The cold air of the living room bit into his sweating skin. He didn't look back at the black television screen.
He walked slowly down the long, dark hallway. The wooden floorboards creaked heavily under his weight. He stopped directly in front of his bedroom.
The heavy wooden door was still half-open. He left it slightly ajar when he rushed to the bathroom earlier. The narrow, black gap stared back at him. He stepped forward to slip through the opening.
But his mind was completely consumed by a twisted desire. He misjudged the distance in the pitch-black hallway. His right shoulder slammed hard against the thick edge of the solid wood.
Creeeeaaak.
The sudden physical impact forced the heavy door backward. The old metal hinges let out a long, agonizing whine. It sounded exactly like the rusted door of a basement in a cheap horror movie. The high-pitched friction tore right through the dead silence of the house.
Zenjiro winced. He expected Liora to suddenly wake up and ask him about the noise. He waited for the heavy footsteps of his father coming down the hall to investigate the noise that might came from robbers.
Nobody moved. The heavy silence immediately swallowed the terrible sound.
Zenjiro pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Then...
He ignored his own empty mattress entirely.
He walked straight toward Liora's bed. He stopped right beside the edge of the wooden frame. He looked down at her. She was lying perfectly still on her back. The thick blue blanket was kicked down around her waist. Her chest rose and fell in a slow, hypnotic rhythm.
He slowly lowered himself onto the edge of her mattress.
The metal springs groaned quietly. The soft surface sank deep under his heavy weight. The sudden shift in gravity tilted Liora's body slightly toward him.
And then...
The dark hunger flared violently in his chest. He couldn't stop himself.
He raised his trembling right hand in the cold air. He extended his fingers. He aimed directly for the exposed, pale skin of her soft neck. He just wanted to feel the intense heat one more time. He pushed his hand forward through the empty dark.
Liora shifted.
She let out a low, heavy groan. Her right shoulder violently twitched.
Zenjiro froze completely. His heart slammed against his ribs like a panicked animal. He stopped breathing. His hand hovered rigidly in the air. Terror flooded his brain. He waited for her bright blue eyes to snap wide open. He expected her to see his hand reaching for her throat in the dark. He prepared himself for Liora's confusion or worse, a terrified scream.
But Liora just turned her head slightly to the left. She let out a long, quiet sigh. The tension drained out of her shoulders. She fell straight back into a deep, heavy sleep.
Zenjiro slowly pulled his shaking hand back. He exhaled a hot, ragged breath.
He just sat there on the edge of the mattress and stared at her. The dim orange glow from the distant streetlamp filtered weakly through the thin window curtains. It painted a soft, dusty light over her sleeping form.
His eyes slowly traced the lines of her body. Her dark high school uniform was completely ruined from the heavy sleep. The thick, pleated skirt was bunched dangerously high up around her thighs. It exposed a long, pale stretch of bare leg. Her tight white blouse clung perfectly to her ribs. The fabric stretched taut across her chest with every deep breath she took.
Her figure was absolutely perfect.
The realization hit his chaotic brain hard again. She wasn't the annoying, crying little kid in the dirty yellow dress anymore. She was a highly attractive young woman. The alcohol completely stripped away eleven years of brotherly conditioning. At this very moment, he saw her purely as a woman.
But a big, heavy barrier still blocked his path. He was terrified of her reaction.
She trusted him completely. She dropped her guard around him because he was her reliable, safe older brother. If he made a sudden, malicious advance right now, he would permanently destroy that trust.
He would become the exact same monster as her biological father. Zenjiro was a coward. He lacked the raw, unhinged courage to forcefully attack her while she slept. He needed an excuse. He needed a foolproof reason to justify the forbidden physical contact.
He built a perfect, cowardly trap.
He slowly lifted his legs off the wooden floorboards. He shifted his hips. He carefully laid his entire body down on her soft mattress. He stretched out flat on his back right next to her.
He looked down at the empty space between them.
He left about ten centimeters of distance between his right arm and her left shoulder.
It was the ultimate safe zone. It was a flawless alibi. Liora was a terrible sleeper. She always rolled around. She always ended up invading his bed in the middle of the night anyway.
If she happened to roll over in her sleep right now and crash directly into his body, he could completely deny all responsibility. Even if she suddenly woke up pressed against him, he could just claim she was the one who crossed the distance. He could just play the victim. He was her reliable brother simply resting on the same bed.
He just had to wait for her to make the first move while asleep.
The trap was set. The waiting began.
It was pure, agonizing torture.
Zenjiro lay perfectly rigid on his back. He stared blindly up at the pitch-black ceiling. He listened to the quiet, rhythmic sound of her breathing. He hyper-focused all of his scattered senses on the right side of his body.
Ten centimeters was nothing. It was a tiny, pathetic fraction of empty air. But right now, it felt like a large, uncrossable canyon. The intense body heat radiating off Liora's skin easily crossed the small gap. It washed continuously over his right arm. The invisible warmth teased his nerve endings. It was a constant, burning reminder of exactly what he was missing.
A single minute dragged by.
Then five.
Then ten.