Chapter 6: When the Stars Fall
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The rain came at dusk.
It fell in cold, whispering sheets, soaking the broken stones of the abandoned shrine.
The air smelled of wet earth and old blood.
Renjiro pulled Miyo closer under the tattered blanket, trying to shield her tiny body from the chill.
The world outside the shrine was collapsing — but inside, for a fleeting moment, there was a fragile kind of peace.
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"Big brother..."
Miyo's voice was a faint murmur against the patter of the rain.
"Tell me... a story."
Renjiro blinked down at her, wiping the rain from her forehead.
Her fever hadn't broken.
If anything, she was getting worse.
"What kind of story?" he asked, forcing his voice to be gentle.
Miyo smiled weakly, her breath fogging in the cold air.
"Tell me... about the children of the stars..."
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Renjiro hesitated, heart breaking.
He didn't know much about stars.
But he spoke anyway — weaving words like a lullaby.
"There was once a place," he said, "far, far away... where the children of the stars lived.
They weren't like us. They were made of light.
They danced across the night sky, free and happy.
They never knew hunger... or war... or pain."
Miyo's eyes sparkled with wonder, even through the haze of her illness.
"Do you think... Mama and Papa are there?" she whispered.
Renjiro's throat tightened painfully.
He couldn't lie to her.
"I think... yeah," he said hoarsely.
"I think they're watching us right now.
Waiting for us."
Miyo smiled and closed her eyes.
Outside, the rain softened — and fireflies rose from the wet grass, swirling like tiny stars reborn.
For a little while, the broken world faded away.
Only the light remained.
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Night fell.
Miyo curled against him, breathing slow and shallow.
Renjiro stayed awake as long as he could — watching over her, whispering stories into the darkness.
But exhaustion dragged him down.
His eyes closed.
Sleep stole him away.
---
He woke to silence.
The first thing he noticed was that the rain had stopped.
The second was that Miyo wasn't breathing.
She lay still — too still — her tiny hands folded over her chest, her face peaceful, almost smiling.
Her spirit was gone.
Called away by the soft voices only she could hear —
— the ghostly figures of Mama and Papa reaching out to take her home.
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Renjiro didn't move.
Didn't scream.
At first, he just stared.
Wide-eyed.
Empty.
The world seemed too bright, too sharp — the morning sun rising in a sky so painfully blue it mocked him.
His last hope had died.
He was alone.
Truly, utterly alone.
---
When the grief came, it hit like a hurricane.
He howled —
— a raw, animal sound that tore the stillness apart.
He clutched Miyo's body to his chest, sobbing until his throat was raw, until his voice gave out completely.
He begged.
Begged every god he had ever heard of — any spirit, any star — to take it back.
To undo this.
To give her back.
But no one answered.
The shrine remained cold and broken.
The fireflies had vanished.
The sky stayed cruelly clear.
---
Hours passed.
Or maybe days.
Time didn't matter anymore.
Finally — when his body was too heavy to cry any longer — he wrapped Miyo's tiny frame in the blanket.
He dug a grave with his bare hands.
Fingers bloody and raw, he carved the earth beside the shrine.
He laid her down gently — as if she might wake up if he was careful enough.
He found a flat stone and scratched her name into it with his father's old knife.
Miyo.
Beloved Sister.
Child of the Stars.
He placed it at the head of the grave.
And then...
he stood there, looking down, feeling nothing but an empty, screaming silence inside himself.
---
The forest called to him.
The shadows between the trees whispered promises.
Freedom.
Escape.
Peace.
Renjiro found a sturdy branch.
He tied the rope his father had used for carrying water buckets.
A noose.
Simple.
Final.
He stood beneath it, the loop heavy in his hands.
"In this world," he whispered to the empty forest,
"I have nothing anymore."
He slipped the rope around his neck.
He closed his eyes.
And stepped forward.
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SNAP.
The branch cracked.
The rope snapped like brittle bone.
Renjiro fell hard onto the muddy ground, the breath knocked from his chest.
For a long moment, he just lay there — staring up at the empty sky.
Tears burned his eyes, but he didn't have the strength to shed them anymore.
Even death, it seemed, had rejected him.
He laughed — a broken, ugly sound — and let the darkness take him.
---
Before the last of his consciousness faded —
he heard footsteps.
Soft, cautious.
A shadow fell over him.
Then warm hands — gentle hands — lifted his battered body.
"It's okay," a voice whispered.
"I'm here."
Through the haze of his mind, he caught a glimpse of her —
a girl with kind brown eyes and short dark hair.
A forehead protector with the Leaf's symbol gleamed against her head.
Rin Nohara.
A medic-nin, a healer — a light in the deepening darkness.
Renjiro blacked out completely — but somewhere deep inside, a tiny spark refused to die.
To be continued...
(A/N): So far how was the story. If you like i will continue with this.