Is This Your Love, Sister? (これは貴女の愛ですか, 姉?)

Reboot Chapter

Masato felt a pit grow in his throat as he heard the footsteps come closer until the heavy metal door swung open and in walked Doctor Tanukichi, her short blonde hair flipping up and down with every step she made. Following her was a unimaginably robust dude but neither of them was the cause for his anxiousness.

A figure passed through te door, clutching something wrapped in a towel. Her long, flowing coral-brown hair swished with the updraft provided by the gentle wind coming from outside but not even that could held abate the feeling of helplessness he felt at the moment. The girl was smiling but her smile grew even more enormous when her eyes met his and she looked as if she wanted to dash to where he was but another pair of guys behind her held her in place.

Doctor Tanukichi mildly took the seat opposite of him and set down a clipboard and a small box containing a single syringe and a small flask of clear liquid. The three men ushered in an ecstatic Rui by her side and took positions behind her. Her warm glow was truly a sight but he couldn't help but recollect the truly grotesque side of her.

"Good morning, Mr. Isayama." The lady was looking down at her clipboard and her voice was monotonous.

"M-morning." Masato took a deep breath but this wasn't a situation where sheer willpower would play a major role.

Knowing very well she couldn't speak unless she received permission, Rui let one hand roam and waved at him.

The doctor used her pen to check off some things on her page then looked up at him with a smile. "I suppose you would rather let Rui know what your visit about personally?"

Absolutely not! Masato's thoughts tore his mind apart but he nodded in the end though he would really prefer not having to be alone with his sister at any time. "Yeah."

Doctor Tanukichi nodded and gestured for her assistants to take a seat just a few feet off to the other side of the room while following them.

"So..." Masato was having a unprecedented amount of trouble trying to form words. All the while in the back of his, the reality that this girl killed his father wasn't resting well with his anxiety.

"She's cute, isn't she?" Rui let her hands fall a little to reveal the infant wrapped up in her arms. "I wanted to name her Onodera but the doctors say I can't without her father's consent." She smiled and wriggled her nose atop the sleeping child's. "So what do you think?"

Masato scratched the back of his head. "I suppose that's a good name."

Rui smiled and nodded. "I'm glad you came to visit us. Onodera would've been lonely not knowing who her father is."

He laughed nervously. "Rui... I didn't just come to visit her."

She laughed a little. "Of course. I might now be as important as her but I still think I'm a good enough sight, right?" Rui giggled. "I want her to stay by my side until she grows up. It's embarrassing to say but she really reminds me of you."

Masato looked away from her. There was one thing he had to do but at the moment he  felt like a major jerk just knowing he had to. "You won't be able to keep her in a place like this, Rui."

The girl nodded. "Yeah, I can. The doctors gave me permission and I earn some money from helping the others. It's not plenty but I can start saving right away so I'm sure she can go to college and become whatever she wants."

He rubbed his cheek. "Well, what if I took care of all that?"

"Hm?"

"I mean, if you say I'm her father then I must play a decent role in her life, right? I can't leave everything for you to--"

"No." Rui's response is swift and she clutches the baby tighter to her chest. "Hehe... I still love you, Maso, but..."

Masato raised his brow. "But what?"

Rui shields her face with her shoulder. "You're still in love with Takeda-san. If I left her with you, chances are she'd start calling her mother and she'd eventually forget about me."

He clenched his jaw. This girl killed two people and tried killing him and Akari, what problem could she even have? "I promise we'll visit a lot. Akari's father is helping me through third year and he's agreed to help me in college so I wouldn't have much time..." He noticed the distant look on Rui's face and immediately decided to get straight to it. "B-but, that doesn't mean you wouldn't see her."

The girl clutched Onodera against her chest as if hiding her from him. "You have it wrong. I don't have a problem with you, I have a problem with her being around Takeda."

Masato swallowed hard. He might as well break the news to her. "Rui... you don't have much say in the matter."

Rui was lost. "What do you mean?"

His hand drummed at his thighs. "I'm..." He took a moment to rack up his nerves. "I'm taking full custody of Onodera."

The girls eyes widened. "Maso... you can't..."

"I can, dammit!" His voice was raised but it soon fell. "I'll be adopting her as her uncle, the courts had a problem knowing I'm her father but they would rather let me take her than let you keep her in here."

Tears started welling up in Rui's eyes. "Maso... you can't. She's the only one I have left that hasn't given up on me." She bowed her head. "Please, you can't take her from me."

Masato suddenly felt something eating away at him. "I'm... I'm sorry, Rui."

The tears started pouring from the girls eyes. "I-I know I won't leave this place, I know you think I should be punished but this... It's... isn't this too much?"

He shifted in his seat. "Rui, you're a bad person. I can't leave her with you."

Through her tears, Rui scowled at him. "Everything I did was to prove I loved you, Maso. I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt."

Masato clenched his fists. "How can you say that? You killed dad, then Naofumi and you even tried to kill Akari. What sort of love is that?"

The girl said nothing, rather breaking down into a cacophony of sobs. Seeing her like this really played on his heart strings even though he had been stacking up the courage to break it to her. Onodera was his child and he'd rather not have her growing up in an asylum by someone with below average sanity. He stood and moved towards the window, leaving a broken Rui at the table engulfed in tears.

"I believe that was to be expected." Doctor Tanukichi gave him a wry smile. "You and Doctor Takeda just have to sign a few documents and the evaluation should be completed in a few weeks tops."

Masato nodded but tried his best to not look behind him. "I feel bad about doing this to her. I mean, I'd hate to experience something like that."

The woman laughed nervously. "The feeling is mutual but you've already decided to go along with it so your only options are to back out or go ahead."

He looked outside. "Hey, doctor? Is there any chance Rui can get out of this place?"

Doctor Tanukichi patted her hair. "I'd say magic but I guess this isn't the time for an insert joke. Other than that, there would have to be a huge loophole in the law." She laughed nervously. "There aren't many of those let alone on first  degree murder."

Masato grunted. Maybe that was a good thing. But if so, why did that thought come to him all of a sudden?