Chapter 27 Chapter 27 Sister and Brother

In the blink of an eye, it was evening again.

Hibikimaru, who had originally planned to lie down for a while, never thought that he would actually fall asleep with his head resting on Minamoto Higekiri's thighs, and even slept until almost night.

With one hand unconsciously touching the back of his head, Kagemaru blushed and lowered his head in embarrassment, and whispered his thanks to Minamoto Higekiri.

"Anai... I just fell asleep accidentally and it took a long time... Um, thank... thank you..."

Perhaps because he was too shy and embarrassed about being resting his head on his sister's lap, the temperature on Hibikimaru's face kept rising while he said this, his face became redder and redder, and his voice became smaller and smaller, almost silent.

However, as he lowered his head, Hibikimaru's golden eyes were filled with tiny stars of joy.

After all, he is a human being, and Minahigekiri now feels some discomfort in his thighs, but it is still within the tolerable range.

After a rough estimate in his mind, Genhigekiri confirmed that he only needed to rub and hammer his legs and have a good night's rest to recover. Then he reached out his hand as if nothing had happened and gently rubbed the slightly hairy head of Hibamaru.

"It's okay."

A shallow but extremely sincere and gentle smile appeared on his lips. Minahigekiri looked at Kagemaru, his eyes unconsciously softened, and even the tone of his words was soft.

"Brother Maru needs to rest."

Her younger brother Maru... he didn't have to work so hard.

The figure of the young man with light green hair, dressed neatly and busy working overtime every day to help him process documents, seemed to appear in front of him, and Minamoto Higekiri couldn't help but sigh.

"Kamimaru needs a good rest every now and then."

Because he values ​​his younger brother so much, Minamoto no Higekiri always shows enough tolerance, patience and gentleness when facing Kneemaru, the god of mourning.

He knew very well in his heart that that was not his younger brother, nor was he a substitute for his younger brother. Minamoto no Higekiri just couldn't help but be nice to such a simple-minded boy like Hibamaru.

"Well, I skipped dinner perfectly."

Higekiri walked out from the corner with light steps. When he saw the actions of Minamoto Higekiri and Hipemaru, the smile in his eyes deepened slightly and his gaze softened.

"You two ended up falling asleep."

Putting down the tray in their hands, the aroma of food lingered in their noses, making the two people who had not eaten dinner feel hungry.

"Really? Oh, maybe it was because the sun was so nice."

Casually changing the subject to the side, Minamoto Higekiri, who had been exposed for having fallen asleep, sat beside him nonchalantly: "Chokudaikiri's craftsmanship has always been excellent."

"really."

Nodding in agreement, Higekiri then gently pushed a white porcelain bowl inlaid with gold lace in front of Minamoto Higekiri: "These are your own utensils. They just arrived this afternoon."

Minamoto Higekiri was a little surprised that Higekiri actually remembered everything. He turned his head slightly, and then saw Tsukumogami, who had the same hair color, eyes, and similar facial features as himself, smiling at him gently.

There seemed to be some emotion floating in the other person's golden eyes. Genhigekiri couldn't see it clearly, but he didn't intend to look closely.

"Thank you very much."

Sitting face to face with Kagemaru, Minamoto Higekiri officially began his meal.

Not noticing anything wrong, he just felt the atmosphere was very warm, so he lowered his head and ate his meal seriously.

Of course, if we ignore the red tips of his ears that he didn't dare look at Minamoto Higekiri.

Seeing this, Higekiri didn't say anything, only a very light laugh dissipated in the breeze, and the gentle smile in his slightly upturned cat pupils became more and more intense.

After the meal, Minamoto no Higekiri lay in the innermost position as usual, and intentionally or unintentionally, Higekiri seemed to be a little closer to her bed than before.

However, if you don't look carefully, you won't notice this, which reflects that the blade's speed is controlled very precisely.

Closing her eyes, Minahigekiri's mind flashed with the image of Hibikiri again before she fell asleep. She sighed, "Hibikiri is so cute no matter which brother he is," and at the same time she missed her brother uncontrollably.

Being suddenly pulled here this time, I wonder if Hibikimaru in another world will panic.

After thinking deeply about many things, Minamoto Higekiri finally suppressed all the messy thoughts in his heart.

There's no point in thinking more now. It's better to wait for the government of the time to repair the abnormality on the sword and send her back.

As he thought this, a thick darkness descended upon him, and it was as if an invisible giant hand dragged him into a dream with irresistible force.

At the same time, Higekiri, who should have fallen asleep long ago, felt an inexplicable pulling force in his haze, pulling and dragging him towards another direction.

It was like falling into an abyss. Darkness entangled his limbs and turned into chains that tightly bound all his movements.

Sensing something was wrong, Higekiri frowned slightly. Just as he was about to try to wake up from the dream, he was surprised to find that he could not move at all and could only watch himself fall.

After feeling it carefully and realizing that he could only have a nightmare experience, Higekiri became more open-minded. He even thought about how he would kill an evil ghost if it appeared.

After a long time, the feeling of weightlessness from falling finally dissipated. Standing vaguely in mid-air, Higekiri saw the fog in front of him gradually becoming lighter as if blown away by the wind.

Then, when the white mist completely dissipated, the smile on Higekire's face suddenly disappeared.

Just as he had guessed before, this was indeed a nightmare, but the protagonist who was deeply trapped in the nightmare was not him, but Minamoto no Higekiri, who shared the same roots with him.

Her originally smooth and slightly curly long hair was now scattered messily behind her, and there was even a dark and sticky black-red liquid dripping from her hair.

The other person lowered her head slightly, and her face could not be seen clearly, but her messy hair could not cover the pale and sickly skin exposed to the air, which was a horrible scene.

Large purple bruises and countless tiny, almost invisible wounds were densely packed all over her arms, waist, abdomen, and thighs, occasionally interspersed with wounds that were rolling up the skin and flesh.

Heavy and broken shackles were still half hanging on his wrists and ankles.

The tattered clothes that could barely cover the key parts of his body, what could be called "clothes" had completely lost its original color due to the dark blood salt.

On the ground, blood gradually gathered into a river, and the air was filled with an unpleasant fishy smell.

Perhaps it was because the other party's deep anger, sadness, pain and despair at the moment had permeated into Higekiri, who was of the same origin, so he was brought into this nightmare by Higekiri, who was experiencing such drastic emotional fluctuations, and was able to see a corner of the other party's past memories with his own eyes.

"you……"

It was as if they had not eaten or drunk water for a long time since they met. The hoarse voice uttered broken syllables. Minamoto Higekiri raised his head, and his still young face was filled with a calmness that was terrifying.

With his bare feet stepping on a person, Minamoto Higekiri's eyes remained calm as he looked at the other person's face, which had become distorted due to the constant force he was exerting, with his scarlet pupils.

"It's so disgusting that I want to vomit."

Holding a katana in his hand, Minamoto Higekiri flipped the blade, pointed the tip at the opponent's wrist, and then chopped it off cleanly.

"Trying to forge a god? You gave birth to me just to completely merge me with this so-called katana, Higekiri?"

A strange expression appeared on his face, half-smile, stiff and weird.

"What a pity! The god you were expecting didn't show up. Now, I'm the only one standing before you."

"You should have been devoured by the katana, Higekiri."

Sharp bone horns that only a dark fallen tsukumogami should have began to appear on his forehead, and even a bony tail appeared behind him. Minamoto Higekiri still didn't care about it, but continued to swing his sword at the person under his feet.

"You are so careless, Father."

He lowered his eyes, as if a god was looking at an ignorant ant, or as if he was staring at a clown who was unaware that his trick had been exposed, and sneered.

"Because of the so-called kinship that humans should have, you've tortured me terribly."

Being locked up in this dark basement and subjected to repeated experiments, she didn't know how many times she had been taken apart and reassembled, nor could she tell how long she had been crawling in hell before she returned to this world.

If she hadn't kept it in mind, if she really died, her brother would be the next test subject.

Hibamaru, who was deceived by the lie that "his sister is highly valued by the family and is sent abroad for further education", and who has always believed in the so-called "family affection" tricks of his family, will definitely collapse if faced with such a thing?

Thinking of this, Minamoto no Higekiri nullified his opponent's last kick.

"You shouldn't have thought about attacking Hibiki."

Leaning close to his ear, Minamoto Higekiri raised the corner of his lips, his face filled with madness. "You think that because Kneemaru and I are the best test subjects, you adopted us into your care, and then used our achievements as experiments to propel your so-called beloved son to power. How could I be completely unaware of this?"

"Well, let me tell you something in secret."

Although she was just a young girl, Minamoto no Higekiri, whose body was bathed in blood, exuded a chilling malice and twisted aura.

"Your son, out of a deep sense of brotherly love, couldn't bear to see Himimaru being captured by the people you sent and thrown into the laboratory, so he volunteered to take Himimaru's place. He was taken away, and now I don't know how many bones he has left."

Facing the man's suddenly desperate and angry eyes, Minamoto Higekiri smiled slowly.

“Hahaha, will you feel bad too?”

"Great, that's great! Then, let's die in this agony."

The girl, increasingly delighted, raised her sword and said, "Please witness from below how I ascend to the position of head of the family."

The girl who had solved all the problems and gained inhuman powers, but was also turned into a monster, hummed an unknown ballad softly, stepped on the floor, and threw aside the katana in her hand that was full of cracks and on the verge of breaking.

"It's really boring, isn't it?"

Suddenly, Minamoto no Higekiri looked up and met Higekiri's gaze in the air. His scarlet eyes were filled with indifference, without any trace of his previous madness.

"Have you seen enough?"

His expression returned to calm, and as more and more bone spurs appeared on his body, Minamoto Higekiri looked at him calmly: "Or rather, are you satisfied with these?"

Don't you want to find out her true identity?

Well, look.

That's it, she is Minamoto no Higekiri, whose hands are stained with blood, who lives in the form of a monster and kills a large number of so-called clan members to ascend to the throne of the head of the family.

"Indeed, it scared me."

After looking at each other for a long time, Higekiri suddenly sighed, then landed on the ground, not caring about the blood staining his clothes, and walked straight towards Minamoto Higekiri.

Bending slightly, he looked into the eyes of the little monster in front of him, then Higekiri reached out and gently pressed on the bone spur on her forehead.

"I told you before, you have to be good."

He smiled, then hugged the stunned Minamoto Higekiri in his arms, and Higekiri's voice was as gentle as ever.

"Bone spurs pop up and pierce the skin."

Slide your fingertips down and lightly touch the scar.

"There are so many wounds on your body, it will hurt."

Cover the other person's eyes with your palms.

"Don't force yourself, I'm here. Rest when you're tired, cry when you're hurt."

"I am you, and I will always be by your side."

"I share your sorrows and your joys."

The blackness slowly faded away and the dream began to collapse.

“…You’re so boring.”

Gen Higekiri looked at him expressionlessly, only the corners of his eyes were slightly red. "Go away, get out of my dream, I won't rely on anyone."

The figures of the two people gradually disappeared, and finally, Higekiri faintly heard a "thank you".

After a moment of hesitation, Higekiri chuckled.

What an awkward guy.

The author has something to say:

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This roughly explains why Higeki-san's fighting power is so strong and why she places too much emphasis on her kneecap (don't be too picky about the logic).

The sister who has always borne all the responsibilities is afraid of discovering that her brother is missing at some point.

And Hige was the first one who had such a deep understanding of Hige's heart, accepted her without any hesitation, and said those words to her.

No abuse, don't worry (serious face)