The older sister's gentleness and patience brought him immense comfort.
Later, he told her about more than just his parents.
He told her about school, too.
The little boy was shy by nature.
His parents' relationship grew worse and worse.
The cold wars, the arguments...
Scenes like these played out before his eyes almost every day.
The things they argued about were always much the same.
In that kind of environment, he grew more and more quiet and sensitive.
He tried to make himself invisible.
It wasn't that he didn't want to do anything.
It was that he knew perfectly well there was nothing he could do.
Those two didn't care about him.
Even though he was their child.
They simply didn't care about him.
Naturally, they weren't going to change just because he tried to talk them into it.
They didn't even bother to put on an act in front of him.
They were always completely genuine.
He had actually tried to do something about it.
He was so scared.
The two of them argued so fiercely.
Their voices were so loud that they made his head ache.
Their expressions were both so frightening.
The things they said were so frightening, too.
He couldn't take it.
For once, he snapped.
At least, that was how it seemed to him.
Though the truth was, his voice had come out as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
No one paid any attention to him.
The two of them even started throwing things.
The sound of porcelain shattering on the floor was shrill and grating.
The fragments flew through the air, their edges sharp.
He got hurt.
A tiny shard of porcelain sliced across the back of his hand.
The next moment, blood seeped from the thin