Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis? Not mine. Got that? Great.
A/N: I dedicate this chapter to KiTtEn18sMiLe and Artic-Fox 14.
Warning: There will be OOCness due to circumstances invented by my imagination. Just a short chapter for today.
Here it is, the eighteenth chapter!
Chapter 18: Let us keep the past in the past.
"Nee-san?" Izumi looked up from where she was cleaning to look at her proclaimed brother who was cleaning a few feet away from her. "Yes, otouto?" She asked. "Are you really okay with this?" He asked, still not looking up from where he was. "Okay with what?" She asked, not understanding what he meant.
"Our situation. You are a Fighter and I am a Creature. Though in the beginning our kinds have been together, the more recent past has made us enemies." He replied. "You don't need to worry about that, otouto. We became friends long before we even know about the truth about each other." She told him as she returned to her cleaning.
"Why?" She noted the sadness in his voice. It was like he was looking for something. She sighed as she left her work and went to Ryoma. She hugged him from behind, like the other times when he felt lonely or depressed. She felt him stiffen for a few seconds before relaxing in her embrace.
"Otouto, the past troubles of our kind is in the past. It does not mean we can't be different as the present generation. Let our ancestors battle it out in the afterlife and keep it there. It's going to be like Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, minus the adolescent romance." She grinned at him from behind.
"That ended in both their suicides, nee-san." Ryoma deadpanned. "Let's not include that as well… That's not my point!" She gave him a like punch on the head.
"My point is that, we must not let the past bind us. I'm sure both of our kinds had done something horrible to each other in earlier generations, and I know we both know the unforgivable things our kind had done to each other, but should we really engrave it in our hearts? Should we really engrave the stereotype of the other given by our ancestors in our hearts?" She asked as she pulled away.
As she was about to go back to her work, she felt a hand grab her wrist. She faced Ryoma to see silent tears running down his face. "Why are you crying, otouto?" She whispered as she wiped away his tears. "It's nothing, nee-san." He told her, but the tears still wouldn't stop.
"So, why did you ask me that, otouto? It's very unlike you to get all emotional with me like this." She said in a worried voice. "I was scared." He mumbled under his breath, but in the small distance between them, Izumi had heard it. Her heart almost broke when she did.
"I didn't want to lose you, nee-san. I was scared that you hated me for lying to you, for keeping this a secret from you, for being a Creature." Ryoma admitted. The tears had already stopped, but the pain in his heart didn't. He didn't want to look at her, scared at what he might see.
"Idiot." He felt a fist hit him lightly on the side of his head. He tilted his head up to see Izumi smiling at him with tears in her eyes. "If I really hated you, I'll be treating you worse than Yukimura-kun, and I'm sure you know that." She ran her hand softly through his hair. It made him feel assurance that she wasn't lying.
"I said it back then, and I'll say it again now, otouto." Izumi wiped away her tears, but kept the smile on her face. "Let us leave the ghosts of the past behind. There is a reason why they aren't here in the future." The silly grin on her face comforted him. It promised him that whatever happened… "I'll always be here for you." She added in a whisper.
Ryoma nodded then hugged the older female. She really was like an older sister to him. She reminded him so much of one of him step-sisters, Mary. The spunky red-head step-sister of his always knew how to cheer him up, even if he was so deep in the dumps. "Thank you, nee-san." He whispered to Izumi, but inside, he felt like he was wishing his words would reach his step-sister as well.
"Well, enough of this emotional stuff. Let's go back to work!" She said as she pulled away before bouncing off back to her work. He felt a small smile creep up to his face. 'Same old nee-san.' With that thought, he went back to work. Just in time too, as the rest of his group mates came in the room to help.
From where he was, he watched all his group mates fool around a bit as they tried to help Izumi with her work, which was putting the large amount of groceries away. The key word was tried. He let out a soft chuckle as Izumi scolded Kirihara, Saeki and Kajimoto for letting Fuji buy so much wasabi.
'I wish you can watch this with me, Mary, Lillian.'
A/N: I was feeling depressed when I typed this, which I based from personal experience. *frowns*
I do not own Romeo and Juliet! I don't even look like Shakespeare!
Anyway, I hope I didn't make the characters too OOC. I might have been a little excited when I typed this so... Please tell me any typos and inconsistencies, even grammar mistakes (being the "Grammar Nazi" that I am).
Constructive criticism is appreciated in the form of private messages and/or reviews.