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Before The Call of the Wild

It was dark when Yuuko returned to her apartment. It was a horrifying day for the girl, she was assaulted, and she fought back. Her hand was now bandaged properly, luckily, the people at the clinic didn't question much. Yuuko Hanazawa could be very persuasive.

She wanted to collapse right here and now, the grip of that brute still fresh, the pain of the handcuffs ingrained in her mind. But the girl couldn't, her brother should be home by now.

His work hours ended earlier but he never returned on time, always after the moon was high above. Poor brother, he had to work to keep them afloat. Yuuko wanted to help, she truly did. But brother forbade her from doing any sort of part time work. Making money was his job. 'But what should I do' The girl asked, 'Just live like a normal life' He answered.

But it was hard being normal, she could see her brother withering away over time. The vibrant energy that he once had drained away to leave just a soulless husk.

"I'm home" The girl said as she entered through the door.

"Welcome back, why were you so late?" He was there in the living room, asking.

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Yuuko was stunned, not by the question but by his expression. Brother was looking excited for something. How long ago did she last see that, years? She soon spotted him holding a book about origami, it was brand new but he already went through half of it.

The girl was disappointed, but she didn't know why.

"I tripped and fell down a stair while holding a bottle" She held up her bandaged hands.

"I see, be careful next time" Brother replied.

That was that, nothing more. He asked less than that bored nurse, too engrossed in that book about origami. The young man simply chalked her dirty cloths to the fall. No, it was not like brother didn't care for her, he was just stressed because of work, he wanted to read a book… the girl thought to herself.

"I already ate something… I will go to bed early tonight"

"Alright"

He didn't even look up to meet her eyes. The girl went inside her room. This apartment was quite a spacious one, she even had her own room. Brother worked hard for that, he cared for her deeply, he cared for her deeply, he cared for her deeply.

It was a lie of course, Yuuko hadn't eaten anything yet. But her body was already falling apart from today's event. She collided against the pavement floor quite severely. But the girl couldn't show it to the nurse, there was no way to explain that wound. Her side was all bruised, but she already swiped ice from a nearby shop to press over the it in an alley.

Yuuko changed her clothes but as she raised her arm, an unbearable pain shot through. The girl let out a grasp and started to tear up. She held her mouth shut to keep any more noise from going through. Luckily, only one drop of tear made it out. Yuuko chanted in her head.

"Yuuko is a good girl. Yuuko is a good girl. Yuuko is a good girl"