Light Even in a Monster

This is what I call a sibling's love. This is what I made out of monster, light, bird, sheep, and handle. I'd thank my friend for the words, but she likes to stay anonymous. :P

I used to have an older sister. Her name was Hikari, the Japanese word for ‘light’. She believed that there was no death god. Our family is quite superstitious. I’m on an average basis with it. My sis? Not even a fear of black cats or the number thirteen. Whenever my mom brought up the topic of the death god, Hikari would just laugh.

I had a brother as well. His name was Chorui, which was ‘birds’ in Japanese. He disappeared three years ago. I think he ran away. I still wonder what happened to him. Was he still alive? Was he well? Where was he?

                “It’s just an old wives’ tale. It’s lame,” she said. Despite the fact that her name was Hikari, she was a monster, telling me what to do and blackmailing if I ever defied her. She called me mutton because of my name, Shoyo, the Japanese word for ‘lamb’. Boy, my mom didn’t get my sis’ name right, but she got my name spot on. I was timid and shy, simply a peacekeeper.

Sure, I didn’t like my sis, but I can handle it. I admired her will to stand on her own and defy others. Other qualities of her... not so much. She treated me like a slave and humiliated me. My parents tried to stop her once, but Hikari only brought a knife towards their throats. She never brought a knife near me, though. Maybe because I never tried to stop her. I defied her, but I never tried to stop her.

“Don’t worry about me, I can handle it,” I told my parents. “If I listen to her, I won’t get hurt as badly as you would if you tried to stop her.”

I never tired to get help so others couldn’t get hurt. However, when Hikari really pushed my limit, I would beg the death god to take her away. I never expected it to come. It still chills me down to the spine when I think back to that night.Now, don’t mistake the Grim reaper for the death god. The Grim reaper’s only the messenger. The death god himself drags people down to hell. I made that clear when the Grim reaper came.

Sis’s punishments were getting worse as time progressed. That night, she dragged me to her room with a knife. Pinning me down by the neck, she cut the top my arms. I tried to hold out my screams until she stopped. It didn’t stop. When she cut down on the thirteenth time, my head was spinning so badly I couldn’t see straight. She was about to cut down once again when she was stopped by a deathly pale white hand. Its fingers were long and thin, but not sickly thin. Its nails weren’t long, but they were sharp. When Hikari tried to wrench her arm out of its grasp, the nails dug deep in her skin. She screamed as blood burst out.

Then the death god came. Behind the black hooded figure that held Hikari’s arm, a bright chasm was opening up on the floor. Hikari and I stared at the flaming gaping hole as a large hooded person came out. The hood was so dark that I couldn’t see its face. When it spoke, I heard the voices of all the people that were dropped into hell, male and female alike. It was too much for me and I screamed.

“Hikari, you know who we are. Do you know why we have come?” the death god said. I thought that Hikari would break down once and for all, but she simply smirked.

“Ha! Do you really think ILLUSIONS could scare me!? This is the lamest joke ever,” she said. The Grim reaper dug into her flesh again. Hikari screamed.

“Stop it!” Everyone turned to look at me. The death god chuckled.

“You, Shoyo, of all people. You dare to defy me?” I weakly tried to stand up, but I lost so much blood that I fell back onto the floor. “Why do you still want this brute?” The death god gestured towards Hikari, who was shocked at what I had said. I noticed that the death god’s hand was similar to the Grim reaper’s, but younger.

“I- I do,” I said. “I mean, even though Hikari is evil and cruel and vile and horrible, nobody should go to hell. Even while the victims suffer, the one causing all of this is hurting as well!” I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was the Grim reaper’s, and unlike the death god’s face, his was visible. It was a little different, but I knew who it was. “Ch-Chorui!?”

“Hi, little sister, how’s it going?” I was stunned.

“Not another word, reaper! Shoyo, since you believe so, I shall let you keep her,” the death god said. Then he chuckled. “You are unlike most people.”

“No, take her! We don’t want her anymore!” It was my parents. “Take her away! We want her gone!” I looked at Hikari, to my brother, to the death god. I took a breath and walked towards the death god.

“If I take her place, can Hikari stay? I think she will grow to be a better person after this,” I said. The death god roared with laughter.

“You have done nothing wrong, child!” He lifted me up by my shirt collar. “How can you make your worth for me? You can do nothing for me.”

“I can work alongside my brother. At least it is better than letting someone you look up to with what they have. Hikari is strong enough to defy rules. I want to be strong and stand up for what I believe in. I believe that it’s not fair to make people suffer in hell.” I felt a tug on my hair.

“And I believe that it’s stupid to take someone else’s punishment for them.”  I turned my head as much as I could.

“Hikari?” For once I saw who she really was. She wasn’t horrible, but what made her become a monster?

“Very well, then,” the death god said. It put me down and gestured towards the chasm. Hikari hesitated for a moment before she jumped in. The death god then pointed at my parents. “If you torment this one too, I will drag you down as well,” he said and my parents nodded quickly. Then he stepped into the chasm as well.

“What does he mean by mess up?” My parents looked at each other. “TELL ME.” They flinched.

“Hey, little sis?” Chorui said. “How about we go out for a little while?”

“Sure,” I replied.

Chorui told me about my parents, about the fact that they used to drug him and Hikari out of frustration. That even though Chorui was just trying to hold on, Hikari went mad. My parents didn’t want the police to know so nobody left the house. When I was born, my parents had tried to drug me as well, but Hikari and Chorui kept me away from them. Apparently, Hikari was only pretending to be so blood thirsty to make sure that I wasn’t going to get drugged. Chorui was made a contract to the death god, became the next Grim reaper, and disappeared, working for the death god. He was still watching, even though he couldn’t do anything.

“Hikari went really crazy tonight because she heard our folks talking about the drugs again. She was super desperate, but she didn’t cut deep, luckily. She has quite some control over her power. She didn’t go for the veins, either.” I looked at my arms. He was right. The bleeding stopped and was starting to heal. I felt tears brim my eyes, and I collapsed. “Even though she was hurting you, you still cared about her, didn’t you?” I looked up at him. “You know what my contract was? To make sure that once we were at the right age to become a Grim reaper, the death god would take us in and we’d serve him. Hikari doesn’t know this, so what she said back there was for real. I don’t think our folks will think of hurting you anymore, so you should be okay, but if they do, then we’ll be there for you.” Then, in a great cloud of black smoke and yellow flames, he disappeared.

I grew older with that memory still vivid in my mind. I still stayed with my parents, but I was still cautious about them. They didn’t even bother to try to hurt me in any way. Every night, I cried for Chorui and Hikari, who were now serving the death god. I hoped to see them again one day, and I still do. I want to tell them how much I love them and that I wished I could have been by their sides. Even though I know they’re still watching me, I hope that someone day, just even for a brief moment, that we will meet again.