The next two days were a special kind of hell. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't look at Rina without the audio of her confession playing in my head. Every time she spoke- asking if there was any milk left, complaining about homework- my blood ran cold. The voice was the same. How could the voice be the same?
My decision to go to Cosmo Land wasn't about a date. It was an investigation. I was a man on a mission to either confirm my own insanity or to witness the implosion of my entire world. There was no middle ground.
On Saturday morning, Rina was a storm of nervous energy. She spent an hour picking an outfit, finally choosing a simple white sundress and a straw hat- an outfit that screamed "cute girl on a date." It made my stomach churn.
"I'm going shopping with Miki today!" she announced to our parents, her voice an octave higher than usual. She was out the door by ten.
An hour later, I followed. "Going to meet Kenji at the arcade," I lied, my voice sounding hollow and distant to my own ears.
I arrived at Cosmo Land and was immediately assaulted by the cheerful, manufactured joy of it all. The music, the laughter, the smell of popcorn- it all felt like a personal mockery. From a distance, I saw the grand carousel, and I saw her.
She was standing there, looking small and hopeful, clutching her purse strap. She scanned the face of every person who walked by, a little bit of the light in her eyes dimming with each passing minute.
Noon chimed from the park's clock tower. He wasn't there. I watched as her hopeful posture began to sag, her shoulders slumping in disappointment. At 12:05, she started to feel anxiety or nervous. At 12:10, a single tear escaped and traced a path down her cheek. At 12:15, she gave up, she turned to leave, defeated.
I couldn't let her walk away thinking her knight had rejected her. I had to face this. Now.
"Rina?"
My voice was a rough, unfamiliar sound. She froze, then slowly turned, her tear-streaked face morphing into pure confusion when she saw me.
"Onii-chan?" she whispered. "What are you doing here? Did you follow me?"
Words failed me. I just pulled out my phone, my hand trembling, and held it out. I pressed play.
"…Hi, Starlight_Knight_01…"
Her own voice, full of love and hope, echoed in the small space between us.
Comprehension dawned on her face, and it was the most horrifying thing I had ever seen. The color drained away, leaving her ghostly pale. Her eyes, wide with shock, darted from my phone to my face and back again.
"You-?" she breathed, a single, shattered syllable.
I could only manage a slow, miserable nod.
The cheerful music of the carousel swelled around us, the soundtrack to the precise moment both our lives were irreparably broken.