Chapter 4: Chapter 3
Kurumi Tokisaki was not happy.
There were multiple reasons as to why she was not happy, however they all originate from her younger brother, Arsene or rather just 'Sean'.
Kurumi thought she knew her little brother well, considering the fact that she had to take care of him whilst their mother was either at work or simply training Kurumi to be the Tokisaki Clan heir. However, today proved her wrong.
She noticed many things during Ikaruga and Sean's spar. One of the many things was his eyes; simple everyday appearances, however his eyes told many things. It told of experience, and it telling of experience tells Kurumi that he's actually risked his life multiple times without even telling her. Kurumi did occasionally notice that he wore bandages over areas that he tried to keep hidden but she always noticed, but she never asked due to not wanting to impede on his privacy and wanted him to improve himself.
Another thing she noticed during their spar was his change of attitude which really shocked her. Kurumi thought that Sean would always be her little brother, the little brother that would radiate an air of a mature but slightly childish and teasable child-- however during the spar that most certainly was not the case. He was cocky, he was calculating and lastly, he was skilful-- his fighting style incorporated flashy dance moves while bringing harm to the target. It's as if...
SLAM
"--It's as if he doesn't value his life." Kurumi by all rights and truthfully can be said not to be the best sibling. She was childish, lazy, smug but the one thing she knew - or she thought she knew - was how much she treasured the people around her.
Their father died when they were young, their father was a normal person-- or seemingly normal until she found out that he was the descendant of the best thief in history - and now that she realised it their father was closest to Sean.
But anyway, when their father died Kurumi's mother 'encouraged' Kurumi to continue shinobi training by using Sean as a motivation source, however what they didn't realise was that both mother and daughter were ignoring Sean. During that period of his life, Sean would occasionally get into fights, annoy people and make people call home until one day...
†
SLAPPP
The sound of a slap resonated in the surroundings of a living room as Kurumi looked at her own younger brother in disdain whilst her mother was equally looking at him in annoyance, whilst Sean's black iris' widened in shock.
"Cut it out already!" Kurumi shouted at him "Your causing everyone trouble, why can't you just disappear?"
When she said this he looked down whilst his bangs covered his eyes.
"Hic... Hic..." Both pair of mother and daughter and looked at him sob as he suddenly looked at them with a serious expression which resembled her father even whilst tears leaked from his eyes.
"I-it's not my fault that you always ignore me!" He exclaimed "You always, ALWAYS, ignore me!" He took a deep breath "When's the last time we ate on the dinner table together?! When's the last time we laughed together?! When's the last time you read me a book to sleep?!"
Sean's words struck a chord between the duo as they suddenly felt guilty. Kurumi and her mother were both shinobi - albeit Kurumi was training to be one - hence they were both aware of the possibility of death and fully accepted it as a possible outcome whether they liked it or not. Sean, on the other hand, was simply a normal person - like their father - and a child at that. He was most definitely not prepared for this consequence to be possible, and then if you add that ontop of the fact that his 'family' then began to ignore him then from his perspective it would be as if they only valued him because her father was there and now that he's gone they no longer care.
"But if that's how you feel, then fine!" He spoke as he rubbed his tears from his face and hastily sprinted out of the house.
Kurumi reached out and tried to grab his shoulder so she could stop him and try to explain how they felt about situation, to explain the situation from their perspective, to explain how everything is to ensure that he grows safely. However when she did grip his shoulder she noticed the look in his eye, she saw it before.
She saw it in her classmates who deemed her as a public annoyance, who viewed her as a cretin, who blatantly hated her-- who feared her; and now she saw it in her younger brother's eyes.
"GET OFF!" He shrugged off her palm and dashed out the room whilst both the mother and daughter duo seemed stunned. They looked at the door he left in bewilderment and surprise but then they soon caught up to reality.
"Go after him!" Her mother asked of her to which she nodded "Yes!"
However... They didn't find him... Not even with their shinobi skills... a few days later they found him-- or rather he found them. This time he was smiling whilst holding an old lady's palm.
It was something she couldn't element seeing in years. It was then that Sean noticed Kurumi and the moment they met his attitude change from playful child to a mature child-- it was scary, it was as if he switched masks, switched persona to adapt to the situation.
Later that day, they were both walking home together whilst talking occasionally. Although, Sean was talking in short sentences as if trying to end the conversation as soon as possible. When they reached home her mother broke down crying ontop of Sean however he simply patted her and smiled.
†
It was then that Kurumi knew. They had formed a large strain in their relationship which would be very challenging to undo. Even to this day Kurumi couldn't undo the strain, however today she saw Sean on his purest.
She saw Sean being happy whilst risking his life, he was smug and many other things whilst being fused with a good amount of finesse.
"And he reached that level without me even noticing..." Kurumi lowered her vision to the ground.
Kurumi knew that his reason of not telling her of his job as the 'Phantom Thief' was born from her ineptitude to look after him when he was young, for leaving him alone. It's to the point that Sean learned cooking, cleaning, tailoring, brewing, sewing and many other things to help Kurumi and his mother whenever they needed it whilst never asking for anything in return.
To Kurumi, it sounds as if he doesn't trust her enough to care about his problems.
SLAM
She slammed her fist against the wall.
"I care damn it..." She muttered as she then looked up and then took a deep breath.
"Gotta keep calm." She spoke to herself "We can fix this with just more time together."
Though Kurumi knew; she couldn't fix this with time. And so did her mother, as shown by the fact that she let him do his phantom thief business whilst knowing about it; when Kurumi heard about it she instinctively knew that at that point that their strain was still there. He still didn't trust Kurumi enough to let her worry about him.
She sighed.
"I'm gonna go hug him."
— New chapter is coming soon — Write a review
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone