wherethemiceare | Short Stories Concerning Anxieties Over Older Sisters

-Turn To Stone-

"So, uh, how's it going with Suburu's sister" Kitty prodded Ashley in the shoulder as the pigtailed girl lulled at her computer, rubbing her face.

"Ugh, I can probably fix her. Maybe. But I'm not sure I want to." Ashley said.

"Why?" Kitty said a bit bothered by the comment.

"To be honest, I keep getting this anxious feeling, whenever I try to work on that" Ashley said with a sigh.

"Eh?"

"It's all lizard brain stuff, but how do I put this." Ashley said with a piston-like sigh. "I doubt Subu's sister is bad, but."

"But? I'm trying to understand."

"Bringing her back would be a big mistake? At least that's what my gut keeps telling me" Ashley said fidgeting, her ears and tails drooping.

"... We still should do it."

"I know, but I keep getting the feeling if I do, the worst possible situation will happen..." Ashley said nervously.

"... I don't know what to tell you, Ash." Kitty said tiredly.

"I know, and that's what scares me the most," Ashley said, "That someone so unremarkable can make me feel such absolute terror..."

-Turn To Stone (Remix)-

Later, elsewhere in Ashley's expensive and expansive apartment.

"... Katherine, why are you two holding up on helping Haruka." Suburu said, not looking up from her grimoires.

"I... uh..." Kitty said, tapping her her fingernails together, trying to process the thought.

"It's because something about Haruka makes Ashley uneasy. Isn't it?" Suburu said with a disappointed tone.

"... Why is it hiding anything from you two is so difficult..." Kitty said with a pout.

"... Because I know the boundless, terrifying feeling she gets from my sister." Suburu said. "The fact she can't predict what will happen next. She like life on the course it is. Maybe she doesn't think it directly, but for Ashley, her stability matters more than my happiness."

"I...."

"It might also be the fact she, some version of her, this world's version of her, was connected to a great and terrible demon, but I'm speculating." Suburu said, letting her head roll back as she looked up at the ceiling.

"I think she does want to help you..."

"But what I'm saying is true. Ashley doesn't want things to change. And I can't help but say I'm disappointed in her. My entire life for half a decade has been about my sister." Suburu said.

"..." Kitty looked away, taking a deep breathe before turning back. "Isn't that unhealthy?"

"Not to me, I need to see what helping, trying to save my sister will result in, Katherine." Suburu said, brushing strands of her red hair aside.

"But obsessing with something, and refusing to let it go, and move on, isn't that unhealthy?"

"... It wouldn't feel right, Kitty, if I didn't follow this to the end. No matter how much it hurts, I need to follow this to a conclusion."

"But." Kitty tried to speak up, before getting cut off again.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be the girl you loved. If I have to revive my sister, if i have to make Ashley swallow her fear and do it, if I have to do something unreasonable, I will." Suburu said.

Kitty didn't know what to say, it was that determination she liked about Suburu, but it was also the very thing she hated about her. And all she could do in response was huge her girlfriend, her finance. As all Suburu could do in response was pat the curvy blonde on the head. As much as she held up a stubborn front, much of what concerned Ashley and Kathrine had crossed her mind. But the guilt of doing nothing.

That hurt the most.