The Return
A sharply dressed bald man went down a corridor, the sound of footsteps absorbed by the red carpet that covered most of the vast house he was in. He came up to a yellow door, lightly knocking on it and waiting a couple seconds before opening. On the other side was an office, walls decorated in large oil paintings, wooden shelves padded with books and statuettes reminiscent of Renaissance sculpture. Behind a desk and a computer was a padded black chair, the woman sitting on it enthralled by the view of the fountain and gardens outside the balcony. "Miss Kido, excuse me," he murmured.
"Yes, Tatsumi?" she said, turning around to face him with those tender green eyes. Her light skin seemed as soft as her voice, and her long, straight auburn hair draping down over her black office clothes served her just as well.
"Ichi, the orphan who arrived days ago with the Hydra Cloth, is already settled in his new quarters, so now we have no rooms prepared. Should we get more space ready?"
"I believe that is the ideal option, yes." She grabbed a notepad from her desk and flipped through it in search of a page. "It is wonderful that Cloths yet arrive at such a rate, so it might be safer to wait a little longer before putting our plan to the test."
"We have crews on roll call from other competitions whenever you decide to call a press briefing, Miss."
"That is good to know. When I feel the time is right, the call will be made, Tatsumi. Thank you."
"Thank you, Miss Kido. Excuse me." The servant shut the door behind him and took his leave.
After a little bit of flipping, the woman found the page she sought, a rough list of Cloths which orphans had been sent to get, a great number still missing. Of note was the Pegasus Cloth, written down yet unmarked. "How many of those kids have failed?" she spoke and looked up at a portrait on her table, unmistakably of Mitsumasa Kido. "Grandfather… I hope there was a good reason for them to go through this. Of over a hundred, seven have returned so far. I can only imagine how many of them have died." She turned the chair around and let her gaze fall upon the fountain in the gardens once more. "It is worthless debating it now. I must do as you told me. Still, a tournament of Saints after all their suffering and effort… in their eyes, adds insult to injury. What were you planning, grandfather? What is this about?"
A scratching noise coming from the phone's speaker surprised her and brought her back to the desk. Tatsumi's voice came through anxious, a ruckus in the background: "Miss Kido! An orphan has arrived with the Pegasus Cloth!"
"Hey! Hey! I'm not leaving until I see a Kido!"
"He… he says that…" There was clearly a struggle between Seiya and Tatsumi downstairs.
"Saori? Are you talking to Saori? Hey, Saori! Get the hell down here right now!"
"He's refusing to deliver the Cloth to anyone but you!" the servant told.
"I will be there in a second," Saori responded. She crossed off the Pegasus Cloth on her list before leaving the office, and hurried out to the corridor so that she reached them before the Saint choked out her assistant.
Down in the hall, Seiya and Tatsumi were still having quite a heated discussion. "Who do you think you are, boy?" the man asked, his tone much more snobbish than with his superior.
"Who do you think I am?" Seiya was dressed in much more modern clothes than what he usually wore in Sanctuary, in a red t-shirt with ripped sleeves and light denim pants, the Cloth box strapped around the shoulders like a backpack. "I'm the Pegasus Saint, I can tear you to pieces if I damn want!"
"You cannot just come to the Kido Mansion and cause such an uproar, and even speaking to Miss Kido with that tone…"
"Ah, like I care! I can talk to her like that after what you guys did…" Seiya's eyes were distracted by the image of Saori walking down the stairs, along her black buttoned shirt and black pencil skirt, plus the flowing hair and full lips. He was left more dumbfounded than when he met Shaina's exposed semblance. "W-wha…"
"Seiya."
"Saori?" His face was stamped with an idiotic smile now. Tatsumi visibly cringed at how he stared at and spoke to his miss, expecting no pure thoughts of one so crude. "Boy, you sure have grown!" he said with a muffled laugh.
She stopped at half of the stairs, giving him a kind smile in response. "I must say the same of you," she replied, reminded of how different he looked in his youth. Marin's training had made him grow into a strong youth indeed.
His formerly antagonistic demeanor gave way to a calmer one: "Uh… so, Tatsumi just told me your granddad died a few years after I left for Greece."
"Unfortunately."
At that, Seiya shrugged and waved to the box on his back. "Eh, you know, this right here is the Pegasus Cloth, which he told me to bring. My job is done. I suppose you're in charge of fulfilling his end of the bargain."
Saori frowned confusedly. Seiya was one of the problematic orphans, the kind to refuse following some orders, or to never harbor the level of respect for her that the other kids did. She had gained enough maturity to understand his perspective, although it was impossible that he was sent to Greece without some convincing from Mitsumasa's part. Her grandfather probably made a promise he was unable to keep, and this realization sunk her heart. "Can you specify?" she asked.
"The geezer promised me that if I brought the Cloth, he would tell me where my sister is," he replied, exactly as she feared.
With a disappointed sigh, she noticed there was no way to lighten the truth's blow. She was candid with him, letting it out straightaway: "That cannot be done."
Understandably, Seiya was angered. "It can't be done? I almost died multiple times getting this Cloth!"
"Your sister has gone missing from her orphanage a long time ago. There were reports of her the day after she left, but now they have no idea of her whereabouts."
With a shocked expression, he so soon relieved himself of the frustration. He had become used to disappointment, and expected no better from a family who kidnapped him in his childhood, tearing him from the one family he had left in the world. "Tough luck," he told, motioning to leave, "guess I'm keeping the Cloth to myself. Tell them to open the gate for me, Tatsumi."
Saori finally walked the rest of the steps down the stairs, thinking of ways to stop him from leaving. "Wait. Maybe I can make it up to you."
He stopped to promptly snap back: "You don't know where Seika is, so you have nothing of value to me."
"How can you say that? I am the head of one of the richest organizations in the world. If we put our resources to it, we could surely find your sister."
Cynical, Seiya seemed to entertain her again. "Oh, yeah? Then do it," he demanded as a challenge.
"I will, but only in exchange for something."
"Another trade?" The Saint sneered. "I don't think you get it. I brought the Cloth, you're the ones who owe me something."
"Keep the Cloth after this if you want, that's not what I need you for."
Seiya paused for a moment and sighed deeply, crossing arms like the same cranky child of old. "This better be worth my while."
The woman breathed in deeply in preparation as well, arms straight and parallel with her body. Bowing the head, she asked: "Please, take part in a tournament between Saints."
He gasped, looking at Tatsumi first — who frowned the brow — then back at the bowing heiress. "No way, you people can't be serious!" He couldn't help but break into bouts of laughter at how absurd she was; after he had seen so many aspirants die at the hands of Cassios in a bloody championship for the Cloth, that woman wanted him to risk his life against foes much stronger.
"I speak seriously," she said with her head still bowed, lifting it after, "will you take part in it?"
"Your granddad robbed me of my only family, robbed me of my childhood, and I almost lost my life back in Sanctuary. Now his spoiled granddaughter wants me to be a pit dog for her? Unbelievable!"
Tatsumi felt the need to get involved again: "Watch your mouth, boy!"
"I'm saying it as it is!"
"Watch your mouth, Seiya," another voice said, echoing across the hall. Immediately as everyone turned to see, they recognized the youth. Dark blond hair, olive skin, and light brown eyes, features that Seiya could only associate with a certain someone of his past. He was dressed in a purple t-shirt under jeans, fixing fingerless gloves on the hands.
"Jabu, it's you," Seiya noted with a grin. "So you still defend these people after everything they made us go through, huh?"
"You should speak less, since you don't know what you're saying. If you're scared of fighting, just say it and stop complaining."
"This is unnecessary," Saori said, but her tranquil tone was overwhelmed by Seiya's.
"Not surprised that you of all people are fine with being Saori's pit dog. You always served as her pet anyway."
Jabu raised his voice a second instance once he heard that insult: "What did you just say?"
"I didn't stutter."
The memories awakened in him were what made those insults so offensive. In his childhood at the Kido Mansion, he made sure to sate all of Saori's whims, no matter how ridiculous. For a child so spoiled and so ignorant of others' misfortunes, her whims were quite out there, and her interest in horse riding meant she developed a knack for riding the orphans while the stable was closed.
What flashed in his mind was a memento of when he was much younger, being whipped by the young Saori as she sat onto his back, that weight digging his knees into the dirt. "Go, horse! Why are you so slow?" And with the intent of doing his best to satisfy her, Jabu pushed himself to the limits until the girl was done.
Playtime then was only over when Mitsumasa himself arrived at the mansion, speaking to Tatsumi and two businessmen who caught a glimpse of the orphans training. When the little Saori came up to him, the old man already noticed what she had been doing, since she held a riding whip and wore equestrian attire, such was her excitement for the horse riding lessons.
"Welcome back, gramps!" she said, hugging him from the side. His expression remained serious, especially once he noticed a bruised Jabu in the distance. "I was just playing with Jabu before the lessons."
"Saori, you should be kinder to those kids. They already go through enough pain, don't you think?" said the old man.
The girl instantly came up with her usual excuse: "But Jabu said it was fine for me to ride him. We always play like this!"
"He does that because he wants to see you happy, but your happiness shouldn't come at his expense. Remember to be kinder to the other kids."
"Okay, sorry…" Saori turned to where Jabu stood in the gardens, and noticed he now discussed with a young Seiya.
"Are you really going to be Saori's horse forever?" the latter mocked him.
"We were just playing, I'm not actually her horse." Jabu had wiped tears before the other boy came, although the bruises on the knees and hands wouldn't disappear as easily.
"What's wrong with you? I bet you'd trot like a horse all day if that girl told you to. Quit being such a weak man!"
Hearing that, Jabu threw a punch at the other boy as a reflex, which prompted the adults to come and separate them. Nearly a decade into the future, they were not much different. Now the older Jabu had thrown a punch at Seiya, which he defended by holding it in his palm, and their rivalry reawakened after years without seeing each other. Some things hadn't changed after all. "Take that back!"
"Hey, why are you so worked up, Jabu?" Seiya kept teasing him with a smirk, although Saori finally walked between the two to push them apart.
"That's enough!" she yelled, voice far more aggressive than usual. The boys stepped aside only in respect to her, but Pegasus did not seem intent on obeying her forever. "Seiya, you wish to find your sister. I can assure you that if you take part in this tournament, your face and name will be broadcast all over Japan — no, all over the planet! She would be very likely to see you."
Seeing the insistence, there was a certain level of disgust in the young man's face. It was almost as if he came close to no longer stand disappointment, and it was only disappointment that had come from that woman's mouth thus far. "I can't believe you're so serious about this thing, Saori. This is a new low, even for a Kido."
"Smear our name in public!" she appealed at this point, as she was experiencing exactly what she expected from one of the orphans. "Say all you want about us to the press, I will not stop you. In a way, we deserve it, you are not wrong. Instead of fighting here, you will also be allowed to fight Jabu in the arena."
"If I wanted to fight him, you wouldn't be the one to stop me."
"If you win…" she paused and assured that he could see deep in her eyes, to meet the weight of her every promise in contrast with her grandfather's "... Seiya, if you win, all of my foundation's resources — they will all be diverted into finding Seika! Every single penny! We will not halt the searches until we find out where she went, I promise."
Seiya became thoughtful. To him, the promise of a Kido was meritless, but the possibility of being seen by his sister was almost enough to persuade him. As he stood, there was nothing else he could do; he had no leads and, if her words were true, he would not find one any time soon. It pained him to give that family another chance, but he did so regardless. "If you break this promise, it will be the last promise you ever break," he said.
"You insolent…"
She didn't allow time for Tatsumi to berate him. "I give you my word," she told the Saint.
"Then I'll think about it later." Seiya turned again and walked for the front door.
"Hey!" Jabu sped at him, sending shock waves that even swung some of the paintings and wall decorations in the hall. He appeared behind the other Saint, who in turn held his arm to keep him from striking. It was to no avail, seeing that Jabu didn't aim for Seiya, but for the straps of the Pegasus Cloth, which sent the box falling onto the carpet. Once they pulled their arms back, Pegasus slid a foot closer to the container, but his rival was quick to rest a fist on the metal. "Miss Saori needs the Cloth here for now. Don't worry about it, you'll get it back eventually," he explained, sincere despite their recent struggle.
"Is that so?" Seiya pulled his foot back and shut the eyes in acceptance. "Hmph. Don't do anything funny to it. I'm growing a bit attached to the thing." He finally opened the door and made his leave, not even bothering to wave to the others.
"If you need any…" Again Saori was interrupted, this time by him shutting the door behind with no care for what she would offer next. "Oh."
Jabu turned to her and nodded negatively, commenting: "What an unlikable character."
"He has been that way since forever," said Tatsumi.
"Miss Saori, how do you plan on convincing him to participate?"
She seemed quite certain of it: "He will."
"Are you sure?"
"He will. Even without knowing, Seiya has already accepted my offer. There is no better option."