She's a stressed and struggling student in Osaka, living alone and barely managing to pay off her debts to keep herself off the streets. But an encounter with her used-to-be favourite utaite, Mafumafu, might change all of that!
Ever since I was a child, I have always been... different.
I wasn't born with the same blonde hair as my family.
"Hey, Daichi! Are you adopted?"
"You'll never be as successful as your mom and dad! And even if you did, no one would ever know that you were related to them!"
"Daichi-kun's a loser!"
"He can't even run properly!"
"My mommy said you're a disgrace to your family. No wonder you get left out so much!"
"Look, he's crying again!"
"S-Shut up! Leave me alone...."
"Don't worry about what they say, Daichi. You're still my little brother no matter what!"
"Giichi..."
Giichi was my older brother. He was always kind to me, and made me feel wanted, like I wasn't such a disappointment after all. He was also the apple of my parents' eyes.
"Good job on your maths test, son."
"You're our favourite son, Giichi!"
"Ehehe! Thank you, mama!"
Even though I was happy for his successes, I always felt a little... Jealous. My parents did nothing to help that feeling.
"Your brother got an A in his Science, you got a B."
"What is this nonsense of a story?"
"A drawing of yours wasn't worth interrupting my time."
"Do you plan to get into University with these grades?"
"It would have been better if you weren't born!"
I began to hate my brother.
Why should he have to get all the praise, while I got.. nothing?
Something had to be done.
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"Man, those crepes were nice, right?"
"....Yeah."
"Something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing."
"Ahh, Daichi! Watch out for those cars! That was close!"
"...."
"Hey, why are you looking at me like that? D-Daichi!!"
That's why I pushed him.
With him out of the way, my parents finally paid attention to me, loved me.
ME.
ME.
M̵̧̨̬̥̜̗̖̪͙̞̥̹͎̪̣͒̉̋̂͐͋̊̅͐̾͘͠͝͠E̸̺̒̂̎͜
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I was ecstatic.
Dying my hair, getting good grades and rising to the top of my school, I finally got the life I had only dreamt of for the past 12 years. Recognition. Praise. Love.
That's why I did what I did for ###.
When I saw her at the University that day, I knew, I knew - that she was like me.
Lost. Out-of-sorts. Vulnerable. Like prey that was just waiting for a predator to come and eat it.
I only wanted to help her.
She's wrong.
I'm not sick.
I'm helping her.
Getting rid of the useless people is the only path to complete success... Right?
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Looking up, I smile at ###.
She's pretty, so, so, pretty.
Especially that mask of fright she's wearing right now.
"You know, ###-chan," I say in a soft voice, she flinches, "I had a brother once, but I killed him. He was useless."
###'s face goes pale.
"I was going to do the same thing for you," I toy with the knife in my hand, running my finger across the flat surface of the blade, "Get rid of your useless luggage. I was going to make your life better, give you what you wanted, deserved."
I regard her with a smile, mentally photographing her face in my memory for the last time.
