Chasing Dreams (Dropped)

Chapter 148: The End Is Near (1)

"Suzume." Arthur called, "That's enough." Suzume looked to him with cold eyes, eyes cold enough to freeze winter. "No, it's not it'll never be enough." In contrast to Suzume's, Arthur's eyes were warm and calm like a river stream. "Is that so?" he questioned, "If so then why do you continue to hit her?" Arthur waited patiently for an answer, but Suzume said nothing and only looked away with hate.

"Tell me Suzume, why do you continue to hit her despite knowing nothing will come of it?" Arthur stepped forward, closing the gap between the two of them. "You already said it yourself it won't ever be enough. There is no amount of pain you can bring her that will be able to replicate the amount of pain Ren suffered."

"So why do it?" Arthur asked, this time noticing a familiar look in Suzume's eye. The same look he saw in Ryota a few weeks back. "It won't change what happened. It won't erase the past. So why do it?"

"Because I'm angry." Suzume's answer was short and sweet "Seeing her face pisses me off." Suzume's response brought a veil of confusion on Arthur's face, but Suzume continued. "You don't understand what it's like, you never saw the things that I did, and you were never there to hear them."

"For as long as I've known him Renji has always told me stories about Natsumi. The sweet sister that raised him from when he was young all the way up until now." Suzume looked to Natsumi, staring at her with an unchanging look, fiery hate that could never be put out. "He'd tell me so many things, amazing things, things that I couldn't believe. How you'd defend him from the gangs in your neighborhood. How you'd read him stories when he was young. How you'd always find a way to provide him lunch even if it meant you had to go without food for awhile."

Suzume felt her anger boil at her throat, causing her to clench her jaw, hesitant to let it all out. "You were his Hero. Someone he loved. Someone he looked up to. And all you've done is betray his trust." Natsumi's head sunk as if diving beneath waves. "You abandoned him when he needed you most, and I'll never forgive you for that."

"I understand but-"

"Do you?" Suzume questioned, turning her gaze towards Arthur. "What do you understand? You can't tell me you understand how I feel... how Ren feels. Do you know how it feels to be betrayed by the only person in your life who cared for you. Do you know how it feels to be abandoned by the one person you idolized?" Suzume lightly scoffed "You don't, you can't even come close to-"

"I do." Arthur's voice was as stiff as his stare. "I understand you quite well. All too well actually." Arthur traded glances with his peers, the people he had known for most of his heroic life. "But first I would like to ask you one question. Suzume, do you believe it is right to judge someone while remaining ignorant?"

Suzume's anger vanished for a moment, "Ignorant?" Her passion soon returned. "Are you calling me ignorant?"

"With no ill will." Arthur sweetly replied, "Igornance is inevitable, it is not your fault or anyone else's that the world has been crafted to hide the truth. To prevent those who wish to spread change to be unable to do it." Arthur slowly walked past Suzume reaching for Natsumi, gently bringing her up to her feet. "Suzume tell me, based on what you know the stories Ren has told you do you truly believe Natsumi would abandon Ren so easily? Abandon him without any sort of reasoning as of why."

Arthur waited for an answer but was met with silence. Suzume's cold stare continued to haunt him, but Arthur tried to ignore it with a warm smile. "I'll take your silence as a no. Which is fine, because I feel anyone who knows of Ren's bond with his sister would know something like that is unlikely." Arthur looked to Dustin and Olivia, who both looked just as bothered as Suzume. "Natsumi wouldn't abandon Ren, she isn't a dead beat and never has been. Everything she has done has been for Ren's sake even know she is risking everything for his sake."