The Descendants

"You're awake?" A tall girl with said pure silver hair entered the room. Her downturned sapphire blue eyes studied me. Underneath her right eye was a beauty mark shaped like a diamond.

She was Mifuyu Miura, you see, one of the new families that I mentioned that you couldn't be bothered to remember.

She also just happened to be the cousin I looked up to... Bitter as I am, this body couldn't hate her, not when her beauty brought elves to shame.

As I mentioned before my Father's younger brother married a woman in the Miura clan. They have three children, Mifuyu is only one of them. She had an older twin brother who looked exactly like her minus the beauty mark and a younger sister.

That's right, I had been traveling with Mifuyu and my older brother, two of my favorite people when I had my unfortunate accident that resulted in… a fortunate return of my memories?

The purpose of our journey was simple.

Since I was coming of age soon I would need to attend an academy.

Here in Black Apple, it became common for residents to learn how to fight, or learn some kind of craft to contribute back to society. Children were no exception to this rule. Boys were considered men by the time they turned fifteen and girls eligible to marry by the time they turned sixteen.

A world built on the sacrifices of my early villagers, skills and information were passed down in books, and those safeguarding the books familiarized themselves with the material, eventually passing down this information to future generations, schools were formed.

I sat up feeling a bit dizzy and light-headed. Maybe it's from sweating too much during the fever or maybe it was all the worrying, but I felt my brain had been fried on a skillet. It was hard to think or focus.

I held my hot, throbbing head. "Where is older brother?"

I had always wanted an older brother, perhaps maybe that's why in this life, I had been attached to him. Calling out to him. Always following him around.

When he had to enroll in an Academy, I remember being very depressed that I fell ill from cooping myself inside, brother had to take a leave of absence to come and take me out for a walk. Really, I was so thoughtless and hopeless.

Well, originally, I had always been a homebody but I also liked wandering around parks and cafes to read. How drastically my personality changed once I found myself with a brother… (?) Have I changed? It was fascinating and also disturbing. I feel like I haven't. Even in this life, Mother and Father were always busy, Grandma was the only one who ever kept me company... and she passed, again.

". . ."

The curtain to my canopy bed opened and a boy with bluish-black hair entered, he was just as tall as Mifuyu. His clear and sharp ink blue eyes held me in. And the depths of my heart stirred.

Ahhh, the admiration I felt for this person was no joke. If he wasn't my brother, there's no way the feelings I have would be pure. How could a blood-related sibling be like this? I think I finally understand family members of k-pop idols now...

Like Mifuyu he studied me for a bit. "How are you feeling Himi?" His expression was always unreadable, now that I think about it.

I think if I always had a younger sibling following me around I would be incredibly annoyed, not to mention because of me throwing fits he always had to take breaks from school to check up on me.

But I'm even more weird, hanging out with such an expressionless person without a care... well, I was desperate. I only had him... I tried to cut my younger impressionable self some slack.

My gaze flitted to his earlobes. The red-feathered earring from a gold hen, another was from a bronze eagle.

The earrings he was wearing were earrings I made with Grandmother for his tenth birthday. He always wore them ever since then it became his signature trademark. He shouldn't hate me too much if he wears it all the time right? Or maybe he only wears it because of the protective charm we cast on it?

"Himiko?" Brother tried again.

The last thing I remember was touring Black Apple inspecting schools when our carriage was attacked by some demons. I fell into a lake, my head hit a rock in the water making it hard to maintain consciousness…

I couldn't recall what the schools we visited were like. None left a lasting impression.

"I'm sorry for bothering you all the time brother." I hung my head feeling a bit ashamed of my thoughtless and selfish actions.

I looked to Mifuyu, another victim of my clinginess. I admired her feminity so whenever my brother wasn't around and she was, I would follow her everywhere, I wanted to learn from her. She was a quiet girl who unlike her other siblings didn't talk much tho.

Just like with my brother it was hard to gauge how she truly felt about me upon reflection.

Really seems I have a special spot for the quiet ones and can't help pestering them... Well, I suppose it's rare that I find other quiet folks like me. So I try to make friends with them no matter what... is what I'd like to say.