a battle for survival.
And in due course, I unraveled the mysteries of those enigmatic summoning circles.
Twenty years later, I stood at that spot again.
***
Akihabara, the same street where Anna vanished twenty years ago.
The air shimmered with unnatural tension. People walked by, oblivious, too caught in their daily lives to notice the crack forming in the fabric of reality. But I saw it. I felt it.
After all, I had already calculated, since those summoning circles always popped up at fixed interval, at only a few set of locations in Tokyo.
And then, it happened again.
A young boy, barely more than a kid, screaming.
His fists pounded against an invisible barrier, his voice cracking as he called for his sister.
And there she was, just like Anna had been. Floating midair, her form flickering, glitching, warping as reality tore itself open to swallow her whole.
History was repeating itself.
But this time…
This time, I was there, I was more than ready.
There would be no more loss, no more unanswered screams, no more big brother left behind!
Thus, wearing the brass knuckle made from platinum, I moved.
Adrenaline surged.
BAM! BAM!
My fist collided with the barrier, once, twice. Then, the third time…
BAMMM!
It shattered in a spray of light like broken glass.
I surged forward, grabbed the girl's arm, anchoring her to this world. Her eyes widened, fear and confusion swimming in them, but I didn't let go.
With a final heave, I threw her back into her brother's arms.
Their hands locked, their sobs collided.
And in that instant… I smiled.
Because I had taken her place.
The summoning circle flared beneath my feet, runes igniting in brilliant, golden fire. And then, everything around me dissolved.
Sound vanished, light distorted, my body glitched, then unraveled into nothing.