"Go at it again," Ansem instructed. He stood there with his usual serious demeanor. His arms were crossed and his gaze was deadly cold.
Riku breathed in before he jumped forward, his sword gripped tightly in his hands. Seconds later, it clashed against another sword. He stared at his opponent who bared a strikingly similar look to his own; his younger brother Hayato. He looked just as Riku did at that age, the only difference besides their choice in clothes was his eyes. Hayato had eyes just like their father, a golden yellow color, while Riku had a lighter teal color.
He tried his best to keep a serious gaze for himself, knowing what his father would say if he faltered. He pushed his weight into his sword, trying to get the upper hand against his brother. But at the same time Hayato was able to push forward with the same amount of strength. Despite being the younger brother by two years, he was able to keep his stance still and strong, barely moving an inch from his spot.
He sneered cockily at Riku before applying a little more pressure into his stance. There was a glint in his golden eyes, adding into the confidence he was having over the standstill. Even with more pressure, neither of them moved from their spot.
Eventually they had to push back from one another, jumping a few feet back. They stood there afterwards, still staring at one another, waiting to see who would move first. They could even see each others' chest rising and falling with how in tune and focused they were.
But it was clear that wasn't the right answer. "I have told you two before, you do not stop to stare at your opponent. They will only get the upper hand that way if you do. Move, now!"
Without missing a beat the two brothers charged at one another again and their swords clashed. There was much more tension in their hold this time, but Riku slowly tried pushing harder against his brother's sword.
He breathed deeply before shoving all his weight into it, and it was enough to push Hayato back. Right away Riku drew his sword back and went to strike down. It was blocked easily, but Riku went at it again rather than getting stuck in another hold. If that were to happen once more he could only think of what their father would say to them.
Hayato jumped away before the next attack could even come close to him. Scoffing, he straightened his position, grinning again. Darkness began to form around his hands, creeping up to his sword, engulfing it.
Riku glanced quickly to their father, who still stood there like a statue. He made no reaction to what Hayato was doing, though he did start looking over at Riku. His stare was still serious, but now it was almost looking expecting. He was waiting to see what Riku would choose to do next.
"I guess he wants us to use our powers this time," Riku thought as he dodged a blast of darkness that came at him.
Breathing in, Riku dug deep into his energy and released it just like his brother. But unlike his brother that had an aura of darkness wrapping around him, Riku's was the opposite. His was a white aura of light.
"All right, finally," Hayato said with an exasperated sigh. "We can finally get to some good fighting. Still, I'll kick your ass."
"Hayato!" Ansem yelled. "Less talking, more focus."
Hayato frowned. "Fine."
Jumping into the air, he readied to perform an aerial dive. Riku didn't let him get far with it as he jumped up to him and blocked each of the attacks that came at himself.
But then Riku blinked only for a second and his brother vanished from sight. Riku knew what he was trying to do. Picking up his speed to try and get the upper hand wasn't unexpected, but it still was hard enough for Riku to judge where his brother would show back up.
Riku looked around, still using his power to keep himself in the air. Slowly he began to glide around the room, waiting for his brother to return.
Just as he was turning around to look behind him, he sensed a movement coming in from his left. He turned to see his brother right next to him with sword raised.
There had been no time to react to the attack. Riku grunted as he fell to the ground, crashing painfully and rather ungraciously. He groaned as he opened an eye to see Hayato standing back on the ground, grinning widely.
Riku breathed in and out, trying to recover from the daze of being knocked down. He could tell that his father was still staring down, no doubt already coming up with a list of things that Riku had failed to do.
Pushing himself to his feet, he picked up his sword. As long as his father waited and said nothing more, he knew he had to keep going and fighting.
When his readied himself into his attack position, he saw that his brother tossed his sword to the side. The darkness formed further around him and he sent several powerful blasts of darkness forward.
It became too much to even move. Riku could only stand and deflect each attack flying at him. Riku gritted his teeth as he was slowly pushed back with each attack.
"Why hasn't dad called it off yet? Hayato is going off from what we're supposed to do…"
There was still no word from their father yet, so Riku increased his light. It burst around him forming a barrier to protect from Hayato's attacks. With the shield up, it gave Riku enough time to figure out what he would do next.
He didn't leave much time stalling though. In the brief moment Hayato stopped attacking. Riku sped forward and lead one single blow across Hayato's face.
His young brother cried out and fell to the ground. The swords they used were not sharp. They were dulled and rounded, only to be used for their training. But they were still heavy and hurt for sure. Both boys had endured plenty of blows that left bruises, and each time it always hurt no matter how many times they had gone through it.
"And that's enough!" Ansem shouted. His tone was evident enough he was not happy with what he saw compared to their fight just before this one.
Riku watched quietly as Ansem marched over to Hayato, glaring down at him. "Hayato! How many times have I told you not to get cocky and resort to only using your magic? You are supposed to be learning how to balance yourself with magic and physical strength."
Hayato stared at him. He held a hand against his face, no doubt a new bruise would form. "I still used the sword most of the time. What does it matter if I just used magic there? I still was better than Riku."
"I do not want you to end up relying only on your magic. You cannot just assume if you are at a standstill that it is right to just go excessively pounding the other with heavy magic. You'll wear yourself out sooner that way."
"I was beating him though. You saw what I did."
"Yes, but then you went to only attacking with magic. You discarded your sword and your guard was let down and you were wide open to an attack. That is why you failed today in this last round."
"But, I still was-"
"Hayato!"
Hayato flinched from the harshness of the tone of his father.
"I'm tired of you thinking in this arrogant and cocky way. I want it to stop. You've made me highly disappointed because of it. I do not know where this attitude is coming from, but if you don't end it soon and listen to what I am trying to teach you, I will remove you from training."
"What?!" Hayato shouted before jumping to his feet. The shock was clearly evident on his face. Even Riku was surprised to hear their father say that, but he knew it was not his place to speak up against him or interrupt the conversation.
"You heard me. Shape up and actually listen to what I teach you, or you don't get to learn anymore. And don't think you can just ask your brother to teach you what he learns," Ansem said as he turned to Riku. He didn't say anything to him, he only stared, giving exactly what he wanted to say by his looks alone.
Looking back at Hayato, he spoke again. "Is that understood?"
Hayato didn't reply. He lowered his head and began staring at the ground. It was hard to tell from where Riku stood, but he had the feeling that Hayato was not handling this well. His composure tightened and he already looked far smaller in confidence than he did before.
"I said, is that understood?" Ansem said again, speaking a bit louder.
Hayato slowly nodded. "Yes, dad…"
Ansem frowned. "Try again. You know not to call me that when we are in the training room."
"Sorry… Yes sir…"
"Good. With that, we will end training for the day. You two are free to do as you please for the remainder of the evening," Ansem said before he headed towards the exit. "First thing in the morning we will go over your training and the results of your actions. For the both of you."
After he left, it became very quiet in the room. Though faint sniffling could be heard now from Hayato. Riku first went to put away his sword before trying to approach his little brother. He stepped towards him slowly and reached out a hand once he was close enough.
Hayato swatted Riku's hand away, raising his head to glare at him. Now that enough time had passed, Riku could see the bruise that was beginning to swell and form right on the side of Hayato's face. It wasn't just a bruise that he saw that made him feel bad. There was also the tear stained eyes that Hayato now had.
"Don't touch me! Leave me alone!"
"But Hayato, I just want to make sure that you're all right," Riku replied.
"I'm fine! Perfectly just flipping fine. And I don't need you to do anything more."
Riku had seen his brother angry before. Many times when something went wrong or Hayato ended up getting a stern talking from their father, he would always be sad and angry. He always became so resistant to any help once he was like this. But even with that, Riku wanted to help him.
"I'm sorry… You know dad was just-"
"This is your fault!" Hayato interrupted. "You should have let me win!"
"You know I can't do that. Dad would see right through what I would be doing."
"But then he'd yell at you and not me!" Hayato retorted.
"That wouldn't make the situation any better," Riku replied, shaking his head.
"I don't care," Hayato huffed out.
"Come on Hayato..." Riku sighed quietly. "Let's just get out of here okay? We should get some ice on that bruise first."
"I can do it myself. I don't need your help. I'm not a little baby anymore."
Riku knew he was fighting against a hard wall. It was impossible to break through it yet he refused to stop trying. He still reached out, hoping to get through to his brother like in times before. But just like moments ago, Hayato slapped his hand away.
"I said, don't freaking touch me! Just get out of my face already!" he shouted before storming out of the room.
Riku was now left alone, feeling empty and defeated. He knew it wasn't his fault though. Hayato was just difficult to deal with at times and his reactions weren't always the best. But Riku knew deep down that his brother wasn't all anger and rudeness. Deep inside Riku knew exactly how his brother felt about their situation, for it was the same thing that he was secretly feeling as well.
That night Riku stood outside Hayato's bed room. He hadn't seen his brother since he had stormed off from earlier. The rest of the evening had been completely lonely and quiet for him, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. It wasn't the first time something like this happened, but today just seemed a lot worse than ever before.
Riku breathed out before going to open the door, knowing knocking and waiting wouldn't get him anywhere. He peered inside to see the lights were off, but the curtains to the window were opened slightly. There was just enough nighttime light streaming in to let Riku see that his brother was sitting on the bed. His knees were pulled to his chest with his arms wrapped around them tightly.
"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" Hayato said, though his voice was much softer than it had been earlier.
"Yeah, but you know me. I don't really listen to what you want me to do," Riku said as he started walking towards the bed.
"I still don't need need you."
"That's just what you want to say," Riku replied. He then sat down on the bed, right next to his little brother.
"No! I know what I mean and I don't want…" Hayato had started to yell, but quickly he lowered his voice to a whisper. If their father were to overhear them at this hour of the night, they both knew well enough that their next day of training would be horrible and long. "I don't want you to be here. Get out of my room."
"Hayato..." Riku whispered softly. He began to move his arm around his brother, waiting for him to push away, but this time he didn't. Riku had fully wrapped his arm around his brother and pulled him towards his chest.
It only took a few minutes before Riku could hear the small and faint whimpers coming from his brother. With his other hand, Riku placed it on top of Hayato's head. He didn't say a word, he only let his brother let out what he needed to. The only thing he did was keep the hold close and tight, but with the feeling only being comforting.
"Why…" Hayato whispered.
"Why what?"
"Why… why does dad hate me so much?"
"I don't think that he hates you. He's just strict with how he wants us to train."
Hayato shifted slightly, turning to be on his side while still resting against Riku. "But he always yells at me. Always scolding me for what I did wrong. He hardly ever yells at you."
"Well…" Riku sighed. He had to think over what his words would be, knowing that if he phrased it wrong it could end up upsetting his brother instead. "Dad has his way of doing things, and you have yours. That's what makes it hard, cause he wants us to do things his way."
"I don't want to go against want he wants," Hayato admitted. "But… it's just hard to not get carried away with the power I have… It just feels good and fun to use only that when trying to fight."
"I know."
Hayato looked up at Riku slightly. "How would you know?"
"Don't you remember? When I was your age I was just as cocky with what I could do with my power, but I started to listen to dad more and became more in tune with what he wanted from me."
Hayato sniffled slightly, going to wipe away some of his tears. "I just… I don't want to stop training. It's the only fun thing we got since dad never lets us be normal kids…"
Riku nodded. That was something they both could agree on. They had been homeschooled their entire life and they had no other friends but each other. Sure there was their father's friends, but those weren't really 'friends' to them. It didn't help that their house was off in the middle of some forest, far from anyone else that they could even socialize with.
They had been isolated their entire lives. They never could understand why though. Their father never told them, but they knew there had to be some reason. There would be days where he would leave them going off on some business, but he never would tell them that. He was the only one of them that actually left the house, for whatever reason that he had. The boys could only wonder what that reason was, and they wondered if they ever would find out.
"At least he lets us go outside," Riku finally replied.
"Yeah, but it's just the backyard that has a high fence. We can't actually go anywhere. We're just stuck here for our entire lives training… What are we even training for if he never lets us leave?"
"I don't know…" Riku replied quietly.
There was silence after that. The two of them sat there thinking over their situation. Eventually Hayato and Riku shifted to be laying down on the bed. Hayato still stayed close and snuggled up to Riku before he spoke up again. "You think… dad is like this cause mom left us? So dad doesn't want us to leave like she did?"
Riku frowned. He hadn't thought about their mother in years. He couldn't even remember her properly at this point. He had only been three when he woke up to find that she had left, and Hayato had only been a little over a year old. Hayato couldn't even remember her at all compared to Riku who had some vague, fuzzy memories lost deep in his mind.
Even after all of these years, their father never gave them an explanation as to why she had left. He refused to talk about her, and because of that, the boys never asked and the topic faded away to never be spoken about.
"I… I wouldn't know. I would hope that isn't the case," Riku replied. "Come on Hayato… let's not think about it… How about we get some sleep? You know dad is going to wake us up early tomorrow for more training."
"Yeah… You'll stay with me tonight?" Hayato asked softly.
"Of course. You know I'm always here for my little brother."
Even though both of them were in their teens and had outgrown many childish things, there was still one thing they never outgrew. Their love and care for each other never had diminished over the years, it had only grown stronger. They knew if the other needed them, they would always do what they could to be there. After all, growing up with only each other and no one else had strengthened that bond. Despite their occasional arguments and frustrations with one another, at the end of the day their brotherly bond was still superior.
They pulled the covers over each other and stayed close. Slowly they began to fall asleep, but a moment later Hayato raised his head. "Thanks Riku. Sorry for yelling at you earlier."
"It's fine. You were just frustrated. I'm sorry for hurting you."
Hayato rolled his eyes. "We've hurt each other hundreds of times in training. I just overreacted today."
"All right then."
There was a pause after that, but then Hayato wrapped an arm around Riku and hugged him as best as he could. "I love you. I'm glad I have you, brother."
"Same here and I love you too," Riku replied while returning the hug.
After that the two brothers fell into a peaceful sleep for the night, though they knew what tomorrow would bring. Tomorrow would just be another hard day under the training that their father would give them, but they knew as long as they still cared for each other, they would make it through each and every day.
This little one shot was based off when Riku and Dark Riku were facing off in the graveyard, Ansem was just standing behind them watching. But either way I hope you guys liked it. Maybe I will add more to it one day once I get other stories worked on some more.