Promises of the Faithful

Chapter 9: Oniisan

"I'm sorry..." She turned to look at him just as he turned to look right at her. "I'm sorry.. i was just.. i lost it.. i'm sorry, Tomoya.."

She blinked a few times before a small smile crept onto her lips and she sat herself next to him on the ground, facing the stone infront of them. "It's okay. We all have our bad days. So, what's wrong?"

He stared at the row of tombstones infront of them. "I miss them... Mom, dad, oniichan..." He took a deep breathe in and continued, "I miss mom's hugs and the jerseys she knitted me, dad's stories that he told me while i sat on his lap and oniichan... he taught me how to be a good vampire."

"Ichirou.." she reached out to hold his hand but he moved it away without looking at her. She drew back, "I know you miss them, but it's already been 5 years... you need to let the-"

"Rule no. 1" He rubbed his eyes that were brimming with tears, "Family comes first." Tomoya was getting worried as his voice was getting softer and higher in pitch, "He... They.. they were all good vampires... they...THEY GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR ME! And i couldn't do anything!" He was crying now and Tomoya shuffled behind him and wrapped her arms around him, cooing softly.

"I-i'm... such a bad.. .vampire.." he said in a shaking and breaking voice, "All i could do was watch them protect me! I couldn't do anything...." Ichirou leaned forward with his head against the Tombstone of his brother's, banging on it repeatedly.

"Oniisan....! I'm sorry! I failed you! I .. I couldn't do anything for you! And now that you're... down there.." He gripped the soil of his grave with heaving gasps of breathe, destroying a small flower in the process, "ALL I CAN DO IS CRY!"

Tomoya wanted to cry too, hearing her beat friend mourn and cry more than she'd ever seen. She knew he had been holding it in since the funeral, but she didn't know he was holding in so much. "Ichirou...I-"

"I want to see you again! I want you to scold me like you do! Teach me about our family! Make me a better vampire!" Tears darked the dirt beneath them as he continued to cry and shout, "I miss the times when you made fun of my blue hair when everyone else had red. I miss you attacking me everytime i came home from school with your warm, affectionate hugs. I miss you always ratting everything about me to dad and getting me in trouble. I miss you stealing my ice cream and arguing with me over the TV remote..." he took a shaky breathe in as he prepared to shout.

"Oniisan! I miss you!"

His head was in the earth as he clawed at it helplessly while vigorous sobs ravaged through his body. Poor Tomoya could only sit  watching him as rain began to fall. She got up, knowing that he wouldn't notice her absense, and brought back a fallen palm leaf to shield them from the rain like an umbrella. 

**

They'd been sitting in the rain for about an hour or two with only silence over them. Occasionally, she would hear Ichirou sniff, but otherwise, nothing else. She sat there, watching him with his head in the dirt, against the tombstone. She knew his brother was the closest to him of his entire family. Even Misa couldn't get between them. 

Noticing that he'd stopped sniffing, she tugged gently on his black jacket that was his brothers last birthday present to him. "Ichirou.." she murmured, "It's time to go home..."

When he didn't respond, she pulled him harder and it then struck her that he has fallen a sleep. "ichirou?! You BAKA!" she shouted, but even after all her shouting and even after a few whacks, he continued sleeping soundly against the cold stone. She gave up and hugged his warm body close to her as she put her back against the tomb stone, "Katarou Oniisan..." she murmured, breathing out clouds of steam, "Don't worry. Sleep well... I'll... take care of Ichirou...I promise"

There was a sudden change in wind and the rain diminished to a drizzle and then stopped. At that moment, Ichirou woke up, rubbing the sleep and tears out of his eyes. "Oniisan is sleeping well." he said hugging her close, "He told me... right now.." 

Tomoya couldn't help smile slightly and quietly, she whispered, "Sleep well, Oniisan. "

"Did you say something?" he looked up at her and, when she shook her head, sighed moving the palm leaf away to look at the grey-blue sky. "You know, i come here everytime i miss them. I end up falling asleep and Misa gets worried." he chuckled patting the tomb stone, "But then i tell her, i'm only visitng Oniisan."

Tomoya felt a wave of sadness come over her. Was it because of how sad he really was? Or maybe tha fact that she couldn'd do anything? Or was it because of how everything had been terrible for Ichirou and now here he was, trying to laugh again?

"Tomoya?" Her focus snapped back to him as he looked up at her, "Can you promise me something?"

"What is it?" she asked looking at him curiously as she felt him tighten his hug around her.

"Can you promise to always be together with me, like how we are now? .. please?" His eyes were big, round and begging. His warm embrace was comforting and sad at the same time, but they did not influence her choice. 

She took his hand and pulled out his pinkie and wounded hers around his, before saying

"I promise."

two the right is a cute pic of Ichirou and is brother Katarou ;_; sssshhh... i'm not upset or anything... you're just seeing weird stuff!