📘 2007: A Girl with No Tomorrow
✦ Chapter 20: Someone Who Asked
> _“Most people took things from me without permission.
He asked first.”_
— Aki Hoshino
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The school gates clicked shut behind her.
Same path. Same gray sky. Her headphones were in, but no music played. She just wanted to feel the silence.
Then—
Footsteps beside her.
She glanced left.
Kaito.
Hands in his pockets. Hair messy under a black cap. He was walking just a little too carefully — like approaching a sleeping tiger.
She stopped.
He stopped.
“I’m not following you,” he said quickly. “Okay, maybe I am. But it’s not like last time.”
She didn’t say anything.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Listen… I just wanted to apologize. For showing up weird that day.”
“You didn’t show up weird,” she said flatly. “You showed up suspicious.”
He winced. “Fair.”
They started walking again — side by side this time. Still quiet.
---
“I, uh… I came to meet you because of Rei,” he said after a pause.
“He brags a lot. Like, a lot. About you.”
She glanced sideways.
“He says you’re stronger than him. Scarier. Smarter. That you once walked through a hospital like a ghost just to save him.”
She didn’t respond.
Kaito gave a small smile.
“I got jealous.”
She blinked.
“Jealous?” she repeated, confused.
He nodded. “I’ve known Rei for four years. Never heard him talk about anyone like that. I mean… the guy’s basically a hurricane. But when he talks about you, it’s like…”
He paused, looking for the word.
“…like he’s found something that actually matters.”
Aki looked down at the road.
Then Kaito added, voice gentler:
> “So, I wanted to ask —
Not force — just ask…
Can I call you little sister, too?”
She stopped walking.
He stopped beside her.
“No pressure,” he said quickly. “It’s just, I don’t really have family, and Rei’s the closest I got to a brother, and I figured if he trusts you enough to bleed for you, then maybe I could too, someday.”
Aki stared at him.
No one's ever asked.
Not once.
Not when they used her.
Not when they hurt her.
Not when they smiled fake for the camera.
But here was a boy she kicked, flipped, choked, and bruised…
Asking.
---
After a moment, she whispered:
“…Okay.”
Kaito blinked. “Wait—really?”
She nodded.
“…But don’t follow me home again.”
He laughed.
“Deal.”
---
They walked together the rest of the way — no music, no questions.
Just a strange, soft peace between them.
And for the first time in a long time, Aki didn’t feel like she had to look over her shoulder.
---
That night, in her notebook:
> Date: November 3, 2007
Someone asked to stay.
He didn’t demand it. Didn’t pretend he deserved it.
He just asked —
“Can I be your brother too?”
I said yes.
And it didn’t hurt to say it.
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End of Chapter 20
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