Thanks so much for waiting! I've been busy with college and finals are fast approaching (bleh!) This chapter really more to provide everyone with insight to how Cruz has changed! Hope you like it! Sorry for its shortness and for any errors that may appear! :)
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Word of another incident made its way to the group and after grabbing a quick bite to eat they set off toward the city of Mashige. With Yuuta sharing a horse with Gido their travels continued swiftly and surprisingly very quiet. Seemed that everyone had something different on their mind. The sun had already set when they finally decided to stop for the night after riding for five straight hours. And as you can imagine it was a relief to feel their feet on the ground again.
"Geez! Let's not ride that long ever again!" Eve moaned while rubbing her rear.
Blade nodded as he stretched and let out a loud yawn. "Yeah, my ass hurts and I'm beat!"
The others silently agreed. After tying up the horses they settled down around a fire Yuuta had volunteered to make; stating it was part of his payment for allowing him to ride along with them.
Everyone seemed to almost pair off into their own conversations; Blade and Eve blabbering amongst themselves, Yuuta and Gido making small talk and lastly Cruz and Aruka a bit further away off to the side.
Aruka quickly glanced around making sure no one else was within earshot before actually speaking. Once she was certain she faced Cruz again who was stretched out on the ground with his arms crossed behind his head, staring up at the starless sky.
"Cruz, I'm not clueless you know."
Her words caused him to stiffen, but he kept his breathing steady. "I know you're not, Oneechan."
She interpreted his short reply as a sign to continue.
"I saw you a year ago… what have these past years done to you to make you like this?"
Cruz sat upright and looked back at her solemnly, doing his best to mask his panic.
"What are you talking about?"
Aruka sighed before beginning the describing the scene she had witnessed a year ago.
… … …
The incidents had already been occurring for four years now and Aruka had decided it was about time she took some serious time to look into them. During her journeys she had come across a small town that had recently been victim to one of the many mysterious fires; no survivors. Keeping a low profile she scanned the remains of the town. Charred splinters covered the ground while the once walls of houses were quickly crumbling to ash.
She had only been looking around for a few minutes when another figure caught the corner of her eye. Quickly she darted behind the remains of a half standing plaster wall. Slowly she peeked around its edge and was shocked to see her younger brother kneeling amongst the pieces of rubble. Aruka narrowed her eyes though to get a closer look; while his general appearance of green hair and blue eyes were the same, his clothes and body had seemed to mature; it had been four years after all since she had last seen him. A smile tugged on the sides of her mouth, just the sight of him made her feel at ease.
His royal blue jacket was longer and more jagged and the shirt he wore beneath is was no longer a mustard yellow, but black and his beige cargo shorts had been replaced with long pants. Black knuckle gloves concealed most of his hands and his green hair was slightly longer; he had truly matured into a handsome young man. Aruka felt a little bit of pride well up inside of her. It seemed like the past four years had done him good.
She was considering walking over to him, but reconsidered. In the midst of her thoughts a small child seemed to be wandering amongst the ruins. By the looks of his unburnt clothes he was clearly from the neighboring village. She watched as the child approached Cruz almost silently while her brother was still knelt down on the ground, still deep in thought.
She watched intently until the child accidentally bumped the shattered remains of a wooden beam with his small foot. In a sudden instant Cruz whipped around in one swift movement pinning him to the ground by his neck while his other hand held a knife at the ready position. From where Aruka was standing she was able to catch the cold look in her brother's eyes. Eyes of a killer.
But seeing that it was only a mere child she watched as Cruz quickly released the boy and helped him to his feet. The little boy began to whimper, still terrified. Just as she was about to step in Cruz put his weapon away and knelt down to wipe away the boy's tears. She could hear him asking the boy where he came from. The boy looked back at him with suspicion. Cruz sighed and straightened back up. With a warm smile he slowly extended his hand down to the boy. "I'll take you home."
Quick to forgive, the boy eagerly took his hand and pointed east toward the town of Canton. Aruka had followed them and as soon as they arrived at the city's outer limits Cruz stopped and motioned for the boy to find his way back to his home.
But before Cruz could leave the boy gave a light tug on his sleeve and cupped his small hands around both sides of his mouth as if he was ready to tell a secret. Cruz lifted his eyebrows in confusion, but when the boy didn't move he finally knelt down again and brought his ear close to the boy's small hands.
… … …
"I could not hear what he whispered to you, but whatever he said caused you to smile."
Aruka paused to observed Cruz's reaction to the memory she had seen. She watched him intently, he was still deep in thought with his fingers interlocking each other under his chin. Slowly he began to nod, absorbing the memory she had just laid out.
"Deep down you're still the same."
But no sooner had she spoken these words Cruz's demeanor changed almost rapidly. His hands were now tightly clenched together and he refused to look her in the eye as he snapped his head around to avoid her gaze.
"How could you say that? I'm nothing like I used to be." he almost hissed.
Aruka, seeing that she had upset him, let out a long breath.
"Cruz, it's not a bad thing-" she tried to finish as she reached for his arm, but he abruptly stood up so as to be out of her reach and quickly walked back over toward the fire to join the rest of the group; clearly through with their conversation.
Aruka didn't try to stop him. It was obvious that Cruz's new nature would take some getting used to and it would be best to let him cool off. She let out another long breath before standing up to walk over towards the others.
When she sat down next to Gido he looked over at Cruz from across the fire, he was already grinning at something Blade had said, who was obviously heavily drunk at the moment. It was as if their conversation never took place. Gido caught Aruka's distant stare towards her brother and poured her a cup of whiter was brewing in the kettle over the campfire. When he placed it in front of her she gave him a confused look, but Gido only responded with a knowing look and smiled before turning his attention back towards Yuuta and Eve.
She couldn't tell if Cruz's smile was real or not, but for his sake she hoped it was genuine. Aruka knew Cruz was still hiding something and was just refusing to say anything. She could tell that a storm was ahead, not just for Cruz, but for the rest of them as well.
Cruz suddenly caught her staring at him and Aruka expected him either ignore her or glare at her, but sin stead he smiled cheerfully and goofily waved back. Seeing this Aruka halfheartedly smiled back as Eve playfully jabbed him in the side causing him to tip over. He laughed again and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
While the rest of them were absorbed with their own laughter Aruka smiled down at there own reflection in whatever weird drink had been placed in front of her. Reminiscing about the past she remembered how naive Cruz used to be… and deep down she knew that what she had said was herself expressing her desire that he really had stayed the same. Sure, becoming stronger was always good, but not knowing the secrets of his heart still sat in the back of her mind and were slowly creeping forth.
But one thing was for certain, she thought to herself, he would always be her dear little brother; and as his older sister she would protect him at all costs.
"You're not alone like you think, Cruz." she said in barely a whisper.
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Thanks so much for reading! Reviews are always appreciated! So what did you think of the flashback memory? I did my best, I really did, but it's been a while since I've written anything haha More to come! Thanks again!
