Chapter 3: The Sister

Back at Room 405, he took out his keys, opened the door, and as soon as he took off his shoes and stepped into the entrance hall, he faintly heard humming coming from the direction of the kitchen.

When he reached the main room, Fang Jing saw a girl in a high school uniform washing dishes by the counter.

The owner of this body, Nishizuka Tsukasa, had a sister named Nishizuka Satsuki.

The girl in front of him should be his sister, Nishizuka Satsuki. She was a girl with hair the color of light brown, cut to shoulder-length.

Inheriting her mother Motoko’s looks from her younger days, Nishizuka Satsuki’s appearance could be described as pretty and cute. She was especially full of the liveliness of a young girl.

Looking at her from the side, Fang Jing noticed a piece of medical gauze stuck to her beautiful right cheek, adding an unnecessary flaw to her cute face.

Fang Jing quickly remembered that the injury on her face was probably related to him, this “Nishizuka Tsukasa.”

No… from what he recalled in his memories, “he” himself was likely the one who caused it.

“Do you need any help–?”

He walked up behind Nishizuka Satsuki and asked quietly.

Unexpectedly, his question startled her. Her body stiffened, and her shoulders trembled slightly.

She turned her head stiffly, wearing an expression like a frightened small animal.

Fang Jing noticed that after Nishizuka Satsuki saw him, her shoulders were shaking slightly, clearly scared enough to curl up.

“…Brother, you, you’re back.”

She spoke nervously, almost stumbling over her words.

“Um, I prepared dinner for you.”

“No need, I ate already outside.”

He really had eaten outside because shortly after going out, his stomach had started to feel hungry again.

“Also, that old fridge works now after being plugged in. I also brought back some groceries.”

Nishizuka Tsukasa and Nishizuka Satsuki were siblings, but their relationship could not be described as good.

From the memories he inherited, “Nishizuka Tsukasa” himself was far from a good older brother; in fact, he had serious personality issues.

To outsiders, he seemed like an outstanding young man. Though physically weak, he excelled academically and ranked at the top—in a nutshell, Nishizuka Tsukasa was the typical “scholar” type.

However, that was just a façade. Deep down, Nishizuka Tsukasa had a gloomy, eccentric personality, a short temper, and potential violent tendencies.

From Fang Jing’s perspective, Nishizuka Tsukasa clearly had psychological issues, and the relatively unusual family environment only worsened his mental abnormalities.

The reason Nishizuka Satsuki acted afraid of her brother was that Nishizuka Tsukasa had long been abusing her. Whenever Nishizuka Tsukasa was under too much stress, felt unbalanced, or even slightly upset, he would hit and kick his sister Satsuki.

In fact, in this dysfunctional family, the mother Motoko was the main abuser of her daughter. To Motoko, her daughter Satsuki seemed like a reflection of her own failed life.

Compared to her smart, excellent son with good grades, her daughter had a personality just like her honest, simple husband. On top of that, she was clumsy and foolish, often making Motoko angry. Cursing and physical punishment had been going on for a long time.

Five years ago, after the pillar of the Nishizuka family—their father Nishizuka Harufuyu—committed suicide, a series of misfortunes struck the Nishizuka household. After their father’s death, the mother, who had previously only occasionally physically punished her daughter, became even harsher. Nishizuka Tsukasa, observing this coldly and growing accustomed to it, also joined in abusing his sister.

However, the mother Motoko, being an adult, at least had some “restraint” in her actions. As for Nishizuka Tsukasa, he clearly did not know his limits.

The injury on Nishizuka Satsuki’s face happened when Nishizuka Tsukasa pushed her, causing her to fall and scrape her face near the bathroom, leaving a wound that almost ruined her looks.

“Alright, the injury on your face hasn’t healed yet. You shouldn’t be near water. I’ll wash these.”

He sighed inwardly and took over Nishizuka Satsuki’s task.

“But…”

Satsuki was clearly still a bit hesitant.

Fang Jing sighed inside. He wasn’t sure how to deal with this sister.

(Better just act according to Nishizuka Tsukasa’s usual attitude.)

“Just go and rest if I tell you to. I can handle this small task.”

He spoke more firmly, making his attitude seem strict.

“Okay…”

Nishizuka Satsuki lowered her head, not daring to say more, and scurried away from him like a mouse avoiding a cat.

Honestly, even though he had taken on this “Nishizuka Tsukasa” identity, relying just on some memories, he found it hard to think of the mother Motoko and sister Satsuki as his own family.

From his own perspective, he only felt a bit of pity for this family’s situation.

Simply put, the Nishizuka family was quite unfortunate. Especially after the father’s death, it was as if they were under a curse. Their family situation declined sharply, and they were in very tight financial straits.

Especially for the mother Motoko, having to bear the costs of raising and educating two children was truly exhausting and demanding…

“Recently, police found another body in the streets near Matsutsuru-chō. The victim was violently dismembered, and the scene was a mess. This is the third murder and body-dumping case in the city.”

The old TV was faintly reporting a news story about a murder case. A photo of the victim was also shown.

Finding it uninteresting, Fang Jing changed the channel. On another station, two hosts were analyzing a mysterious disappearance case of a wealthy person in the city.

“The public safety here is really bad!”

Fang Jing muttered to himself. From Nishizuka Tsukasa’s impressions, the city’s public safety used to be quite good. He didn’t know where all these incidents were coming from.

He shook his head. Considering these matters had nothing to do with him, and he still had to go to school tomorrow, he decided it was better to rest early.

——————————

Nishizuka Tsukasa’s mother, Motoko, came back after working the night shift, past 3 a.m.

Naturally, after returning, she needed to catch up on sleep. With such a work schedule, it was impossible for her to prepare breakfast for her two children.

Therefore, Fang Jing had to make his own breakfast.

Normally, Nishizuka Satsuki would handle it, but he woke up at five o’clock.

Actually, he woke up because he was hungry. He felt something was off with his body, but couldn’t quite tell what it was.

Opening the fridge, there was indeed some leftover rice from yesterday, along with some other remaining ingredients. Fang Jing checked and found bacon, carrots, cheese, eggs, and seaweed.

Nishizuka Tsukasa himself was naturally useless at housework, but Fang Jing, having been single for many years and handling daily life himself, had developed good cooking skills.