disclaimer:/ I don't own Magi in any way, shape or form.

-x-

What woke her wasn't the usual tone of her phone alarm, or stray streams of light that somehow made it into her room somehow. In fact, the sound that she had heard wasn't anything close to the blaring noise that was her alarm. It was more of a soft hum, than rather. That was bemusing; she didn't have a radio in her room. She wasn't even in her own room, she realized a split second later. She was lying atop what she recognized as her living room sofa, squished up against its cushions.

Lethargically, she cracked her eyes open, her hands reaching up to rub away their sleepiness. Blinking, she sat herself up, and turned towards the source of the mystery sound.

Huh. She couldn't believe it. Was… Was that Sharrkan? Cooking what smelled like waffles in her kitchen? She squinted, unbelieving her eyes. Wait a minute… That was him.

And all the memories from the night before rushed into her mind. Oh, that's right. He spent the night after going through a surprisingly short emo phase. They must have fallen asleep on the couch last night before they could get to bed.

She tilted her head, observing the other teen as he moved around the kitchen. He had already changed into the clothes he wore yesterday (he wore the same thing everyday; no one would notice, and most likely wouldn't care anyways), probably had already discarded the pajamas into the laundry basket.

She was too busy scrutinizing him, that she didn't notice that his eyes had locked onto hers. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!" He grinned as she blinked into realization. "Took you long enough to wake up. Here." He dumped a few cooked waffles onto a plate and set it on the table. "Breakfast."

Yamuraiha stared at him for a moment, before stretching out her sore limbs. The sofa wasn't the comfiest piece of furniture, she thought, as she slipped off of it.

"Waffles, huh?" She questioned rhetorically, sitting down at the kitchen table. "I like pancakes better."

Sharrkan rolled his eyes, finishing his last batch of waffles. "Well, that's a shame." He said, shuffling towards the fridge, snatching the maple syrup. "It's either these waffles or you can go starve."

She snorted. "You have absolutely no chill, do you?"

He shrugged. "Maybe not, but maybe you should have woken up earlier to cook your own pancakes." Sharrkan reasoned, cutting his waffles with a knife.

"What time is it, anyways?" She asked, with a tilt of her head. "It seems brighter outside than when I usually."

"What time is it... Lemme check." He pulled out his phone, turning it on for a split second before sliding it back into his pocket. "Almost 8, actually."

She almost choked on her waffles.

-x-

"Yamu."

She sat at her usual lunch table, secluded as she unwrapped her sandwich. She frowned.

"Yamu."

She lifted her sandwich to her lips, taking a small, clean bite out of it. Meat, tomatoes and lettuce, she tasted.

"Yamu, you and I both know that you can't keep ignoring me."

Chewing, she set the sandwich down onto the tray. Her eyebrows scrunched together in distaste and she lifted the bread to reveal a bitten tomato. She pinched it with her forefinger and thumb, and tossed it out of her sandwich, before reaching for her juice. It was apple flavored.

"Is it because of this morning? Are you still mad about that? It wasn't that bad, I mean."

She narrowed her eyes at him into a harsh glare, but he was barely affected. She sighed in defeated, before hissing out, "Of course it's because of this morning. I was almost late because of you!"

Sharrkan, although happy that he had gotten Yamuraiha to speak to him again, matched her glare with his own. "It's not my fault that you were still sleeping!"

"Even so, you could've have just woken me up!"

"Do you know how hard that is? It's like trying to wake up a rock! I swear, I tried everything but you still stayed asleep."

She huffed, crossing her arms as a low growl escaped her lips. "My perfect attendance, ruined by you just because you didn't try hard enough to wake me up!"

"Um... Is this a bad time or...?" The two looked up, somewhat startled by the two newcomers as they stood awkwardly by the table. Hakuei and Hakuryuu looked at them with confused looks.

"Hakuei, Hakuryuu!" Yamuraiha acknowledged, with a smile. "Hey."

Hakuryuu grinned slightly, as he took a seat across from Yamuraiha, Hakuei following next to him. "Hi."

Hakuei shuffled in her seat. "Um... Sharrkan?" She said hesitantly, her eyes looking down. "Are... Are you okay?"

Sharrkan rose a brow, flashing a smile at her. "Yeah, of course I am." He reassured her. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Hakuei bit her lip. "Well..." She dragged on. "Yesterday, you did seem a little... out of it. Everyone could tell that you weren't paying attention to anything or anyone- not even Yamuraiha."

"Yeah well... I'm fine, don't worry about me." Sharrkan said, before stretching upwards. "So," he flicked his eyes towards Yamuraiha, who had turned her attention to a book she pulled out from her bag. "Yamu, we need to do our project board soon. We still have a lot of work to do."

Yamuraiha snorted. "Since when do you care about our project?" She inquired, as she turned the page. She paused to take a bite out of her sandwich before her eyes met Sharrkan's.

"What are you guys doing for your project?" Hakuryuu asked, curiously. "Chemistry right?"

"How do you know about our project?" Sharrkan asked, somewhat surprised.

Hakuei intervened, as she unwrapped her own homemade lunch. "I asked him to help me with my own project since I have less time that the rest of the class."

Yamuraiha nodded in understanding, and she took another bite. "We'll reveal our project on Friday, there is no need to worry about it for now." She reasoned, vaguely. "It's going to be a surprise."

Hakuei nodded, and Hakuryuu rose a brow at Sharrkan, noticing the lack of food in front of him. "Why aren't you eating anything, Sharrkan?" He gestured towards the empty space on the table.

"Oh, I didn't pack any lunch today," Yamuraiha and Sharrkan shared a glance of understanding, "and I forgot my money at home. I'll just eat whatever Yamu doesn't finish, so whatever."

"When you say that, it makes me want to finish my food just so you won't have anything to eat." Yamuraiha remarked absently.

Sharrkan laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "That's harsh, angel." She didn't shake him off.

Hakuryuu observed the two as they bickered, smiling slightly. "You two are closer than before, aren't you? You're both more comfortable with each other."

Hakuei nodded in agreement. "Yes, indeed you two are."

Yamuraiha hid her smile as she took a bite out of her sandwich, before handing it to Sharrkan. He smirked, taking it before nodding.

"Can't argue with facts, huh?"

-x-

They strode down the halls of school towards the front doors side by side as they spouted their usual banter. The other students of Southern Seas High were beginning to get used to that sight, paying them no mind.

It was funny how a few weeks ago they could barely stand each other's existence, hissing and glaring when their eyes locked.

Now they were there, still arguing just like the day they met, but instead of frustrated voices and growls, there were playful smirks and comfortable posture.

"I'm just saying, don't they look like brother and sister when they're standing next to each other?" Sharrkan questioned.

Yamuraiha shrugged. "I guess so, but maybe that's because they're both Fanalis." She reasoned. "I heard that they share a lot of the same features, like red hair and pink eyes."

They both pushed the door open, coming to a huge group of students crowding around something- or someone.

"What the- They're blocking the way!" Sharrkan growled in annoyance once his eyes found the huge crowd.

Yamuraiha rolled her eyes. "Well, no shit, Sherlock." She drawled on, and she stood on her tippy toes to see what all the commotion was about. "What happened there?"

"Can't see, shorty?" Sharrkan mocked. "You need me to carry you on my shoulders?"

Glaring briefly, but not taking any further action, she grabbed his hand, and pulled him along with her. "Come on, let's see what's happening."

He let her tug her along as they weaved past their way to the front of the crowd. And while he relished silently from the feel of her smooth hand against his own, he was also curious as to what was going on.

"Ah, I didn't want to attract any attention, much less this much." They heard a baritone voice grumble to themselves.

A laugh erupted from somewhere beside the other voice. "Then you shouldn't have come in such an expensive car, you stupid boy!" Sure enough, a shiny black car that seemed new was parked behind the two, giving off the impression of wealth.

"I'm not a boy anymore, Narmes!"

Sharrkan stopped abruptly, planting his feet into place. Yamuraiha, who suddenly found it harder to pull the other teen along, turned back to him with an annoyed glance. "Sharr-" She paused, noticing his blank look. "Sharrkan? What happened?"

He took a shaky breath. "Narmes." He mumbled. "Narmes is here." He clenched his fists, and Yamuraiha winced under the sudden pressure, struggling to pull her hand away. "If Narmes is here, then he has to be here too."

Yamuraiha paused, looking at him in understanding. "Your brother." It came out more of a statement than a question.

He nodded numbly.

"Has anyone seen my idiotic brother? He bares somewhat of a resemblance to me, same dark skin, white hair, incredibly stupid in making decisions." They heard the voice, who they identified as Armakan, call out to the crowd. "If you're here, you all might as well be useful."

"Aha, I apologize for my friend here. Mannerisms isn't his strong suit.." Narmes said much more politely. "He means has any of you heard of a boy named Sharrkan? We need some help finding his location, and we heard that he went to this school."

And with that name, whispers exploded in the crowd.

"Sharrkan? He's in one of my classes."

"I've heard that name before. Kinda famous around here, isn't he?"

"I think I saw him with that girl again, walking out of their class."

Yamuraiha felt his hand tightening around her fist, and she quickly turned towards him, concerned. "Sharrkan..." She whispered his name quietly, before her free hand reached to touch his shoulder. "Maybe you should go to him."

She could see his jaw tighten, as he clenched his teeth in fear. "No." His eyes were wide and he had to resist the urge to step back. "I can't. Never."

Yamuraiha stroked his shoulder softly, in an attempt to comfort him. "Sharrkan-"

"No. I won't see him right now. He's angry. I can tell."

"He's not angry with you." She struggled to keep her voice at a low tone. He was worrying her, more than ever. Not even the night he revealed everything to her could compare to the sheer amount of fear that was radiating off of his body.

It seemed as though the teen didn't hear him as he stared at the two men who stood defiantly before the crowd. "He's angry." He whispered, his grip on her hand slackening. "I-I can't do this."

With that he let go of her hand before pushing his way through the crowd and quickly sprinting away.

Caught off guard, she gasped, calling after him. "Sharrkan! Wait!" She cursed silently, before her eyes widened. She realized that she just his location away, and the last thing they needed at the moment was a brother and guardian on their hands. Cursing under her breath, she turned to see that the two men had turned towards her.

"Did you hear that? That girl just screamed Sharrkan's name."

"Does she know where he is?"

"Isn't she the girl who has been spending a lot of time with him?"

Ignoring the murmurs around her, she stood frozen as the two Heliohaptians came her way.

"You! Girl!" The man who she assumed to be Armakan called to her. He looked exactly as she had pictured him. Dressed in white and gold, his whole aura screamed powerful. His eyelids and cheeks had what looked like a tattoo of what resembled a snake slightly drawn into them. What was surprising, however was that his eyes weren't open, and yet, he could tell where she was without a second thought.

"Armakan. You're being rude. Have my teachings meant absolutely nothing to you?" Narmes scolded, but the younger man ignored him. He sighed in defeat, running a hand through his short silver hair. "Honestly, I feel as if I had wasted all my time training you in etiquette."

He was dressed similarly to Armakan, she noticed, having the same color palette of gold and white, although there was a pinch of green here and there. On his wrist seemed to be a golden snake bracelet that looked eerily real.

Yamuraiha looked up at them meekly, their height difference having a prominent gap. "Um..." She stuttered nervously. "Can... Can I help you?"

"Why yes actually." Narmes intervened before Armakan had the chance to speak. "We're looking for Sharrkan. You've seen him, yes?"

She tried her best to stay strong, but under Armakan's stare, and her classmate's pressure she couldn't help but crack. "Uh... Yeah, actually." She couldn't lie. I'm sorry, Sharrkan. "He went that way, though," she gestured towards the way he went, "but I don't know where he went."

Narmes pressed his lips together. "Well that going to be a problem, isn't it?" He asked rhetorically.

Armakan's eyebrows furrowed in what she assumed to be frustration. "Don't you have any idea of where he could be right now?" He asked. "This is important. I've finally found him after all this time, there is no time to waste. I need to have a talk with him."

Yamuraiha pursed her lips. "I have a few ideas, but..." She looked up at Armakan. "I... I don't feel as if Sharrkan is ready to see you yet. You're Armakan, right? His brother?" She didn't wait for his reply. "Sharrkan feels as if you're angry with him- not that you don't have any right to be, but I don't think that he has the willpower to deal with you at the moment."

Armakan growled. "Well that idiot should have thought about that before he packed his bags up and left without a word!"

Narmes sighed, placing a hand on the slightly shorter man's shoulder. "Armakan, please. You're making a scene. We don't want anymore attention than we already have." He whispered softly to him. "Miss... I'm sorry, I don't believe we caught your name."

"Yamu... Yamuraiha." She stated. "Just Yamuraiha is fine."

Narmes nodded. "Right, Yamuraiha, could you perhaps lead us to where Sharrkan might be? I'm sure any of your ideas are reasonable, and we really need to speak with him. This matter is urgent, and we can't wait until we tell him the news."

Yamuraiha narrowed her eyes cautiously at the two men. "I will, if you promise me that you won't go crazy once we find him."

"Of course!" Narmes instantly chirped, before nudging his elbow into the younger man's ribs.

Armakan glared, releasing a short 'tch', before nodding. "Yeah, yeah." He muttered, crossing his arms, turning away.

Glancing at them warily, she decided to trust their words. "Alright, fine. But we walk there. I don't want to drive around in your fancy car over there." She turned gesturing towards them to follow her. "Let's go."

-x-

"A cafe?" Armakan bristled, confusedly. He turned to the shorter girl, somewhat confused. "Care to explain, girl?"

She bit her lip, restraining a snarky remark to the nickname. Instead she nodded. "Yes, actually. This is where Sharrkan works."

"Cute place." Narmes inspected the cafe, looking through the glass windows. "There barely seems to be anyone in there, though." He observed, as he squinted his eyes.

"Well, obviously, because this place is closed for the time being." Yamuraiha said. "They're supposed to open soon, but there is a chance that Sharrkan is in there."

Armakan crossed his arms. "And how do you suppose we get in there?" He asked.

"By knocking." And with that, she rose her hand to the door, knocking three times before her hand fell limp. A few murmurs were heard from the other side of the door, before it opened to reveal a silver haired, freckled man.

"We're closed, come back later-" Ja'far paused, looking at the Yamuraiha, then Narmes, then finally Armakan. Eyes widening, the door opened even wider, and he let them inside. "Yamuraiha, care to explain who these two are?"

-x-

"Armakan and Narmes, you say?" Ja'far had ushered the three into Sinbad's office, who sat at his desk observing the two. "So you're Sharrkan's infamous brother, are you now?"

"That's correct." Armakan nodded. "We're looking for him at the moment. I don't suppose you know where he is, do you?"

Sinbad rose a brow. "You're looking for Sharrkan?" He questioned rhetorically. "Can't say I have a clue. He usually is with Miss Yamuraiha over here. Are you saying you can't find him?"

"He ran off somewhere after school and we're trying to find him again." Yamuraiha butted in, quickly. "I have some ideas as to where he could be, but if I'm wrong, then we were wondering if you could spare some insight on this."

Sinbad grinned. "Well, if you can't find Sharrkan, who can, exactly?" He asked. "You know him best out of all of us."

Yamuraiha sighed. "I suppose you're right." She said.

"You can try looking for him at home, although there's a low chance that he would be there." Sinbad suggested. "You know where his room is?"

"I'm pretty sure I remember." She nodded, preparing to leave. "Thank you. See you later, Sinbad, Ja'far." The two men nodded a farewell to them, as they shuffled towards the door.

"Oh wait, guys, before you leave," Sinbad stopped them with a call, "let me put my two cents in." He sat up straighter in his desk, with a smile. "Although I don't know where he is, if he's not at home, Sharrkan sometimes likes to sulk where there are a lot of people around. Dramatic, that boy is, but he's most likely in the company of someone that can comfort him."

Yamuraiha smiled. "Thank you, Sinbad." Turning once more, she gestured for the Heliohaptians to follow her. "Come on guys, no time to waste, remember?"

-x-

"Sharrkan?" Yamuraiha knocked on the door, testing if anyone would answer. Frowning when there was no response, she took out her key- the one given to her by Sinbad- before unlocking the door herself.

From a few steps behind her, Narmes rose a brow. "You have the key to his house?" He questioned, and they stepped inside.

Yamuraiha shrugged, locking the door behind them. "Technically it's not only his house but his three other roommates. And I'm just lucky that they all trust me." She smiled at them. "I guess you could say that we're all good friends."

"I have a feeling there is something going on between you and my brother." Armakan remarked seriously, crossing their arms as they stepped up the stairs.

She almost tripped. "W-What?" She sputtered. "O-Of course not! Now come on, let's see if he's in his room."

"You know where his room is and you expect me to believe that any sort of romance is impossible between you two." Armakan muttered under his breath, and Narmes smacked the back of his head, scowling.

"Armakan, come on, be nicer to this girl, would you?" Narmes sighed, exasperatedly. "She doing her best to help us, and we should return the favor."

"No, no, it's okay, Narmes." Yamuraiha intervened reassuringly before Armakan could snap back. "I'm almost immune to it, anyways. After weeks of enduring that kind of talk from my friends, I've gotten used to it."

Narmes frowned, but didn't say anything else.

They neared Sharrkan's room, the white door closed. Yamuraiha stepped forward, raising a fist to knock on it lightly. "Sharrkan?" She called, hopefully. "Are you here?"

No hearing a response, she slowly opened the door, peeking inside. "Sharrkan?" The door creaked as she pushed it further, revealing a neat room that seems like it hadn't been touched for a few hours, and wouldn't you know, there was no one inside.

Armakan scowled as they stepped in, seeing an empty space instead of what they were hoping for. The glass door leading to the balcony was closed, although the curtains were pushed away so that it was possible to see outside. A small frown slipped onto his face, as he examined the room, seeing a picture frame on his bedside.

"I guess, Sharrkan's not here, is he?" Narmes thought aloud as they looked around.

"Yeah." Yamuraiha said dejectedly. She looked up, and noticed that Armakan was looking at one of the pictures by his bed. His eyes were slightly open, and she could see the beautiful greens orbs glint. Upon further inspection, she came to the realization that the picture was one of the two brothers as children, standing in front of who she assumed to be their father and Narmes. "Armakan?" She tested out.

The older man blinked, before turning away from the photograph. "What?"

She smiled slightly. "Nothing." She said. "You really do care about Sharrkan, don't you?"

Armakan scowled, crossing his arms, his eyes closing once more. "Well why wouldn't I?" He asked roughly. "Even if he's a stupid, foolish brother, he's still my brother." He muttered the last part lowly.

Her smile widened. If only Sharrkan could hear his brother speak.

Narmes, who was listening in on their conversation also smiled. "You two were rowdy children. I could barely believe that the both of you were supposed to be the heirs of Lord Amun-Ra's company."

As Armakan barked in annoyance, Yamuraiha thought for a moment. "Children..." She muttered softly. "Sharrkan likes to be somewhere where there are a lot of people, too..." Blinking, her lips stretched into a grin. "I got it!"

The two Heliohaptians, who had been arguing, turned to her, surprised by her sudden outburst. "What is it, girl?" Armakan asked.

She looked the two in the eyes and smiled.. "I think I know where Sharrkan is."

-x-

They stood in front of the somewhat large building, hope running through their veins.

"We're at an orphanage." Armakan realized as he read the sign above. He rose a brow, turning to Yamuraiha for an explanation. "I realize that Sharrkan is quite childish, but this?"

Narmes rolled his eyes, smacking the back of the younger man's head. "Now, I'm sure Yamuraiha could give us a reason as to why we are here, Armakan."

"In fact, I do." Yamuraiha smiled at them. "I volunteer to help with the kids here sometimes, and a few times I brought Sharrkan along with me." She said, turning towards the doors. "He never says it out loud, but I feel that he had grown to love these children. It would only be natural if he wanted someone to talk to, since the kids here really like him, too and pretty much listen to any word he says."

Narmes smiled, folding his arms. "Really, now?" He said, quite pleased. "Well then, I suppose we should go check if your theory is right."

Yamuraiha nodded, reaching for the door knob. She pushed the door open, and as usual, Ugo sat at the receptionist counter, working on a few documents.

The blunette looked up at the sound of the door opening, and he smiled slightly. "Yamuraiha, hello again." Ugo greeted, before his eyes finally caught sight of the two men behind her. "And who are these two?"

Yamuraiha gestured towards the two of the Heliohaptian men, who were once again examining their new surroundings. "These are Armakan and Narmes."

"Bringing me new volunteers again?" Ugo laughed. "Aren't you popular?"

Yamuraiha let out a small laugh as she shook her head. "Unfortunately we aren't here to volunteer today." She said, apologetically. "We're actually looking for Sharrkan. Have you seen him?"

Ugo's laughter died down, and he nodded slowly. "Yes, I have, actually." His voice dropped into a low tone. "He's over there with the kids. He seemed anxious about something when he came in but I don't have a clue as to why."

The three breathed a sigh of relief, and Yamuraiha thanked the blunette man gratefully.

Slowly, they made their way over to where the children were crowded, and sure enough Sharrkan was sitting cross legged in the center of them, laughing boisterously. Luckily for the three, he hadn't spotted them yet.

Yamuraiha turned towards the two men behind her, holding out a hand for them to stop. "Let me handle him, first." She whispered softly. "He'll probably just run away again if he sees you two."

Armakan looked as though he was about to protest, but Narmes held his arm out in front of them, shaking his head. Backing down begrudgingly, he let Yamuraiha walk up to his brother, moving a good amount away from them, Narmes following in suit.

"Ja'far is such a mother to both me and Masrur, I swear!" She heard him laugh as she neared them. "Once he thought Masrur was getting married because Sin might've mislead him, and he started crying, and hugging Masrur. Oh man, he was practically on his knees, begging for Masrur to stay."

Yamuraiha cracked a smile at that. "Oh, I would hate to do this, but can I just borrow Sharrkan for a moment, children?" She intervened. The kids instantly bombarded her with greetings and she let out a giggle. "Alright, alright that's enough, I really need to talk to Sharrkan right now." The children all nodded enthusiastically, before scattering around the orphanage to find something new to entertain them.

Her eyes drifted towards the other teen, who's eyes that were red quickly widened before he turned away. He was crying. She sighed, before making her way towards him. "Sharrkan, come on, we've been looking everywhere for you."

"We?" He repeated. His eyes scanned the room before they landed on the his brother and former teacher. "Oh."

Yamuraiha frowned, sitting beside him. He scooted away. "I know that you didn't leave Armakan and Narmes on the best turn, but..."

"But what?" Sharrkan snapped. "You want me to just run up to them with a hug as if they don't hate me?"

"That's the thing." Yamuraiha pursed her lips, casting a glance towards the two. "They don't hate you at all. They might be frustrated with your decision but, they don't hate you." She hesitated, before placing a hand on his shoulder. He didn't turn away, which she took as a good sign. "They care about you more than you might think, Sharrkan."

When he didn't answer, she looked up. "You know, while we were looking for you, I asked if Armakan cared about you." She smiled. "I wasn't surprised when he said he did. His exact words were, 'even if he's a stupid, foolish brother, he's still my brother.'"

Sharrkan stayed silent for a few more moments, and she mentally crossed her fingers. "Please, just go talk to him." Her eyes pleading, she stared up at him. "I can guarantee that that would make him happy."

He pursed his lips before he sighed, looking downwards. "Yamu, I swear to god..." Letting out a frustrated growl. "Fine then. And if it doesn't make him happy, you can kiss my ass goodbye."

Satisfied, she smiled, before gestured for the two Heliohaptian men to come closer. They did, hesitantly.

Standing up with Yamuraiha following quickly behind, Sharrkan stared at his taller brother, whose eyes were slightly open, surprisingly.

"You owe me, Yamu." He muttered lowly, only loud enough for the blunette to hear. She nodded subtly, wetting her lips.

The four kept quiet, as the two brothers sized each other up, almost as if they were about to fight. God help them, Yamuraiha thought, crossing her fingers, that a fight wouldn't break out between the two.

"I didn't believe that this would be the setting where we would reunite." Armakan was first to speak up. "If we were to reunite ever again."

Sharrkan winced at that, and frowned. "Great job on finding me." He snapped back snarkily. "It only took you 8 years, huh?"

Narmes glanced over to Yamuraiha, who met his gaze. Silently, he motioned for them to move away from the two brothers, and she nodded. Slowly, they shifted away from them to give them their privacy.

"Do you think this will go well?" Yamuraiha whispered. Narmes bit his lip, a glint of uncertainty flashing in his eyes.

"With these two, anything is unpredictable."

-x-

The two brothers stared each other down, not knowing that both of them really didn't know what to say. Having been separated for so many years, nothing could tell what the outcome of this conversation would be- if they even had a conversation.

It was Sharrkan that first spoke up, much to Armakan's surprise. "If you wanna bring me back, then I refuse." He said, firmly, his voice unwavering.

Armakan scoffed. "The mansion would be better without you, anyways."

His younger brother hid his wince with a glare. "Guess we could agree on one thing." He growled. "Look, no matter what you want from me, there is no way I'm gonna give it to you."

"What if I don't want anything from you, then?" Armakan questioned. "What if I just wanted to see my little brother?"

Sharrkan rolled his eyes. "As if that were true." He muttered. "You hate me."

Armakan's eyes narrowed. "And who said that?" He didn't wait for a reply. "Why the hell would I hate my only brother?"

"Because I left you." Sharrkan said lowly, as a matter-of-factly. He paid no mind to the children gazing upon them in confusion, and clenched his teeth. "Because I left you, just like dad and mom! I left you alone in that hell of a mansion. All because I was too scared to deal with all of my problems." He clenched his fists.

From the other side of the room, Yamuraiha instinctively moved forward at the sight of Sharrkan's tense posture, but was stopped by Narmes. The man wet his lips, and gestured towards the children. "Help me distract the kids. I don't want any sad children on my hands."

She stole a glance at the brothers, before slowly nodding.

"I didn't have the balls to support you when you had to take over the company. All I did was run away, without even a goodbye. I'm just a fucking coward." Sharrkan continued, solemnly. "How could you not hate me?!"

"You know how?" Armakan muttered lowly, staring straight into his eyes. "You wanna know how I don't and will never hate you, Sharrkan?" The teen didn't respond. "It's because you are my brother. You're the only family I have left. Why waste time just hating you?"

Sharrkan hissed. "Because I'm just a loser. I'm just a coward who pretends to be tough." He looked down in shame, unable to hide his tears. "Dirty trash." He spit out bitterly.

And then, came the sudden searing pain on his left cheek. Blinking, his hands instinctively, reached for it, attempting to soothe the pain. He looked up at Armakan, who was glaring down at him with his hand still outstretched.

And then he realized, his eyes widening. Armakan hit him. Armakan had never hit him and meant it.

"Look here, you foolish little brother." Armakan growled in his baritone voice. "Never again repeat what you just said. I don't care what the hell you think, I don't care at all. Not even a little bit. But no brother of mine will call themselves trash.

"You wanna know something?" He continued, closing his eyes. "When you ran away, all I could ever think about was your safety. I have said it more than once today, but it seems that I can't get it through your thick skull. You are my brother, and I will always care for you whether or not you realize it.

"The only person that hates you is yourself, Sharrkan. You degrade yourself to lower than dirt, even if I say otherwise." Armakan lifted his eyes into a steely glare, making sure to meet his brothers own green orbs. "Let me tell you, that's not going to make the situation better."

"And how would you know?" Sharrkan narrowed his eyes, trying to mask the uncertainty that began to swarm in the green orbs. "How would you know what I feel? How I think?"

"Because I went through the same thing you are going through right now!" Armakan snapped, and Sharrkan had to hold back his flinch. Pausing, the older brother took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. "I was always a horrible brother, only making fun of you, calling you names. When you ran away, I thought for a second that it might've been because with mother and father gone, you only had me, the terrible brother.

"I shook the thought away as quickly as it had come, but soon, with more thinking, I came to turns with how plausible it seemed." Armakan pursed his lips, closing his eyes. "I spent the last years hating myself, because I thought you hated me."

Sharrkan opened his mouth, but soon closed it as the realization that he didn't know what to say struck him. All this time of beating himself over at night because he had always thought his brother- his only brother- hated him, he had never thought that that same brother was doing the same.

They both were suffering, he realized, and it hurt.

What could he do? What could he say? The only thing that he could think to do, was to look down, as his tears began to fall against his will. "I-" He started, but cut himself off.

Armakan smiled for the first time he had arrived, putting a hand on his younger brother's shoulder.

"I-I..." Sharrkan managed to say, and he forced himself to look up directly into Armakan's eyes. He could barely make out his blurry figure through his tears. "I missed you, big brother."

The older brother's smile widened. "I missed you too, you stupid little brother."

Yamuraiha looked upon the scene, a small grin stretched across her face, before she turned to Narmes, who paused in playing with the children to also witness the scene. Her face scrunched up in confusion when she saw the grim expression on his face.

"Narmes?" She called to him, and the man turned to her. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy for them?"

"Yes, yes, of course I'm happy. But..." Narmes closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, before looking directly into her eyes. "We didn't just come here for a sweet reunion."

Yamuraiha blinked, raising a brow. "You still had urgent news for them, right?" She realized, and suddenly, a pit of uneasiness began to bury itself into her stomach.

He nodded. "I would really hate to spoil this moment for them but..." His eyes darkened, and his next words would send Yamuraiha into a state of shock and fear.

"We found Lord Amun-Ra's killer."

-x-

an:/ Holy fuck I've missed all y'all readers. Ahhhh, it took me forever to write this chapter otl I'm so absolutely sorry. This is literally my fifth attempt to rewrite this chapter holy shit. tt-tt I'm sorry I took a month again god damn, and it's summer break too. Aghh I feel like shit now. But back to the story, a wild big brother Armakan and guardian Narmes appeared! and I split this chapter into two parts again since this shits important soooo... yeah. But anyways... thank you to everyone who reviewed (XFangHeartX, nadawiie, Rokushimo, Pokkit, Guest #1, MRN, Dreamtimes, Guest #2, Indigo, babylonrocks5, Guest #3, and Alison23. yip [no spaces]), favorited (Black-ish . Fresia [no spaces], Dreamtimes, mauvecoloredsoul, Princess of Animes, speedstacksuae, and boxonarock) and followed (jv2en3, ObsessedWithLemonade, Black-ish . Fresia [no spaces], taejoon, mauvecoloredsoul, Princess of Animes, speedstacksuae, soulxcloud97, boxonarock)! Ahh I feel like I'm not appreciating y'all enough tt-tt. sO FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, RIGHT NEAR MY LEFT BOOBIE, I LOVE ALL OF YOU READERS SO FUCKIN MUCH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT. And... it's time for unrelated news with sukarettimay! Okay so, ever since I read the latest translations of Sinbad no Bouken, I've been slowly liking SinSeren more and more. What's SinSeren? It's Sinbad and Serendine. I mean, I know a lot of people ship Seren and Drakon but I actually see them more as siblings tbh... plus Seren's blushing whenever Sin starts flirting with her is so cuuute! And now more unrelated news! Fuck, guys I can't stop listening to G-Dragon's song R . o . D ft. Lydia Paek. I was like woah when I first heard it and now I can't stop. Please send help kekeke.

M'kay baii.

-Suka-chan

ps:/ sharrkan's words while he was berating himself were lyrics from loser by bigbang, by the way, so i don't own that song either.