In fact, I didn't know what was going on, I was losing control of my own life, and it was driving me crazy. This change happened in too short a period. I barely made it through the next hours of school, during which Alice's gaze nearly burned a hole in my back.

"What did you do to her?" Daisuke asked.

"Nothing with the intention of pissing her off," I answered truthfully.

Everything related to Konya was supposed to end, but in the meantime, it went its own strange way, which I did not influence. I didn't do anything to bring this about. I didn't know what to do with myself, so I went shopping and decided to make a delicious dinner to cheer myself up.

When I got home, I was surprised to find the door open, my mother shouldn't be back from work yet. There was another pair of shoes next to hers, quite familiar, and trying not to make any noise, I moved deeper into the flat. Two voices coming from the kitchen only confirmed my suspicions.

"I tried to warn him," Alice said tiredly. "I'm not being listened to, but perhaps you'll be able to dissuade him more."

"Kiyoshi is almost an adult, it will be difficult to force it on him," my mother sighed. "How much of a threat is this boy?"

"I don't know," replied my sister. "We've been hunted in the past, but apparently She didn't approve of it, and there hasn't been any serious case in ages."

I then decided to step in, I had had enough and didn't care how bad it was for me. I walked confidently into the kitchen, with a loud bang, put down my groceries, getting ready to cook dinner.

"Alice, will you stay for dinner?" I asked as I put on my apron.

"I'd love to," she replied, probably wondering how much of their conversation I had overheard.

"Great," I said and pretended for a moment that I had no idea what was going on before I arrived.

Mom and Alice looked at each other, unsure of what to do. The three of us watched each other and tried to sense each other, planning our next move. I put the meat in the pot and sat down among the women.

"I've had enough," I muttered. "My life has changed dramatically, and I'm trying to accept it, but it's extremely hard when I don't know why it's happening. That's why I'm asking for some clarification!"

"But…" Alice began.

"I know you're worried about me, and you're hiding it for my own good, but trust me, I'll be okay." I cut her off and looked at her expectantly.

The girl and my mother quickly exchanged glances and sighed heavily almost simultaneously. I won this round, I was happy, but then I felt anxious. I was so sure of myself just a moment ago, and what if the truth turns out to be unpleasant? However, I swallowed, trying not to show that I might regret the decisions I made earlier. The women seemed to be wordlessly trying to decide which one should start, but none of them seemed to be quite sure where the beginning was.

"Son…" Mother cleared her throat. "Even if you still doubt it, I'm asking you to believe Alice. She was telling the truth about you being siblings."

"You talk about it so calmly," I replied. "You don't mind that your father had another woman."

"If only one," she laughed ominously and covered her face with her hands. "Sometimes I wish I knew everything."

"We have quite a few half-siblings," Alice added with a sad smile. "But I've only met you in person."

"Does he even know how many of you he has exactly?" Mom asked in a teasing tone.

"I don't think so." Alice shrugged.

"This "he" is mine, " I paused for a moment and looked at my sister. "I'm sorry, our father, right?"

They both nodded in response, and the table fell silent again, and I decided to check on the meat. I tossed in the vegetables and returned to the table, awaiting the rest of the story. What I understood so far is that my father is probably an asshole who changes women like gloves, but Alice seems to have had a chance to hang out with him a bit longer than I have. At least she had a chance to meet him, and I guess I envied her a little after all.

"Let's start with something else, though," said Alice. "Well, yes, the world is ruled by two forces, Love and Death, which constantly compete with each other for domination. When Love wins people are happy, and nice to each other, generally, it's quite nice around, but this rarely happens. Death has a definite advantage, then there are such unpleasant vibes everywhere. It's easier to get negative emotions out of people than positive ones."

She smiled sadly and took a deep breath, I listened attentively. I forgot about dinner, and out of the corner of my eye I saw that my mother had gone to check on the food. I still wasn't sure what this had to do with us.

"They both have many different names and terms. Death is not strongly attached to them, which is why we usually just say She. Love, on the other hand, is very used to Eros and hardly calls him any other way, " Alice continued, but I decided to interrupt her.

"What does that have to do with us?" I asked confused and noticed that my sister glanced at my mother.

"It is Eros who is your father," finally announced the only adult woman here.

"You're kidding," I laughed, but after their serious expressions, I fell silent.

"Come on, I'll show you."

Alice got up and asked me to show her the bathroom. We stood in front of the mirror, I wondered what he expected of me. Finally, she asked me to look deeply into her eyes and pay special attention to her pupils. I took a deep breath as I noticed that they were unusually shaped like hearts. I had never seen anything like it, and I couldn't take my eyes off it.

Right away I felt a tightness in my chest and a surge of positive feelings towards Alice, as I had before, wanting to protect her and help her. She smiled at me and pointed to the mirror, and I understood that I had to look at myself. I took off my glasses and brought my face closer to the mirror. Shocked, I stared into my own eyes, where I saw the same thing as Alice's. Only my pupils were not so clear yet, I looked at her with fear.

"A little more and they'll be fully formed," she said calmly. “It is the symbol that we are his children. Come on, let's go back to the table," she announced, handing me the glasses. "Dinner's probably ready, it smells good."

I obediently followed her, mother was indeed already setting the table. I still felt some shock, but relief at the same time. In fact, I was even glad that Alice was my sister. We ate in silence, though the silent question hung in the air, would that be enough for me?

"You said my mom is aware of this, isn't yours? Doesn't she know who our father is? " I asked.

"As far as I know, your mother is the only aware one," Alice replied. “The thing is, if our father likes a woman, he has no problem turning into the guy of her dreams. With this attitude, he will easily win over, usually after the birth of a child, he is messing with their memories so that they remember it as a special romance in their lives."

"Did you give up so easily to him, too, mother?" I asked, hoping to hear a denial.

"Yes and no," she replied. "I was at the peak of my sports career, I was preparing for the Olympics, I was not interested in romance at that time, but in the end, I lost."

"Father sometimes mentioned that you were one of the few he had to work hard for," Alice laughed.

"Then how come he didn't mess with your head?"

"Thanks to you." Mom smiled at me. "It's a process that takes time, and while he was doing it, you started to cry, so I woke up from my trance, and then I saw something was wrong."

"And kicked his ass," Alice finished for her. "I love this story. Your mom is great, Kiyoshi. "

"I know," I agreed with her and said that probably a dose of knowledge is enough for me. I needed a moment to digest it. However, one thing worried me.

"Alice, you said he usually left after the baby was born, every romance he had ended up like this?"

"It's a little more complicated," she replied, looking away. "I'll explain it to you a little later."