(Nagaya village, Nagahoro, one day after the reporter incident)
Shiri was awoken from her uncomfortable slumber by the rustling of curtains and the sensation of sunlight shining through her eyelids. She didn’t want to open her eyes, but she recognised her sister’s elegant footsteps as they moved about the room. She had fallen asleep on Jun’s couch, then. That was good; she had woken up in worse places after drinking too much. Her head hurt though, as it often did in the morning. “Huh,” she hummed just to let her sister know that she was awake.
By the sound of it, Jun approached to loom over her supine form. “Shiri, we need to talk. You can’t keep living like this.”
“Why not?” she groaned without any thought or intent behind her words. She really did not want to have this conversation right now.
“One, because you’re better than this.” Her voice was soft and calm as always, but with that stern edge she didn’t often use. “Renowned heroes shouldn’t go around drinking themselves into a stupor.”
Shiri wanted to roll over, away from the sunlight, but it seemed like so much effort that she just suffered through it. “If I’m such a hero, surely I can do whatever I want.”
“Two,” Jun continued undeterred. “Because I’m sick of picking up after you. I have my own family to care for. I shouldn’t have to worry about my bum of a sister too.”
Damn, she was right on that one. When did she become such a burden, anyways? It seemed like only a week ago since she first crashed drunkenly on her sister’s couch, but she knew that wasn’t right. It felt so inconsequential back then. Just let me not worry about anything for one evening, then I’ll be all good the next morning. Of course, she thought the same thing last time she lapsed into a period of squalor, but somehow she was confident that it would be different this time. So much for that.
Before she could sort her thoughts, Jun roughly poked her in the breast. “Ow,” Shiri groaned listlessly as her body jerked into motion. “What was that for?”
“Just making sure you didn’t pass out while I was speaking. At least get up and take a bath, you look terrible. We can worry about the next step after that.”
“Fine, fine. Let me just… dull my headache first.” She blindly reached over to where she had left her half-empty bottle of rice wine, but found nothing there.
Jun sighed softly. “I took your wine away. Don’t bother searching for it, it’s gone.”
“You bi-” she blurted out, but sharply stopped herself from insulting her sister. She took a deep breath, then cleared her throat. “Thank you. For taking care of me.”
“You’re welcome. Now thank me with your actions, that’s what matters. Besides, how did you get that blood splatter on your dress? Do I want to know?”
Blood splatter? Oh, right. Did that really happen or was that a dream? It didn’t seem real, but she had no other explanation for the blood. “It’s complicated.”
“Well, it’s going to be a pain to wash out. But I’ll try if you toss it with the other laundry.”
With her eyes still closed, Shiri rose stiffly into a sitting position. That made her head hurt even more. “You’re too nice to me, sis.”
“You were always bad at laundry, is all.” Her unseen hand wiped the loose strands of hair from Shiri’s face and tucked them behind her ear. “Now go do what you need to do. And I won’t be this nice if I see you drinking again, understand?”
“I won’t,” she sighed, unsure of whether she was lying. Despite her discomfort, she pried open her eyes just in time to see Jun leaving the room. Or rather, to glimpse the black blob of her hair and the white blob of her dress, as her eyes were still wet and blurry. She had a long and uncomfortable day ahead of her. But perhaps this might be just the start she needed to kick her drinking habit for good. Not likely, she thought, but maybe. Hopefully.
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