Cicatrize

13

When your eyes opened, you expected to wake up in either the hospital, or the afterlife (mostly, your bets were on the latter).

So when you found yourself standing in your old home-[Last Name][Name]'s home, you were left confused.

What was this all about? Was that all a dream? Was anything or any of it real? Touya, Shoto, Fuyumi, Natsuo... Rei, Enji and Keigo... were all of them just figments of your imagination?

But before you could question the credibility of reality itself, you were met with the sight of someone you never thought you'd see again; Nozomi. He was sitting in the kitchen of your dainty little house, a small frown quipping at his lips as he gazed outside the window. A melancholic look overtook his usually calm features, making you reach out to him on instinct.

But as soon as your hand touched his shoulder, it fazed right through him. The man kept looking out the window with a forlorn expression, never noticing your figure just standing there watching him. He never noticed the horrified look on your face as you stated ahead.

What was going on?!

"Big brother, you should stop constantly looking outside. Big sis isn't gonna show up if you just keep staring." Your brother walked in next, a basket of fresh laundry in his arms as he gave your lover a teasing smirk. The older male flushed a shade of pink as he turned his head away, "I-It's not like that, [Brother Name]!!" His voice was at least an octave higher, showing his embarrassment as your menace of a brother chortled at his shy actions.

The small teasing was followed by a small while of silence, before Nozomi finally decided to break it, "It's just... It's been over a week since the war ended... You'd think she would be done with all the paperwork, right?" Your brother just chuckled, "Big brother, it's a war that's ended! It's gonna take a lot of time for big sis to come back home. But don't worry, I know she will. So just rest up, okay? I wouldn't want you to get sick on the day she's coming, just because you didn't rest enough."

Your heart sunk as you listened to their conversation, a feeling of horror washing up upon you as you knew of the grim truth....

You never came back home.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past you and you covered your eyes to protect yourself, only to find out that the date had changed.

You looked over at the calendar resting on the table; more than one month had passed since your death... Yet, your brother and lover were still waiting for you to come back, "Did she come back?" Nozomi asked your brother as he laid in bed, his face slightly flushed because of the sudden fever.

Looks like [Brother Name]'s words were true to an extent, he really did fall sick while waiting for you. Only, you never came back.

"She'll come soon, big brother. Just rest, for now." Your brother softly coaxed, making the older male nod slowly as he drifted off to sleep. As Nozomi fell asleep, your brother got up and walked out the room to pace in the hallway, "Why isn't she back yet? It... It couldn't have taken more than a month... It's been, over a month now..." He softly whispered to himself, clutching onto his [Hair Color] strands and tugging them in frustration.

You wanted to reach out to him, you wanted to hold him close and apologize for all the misery they must have went through because of you. It was your fault that Nozomi had fallen sick... And it was your fault that they would one day find out about your death, yet, would have no way to cope with it.

After Nozomi had healed all up, they waited for around another month before they finally saw someone enter the small village. Both boys rushed out upon hearing that it was someone from the capital, but when they reached the gates of the house, they were met with a small group of military officials.