My Sister is Bronya

He could pull off something like that because he possessed the Seven Nights Assassination Technique, a skill that surpassed the limits of the human body—but what was An relying on?

And her movement was far more terrifying than his own; it was as if she could teleport... no, even faster than teleportation!

"Heheh... now do you know the price of pissing me off?" An's face twisted into a manic grin, her mouth stretching wide as a pink tongue slid out from between her shark-like teeth, licking the blood off her dagger.

She looked exactly like a madwoman.

If Ishiu had known about her ability, he wouldn't have been so shocked—because An's power was time manipulation!

It was an innate gift she possessed, but she couldn't use it well; only when her emotions ran high could she manage a crude form of control.

Just now, she had stopped time for 0.5 seconds, dashed behind Ishiu, and stabbed him.

If Ishiu hadn't reacted quickly, that strike would have sliced straight through his kidney.

Ishiu's face turned grim as he let the wound on his waist drip blood freely—he had no time to tend to it. While facing an enemy, diverting attention to treat an injury was like exposing your back to them, a suicidal move.

"Ishiu-gege, you're bleeding so much..." Ishiu had told Seele and the others to stay back, and because of his authority as the second eldest in the orphanage, the children obediently held their ground. But Seele, usually so well-behaved and compliant, rushed over instead, her small face pale as she stared at the wound on Ishiu's waist, her eyes filled with panic and worry.

She quickly pulled out the handkerchief Ishiu had used to wipe her tears earlier, her hands trembling as she tried to stop the bleeding.

Crystalline tears swirled in Seele's eyes, but this time she held back her grief and pain, refusing to let them fall. Instead, she bit her lip tightly, carefully and earnestly wiping the blood around the wound.

"Seele, go back. It's not safe here." Ishiu kept his eyes fixed on An, ready for any sudden attack, while urging Seele to leave.

He didn't want to see Seele get hurt too. Who knew if An had truly lost her mind? If she turned on Seele, things would go disastrously wrong.

"I won't!" Seele shook her head stubbornly, her voice thick with tears. "Ishiu-gege, please stop fighting. You're bleeding so much. Seele doesn't want to see you get hurt too!"

Today was definitely an unforgettable day for Seele.

First, Bronya had fallen down the stairs and was still in the operating room, her condition unknown. Then Ishiu had started fighting An and got stabbed, blood pooling on the floor.

Seele didn't understand why things had turned out this way, but she knew one thing—she was utterly useless in such a crisis... just as An had said, she was a weak coward who could do nothing but cry...

As these thoughts crossed Seele's mind, she didn't notice that her bright, sapphire-like eyes were faintly turning red.

A color as vivid and ominous as blood.

"Seele..." Ishiu pressed his lips together, about to urge her to go back again, but in that moment of distraction, An's figure vanished once more.

Ishiu's hair stood on end as he realized—this time, An hadn't appeared behind him, but behind Seele!

"Annoying little goody-two-shoes, just lie down!" An sneered, swinging her blade down toward Seele's shoulder.

"Stop right there!"

But in the next second, a stern, furious voice rang out through the corridor, freezing An's dagger less than ten centimeters from Seele's shoulder.

Chapter 11: Seele

Cocolia approached with a face as cold as frost, her military boots thudding dully against the hospital's smooth floor—each step like a beat on the heart, forcing everyone's pulse to sync with her rhythm.

This was the first time Ishiu had seen Cocolia angry. Usually, when facing the children, she always wore a gentle smile, but now her face held only ice and severity.

"What are you doing?" Cocolia stood before them. Under her overwhelming presence, all the children obediently drew closer—except for Seele, who was still helping Ishiu stop the bleeding.

"...No one spoke. Ishiu shot An a cold glare, then pulled Seele to the left side.

"I asked you—what are you doing?!" Cocolia raised her voice, her beautiful, flower-like face now furrowed with a tight frown. When she saw the blood still seeping from Ishiu's waist, the gloom on her face deepened.

"Mom, it's all An's fault! She pushed Bronya down the stairs and stabbed Ishiu too!" Rosaliya pointed at An angrily.

Cocolia turned her gaze to An, her expression complicated. "An, is this true?"

"So what if it is?" An didn't deny it, admitting it outright.

"Why did you do this?" A flicker of disappointment passed through Cocolia's eyes as she asked the same question Ishiu had earlier.

But this time, An didn't answer. She just turned her head away stubbornly.

Cocolia sighed, then looked at Ishiu, her fine brows knitting even tighter.

"What are you still standing here for? Go call a doctor! How much blood do you want to lose?" Seeing Ishiu's face growing pale from blood loss, Cocolia was both angry and pained.

"I struck An first," Ishiu shook his head, taking the handkerchief from Seele's hand and pressing it directly against the wound to staunch the bleeding.

He wasn't one to shift blame—what was done was done. An's fault was hurting Bronya; his injury was his own doing.

"Enough. I'll handle this. Go get your wound treated first," Cocolia said.

"Yeah." Ishiu nodded, glanced at the silent An, and temporarily left the operating room.

Seele stayed close by Ishiu's side, equally silent.

"Seele, go wash your hands. Sorry for getting them dirty." Seeing Seele's small hands stained with his blood, and even her clothes splattered with a few drops, Ishiu spoke apologetically.

Seele shook her head, her sapphire-blue eyes filled with dejection. She lowered her head, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible.

"Ishiu-gege... is Seele really useless?"

"Of course not! Seele, you're not useless. Don't listen to that crazy woman An's nonsense," Ishiu quickly reassured her.

"But... I can't help with anything. Not with Bronya-jiejie, not with you, Ishiu-gege. I can't do anything. I just cry..." Seele bit her lower lip hard, tears swirling in her eyes, but she held them back with all her might.

She really didn't want to cry anymore.

"Seele, Seele, don't cry. Listen to me—you're not useless; your strengths just don't lie here." Ishiu-gege stopped walking, pressing Seele's shoulders with some concern, while his other hand gently caressed her fair cheek, stroking it softly as if comforting a wounded kitten.

"Everyone has things they're good at and things they're not. You couldn't help with Bronya's accident—that's normal, because I couldn't help either. All we can do is wait and pray outside."

"And as for my situation, don't even get me started. In a fit of anger, I wanted to get justice for Bronya, and look at me now... At least I got that punch in on her, or this would've been a total loss."

Ishiu-gege did his best to comfort Seele, and his words seemed to work. Seele's delicate body, which had been trembling slightly, gradually stilled.

Her hands gripped the front of Ishiu-gege's clothes tightly, her head tilting slightly to rest against his shoulder.

"Ishiu-gege, thank you for comforting me. I know what I need to do now..."

"Mm, good that you know. So don't ever say things like 'I'm useless' again, okay?" Though Ishiu-gege had no idea what the girl had figured out, at least she was perking up.

"Mm, Ishiu-gege, hurry and get your wound treated. A wound this deep must hurt a lot..." Seele nodded. Though she was reluctant to leave his embrace, she knew her limits and didn't waste any more time.

"Huh?"

Whether it was his imagination or not, Ishiu-gege thought he saw Seele's eyes turn red, and the color of her hair seemed to shift slightly too.

But when he blinked, Seele was still Seele—no red at all. Ishiu-gege couldn't help wondering if he'd lost so much blood that his mind was getting hazy.

So he quickly found a nearby doctor to bandage his wound. After that, he and Seele returned to the area outside the operating room.

"Where's Cocolia-mama and An?" Ishiu-gege scanned the area and noticed neither of them were there, so he asked.

"Mama took An away." Liliya said as she came closer, eyeing the gauze wrapped around Ishiu-gege's waist with some worry. "Ishiu, how's your wound? Does it still hurt?"

They'd all been terrified earlier. That slash Ishiu-gege took was like something out of a horror movie to these girls who hadn't seen much blood. They even thought he might die.

"It's nothing, just a minor injury." Ishiu-gege replied casually, while inwardly wondering how Cocolia would punish An.

To be honest, Ishiu-gege had never particularly liked An, but he'd never disliked her either. Even with her bad temper and her habit of roughing up the kids at the Orphanage, he'd just written it off as a brat's antics.

But now it was different. Kids fighting among themselves was one thing; An pushing Bronya down the stairs was on a whole other level.

That was pure malice, and it made even someone as easygoing as Ishiu-gege start to resent An.

Still, setting An aside for now, the most important thing was Bronya...

He wondered how she was doing in the operating room...

Chapter 12: Gentle Bronya

Time ticked by, minute after minute. An hour later, the operating room door opened, and the doctors and nurses filed out one by one.

Everyone rushed over to ask about her condition.

"The patient's condition is very serious. She sustained varying degrees of trauma to her head and body, but after our treatment, she's no longer in critical danger. However..."

"However, what?"

"However, her legs will need several months of rest before she can walk normally. In this injury, her legs were the most severely damaged area. We've done all we can; the rest depends on her own recovery and rehabilitation."

Seeing that they were just a bunch of kids, the doctor didn't say much more. He gave a brief rundown of Bronya's current state and then left.

"Ishiu-gege, is Bronya-nee going to be okay?" Seele asked, a little scared.

Ishiu-gege's expression was grim, but hearing Seele's question, he forced a smile. "It's fine. Didn't the doctor just say she'll be better after a few months of rest?"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at that. If Cocolia was the mother of all the kids in the Orphanage, then Bronya was definitely the big sister. Her place in their hearts was something ordinary people couldn't imagine.

Soon, a nurse moved Bronya into a ward to settle her in. As the anesthesia gradually wore off, Bronya slowly woke up.

"Everyone..." Bronya was still a bit dazed when she first opened her eyes, but after seeing the white hospital room and the patient gown she was wearing, she realized what had happened. "I... am I in the hospital?"

"Bronya-nee, do you remember what happened before? An pushed you down the stairs. You scared us all." Seele leaned close to the bed, her face full of worry.

"An..." Bronya's gaze grew distant. She recalled that on the stairs, it felt like someone had shoved her from behind, and for some reason, her body had gone numb, unable to move, leaving her to watch herself fall.

So it was An, after all...

A trace of sorrow flickered across Bronya's brow. She hadn't expected An to actually go that far against her.

"Ishiu tried to get justice for you, and An even slashed him with a knife. That's why I say she's super annoying. I wish Mama would kick her out of the Orphanage." Rosaliya said indignantly.

Hearing this, Bronya immediately turned her head to look at Ishiu-gege, only to find him standing at the back, just poking his head out.

"You. Come here." Bronya said.

"Uh... no need, I'm fine standing here." Ishiu-gege's mouth twitched as he gave a dry laugh and shook his head, inwardly wanting to spank Rosaliya until her bottom was red.

Damn it, talk all you want, but why did you have to mention I got hurt!

He knew Bronya's temper better than anyone. If she found out he'd been cut by An because of her, her first reaction wouldn't be gratitude—it would be to give him a good kick or a few punches.

Because she'd definitely say he was overreaching. Fighting An was bad enough, but losing? That was embarrassing for her, since he was her student after all.

"Are you coming or not?" Seeing Ishiu-gege disobey, Bronya frowned and raised her voice a little. But maybe the emotional spike aggravated her injuries, because a flash of pain crossed her pale little face.

Ishiu-gege had no choice but to obediently push through the crowd and walk to the bedside.

When she saw the gauze wrapped around his waist, still faintly stained with blood despite the bandaging, Bronya's small face hardened. She stared at Ishiu-gege's face and scolded him without mercy. "Are you an idiot? With your lousy skills, you thought you could get justice for Bronya? Look at you now—no justice, and you're the one who got hurt."

"I didn't lose. I at least got a punch in on her, so it's a draw at worst." Ishiu-gege said, a bit unwilling to concede.

"You dare talk back?" Bronya struggled to reach her hand out from under the blanket, aiming for Ishiu-gege's face.

Ishiu-gege clicked his tongue. He figured he was about to get hit, but he didn't dodge or block. In Little Pudding's current state, he was more worried about her aggravating her injuries.

However, when Bronya's somewhat chilly little hand touched his cheek, what came wasn't the pain of a pinch, but a gentle caress.

At the same time, Bronya's slightly hoarse voice rang out, "Idiot little brother... don't be so foolish next time, and... thank you..."

Ishiu was stunned for a good long while, and only when Bronya withdrew her hand did he snap out of it and exclaim, "Holy crap?! Bronya, have you been possessed?! My Little Pudding would never be this gentle!"

"..."

"..."

The ward fell into a dead silence.

After a long moment, Bronya's voice rang out, tinged with a mix of embarrassment and anger, "Damn it, Ishiu! Who are you calling Little Pudding?!"

Bronya's condition had stabilized. Though she still couldn't get out of bed, according to the doctor, she only needed another month of rest before she could be discharged, followed by a series of recuperative measures.

Cocolia also came to visit Bronya, but she didn't bring up anything about An, and Bronya didn't bring it up either. The two of them, as if by unspoken agreement, avoided the topic.

When evening came, Ishiu sent the other children from the Orphanage back, leaving only himself and Rosaliya to take care of Bronya. After all, the ward was only so big—they couldn't all stay.

Though Seele also wanted to stay, Ishiu didn't agree, telling her to come back tomorrow to take over watching over Bronya.