Siblings Resort: Chapter 6 - Encounter

"I just DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO!" I dashed out of my working room when I just couldn't bear it anymore. I have failed so many times that now my mother gave up on me. Worst yet, she brought in my supposed brother to help but I knew better. My friends whom I hadn't seen in months showed me the truth about them. They're selfish beings who take advantage of their younger siblings, so this has to be some sort of punishment from her. I made her angry.

"Huh? Miss Mylene?" As I ran I passed a freckled redhead woman who called after me, but I ignored her and ran to the only place I thought could maybe help calm me down. The majestic tree that I could only see through the window in my room. The place I haven't been able to visit since the first day I arrived. And when I got to it, I hid in the opening underneath the tree. I noticed it when I first arrived, but the large tree's trunks created a cave-like structure whose entrance was hidden behind the bushes that surrounded it, and it was big enough for kids to fit but there was nothing in it besides some mulch on the ground.

"It's not fair Mother," I cried, "I really did try hard." Ever since the day Miss Nanako told me about Mother's true feelings, I truly gave it my all to do what my mother wished me to do. I honestly didn't understand why she wanted me to manage a resort by myself, but I'm willing to do anything to go back to how we once were. But despite those feelings, I still failed. So many times now that I'm convinced she finally gave up on me.

*****

"Hello Ms. Everstream."

"Huh? Leon? LEON!!!"

"Whoa!" After leaving the room where I talked with Alicia and my sister, I passed by a freckled redhead servant whom I was very friendly with back then. I called out to her formally to check her reaction, but upon noticing it was me, she threw herself at me and held me tightly in a big hug. It was a really warm but happy sensation for me.

"Leon! It's really Leon! Oh I was told you arrived but I wanted to make sure it was you. I'm so happy to see you again, little Leon! Ah, but this is no excuse to call me that! Call me Emily, like you always have been." She pouted as she separated from me, with the warm comfortable sensation leaving me. Strange, why am I a little bit dejected...?

"I'm sorry, Emily. It's just been so long I wasn't sure how to act around you anymore."

"Don't be silly, Leon! I'll have you know that I've been helping Nanako search for you all this time! We were really heartbroken when you were taken away and we were desperate to find you!"

"You've been searching for me?" This is news to me. So it seems no one that actually cared for me abandoned me, but was instead unable to find me...

"Yeah, but no one knew where you were taken except for that heartless mother of yours! Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to disrespect your family like that!"

"No it's alright, haha... I'm just glad you haven't changed at all, Emily." I couldn't help but smile at the information that I just learned and that people who cared for me like Emily haven't changed that much.

"Oh, Master Leon..." she replied with some... tears in her eyes? "I'm so glad to have been able to see you again. I desperately needed to see a respectable man again after all the hardships that I've endured..."

"Respectable man...? Wait, isn't Mr. Fiddle a respectable man too? Did something happen to him?" For some reason, she got stiff, and life seemed to have left her eyes.

"We don't talk about him anymore."

"Huh? But aren't you two-"

"We don't talk about him anymore" she repeated.

"...I understand." I wasn't as close to Mr. Fiddle as I am to Emily, but I was surprised that she didn't want to talk about him. They used to be inseparable...

"Just know," she started now looking uncomfortable, "we aren't going out anymore."

"I see..."

"Yeah... but wait...? Oh, that's right!" She stopped looking uncomfortable and looked at me with sparkling eyes, "There's someone you have to meet! Someone I hope you will get along!"

"There is?"

"Yes, you should come with me to- oh no, wait. It's late, so now is not a good time." She started to look dejected.

"Huh, why? I can spare some time?"

"No, it's late. If I wake her up now, it'll be a nightmare..."

"Wake her up?"

"Yeah, you'll meet her soon enough, I'm sure. Actually, now thinking about the time, I'm late! I have to go! I'm sorry to have distracted you, Master Leon! I'm really happy to see you again, though!"

"Yeah, you too." She started to run off before pausing to look at me.

"Ah, right, Master Leon, are you going to your secret hideout?"

"Yeah, that's right." Although me and Alicia call it our secret hideout, it's not so secret to anyone else. It's just that it's only me and Alicia who uses it.

"Miss Mylene just ran past me and is most likely around the entrance. Can you just keep an eye out for her?"

"Miss Mylene? That's my sister's name, right?" I did recall her running out really upset.

"Yes, that's her. She was heading towards the garden, so if you're already on your way there, please keep an eye out for her."

"Sure, I don't mind." She gave me a quick bow before smiling warmly.

"Thanks Master Leon. Please be kind to her, your mother has always been cruel to her, so please don't let her feel alone." With that said, she turned and left in a hurry. I watched over her until she left my vision, thinking over what she said about my little sister.

*****

I made my way slowly towards the giant tree in the garden. Emily said that Mylene was around here, so I made sure to listen to my surroundings and look for anything that didn't belong in nature.

"No sign of her at all..." I was being vigilant, but still nothing. Maybe she already left? That might be for the best, we already had a very awkward relationship despite just having met once.

"...Why..." I stopped in my tracks because I thought I heard someone crying. And listening more carefully, it was coming from the tree? I crept closer while trying hard to not rustle the bushes that were surrounding the gigantic tree. Because if I did, and if this was Mylene as I suspected, I didn't want to give her any more bad impressions.

"There she is..." I whispered. She was inside the cave made by the tree's trunk.

"...Mother, why won't you ever let me see you anymore? I just don't want to be alone anymore... I can't see my friends, I can't leave my room, I can't see you... Have I done something to anger you...? Why, mother...?" What Emily said flashed through my mind. Please don't let her feel alone. Did she know Mylene was feeling this way? Was that why she looked very concerned when she asked me to look for her? It is true that there's nothing more painful than being alone, I know that from experience...

"... I can't just stay here and do nothing," I whispered. If she's experiencing what I felt for the past nine months, I refuse to stay still a second longer. Much less if this girl is my little sister."

"H-Huh...? EEEAK!!!" I purposely made the bush in front of the entrance rustle to not scare her as I moved to the entrance of the cave, but the moment she saw me in the moonlight, she stiffened and pushed herself as far back as she could, clearly frightened of me. It hurt that I was this scary in her eyes, but if I was in her position seeing a stranger close in on her, I would be scared too. But even so, I knew what I had to do as I got on my knees in front of her to not intimidate her and pause for a second to think of what to say as the cricket sang around us.

"...When I was younger," I finally began, "Father would tell me happily that I had a little sister that he wanted me to meet. And I was really happy and excited because I had always wanted to be an older brother." I looked at her to gaze at her reaction, but she still remained scared and stiff in the back, so I continued. "But as he kept saying that we would meet soon over and over, I couldn't help but doubt if you existed at all. So eventually, I stopped caring and life went on." I turn my head to the side uncomfortably remembering what came next. "Then suddenly, Father died and my life was thrown into disarray. I was disowned and the ones who always was there for me were gone. I was completely alone." For the first time, Mylene reacted to my words. She was curious now but still being scared. "It was... really painful. I didn't know loneliness hurt so much, and I cried night after night, wishing for anyone to talk to, anyone to befriend. But when I resigned to my lonely fate, I met you." I looked at her with a small smile to show I meant no harm. "When we met for the first time, I didn't comprehend right away you were my little sister, and I couldn't immediately reassure you that everything will be alright. For that, I'm really sorry."

"H-huh?!" I bowed my head with sincerity, and this caused her to gasp in surprise.

"I'm a failure as an older brother for that, but I want to do this right." I looked at her with determined eyes and said "Mylene, I know right now I'm a stranger to you, but I want to ask for you to give me a chance to be a proper older brother. I promise to help you with anything you need. I promise to do everything to make you smile and not feel lonely at all. I promise to dedicate myself to your happiness, so please."

"A-ah!? U-um, um...!" She was stuttering and didn't know what to say after I bowed my head, but I refused to move until she gave me a response.

"Y-you..." she started after a little while, "aren't going to be mean to me a-and make me do stuff as if I was your slave?"

"HUH?!"

"EEAK!!!"

"Ah, no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! It's just... what sort of a failure of a brother would do that?! Don't tell me you know someone like that, do you?"

"A-ah well..." Her face gave away the answer I sought, and I learned a horrible truth at that moment.

"Mylene," I said readjusting myself and looking at her with my full attention, "I will never do anything to make you sad. You are my sister, and I want to be someone you depend on. I want to be there for you so you'll never experience loneliness again." As I talked, I slowly moved closer to her and gently grabbed her delicate hands in mine. "I promise, as your older brother, that I won't let any misfortune get near you, and that happiness is the only thing I have in mind for you... Is that alright with you?" I waited patiently for her response with a little bit of anxiety. And after a brief moment of thinking, she nodded meekly while blushing.

"H-huh?!" Out of an impulse of happiness for finally being accepted as her older brother, I gently embraced her in a big hug to which she gave another gasp in surprise.

*****

What is going on? Shirley and Jolly told me all older brothers were selfish and uncaring of others, but my own older brother is hugging me tightly and I feel no malice. I'm not feeling any desire to bully or hurt me, just affection for me. Even though we only just met! Is this what older brothers are really like? There is no selfishness at all here. And this hug is just so comforting...

"Mylene?"

"H-hyah?! Oh, um, y-yeah?"

"I'm truly am happy to have met you." 

"..." I kept quiet not out of malice, but because I was afraid of myself for what I was feeling. His soft whispers in my ears made my back tingle strangely, and my heart was beating so fast. And I felt so comfortable in his hands that I could melt, I just couldn't comprehend my emotions! And to make matters worst, this is the first time I felt loved in so long that I couldn't help but weep a little from some sort of relief. 

"Huh?! D-did I do something wrong?" He tried pulling away as he said this, but when I resisted by holding on his shirt, he gave up on the idea.

"No, I'm just happy. Happy of not being alone anymore, happy of having a cool older brother. I'm sorry, I know you mean well and I'm crying on your shirt and getting it messy, but I'm just so happy. I'm really, really happy..." At first, he responded with nothing, but then I felt the back of my head being stroked gently.

"Then I'm glad. I'm really glad."

"Hmm." We stayed in the same position for a little bit longer, before finally pulling apart. After standing up first, he held out his hand to help me stand up despite my face showing clear signs of crying. "U-um..."

"Is something wrong?"

"W-what should I call you...?" I made the mistake of not bothering to memorize his name before because of my prejudice against older brothers. Honestly, my behavior was just shameful.

"O-oh, um..." He looked away shyly, which made my heart beat faster for some reason...

"Is... something wrong?"

"N-no, it's just... I... always... well before..."

"Hmm...?" He was acting really flustered... but why...? It seems my response made him shake his head before looking at me meekly.

"I... always wanted to be called Big Brother.

"B-big brother?!" I instantly remember a past conversation where both Jolly and Shirley complained to me about their older siblings trying to get their parents to force them to call them that out of respect.

"...When I was younger, Father read me books where it was used. When I asked what it meant, he said that it was what older brothers were called by the younger siblings who were close to them..." He scratched his cheek as he explained this. Still, this was another difference compared to what I knew from Shirley and Jolly. Maybe their concept of older siblings is just warped because of their selfish older brothers... "Ah!? Of course, you can call me Leon if it makes you uncomfortable. We're not that close, so maybe it's wrong of me to ask this when we literally just met..." He gave an awkward chuckle at the end to hide his embarrassment, but I at least understood his true feelings.

"No, it's alright, I don't mind. You said you would dedicate yourself to me, right? If you're serious about that, then it's the least I can do, big brother." He looked away from me, but I could see him smiling happily. I guess it meant a lot to him.

"Sorry for being weird, but I'm glad. Thank you Mylene for looking past that. " His strange way of embarrassed fidgeting really made my face feel warm for some reason...

"Hehehe..." I couldn't help but giggle a little to hide my slight embarrassment from his pure reaction. It's been a long time since the last time I wasn't depressed, so I guess I'm more receptive now to anything positive.

"...You really have a cute giggle."

"Huh?!" His comment caught me so off guard that I couldn't help but yelp from surprise, and I felt my cheeks becoming even more warm for some reason. "W-what are you saying?!"

"Ah, did I say that out loud?"

"Yes, you did! And why are you questioning yourself?! That's not normal!" 

"No, well, it's like, you know... When you think something and it slips your mouth without realizing it?"

"That's doesn't help! Geez!" I couldn't help but storm out of the cave not from frustration, but from the embarrassment and happiness I felt from his comment.

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