You have my deepest apologies if you waited forever to read this next chapter. As mentioned in my other stories life happened and I am currently near the end of my finals. All I have left are my stats and bio lab final and my farewell speech. Besides that I would have to get ready for graduating and then you people can read as much as you want (that is…if I don't get lazy). Since I haven't done this in a while I guess I'll do it for this chapter since I didn't get a lot of reviews.
-Zero
Shout Outs To Reviews:
BlackWolfToRi – Glad to know that you like it, and thanks for reading my other LL story too.
GAT-X105VividPanzer – Thanks for always reviewing for my chapters and a late thank you for the good luck. Made a 95 on that paper, and it really surprised me.
NozoNozoMii – I try my best when I write, thank you for your compliments. Hmmm…I can't say I haven't thought about that idea, but let's just say there will be a jealous Eiichi because of someone else.
– Thanks! I hope I didn't keep you waiting for long.
hshh – That would be a huge plot twist, but sadly that's not what I planned. Hotaka is too innocent and well…not professional for that kind of work. If you want a plot twist I have plenty up my sleeve for the upcoming chapters for this story. Until then keep reading if you want to know!
Ch. 9 Good Morning
Masaki glared at the punching bag in front of him. His gaze focused onto the heavy object as he got into a fighting position. He steadied his breathing and cleared his mind from any distractions. Inhaling, lilac eyes closed and replayed Ushio's instructions to having a good posture in his mind. Exhaling, piercing purple eyes opened as he brought his right fist forward to come into contact with the leather surface. The force of the collision moved the bag greatly, but not enough to satisfy the redhead.
"At this rate I'll never catch up to them." Masaki's eyebrows furrowed together showing his dissatisfaction.
True, his skills could match up with Ushio and Eiichi's when it comes to weapons, but when it came to hand to hand combat he couldn't compare. The youngest member of Soldiers didn't want to fall behind anymore. He wanted to improve and find a way to help his brothers in some way so they won't have to keep watching over him.
"Fighting skills don't just get better with a couple of punches you know." Masaki turned his head towards the direction of the male voice. The remark came from Eiichi who was now taking off his top shirt. "Besides if you want to get better, a spar is going to hone up your skills better than a punching bag."
"But Ushio uses it all the time." The redhead replied.
"Would you rather he uses us then?" Eiichi reminded him of how scary their blue haired friend can be when training. It made the redhead glad that they weren't enemies of any sort.
"Good point. Forget what I said." Masaki got himself into position and concentrated onto the blond in front of him. Eiichi complied and also got into his position.
Sapphire made contact with amethyst as the two moved around in a circle. The circle slowly grew smaller as they got closer to each other, waiting for the first person to make a move.
Masaki threw a right hook towards the blond only to have it blocked. Eiichi took the attack to his advantage and caught the redhead's arm pulling it behind his back. He put pressure onto Masaki's locked arm and tried to force him to the matted floor. Masaki, however, was able to get himself out of the position when he used his right foot to get in between Eiichi's legs and trip him. They both fell down and distanced themselves. Their training continued with the pair throwing punches and kicks at each other. Once Masaki (finally) managed to get Eiichi down with a judo flip they both laid on the cool matted floor to catch their breaths.
"You've *huff* gotten a lot better than I thought *huff huff*..." Eiichi praised Masaki in between breathing.
"I still *huff huff* have a long way to go *huff huff*..." Masaki replied, just as tired.
A moment of silence took over the conversation as the two tried to calm their beating hearts. Once their breathing returned back to normal Masaki sat up to stretch his body.
"What made you come down to the basement to train all of a sudden Masaki?" The redhead turned his head to the blond who look like he didn't want to get off of the floor.
Masaki looked around the training room. It had all of the equipment they needed to do physical training. This summer house was an important part of his life. It belonged to his parent before they went missing. Once he was able to buy it back with the help of Eiichi and Ushio, they turned the basement into their personal training room.
"I want to become stronger...so that idiot would stop pushing himself..." Masaki's words came out with hint of bitterness. It reminded him of the face Ushio was making when they had their talk. He didn't like showing much affection like Ushio too, but that didn't mean he didn't care about his brothers. "Sometimes I feel like he's doing more than his body can handle. It's like he's invincible and has nothing to fear."
Eiichi didn't respond. He knew well how Masaki was feeling. Ushio was always one step ahead of them when it came down to everything. Be it in skill or experience the two were always one step behind, but Eiichi knew better than to say that Ushio was fearless.
He had known the bluenet a year longer than Masaki and had experienced many things with his other younger brother. The blond closed his sky blue eyes as he recalled a memory of his past.
The small girl held her older brother's hand as they both followed the man in front of them. Blue eyes pierced into the man's back as the boy squeezed his younger sister's hand to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. He had a plan to escape this place with her and find the people who took the lives of his parents and make them pay.
"The two of you will be staying here from now on." The mysterious man spoke the two children. "I know you don't want to be here, but it's for both of your sakes that you stay alive. If you leave here how do you plan to protect both you and your sister when there are people who want you dead?" The dark haired man continued to question the boy without looking back at them.
The boy had a face of pure shock. Was this man able to read his mind? Blue eyes dropped to the ground as he reprocessed everything in his mind. His plan was nothing but a childish hope, a dream of just wanting his family to be together again.
The siblings had arrived to the large home earlier and were now in a large room that had many training equipments present.
"Izumi-san you're back." A younger man appeared and walked up to the trio that had just arrived.
"Yes, and I brought them with me. Where is Ushio?" Dark brown eyes scanned the room.
"He's with Watanuki-san at the archery range. The boy has taken a liking to it lately."
"Thank you Tadashi. We'll be heading there then." Izumi gestured the children to follow him. Tadashi bowed to the older man and returned to his work.
The three headed to the archery range to look for the person named Ushio. The two siblings were now curious of the people mentioned in their conversation.
"That person was Saito Tadashi. He cleans the house when I'm not around. Please treat him kindly as you stay here." Izumi gave the pair a gentle smile as they turned the corner of the hallway. The boy, however, was still not completely convinced that the man was there to help them. As they arrived to the archery range they saw a man with graying hair instructing a young boy with his bow.
"I see that you are learning to draw a bow Ushio." The two turned their attention towards Izumi. They stopped what they were doing and headed towards the trio.
Dark blue hair and striking amber eyes. That was how the blond haired boy saw the other boy. His sister squeezed his hand as the Ushio walked up to Izumi.
"The boy is a natural with the bow. Being able to hit the target with only a couple of tries, it truly is amazing to watch." The older man chuckled as he rest a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"I guess I should watch the next time I have time then." The younger man smile to the boy.
"Jin-san, who are they?" The blue haired boy questioned the man. His face stayed calm, showing no sign of nervousness with the new faces.
"This is Ayase Eiichi and Ayase Arisa." The man known as Izumi Jin gestured his hand at the two. "They'll be part of the family with you from now on, so I expect you to get along with them."
The boy nodded in response. He looked at the siblings, but didn't say anything to them. He walked back to the area where he left his bow and left to put away his equipment.
"What's with him?" Eiichi didn't like how Ushio didn't say anything to them and just walked away.
"Please take care of Ushio. He has a hard time getting close with others due to certain circumstances. Don't take it to heart if he doesn't say much to you." Eiichi looked at the man and saw his dark eyes soften. Eiichi could tell that the man cared deeply for the bluenet.
"Jin-kun after you're done we need to discuss some matters." The old man's statement earned a nod from Jin.
"I'll show you your room then. You'll both be sharing a room with Ushio until your beds arrive." He then took Eiichi and Arisa out of the archery range and escorted them to what would be an important place in their hearts.
"How old are you?" The blond asked the other boy.
"Nine."
"Well that makes me older than you then. I'm ten." Eiichi brought his fist up to his chest and acted proud of being the oldest.
"Okay."
The three kids were currently sitting in the living room with nothing to do. To be more exact Eiichi was the only one with nothing to do. Ushio was currently engrossed in a book while Arisa was watching cartoons on the tv.
"What do you like to do for fun?" Eiichi tried again.
"Read." Another short response.
"That...doesn't sound like a lot of fun..." The older boy was struggling to keep the conversation going.
"..."
Eiichi was starting to get annoyed with Ushio's silent treatment. The blond had tried multiple time to strike a small conversation with him, but in return would only get a short and simple answer from the blue haired boy.
"Fine is you don't want to talk to me than just keep reading that stupid book of yours." Eiichi got up from the couch and walked off to explore the house. Arisa, being a little nervous to be alone with Ushio, turned off the tv and chased after her fuming brother.
The house was huge, but nothing compared to his old home. The two siblings checked every room upstairs and down. When all was done they sat in a different room from Ushio with nothing to do (again). That's when the blond boy remembered a park that was nearby when they rode the car to this house.
"Hey Arisa, do you want to go play at the park?" Eiichi asked the younger Ayase.
"But what if Izumi-san won't let us?" She replied.
"He doesnt have to know. We'll just be out for a little bit and then come back. What do you say?"
"I don't know..." Arisa was afraid of getting in trouble with their new guardian when they had just moved in.
"I'll buy you ice cream later." Eiichi bribed his little sister with the idea of buying her a treat for later.
"Okay!"
"Higher! Onii-chan push me higher!" Arisa giggled with delight as Eiichi pushed her on the swings.
The older blond was glad to see her smile again. After hearing the news of their parents' murder she would cry all the time, wanting to see them. Eiichi didn't care about what he gets as long as his little sister was safe.
"Hey, what are you two doing?" A boy around Eiichi's age asked them. He was followed by a group of boys around the same age. "Don't you know that this is our tur?."
Eiichi had stopped pushing his sister and turned to the group of boys. He didn't like how they had ruined his fun.
"What's it to you? It's not like you own the park. It's a public place for everyone, unless you're too stupid to understand what public means." The blond smirked at the other boys when their faces were dumbfounded by his words.
"I'm going to make you regret ever saying those words." The suppose leader of the group gritted his teeth.
"Oh~ I'm so scared." Eiichi replied sarcastically.
"Let. Me. Go." Eiichi was under the foot of the boy as his friends pushed him to the ground. He was covered in dirt and some bruises. They had cheated by using sticks to beat him to the ground.
"Now say you're sorry and take back your words for calling us stupid."
"In your dreams!" The blond squirmed under his foot.
"I guess we'll just have to do the same to your sister then." The boy smirked.
Eiichi's eyes widen at the mention of Arisa. "You leave her out of this! I swear if you leave a single mark on her I'll make you regret everything you've done!" Blue eyes glared at them as he gritted his teeth. They all laughed at him.
"Oh~ I'm so scared." He mocked Eiichi from earlier. One of the boy's friends was holding onto Arisa while another was getting ready to smack her to the ground with a stick. That was, until a hand stopped the object and pulled it out of the other's hand.
"Hey! What's the big idea? This has nothing to do with you, so scram!" The leader shouted at the new presence.
"I won't leave until you let them go." The calm voice spoke up. Eiichi turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw dark blue hair and dangerously glowing amber eyes.
As the group of boys left the blond under the foot of their leader, they surround Ushio as Arisa hid behind his back. The blue haired boy didn't flinch nor did he show any signs of being scared.
They jumped onto the bluenet, but in a blink of an eye they were on top of each other. Ushio quickly dodged them and pulled Arisa away from them. He then ran towards the direction of Eiichi and helped him up. Dragging the two siblings away from the park Ushio held onto their hands as they were now heading back to the house.
"Why did you help us?" Eiichi had a sour look on his face as he replayed the scene in his head. He didn't like the fact that he made a fool of himself in front of Arisa.
"Because Jin-san said to make sure the two or you don't get into trouble." He let go of their hands and began walking ahead of them.
"I never asked for your help you know!" Eiichi was completely annoyed with the goody-two-shoes.
"Didn't look like that to me." Ushio replied back without looking at the now angry blond. "Besides...you're family now...no?"
All thoughts of punching the Ushio disappeared when he spoke those words. Sapphire looked into amber eyes full of confusion. Did he hear him correctly?
Eiichi waited for someone to pinch him, but realized that the boy was completely serious with his words. The blond opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Ushio gave the Ayase siblings a small but genuine smile and turned back to walking back home.
Later at night the three had gone to bed. Ushio had decided to take the floor and let Arisa and Eiichi have his bed. Eiichi was having a hard time sleeping. His thoughts of not being able to protect his sister kept him awake.
Ushio stirred in his sleep. It caught Eiichi's attention when the younger boy shifted around.
"Hey." The blond boy whispered.
"Mommy. Daddy. I'm scared. Please wake up." Ushio mumbled in his sleep. The smaller boy wrapped himself in blankets as his body shook in fear.
Eiichi was shocked to see the calm boy with a haunted face. Small streaks of tears touched his cheek. That was when he remembered what Izumi Jin had told him.
'He has a hard time getting close with others due to certain circumstances.'
The younger boy was no different than him. He lost something that could never be part of his normal life. Eiichi sat up in the bed and got out of the covers. The older boy shook Ushio awake and pulled him off the floor.
"What are you doing?" Ushio wiped away his tears in hope that Eiichi hadn't already seen them.
"You should sleep with us. It's cold sleeping on the floor..." Eiichi turned his head the opposite direction to hide his blush.
"?" Ushio was completely confused.
"B-b-besides, that's what family is for...right?" Eiichi stuttered as amber orbs eyed him. Ushio didn't say anything; instead he just nodded which made Eiichi feel a lot better than hearing a response.
"How long are you going to lay down there?" Eiichi's azure eyes fluttered open when he felt a foot lightly kick his leg. "I'm going to hit the shower. You should too, unless you want the girls to smell your morning sweat."
"Ha ha, very funny." Eiichi replied to Masaki's joke sarcastically, but soon smile right afterwards.
"Good morning." The short haired brunette woman beamed a smile to the blue haired male. She was currently sitting at the kitchen table with a fresh cup of coffee.
"Morning. You're up pretty early." Ushio replied to Tsubasa.
"It's the already seven. Do you expect me to be a person who sleeps in?" Ushio shrugged his shoulders in response as he poured himself a cup of water.
"In all honesty, it's not like you." He gave her a small smile as he sat down at the table with her.
"Bully." Tsubasa crossed her arms as she made a pouting face which caused the man to chuckle.
"I know you're not awake because you want to be." Amber eyes stared into green pools.
Tsubasa smiled. "Always to the point, you haven't changed one bit." The atmosphere between the two became tensed and full of seriousness.
"I still haven't found any leads yet, but it won't be long until they show themselves again." Ushio nodded at her words never blinking his eyes. He stayed silent for her to continue. "Most likely the ones you're looking for will be with them too."
"I'm sorry for giving you this burden Tsubasa, but thank you."
"Don't mention it. Besides, I owe you for saving my life. If you didn't stop me then I would have been dead by now. You gave me something that can never be replaced. Therefore, I should be the one thanking you." She smiled at him.
"It's funny to hear those words of your when we used to be enemies. In fact, I still remember when you first pointed your gun at me." The two chuckled at the mention of their first meeting. True, they started off with a rocky relationship, but eventually they pushed away their barriers and became close friends.
As the two continued their conversation Kotori had walked into the the kitchen. She could hear their voices before coming in, but it became quite right afterwards. The taupe haired girl noticed how Ushio avoided to make eye contact with her. It was clear that the incident from yesterday was still at play.
"Good morning Kotori-san." Tsubasa tried to break the awkward silence that was going on between the two.
"Good morning Tsubasa-san...Ushio-kun too..." Her light brown orbs tried to make contact with the blue haired man, but all of a sudden his cup of water became very interesting to him.
"Oh...yes...morning..." He didn't know how to meet eye to eye with her. Ushio was mentally beating himself as he remembered his words and actions from yesterday.
The sudden ringing of his phone caused him to slightly jump in his seat. He looked at the screen with a blank face showing no emotions. He got up from the table and took a step to the outside deck, closing the sliding door behind him. Kotori sighed to herself once he had left the kitchen.
"What's wrong?" Tsubasa looked at the other girl.
"Oh, it's just..." Kotori sighed again before continuing. "I wonder if Ushio-kun is trying to avoid me..."
"He probably is, but it's probably because he doesn't know what to say to you. I mean he was in the wrong in that situation and I'm pretty sure he knows that too." The brunette pointed out.
"Good morning~!" As if there were no worries in the world, the other half of yesterday's problem walked into the kitchen.
"Good morning Hotaka-san!" Tsubasa cheerfully replied back to him. Kotori, however, was lost in her thoughts. She was finally able to snap back into reality when Hotaka got really close to her face.
"Hotaka-kun! Why are you so close?!" Kotori madly blushed from the close proximity of their faces.
"I called you many times Kotori-chan, but you weren't responding. Are you sure you're fully awake?"
"O-o-of course I am, I was just thinking that's all!" The slender girl's stuttering caused the ginger to tilt his head, but he let everything go once he saw a loaf of bread sitting on the counter.
By this time everyone else was filing into the kitchen. Nozomi noticed the flushed face that Kotori was making, but decided to let it slide since it was still early in morning. Eiichi and Masaki walked into the kitchen not long after everyone else, nice, fresh, and clean after their little training session.
"Everyone seems to be awake early this morning." The blond was surprised to see everyone awake, especially Nico's siblings since they had the most fun out of everyone else. "So what do you want to do today? We can all head back to the beach if you want."
"I think we should do something else, if I'm correct I saw some hiking trails nearby." Nozomi suggested. "Some of us could use some spiritual energy right now."
"Spiritual?" The red haired man repeated the word confusingly.
"Don't ask." Nico replied to her boyfriend.
"Sounds like a good idea to me. I think getting some nature every once in a while is good for your health." Eiichi commented.
"Yes. Of course I understand the situation." Ushio spoke to the person on the other side of the line. He paused from speaking as he listened to the other's words.
"No...by the time they realize it, it'll be too late." On the other side line a man could be heard laughing. The blunet smiled to himself as he stared off towards the sea.
"I'll make sure to do the job then." Ushio ended the call and fell into a deep thought. He began calculating everything in his mind. It won't be long until everything comes into play. If everything goes as planned-
"Ushio-kun?" The call of his name pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned around to meet eyes with the purple haired girl.
"How long have you been there Nozomi-san?" The man tried to keep a calm face in front of her.
"Just now. Everyone is getting ready to go and walk on the hiking trails. You should get ready too; it wouldn't be fun if you didn't come along." She flashed him a smiled and walked away from the man before he could refuse the invitation.
Ushio sighed to himself, looks like the hiking trip is going to be an awkward one. He went back inside to change into better clothes for hiking and hoped for the best that it won't be as bad as yesterday.
So were any of you expecting any of that? Let me know in the reviews. I am currently working on my RWBY story and will then work on my other LL story so this one won't be updating anytime soon unless I have this sudden urge to write for it. As always thank you for reading and I hope you continue to do so.
Until Next Time…