Chapter 39: EXTRA - : side story - Quiet Night

Chapter 39: EXTRA Chapter: side story - Quiet Night

Maria’s monologue, POV

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Five days before the weekends.

September 1st, 2025. Monday.

Several blocks away from Karafuguru High was located Kageyama household.

In the laundry room, the hum of the dryer died, i Maria dressed in green apron folded several white clothings, I was currently a home keeper assigned at the house. Both Mr and Mrs Yamaguchi asked me personally to help take care of both Oota-kun and his Sister Erza which i agreed on immediately.

I won’t say it was easy from the beginning but they tried to make an expectation for me when they barely knew me.

Especially Oota who was too busy with school back then as well, he wouldn’t even treat me like a human being.

But he has been smiling recently with I’m glad to see. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

Still can’t help but feel worry about them, Karafuguru isn’t a actually a healthy place for kids. If they have any problems, I wished they would tell me or I would feel useless to them.

Especially Oota, I’m still a young maiden both physically and at heart. So keeping me in the cold at times gets me all worked up.

Yeah, but he wouldn’t understand that.

I turned slightly to the wall mirror close by in the room. My appearance was around my mid 20s to early late 20s, my brown hair packed as a ponytail fashion and violet eyes. Underneath my clothing was a casual wear attire of a blue Jean and white t-shirt.

I have got to say I look like a totally different person on this outfit.

I smoothed a crease in a fresh shirt, my fingers lingering on the fabric. I glanced at my wrist.

5:12 PM.

The time was already 5:12pm, i frowned, the lines of worry deepening around my eyes. An hour?. Oota is an hour late. He never missed the window of his arrival, not when people were waiting for his arrival.

I just hope Erza isn’t awake. She normally goes straight to bed after school until I go wake her up for dinner.

I looked at the mirror one last time seeing my reflection

"His running late today.." I muttered to myself, I was deeply concerned and worried but at the same time I knew everything was going to be okay.

Oota wasn’t one to be careless or stupid to get into situations he couldn’t get out of.

"And Erza- chan has been waiting on the livingroom for some time now" i added while I stepped into the hallway, my footsteps muffled by the heavy rugs.

I paused at the entrance to the living room. From my angle, i could only see the top of Erza’s head and the vast expanse of black hair draped over the back of the sofa. The girl looked less like a person and more like a shadow that had taken root in the furniture.

I should be used to this but it still makes me feel bad for her, Erza craves her big brother’s attention.

She I approach? Maybe I can help ease her but what should I say?

Oota-kun please come house soon, I’m dying of anxiety.

The grandfather clock in the foyer hammered out the seconds, each tick a rhythmic strike against the oppressive silence of the living room.

What an unbearable silence, I had avoided moving to the living room while I took care of the rest house chores on ground.

Erza didn’t move. She sat swallowed by the depths of the oversized velvet couch, her small frame nearly invisible. A curtain of ink-black hair cascaded over the cushions, spilling onto the floor like a slow-moving oil slick. She wore a a long black nightgown. Her eyes where completely covered by her hair.

I opened my mouth to speak, but the stillness in the room felt fragile, as if a single word might shatter the air. I lingered in the doorway, my gaze drifting to the front door.

The metallic screech of the front gate echoed through the house.

From the door?

The effect was instantaneous. Erza didn’t stand, she slid. Her small body glided off the velvet cushions with a soft hiss of fabric, her long hair trailing behind her like a bridal veil of midnight.

Thank goodness, Oota-kun ...

I let out a breath i hadn’t realized i was holding. A sigh of relief to be exact.

I wonder what was holding him from coming earlier than this? I should go get prepare dinner since Oota is home now. I’m sure his tried after school.

The lock turned. The door swung open, admitting a gust of damp, chilled air that smelled of ozone and wet asphalt. Oota stood there. His shoulders hunched, his uniform dampened by the rain, his chest heaving in shallow, jagged rhythms.

Wait what happened? He looked scared of something.

My eyes shifted to Erza who seemed to have noticed the signs as well.

For some reasons it felt like it was not in our place to ask but I wr couldn’t leave him in this state. Was it school?

Erza stepped toward him, her movements fluid and ghost-like. She looked up, her dull, void-red eyes within her fallen hair searching his face. There was no spark of life in those irises, only a deep, stagnant crimson.

She wasn’t trying to show it but it was clear to me that Erza was feeling saddened seeing her big brother in this condition. And Oota on the otherhand little actions proved he didn’t want to worry us.

"You’re late, Brother," Erza murmured.

Her voice was a velvet whisper, sweet and low, but a tremor of anxiety vibrated beneath the surface.

Oota didn’t look at her. He didn’t look at anyone. He kicked off his shoes with a frantic energy, the leather scuffing harshly against the hardwood. He stepped past us, his gaze locked on the stairs.

Ah? Wait.. just like that? I have to clear the air..

"Kageyama kun?" I called out, my voice warm but laced with confusion. "Are you hungry? I’m making the beef stew you like, your favourite-"

"I’m not hungry." Oota immediately shut me off, I wasn’t offended. I have seen worse from Oota but I couldn’t stop but still worry.

Dear Oota..

The words that he said were clipped, thrown over his shoulder like a weapon.

"But you haven’t eaten since-" I still tried insisting.

"I’m tired, Maria! I’m just... I’m going to my room." Once again I was interrupted by him. He didn’t want to listen to any of us at all.

He didn’t wait for a response. He bolted up the stairs, the thud of his footsteps echoing with a desperate urgency.

Is he angry? I hope not..

What was I doing trying so hard like that, I must have angried him with my unnecessary blabbing.

A moment later, the heavy oak door of his bedroom slammed shut, followed by the definitive, metallic click of the lock. Silence returned to the living room, heavier than before.

Erza remained standing where he had left her, her pale skin appearing almost translucent in the dimming light.

Dimming light?

I looked up for a bit, yeah we have to change those. I will go get a new one tomorrow morning, since it’s late now.

My eyes immediately shifted back to Erza.

"He’s acting weird," she whispered. Figures, I not as smart but if Erza it’s weird then it is.

If so then what happened? It’s not like guardians are allowed to complain or speak directly to the school in anyway.

Plus Mrs and Mr Yamaguchi are too busy right now for me to disturb them with this.

I crossed my arms, ny brow furrowed as i looked toward the ceiling.

"Do you think something happened at school? Or on the way home?" I muttered just enough for Erza to hear.

I wanted to see her reaction or replied to it so I can get her own side of the drama that had just played right in front of us

But..

Erza didn’t answer. She only stared at the stairs, her expression blank, though her fingers curled tightly into the palms of her hands.

In certain circumstances where ond experiments in new types of conduct by cooperating with their equals, the child is already an adult. There exist in the child certain attitudes and beliefs which intellectual development will more and more tend to eliminate.

They shouldn’t be thinking this much as kids. This is normally the period where they are supposed to enjoy the most of their childhood before moving to the adult world.

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"In certain circumstances where he experiments in new types of conduct by cooperating with his equals, the child is already an adult. ’There is an adult in every child and a child in every adult...’ There exist in the child certain attitudes and beliefs which intellectual development will more and more tend to eliminate: there are others which will acquire more and more importance. The latter are not derived from the former but are partly antagonistic to them."

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