Maya walked slowly into the room with an anxious look on her face. She had the look of a frightened little animal as she carefully scanned the room.

“Shut the door!” Shana said, causing Maya to jump up and run back to the door so she could close it.

As soon as she had done that, she continued her strange walk until she had reached the middle of the room. There, she came to a stop.

There were a few moments of silence, after which Maya, her eyes wandering around the room, commented nervously, “Um... lovely room, big sis... maybe a little more pink than I was expecting…”

Shana rolled her eyes at that, “This is Barbie's room, dummy... Were your eyes so focused on her the whole time you were in here that you didn't even notice it?”

Maya turned her head away and rubbed her arm in embarrassment, giggling as she did so, “Oh yeah, that was just a joke on my part... Of course I knew that!”

“Yeah, of course you did…” Shana said, not believing her at all, before tapping her hand on the bed and saying, “C'mon, sit down.”

And then Maya let herself fall to the floor with a heavy thud, letting out a small sound of pain, "Ouch..."

Shana stared at her with her eyes wide open and her mouth hanging open, not understanding why she had done such a thing, “Are you retarded or are you taking the piss out of me?”

“Eh? Why?” Maya asks in confusion as she rubs her sore bottom, not knowing why she could be mad at her again.

“I meant on the bed! Sitting on the mattress next to me! Ya know, like a normal human being?” Shana said as she rubbed her forehead, trying to relieve the headache caused by both the hangover and the disbelief at what her little sister had just done.

“Oh yeah…that makes a lot more sense…” Maya admits as she awkwardly rubs the back of her neck.

Cautiously, Maya approached the bed and sat down on the edge of the mattress, watching Shana warily, as if she was afraid of being attacked.

Shana, having given up trying to understand what the hell she was doing, just looked at her in silence.

As Maya sat down, the silence became even more noticeable, and so she began to look around again, looking everywhere but at her sister.

“Uh... what an... interesting room…” Maya said again, but Shana stopped her in her tracks with a deep breath, “Maya…”

“Oh yeah, true true…” Maya mumbled and looked at the floor, not knowing how to start the discussion, too confused and unsettled since the day before.

"Treat it like a band-aid," Shana advised her in a soft voice, "Just rip it off."

Maya nodded, swallowing hard as she narrowed her eyes and clenched her hands into fists on her thighs.

After a series of deep breaths, Maya finally asked the question she had been dying to ask, “Do you… love me?”

Shana felt awkward, unsure of how she should answer the question.

On the inside, she knew what she wanted to say, but her personality prevented her from giving an honest answer.

But as she looked into her little sister's eyes, she understood that she could not answer with half-truths or lies. All she could do now was tell the truth... And as hard as it was to do, she had to do it. She owed Maya that.

“Yes.” was Shana's answer, short and simple, but it was all Maya needed to hear.

With a choked sob, Maya threw herself on top of Shana and hugged her tightly, ignoring her big sister's protests, too caught up in her own emotions, tears streaming from her eyes at how happy she felt.

After a few minutes of trying to break free, Shana gave up and let Maya go on for as long as she wanted, feigning annoyance but actually feeling a strange sense of relief. ‘Aw, man... I'm getting too soft…’

Once Maya had gotten it out of her system, she pulled away from her sister, wiping the tears and mucus from her nose with the sleeves of her dress, which disgusted Shana a little, but she didn't say anything, just watched as she calmed down.

“Feeling better now? Or you need more time?” Shana asked, worried about her sister's well-being.

“Kind of…” Maya said with a doubtful look on her face, not so convinced herself.

Then she started to shake her head, “You know what, screw this! I'm not calm at all right now!”

Maya's eyes began to water again as she lifted her head and looked at Shana, “It just feels like the whole world is changing around me! I don't know what's happening anymore!”

She pressed her hands to her eyes, trying to hold back her tears, “I used to dream that one day you would tell me that you loved me, but I didn't think it would ever happen for real! And I still hoped that Mom would care about me, even though I knew she was always angry and distant! Why does it have to be like this? Is it so hard to love me that even my own mother can't? Why is that? Why?”

“Stop being so stupid, you idiot!” Shana screamed and stopped her outburst by taking her in her arms and holding her close to her chest, “Don't blame yourself for the fact that your mother is an evil bitch! It's not your fault at all!”

Then she lifted her head a little so that she could see Maya's face, and she wiped away her tears with her blanket, “I'm sorry that I wasn't open with you, but I always cared about you... you were always my first priority... I should have acted differently. More present and... more affectionate... I'm sorry.”

“No! You have nothing to be sorry for!” Maya said firmly, “There wouldn't have been a problem in the first place if she hadn't been so determined to make everyone's life as miserable as possible!”

Then she turned away, blushing, “And even then... I was never really alone. You made sure of that…”

Shana chuckled in amusement before grinning at Maya, “Yeah... about that... Do I need to have a talk with Emily about her intentions with my little sister?”

“Big Sis! Nooo!!” Maya let out a cry of shock, “That would be too embarrassing!”

“Funny how you didn't even try to deny it…” Shana joked, her grin getting wider and wider.

“Huh? I... I mean…” Maya stammered in surprise, but Shana just shrugged, “Eh, no problem with me.”

And then, after thinking about it for a moment, she added, “Actually, it's even better for me. I mean, I'm sure she'll treat you right. And I wouldn't have to worry about you getting pregnant! This is a win-win situation! I'll ship you together!”

“Big sis... stop…” Maya groans and presses her face into Shana's chest in embarrassment before suddenly lifting her head and looking at her in confusion, “Hang on... how do you even know such a term?”

“Uh... In my defense, anime is just a little too addictive…” Shana whispers, this time she's the one who's embarrassed, “And some characters are just too good together not to... forget it…”

“And why is that?” Maya answers, a grin growing on her face at the thought of finally getting one over on her sister, “Please go on. I find this very interesting…”

Shana looked at her in shocked disbelief, “Are you... being sassy with me?”

“I prefer to think of it as a sisterly chat.” Maya said with a snicker, which elicited a snort from Shana, who couldn't help but giggle, “What a cheeky little brat you are…”

“Yup!” Maya nodded with a smile before joining in and giggling along with her sister.

They spent a few moments like this, Maya still in her big sister's embrace, before she sighed and buried her head in Shana's chest.

“Hey, big sis” Maya murmured, her voice soft.

“Yeah?” Shana's voice was just as soft in reply.

“I'm so glad that we can treat each other like sisters…” Maya said, her voice shaking, “Thank you. Thank you for always being there for me even when... I wasn't there for you... I'm so sorry.”

Shana could feel her heart ache in her chest. She'd dedicated her entire existence to doing everything she could to keep her sister from ending up like her. But all she'd managed to do was make her as miserable as she was, just in a different way.

Holding her close as she stroked her hair, Shana murmured, “I'm your big sister. Taking care of you is my first priority. There's no need to thank me.”

“Step-sister!” Maya blurted out as she looked directly into Shana's eyes.

“I'm just a step-sister. I'm only here because our stupid father was stupid enough to get married to my stupid mother! You owe me nothing at all. Damn it, even mom doesn't care about being a mom! So why on earth should you?"

Then, panting from the tirade, she added, her tone softer and more subdued, "You've done far more than you should..."

Lowering her head once more, Maya concluded, “You and Emily are my real family, the ones who really cared about me and showed it... Thank you for everything.”

Shana wanted to say something, like an insult or a sarcastic comment to lighten the situation, but when she opened her mouth, the only thing that came out was a choked up sob.

Feeling something move across her face, she ran a hand down her cheek and discovered... tears.

Shana looked down at her tear-stained hands and shivered, her emotions all over the place. Then, for the first time in over a decade, she let herself go, unable to control them. All of the walls that she had built up around herself to protect herself came crashing down.

She desperately hugged her sister, who hugged her back just as tightly. The two of them cried and held each other for a long time, completely oblivious to the outside world.

A few hours later, after she had finished talking to Jane, Emily went to check on Maya, but found Shana's room empty.

Thinking that Maya had probably gone to visit her sister after waking up, Emily grabbed a change of clothes from Shana's dresser and headed for her own room. When she opened the door, not only was her suspicion confirmed, but she was greeted with an adorable sight.

Both Shana and Maya were lying in bed, Shana under the covers and Maya on top of them, both asleep and holding each other in an embrace.

Barely able to keep herself from squealing with cuteness, Emily quietly placed the clothes on the desk before leaving the room... Only to come back a few minutes later with Jane in tow to show her the scene as well.

“Oh, they're adorable!” Jane whispered, gushing at the sight.

“Yes... that's the way they should always be…” Emily nodded in agreement... before snapping a few pictures with her phone, “And I won't give them a chance to forget it.”