As I enjoyed my apple pie as Carine, a sudden shiver ran down my spine in Feyt’s body. An alarmingly quick thump echoed outside my door, someone barreled towards my door at breakneck speed.

Who was it? I asked myself. Before I could theorize, the door flew open, slamming against the wall with a resounding crash. There stood the source of my fight-or-flight response.

Her intimidating presence and towering figure told me exactly who she was. My sister, Fray.

Fray has blonde hair and blue eyes, similar to mine. She was tall compared to me, but I was still a growing kid, so I don’t know how good of a description that was. With a well-built yet still feminine figure. It was clear she went outside a lot and wore what seemed to be leather armor.

“Hey there, Lil’ Bro!” She shouted at the top of her lungs. “Haven’t seen ya’ in a while! Come on, hug your sis!”

As she approached me with her arms spread wide, a sense of dread permeated through my entire body.

“Woah, woah, hold on!” I tried to avoid her, but before I could even roll off my bed, it was too late.

I got hugged with the force of a bear. How could such soft arms be so dangerous?

“C-can’t… breathe…” I gasped, my lungs nearly crushed.

“Oh, thanks! I miss you too~!”

Her hold on me was strong, too strong. Was she trying to end me right here, right now, by a hug attack?

I couldn’t escape her grasp no matter what, and I began to think this might be the end of my life as Feyt.

After what felt like a lifetime, Fray—or rather—Sis, finally released me, pushing both of us apart by holding my shoulders.

“You’re alright, Feyt?”

“You… almost killed me…” I wheezed.

“Huh? I didn’t hug you that hard, did I?”

Despite my near-death experience, it felt nostalgic for some reason, which creeped the hell out of me.

I recalled a set of memories inside me, ones of near-death experiences whenever I was with Sis. The hug of death has haunted me since birth, it seemed.

Sure, she was my sister, and I loved her dearly, but sometimes… it was just too much.

“Ugh… I need to… lay down…”

“Hmm,” Sis tilted her head. “Did I get carried away?”

Yeah, carried me away to heaven you almost did.

She chuckled nervously, ruffling my hair with an apologetic smile. “What, don’t tell me that actually hurt you?”

“It did, actually, thank you for your concern.”

“Haha, sorry, sorry.” She patted me on my back. “Anyway, I wanted to see you to apologize about last night.”

“Last night?”

“You know, when I... uh, knocked you out accidentally?”

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“Oh, right. When I surprised you when you returned home.” I gently rubbed my head bump. “Yeah, I remember it now.”

“Yep! Sorry ‘bout that! When you jumped out of the door, I thought you were one of those bandi—I mean those… uhh… jesters! Ugh, I hate those.”

Did she mean to say bandit earlier?

“It’s fine, sis. I should’ve known better than to jump out at you like that.”

Why did I even do that? Would a rational person jumpscare a gorilla? Truly, the definition of a death wish.

“Yeah, you probably shouldn’t do that again.” Fray scrunched her brows. Her eyes narrowed. She leaned in close. “In my line of work, you don’t get to make mistakes.”

But you just deliver things, though?

Fray was a trader, transporting letters and food supplies between villages and towns. That's why she was rarely in our village.

Although rough terrain and bad weather were to be expected, actual threats were rare on the safe, well-trodden paths she took.

After all, what bandit would make a living stealing herbs and letters? And with a hug like hers, she could knock out a bear easily. She had a pretty nice job for herself.

I was sure Sis was just exaggerating her work to look cool, but her jumpy nature and the tone of her voice sounded serious.

Sis began poking my chest and shoulders. It tickled me.

“H-hey! What are you–”

“Hmm, still in shape, huh? Good, good! But you’re getting a bit chubby here…”

She was examining me like I was a doll or something.

“Sis, stop that!” I brushed away her hands.

She giggled in response. “Sheesh, just wanted to make sure you didn’t slack off when I was away.”

I let out a sigh, “Of course, you do. So, how is it?”

“You need to go outside a bit more. Other than the fields, I mean.”

She ruffled my hair again, this time more gently, and stood up.

“Alrighty. Since you don’t have anything better to do, want to go outside and train? The weather’s good, we could go around for a jog,” she said as she stretched her legs.

“I think I’ll skip this one, thanks.”

Carine’s private tutoring was in half an hour, I couldn’t risk wasting my focus on jogging.

“Huh, that’s a first. You usually beg me to train you. What’s wrong?”

Is she blind or something?

With the tip of my index finger, I pointed at the bandages on my head. Without a single word uttered, it would seem like she would understand, but…

“Hmm… a head bump… Nah, you pushed through worse. Come on, let’s go!”

“What?! Are you serious?! This is a head injury that you made!”

“Hmm,” Fray squinted her eyes at my bandages, then she shook her shoulders. “Nope, still just a bump to me.”

“What do you mean just a bump?!”

“Let’s just say I have an eye for things…” She said in an evasive manner. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious. Remember how you fell from that tree a few years back and got up and running just seconds later? That injury was way worse but you kept asking me to train you. I even had to drag you to the doctor.”

How would she even know how bad an injury is? Oh wait, is this one of those Talent things?

Fray looked out the window and gasped. “Oh, looks like it’ll get real cloudy soon, so–!” She lifted me off the bed by my shirt as if I weighed nothing. “Let’s go!”

She held me like I was baggage, carrying me out of my room with ease.

“W-wait! Stop! Seriously, I have something I need to do–”

“Nope, no excuses. You begged me to train you, so I’ll be training you!” She said with a wide grin.

“Wait, sis! Please! I need to rest for a bit! Mom said–”

Before I could protest even further, my worst fear came true.

—

A knock switched my attention to Carine, someone was outside the door.

“Lady Carine? Professor Karvin has arrived, shall I help you prepare?” Leila said from beyond the door.

Welp, just my luck.

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image [https://i.imgur.com/RdC5Gde.png]