Chapter Eighteen: Unwanted Revelation

"Can I ask you something?"

Midori, in the middle of putting her things back into her Gearbox, averted her gaze to the spectacled Gear Master with a scowl. "Yeah, what is it?" When the boy was unable to voice out his question, she rolled her eyes and went back to what she was doing. Her mother had just called to remind her that she was to get home before dinner, and so she hurriedly packed, failing to realize that it was getting dark. As she was about to leave, she asked Kyousuke yet again, "Well? What is it?"

His dark-hued eyes continued to gaze at her intently, making her feel uncomfortable. Then, just when she was about to leave in her exasperation, he asked in a low yet audible voice, finally deciding to go straight to the point, "Why do you hate Kuroudo so much?"

"And you expect me to tell you, Jin? You're forgetting that you're his best friend," she retorted, folding her arms in front of her chest. Although she hated people who pried into her personal affairs, for some unexplainable reason she was more than eager to tell Kuroudo's best friend everything she hated about the blonde. But she was going to give him a difficult time in getting her answers, of course. She was an Ichikawa, after all; making people's lives miserable was a specialty.

"That's precisely why you're going to tell me," Kyousuke answered calmly, fixing his glasses as he did so. He then sat on the table, awaiting her answer. From the day they first met, he had noticed her hatred for Kuroudo, a hatred that was slowly becoming an obsession. Now that he had helped her, one way or another, it was time for her to return the favor. And there was only one thing she could give him in return for his assistance in making her a better Gear Fighter: answers.

She took the hint and sat beside him as well, her hands gripping the edge of the table for support at a possible emotional outburst. She then turned to look at him with dark blue eyes, once again dripping with the hatred he had long noticed. "I hate him because…"

-x-

He was waiting outside Dr. Berrette's clinic, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest coolly. He knew that Hideaki had gone back to work as his leave was over, and so there wasn't anyone who could stop him from telling her the truth. And so when she and her companions finished their goodbyes, he immediately straightened himself and prepared to meet them the moment they would step out of the door. He wasn't going to let her walk away without hearing his explanation, and he meant it this time.

The blonde-haired woman, as he expected, was startled to find him waiting for them. And she, too, knew that he wanted to talk to her, and so she sent her son and their other companion away. But he stopped her before she could finish relaying the order, looking at the two blondes intently. "You both have to hear me out. Please. Just this once, listen to me."

"Who are you?" Kuroudo asked, raising an eyebrow.

Armelle was at the verge of interrupting, but he couldn't allow her to thwart him now. He was so close, so close to declaring the truth. Putting both his hands on the young man's shoulders and kneeling down to address him --- he was a lot taller than they were --- he gazed into the younger blonde's pair of Mediterranean blue eyes that looked so much like his own. "You might not believe me," he took a deep breath in preparation for his confession, "but this is something you must know. My name is Mamoru Ichikawa."

-x-

"…he's my half-brother."

Kyousuke's eyes flew wide open, unable to believe what he had just been told. "What?!" he exclaimed, half-jumping down the table to examine Midori's features from head to foot. His sudden outburst caught the attention of his other comrades --- fortunately only the key players of the Tobita Club were left in the premises --- but he was too much in a state of shock to realize that. "No way! You, Kuroudo's sister?!"

Scowling, she corrected him, "Half-sister. We have the same father. And what's so wrong about that, you ask?" Both her hands were then clamped into fists, and she was trembling, her anger sputtering out of her control once more. "Simply because I'm the legitimate child, and yet he, for goodness sake, gets all the attention!"

-x-

"My father. Yeah, right," Kuroudo muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I'm sorry disappoint you, sir, but I already have father. His name is Hideaki Jacques Marume, and I've known him all my life. Don't you think stupid to just barge into someone's life, telling him that you're father, when you haven't even met?"

From the corners of his eyes he saw Armelle's lips part into a smile, but he continued to keep his cool despite the way she was treating him. He knew he had hurt her, hurt her really bad, but back then it was the only option he had. He had to lie to her to save them, the two people who meant so much to him. "If I had been brave enough, we would've met. But I was a coward who just kept on running away for sixteen years. When I saw her the other day, it was only then when I realized that the time had come for me to face my demons. You have to believe me," he paused to capture the blonde's eyes with his own once more, "Jean."

The Gear Fighter froze. He hadn't exactly lip-read his sentences fully, as he spoke just a little too fast for him, but the thought of what he was trying to say was clear, and the last word he uttered so much more. "How… how did you know…" He turned to look at Armelle with bewildered eyes. "Mom? What… what the meaning of this?" Very few people actually knew that he had a second name, as it was more of a term of endearment than a name. In fact, aside from himself and his mother, only Kyousuke knew. But for a complete stranger to figure out that he had a second name and what it was correctly…

"Yes. Tell him, Francine. Tell him the meaning of this," Mamoru voiced out, seconding the motion. He then rose and captured the woman's eyes with his, seriousness dominating his Oriental features. He did not wish to see her so perplexed, so uncertain of what to do next, but he couldn't afford to waste any more of his time. Sixteen years had been more than enough. "You're speechless because you know I'm telling the truth."

"The truth you can never brag about!" she retorted hotly, tears glistening within her eyes.

Those words were more than enough for Kuroudo. Paling considerably at the sudden revelation, he began to back away from the people around him… from his newfound friend… from his mother… from the stranger who claimed to be his father. "So it's true…" the flaxen-haired youth muttered in a voice heavily strained with disbelief, and before anyone could stop him, he turned around and ran away.