Family

Part 2: Memories in the Dust

Schuldich explained the situation to Subaru and told him what was the intention. The fact was that the mental lock was something missed, something that Subaru had never realized he had. He felt something unravel, he remembered seeing his brother at six dressed in the shrine clothes, his eyes down.

"Just be careful, touching his mind might hurt him," whispered Schuldich's voice from near his ear.

The images around Nagi were children, boys who had picked on him, Subaru knelt down and looked at the seven year old. "Are you okay?"

"I want my big brother and sister...why did ka-san take them away!" Nagi's voice was small and angry. "I hate her!"

Subaru whispered, "I'm here now, I'm not going anywhere, we're family, we're staying together."

For a moment, Subaru saw the chains around the boy's wrists and waist. "We're going home, we're staying home."

When Subaru came out of it, he saw Nagi staring up at the ceiling. "So you did look for me," he was looking at the missing person poster, he turned his head and smiled a little.

"We never gave up, Nagi-chan," both grandparents chimmed in, Grandmother Naoe rushed in and held him. "We loved you so much, even though it tore up your mother so not seeing you grow up."

"Ka-san, she died?" Nagi's voice was low, his eyes filled with tears. "Ka-san, she..."

It was a sad homecoming, Nagi was crying a little, he realized for the first time, his assumption that his brother had given up had be false. He had cried a little, he had been too depressed to even think about what he was going to do. He realized that there was also someone else who wasn't there either, Hokuto-chan.

The memories flooded back, for a moment, Nagi was holding onto his brother's hand, his sister holding his other hand. He was smiling, then he remembered a photograph, he looked at it and smiled.

He remembered something else, something important about his brother, Subaru, he was able to see ghosts, he was able to help them too. "Don't worry, they only scratch if they get impatient," Subaru had told him when he saw the scratches.

These were things he remembered before Rozen Kreuz did there damage, everything made Nagi afraid, he was scared that Schuldich and Crawford would hold back their word. He was home, he was home for good.

"Nagi is staying with you?" Kamui was asking as he sat having tea in the kitchen, the boy looked up a little smiling.

Subaru nodded. "Ba-san was wanting him to stay with me at least until we can sort out what happened to him all these years. Plus, we have something we have to do."

Nagi was staring at his computer, he liked looking at the images and some of the pictures that were taken, he had uploaded some images from his childhood, hoping that somehow it would open his memories just a little more.

A picture in front of Tokyo Tower, one where Nagi was holding onto his siblings while they grinned happily. One at an amusement park, and then a birthday that was celebrated with them. Nagi blinked as he looked at the face of his sister. Hokuto died, she died because of someone selfish, he thought sadly.

Subaru had taken him to the grave before they left for Tokyo, it was a somber moment, and in truth Subaru did some of the talking. "I guess we three are together, in a way. Nagi is home and he won't leave us again..."

That's right, I'm home and I don't want to leave my brother again, Nagi walked down the streets toward the small grocery store. He picked up some of the things that Subaru had given him on the list, he held out his hands holding the bags, and then smiled a little. He was still getting used to being called Sumaragi.

That's right, I'm Sumaragi-Naoe Nagi, I'm not just Naoe, my father and mother divorced when I was five, I was to live at the Naoe shrine until they kidnapped me. He remembered some of these things, he remembered one other thing too, they wanted Subaru too, but couldn't get him.

When he came home from the store, he met Subaru's friend, Kamui. It was not really a friend, but really something else. Subaru went to clean up something. "Are you the reason my brother lost his eye?" Nagi asked softly.

"The person who hurt your sister did that to him," whispered Kamui and nodded. "I feel responsible for it, Nagi-kun..."

"Nagi, don't say something like that," Subaru came up and hugged him from behind. "You'll see...its fine. It would have been infected if I didn't have it removed. And I'm sure that you can forgive Seisshiro for it..."

"I won't forgive him for hurting my brother and sister," Nagi pulled away and went into his room.

"Lucky for us that guy is dead," Kamui whispered and looked down at his tea. "Is Nagi always so..."

"Protective?" Nagi's elder brother nodded and smiled a little. "Its more afraid of losing his family, I'm sorry to say, his life has been harder and worse than anything I could see." He sat down and shook his head, his eyes closed. "I couldn't believe someone would be so cruel to him, telling him such horrible lies and making him feel helpless. Nagi is a strong person, but I'm scared for him all the time, like something will come and take him again."

"Don't worry, I'm sure Nagi will stay for good," Kamui got up and smiled.

Nagi's eyes were on the computer, he tried so hard to remember the happiness that he felt when he was little. He remembered only a few things, small bits and pieces, until Rozen Kreuz took it all away from him and gave him false memories. He remembered crying and hiding from people, his powers hurting people, not trying to hurt anyone.

"Nagi, don't be angry," he heard Subaru walking into the bedroom, he sat down on the bed. "I know you are having a hard time remembering everything. Don't rush to remember..."

"I want to remember who I was," Nagi whispered, his eyes down. "I remember only bits and pieces like small videos. But everything else..."

"Come here," Subaru brought out a video tape and put it in the player. "Just watch..."

The video was of a birthday party, Nagi was dressed in a red jumper, his eyes were up, they were bright indigo like his mother's. She was smiling holding him, he was only five. "Happy Birthday!" She was trying to be happy, she was hugging her two older children, Subaru and Hokuto.

Hokuto was holding something. "Open it, open it, Otouto-chan!"

"Hoku-chan," Nagi was giggling, his hands moving over the paper, it was a stuffed animal, one he had carried around and hidden in his room. Crawford and Schuldich were the ones to try and keep it with him when he was living with them. "Farfarello tore it up by accident, then I had a fit," Nagi whispered as he watched the smaller version of himself. "I was ten...I was so angry. Hoku-chan and you worked so hard to earn enough to get it, didn't you?"

Subaru smiled and whispered. "Actually To-san put our names on the card, he knew that our allowance wasn't enough for the toy."

Nagi in the video was hugging the stuffed animal and he was smiling. "Thank Ni-san, Ne-san!" He dragged it off with him as he got so tired.

"Your powers really drained you," Subaru sighed and looked down. "You had to spend some time in the hospital because you slept so much. Ka-san was scared of sending you to school because you could have your powers up end things. I remembered you had a temper tantrum, you upended everything around you, your powers made you scared of everyone, but Hoku-chan and I who could calm you down."

"They found out I was prodigy didn't they?" Nagi asked him.

Subaru nodded and smiled. "Just like me."

"Oba-san, he's doing fine, I am worried, his memories are so fractured, it will take longer. I found out he graduated from college about two months ago. He's a computer genius, he works from home, but I have to say, Crawford-san and Schuldich-san are pretty much the only world he knew until now. I'm scared for him," Subaru was on the cellphone, he walked down the street toward a small business he would buy flowers from. "I was hoping you could let him stay at the shrine until I'm done with this newest problem...I have gotten the report. You're sure that it is recurring with this girl?"

"I don't know if bringing Nagi home is a good idea, he still needs to adjust to you," his grandmother was talking. "Nagi's powers are still something that I asked Nijika about, and she's still not sure how to handle it. The Naoe Shrine has had telekentics in it for centuries."

"I can't just take him Hokkaido...he might not even want to come along," Subaru sighed and put the phone away, he turned his head to the florists. "Ohayo, Omi-kun, you seem well."

The blond florist smiled. "I heard your brother came to stay with you, are you okay with it?"

"Yeah, he's shy, but sometime, I hope he can come out and meet you," Subaru smiled a little. "He's almost your age."

Nodding slowly, Omi finished the order. "I was hoping to ask you something, you said his name is Nagi..."

Subaru sighed and looked away. "Look, Nagi isn't like he used to be, and I have pretended to help you assassins for awhile. Nagi's my baby brother, I can't just let you hurt him again...please just stay away from him."

"You don't know your brother that well," the boy pleaded with him. "He might hurt you without realizing it."

Schuldich and Crawford were not pleased, they sighed and looked away. "I can't believe this, Rozen Kreuz still wants Nagi and his brother!" Schuldich's voice was almost louder than normal. "He's got a family and a brother to take care of, he doesn't need..."

"It isn't that, its the high amount of spiritual abilities both of them possess, Nagi doesn't know about it, but it isn't just what telekentics have. The fact we broke the lock on his memories, means the spirit that was locked in him will soon break free," Crawford walked away, his eyes down. "I am guilty of this crime, no matter how much we hide, we can't keep Nagi in the dark."

"The dark? We kept him in the dark for five years, what makes you think he's going to hate us more than he does now?" Schuldich groaned sarcastically, he looked away. "It isn't us we have to worry about, its that thing inside him we have to worry about. After all, it wasn't us that put it there."