Summary: Cye craves a normal life, and the doubt in his heart hides his armour from him—right when Ryo needs the Inferno most… 7 Arc: ENVY [oneshot]
Warnings: This is short and rather similar to the situation in the Jungle OVA with the black armor.
7: ENVY
By: Lost-Remembrance (Red Tail)
"Why can't we be normal people??! We did our job! We saved the world from Talpa—twice!" Cye fell to his knees. "What more do we have to give?" He cried, "What more is there to give?" The soothing sounds of the rippling water around him were his only response. His brow remained furrowed in question and anger. This internal conflict had been burning inside him for weeks, churning in his stomach and waging war on his mind.
It didn't matter.
Another foe from the Dynasty, eager to prove their strength, had attacked his comrades and friends. They all armored up. When Cye called forth the Armor of Torrent, nothing happened. The lull from the shock gave the enemy a perfect opportunity to attack them.
That was the reason Ryo was unconscious upstairs. Mia was tending to his wounds and had administered a shot of morphine to ease his pain. Over the numerous battles they fought and the scrapes and marks they earned from day to day life, Mia had become quite proficient as a nurse.
"Cye?" Rowen softly said, announcing his presence to his distressed friend. "Are you all right?"
"No."
Rowen was silent, unsure of how to approach the situation. "Do you… do you know why the armor didn't come forth when you called it?"
"No." Cye said once again, though in his heart he knew.
"Yeah well you better figure it out and quick. We—Ryo—can't take another hit like that. Next time this dude shows up, we need to fry him with the Inferno." Kento growled as he appeared from behind Rowen, annoyance clear on his face.
Cye flushed, lowering his head in shame. His actions caused one of his friends to be seriously wounded.
Rowen cast a scowl at Kento before turning his attention back to Cye. "I'm sure ya'll figure it out. Yer Cye… ya always know the right thing to do." He quietly offered, "Remembah Cye, don't forget to listen to what ya heart tells ya."
With those words, the two silently left to go and check on their leader. They could only wait for the next attack and hope that whatever dilemma was blocking Cye's armor would be gone by then.
…
The Inferno flared and then burned away, disappearing and leaving Ryo's Wildfire armor. Ryo stumbled a bit, the injuries and the energy loss from the armor sapping him even more of strength. The remains of the enemy's armor was smoldering nearby on the ground. No enemy could stand up to the heat of the Inferno's rage.
Ryo looked at Cye who fell to his knees. His weapon clattered to the ground beside him. He was looking at his armor with sadness, then looked up to the rest of the Ronins, his friends and family, with overwhelming guilt in his eyes.
"Cye…" Rowen began, "Are you alright?"
"I…" Cye began and then stopped. He tried once more, "I…" and failed.
Ryo took a step forward toward his friend. Gently, he placed a hand on Cye's shoulder plate. The ginger-haired man looked up at him. "Cye," Ryo began, "It isn't your fault."
Tears leaked over his eyes, streaming down his cheeks. "But it is Ryo. Because of me, you got hurt… because of me you weren't able to call the Inferno."
"Cye," Ryo said, kneeling before the other man, "We are Ronin Warriors. It's our duty to protect this world and its people."
Cye bowed his head in shame as the envious feelings—of simply being a normal person flooded through him again.
"There's nothing wrong with wanting something more, of always wanting what w can't have." Cye closed his eyes. "But Cye—we can have that. All that we do—battling evil, lets us choose to do normal things with our lives."
Cye looked up. As a University student, he always fretted about the armor, dreading the fighting and fearing the power his armor allowed him to wield. In his mind, there was no in between. He was a Ronin Warrior and, therefore must be on constant vigilance—a hero for the people at all times. "What are you trying to say Ryo?"
"I'm saying… that maybe we can be normal despite this burden we bear. We defeated Talpa and the Dynasty. Things got quite after that with the occasional baddie coming around. Nothing is saying that you can't go off to school Cye." Ryo quietly said, "We aren't superheroes. We will always be Ronin Warriors, and we will always have that bond, but realistically, our paths may take us down different roads. That doesn't mean we have to stop being friends. And when that occasional baddie comes along and we have to save the world, well—the Ronin Warriors will be there."
FIN: ENVY