15 minutes later. . .

  Yuki entered her 2-story house. She walked inside towards the living room and was greeted by her mother. She hugged her mother and vice versa.

  "I'm home!"

  "Yuki! Welcome home!"

  "How's school?"

  "Fun! As always."

  "How's your exam?"

  "98!" Yuki showed her exam result.

  "Wow! You are so smart as always, my dear daughter."

  "Thank you, my dear mother."

  "Unlike your useless older sister! She could learn a thing or two from you!"

  ". . ."

  Yuki's heart stings hearing her mother's last line. This has happened daily, yet it still hurts Yuki just as much as the first time.

  "Don't be too hard on nee-chan. . ."

  "Sigh~ Seriously, she quit school and now she doesn't even try to look for a job, what a waste of human resources!"

  ". . ."

  Yuki's mood suddenly drops just a few seconds after arriving at her own home. She walks upstairs to where her and her older sister's rooms are. She enters her own room, changes her clothes, and tidies up her school things. She then left her room and walked towards her older sister's.

  *knock knock*

  "Nee-chan! I'm going in!"

  She opens the door before she gets an answer.

  "Onee-chan! How are you?"

  Inside was her older sister, Miage Yuna, and she's 19 years old. She has a pair of orange eyes. She has long, blond, messy hair with messy bangs. She wears a light green tank top and white short pants every day. She's 166 cm tall and weighs approximately 68 kg. Her bust size is D-cup.

  She's a shut-in who spends every day inside this room. Her hair may be messy, but she still takes a bath, and she doesn't really stink; she just never brushes her hair. She has multiple pairs of the same clothes every day. She's also washing her own laundry as her mother no longer washes it unless she gets a job. She also has terrible eye bags because, unlike regular people, she not only lacks enough sleep but also sleeps during the day instead of at night.

  "Horrible. As always. How about you?"

  "I. . .I had fun at school. Everyone is my best friend. I feel so blessed surrounded by wonderful people. . ."

  "Must be nice."

  ". . ."

  On top of being a shut-in, she is also antisocial. All she does every day is sit in front of her laptop on the floor, and nobody knows what she is even doing on her laptop.

  "Aren't you tired of always looking at your laptop screen, Onee-chan?"

  "Aren't you tired of always visiting me in my room, just doing nothing except talking to me?"

  ". . ."

  Yuna continues to stare at her laptop and stays silent for a few minutes. Yuki is also not uttering a single word.

  ". . ."

  "Nee-chan, do you wanna try a simple job like part-time at a convenience store?"

  ". . . Do I look like I can serve a customer?"

  "O-Of course, with a bit of training, anyone ca---"

  "I HAVE NO TALENT! I AM USELESS! ALL I EVER DO IS MAKE OUR PARENTS GET ANGRY AND DISSAPOINTED EVERY DAY! I AM SCARED OF PEOPLE! STRANGERS EVEN MORE SO! YOU WANNA MAKE ME GO INTO SUCH SITUATION GIVEN HOW I AM ?!"

  "N-No, Nee-chan, I didn't mean to----"

  "I WILL SCREW UP IN MY JOB CAUSE I AM SO INCAPABLE OF EVEN DOING THE SIMPLEST TASK! HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT HOW THAT'S GONNA MAKE PEOPLE THINK OF ME! THEY ALREADY THINK I AM A TRASH OF SOCIETY! IF I SHOW MY FACE TO THE PUBLIC, THAT'S JUST LIKE ANNOUNCING MY OWN FILTH TO THE WORLD! HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT OF HOW I FEEL? YOU KEEP SUGGESTING THIS AND THAT! IT'S EASY FOR YOU! YOU'RE A GENIUS! YOU HAVE FRIENDS! EVERYBODY LOVES YOU! WHILE I AM NOTHING!! I HAVE NOTHING!! I AM NOT SMART!! I HAVE NO FRIENDS! NOBODY LOVES ME!! NOT EVEN MY PARENTS LOVE ME!!"

  Yuki starts crying, hearing her sister's frustration. Yuna sounded so sad and heartbroken, given how much she is shaking and trembling from letting her emotions out.

  Yuki hugs her sister gently.

  "Nee-chan! I'm so sorry! I was being inconsiderate! Please stop belittling yourself! It hurts to hear it!"

  *!!!*

  "I. . .I-I am so sorry, Yuki! I lash out at you! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Suddenly, Yuna was filled with great remorse, regret, and self-hatred.

  "It's okay, Nee-chan. It's just the usual. . ."

  Yuna has a habit of lashing out at her sister on a daily basis. If she doesn't lash out just once a day at minimum, she would freak out and stress out and end up getting sick.

  One time, she didn't lash out for a week due to Yuki's absence as she was going on a study tour from school. Her health dropped severely, and her life was actually in danger. She was hospitalized and was in a coma for a month, but the moment she woke up, she walked out of her bed to go home, even though she wasn't allowed to leave yet. She didn't listen and even threatened everyone who didn't let her go that she would commit suicide in front of all of them.

  Yuki has already gotten used to this for almost two whole years. Yuna has a very severe case of depression, and her mental health is affecting her physical health dominantly.

  Yuki has no idea what to do with her sister. She tried to call psychiatrists multiple times to come and check her condition, but her sister has never been willing to cooperate every single time. She tried to consult regular and specialist doctors, and none of them could suggest anything unless the patient herself was present, which she never wanted to get out of her room every time Yuki asked her out. The only next best thing is to just let Yuna lash out every day towards herself.

  But even that is a cruelty on its own. To make her lash out, Yuki has to make her feel insanely envious of her by pointing out the great discrepancies between her life and her sister's life. This obviously hurts her sister and Yuki as well, because her heart always felt like it had been torn every time she saw her sister's awful and painful expression during her frustrating lash out.

  Yuki tightens her hug as she brushes her sister's hair with her hands. Tears kept rolling down her cheeks.

  *Zzzzzzz*

  Every time Yuki does this, Yuna always falls asleep in her arms. Yuki kept hugging her for a few minutes before she finally rested her body on her bed and put her blanket on top of her. After this, she left her sister's room and went back to her own to do homework and study.

  .

  .

  .

  A few hours later in the evening. . .

  "I'm home!"

  "Welcome home, Papa!"

  Yuki's father came home and was greeted with a kiss by her mother.

  "Let's go eat after I take a bath! Call Yuki down to have dinner with us!"

  "Of course, Papa!"

  Yuki's mother went upstairs and knocked on Yuki's door.

  "Yuki! Come down for dinner!"

  "I'll be done in a sec, Mom!"

  "Alright, I'll wait. By the way, have you taken a night bath yet?"

  "I'll do it after dinner!"

  "Alright!"

  After a few seconds, Yuki came out of her room.

  "Okay, let's go eat, Yuki!"

  "Okay."

  Her mother immediately turns around towards the staircase.

  ". . ."

  "Mom. . . aren't you gonna invite onee-chan as well?"

  "What for?"

  Yuki's heart stings again hearing her mom's answer.

  "T-To have dinner with us?"

  "Isn't she asleep usually at this hour? She'll wake up at 9 and grab food from the fridge anyway. Don't even bother with her."

  "Okay, mom. . ."

  Yuki went downstairs with her mom.

  In the dining room, Yuki helped her mom bring food to the dining room from the kitchen. Her mother cooks every day while Yuki occasionally helps her, and of course, Yuna never did, or at the very least, she hasn't been since a very long time.

  A few seconds later, they sat down, and then her father joined them.

  "Papa, how's your work?" Yuki's mom asks.

  "Great, great! As usual! No problemo!"

  "So can I buy that pearl necklace yet?"

  "Uh, no, not yet at least."

  "But you said the job's doing great?"

  "Well, yeah, but I need to save up a bit, you know! In case of emergencies and. . .that."

  "Urggghh, her again. . ."

  "Are you talking about onee-chan?"

  "Yes, of course! We'll never know when your sister's gonna fall and drop into a coma again. The last time it happened, I was already considering selling this house to cover her medical expenses. We weren't as wealthy as we were when you were little. Seriously, what a troublesome burden in the family she is."

  ". . ."

  I love my parents. They never do me wrong. They taught me things and responsibility properly, which shapes the way I am now. I am happy with the way I turned out. They also always treat me with care and love.

  . . .

  However, little by little, there's this small feeling of annoyance towards them whenever they say something negative about my sister. This feeling has been gradually growing bigger and bigger.

  As time passes, they keep mocking my sister's well-being. I also couldn't say anything to fight them and defend my sister because, at the end of the day, they do have a point about her not having a job. It will ruin my relationship with my parents because I do love them after all.

  And yet. . .

  It hurts me so much every time they mock her. I am in this conflicting feeling, it frustrates me to no end that I couldn't do anything in this situation. Having dinner with my parents has changed from how happy I was enjoying food with people I love to an endurance contest to see how much I can bear hearing my own parents belittling my beloved older sister. There are times when I just leave dinner half-eaten because of how much they make me sick with their insults.

  "I'm done."

  Yuki gets up and tidies up her dinner even though she only eats a quarter of it.

  "You only eat a little, Yuki! You're gonna get sick!"

  "I'm full mom."

  "Sigh~ Okay, be careful with your health, okay?"

  "Okay."

  After washing her dishes, Yuki took a quick bath.

  10 minutes later, she finished her bath, went upstairs to her room, and changed into her pajamas. She went back out of her room wearing a gray hoodie over her pajamas. She also brings her wallet with her. She went downstairs and walked to the front door.

  "Yuki!?"

  "Yes, dad?"

  "You just took a bath, where are you going?"

  "I'm just gonna go to the convenience store to meet up with a friend that works there. I'm also gonna hang out a bit with him."

  "Okay, honey, have fun!"

  "I'll be back before 9!"

  "Alright!"

  Yuki put on her hoodie and left the house.

  "HIM?" her father just realized.

  .

  .

  .

  5 minutes later. . .

  There's a convenience store right at the corner of an alley. Yuki has arrived and walks inside, and the automatic door slides open.

  *beep beep*

  "Welcome!"

  There is a man at the cashier register greeting Yuki. She walks towards the front of the register.

  "Mister, wanna have some fun with me?"

  "Huh?"

  As Yuki was wearing her hood, the cashier's register could not identify the girl in front of him.

  "If you're not planning to buy anything, then please leave, dear customer."

  "Oh? You're just gonna kick me out? Is this why you have no girlfriend, mister?"

  "With all due respect, please just leave, miss!"

  "Pfft! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!"

  "Huh?"

  Yuki opens up her hood and reveals herself to the cashier register.

  "It's me, senpai! Why are you so stiff? HAHAHHAHAHAH!! You are so funny, senpai!"

  "Grrrr! It's just you, huh?"

  "YOU WERE ACTING SO POLITE AND PROFESSIONAL IT'S HILARIOUS!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

  *SMACK SMACK SMACK*

  Yuki is laughing so much that she keeps slapping the cashier's counter.

  This is Fukibayashi Neo. He's 19 years old. He is a graduate from the same high school as Yuki. He was very close to Yuki back during school days that everyone in school knew about them. But it all came crashing down because of one thing.

  "Also, what do you mean I have no girlfriend? I'm literally dating one!"

  ". . . NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! WHY DID YOU REMIND ME?!"

  "What?"

  "HUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

  "O-OI! DON'T CRY!"

  "SENPAI, I LOVE YOU, YOU IDIOOOOOT! WHY DID YOU CHOOSE HER INSTEAD OF MEEEE?! THAT WAS VERY CRUEL SENPAI!! HUEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

  "Huh? You never said anything about that? I thought you saw me simply just as your senpai?"

  "Uuuuuu, SENPAI YOU IDIOOOOOTTT!!"

  "C-Calm down, kouhai-kun!"

  Neo hurried to get out of the register and went over to Yuki. He approaches her gently.

  "I-I'm sorry, okay! I didn't know you had feelings for me!"

  "UUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I STILL DOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

  Yuki cries harder.