Katawa Shoujo Forums

The light of an early morning sun peeks through the curtains. Little beams of light in an otherwise dark room illuminate the sprawled out form of a sleeping child. The only thing to poke out from the covers is a mess of blonde hair that would be considered short on a girl, but long on a boy. Akira liked that best about her hair, as she would be entertained by strangers going through an awkward process of trying to find out if she was a boy or a girl, while remaining as diplomatic as possible. Her sleep is disturbed by a small pair of hands gently nudging her awake. Perhaps a little too gently, as Akira's only response is to roll over, away from the hands shoving her into the waking world.
The hands try again, a little more insistent this time. Akira rolls over to face her little sister.

"What time is it?"

The little girl backs away from the bed and Akira hears her footsteps making their way over to her own bed. A few seconds later an electronic voice announces it's just after seven in the morning.

"Mama said you have to get up now or you'll be late again."

Akira groans. The only reason she's ever late has nothing to do with what time she gets up in the morning. Her thoughts trail off as she becomes aware of her little sister shuffling her feet anxiously.

"I'm getting up, I'm getting up. Open the curtains, will ya? It's too dark in here."
As Lilly complies, Akira swings her legs off the bed and slowly plants her feet on the soft carpeted floor. It feels nice, soft and warm as always, but lately Akira was beginning to dislike it. The more closely she studies their bedroom, the more it seems to be Lilly's bedroom that just happens to have Akira's bed in it. Everything is neat and tidy and safe. There's nothing for her sister to bump into or get hurt by. The more aware of it she becomes, the more alien this room feels. With a yawn she pads over to their walk-in closet where she changes into her school uniform.

Lilly quietly follows her inside and begins rummaging through her own clothes in search of her own uniform.

"I'm almost ready, give me a minute and I'll sort out your clothes for you."

"I can do it!"

As she does up the last buttons of her shirt, Akira looks over to her sister and notices she is delicately feeling the fabric of every piece of clothing she touches, looking for her uniform through a process of elimination. She doesn't really get it, it'd be faster if Lilly just waited for her to finish and let her do it. Besides, mother always makes sure Lilly's school uniform is kept on a coat hanger, separate from her normal clothes, so it won't crease.

"It's not in there, Lil. Your uniform's hanging off the rack. I'll get it."
The little girl flushes with embarrassment and dejectedly steps back from her dresser, clutching the sides of her pink nightgown. Akira can't help but feel sorry for her when she gets like this. She steps past Lilly and takes out the little baby blue uniform. If Lilly wants to try to do things on her own more, maybe this would be a better first step.

"Hold out your hands."

Lilly's head turns to face Akira, her disappointment making room for confusion. Still, she trusts her sister enough to comply.
Akira gently puts the clothes in Lilly's small hands.

"Try putting these on, I'm gonna go brush my teeth."

Visibly surprised, Lilly only nods in Akira's direction. Akira walks out of their closet. As soon as she's out, she stops and turns around to watch her sister tackle this challenge. Lilly separates each item of clothing: the blue skirt, white shirt and white socks all get laid out on the floor. Lilly carefully feels each item to make sure she won't put them on backwards She then lifts her nightgown up over her head, casually dropping it beside her. Moments later she has managed to put the uniform on with almost as much ease as a sighted child would.

"Good job, Lil!"

Shocked, her sister spins around, though the gesture has little purpose for her.

"You were watching me?"

"Of course! I haven't even had breakfast yet, why would I brush my teeth?"

Lilly pouts as she realizes her sister's deception. It only makes Akira chuckle.

"So you wanna get dressed by yourself from now on?"

Her sister nods, once.

"That's great! If this keeps up, maybe you can get ready for school all by yourself and I can sleep in a little longer!"

That wasn't the right way to say it. Lilly flashed 'that' smile again. Wordlessly her little sister shuffles past her and leaves to go downstairs, picking up her hairbrush from the nightstand along the way.
Akira hates that smile, that silent lie.

"Wait up!"

The elder sister follows her sibling out the room. Lilly hurries down the hall, running her fingers along the wall. Akira knows she only does it in case mother is watching. It's frustrating. Mother thinks Lilly is helpless and her little sister never fails to live up to expectations.

They descend the stairs in silence. Lilly waits for Akira to stand beside her and holds out her hand. Another scene for the two to act out. Her hand slips around her sisters and lightly squeezes. They walk into the kitchen like ballroom dancers and are met with an approving smile from their mother.

"Good morning, girls. Did you sleep well?" The scene is complete and the girls let go of each other. Akira grunts in response to the question and walks over to the fridge to help herself to something to eat. Mother finally relented on that one, granting Akira a small but meaningful victory. She opens the door, trying to make up her mind about having cereal or fried eggs and is startled to see her sister standing beside her. Not good. You can't just give up on the play like that, Lil.

"Lilly?"

The girl turns to face their mother.
"Yes, mama?"
"Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, mama."
"Good! Go on, have a seat, I'll make you some nice breakfast."

She tilts her head to face her sister, unseeing eyes looking for support. Akira wants to help, but there's not much she can do. No matter what she could say, mother would never stop seeing Lilly the way she does. Wordlessly Akira pats Lilly on the head and gently pushes her towards the table. Lilly's eyes drop.

"Yes, mama."

Lilly takes her seat and puts the brush on the table in front of her. She then puts her hands neatly on her lap. She seems to be more doll than human in her mother's presence.

"Akira, could you get the yogurt for me, please?"

Akira used to think mother insisted on serving Lilly yogurt for breakfast because it was healthy. Lilly doesn't like yogurt. It's too sour and it doesn't matter if you add fruit. Akira had tried offering to make Lilly breakfast as well, but mother refused. Then it hit her. Mother only insists on Lilly having the yogurt she doesn't like because it offers the least possible challenge for her to eat, without being spoon fed. Akira glances over at her sister, the delicate little doll. She reaches into the fridge and pulls out a carton of yogurt.

"I think I'll have yogurt too…" Lilly smiles that smile again. It's enough to make Akira want to throw the carton against the wall. Instead she helps herself to a bowl and fills it halfway with yogurt before plopping the carton on the kitchen counter for her mother to use.

"Thanks dear."

As her mother finishes preparing Lilly's breakfast, Akira takes a spoon and adds strawberry jam to hers, so at least the taste will be bearable. She makes her way over to the table and sits down next to her little sister.
Their breakfast is spent in silence, save for the scraping of spoon against bowl.

They finish at the same time, like they so often do. Lilly makes sure of that. Akira takes their bowls and puts them in the sink, where they become someone else's concern. She leaves the kitchen to brush her teeth, but once again her mother proves quicker.

"Don't forget to brush your sister's teeth." Akira sighs dramatically, earning a reprimanding glare from her parent.
"Aw, she can do it on her own by now."
"Be a good sister, Akira." Akira considers telling her that coddling Lilly isn't being a good sister, but ends up settling for the much simpler "Ergh!".
"Akira!" Naturally such an eloquent argument wouldn't hold up.
"Fine. Come on, Lil."

Two sisters are walking down an otherwise empty street on their way to school. On the left is Akira, swinging her book bag back and forth with every step. It's a simple distraction, something to focus her mind on, instead of the frustration she feels for having to go at her sister's pace. She hates herself for thinking it, but if she didn't have to take Lilly to her own school, she would be able to run through these streets. She could worry about being late, like the normal kids in her school. Instead having to drop off Lilly at her school ensures that Akira will arrive early, unlike the normal kids in her school. No, she can't let herself think that. Lilly's hand feels tiny in hers. Akira gives it a squeeze. She glances down at her sister. The backpack mother got her is much too big. The same goes for the hat she's made to wear. Akira tried to convince Lilly to take it off ever since she started walking her to school, but Lilly refused, insisting that she wear it.

"Why don't you tell mother that you can brush your own teeth by now?"
Silence.
"Lilly…"
"I'unno…"

Just once Akira would like to see her sister stand up for herself to their parents, to let them know she's not nearly as helpless as they think. In a weird way it's funny that she can be defiant to her sister about wearing a hat, but that she seems to be fine with her parents treating her this way, even if she doesn't like it.

"Maybe you should just show them the things you can do on your own."
Lilly squeezes her hand.
"Can we go to the pet store after school?" Akira is only a little surprised by the subtle change of topic. Lately they've been going there at least twice a week.
"Sure."
Lilly's face lights up, smiling sincerely for once.
With her sister in a better mood, Akira feels a little better as well. It's not long before they reach Lilly's special school.

Lilly's special school. That's how their parents would refer to it, as if she is somehow lucky to go there instead of a normal school. Akira's never been beyond its gates, nor does she feel the need to find out what makes the school so special that they moved here just so Lilly could attend. Something about the place just makes her skin crawl and it's only reluctantly that she lets Lilly go inside. Her sister does seem to like the place, though. Their walks home usually include stories of the things she'd learned that day, or the funny things her classmates would get up to. Akira liked those walks better than the morning walks, since her sister would wear a much nicer smile.

Interest = piqued. Going to keep an eye on this one

I'm intrigued, too. Very interesting perspective and setting.

I like it, will stalk thread.

First I wanted to object, that the Satous are rich enough that Lilly and Akira wouldn't have to share a room.
Then I read on and realized this incongruity was intentional. Well played.
With a mother like that I can't help but think Lilly would have been happy for their parents to leave for Scotland ^^°

I'm assuming they share the room so Akira can watch out for her better, due to the smotheringly(is that even a word) overprotective nature of their mother. It didn't really sink in just how overprotective she was until the yogurt/brushing teeth scenes though. That's just overdoing it big time, Lilly can't possibly be happy with that.

Bookmarked. :3

I'd prefer if you didn't split the fic too much. One post is enough for such a short "chapter".

OtakuNinja wrote:Bookmarked. :3

I'd prefer if you didn't split the fic too much. One post is enough for such a short "chapter".

haha I don't really keep track of the line count, but I want to be sure to stay under the 100 line mark as recommended in the sticky.
I guess I can make my posts longer from now on though, since I seem to be well under the limit.

Also Shail's pretty much right on the money where Akira and Lilly sharing a room is concerned, the role of caretaker that is imposed on Akira plays a big part in this story.

This is actually a pretty adorable little story you have going here.