"Hm? What's this?" Natsumi held a halted stare while her eyes rested upon her younger Brother.
"Can we get it?" Ren raised his hands pressing a large tub of ice cream into Natsumi's chest. Natsumi stared at it for a moment before glancing down the aisle "Um..." Natsumi's voice trailed while she looked around in silence.
"How much is it?" Natsumi finally blurted, her attention immediately was drawn back to Ren only to notice his uncertain stare. With a small tilt of her head Natsumi drew herself closer "Ren, how much is it?" Natsumi repeated.
Ren's face dropped and he pointed towards the end of the aisle "I dunno, I just got it from over there." Natsumi let out a soft sigh before taking the child's hand and walking in the direction he was pointing.
It only took a couple of step for Natsumi to get close enough to read the price tag. Natsumi's stare eventually transformed into a subtle frown "Ren I..." Natsumi's words stopped when she glanced over at him. Ren had already sunk his head into his jacket trying to mask his disappointment.
"..." Natsumi bit down on her lip before looking away redirecting her stares onto her shopping basket. Inside of the basket were a plethora of simple items, ranging from trash bags to canned foods. Natsumi's eyes finally narrowed on a box of hair dye, something she bought quite often.
Natsumi once again sighed looking down at her unkempt hair which matched her disheveled appearance.
"..." Natsumi looked back at the box of dye before looking back at her long locks, faint blue streaks were becoming more visible day by day. But finally after some contemplation Natsumi tossed the box onto the shelf and shoved the tub into her basket.
"Only after dinner alright?" Natsumi's gaze softened when her eyes once again fell upon Ren. In a quick flash Ren's frown faded blossoming into a bright smile. Natsumi couldn't help but feel her heart grow at ease in seeing Ren's smile.
All the choices that she had made, all the things she had done, and all the things she has worked for seemed worth it if it lead to Ren's happiness. Natsumi reached out for him slowly only to hesitate midway, Natsumi's smile waned becoming cloaked in an unknown sadness.
"Ren..."
After hearing his name Ren looked over, only to be met with Natsumi's hollow eyes. It was a look Ren had seen on Natsumi a handful of times, although he wasn't entirely sure why. Natsumi's stares always seemed distant, as if she was constantly staring into the past.
Ren lightly tilted his head still carrying his innocent smile "Yes?"
"..." Ren always felt the way Natsumi stared at him was odd, although never malicious there wasn't a single time that Natsumi seemed genuinely happy. After awhile Natsumi smiled at him carrying her usual regretful stare "Nevermind, its nothing." Natsumi then gently caressed Ren's head ruffling his hair in the process.
The way Natsumi always acted around Ren was a bit different compared to most siblings. Most of the actions she took seemed more Motherly than sisterly, which was something most people noticed when seeing them in public.
"Lets go home." Natsumi said softly before directing him towards the exit.
"Okay-" Before Ren could even finish something in the distance caught his eye. Ren noticed a man wearing a skin tight costume in the distance. The man's appearance was a bit odd, his costume resembled Erica's having a layer of scales along the entire body that were colored blue. Although unlike Erica's his gloves had a long black webbing resembling a fish's dorsal fin. The Hero's face was a bit oddly shaped, being a bit flat similar to a flounder, his hair was messy having strands of seaweed entangled with it.
"Ah~" Ren let out a sharp gasp that immediately grabbed the attention of Natsumi. "That's Azure Fist!" Ren immediately yelped, and before Natsumi could even react Ren burst forward running towards Azure Fist.
"Wait Ren!" Natsumi reached out for him, but Ren was just barely out of her reach.
Within a matter of seconds a small crowd formed around Azure Fist, causing Natsumi to lose track of Ren.
Natsumi let out a cautious sigh before looking around rapidly, she obviously knew the general area in where he was, but finding him within a slew of kids was proving to be rather difficult.
"Ren, we have to go..." Natsumi called out while simultaneously noticing a bundle of blue hair in the crowd. Natsumi's face hardened when she stepped forward, shoving quite a few people away before getting to Ren.
"Ren." Natsumi muttered grabbing ahold of his shoulder, she didn't raise her voice at all but you could tell Natsumi's tone had changed "Do not, run away from me. This store is really big you could easily get lost."
"But-" Ren was immediately cut off by Natsumi who grabbed ahold of his hand tightly "No buts, we are going home now." As Ren's smile faded, the more confused he became about Natsumi's sudden shift. After all she seemed completely calm a few minutes prior. The only times he recalled her ever getting anxious like this, was around heroes, although he never was sure why.
"Ma'am would you and your son like a picture?" Azure fist asked, noticing that they were closest to him in the swarmed crowd. Natsumi didn't respond for a moment, instead only gripped Ren's hand tighter. Suddenly she lifted up Ren picking him up almost like a baby, before slowly stepping away "No thank you, we actually have to head home as soon as possible."
"Alright then?" Azure Fist muttered in a slightly confused tone, before looking away refocusing his attention on the crowd of people before him.
"Natsu?" Ren looked up at his sister only to see her wearing an tense stare.
In all the years I lived with my Sister I never once questioned the way we lived.
But during that time there was a feeling I couldn't shake no matter how many years that passed...
...That Natsumi was hiding from someone.
*****
"Hey this is Natsumi, I'm sorry I'm not at the phone right now but I'll try to return the call as soon as possible..."
Natsumi's voice danced through the wind like a melody, as Ren lowered his phone choosing not to leave a voicemail. At this point he was sure that her voicemail box was filled with messages from himself alone.
Ren slowly raised his head to stare off at the distant sunset, the orange light conjured by it glared off his face causing his skin to appear brighter than usual. "How long has it been..?" This was a question that had been on his mind for awhile, and after Nyssa being gone as well as Erica, and even seeing this situation play out with Suzume. Family was the most important thing on Ren's mind.
"Am I asking for too much?" Ren's stare grew more defeated, the longer he remained in his thoughts "I just want to know if you are okay..."
Even though their relationship was close, Ren normally didn't worry about his sister. He knew full well that Natsumi was more than capable of taking care of herself. Although due to her tendencies, he expected she would run into some trouble here and there. But even when in trouble Natsumi always had a way of getting out of it.
But this time was different, it had been a couple of months since they last spoke. Natsumi wasn't necessarily one to willingly avoid contact with him, especially since she has been overprotective of him for as long as Ren could remember.
"...Where are you Natsumi?"
Ren immediately cleared out of his thoughts once he heard the sound of a steel door closing behind him. Ren slightly turned his head, feeling the warmth of the sleeping sun brush against him.
"Its becoming more and more rare to see you in a good mood." Dustin joked. Ren half smiled at this, seeing Dustin always made Ren feel at ease. His light hearted attitude, usually made Ren become accumulated to tense situations a lot more easier.
Ren turned his head, facing away from Dustin and back at the sun again "How's Suzume?"
The sun's glares reflected off of Dustin's glasses making it difficult to even read his expression. Dustin stared off at Ren immediately noticing, how distant he was compared to normal "Well she was pretty battered..." Dustin admitted, before taking a couple steps forward "She has some injuries but none too serious, in fact the doctor thinks she will be fully recovered in a couple days."
"That's good..." It was the most cheerful Ren had sounded in the last few days, and even then a bit of sorrow could still be sensed in his voice.
Dustin took a few steps forward before stopping, even then Ren didn't turn his head towards him. Dustin gulped awkwardly before placing his hands in his pockets and rocking in place "What about you?" Dustin finally asked "How are you feeling?"
It had been a few days since Suzume had arrived at the hospital with a solution for a cure. No one expected that her blood would be a solution in dealing with the dragon lily poisoning, but after being transferred it didn't take long for the effects to no longer be present on Ren.
"I feel..." Ren bit down on his words, momentarily contemplating to even say them "I feel much better."
Dustin stepped forward again, as an attempt to close the distance between both him and Ren "You sure?" Dustin questioned "You were looking pretty bad before..." Dustin spoke with a bit of fear in his voice, not necessarily due to the current situation, but because of thinking back to how badly Ren's body reacted to the poison.
Like before Ren didn't speak instead he simply stared off at the sun in the distance, causing Dustin's worries to steadily skyrocket.
Without wasting anymore time Dustin fully stepped forward completely ignoring the distance between them, choosing to approach his side "Yo Ren whats..."Dustin's words immediately stopped once he laid his eyes on Ren's face.
Not only did Ren look completely miserable but the pleasant smile that Ren was known for was nowhere to be seen. Instead occupied by a deep frown stained in sorrow. Ren's eyes were reddened with tears, and even the color of his hair wasn't nearly as bright as before. In fact quite a few white streaks were present within it.
Initially Dustin was taken aback by this, unable to form words to explain what he wanted to say. So with a simple gesture Dustin turned away unable to face his friend. It was a moment of weakness on his behalf, Dustin had spent so much time being helped by people now that it was his turn to help someone else he couldn't help but feel a bit stumped.
Dustin's attention flickered to his hair, eyeing it for a moment as his thoughts raced "Did his body not heal correctly...?"
With a slow turn Ren edged away from Dustin, and leaned against the railing staring down at the rows of cars in the streets. "Sometimes I wonder if I was only born into this world to bring misery to those in it."
"What...?" Dustin soon turned his head to stare at Ren who held a straight face. It was hard to listen to Ren speak in such away, especially since it was his words that have kept him going "Ren..." Dustin fumbled on his words again "Why would you say something like that?"
Ren took a deep breath before raising his head "I can't help but think it...all of these things, all of these horrible things have happened because of me."
"Nyssa would have still been here if I had arrived at her school a little bit sooner..."
"Natsumi's life wouldn't be nearly as hard if she wasn't raising me..."
"Suzume wouldn't have gotten beaten so badly if it wasn't because of her training me..."
"And Erica's life wouldn't be so miserable if it wasn't for the promise she made to my..." Ren stopped midway immediately realizing that he nearly slipped up. Ren raised his hand over his mouth before speaking in his usual soft tone.
Dustin raised a brow to this before looking around slowly "You really don't see it do you?"
Ren gave him a questionable stare "See what exactly?"
Dustin shook his head before scoffing and removing his glasses "A lot of our lives have gotten better because you were around." Dustin admitted. Dustin tilted his head somewhat, immediately reading the level of disbelief present on Ren's face.
"I can tell you don't believe me..." Dustin awkwardly laughed "But trust me, I am really happy someone like you came into my life." Dustin then lowered his head, lightly staring at his glasses "I didn't have any friends before you came along." Dustin raised his head "Even though I am the chairman's son, not that many people talked to me. Most of them found me weird or they simply didn't acknowledge me because I wasn't born with a particularly powerful ability."
Dustin then slowly rubbed his arms "In fact most of the time I kinda just got my ass beat..."
Ren's face cleared as he cued in on Dustin's story, remembering that the first time they met Dustin was getting beaten up by some delinquent from their school. "How many times was he getting bullied before that..."
"But you saved me from that." Dustin lightly smiled. "And with Suzume, even though I told you not to get involved with the Fumiko's you did and ended up saving her from Sayuri."
"And even in the cases of Erica, although I was never close to her Erica never seemed all too thrilled until you came along. In fact I have never seen her smile as much as when she's around you, and I am sure Nyssa and your sister are the same way..."
Dustin clenched his hand, as a soft smile formed on his face. The sun's rays began to blur producing an orange light that masked Dustin in an angelic glow "Ren, you may think your existence has brought nothing but misery, but you couldn't be more wrong."
"Since coming here you have done nothing but brought people, closer to each other and made people happier than ever before, its for that reason alone that I am happy to be your best friend." Dustin then raised his glasses and readjusted them over his face "It's also because of that reason that you're..."
"...My hero."
"And I am sure Suzume feels that way as well." Dustin then rubbed his arms, seeming a nervous habit he had "So if possible, please stop thinking that your only point in living is to bring misery upon others, because its quite the opposite. Its because of your existence that a lot of us, have the desire to continue moving forward."
Dustin then raised his hand and placed it on Ren's shoulder "So please, let me and Suzume shoulder that burden along with you."
"..." Ren found himself smiling after hearing Dustin's words. It was hard not to be moved, especially after hearing words spoken directly from the heart. With a subtle gesture Ren moved his hand grasping onto Dustin's shoulder along with a slight nod.
"Lets continue forward, together."
*****
Meanwhile, while the situation with Sayuri was going on elsewhere an incident was about to transpire that would lead to an event that would shake the entire world.
"What is that?"
Erica slightly raised her head to see a blue light in the distance. Erica's expression didn't change at all, even after seeing the light she continued to stare at it with eyes of familiarity and eyes of regret.
"Erica? Have you been here before?" Ruriko asked, looking back at Erica in the backseat with a curious stare.
Once the van came to a stop Erica shifted her bangs, allowing her frown to deepen into an pleasant scowl. "I have, a long time ago..."
With a small nudge Erica pushed open the door sliding out to stare off at the spectacle occurring in the distance. Ruriko quickly followed after Erica wearing a stare of awe.
"Looks like we are finally here..." Erica turned her head towards Ruriko, not surprised by Ruriko's abrasive stare "Welcome to the City of Ash."
Erica turned her head back to face the city, or what was left of it. The roads and buildings (Or what was left of them) had all been painted an ashen gray. Cracks in the road produced a faint blue light, that flames erupted from making the city look as if it been taken out by a volcano eruption.
In the roads of the city stood skeletons of people still standing in place as if time had stopped. As well as people who had been welded into the sides of buildings.
The air was heavy of ash, as well as the smell of burning flesh a horrible odor that hadn't vanished from this place in almost 16 years.
"I can't believe..." For the first time in her life Ruriko was unable to say anything "I thought the rumors about this place were lies or people over exaggerating..." Ruriko covered her mouth immediately feeling the desire to vomit just from the smell alone "This place is a lot worse than what people said."
Erica let out a soft sigh "Yeah I know..."
A soft blue light reflected in Erica's eyes as she stared deep into the flames "After all this is the city that Sissy destroyed..."
Marionette Saga: Part 2 Begins
Chapter End