3rd POV
The more days passed, the sooner the dreaded departure of the eldest Creed brother for Tokyo would arrive. Make no mistake, he wouldn't be going alone by any means. His loving parents as well as his adorable little sister would be there to keep him company, but their presence was far from guaranteeing no mood swings for the teen, especially with his extended family around. But before that day can arrive, there's a few stops he'd have to make against his will. Primarily, the clothing store.
You'd be a fool to think the eldest was a suit and tie kind of guy. I mean, last time, his own mother had to force him to wear one for dancing practice, and that was when his mood was still in good condition, in the company of the rescued Valkyrie. Do you think he'd agree to it again just as easily if the proposal came from one side of the family he hates?
Well, you're right, neither Cecilia nor Lara are yet truly part of his family, but you get the idea. Apparently the usual street punk attire of the teen would not cut it before his voyage begins. Therefore, you have the one teenager pushed around by 4 women through numerous high class clothing stores.
{I'd take another 100 thousand deaths over this right now...}, He thought to himself, before being dragged further along by his Aunt to move along. The again, he's the only one who could probably shrug said number of deaths off. To put salt on the wound, his sister stayed back home with his Dad, being sparred from this nuisance, but also leaving him alone in his annoyance.
"Can't we just buy directly in Tokyo? This seems more like time wasted.", he finally voiced some of his complaints.
"How innocent of you to think you'll have the time to do so once we arrive. Do you have any idea how many events you'd have to attend before the actual reunion?", Lara shot back, without even meeting his gaze.
She seemed even more on edge than Cecilia lately, as this whole reunion only brought back memories she wished she didn't have to recall.
"And before you raise another question, you'll attend them because for the past 2 years or so, you might as well not have been part of this family!", she continued.
In this regard, she was absolutely right. And to begin with, the boy had no intention to deny that he has distanced himself from anything that meant Abstergo or the business world once he got some grasp over his condition. He had to get the other 3 under control, and that left no time for fancy parties of the rich.
"Hmph. As if it would have changed anything if I attended."
"It would, at the very least, make you seem more responsible. It seems 2 years later, you still lack any sense of maturity in you."
Scarlett, Cecilia and Aina remained quiet. 2 of them contemplating about the maturity he couldn't publicly display, regarding the horseman. The third one recalled the last conversation she had with Leon, where she seemed to have stepped on a proverbial land mine at some point.
{Too bad maturity for you means kissing the ass of someone!}, He wanted to lash out, but restrained himself. Now that he was rested, he seemed to have regained some long lost patience from 5 years ago. That's not say his fatigue was completely vanquished, but it was a start.
"Just choose a god damn store already...", he quietly mumbled. And for once the girl actually took heed of his words. Not out of pure willingness, surely. She too took no pleasure in chaperoning the punk, especially since she's been forced into the position of secretary now that the previous part timer quit inexplicably.
After all, Leon couldn't just casually tell her the part timer was actually a devil sent to keep tabs on him, right? She'd all it nonsense in the blink of an eye. But alas, that was the truth.
Once inside, the 4 women split momentarily to each get a material of clothing they deemed fitting, leaving the boy unattended near the entrance.
{Why don't you just try them suits on yourselves and give it to me later? You certainly don't seem to care about what I think of them...}
Though he didn't exclude the fact he'd probably say no to all of them out of spite. He wasn't that moral of a person as to not be petty.
Alas, no choice but patiently wait till his time to play dress-up comes along. With a bit of luck, he'd get to choose one at random and leave as fast as possible. Maybe even avoiding any encounters with people who recognize him from school.
"Creed?"
{Never fucking mind!}
Snapping his head towards the exist, he was greeted with, perhaps, the last people he'd wish meet right now.
{It just had to be Issei's friends...}
"So it is you!", they both raised their voices upon conformation. Why the seemed so happy? A mystery till this day.
"What the hell are you 2 doing at the mall? They don't sell porn mags to high schoolers.", the red head rolled his eyes.
"Why is that the first thing you assume of us, senpai!", Motohama, the one with the glasses, seemed hurt.
"I don't think for a second you're unaware of your own reputation on school grounds."
"That doesn't mean you have to drive the nail in. You're a guy just like us, right?", Matsuda continued for his friend.
"I'll gladly identify as anything else on the gender spectrum if it means disassociating from you 2."
"Tch. Another traitor. You're no better than Issei who betrayed to go on summer vacation with the Occult Club. All alone with school idols...."
A bit more and tears would start flowing from their eyes. Just how desperate could some people get.
{If you knew he almost bit the dust, I don't think you'd be as envious anymore. Then again... They're the real winners for living oblivious to the dangers of the world...}
"That aside, why are you hanging out alone, in a fancy clothing store nonetheless? You want to impress a girl by any chance, senpai?", Matsuda said the last part mockingly. Perhaps the fact this vacation was spent outside of Bruce's perimeter gave them courage. Well not for long. By the time he arrives in Tokyo, the blond will be back in Kuoh.
"Oh, believe me, getting out of here is the thing I want the most right now. Too bad that someone-"
"Leon. Get over here! There's things you have to probe!"
" - doesn't want let me enjoy my summer..."
{I swear, she did that on purpose...}
"What's taking you so long?"
Lara, of all people, made her presence and appearance known to 2 of the perverted trio. You can guess the reaction that warranted, right?
"Woah! Senpai, you're really trying your luck with older women, don't you? Is that your preference?", One of them whispered.
{I'd hang myself again before I entertain the idea of dating Lara.}
Said woman stepped close enough to see the other 2 highschool students, correctly guessing they must be from the same institution. Needles to say, the faces of those 2 at the moment weren't exactly pleasant.
"Friends of your from school?", she question mockingly, but the boy had no desire to entertain her.
"Only after the sun explodes."
He walked past her and towards the probing rooms to get this over with. She did follow suit, but only grimacing at the rather repulsive facial expressions of his underclassmen.
Upon reaching said room, he was met with a pile of clothes, prepared by all 4 women of his entourage of today.
"Knowing you, mom, I can't just choose one randomly and be done with it, right?"
"You know me so well, son.", she smiled, but her son was not feeling happy. Aina's muffled laugh only added insult to injury.
"Sigh... let's get this over with.", He hung his head low. How low the mighty have fallen, am i right?
He moved the curtain, tossed the pile of clothes inside and stepped. The only one who actually stepped to help him manage the mountain of fabric was his aunt. Rather, she was the only one allowed of the 3 that tried.
"I'm trying to help you!", Lara was the first to voice her opinions once more, as the one other person who wanted this to end as soon as possible.
"You'd help a lot more by staying outside.", he didn't budge. Not this time.
"Sigh...why do you insist on being difficult, Leon? We want to get this over with just like you. Or are you suggesting I want to peek at you by any chance? Cause that's gross, as I'm your cousin's fiancee."
Cecilia, albeit less prone to outburst, found that particular possibility disgusting. She only had eyes for Edward after all.
"Ok. What's enough is enough. First, i don't give a damn about your romantic life of preferences in the slightest. Get over yourself. And second, you're not getting in cause I don't trust you enough, so go drink some coffee while I finish.", He motioned toward the nearby food court.
"You absolutely insufferable brat! What trust is necessary in picking some god forsaken clothes?!", the youngest sister stormed off.
"Lara, wait!", the eldest follow suit.
{Finally, the some piece and quiet.}
The boy retreated inside the cabin and started removing his jacket.
"Don't you think that was excessive? I know you don't get along, but they're just trying to help you."
His Aunt's heart was in the right place. The boy didn't doubt that for a second. Unfortunately, just like his Mom once had to learn the truth...
"It's not about what they intend to do.", He moved onto his shirt, slowly pulling it upwards. "It's about what I can and can't reveal about myself..."
Once the shirt fully came off, with the curtain fully extended, his Aunt got a glimpse of what she wanted to inquire about a few day earlier.
"There's simply no believable way to explain these to either Lara or her sister.", He looked at his aunt with the corner of his eye, as she purposely covered her mouth to avoid making any suspicious sounds.
The scars upon first glance do look horrifying, but when one takes into account that Death's abilities could heal without a sign left most regular wounds, this puts into the perspective just how powerful the attacks that left these were. After all, it's not Impossible to leave visible damage on Death's body. It just takes a special kind of effort and strength to do so.
"I..."
"I don't want to hear any 'i am so sorry' from you either. Had enough of people's pity when I woke up as it is.", the red head continued.
"... I had avoided the topic in Anna's presence, but... this is far worse than I imagined. What about the ones when you di-"
"I'd like to not talk about that anymore.", the boy swiftly rejected the topic, after glancing at his mother. "What's done is done, and nothing would have went differently had you knew about it beforehand. Let it go."
It pained him to be cold towards the part of his family he held dear. But he knew better than anyone that they have the predisposition to blame themselves for things they shouldn't.
"Did...did any of those scars come from your siblings?", His mother hardened herself to ask at least that much. She wanted to at least get a feeling of what it took to make her sons wake up... should she maybe have to that herself.
The boy stood quiet for a minute, to assess the question. To debate whether he should even answer. Alas, he did promise to his brothers he'd be more truthful.
"These...", He pointed to past bullet holes on his lower and mid back "...are from Bruce. The ones on my upper back and shoulder blades are from Desmond's whip. And this-", he finally turned to face the 2 women. "- is from Jason's fist."
The one on the front, as most people could make out, implied a hand travelling through the body. And for that to be Jason's hand of all things...it implies what would otherwise surely kill even an archangel.
"...there are a few others left by other people, but those aren't concerning to you..."
{Most of them are from back when I was too stupid to wield those powers properly anyway...}
To accumulate as many scars as a war veteran in just 5 years and yet still not even 20 years old is certainly not something to admire or be proud of. In fact, he never once thought of these as souvenirs or reminders of how far he's comes...like some people choose to. Their only meaning to the man who bears them is that of proof that he was, at some point, responsible for something far beyond his means, but even so, he didn't slack off.
"That's enough reminiscence. Let's get on with that we started.", he put on the the first shirt of many, with a big pile ahead of him.
The 2 woman didn't say a word while assisting him, just handed him or picked up garments from him when necessary. But their eyes would always drift towards one or more of the scars. Unbeknownst to the teen, both of their thoughts drifted towards the last person they ever recall being close to, if not as injured at a fairly young age... Samuel Mercer.
{Hopefully, he won't walk the same path of self destruction as your best friend, father.}, Scarlett made a silent prayer.
...Too bad God has long since departed from this cruel world...
{Looking back on it...maybe I should have shown these to everyone from the beginning... would have saved me a lot of headaches... Still...}
{No point in a corpse thinking of useless things now.}
To be continued...