It was just another fateful day, my birthday, a bittersweet date that, although it should have been special to me, was just another day. 

"I've never been able to understand why people celebrate so much because they're older, it's sad and happy at the same time, turning gray like the miracle of life... very poetic hahaha..." I thought to myself, laughing. 

"KOSUKE! ! !" 

"Hi Mom! ! !" 

"Help me out here! ! !" 

I ran to find my mother in the living room.

"Help Saksa with these balloons because she's scared," she said in an exhausted voice.

I helped my sister tie the balloons because she was afraid they would burst.

I've never been that close to her, but we've never been enemies.

What influences me the most in the way I see our connection is the fact that she's 15 years old, three years younger than me, which, mainly because of our gender difference, gives me this need to protect her, somehow I feel like it's my responsibility, even though I've never asked for it.

"Oniii-chan!!" said Saksa, hiding her excitement.

"Hi Saki..." Kosuke said a little worried.

"Are you excited about your birthday?" asked Saksa excitedly.

"Not much, this year has been a bit slow for me," Kosuke said, not really listening.

"Come on, you'll get a lot of surprises, our birthday is our own time of the year, hihi," Saksa said in a strangely cute way. 

"Haha... yes, I think so," Kosuke said, losing his apathetic pose towards his sister.

The day had been packed, both my mother and father had prepared every detail of the party, I think their love for me helped, but what must have influenced them the most was probably what the visitors would think of us, my mother would never accept to be known as sloppy by all her friends.

During the party, everything went as I'd hoped. I'd called friends, but only two of the seven I'd invited showed up, and all the kids who came made it seem like the party was never meant for me.

*Saksa pulls my arm in the middle of my reverie.

"Onii-chan," I said in a whisper.

"Hi, are you okay?" Kosuke said in a worried tone.

"Yes, I have a present for you," Saksa said, unable to contain her excitement and then ran into her room.

I waited for my sister to return, but after a certain delay, I was distracted and went back to chatting with my friends.

It had been a long time since I'd seen my sister, so I began to worry. 

I went in search of her, asking all her friends, who had all joked with her before, but I always heard a similar story, that she'd said a while ago that she wanted to talk to me about a secret.

Every minute that passed made me more anxious, and in the midst of all the searching, there was only one last place left to look for her, her own room. 

I opened the door forcefully out of concern, and the only thing I saw were pieces of clothing lying on the floor, next to an origami in the shape of a heron, my favorite animal, exceptionally well done, and a kind of post-it note next to it.

[To the brother I love the most in the world!!!].

At that moment, my mind collapsed, his clothes he was going to wear to the party, along with his origami gift, all on the floor, giving me such a bitter feeling in my chest that it successively turned into fear and then anxiety I had never felt before.

"Sak... where... are... you?" I thought in horror.

I warned my mother, my father too, and finally, when I least expected it, everyone at the party was looking for my sister. Time passed, the worry was so great that we didn't even hear a congratulations, and both my parents and I spent the night searching for my sister.

The police were called, and since 48 hours is the most important time for a missing person, we started calling everyone we knew in search of more information and were extremely anxious to hear from the police.

After waking up at 2 p.m., where I had slept in the morning, I noticed a severe headache along with an itchy sensation in my right arm.

 Although it was an abrupt onset of these symptoms, I remained calm and quiet because I didn't want to disturb my parents in their search for my sister, as they were already very distressed.

In the midst of an unfortunate argument between them in the bedroom, with both of them blaming the other, I went back to my room to see if I could rest and see if my symptoms would improve. 

Both my headaches and the itching were getting worse, to the point where the itching became a slight burning sensation and my headaches became depersonalization.

As I lay there, the symptoms only seemed to get worse, and when I turned on my side in bed, I saw the origami in my vision next to my sister's letter, next to her trembling handwriting, probably made with an attempt at delicacy that resulted in her inconsistent handwriting, my symptoms seemed to disappear for a brief moment as I looked at this gift that in such a short time seemed to mean nothing to me, but at that moment, on top of all the memories of my sister in my head, that was all I had.

My head throbbed sharply, a pulsing pain so abrupt that I had to squat on the floor in a fetal position.

The burning and depersonalization returned, but this time with a sense of hallucination.

The muffled sound of my parents arguing in the next room began to blend together, changing tone and distorting to the point of being unrecognizable, my vision oscillated between focused and blurred, and I lost control of it.

This time the pain was so excruciating that I closed my eyes with an unthinking scream and felt a brief sense of relief.

"Huh?" I exclaimed, strangely hearing the muffled sounds of rain, like those relaxing days perfect for staying in, but this time... with a strangely different feeling.

I didn't recognize my room, I didn't recognize the facade I had seen from the window, and although I had a strange feeling of familiarity, I found myself in an empty house without even recognizing the clothes I was wearing.

My shoes had become two sandals, there was a tattoo on my right arm that looked like the Suminagashi art style, and my clothes looked very much like cosplay from some anime, something I would guess was Naruto, but I wasn't too sure.

In my epiphany, I hear a scream.

"AHHH! ! !" *Tchank This voice makes me feel uncomfortable because it's so similar to my sister's.

Acting almost on instinct, I run towards the sound and when I see a flash of light coming from the window, I see the worst scene of my life: my sister has been stabbed right in front of me.

"What?" the killer shouted.

My sister fell to the ground without a reaction, probably fainted from the shock, my body paralyzed and my vision blurred in a way I had never felt before, generating a certain energy that soon became hatred and gave me an uncommon strength.

My tattoo on my right arm began to glow, and the air around it seemed to distort, as if it was emitting some kind of energy.

Along with this feeling of power, without thinking, I charged at the assassin at an incredible speed, hitting him in the face and throwing him against the window, breaking the glass and causing him to fall out of the apartment complex we were in.

Immediately after, I turned my attention to my sister, who was already lifeless, and there was no reaction either. 

My adrenaline and strength had run out, so the only thing I could do was to seek help for my sister in the last hope of saving her... 

//

Author note

10 chapters ahead at patreon.com/persima