Chương 26: A Talk

Ch 26 - A Talk Hiroto stood frozen, his eyes wide as he watched the exchange.

"Evan Whitfield," Reika spat his name like a curse.

"That's my name. Don't overuse it." Evan didn't shy away from her glare, and the two held each other's gaze.

"Didn't I tell you not to stick your nose where it doesn't belong?"

"You did, but I can't exactly say it doesn't concern me when this is the second time something like this has happened right in front of me. Maybe this is fate telling me I should get involved." Evan smiled. Reika barked out a sharp laugh.

"You really don't know your place, huh, F-rank?"

"F-rank this, F-rank that. People here sure love throwing their ranks around. Are you all that obsessed with them, or do you just have IQs lower than a donkey's and can't come up with a better insult?"

"Let go of my hand," Reika growled.

"What if I don't?" Evan asked.

"Then I'm going to make you." Lightning began to crackle around her body, and her dark blue hair started glowing with faint streaks of electric blue. Thwack! With one swift motion, Evan swung his backpack into Reika's face, sending her stumbling backward as he released her wrist.

"Hey, don't you know using abilities outside of class is prohibited on campus?" Evan asked, dropping the backpack that now crackled with residual electricity from contact with Reika.

"That's rich coming from someone who just used his."

"Sure, but your ability is meant for combat. If you use it to attack me, I'm bound to get hurt," Evan said.

"And unlike your brother, who's just going to stand there and take it, I won't. Since you know me, I'm sure you're aware who my big brother is. He's an A-rank Healer, one of the best, if you ask me. I'd wager your father won't be too pleased to hear you've made an enemy of him."

"You're using your brother to threaten me? What a coward," Reika said.

"Why not? My brother actually loves me, though I doubt you understand sibling love considering how you treat yours." Evan shrugged.

"Don't speak about things you don't understand," Reika growled, her jaw tightening. After one final glare at Evan and Hiroto, she turned on her heel and stomped toward the stairwell. Her footsteps echoed angrily down the hall before Evan turned his attention to Hiroto, who was still standing there in a daze.

"Is your brain broken?" Evan asked, snapping his fingers in front of him.

"Ah! Um... I-I'm fine," Hiroto said. Seeing him respond, Evan crouched and gently poked his backpack, which was still buzzing with lingering electricity.

"Why did you... intervene?" Hiroto asked.

"I just don't like people throwing away gifts like that," Evan said, poking the bag a few more times as the crackling gradually faded.

"Is she always this cranky, or is it just puberty and teenage hormones?"

"Um... no... she used to be a happy child..." Hiroto murmured.

"Really? I can't imagine that." Evan unzipped his backpack to check his belongings. Then his heart dropped.

"Oh no!"

"W-What's wrong?" Evan hurriedly pulled out a carrying case and unzipped it, revealing a handheld gaming device.

"My Orion Deck!" With trembling fingers, he picked it up and pressed the power button, only to be met with a black screen. Crap. He hadn't thought much when he slammed his backpack into Reika's face. He'd only wanted to stop her from using her ability before things escalated any further. In the heat of the moment, he'd completely forgotten that he'd brought his Orion Deck with him today.

"I think the battery might be fried..." Hiroto said. Evan's shoulders trembled as he clutched the lifeless Orion Deck and shouted, "Aaaah! That stupid girl! I'll make sure she pays for breaking my deck!"

"If you don't mind... I know someone who might be able to fix it," Hiroto said.

"Really?!" Following Hiroto, Evan left the academy grounds and boarded a bus to a bustling commercial street. Nestled among the electronics stores lining the busy avenue, the repair shop looked unremarkable from the outside. Inside, however, every inch of wall space was lined with shelves of consoles, controllers, replacement parts, and boxed components. At the back, adjustable work lamps cast bright pools of light over a spotless repair station, where half-disassembled handhelds awaited repair.

The woman at the counter examined the busted Orion Deck before taking it into the back, telling them to wait while she ran a few diagnostics. Evan and Hiroto sat on a sofa tucked into one corner of the shop. Neither spoke, simply listening to the distant hum of the city filtering in from outside. Evan passed the time browsing the rows of gaming devices and accessories until Hiroto unexpectedly broke the silence. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Thank you... for stepping in."

"No need. Like I said, I just don't like her attitude," Evan replied.

"Why do you let your sister treat you like that anyway?" When Evan had been bullied, he hadn't fought back because he couldn't afford to cause a scene and risk getting kicked out of school. Not that it had mattered in the end. He'd eventually dropped out because he couldn't pay his tuition. Hiroto's situation, however, seemed different.

"It's my fault."

"What could possibly be your fault that makes you think it's okay for her to treat you like trash?" Evan asked.

"I... failed as a big brother," Hiroto said. Evan pursed his lips. He could already tell where this conversation was headed. As a reader, it was obvious. Was this going to be one of those moments where a character dumped all their trauma onto the protagonist because, for some inexplicable reason, people always felt compelled to spill their entire life story? Then again, he had inserted himself into the situation, so...

"Seems like you want to talk," Evan said.

"So speak up. I'll listen." Hiroto lowered his head and clasped his hands so tightly his knuckles turned white. He stayed that way for so long Evan wondered if the universe had decided to skip the mandatory trauma reveal for once. Then Hiroto finally broke the silence.

"It wasn't always like this. Back then, my sister and I were close. I'm sure you've already heard that although we look alike, we don't share the same mother. Even so, we always saw each other as true siblings. We grew up together, and Reika never once hesitated to call me her big brother." His voice grew quieter.

"Then... that incident happened."

As children of a guild leader, Hiroto and Reika lived under strict rules and a tightly regimented routine. They were never allowed to go anywhere without supervision, and everyone allowed near them had to be thoroughly vetted. Their parents always insisted it was for their safety, but both Hiroto and Reika grew to resent the constant restrictions. One day, their nanny suggested a secret outing, and they agreed, trusting the woman who had served their family for many years.

She led them out under the pretense of a trip to the park, yet they never arrived. Instead, they were taken elsewhere. Hiroto remembered struggling hard against his captors, but he was just a child back then. His body was small, and against an adult it was like a human facing a giant. A cloth was pressed over his mouth, and he soon lost consciousness. When he woke up, he found himself tied to a bed, his limbs spread out. The room was cold and dim, its stone walls damp and rough.

His shirt was gone, and his nanny was drawing something across his skin with a strange red liquid. It might have been blood, but he wasn't sure; the smell was foul and heavy in the air.

"N-nanny! What are you doing? Let me go!" Hiroto shouted, struggling against his bindings. His nanny merely shushed him and continued tracing strange symbols across his skin.

"Be still. You're about to experience something wonderful." What could possibly be wonderful about this? Hiroto wondered, though he could only struggle weakly against his restraints. After finishing the last symbol, his nanny stepped aside as someone else entered the room. The man was gaunt, with pale skin and thinning gray hair, dressed in a loose black robe that hung from his frail frame. Yet it was his eyes that drew Hiroto's attention most. They glowed with an eerie crimson light.

"Is it done?" the man asked in a raspy voice.

"It is, Master," the nanny said, bowing to him. The man bent down and reached forward, cradling Hiroto's face. Those deep red eyes stared straight into Hiroto's soul, and though all he wanted was to look away, he couldn't.

"Come then, child," he said. With a flick of his fingers, dark flames consumed the bindings that held Hiroto down. He then stood straight, and Hiroto, for some unknown reason, stood up and remained still instead of running away. The man led him away to another room, passing through dark corridors tangled with thick, unmoving webs that clung to the corners as though they had been left undisturbed for years. The air grew colder with every step, filled with dust and a faint metallic scent.

They entered a chamber where a massive, intricate circle had been etched across the floor. Just looking at it sent a sharp, piercing pain through Hiroto's head. The man pushed Hiroto forward and made him stand within it. His body moved on its own, obeying without resistance. Screams and pleas clawed at his throat, yet he could do nothing but remain still, his mouth tightly shut. The nanny then returned, holding a bound and gagged Reika. Her light cotton dress was dirtied and crumpled, and her red ribbon was gone.

The nanny set her down just outside the circle and removed the gag from her mouth.

"Brother!" she cried out. The strange man cast a cold glance at the crying girl but did not stop her. Instead, he raised his hands and began chanting in a strange language. Whatever he spoke seemed to activate the circle as dark red light bled into its markings, igniting it. The temperature in the room dropped, and the shadows began to swirl unnaturally across the walls. Reika's cries grew louder in response.

"No, no! I want to go home! Brother! Brother!" Yet despite all this, Hiroto could only stand there silently, unable to look away from the man's red eyes. The strange man's chanting rose into a crescendo as the whole room brightened and the shadows danced more violently. Reika screamed and struggled against her bindings as the nanny pulled out a big knife and raised it into the air.

"Let go! Let me go! Brother! Brother!" The strange man began to laugh, his voice blending with Reika's frightened screams for help.

"Save me!" Hiroto's heart lurched. He struggled to open his mouth to tell them to stop, yet his muscles refused to budge. He could only stare as the nanny swung and— KRA-KOOM! Powerful lightning crashed through the door and struck the nanny in the back, killing her instantly. She collapsed onto the crying Reika. The strange man's chanting abruptly stopped. He turned toward the doorway just as a man in a suit stepped inside. For a moment, Hiroto couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Then recognition hit him, and relief surged through his chest. It was his father.

"Shit, how did they find us so soon!" the strange man muttered. He waved his hand, and something lunged out of the darkness toward Hiroto's father. It was too dark for Hiroto to see clearly, but they looked like dogs, though their bodies were twisted and unnaturally thin. His father simply swatted them aside like common mutts, lightning crackling violently around him. He formed a thunderbolt in his hand and hurled it straight at the strange man, who tried to counter it with dark flames.

But it stood no chance against the lightning, and the bolt struck him directly in the chest. The man stared down at the lightning piercing his torso before dropping to his knees.

"To think that you would dare to kidnap my children," his father approached the strange man, who was now coughing and wheezing blood.

"Hehehehe... too late." The strange man's bloodied grin stretched wider.

"Even if you stop the ritual... your son is already cursed." His crimson eyes gleamed with madness as he laughed.

"A curse... I leave him a curse. Let him be cursed... let him become your curse! Ahahahahahaha!" His father merely narrowed his eyes. Then, placing his hand over the strange man's face, he unleashed a powerful blast of lightning straight into his brain. The strange man, now reduced to a dark, charred corpse, fell to the ground. Hiroto finally sank to his knees, his body trembling uncontrollably. His father pushed the nanny's corpse aside and gathered the sobbing Reika into his arms.

As he comforted her, he looked over at Hiroto, his expression unreadable. That was the last thing Hiroto saw before everything faded into darkness.