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Blood Oath; [Single Post]
Topic Started: Mar 30 2018, 12:54 PM (73 Views)
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Monika Apologist

[Note: This single post takes place across an extended timeline, involving multiple other topics. In order, the sections take place: before Momo moves to Nagashima, during and after Diplomatic Escort, before Train of Consequences, during Painful Truths and after Devour in Flames, and the last bit takes place after Blind Obedience.]

At first, Momo thought her mother was lying. This wasn't something you brought up in passing during a leisure phone call while Momo was outside of work. It was ridiculous, impossible -- there was no way that her little brother had tried to kill himself.

She could still remember him as a child, so small, so joyous -- the happy look he had on his face when he followed her around like a little duckling. But, she could also remember the last few times she had seen him: how tired he looked, and the weary, empty smiles he had offered. Momo had been so sure he was fine, just tired from Taiyoutono's rigorous academic requirements.

But, no. She had been wrong. This was real, this was happening, and Momo immediately knew she needed to do something.

"Where is he now?" She asked, her tone more biting than she intended.

"Nagashima," her mother said. "But, Momo - "

"You sent him back there?" Momo spat, incredulous. "Alone?"

"It was his choice," her mother replied weakly.

"Fine," Momo said. "Then I'm going to Nagashima."

"But what about your job?" A note of concern came through from the other end of the line.

"I'll quit," Momo responded immediately. It wasn't even a decision for her. She'd been thinking about quitting already - the small Kobe restaurant didn't quite stoke her passion. "I have to be somewhere more important right now."

"Momo, you can't just - "

"With all due respect, mother," Momo said, trying very hard to keep her tone even. "I can do as I please. I'm an adult. Ryuunosuke, on the other hand, is still a kid. He needs help." Momo pulled the phone away from her face. "I have to go help him." She hung up the call, turning back inside to confront the uncomfortable conversation with her boss. It didn't matter. She'd be able to deal with it.

She'd be able to deal with Ryuunosuke's problems too. She didn't know what was ailing him specifically, but there was nothing he couldn't just talk to his sister about, right?



The train ride had been long and a little anxious, but all of Momo's weariness had melted away upon seeing Ryuu with a cute girl at his side. Her name was apparently Kiku, and Momo immediately took it upon herself to take the two of them out for lunch.

"So, how's school so far?" Momo asked. "Year just started. Things going okay?"

Kiku answered first. Momo looked to her and listened, smiling and listing off some platitudes after she was done. When Ryuu spoke up, though, Momo listened in much more carefully. "Uh, well," he said, "Things are going okay. School's the same as it was last year, really. Um... classes seem a little more difficult,"

Momo grinned and said something about not letting his grades slip, but her focus wasn't really in the conversation anymore. She was watching Ryuunosuke's face, listening to his tone. He was much bigger than she remembered, to start with, and he seemed a little uncomfortable, probably due to her sudden appearance. Other than that, though, he seemed... fine. Normal. Had her mom been lying?

Later that night, she texted Ryuunosuke, hoping to dig a little deeper.

"hi yuyu! did you and aoki-chan get back okay?"

She had to wait a couple minutes to get a reply back: "yeah"

Momo looked at the phone and frowned. He was a little less talkative than she remembered. Though, they'd never really texted, so maybe that had something to do with it. Regardless, she went ahead and typed out the message she'd been brainstorming during the train ride. She didn't want to confront him in person, just yet - there was no need to overwhelm him. He didn't seem to be in immediate danger, right? "anyway yuyu, I know I asked earlier, but is everything ok? we haven't talked in a while, but u can tell me anything, yknow!"

Ten minutes for the next message: "i'm fine, sis. thanks, though."

Momo sighed. Yeah, that... kind of figured. Oh well -- she could always talk to him in person later. He'd come clean to her eventually.



Over the course of Momo's stay in Nagashima, it became increasingly clear that Ryuunosuke wasn't just going to tell her everything. Instead, he let it all build up, then had a panic attack in the park.

Looking at him now, sitting in the hospital bed, it was so obvious. The pain in his eyes was so stark, so clear that Momo wondered how it hadn't slapped her in the face the moment she arrived in Nagashima. She sat by his hospital bed and tried for a smile, but the corners of her mouth were just too heavy. "I'm so glad Aoki-chan was there to help you," Momo said. "She's such a good friend, isn't she?"

Ryuunosuke just nodded slowly, not opening his mouth to respond, allowing silence to cut in and occupy the conversation.

Momo had never had to deal with this in her personal life, before. Even the things that were close to this, she was dealing with adults, but Ryuunosuke... she shot a glance at her little brother's face. He was a kid. This was all so different. Momo pursed her lips. What was she supposed to say? How was she supposed to say it? "Ryuunosuke," she started, cutting herself off immediately after speaking his name. Ryuunosuke turned to look at her, and Momo felt her mind go blank.

Something, she still had to say something, but what? Even just meaningless platitudes would do, she just needed to fill the silence.

"I, uh... I just want to say that you're... not alone," Momo got out, trying very hard to not sound as stilted and unsure as she felt. "I'm here, and your friends are here, and our family is here for you." That last one made him break eye contact, catching Momo off guard. Regardless, she persisted and said, "You can - if you need to, I mean - you can talk to me about anything. And I - "

"Sis," Ryuunosuke interrupted, voice barely above a whisper. Momo froze, letting him speak. "I... I know." He kept his gaze firmly away from her, planted on the wall. "Sorry, I just... give me some time, okay? To talk about it, I mean. Just... not now."

But when, Momo almost screamed. Every time with Ryuunosuke was a 'next time,' or a 'later,' or worst of all, an 'I'm fine, sis.' When was he going to just sit down and really talk to her?



He did, eventually. At the same time, though, he didn't.

He had agreed so easily to all of her requests, but that wasn't as much of a surprise as the fact that their parents knew about everything. That didn't matter, though, because Ryuunosuke was leaving. She didn't know where he was going, but she had to keep him there. "Ryuunosuke, you don't have to leave." Momo's voice was hoarse, desperate, her grip on his shirt tight as a vicegrip. "Where - where are you going? Ryuunosuke, please tell me. Please. Talk to me, little brother. Say something. Ryuunosuke. I'm worried about you. You don't have to hide everything from me. I..." She gulped. "I know what happened in Tokyo. What you did."

After giving her a look of shock and pain that would haunt Momo's dreams, Ryuunosuke ran. The door slammed and the rain poured and before she could even yell at him to stop, he was gone.

She only saw him again hours later, being dragged out of the ruins by his battered and broken friends.

The ride back to Momo's apartment was almost completely silent. Ryuunosuke said nothing the entire time, just sitting in the passenger seat and letting out an occasional sniffle. Momo tried to stay focused on the road, but her mind kept coming up with things to say that never even made it anywhere near her tongue. Eventually, she dared to whisper, "I'm sorry," but it seemed to only make Ryuunosuke's crying worse.

He collapsed instantly the moment he was in the apartment, falling asleep on the sofa. Momo felt very much like doing the same, but found that sleep wouldn't come. She placed a blanket on top of Ryuunosuke before sitting at her kitchen counter, pulling out her laptop and starting to read.

Ryuunosuke woke up in the middle of the next day. By then, Momo had already called the school, informing them of what she could reasonably say. She'd made a mistake by not telling them off the bat about Ryuunosuke's illness. Maybe this could have all been prevented -- but there was no purpose in dwelling on that. The moment he woke up, Momo hurried over to his side.

"Sis," he croaked, but before he could say anything further, Momo pulled him into a tight hug.

"It's okay," she whispered. She could already feel him starting to tremble with sobs, and the same feeling started to envelop her. "I'm sorry," Momo said, "I - I shouldn't have pushed you like that. I should have told you from the beginning that I know, and - and I should have pressed mom more, and I..." She pulled him closer, sucking in a sharp gasp as her tears stained the back of his shirt. "God, I'm so sorry, Ryuunosuke. I'm so, so sorry."

"Sis, please," Ryuunosuke said weakly. "Y-you don't have to - "

Momo pulled away, placing her hands on Ryuunosuke's shoulders and looking into his teary eyes with hers. "I - I do have to, Ryuu. Please." She sniffled, wiping at her eyes, sitting on her knees in front of Ryuunosuke, still bundled up on the sofa. "I thought all night about this, and I'm going have my piece. Please let me say this." Ryuunosuke closed his mouth, then nodded, fresh tears still in his eyes.

She reached up and placed a hand on Ryuunosuke's cheek, wiping his tears with her thumb. A faint smile appeared on her lips. "I... I still remember the day you were born. Mom let me hold you, just for a little bit, and you were so, so small. So fragile. My little baby brother." Momo's smile faded. "I... I felt like I had to protect you." Her hand pulled away and reached down towards Ryuunosuke's, clutching it tightly. "But, now I can't always do that. I can't scare away all the bullies like I used to, or give you a band-aid when you get hurt. The bullies are in your head, and the wounds are ones that I... I can't see." She squeezed his hand tightly. "But you've been able to protect yourself, Ryuunosuke."

He looked at her, sniffling, and began to shake his head, but Momo immediately shook her's back. "No, no, Ryuunosuke, please. You have been. You've dealt with so, so much that you shouldn't have had to. All of the horrible stuff in this awful town would break anyone down, but you... you're still here, and you were able to come back to me. You've made friends that are able to help you more than I ever could. You are so strong, little brother -- so much more than you know." Ryuunosuke turned his gaze to the floor, but Momo knelt down to force herself into his gaze, a tearful smile on her face. "Strong, and kind, and intelligent, and so many other things that I wish you could see."

Momo looked away, her smile replaced with a look of shame. "I don't know when we grew apart," Momo said. Ryuunosuke's eyes widened, but Momo continued on past his shuddering breath, the fresh streaks of moisture running down her cheeks. "And I can't understand, really, what happened to make you like this. I'm sorry that I haven't been able to do anything to help you, but... Even if you can't talk to me about it now, I'll wait as long as you need. I want you to know that I love you, little brother. No matter how many horrible things happen and even if you never talk to me again, I will always love you."

Momo leaned forward, wrapping Ryuunosuke into another hug. "I'm so proud of you, Ryuunosuke. You deserve so much more."



Finally, they discussed everything. It wasn't that day, and it wasn't even a week after, but one night, he stumbled into her apartment building, covered in bruises and face strewn with sorrow.

Momo let him inside. They sat on the sofa, and it all came out: the way he had been treated at school, the way his parents had treated him, his persona's awakening. Aya Shikyo, Hotaru Nishikawa, Aleksandria Fyodoor. The time he had spent as an enforcer, his relationship with his mentor, and the way she had died in a cold, dark cave and he'd been able to do nothing about it. His helplessness in Tokyo, his attempt at suicide, and the accidental wounds he'd inflicted on their parents in the process. His return to Nagashima, the way he'd lied to her about so many things, the way he felt every day.

How he could barely get out of bed in the morning, how hard it was to fall asleep, how fighting in the ruins could make him feel again.

He talked about what had just happened: the incident with Kitano, the way Joe had reacted, his meeting with Anastasia. He apologized - he apologized so many times, apologized for things he hadn't done and for things that weren't his fault.

Momo pulled Ryuunosuke into a hug. "No more apologies, Ryuunosuke. It's okay." She patted his back. "Let's try and fix this."
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