Prologue

“Why am I such a terrible girl…?”

A voice heavy with sorrow spills from her lips.

Silver hair fans out across the bed where she has flung herself, a single tear tracing a path from her wide, glistening eyes.

—If something like a god really exists, they must have a terribly cruel personality.

Utsurogi Yuuri carries a secret.

A secret she can never share, one that must remain hidden at all costs.

—Yuuri, I love your hair. It’s beautiful.

Her brother’s words had soothed her when she was teased for her silver locks.

It was only natural for a young girl to grow attached to such a kind brother, always following in his shadow since childhood.

When did speaking to him become so difficult?

When did her chest begin to tighten, her words faltering whenever their eyes met?

Her voice would waver when she tried to speak, and for reasons she couldn’t grasp, her words grew overly formal, a habit that soon spread even to her family.

She and her brother are siblings.

Yet the feelings Yuuri harbors are not those a sister should hold for her brother.

She knows these feelings are wrong.

She understands, but once they took root, there was no uprooting them.

And so, Yuuri can only drench her pillow with quiet tears, cursing the gods.

—Even someone as bad as me, Onii-chan is always so kind to.

Even today, when Yuuri returned home, her brother greeted her with his usual warm smile. “Welcome back,” he said.

Those simple words alone made her heart feel salvaged.

Yet she couldn’t even muster an “I’m home,” only turning her face away.

His kind expression tightens her chest so fiercely she can’t bear to look at him.

She so desperately wanted to show him her new school uniform. But in the end, she couldn’t bring herself to say a word.

She had studied tirelessly to attend the same school as her brother.

Another sigh escapes her lips.

Why did this so-called god make them siblings?

If they weren’t bound by blood, she wouldn’t have to endure this torment…

—If I could forget these feelings, would it be easier…?

She can’t forget.

She doesn’t want to forget.

But it hurts.

—If Onii-chan and I weren’t bound by blood, would I be spared this pain…?

If they weren’t siblings, he wouldn’t show her such kindness.

Both are things she cherishes, yet they are the very source of her anguish.

Clutching a wish akin to a prayer—one that can never be granted, yet one she’d be troubled if it were—Yuuri wipes her tears into her pillow.

How long had she lain there?

As her eyelids grew heavy and sleep began to claim her, a sound broke the silence.

A soft knock came at her door.

“Yuuri, can I come in? I need to talk to you about something important…”

“…? Mom?”

It was her mother’s voice, laced with an unusual tension.

—What’s going on? Did something happen?

Slowly, she rises and reaches for the doorknob.

Perhaps there really is such a thing as a god.

But if so, they must be either cruelly twisted or maddeningly rigid.

In the end, the girl’s wish would, in a way, come true.

Though it would take a form far different from what she had imagined…