With their fingers tightly interlocked with each other, hand-in-hand, the two brothers began making their way back home. With Ashura leading the way, Indra was left being dragged by his little brother through the dim forested path.
"Elder Brother, how were you even able to get that far? You can barely even see a thing.!"
"Actually, I can see! It's just that my vision is a little bit of a blurr!"
"Still, that literally means you can't clearly see yet, especially in the dark. It's dangerous out here, Brother."
"Seriously? Who's the older one among us?"
"Elder Brother, I'm serious!" Ashura irritatingly scolded as he twisted his head a bit to shoot a glare at his sibbling. "I highly appreciate you burying Shiro in his honor, but that doesn't mean you should step out of home so late at night with no way of defending yourself. That was very careless of you, Brother!"
"You're the one to talk about careless!"
"Brother!" The young brunette sneered, a red irk mark popping out of the back of his head.
However, in spite of all those annoying remarks Indra would not stop spitting out, Ashura couldn't help but quietly smile and chuckle, knowing that his once depressed and broken older brother now has the capability to joke, even if he was speaking in a low and monotone voice. It was still a working progress through the road of recovery, so all he could do was patiently wait for his older brother to make it to the end.
With his small smile still plastered across Ashura's lips, the two brothers continued on with their journey back home as they finally stepped out of the thick foilage of the trees.
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Dipping both his hands into a small wooden tub of water, young Ashura then proceeded to wash off the dirt that stuck to his older brother's hands. Whilst building the small makeshift memorial for the brave little puppy, Indra's hands were of course soiled in the process.
"Ashura, I basically digged your dog's grave in the dark and with a blurry vision. I even went through the trouble to find those flowers for him. And I did it all on my own!"
"Your point is?" Ashura asked, his eyes never taken away from his work.
"My point is I can wash my hands on my own!"
"Elder Brother..."
Raising his hand from out of the water, with both hands, Ashura then held it close to his face
"It's the least I can do for you, you have already done enough for tonight!"
Opening his mouth, Indra was about to say something. That's when suddenly, they heard a loud thundering crash that was soon followed by a piercing shattering noise coming from outside of their chamber. This startled the brothers and made them whip their heads to where they thought was the direction to where such thundering noise came from.
"Wait! It sounds like it's coming from..."
Looking at each other, horrific realization then appeared in both of their faces the very moment they found out what the older brunette was about to say. No more explanation was needed when the brothers immediately got up from their places and quickly got out of the room. As they swiftly sprinted through the hallways, Ashura had his hand around his older brother's wrist along the way, worrying that his vision was still poor and may end him up tripping on the floor.
Dragging their heels to a stop, the young brunette then quickly slid the doors to their destination open. The moment Ashura gazed upon what was within it, his eyes then suddenly widened in horrifying shock the moment they were met with an overturned table and what looks to be a very expensive flower vase that was now broken into large pieces, the apparent suspects of such noise. But what had actually shocked the brunette the most was the man on the floor, whom had one hand keeping himself from falling face first onto it while the other clutches on to his head.
"Father!"
The moment said man heard such familiar small voice, it made him turn his head to see, finding that it indeed belonged to his youngest son, whom was now standing in his chamber's open doors.
"Ashura, Indra!" The man exclaimed before letting out a pained groan.
Acting immediately, in spite of his still blurry vision, Indra had managed to quickly make his way by his father's side and hooked an arm around his very own.
"Father, what happened?! Are you alright?" Worriedly asked the long-haired brunette as he slowly but carefully helped the elderly man up back in his two feet.
"I'm fine, just a little dizzy!"
"Here, let's get you to your bed!"
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Pouring what looks to be green sencha tea into a small marble cup, Indra then placed down the kyusu teapot on the small table. Soon after, he then picked up the cup filled with steaming hot tea and gave it to his Father, whom was now sitting upright on his futon. Gladly taking the tea into his hands, Hagoromo then took a sip of the green tea.
"How are you feeling?" Indra asked as he comfortably rubbed his parent's back.
Drawing the cup away from his lips, Hagoromo then released a breath before replying "Quite better, thank you, both of you!"
As for the other son, he was now currently carrying the overturned table and placing it back to stand in it's place.
Spinning himself to face both his Father and brother, Ashura then curiously said "So Father, mind telling us what just happened earlier!"
"As I mentioned, I felt extremely dizzy. Far too much, I attempted to use the table as a form of support. I believe no explanation is needed to tell you what happened afterwards" he replied before taking in another sip of his tea.
He then let out a hum the moment he noticed this down look on his eldest son's face.
"Indra, what's with that face?"
With his head still hung low and his eyes starring down at his hands that sat neatly atop his lap, the long-haired brunette then spoke in a low tone "Tell me, it's all because you worked so hard to keep Krishna from dying, isn't it?"
Upon hearing this, it actually caught young Ashura's attention and made him lift his head from what he was doing, which was carefully picking up the large broken pieces of the now shattered flower vase. The young boy had this surprised expression stuck to his face as he watched the scene between his brother and father unfold from the sidelines.
"Yes!"
"Well then..."
It surprised both the elderly man and the boy when the older brunette lunged right at his father and embraced him, his arms tightly wrapped around the man's waist and his face buried in his chest. And thankfully, the sage had already finished tea before either a burning accident or another shattered breakable is in need to be cleaned.
"Thank you, thank you for saving her!"
How many times has his eldest son already surprised him like so? Far too many times to the point of frightening him so to speak. However, this boy was still his son, and he was able to fully recover from the shock. Surprisingly enough, a small smile appeared on Hagoromo's lips when he raised a hand and pet his eldest child's head.
"I have already mentioned this once, but I consider her as family, it's a natural instinct for me to do my uttermost duty take good care of all three of you."
Raising his head just so he could take a glimpse of his youngest son, he then raised his left arm and stretched it out wide open. It seems as though the young Ashura had received his father's silent message and it made his face gleam, a wide and bright smile appearing on his mouth. Immediately abandoning the shattered pieces of the flower vase, he then quickly got up from his place and ran towards his father, giving his father a big embrace as he did the same, wrapping his other arm around the younger boy.
"And once again, the idea of you children ending up separated from each other is quite unbearable for me. I'd rather see all three of you smile and laugh alongside each other than to see any one of you cry alone. That is why..."
Pulling his two sons away from him, he then looked them in the eye with the small smile gone and replaced by a serious look in his eyes.
This was towards his older son especially, he then released a deep breath before he began explaining "There is something important I need to tell you, especially for you, Indra. For what I am about to tell you is regarding you and about your eyes. So you two must carefully listen!"
The two brothers then turned to look at each other, bewilderment was written all over their faces before turning to look back at their father. The two brothers then slightly nodded in unison, signaling the older man that they are ready to listen to whatever the man was about to say.
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"Sharingan?"
"That's what those things in Elder Brother's eyes are called?"
"There are still a so many questions surrounding the Sharingan, for I was by far the only one who had awakened it, that's until you Indra. It seems my power over the Sharingan has passed down on to you." Averting his attention only towards his older son, he asked "Indra, I must ask, how did you awaken your Sharingan?"
Finding the very response for that question, the images of earlier's horrifying events then flashed throughout the older brunette's mind. Just by simply looking back at them, it made Indra tightly claw on to his sleeve out of the ever-growing anxiety perhaps.
Realizing what he had done, an apologetic look appeared on the sage's eyes when he spoke in a hushed tone "I deeply apologize, I shouldn't have-"
"No, it's fine!" Indra cut him off by simply stating. "If I'm going to know how this power works or how it came to be, we're going to need all the information we need to answer those questions."
"Brother..." Ashura worriedly whispered to himself, his eyes never taken away from the serious and complex expression on his face.
"Before I was even aware that my eyes had changed, I have been having this immense feeling of anger raging inside of me. Maybe it was all because that boar tried to harm Ashura."
As the information slowly processed into his mind, Hagoromo let out a hum as he quietly thought to himself, lightly stroking his beard as he did so.
"Whatever the case, it seems as though the experience of such powerful emotional condition, negative emotions rather brought on by stress had caused the brain to release a special form of chakra that affects the optic nerves, transforming the eyes into the Sharingan. Or so that's what my theory says."
"I see!" Indra spoke, his hand resting on his chin. "So does that explain why you're eyes are so?"
"Perhaps!"
"Wait a minute, hold on! Father, you mentioned that you once had this Sharingan thing, right? Does that basically mean Elder Brother's eyes would eventually turn into the same as yours?"
"As mentioned, there are still many mysteries surrounding the Sharingan, which means I am still not certain. However, what I do believe is that Indra's case is far more different from mine."
"What do you mean?"
Tucking both his hands from within his sleeves, he then thoroughly explained "My point is that unlike mine, it seems Indra's eyes are able to activate and deactivate at will."
"Oh, so that explains why Brother's eyes are back again!"
"I'm not so sure about that!" Indra said as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "If it really were activated at my will, then from the looks if it, just like earlier, it can only be activated during specific occasions."
Soon after, he then felt a large hand resting atop his shoulder. Turning to see, he soom realized that it belonged to none other than his father himself.
"That is why starting tomorrow, I shall teach you whatever I can to help you learn more and how you can properly control the power of your eyes."
That's when all of a sudden, the heart-warming moment between father and sons was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the chamber's shoji doors being abruptly slammed open. This startled all three males a bit and made them turn towards the source, only to be met with a familiar young man standing at the now open doors. What then left all three of them bewildered was upon found the young man heavily panting as he leaned his body a bit against the doors, to which they presume was due to running all the way here perhaps.
"Lord Hagoromo! I deeply apologize for the intrusion, but I bring terrible news!"
"What is it, Futami?"
"It's the Young Miss, she's gone!"
The very moment words had rolled off his tongue, it immensely shocked all three of the Otsutsukis that sat from within the room.
Abruptly standing up in his place, young Ashura yelled, the shock made his voice both high and loud "What?! What do you mean Sis is gone?!"
"As ordered, I went down to the basement only to observe the Young Miss' recovery now and then. The last time I checked however, I found the chamber completely empty!"
"Have you tried looking for her?"
"Yes, my Lord! However, I couldn't find her anywhere, nor have the slightest clue where she may have gone!"
Releasing a deep sigh, Hagoromo raised one hand to cover the upper half of his face, he then groaned "Where could she have possibly gone?! Still, she is in no good condition to be wandering out and about!"
For some strange reason, upon hearing those very words, a look of realization then suddenly appeared on Indra's face.
"Wait, I'm not very certain, but I may have an idea where she is!"
That was all he said before quickly getting up from his place and immediately sprinted past the young man and out of the chamber.
"Elder Brother, wait! Where are you going?! Your eyes aren't fully healed yet!" Ashura yelled as he too began to quickly pick himself up and was about to follow after his older sibbling.
That's until...
"No, Indra, wait!"
Not only did he knew that the words are coming from his father's lips, what had actually surprised the boy was how panicked and frantic his voice sounded. But what had kicked in his worry other than his brother's sudden disappearance was the loud thud that followed soon after. Whipping his head to see, panic shot right through Ashura when he found his father once more using both his hands to keep him from falling to the floor.
"Father!" He worriedly exclaimed as he ran to his side, wrapped an arm around his and helped the man into an upright position.
"Indra, we must find him before-"
Before Hagoromo could finish his words, he interrupted himself when he released a pained grunt, making him raise a hand and rest his head against it.
"Father, what do you mean?"
"There's no time to explain, we have to find Indra, now!" Turning his head to look at his younger son, he asked "Ashura, it seems your brother knows where she might be. So, do you have any idea where he may be talking about?"
For a few seconds, the boy let out a loud hum as he thought.
Only for a look of realization to appear on his face "I think I may have a bit of a hunch on where he might have gone."
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In spite of the fact that as mentioned, his vision was still a blur and unclear, that did not stop young Indra from running as fast as his little legs could get him. Besides, the route he was now running through was just all too familiar to him, he didn't had the need to double check whether he was really going the right way or not, for he had already travelled through this same path far too many times already. Dragging his heels to a stop, the boy was left heavily panting upon arriving before a large clearing.
Through the blurr of his vision, he was able to see the large moon shining down upon him as well as the vast crystal lake with a surface littered with multiple lotus blossoms below it. Aside from all that, his eyes widened a bit upon noticing a pale figure sitting before the large body water through his unclear vision. This made him immediately ran closer towards said figure, but not as fast as before upon arriving there.
As he got closer, that's when he finally noticed something floating in the air. It sounded like a soft voice humming perhaps, but what had actually made Indra froze in his tracks was the fact on how familiar it sounded. It was a song that was far too familiar to him, but not just any song, but a certain song a certain someone had always sang to him from a long time ago.
Just by simply hearing it, it made Indra's body run cold and shaking like a leaf. His breath may be caught up from within his throat, that didn't stop him from speaking.
"Krishna..."
In spite how low and quiet his voice sounded, it was quite noticeable enough to make the humming stop. Soon after, the pale figure then ever so slowly stood up from it's place and spun itself to face him. Upon meeting gazes with the figure, Indra's eyes widened even more and he felt his breath hitching the moment he was able to finally see her face.
Not only was he finally able to see her face, but what had actually left him in such shocked state was the fact that the bandages he always saw that covered her mouth was gone, revealing what was hiding from beneath it. He didn't know the reason to why she always wore those bandages around her mouth, because there was simply nothing to hide with those bandages. This was due to the fact that the only thing that left the brunette shocked was but simply her lips, no scar, no marks, only a simple mouth and a chin hiding beneath those dressings.
Another thing to point out was that she was no longer wearing the pink flower hair ornaments that hid her horns and no signs of the red stains that he once so lingering all over her, but there were still the bandages that covered her head. Besides all that, there was this overwhelming feeling of relief washing over his entire body. It made him realize that they were all indeed telling him the truth, she was alright and alive.
However, what kept him from rushing towards her and giving her an embrace as tight as he could was the impending mystery to why she knows this certain song.
"How...How did you..."
He wasn't able to see it coming, the very thing that had interrupted the boy by his own words was when the girl was able to rush straight towards him and lunged right at him in a tight embrace instead. This shocked the male and left him cold and stiff as he stood there like a statue. Feeling her all too familiar cold aura that left him feeling this warm sensation in his chest, as well as that oh so fragrant aroma of sweet lotus blossoms, this made him realize that the female hugging him as tight as so was indeed his Krishna.
"It's you...It's really you!"
Indra finally gaining the strength to lift both his arms, he then returned the embrace and hugged the girl's smaller form even tighter. The emotions he was now feeling must've been so overwhelming, his legs ended up failing him and he was left falling to his knees, dragging the girl along with him. After a few seconds of a tight embrace, they finally knew that it was the right time to part away.
As his onyx dark eyes starred down at her pearl white ones, he asked "Krishna, how did you know that song?"
In spite of the fact that the bandages were no longer covering her lips, she seems to be as though a mute either way when she raised one hand and was ready to handsign.
I. Heard. It. In. A. Dream.!.
The moment she had handsigned those very words, the memory of his nightmare earlier appeared within his mind. Soon after, Krishna's eyes suddenly widened a bit the very as soon as they landed upon his very own.
You. Are. Crying.!.
What she was referring to were the small drops of water streaming out of his beautiful dark eyes.
"I promised, I promised that I'd protect you! I promised that I'd keep you safe! I'm sorry! Krishna, I'm sorry! I failed you!"
With an apologetic look in her eyes, the albino sadly witnessed this once cheerful, awkward and genius boy now break down into tears like this. She couldn't bare to watch this boy break down like this, to see him make such depressing expression, to feel his warm feeling drop cold like this. She wanted to see him smile again, she wanted to see him laugh again, and she badly wanted to feel his warmth again.
And there was only one thing in her mind that she could think of that may brink the very boy that taught her all the wonderful things this world has to offer. As Indra continued to silently sob, he barely even noticed that the girl was ever so slowly drawing her face close towards his. Suddenly, the sounds of his sobbing abruptly stopped. The brunette's tearful eyes were now widened to the size of dinner plates because he was silenced by something cold pressed against his warm skin.
It took a moment for his brain to process that it was none other than the girl's cold lips that had silenced him, her eyes gently closed. They may have kissed like this before, however, this was back when her lips were completely hidden from within her bandages, as well as the fact that it happened in a wonderful and cheerful day. But this time, it was a perfect moment for two young children ever so desperately searching for the warm feeling of comfort in this cold night.
This pair were stuck in such dark and depressing time, and all because of one simple heartwarming gesture like a gentle kiss on the forehead. Indra never knew she was hiding such soft lips from beneath those bandages, so soft in fact he gently closed his eyes and even more tears spilled out of them. Slowly parting away from each other, the moment Krishna opened her eyes, they widened once more when they were met with the male's.
The beautiful dark eyes she was always fascinated with was nowhere to be seen, and in it's place were a pair of blazing red ones. Raising a hand to place it against his cheek, she then rubbed her thumb just below his eye bag. The brunette's eyes may right now be a different color, but that did not stop her from being transfixed by whatever eyes he has.
Indra then raised his other hand and held on to the one that rested against his cheek, leaning in to the cold feeling of her skin that he felt quite comfortable with. For a long time, this boy had been sulking, frowning and crying throughout the night. That is why this is considered as such a beautiful moment between them two when a small curve had appeared on her lips.
And for the longest time, it had been hidden beneath the wrappings of the bandages, he finally got to see the girl's cheerful smile. What makes this scene more beautiful was the fact that the blurr in his vision was finally gone, meaning he get to see the girl's pretty little smile with a clear view.
"Krishna, promise me that you'll never leave me like that, got it?"
Without question nor hesitation, she simply smiled, nodded and hummed to his question. Both Indra and Krishna then began to slowly feel for their hands, their fingers intertwining with each other. Drawing their faces close to each other for something far more better than a kiss on the forehead, that's until...
"Krishna!"
This startled the pair and made them turn towards the source. In that exact moment, there stepped out from behind the green foilage was none other than the young brunette himself. As soon as the boy's dark eyes were met with their very own, they suddenly widened and the boy was left frozen in shock.
"Ashura!" Indra spoke, his voice was a bit surprised as he slowly got up in his two feet, helping the girl do the same as well.
Back to the boy, the young lad seems to have been caught in a daze as he silently stood there with widened eyes and a gaping mouth, like a shocked frozen statue. A few seconds later, water droplets began to quickly spill out of his eyes and a pained expression struck the small boy's face. Loudly sniffing the snot dripping out of his nostril, he then suddenly rushed towards them with arms spread out wide and in full speed.
"Sis!" Yelled young Ashura as he lunged right at the girl and enveloped her in the tightest embrace he could ever muster.
With tears heavily spilling out of his eyes like a pair of rushing streams, the brunette then hid his face from within the girl's chest, his tears staining her white kimono.
"Sis, I'm sorry! You got hurt because of me, I'm so sorry! I thought I was never going to see you again!"
As the young lad loudly sobbed from within her arms, the same as the older one, it pained her to see this once cheerful little dunce all depressed like this. It appears to be far too much for her to bear, she couldn't help but cry and breakdown along with him as she returned the ever so tight embrace. Witnessing such depressing scene between his beloved little brother as well as the girl he came to have fallen for, it had obviously pained Indra.
Watching two of the people whom are most precious to him break down like this, he'd rather die than to leave them two as depressed as they are now. Even he himself wishes to do the same, break down and sob along with these two, and that's what he exactly did. The tears seems to have returned to Indra's eyes when he wrapped both his arms around the young sobbing pair, giving them two an equally tight embrace that they so desired.
With that, the trio then began to cry and sob alongside each other, never caring whether their loud and depressing whimpers could be heard from miles and miles away across the dark late night. They were all there in each others' arms and crying their eyes out as they silently thanked whatever universal being had brought them back together again, that was all that mattered to them.
"Well, what do you know! The Screw up buddies are back together again!" Ashura cried, but this time, a smile finally crept it's way on his small lips.
"Ashura!"
A way to ruin such beautiful moment, but Indra couldn't help but do the same, smile through the tears and let out a chuckle.
"Come on you two, let's go back home!"
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The very moment the trio's heartwarming reunion by the crystal lotus lake had finally ended, Indra, Ashura and Krishna were now making their way back home alongside each other. As soon as they had entered through the gates of the compound, they had managed to notice a familiar tall pale man standing at the main building's entrance, leaning against a small cane in one hand. It took a moment for them to realize that it was none other than their father himself, whom they presumed was waiting for them this entire time.
And the exact moment he caught sight of the three young children making their way towards him, his purple swirling orbs surprisingly widened and shockingly, the very cane that served as his support from falling to the ground was then abandoned when he all of a sudden found the strength to rush towards the young children. With his arms spread out wide, it seems that Hagoromo himself too was as worried sick and frightened of loosing the pale girl as his two sons when he hugged the young trio in a large embrace, seemingly tighter than any of them had ever felt before. Even the young three themselves were left a bit shocked on the grown man's sudden act of affection.
Not only that, there was this small and relieved smile on his lips, which is basically a rare sight to see coming from this sage of a man.
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As soon as that was finally over, the three children were then left to finally rest from within their chamber. It seems that the long devastating night had left both young Krishna and Ashura falling fast asleep, the girl's head was leaned against Indra's left shoulder while his younger brother had his head on his right lap. As the young pair were left soundly sleeping, Indra's head was hung low and had this deep expression on his face as he used his left hand to lightly caress Krishna's soft gray hair and the other doing the same to Ashura's spiky brown locks.
"Ashura, Krishna, I have failed to protect the both of you today. That's why I'm going to do whatever it takes to never allow that to happen again!" Raising his head, his dark onyx eyes were once more gone, replaced by those all too familiar blazing crimson red ones. "And this time, I'll be making sure of that. I may have no idea what that thing meant about seeing the truth, but now that I have these eyes, I believe they can give me the strength to make sure all three of us will always be together...forever!"
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Trivia:
The Sharingan literally means "Copy Wheel Eye" or "Mirror Wheel Eye."