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Rei has no idea what to say whenever she’s around, and not just because she’s pretty.“You’re nothing,” she says, laying on top of him and trapping him with her body, “you’re zero, you’re worthless.”She’s right, of course. He’s a worthless nobody that could die tomorrow and no one would care. He knows that. She knows that. Rei doesn't know why she always feels the need to remind him of something they both already know.“Those girls don’t really like you,” she says, “and if they do, they're idiots. Maybe they want you to ruin their lives.”Rei wants to argue, but there would be no point. So he just stands there with his fists clenched and his eyes unfocused, pretending that she’s talking to some other horrid worthless boy.(Ayumu flashes in his mind for a split second, and the guilt in his gut only gets heavier. He really is a horrible person.)But maybe he reacted a bit more at that, maybe his hands twitched or his eyes widened. He can never just sit still and take it. She grins.“Yeah, those girls. That middle schooler, Hana, I think?” It’s actually Hina, but Rei doesn't correct her. “Is she your replacement for me? Or maybe Ayumu? I hope she’s not into shogi, because you’ll just crush her dreams before they start, won’t you.”It’s not a question, and Rei doesn’t want to answer, but he does anyways against his better judgement. “She’s not.” She wasn't expecting him to talk back, and she shoots him a glare that screams “shut up and take it”. A part of him wants to. He knows it’s the quickest way to get this over with. But Hina and Akari and Momo are something else. They’re… special. They make him emotional. Maybe that’s what family is supposed to do.“Poor Rei,” she says with a pout, “He’s deluded himself into thinking that tolerance and affection are the same thing.”She leans down to whisper in his ear, her breath deceptively warm on his neck. He can feel goosebumps rising on the places her lips brush against his skin.“They aren't your family.” A lie. “They never will be, no matter how much you want them to.” It’s a lie, he knows it. They're more family than she ever was.She grins and slips her hand under his glasses. “But I am, Rei. And there’s nothing you can do to change that.”She takes off his glasses, unbuttons his shirt. Rei lets her. He feels sick, and the more she touches the more he feels like he might throw up.She falls asleep on top of him. Rei doesn't sleep the whole night, frozen in place, careful not to move a single centimeter, save the hand laying on her golden hair, which he allows himself to stroke every so often.Rei decides that he loves his sister unconditionally, even when the condition is his own undoing.