His eyes fluttered open. The ordeal he had suffered inside of his head had been a thing of the past yet the words of the Other One and the Dark One still echoed inside of his head. The baku-induced fever dream he had experienced. It had all felt so real. Shin slowly sat up, rubbing his forehead.

"Mmmm… Master. More belly rubs…"

He looked down and saw Ran sleeping with her head resting on his bed. She had red rings around her eyes, indicating that she had been crying the whole time. Her ears twitched in her sleep.

Shin smiled softly and began petting her ears.

A soft satisfied smile appeared on Ran's face.

"Shin."

"Dad?" Shin looked up and saw his father leaning against the doorway.

"How are you feeling?" Rowan asked, walking over to him.

"Like I just got out of surgery. I feel so sleepy and my body feels a little numb. How long have I been out?" he said.

Rowan nodded and grabbed a chair. He took a seat next to Shin's bed.

"Two days. You really scared us back there. Your mum almost murdered your grandfather," Rowan said.

"Oh."

"Baku poison can erode a mind and leave its target a vegetable. It's only because your sister got you out of there that you were able to make it," Rowan said.

"Onee saved me?" Again? Shin added as an afterthought. He gripped his blanket. Onee saved me… again. Just like always. Shin stared at his bed sheets as his mind digested the news his mother had told him.

The jealousy and inferiority he felt towards his older sister. Feelings he had refused to acknowledge for years was something he was now acknowledging. The Other One's words were something he was trying to take to heart. There were many things he had to say to his older sister and sorry was the first thing he was going to say.

"Yeah. She and Riser."

"Dad, when can I go train again?" Shin asked.

"Train? You? Now?" he asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"You just woke up," Rowan said.

"Yeah but… I can keep going." He tried to get up but felt the fatigue overtake his body. He quickly sat back down, feeling the world spinning around him. "Okay, maybe take a break for today and then go back and train."

"Ah geez. You remind me so much of your mother," Rowan said.

"Really now? What part of me was like that I wonder?"

The two turned to see Akari standing in the doorway with a tray of food in her hands. She walked over and handed the tray to her husband while she grabbed a chair and dragged it over. Akari took a seat next to Rowan.

"Shin-chan," Akari said, grabbing his hands.

"I'm fine, Mom. See?" Shin gave her his best smile.

Akari closed her eyes and slapped her son upside his head.

"Ow!" Shin grabbed the back of his head.

"Shin, we were barely here for one day and you decide to run into the forest with Dad! At least wait a day or two!" Akari barked, causing him to shrink in his spot. "You scared me half to death when I saw Akane, Riser, and Ran coming in with your pale half-dead body. I almost thought I'd lose you again!" Akari pressed on, her voice slowly breaking apart with sobs.

Shin flinched when he saw his mother beginning to break apart. No matter the years that passed, his near-death was always going to be a fresh wound for everyone in his family. And he, in his need to prove himself, had twisted the wound with a knife and spread salt across it.

"I… I'm sorry, Mom," Shin said.

"If you want training, I can train you alongside your grandfather. Just don't go run off like that ever again," Akari said, wrapping her son in a hug.

"You know I can't promise that, Mom," Shin said, wrapping his arms around his mother.

"I can try," Akari replied.

"Ran, you really don't have to feed me," Shin said.

"Master, it is my job as your Shikigami to feed you when you are indisposed. Now, here comes the airplane!" Ran pushed the spoon against Shin's cheek.

"If I knew Ran was going to be like this, I would have thrown you off a cliff ages ago," Vivi said, floating in midair.

"Haha, very funny." Shin crossed his arms. After a few more seconds of prodding and airplane noises from Ran, Shin opened his mouth and allowed himself to be fed. This was humiliating. His arms weren't broken and he could feed himself but… he couldn't deny Ran when she made the puppy eyes.

"Oh yeah, Ran. How did you get me out of there? Did you fight all those youkai by yourself?" Shin asked, taking another bite.

Ran placed the spoon down. "I… I don't actually know." She wasn't lying. However, she remembered feeling the distinct sensation of divine power inside her body, bursting forth. Ran chalked it up to the bond she and her Master had, allowing divine power to flow from his body into hers. "I… I just remembered snapping and then boom, divine power surged through my body. Does it have something to do with our Familiar-Master bond?" she asked.

"No."

The two turned to Vivi, who looked at Ran with a gleam of interest in her eyes.

"You're staring at me weirdly," Ran said.

"No, no. I just find it interesting. Ran's Divine Power stems from her own body," Vivi said.

"I see. Well, not to cut this short but I have to get up and-"

"No. Sit. Master, don't make me tie you down to the bed," Ran said, forcing Shin back down.

"Relax, I'm just going to go see, Onee. I… I think it's time I have a talk with her," Shin said, looking down at his plate.

Vivi nodded and pulled Ran away from him. "You can go but… only go to your sister. Ran isn't kidding when she said she would tie you down to your bed. Just so you know, Shin. Akane's been visiting you every day you were unconscious. She's really worried about you even if you think she's not."

"..." Shin said nothing as he put on his jacket and left his room.

Thwack!

Thwack!

"Again!" Akane barked.

When someone asked Asia why she chose Akane to train her, her first answer would be that Akane was very good at training people. Despite what Shin would call himself, Shin was by no means helpless or weak.

So Asia thought that Akane would be able to whip her into shape so she can fit in better with her new family. However, she began to regret her decision.

Asia was on the ground panting and sweating heavily. A wooden sword lay next to her.

In front of her, her adoptive older sister stood with one hand behind her back and her other hand holding her wooden sword. Akane relaxed her posture and walked over to Asia in order to help her up.

"Are you alright?" Akane asked, helping Asia to her feet.

"I'm fine, Onee. I've never had this intense type of training before," Asia said.

"You'll get used to it soon. So far, I'm just taking you through the basics of the Onigari-Ryu. It's not something you really have to dwell on. We all progress at our own rates and we each have our own struggles with training," Akane said.

"Did you?" Asia asked.

The most she knew of her new older sister was from her adoptive older brother, Shin. However, she knew that Akane was very powerful. Asia would daresay she was one of the strongest people that she knew in her entire life.

Akane's smile faded and she looked wistfully at the ground.

"I did. I've never told anyone this and I doubt Shin knows this but… when I was younger, I actually used to struggle a lot getting a couple of the basic moves down. I cut myself once trying to do the Gotamashiki. It's a really hard move to do for a five-year-old," Akane said, letting out a small laugh.

Asia nodded.

"Ne, Onee. Are you and Onii ever going to talk about… what happened after the Three Factions Summit?" Asia asked.

She had heard the conversation in the hallway and seen the subsequent fallout. And now, Asia was tired of the tension. Akane had gone to watch Shin during his first day of training and stayed by his side for nearly the entire time he had been unconscious. She had never ever seen a look of fear as intense as the one she had seen on Akane that day.

Akane gave her a bitter smile. "I wouldn't know what to say. I think… I think Shin-chan hates me," Akane said. "Come on, let's go sit on that bench. I'll tell you more about what happened."

Asia sat down with Akane. The older girl leaned back in her chair. The wind blew past her hair and her red eyes glinted in the light of the setting sun.

"Do you know why I'm so hesitant and overprotective of Shin?" Akane asked.

"Because you're his older sister?" Asia asked.

From what Asia understood of sibling relationships, the older one was always overprotective. She had experienced that when she moved into Shin's house. The older boy had treated her as the younger one and was extremely protective of her. Not to the point of their older sister but Shin was fairly protective of her.

"Four years. An incident four years ago was what changed everything." Akane gripped the hem of her skirt.

"Four years ago?" Asia asked.

Akane nodded.

"Four years ago, I was… how can you say this? Arrogant? Prideful? In over my head in a lot of situations? Whatever you might call me, I thought I could never be defeated ever. I got my Contract when I was 5 and then took down an Ultimate Class Devil when I was 10 and for the next five years after that, I kept on getting win after win after win. There was nothing in the world that would ever stand in my way. No one and nothing could hurt me," Akane said.

"But?" Asia asked.

"That meant anything. I thought I could protect everyone from anything. Shin was just beginning to go on missions of his own. Mama and Papa wanted me to show Shin the ropes. At that time, Shin-chan had just been doing basic runs on his own. An exorcism there. A stray devil that needs to be eliminated? Go for it. But… going with me, Shin was able to go on high-class missions. Sabotage. Assassination. Search and Destroy. All of those things were missions I went on and I took Shin-chan on those missions too. The first few times we both succeeded and I believed that with my skill level, I could offset Shin-chan's lack of," Akane said.

"But… my arrogance became my downfall. One day, we were commissioned by Azazel for a mission. We were to spearhead an assault on the Abyss Team, a rogue organization led by Satanael with a bunch of rogue Sacred Gear Wielders. We were supposed to clear out the front and make way for Azazel's elite strike team. A group called Slash Dog led by a wielder of one of the Longinus, Canis Lykaon. His name was Tobio Ikuse and to this day, the mere sound of his name makes my blood boil in anger.

"That day, I made a call that would change our lives forever. On that mission, I was so engrossed in my own ego that I thought… Shin would be fine if we split up. I had prepared him sufficiently for this mission. But I couldn't be more wrong. Shin-chan was fatally wounded during that mission. Tobio Ikuse had mistaken him for one of the Sacred Gear Wielders and attacked him with the intent to kill," Akane said.

Asia remained silent. She had known that something must have happened. For someone so strong with a versatile ability, Shin had chosen not to go on any missions. It was weird to her that he didn't despite the rest of his family doing so.

"I went on a rampage in the Grigori. I maimed and mutilated the entirety of Team Slash Dog and took down all the Cadre. In the end, it took the combined might of Serafall Leviathan and Azazel to restrain me," Akane said.

"Ever since that day, I've been more careful with anything regarding Shin. I've taken my missions more seriously. Taken my training even more seriously. I vowed to myself to become so strong that not even El would be able to kill me or harm the people I loved. All of this was so I could live to see and protect my brother's smile. But I guess it came to bite me in the butt right?"

"Hear this, Akane Faulkner, First of the Seven Stars, you're holding him back…"

Yaldabaoth's words replayed over and over in her head. Her actions had finally set Shin off. And Shin had reacted in the worst way possible.

Asia kept her head down and allowed Akane's story to sink in. The reason for Akane's overprotectiveness of Shin and how it had strained their relationship was clear to her now. In the short time she had known Shin, she had seen that, despite hiding it, Shin had feelings of inferiority to his older sister, and that bred jealousy within him. A jealousy he wasn't aware of.

"Onee, I think that-" Asia stopped her sentence.

She felt it. Shin's energy signature was nearby. "Actually, I have to take a look at something. Mom asked me to go somewhere at this specific time so… um yeah, bye! I'll call Riser to tell him that you'll be late for your date!"

"E- Eh!? D- Date!?" Akane asked. Her face erupted in a fierce blush. As Asia got further, Akane finally sensed him.

S- Shin-chan? Has he been here the entire time? Akane got up from her bench and turned around. "I know you're there."

Shin slipped out from behind the tree with a downcast expression on his face. Akane could see the nervousness on her younger brother's face. However, she found that she couldn't say anything to him. Instead, Akane turned on her feet and was about to walk when Shin ran over and grabbed her arm.

"Onee… c-can we talk?" Shin asked.

"Shin, I…"

"I'm sorry," Shin said.

Akane remained silent.

"I'm sorry for what I did. I'm sorry for what I said. I hurt you in ways I could never imagine. I had no right to say what I said," Shin said.

"I was… jealous of you. I wanted to be so strong like you but the gap between us kept growing bigger and bigger. And I just felt so frustrated, Onee." Tears were beginning to flow down his face and his grip on Akane's sleeve became tighter and tighter.

"I can understand if you don't want to forgive me, Onee. But I swear to you, no matter what it takes, no matter what I have to do, I'll make it up to y-"

Shin was cut off when a warmth that he had been craving for so long engulfed him. He found himself buried in a tight hug from his older sister, who was holding onto him as if he were going to disappear from her sight if she ever let go.

"How can you-"

"You're my one and only little brother, Shin. All this time, after what you said, I thought you hated me," Akane said.

Shin felt his heart drop when he felt a wet spot growing on his shoulder. How long did his older sister hold all of this in? Akane was never good at expressing her emotions to other people she wasn't close to.

But Shin could feel his older sister's body trembling as she sobbed into his shoulder. His powerful, invincible older sister had been reduced to a crying child and the knowledge that he was the one responsible for her current state made his guilt and self-loathing grow even bigger.

"No matter how you feel about me… no matter what you say to me. I can never ever hate you," Akane said. Her hug grew even tighter.

"How… How can you forgive me so easily? I hurt you so badly!" Shin pulled away from her.

"If I were you, I'd hate me forever! Why won't you curse me!? Why won't you send me away!? Anything! I don't understand how you can love and forgive someone as weak and pathetic as me!" Shin yelled.

Tears poured down his face as he bared his heart out to his older sister.

Rather than admonishing him, Akane just gave him a warm, tender smile.

"You're right. I don't have to forgive you but Shin, I already told you a long time ago and I'll say it again as many times as I have to. No matter what happens. No matter what choice you make. Even if you curse or hate me, I will always love you," Akane said, pressing her forehead against his. "So stop beating yourself up over how you felt."

"I…"

"Besides, why would you ever be jealous of me?" Akane asked.

"You were always so far ahead of me. It's like no matter how hard I tried, I could never catch up. And then Issei started getting so strong in such a short amount of time. And when Yaldabaoth told me that my entire identity revolves around you and Issei, I just snapped. It was like I could never be my own self without surpassing you or him," Shin said.

"Oh, Shin. Sit with me," Akane said, leading him over to a bench.

Shin sat down next to her. His eyes grew wide when his older sister grabbed his head and leaned it against her shoulder.

"O- Onee?" He looked over at her. She was looking straight ahead. Her red eyes swiveled over to meet his.

"Shin-chan, you and I are flesh and blood. I am your older sister. When we were kids, you used to be so cute. You smiled at me so innocently and saw everything around you with such wide eyes. You motivated me, Shin. Your smile. Your love for me. It's because I was your older sister that I became strong. I will always be there for you. If you fall, I'll help pick you back up. If you fall behind, I'll go back for you. I will always be there for you, even if you see me as a wall to overcome," she said.

"Onee…"

"If you ever feel that way, tell me next time so we can talk. No matter how far apart we are in skill, I will always do my best to elevate you," Akane said. "It's normal to feel competitive. We are siblings after all but you should never be jealous of me."

"I…," Shin said.

He couldn't respond to his sister's words. The feeling of her warmth wrapped around him like a blanket and made him feel as if everything was going to be okay. But... the guilt he had was still there.

"That being said, what about Irina and Issei? I heard what you said to them back there," she said.

Shin flinched.

He remembered his last moments with his two best friends. Shin remembered his choice of words and cringed inwardly.

"I... I don't know what to do," he admitted.

"I've basically ruined whatever relationship I had with them, Onee. They're not going to forgive me so easily like you did. For one, I basically called Rin a whore."

Upon hearing his choice of words, Akane visibly cringed.

"Oh Shin… that's so bad," Akane said.

"I know. Onee, what do I do?" he asked.

"That's up to you. Whether or not you can get their forgiveness will depend on what you do next," Akane said.

"I have a lot to fix, don't I?" Shin mumbled.

"You do but how you go about doing it will go a long way in whether or not the relationships you damaged can be repaired at all," Akane said, patting his head.

"You're only saying that because you forgave me instantly," he pouted.

"You're too old to pout, Shin-chan. Let's not worry about Issei and Irina. For now, focus on yourself. Focus on bettering who you are as a person then go and right the wrongs you've committed," she said.

"Right."

Shin clenched the fabric of his pants. He perked his head up suddenly, startling his older sister.

"Onee! Can we finish my training?" he asked.

"Eh? Aren't you training with Grandfather?" Akane asked.

"Grandpa dumped me in the woods of Mount Benizakura. I want to continue where we left off," he answered.

"Are you sure? If we do train, I won't teach you the Musou-no-Onigari-Ryuu anymore," Akane said.

He pursed his lips and clenched his fists tightly. That was right. And he knew his sister was right to do so. However, Shin steeled himself.

"I want to make my own. I want to make my own variation of the Onigari-Ryuu!" Shin exclaimed.

Akane's eyes widened for a few seconds. A wide smile appeared on her face, threatening to split it in half. "Mmm. I'll help you. But that means that, we have to go back to the basics and I won't hold back like I did when I tried teaching you my style, got it?"

Shin nodded and flashed his older sister a confident smirk.

"I do hope that you're ready, Shin-chan."

Shin sat in his bedroom. He contemplated whether or not the decision he made to ask his older sister was right or just plain delusional. Shin was glad that they made up and frankly, he wouldn't have their relationship any other way.

Just seeing his older sister smile brightly again made him happy.

"Still, I don't know if you're insane to ask Akane to continue your training. Are you going to work yourself to the bone like last time?" Vivi asked, hovering over Shin's head.

"Master, if you do, I will get the rope and tie you to your bed," Ran said.

"What? No, I won't overdo it. Onee is helping me craft a new style while I learn more about Charm Gear from Gramps," Shin said. "I think it's time Ran and I go to the next level with it too."

Ran had a look of slight surprise on her face. "You're not referring to the…"

"I am. Our enemy is the Daughter of God and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. If we're going to keep both of them from getting Akeno, we need to get stronger," he said.

"You're just another weakling who has abandoned themselves in pursuit of power and a shallow dream…"

Shin closed his eyes and held his hand out. Secace and Clarent manifested in front of him before fading away into pixels. He opened his eyes to reveal a faint blue light. As he focused, his right eye began to glow with a faint shade of red.

"..." Vivi stared at her Contractor. The shift in his Divine Power.

"Shin, are you…?" her face morphed into one of surprise when she saw the air in front of Shin crack like glass.

"No dice." Shin smiled and closed his fist. "A shallow dream huh?"

"Are you still thinking about what Yaldabaoth said?" Vivi asked. "It's not wrong to aspire to be like someone."

"It's not but when jealousy warps and twists it into abandoning your identity and casting aside all the people who've supported you all your life, it is. Besides, my dream as a kid has always been the same"

Ran and Vivi stared at their Contractor/Master with some surprise in their eyes.

"Master, you're…" Ran trailed off.

"To protect Akeno, to protect everyone, I'll strive to become stronger. I'll become one of the Seven Stars," Shin said, closing his fist.

"Shin, that's an admirable goal but in order to do so, you need to appeal to one of the Seven Great Gods," Vivi said.

"I'll figure that out later but for now, I'll focus on getting better as a person and then getting stronger," he said.

"Shin…"

The sound of buzzing cut through the tension that was beginning to form in the room's atmosphere.

"Hmm? My phone?" Shin flopped down on his bed in an attempt to grab his phone. After elbow crawling to the windowsill, Shin picked up his phone and answered.

"Yeah?"

"Shin-kun. How are you?"

"Akeno?" Shin sat up in his bed and leaned against the wall. Her voice soothed him. Everything that had happened over the past few days. He felt like he had aged ten years.

"I'm great. How are you?" he asked.

"I'm training to control my Law… with my dad."

"Oh." Shin leaned forward. "Wait, is that why it sounds like you're inside a flight room?"

"Yeah… ahaha. We're actually in Sheol. Lady Mot's old stomping grounds. Sophia's being trained by her as we speak. They actually dropped by a few days ago to see who was here," Akeno said.

"Anyway, how are things going with… Akane?" Akeno asked after a brief pause.

"Onee and I settled things. It took me almost getting melted from the inside out by a Baku and going on a 2 day acid trip just to do it," Shin said.

"A Baku? Oh dear, are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I had a really… nice dream," Shin said.

An image of Dream-World Akeno's lovely smile came to the forefront of his mind and a deep blush spread across his face.

"Was it about me~? Kidding!" Akeno chirped.

"Um… I… uh." He had no witty retort for her.

"Wait… are you serious?"

"It was the Baku's fault! I was losing my sanity and you were one of the first people that came to mind to keep me grounded and I… I really miss you, Akeno," Shin said, fumbling over his words.

"..."

"Akeno?"

"I… I miss you too. A- Anyway! I- I gotta hang up! L- Lord Yeshua is f-finally going to start my training for today! S- See you later, Shin-kun!"

Shin held his phone by his ear for a few seconds before putting it down.

"At least she didn't say no, right?" Vivi asked.

"W- Were you two eavesdropping!?" he asked.

"Master, we're sharing a room. It would be hard not to," Ran said.

"A- Anyway! I'm going to go down. I'm pretty hungry and Onee's cooking tonight. Someone has to suck it up and eat her cooking," Shin said, leaving the room.

He slammed the door behind him and headed downstairs. His face was still as red as a tomato but deep inside, his heartbeat rapidly. And when he saw his older sister smiling happily with Riser upon arriving in the dining room.

He realized it.

He had feelings for Akeno Himejima.

Yes, Akane would forgive Shin that easily. It's part of who she is. This is the start of... a redemption arc? Anyway, Shin's going to be different from now on. He'll still be sarcastic. He'll still be rude and blunt. But he won't be swallowed up by his admiration and jealousy for his older sisteras much anymore. At least, he won't let it get in the way of his personality. As siblings, he'll still feel some sort of rivalry with her which she acknowledged as normal but he won't feel that crippling envy anymore. He'll finally start to grow beyond his inferiority complex and become a different character. That being said, I mentioned before that his relationship with Issei and Irina won't be magically fixed. For one, the next arc will be Issei and Shin fixing their relationship but Irina will take longer to fix. Moving on from that, yes, Shin admitted to himself that he has feelings for Akeno. Whether Akeno is aware of those feelings or not is up to you to decide because I ain't saying anything until the Loki Arc. So buck up kiddies. This story is far from over.