Oizys once again took energy from him to fuel her kinetic strike against the king
The demon once again smirked as he once again the mangled body of his brother as a shield
Once again Ashai had to hear the crack of bones and the splatter of blood , as he once again killed his brother
Oizys purred into his mind, in a tone like sweet honey covering the slight bit of cyanide " Do we need to go though this again Κινσλάιερ? Your merely a burden, a determinate, a danger when you aren't fulfilling the only role that you deserve to play. Under he vail, a red gleam in the shape of a cruel smile emerged, he voice was soaked in sadistic delight as she dug her chains to his writs, burning them with the touch and forced him to reach up to where his mask was, and send out another blast of energy at the smashed corpse, he suppressed a sob, crying always made it worse. just agree and bear it and it will be over, he deserved it anyway. The dread goddess smirked at his obedience "Ah their it is, i thought all that training she spent so much time on was a waste! Good to know you haven't forgotten. You know though she leaned down to whisper in his ear "He had to die because you ruined her.
What
blue flames licked at his feet as h moved to resist the chains pull, she had the fucking gall to say any of that shit? that He ruined Her!?
Achilles laughed in his mind as a singular chain groaned against his strength, the goddesses smirk vanished back into the blank darkness as the blue flames consumed him in a flash of rage as Achilles's armour was donned. The goddess tutted as she raised her palm "Must you continue this struggle Κινσλάιερ? Well just so you know, I do this I because love you"
"I love you, you just need to be normal for me, dont you love me enough for that?"
Asahi stumbled back at the flashback, giving the fell deity the opportunity to gather her strength her cloak and veil warping to unveil a pair of mangled, decaying, punctured and town wings and flew up and toward over him , her hands gleamed a bright and sickly bronze and her whispered spell felt like a roar "λιωμένη μελαγχολία" a halo of sickly hot metal surrounded the goddesses before it consolidated into a plume before descending onto him.
it burned
He felt his skin blister on contact as a scream left his lips, Achilles armour was useless to prevent it, melting and joining the offending metal. His mind felt was ravaged by the substance, memories flying to the forefront of his mind like paper flying in the wind, the metal made him remember how it felt to live under her, remember and feel how it felt back then. He took in a sharp breath and tried to keep the actual flashbacks down , the burning intensified with every movement of his body but he couldn't succumb to despair now, as he felt he was about to brake down fully he finally reached his mask and ripped it off allowing Achilles to form before he collapsed on the ground.
He was 12, it was one year now, dad had left for a work trip and ichiro had moved out awhile ago.He was alone with mother for the time being. They where having dinner, a rarity now after it all happened but it's only fair. He was a wrong after all and he just ….needed to be better, be normal , uphold the family image? He was unsure but he knew his mother wanted it and he lived to please her.
His mother had smiled at him. A smile! Was he finally doing something right? Then she opened her mouth "How are you enjoying the food, Asahi?" The child beamed at her with a gentle smile "It's great mom. Thank you for making it!" His mothers smile grew "Good, I'm happy you like it. Now…did you notice that your room was cleaned today?" The young boy nodded "You should really learn to clean it your self you know!" And after a long pause she reached into her pocket.
"Now, care to explain this?" Pulling her hand out she revealed what she was holding, a singular piece of paper, a report card. Asahi felt a lump in his throat , what had he done wrong? He tried his best, he didn't know what he did wrong for her. She placed it on the table for him to see and he relaxed instantly, he had a lot of A's but then stiffened where he noticed that his mother wasn't proud in her tone so he waited for her to continue. "Nothing to say for yourself hmmm? Well look at your English , and your science! All B's! You think these grades are good enough! And don't get me started on the c in fine arts! Really? And look at this."
Horror coiled in Asahi's gut as he looked at what she pulled out her bag , his diary…fuck. She flipped through the pages before landing on one and reading it "'Ryoga-kun is really nice to me. He shared some of his lunch with me and we hung out all week this week, when I'm around him my stomach feels all jittery and I feel really warm and happy. I get that this is what mom said I shouldn't feel but , why can't I if it nice and he's nice to me'." She closes the diary and glared at him , Asahi's blood was running cold.
his mother stood up, her heeled figure towering over his small frame. " Do you really think I wouldn't find out? Honestly Asahi do you have the time to be thinking about all of this!? Every grade bellow an a us a god dammed embarrassment! For Fucks sake are you trying to ruin us? Look at everything we have done for you ? Why can't you be good at school and be normal ? Your farther would agree with me when I say that your farther would be disappointed in you." Asahi gulped down air in anticipation for what was going to happen.
He deserved it , he wasn't normal , he wasn't good enough . She wanted to love him but he wasn't good enough for that . He needed to be bent into shape And she would help him. It's what ge deserved after all. Her hand tensed and ge threw his diary at his chest , hard. It hurt but he couldn't brake down yet, she approached , again and again
he deserved it
Then Achilles broke through the illusion by stabbing him in the leg.
Then he was sitting up in his bed, a cold sweat covering him, awake.
Asahi clamped a hand over his mouth to stop a scream from escaping his lips, he tried to take stock of himself. He felt awful, his head was spinning and he felt nauseous, bile rising in his throat. His head aches and he's freezing. He sniffles miserably while he tries to calm down, he takes deep breaths to try and stop his heart from beating in his ears. It works to a degree. Asahi groans and lays back down. The fuck happened to him? How'd he get sick? This sucks…
Looking at himself, he sees he's been changed into his sleep clothes, he doesn't wear them often. he stopped when he was thirteen as it took too much effort and afterwards it just became a habit, but to his surprise he was actually quite comfy in these and they somehow fit? did they buy a new set for him? If so he is thankful for it. Suppressing a shiver he sits up in his bed and reaches for his phone to check the time, he winces at the light his phone is emanating causing his headache to worsen but e focuses and glances at the time.
10:00 am, 23/5, 2022
Huh, he guesses dad must have called him out of school.
Dragging himself out of bed, his limbs feeling heavy and his head is still spinning, and grabs a towel as well as some lounge clothing and heads to the shower. Getting undressed and stpping in to it, he lets the water run over him and think to the back of his mind, filled with a thin fog from the fever and reaches to his persona's. they where hazy and muted but he is able to pull Arthur to the forefront, who buzzes with welcoming.
Asahi stumbled out of the shower with a sigh, pausing to let out a sneeze, before drying off and putting on some of his clothes and brushing his teeth. After taking care of hygiene, he grabbed his phone from his room, put on his glasses and walked to the living room , grabbed a blanket and draped it over himself and layers down on the couch.
He was about to fall asleep, his exhaustion addled brain deciding against spending the effort to walk back to his bed, before he heard the floor Bordes creak. He ignored it for the most part , he couldn't care enough about it to delay sleep . He let his brain fade into the fog of near sleep and let himself rela-
"Boo!"
Asahi snapped awake fully, bolting upwards and letting out an almost scream that then resulted in him coughing out his lungs, his chest burning as his throat worked to get rid of non-existent irritants. The owner of the random voice muttered a curse before putting a warm hand on his back and patting it, providing some amount of comfort to him while he struggled to get air in.
After the coughing Stopped, he looked upwards through teary eyes and sniffled back mucus before recognition shot through him "Ichi' ?" His brother gave him a smile before walking around and sitting next to him , rubbing the back of his neck "Hey Asahi, sorry about making you cough up a lung there , wasn't my brightest Moment heh…" Asahi hummed, pulling the blanket closer as he shivered , ichiro frowned as he did this "Hold on for a sec, I'll get you another blanket." He got up from where he was sitting and walked off, letting Asahi get a good look at what his brother looked like.
Ichiro was actually tall (as the asshole kept reminding him) and had to somewhat duck to get through the doorframes, he had his hair straightened and out into a ponytail as well as being dyed red at the tip, like a paint brush in paint. He had on a tank top and sweatpants the both worked well for his slightly muscular build and he had his stud earrings in. He Soon returned with the promised second blanket and draped it over him, but he didn't stop there, he grabbed them both and wrapped him in them like he was a burrito. It was warm though so he wasn't complaining
Ichiro bounced his leg absentmindedly while he sat down beside him " So how are you feeling? Aside from the whole coughing thing and all. On a scale from 1 to Me?" Asahi felt his face scrunch up in confusion "1 to you? Which way means I feel like shit?" His voice was still Horace form coughing, annoying. Ichiro rolled his eyes and scoffed "I'm obviously a ten you dick, but I'm guessing you feel more like a one, right?" Asahi nodded , not wanting to speak for any longer. Ichiro sighed "Well that is to be expected seeing as your friends had to carry you back home yesterday after you passed out! What happened? Dad was so close to hauling your ass to the hospital you know." Asahi winced at the increase in volume before processing what he had just been told Asahi looked downwards to the floor, guilt settling in his stomach. he didn't mean to be a bother , again.
seemingly sensing his thoughts ichiro flicks Asahi in the forehead " I know what your thinking and I know that we don't think of you as a burden 'Shai. We are just worried about you and nothing more. Soooo what happened?" Asahi let out a sigh "I don't know…I was hanging out with some of my friends and I felt dizzy then I blacked out." The lie felt easy on his tongue, a practiced skill that he has honed for years now and ichiro seemed to buy it, which was good as he had no interest in revealing any of his recent activities. His brother got up " alright then, well you sit tight while I get you some Esutakku Eve, Kay?" Asahi nodded and ichiro went off, snuggling into his blanket burrito and closing his eyes. The thieves brought him here? How'd they get him into the train? He wondered how things where at Shujin right now, if kamoshida's change of heart had taken effect yet or if they had caused him to go into a coma or should hear the clattering of dishes that came from ichiro moving them around to get to the medicine and then he heard him swear loudly when he most likely dropped one on the floor , idiot. it took him about a minute after that to com back with the promised medicine, which he took immediately impatient for any form of relief. Ichiro plopped right beside him once more and reached for the remote " you wanna watch a show? I can put on one of those anime's Yuuki likes, or one of those "Netflix" shows that you like to watch in English for some reason?" The younger boy rolled his eyes, the screen looked weird if he watched it in its non native language, its just not done.
Turning his head to the screen he pointed at a show he knew, a mindless show about office workers, he hadn't gotten through the early seasons yet and h felt unable t pay attention to it but he wasn't trying to watch it at the moment, he just needed some amount of noise to fill the void. Ichiro looked at the show and beamed "I love this show 'shai! I know its a bit slow in the beginning but I swear its worth it!" Asahi shrugs while ichiro scoots next to him and presses play. Asahi watches the show play out and the characters interacting , they were arguing over some health fund? He honestly expected to have more trouble understanding the English show, he usually does and that's when he isn't feeling this foggy, but that could be due to Arthur's presence in his head, he speaks English so Ashai guesses he can too... well he could already but now he guesses he has mastered it. By the time that train of thought ends the episode is already over, damn this show is hard to focus on.
Time goes by and Ashai slowly starts paying attention to the show, well he tries harder to do that as somehow they got to the first season finally despite him not registering anything of note happening. The introduction is playing as Ashai feels his eyes droop, the mild droning of exhaustion clinging to his mind like a thick fog, thicker then the haze the fever provides. He feels himself relax as he leans into his brother, using him as a pillow, before he fully succumbs to sleep he feels him tense slightly before relaxing again and draping an arm over him "Sleep tight 'Sahi." He let out a exhale before sleep consumed him.
Ichiro's POV
Ichiro softly hummed to himself as his brother slept, the tune distracting him from all the thoughts that swirled in his head. Something going on with the Shujin boys and ichiro hated that he didn't know what it was, last time something had happened to Ashai he had been in the dark for way too long. He just had to have left home and abandoned him to deal with her by himself. But that was in the past, now he needs to focus on what he is going to do rather then what he wishes he did.
Firstly he guesses he should get them some food, its probably still early enough for breakfast. he looked to the clock, 12:00... well he guesses its time for lunch then... times weird. Walking into their kitchen he scoured the fridge and cabinets for food. They had chicken, some stock, ramen noodles, ramen packets... a giggle escaped his lips hen he realised what he could make with what they had, chicken noodle soup how original. Putting I his earbuds he turned on his folder app and some of his songs back to himself while he gathered things; pots and pas, some chicken, the stock, some veggies and two eggs for good measure. He tapped his foot to the rhythm of one of the newer pieces he's made while he filled the pot with water to boil, hmm he should've played a G their, that could have sounded better.. eh lesson for next time! Ichiro winces as he nicks himself with the knife while chopping the vegetables , biting his tongue to resist the impulse to yell 'ow' as to not awaken the sick teen in the other room.
He sighed as he placed the vegetables in the water and went over to the draw to fetch a band aid for his little finger...why was it still called a pinkie when it isn't pink? That's profound as shit. The band aid in place and mind thoroughly distanced from his earlier failure he placed the chicken in the oven and worked on the egg, cracking and frying it to be put on the noodles- Oh shit the noodles! Grabbing the noodles , ichiro dumped the contents of it in the pot, watching them soften due to the heat, he then decided to add in the stock cube then he looked to his left...hmm. Giving into his temptation he grabbed the soy sauce and added a good amount in for good measure. He grinned at the progress he made already, allowing himself to celebrate getting through cooking with only minimal self injury, Succeeding at adulting feels great!
He had some amount of time until the chicken is done cooking so he decided to switch from his folder to garage band to work on his newest song...hmm maybe a guitar for this one? It needs to be jazzy if he wants to play in that club nearby... what's jazzy? He switches to google and types in 'What is jazz?' hmm he could play his guitar and they supply a piano their.. the options bounced around in his mind, all of them sounded ideal and that was more frustrating then anything. He murmured to himself as his brain looped around trying to decide, piano or guitar? Piano or guitar? Piano or guitar? Piano or-
Is something burning?
Jolting out of his thoughts, he rushed over to the oven and took out the slightly charred chicken...well its not a total loss! It probably still tastes good, probably. Grabbing the oven mitts , ichiro grabbed the chicken and began cutting it up, then placed it into the soup and grabbed to bowls and pored some into it, making sure they both got an equal amount and the grabbed the fried eggs and placed them on top. He grabbed the two bowls and placed them on the table, then got up and looked to his little brother.
Asahi was still fast asleep, his mouth slightly open and hugging the pillow ichiro had given him. Ichiro hummed softly as he walked over, before gently placing his hand on Asahi's face and patting him. The smaller boy opened his eyes, his dazed and confused expression earning him a laugh , his brother is adorable. Asahi blinked sleep out of his eyes then cleared his throat, his voice probably a bit croaky from sleep or sickness, either or, "What is it ichiro?" Ichiro pointed to the food on the table "I made lunch for us. Do you want to eat it now?" The younger boy hummed then started to try and get out of the blankets he was wrapped in...and legitimately struggling, he might have wrapped him a bit too tight. He bit back a laugh as he moved over towards Asahi, bent down and scooped him up in his arms bridle style causing the Ashai to yelp.
"I can walk ichiro, you can put me down." Ichiro flicked his head as his face broke into a wide grin "Nope, besides this is way easier then you struggling to remove the blanket wrapped around your legs, you can still use your arms and you'll feel better if you stay warm. Damn your really light! Which is probably a bad thing...yep where going to eat food now!" Ending the conversation before it got too depressing, ichiro dropped him in his seat and then moved over to his own and sat down and got ready to eat.
POV: Asahi
The food is... surprisingly good, Ichiro wasn't the best cook so he wasn't expecting it to be anything above ok but he guesses that living alone would cause anyone to improve, good to know. He wasn't that hungry if he was being honest by it would probably make him feel better if he ate something, his brain still felt slightly fogged, either by the medicine or the cold itself but his other symptoms felt lessened which was nice. He snuggled into the blanket he was wearing, ichiro was right...warm is nice. After Putting another mouthful of soup in his mouth and swallowing it, Ashai noticed that he had finished... now what?
Putting the bowl aside, Asahi looked at ichiro. His brother was currently inhaling the soup he had made while tapping his foot under the table to an unknown rhythm, that's cute...and he calls him the cute one. After ichiro had finished eating Ashai bit back a blush and held his hands out and after looking perplexed for a moment the older man rolled his eyes and picked him up then carried him back to the couch and sat them both down. Asahi could feel a blush spreading across his face "Please don't tell anyone you carried me." Ichiro smiled at him then ruffling his hair "Sure, I wont tell anyone that you requested to be carried like when you where 5" Asahi smiled then slumped back into the couch pillow.
Ichiro put the show back on and they sat in near silence, broken by the occasional sniffle or cough from Ashai. Asahi hummed to himself before turning to his brother "Hey Ichi, can I ask you a question?" The older man turned to face him with a eyebrow raised "Sure, what do you want to know?" Asahi thought of how to word this, he could feel...something from ichiro, the same feeling he now gets from Yuuki or Ryuji so he wonders if..."Why are you move back to Tokyo? Something happen over in Inaba? " Ichiro rubbed the back of his neck "Well...it wasn't anything to do with Inaba itself, the towns lovely and so are the people and my job at that bar was nice. But it just wasn't paying enough you know? Then I heard about the opening for a backup musician at that jazz club and well...that goes into my second reason for coming back." Ichiro looked at the floor for a moment before looking back at him "I also wanted to come back to Tokyo because, well to put it simply I've been a shit brother for the past 3 years." Wait, what? He hadn't expected that response...why would he ever think that? Asahi shook his head "You haven't been. Why would you be one?" Ichiro looked down at the floor, unwilling to meet his eyes "'Shai ,I left you alone with her even though I knew what she could be like, how she might have reacted. I knew that but all I could focus on was getting me away from her. Hell, that makes it worse. I was sure that she was I nightmare to live with but I left you alone with her anyway!"
He let ichiro take a few breaths before responding "It...wasn't that bad." Ichiro immediately looked him the eyes, his face a mix of shock and hurt "Y-you tried to commit Suicide Sahi! how could it possibly be not ' that bad'?" Asahi let out a shuddering breath as he remembered the words arthur first spoke to him "Because I chose to let it continue. You couldn't have done something because I didn't tell anyone. I could have shown dad or the police the bruises on me, or got a recording of her yelling but I didn't. I was stupid enough to try and endure it until I couldn't. I...its not your fault, Dad's or Yuuki's fault or even her fault. its mine" he tried to highlight the last part with a small smile but he could see the horror plastered on ichiro's face and felt anxiety coil in his gut
"You said the wrong thing
"He's going to be angry with you
"Take it back
"Backtrack"
"Backtrack"
"Backtrack!"
"Back-" Suddenly, he was snapped out of his spiral by a sudden hug from ichiro, His cheeks where wet...had he been crying? He's making ichiro's shoulder wet, he feels kind of bad. Ichiro hugged him tightly...it felt safe "Don't you dare say that! Y-you where a child Asahi! What happened to wasn't your fault." He felt his breath hitch, why was he getting so emotional over things? I-it was his fault, he chose to suffer. his hitched breathing eventually turned into a sob "Then i-its not your fault either ok-kay?" He doesn't like this conversation... it hurts and he doesn't understand why, he's right and ichiro is wrong...so why was he crying? why couldn't he control this? The hug became tighter and felt warmer as he heard ichiro murmur an agreement. They stayed hugging for awhile, until they stopped crying and then until their breath stabilised. Did he have some sort of mini panic attack? because he feels wiped out.
After they had both calmed down, ichiro cleared his throat "Well after anyway, putting all of that aside I wanted to move back over here to be with you, Yuuki and Dad. I didn't want to be so far away from you all anymore so when I saw the job opening and the apartment nearby... I just thought that I hadto move back. A new start and all that shit. Hell, we could even start back playing together, do you still play the violin?" He blushed as he rubbed the back of his head "Well...I just...things kind of...no I haven't." Ichiro chuckled as he slapped him gently on the back "Its fine, besides it just gives me more reason to start teaching you to play again, it'll be fun and lets me practice for work as well, I wont make you do it to often though. So do you want to start again?" Asahi felt warmth spreading in his chest at the thought of playing again...he genuinely enjoyed doing it with him an tried to keep at it after ichiro left but...he stopped when he was around 12, he cant remember why though. A fully genuine smile spread across his face (Briefly broken by a sharp cough, an annoying reminder that he was sick) "I would like that, Love it actually." Ichiro beamed at him excitement evident on his face "Great! We can start whenever you want. not today obviously but soon, when I settle into my place! But for now, I would like your opinion on my latest song, is it good or bad?"
He listened to the song ("Its blue" "And that means?" he sighed "That means it sounds good Ichi.") and then they went back to watching Netflix when Ashai felt something shift inside him , he felt the familiar sensation of time freezing and waited until he heard the familiar voice .
I aMtHoU
thOU ArT I
thou HAst AcqQuiRedD new VOW
They bonds shall serve as a chain
that shall draw out your greatest aspects
with th3 1ntr0duct10n of th3 St4r 4rc4num
th0u sh4lt g41n th3 p0w3r T0 0pp0s3 F4T3 1ts3lf.
Star
Ichiro Chikaru
Ability: Melody: Chance to trigger both concentrate and charge at the start of battle
huh, that's... actually useful.
Then as he thought time was going to unfreeze, Ashai felt his head throb
The fuck?
As time was still frozen around him and for him, Ashai felt himself scream in his head as a familiar sharp burning pain blaze through his skull, cutting through the fog in his mind and paving the way for a soft voice to wedge it way to the forefront of his brain "You look within yourself and see only blame within you...lacking faith in your ow intentions and looking back when you are being led out of the despair, in that regard we are similar young μουσικός." Now? why now? And what does it mean ? The voice chuckled as the pain increased "Still haven't realised hmm, no matter. let us proceed. will you guide your bond out of the underworld without looking back? Will you strive to turn your suffering to expression? If so then listen for my name. He felt something shift within him, a blazing heat rising towards him...closer..
"I hear your song, Orpheus"
Time unfroze and his head still ached, he let out a groan as he collapsed back into the sofa , ichiro frowned seeing this and got up "ill get you some aspirin 'kay?" Ashai hummed as he screwed his eyes shut, with his thoughts only focused on one thing.
What the fuck was that.