2.8

"So…it's over," Shirou said softly. He was sitting up in bed, a pillow tucked against his lower back. Yonekuni was sitting on the edge of the bed facing away from him. "Tsuburaya-kun is alive, but he's gone. He's…changed." He shook his head. "I guess I shouldn't be shocked that he changed since he was murdered, but—"

"I didn't want this," Yonekuni cut in suddenly. His hands were clasped tightly in his lap and his head was ducked forward. "I wanted—I wanted them to be happy. They could have been happy if it—damn it!" He punched the mattress. "Those two…they ruined Kunimasa! He wouldn't have mistreated Noririn if he'd been raised with the rest of us! They were so close, but…!"

"But…Tsuburaya-kun had a fair point," Shirou said quietly. "He has been treated very unfairly by everyone. He was so new to the customs and lifestyle of the Madararui, but everyone just had so little patience with him. And I suppose…I suppose that since everyone was so use to Kunimasa-kun's personality that they just expected Tsuburaya-kun to go along with it. Because everyone looked to Kunimasa-kun as the future patriarch and toed the line, Tsuburaya-kun was expected to toe the line as well. With little regards for how he was feeling about all of this."

Yonekuni nodded stiffly. "He was absolutely right. I-I…I was so fixated on Noririn being a savior to Kunimasa that I…I kept pushing him into situations without considering his comfort because I was so scared for Kunimasa! I-I was afraid he was going to turn like that wretched woman, or…him." He gritted his teeth. "I did try to…advocate for Noririn to Kunimasa, but whenever Kunimasa dismissed me I didn't push back. I stepped down. If I had tried harder—if I hadn't used Noririn for my own selfish agenda—"

"Yonekuni," Shirou said softly. "Please don't upset yourself further. Maybe…we'll be able to see Tsuburaya-kun again. Just not right now. The best thing we can do is give him space."

Yonekuni nodded. His throat was tight. "I…know that Kunimasa loves him. He's just made some terrible mistakes. But he…he couldn't answer any of Noririn's questions about himself? He never asked him such questions even once?" He pressed a hand to his face. "I just…can't believe how much they've ruined him—"

"What's my favorite color?" Shirou asked suddenly.

"Eh?!" Yonekuni looked at him in shock.

"My favorite color," Shirou said with a soft smile. "Do you know what it is, Yonekuni?"

"Of course I do!" Yonekuni snapped, but internally panic flooded his body. "It's—ah—uh—it's white!"

Shirou stared back at him wordlessly. "White is your favorite color, isn't it?" Yonekuni asked, his tone almost helpless.

Shirou suddenly burst into laughter, and Yonekuni nearly had a heart attack in relief. "OI! That's not cool, Shirou!"

"I know, I'm sorry." Shirou pulled off his glasses to wipe away tears of laughter. "I'm sorry, Yo—oof!" Shirou grunted when Yonekuni grabbed his collar and yanked him forward, pressing a hand kiss to his mouth. Their mouths held for a moment before it broke. "I'm sorry," Shirou said more seriously.

"Don't doubt my feelings," Yonekuni said. "Even if you doubt yourself."

Shirou looked confused by his words, but a knock at the door interrupted them. "I'm coming in."

Yonekuni bristled at being interrupted like this, but he straightened as Kunimasa entered the room. "I won't ask how you're doing," Yonekuni greeted him. "We all know the answer to that question."

"Hmm," Kunimasa said in response. His face was expressionless but he was frowning deeply. His gaze drifted towards Shirou. "I owe you an apology."

"What?" Shirou asked in confusion.

"The night No—" Kunimasa choked. It seemed as though he couldn't say Norio's name. He quickly recovered himself. "I said something horrible to you about your relationship with my brother," he said. "I know what your relationship is like, and what I said was uncalled for and I didn't mean it. I only said it to provoke Yonekuni into attacking me, because I wanted to be attacked that night. I shouldn't have hurt you as collateral, Fujisawa. I'm sorry for what I said. And I'll apologize in front of everyone if I need to, since I insulted you in front of everyone."

Yonekuni and Shirou sat staring at Kunimasa with slaw-jawed expressions. Yonekuni felt a profound pain in his chest looking at his little brother. Oh, Kunimasa…you are capable of being so caring! Why is it so easy for you to show care to everyone BUT Noririn? Why did the person you love most have to see only the worst of you?

"It's all right, Kunimasa-kun," Shirou said. "It was a…difficult night for all of us. To be honest, I had forgotten what you had said to me in light of everything else that happened that night. But I appreciate your apology and I don't think a public apology is necessary."

Kunimasa nodded. "Okay. I won't disturb you any longer." He turned to leave but then pause. He looked at Yonekuni. "Brother."

"Yes?"

"Please don't make the same mistakes I did. I don't want you to lose your happiness too."

Yonekuni's mouth hung open. He was unable to say anything more as Kunimasa left the room. Shirou crawled over to him and gave him a hug from behind. "I'm here," he said softly. "I'm not going anywhere, Yonekuni."

Ugly whispers rose in his ears once more, but for once Yonekuni ignored them. He grabbed Shirou's arms and pulled them tighter around his shoulders. "You had better not…Shirou."

"…And that's what happened," Norio said, bluntly and emotionlessly.

He was sitting at his dining room table across from his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Tsuburaya were gaping in horror at their son and only child. They arrived home from their vacation to find Norio already home. They had expected him to still be with the Madarame family. They had been…slow at accepting the idea that Norio was in a relationship with another man, but they had made the decision to give him their support. Especially since the man in question had come from an influential family as the Madarame family.

But the story he spun for them was clearly not one they had been expecting.

"N—Norio?" Mrs. Tsuburaya whispered harshly. "M…Men tried to r-rape you?"

"Yes, Mother," Norio responded. "They cornered me in an alleyway, but I was able to find them off before they got my pants off. They shot me—"

"Norio, are you saying that you were shot a-and you DIED?!" his father exclaimed.

"Yes. Again. Here, let me show you." Norio plopped his bag on the table and pulled his bloodstained clothes out. Mrs. Tsuburaya screamed and jumped out of her seat. Mr. Tsuburaya sputtered violently when he saw the clothes. "Here's the bullet hole." Norio picked up the bloodstained shirt and poked his index finger through the hole in the front of his shirt. "The bullet entered my back and exited here—" he tapped his diaphragm. "—and I bled out on the sidewalk in the city. I was taken back to the Madarame house and I woke up there. I didn't see Grandpa this time, but my awakening was chaotic—"

Mrs. Tsuburaya burst into tears and fled the room. Norio blinked in confusion. "What?"

"How dare you traumatize your mother with this horrible prank, Norio!" Mr. Tsuburaya shouted. "You are grounded!"

"But it happened," Norio said, still blunt. He was completely unfazed by their reactions. "Smell my shirt. It smells like copper, like blood—"

"Go to your room!" Mr. Tsuburaya shouted. "And take your clothes with you! Ruining such a nice shirt and pair of pants with fake blood?! I'll never forgive you for hurting your mother with such a prank, Norio!"

"It's not a prank," Norio said, but he realized that he was getting nowhere. He exhaled softly and brushed the bangs out of his face. "All right." He stuffed his clothes back into his bag and stood. "But if anyone from the Madarame family calls me, tell them I'm in Dallas." Then he left the dining room.

Mr. Tsuburaya sat there stunned. He wanted to go after his wife to comfort her, but Norio…he was acting completely out of character. Like he was possessed by someone with a personality that was the anthesis of him. "…What happened to my son?" he wondered aloud.

Norio entered his room and a snarl rose on his upper lip. He could smell Kunimasa in his bedroom. He could almost feel his presence. Gifts Kunimasa had given him were scattered around the room, as was the odd item that belonged to Kunimasa. And a couple of pictures.

"You spent all that time in my room, and you never knew what my favorite color was," Norio fumed aloud. He went to his desk and snatched up his wastebasket. "Well…I'm spending my grounding doing some necessary cleaning."

Norio wore headphones when he went back to school. The moment he entered school grounds the different smells were unbearable—cat, cat, dog, monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey—it was overwhelming. He thought he would throw up. He focused his mind on the music he was listening to. Students he sensed who were Madararui froze when they saw him. Some openly pointed at him and talked amongst themselves. At least one openly screamed and ran in the opposite direction.

Everyone seemed to be talking about him. Norio wasn't sure if it was because of the headlines about Kunimasa's engagement to someone other than Norio…or if they had heard rumors that Norio had died and came back to life.

He sat in homeroom with volume at full blast, closing his eyes and trying to shut out the world. The different smells bothered him but he knew that he would have to live with it. And he would eventually have to face the whispers and not have music to block it out.

Someone plucked the headphones off his head. A feral snarl erupted from Norio's throat and he jumped to his feet. Homeroom immediately fell silent as Norio turned to face the person who removed his headphones. It was a frightened dog.

"I-I'm sorry!" The dog squealed, handing the headphones back to Norio. "I'm sorry, Tsuburaya-kun!"

Norio relaxed his jaw, but he didn't relax his frown. He stared down at the dog, holding his gaze as he shook violently in fear. "Don't do it again," he said. He sat back down and raised his headphones to put them back on.

"What about the Madarame—"

"FUCK THE MADARAME."

Norio meant the words, but he hadn't meant to put so much power behind his words. Above his head the classroom lights suddenly burst. Student screamed and scattered as glasses rained down upon the floor. Norio however remained sitting still. At that moment the homeroom teacher arrived to the classroom. He found half the students on one side of the classroom, and the other half of students on the other side of the classroom.

And Norio sitting nonchalantly at his desk. "Good morning, Sensei."

"Did you hear what happened in Japan?"

He was wearing an eye mask and had been trying to sleep. He was angry at the person who disturbed him. The names meant nothing, but in this mind he always called this person "Teneg". "So?" he grumbled.

"They're saying the Madarame family was attacked. Both at their main house and at one of their offices."

He smirked. "I'm sure the Madarame deserved it." They all do. "How many assailants?"

"Just one," Teneg said.

He stiffened. "…One?"

"One."

"At both locations?"

"That is what the rumors are saying."

His smirk turned into a smile. "One lone person attacked two Madarame properties? I would like to meet this person and shake their hand."

Teneg tapped his forehead with what felt like a cell phone. The urge to murder rose swiftly inside of him, and he almost lung at Teneg to break his neck. Teneg's next words, however, saved his life. "We got a picture."

He sat up and took off his eye mask. "Of the invader?"

"Yes," Teneg said with a dark smile. "It's looks like a teenage girl. Or boy. It's hard to tell from the distance. See?" Teneg showed him his cell phone screen.

The picture showed someone dressed in a white yukata. He could see the invader's soul appearance even inside the picture. The Madaraui was insanely powerful. No wonder he could take on the Madarame family by himself.

He reached up and spread his fingers to zoom in on the assailant—and shockwaves swept over his body. He nearly screamed when he saw the face, and memories flooded his mind. Of a boy who he cause to have an accident. An unawakened Return to Ancestry, who he had accidentally killed trying to awaken.

But there he was. Alive and brimming with power. The accident had paid off; he was an awakened Return to Ancestry now, though he could not tell what species he was from the picture. Not that it mattered. Only one thing mattered.

He's alive.