AForestDark— Aspects Game

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Ends on 08/18/2016 at 10pm PST.

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Content warning references to child abuse and drug abuse. Will put more warnings up if they come up.

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[ The girl smiles slightly. ] It's okay, I don't mind. Is there something you needed?

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. . . would it be all right if we got to know each other? I — I'm not sure what I'm to do.

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That's fine by me... [ The girl leaves her closet and crosses over to the other side of her room. She fiddles with the old music box and it stops playing. ] Sorry, it's very old... Sometimes, it gets triggered like that. [ She turns back around to face Kennedy. ] I'm Katou Sae... Though I suppose that won't be true for long. I'm getting married, you see.

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[ blinks ]

Oh — um. Are you happy?

— ah! And it's nice to meet you. . . I'm Kennedy.

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It's nice to meet you, Kennedy. [ The girl walks over to a small kotatsu and sits by it. She indicates a spot for Kennedy to sit if she wishes. ] As for if I'm happy... Mostly, though I suppose everyone has their regrets.

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[ she sits after a moment of hesitation ]

. . your own? Or someone else's. . .?

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I wonder... I think it's both, though. My regrets and someone else's. They're related, you see.

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If you don't mind. . . will you explain?

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I don't mind. [ Sae takes a moment, pausing to collect her thoughts. ] I have a little brother, you see. Yue. He... wasn't always a very good boy, though I don't suppose I can blame him. When you're unhappy, you'll lash out in any way you can. But still, he's my brother. So of course I loved him, regardless.

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Family is very important. . .

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I think so, too... I tried to support Yuu-kun, but I think he resented me for it. Maybe he saw it as pity. After all, I'm the one who easily got everything he so desperately wanted... [ Sae sighs. ] I suppose in my own way, I contributed to his feelings. It's the things I didn't do or say in time that I regret most, I think.

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It's never too late to try and repair things. . . [ unless they're dead but i mean ]

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I think he tried once. The last time we saw each other... There were a lot of misunderstandings. It didn't go well. [ Sae shudders a little. "It didn't go well" was an understatement. ]

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. . . what happened?

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He came to give me a wedding present. [ Sae pauses to collect her thoughts. ] Yuu-kun came to my window late one night with a gift, a wrapped-up box. I didn't want to accept his gift... I thought it might have been stolen, you see. My brother, he doesn't seem to have a job, never came home, but he always had money...

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. . . mm, it's possible it was ill-gotten, but. . . [ she thinks about it ] were you worried he would get in trouble or was it simply distasteful?

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I was worried that he would get in trouble, that he'd stolen something and I didn't want any part of that side of his life. [ Sae shook her head slightly. ] Actually, as it turns out, it was stolen, but not in the way I would have suspected.

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I imagine that wasn't the part that didn't go as well. . .

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It didn't. [ Sae pauses again, struggling with her next words. ] Yuu-kun got loud, agitated. "Just take it!" I tried to get him to keep it down, and I let it slip that I knew that he wasn't really our dad's child. He... he was so angry... [ Sae's breathing hitches. ] ...I'd never seen him so angry...

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[ silent for a moment ]

If it's too difficult, you don't have to tell me.

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[ Sae nods, and it takes a moment for her to speak up again. ] I think there was a part of him, at that time, that regretted... maybe just a little... And had been trying to make amends with his gift, with "that" box... So even though it shattered as he was leaving, I repaired it as best as I could, my treasure of "what might have been." If things had happened differently, if he or I had said or done the right thing at the right time to make it a little more bearable...

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. . . do you consider it the last chance?

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I don't think that Father would allow him anywhere near home anymore. I don't even know that he would come. [ Sae sighs. ] Even if it was all a castle of sand, I just wanted to keep the illusion of "our family" together.

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. . . it's a nice wish to have.

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It was my fondest wish. I want to think he might have wanted it, too, wanted it to be real... But he could never pretend.