Family

Chapter twelve: Enemies or Brothers?

Lui and Shu walked into the wbba building, where Aiger, Valt, Free, Wakiya, Rantaro, Daigo, Zac, Xander, Silas, Dante, and Delta were already seated.

Lui sat in the corner chair and propped his feet on the long table in between them.

"Get your feet off the table," Shu hissed. "You're setting a bad example."

"I don't care," Lui retorted. "Setting examples is your job."

Shu groaned and took a sip of the coffee he had stubbornly brought.

"So." A voice rang out. "He beat Valt."

All the bladers looked towards the source of the voice, which had come from Aiger Akabane, the current World Champion.

"We know he beat Valt. All of us watched the match," Lui said with a sarcastic tinge to his voice.

"It's not like beating Valt is impossible. I mean, I did it." Aiger said.

"It's not impossible, but it's hard," Rantaro piped up.

"Yeah, but the kid's a genius. Who coaches him?" Wakiya asked.

"Dunno..." Daigo said.

"I know," Valt said quietly. He hadn't spoken much and was still shaken up from yesterday's battle.

"Who?" Shu asked urgently. "If we can get a hold of them, maybe we can find out more about Akuma."

Valt let out a short laugh. "He doesn't just have one coach, he has three."

"Three? Who?" Xander asked.

"Theodore Glass, Phi, and Arthur Peregrine," Valt said emotionlessly.

Shu visibly flinched at the mention of Theodore.

Aiger tensed up when he heard "Phi."

Dante's face turned serious when he heard the name "Arthur."

"Oh, and team HELL is helping him," Valt added.

Lui snorted. "All the people you just listed are pathetic. They're not good bladers. Not even close. I don't know why you guys are so scared."

"Shut up, Lui," Shu said.

"Excuse me?"

"I said shut up. You don't know anything, so just shut the hell up."

"I'm trying to help, Shu. Or else I wouldn't even be here."

"Well, you're not helping, so you can go ahead and leave."

Lui seemed to have hit a nerve.

"Why are you so pissed off? What did I even do?"

"Let's think, shall we? Well, for starters, you scarred my eye," Shu said, sickeningly sweet.

"I thought I apologized for that!"

"WELL, IT WASN'T ENOUGH! DO YOU KNOW HOW HURT I WAS AFTER THAT?" Shu stood up, angry that Lui was taking this so lightly.

Lui stood up too, finally triggered. "YOU WERE HURT? HAVE YOU EVEN BOTHERED TO LISTEN TO MY SIDE OF THE STORY?!"

"YOUR SIDE OF THE STORY? DID YOU END UP WITH A PERMANENT SCAR?" Shu demanded.

Lui had had enough. Fuming, he simply pulled down his hoodie sleeve to reveal a mess of scars all along his wrist area. "DO YOU KNOW HOW HORRIFIED I WAS AFTER I GAVE YOU THAT SCAR? I THOUGHT I WAS A MONSTER. I THOUGHT I DIDN'T DESERVE TO LIVE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE GUILT YOU FEEL AFTER CUTTING SOMEONE'S EYE OPEN?!"

Shu said nothing, simply gaped at Lui.

"Heh. That's what I thought," Lui said. "I was so close to committing suicide, but I stopped myself and told myself you weren't worth it. And honestly, I'm glad I did. Because you know what, Shu Kurenai? You're selfish. You only care about your scar, your friends, your life, your time as Red Eye. You don't even bother to listen to other people, and you've spent the last five years wallowing in your own self-pity. It's pathetic. I regret ever regretting anything. Truth be told, I'm glad I scarred your freaking eye."

And with that, he stormed out of the room, fist clenched at his sides.

It was silent. All the bladers simply gaped at the empty space where Lui once was.

Shu stared too. Then he spun on his heel and ran out of the room, a strangled sob escaping his lips. 

It was silent until Wakiya took charge. "The meeting is adjourned. We'll discuss this later."

And as everyone went home silently, they could only wonder: were Shu and Lui brothers...or were they still bitter enemies?