Hera: Hey! Yasu! You in there!
Hera found herself standing outside of Yasu's family home where he lived alone for most of his teenage years. His mother was usually absent and his father was no longer available so normally it was just him and his little sister.
Today on the other hand, Yasu wasn't responding to anything Hera tried to get his attention.
Hera: Heyyy! I know you're here Yasu. Don't make me start talking in different languages to annoy you.
. . .
Hera: Damn, that always has him running. Guess I don't want him to run away though.
Hera: I guess you don't want to see my new uniform then? It's really nice you know, I'd be super sad if you didn't get to see it.
Met with nothing again, she decides to resort to her favorite tactic. Breaking and entering.
Hera: Fine then, I guess I'll just make myself at home if you won't make a lovely lady such as myself feel that way.
Hera sat there for a second as she closely analyzed the property, scanning for any potential ways in. She looked and looked for a couple of minutes before she decided.
Hera: Eh, he's rich. He'll fix it. Ice Spear.
Hera tilted her staff towards Yasu's front door and shot an ice spell, blasting the door straight off of it's hinges. "Hehe, I bet he's going to come running to me now, how could he resist?". She waited inside of the empty door frame for a minute but when nothing happened she began to feel strange. "Why isn't he coming? Could he really be in bad shape? I gotta go help him."
Yasu: What do you want Hera!?
Yasu snapped at Hera from the upstairs window leading into his room. He stuck his hand out the window and waved her off.
Hera: Well, that's no way to ask for help.
Hera put on a snarky tone and crossed her arms but Yasu was unphased and just returned to his humble abode.
Hera: Ok. Something has to be wrong. I'm coming in there Yasu!
Yasu: Can't you just leave me alone for one day. I don't want to talk right now.
Hera: That's too bad Yasu. I'm not sitting back this time.
Hera took her hat and shoes off at the destroyed doorway and then made her way up the stairs to Yasu's room. When she reached the top of the stairs however, she noticed that Yasu's door was open which he never did.
Hera: He never leaves his door open. . . Why would he now?
She only managed to take a single step before Yasu peaked his head out the door with an annoyed look. "Why do you insist on coming here every day Hera"?
Hera: Because I'm your best friend that's why. It would be nice if you'd show just a little bit of appreciation for such a charitable act.
Yasu: Who are you? Estrea?
Hera: No, I'm not dead.
Yasu: Yeah, thank god for that. How's your everything doing?
Hera: Well I wasn't expecting you to take action so quickly. But if you ins-
Yaus: NO no no. I meant how is your recovery coming along?
Hera returned to her normal self and removed the perverted look. She then reached out her hand to Yasu and spoke in a calm voice. "Come on, I need to talk to you. It's important".
Several minutes later. . .
Hera and Yasu were on Yasu's balcony, sitting in silence and making awkward eye contact. They continued to sit in silence for what felt like an eternity until Hera sucked up the courage to speak.
Hera: Yasu!
Yasu jumped because of this and dropped his phone. He looked at her with wide eyes and even had a bit of water forming in his hand. "Jeez Hera. Did you have to yell at me"?
Hera continued to stare at him with a serious look on her face for a few seconds until her eyes shone a purple glow. A faint glow broke through her Kunai's sheath as well.
Yasu: Hera? What's going on? Why are you so emotional?
She didn't respond and just stared at him, her only reaction was clenching her fists.
Yasu: Hera, come one, What's happening? Why are you looking at me like that?
Her eyes glimmered as the sun rose overhead indicating the time being noon. Her eyes released a beautiful glow of purple emotion that could hypnotize the inexperienced man. Yasu upon seeing this, stood up now that he understood that whatever she was silently saying, she was very serious about it.
Hera: I came here for one reason and one reason only.
Yasu almost recoiled at her sudden speech, her voice sounded like his mothers and the way she looked up at him made him feel like he was beneath her. He was 6 inches taller than her and yet she seemed so much higher than him. Yasu immediately felt like he had done something wrong and so he tried to look away but Hera reached up and turned his head back to her.
Hera: I'm lying to everyone by just being here so you better listen and I don't care if you slap me when I say this because all of us deserve it. Including Kiyoshi.
Yasu winced at this, he knew exactly what she was going to say but prayed that she wouldn't. He brought his hand to her shoulder and held it there with a soft grip. His eyes already had water in them but he hid it with his water magic.
Yasu: Speak then, if you really came here to then do it.
Hera: I'm tired of lying to you and I refuse to continue. I've lied to you for 8 years and I'm over it.
Yasu tightened his grip in anticipation, he knew what was coming and wanted to tell her. He closed his eyes and tensed his face up until he felt a warm sensation run along either side of his ribs. Something hit his chest and grabbed his back A wet feeling focused itself on his chest just below the point of impact. Icy cold tears ran down Yasu's chest while he heard Hera's muffled sobbing and felt her magic power dropping rapidly.
Yasu: H-Hera. What's wrong Hera? Why are you crying?
Hera spoke but it was too muffled to hear what she was saying. She continued to cry genuine tears of pain as she kept trying to speak. She couldn't get the words she wanted to speak out and just kept sobbing them away halfway through. Yasu had been lost by this point and couldn't figure out what was happening so he just hugged her back lightly until she calmed down. She never did calm down though, if anything she just got more emotional since her eyes only glowed brighter with every passing second.
Yasu continued to hold her while she cried and shuffled one of her hands through her pocket. "W-we should've told y-you a-bout.", she couldn't finish speaking and started crying again. Icicles formed under her eyes only to be melted instantly by the light glowing through her closed eyes.
Yasu: I-I don't want to say this because it'll make things worse, but hopefully it will make the pain subside quicker.
Hera looked up a bit and revealed a swirling purple ocean of light and magic in her irises. Yasu returned her gaze but only met Hera with a feeling of chills running up his spine. "Now that I think of it, she's always hid from us when she cried".
Yasu: Is it about Yuuta?
Hera: . . .
Yasu: It is isn't it?
Hera: Y-yeah, it is.
Hera lowered her head when Yasu spoke and icicles dropped from her face. She had stopped sobbing but tears continued to flow slowly. Purple light reflected off of Yasu's white hoodie and easily overpowered the noon sun.
Yasu: Why didn't you guys tell me? Why did you all hide it from me?
Hera released her grip on Yasu and slowly brought her arms back. She moved back and looked at Yasu with watery eyes. "Because, we didn't want to crush you again. You had just fought with Ryker and he got hurt really bad and you were distraught and we just didn't want to hurt you even more". She wiped her tears. "I couldn't bear to watch you going through that and so I didn't say anything like Kiyoshi said and we just kept deciding not to until we just stopped talking about it. When I brought it up to them after the bombing, they all told me that you were already messed up after you heard and that you shouldn't deal with more stress". She wiped the ice from her face and clenched her fist by her side as more tears ran down.
Yasu grit his teeth and felt anger well up inside of him. His anger knew only one bound and that was Hera, she kept him happy and now she was the source of his Despair. "But why would you wait to tell me until I had already found out? Why did you wait 8 years to tell me about something so important to me".
Hera: I didn't know-
Yasu: How could you not know that I had found out. You told me to meet you at the other end of the graveyard that Yuuta was buried in. You ran down the same path that Yuuta's grave sat on Hera! You called me out there after I had just finished telling everyone that all those brave men and women died and there was nothing they could do about it! There's no damn way you didn't know Hera! You tried your hardest to get to find out without telling me, didn't you! Were you scared of what would happen? Were you just trying to dump it on Yui or Kiyoshi? What the-
Hera: I wanted to tell you because I couldn't stand lying to you! It hurt to look at you so calm and know that you had no idea what had happened! I hated myself so much for it that I ended up running back to Ryker because at least he didn't anything to hide from any of us! He wasn't hiding how he felt about anything! He was just straight with it and got it out there, he never lied to us!
Yasu: What have I lied to you about!?
Hera: About the fight at the studio. Ryker's hand and what you did to him! You two were having so much fun YASU! WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO HIM!
Yasu: I didn't do anything that he wasn't equally responsible for! He picked a fight with me and I won!
Hera: Bullshit! He beat you for 7 months in a row every single day and you just happen to beat him that badly one time!
Yasu bit his lip and rage covered his face.
Yasu: Why are you defending him all of a sudden? You've always tried to make me seem like a hero and now, when it matters most, when I actually need you, you turn on me!
Hera: What does that mean! I never turned on you, I want to know why you attacked him!
Yasu: Why don't you go treat him like Yuri does if you want to help him so badly. Be his toy and act like you have no clue how horrible of a person he is. Everybody knows that Ryker has had every chance to redeem himself after the altar Hera and he hasn't done anything except run away. I've actually made something of myself and suffered through the pain of having no one to turn to when I needed help. I've always had nothing but my own self Hera, I've done everything and achieved everything that I am up until now on my own.
Hera was dumbfounded and shocked by Yasu's words. She hadn't registered them or what they meant and just stood there with a blank expression. The glow in her eyes had disappeared after these cold words and she had remained there while Yasu continued berating her.
Yasu: Yuuta was my father Hera! He was the only person I had to turn to and when I was at my worst, he died and all of you had the audacity to hide that from me? You know what my told me after that fight? He told me that I would always be pathetic if I dealt with you people. God forbid I actually liked you, I couldn't begin to describe how or why I enjoyed it so much.
Hera's face matched her crushed heart and her eyes welled up again, her voice quavered as she spoke quietly "Why are you saying this? Why do you believe these things? I-I don't get it Yasu-".
Yasu: It's not that I believe them Hera, it's the fact they are true. You have no idea how secluded I've been for the past nine years and especially the last 3 years.
Hera: What are you talking about Yasu? What happened? Why are you saying this?
Yasu: Why didn't you just tell me Hera? It would've sucked but, I would be over it by now. I mean, Yuuta was the only person that actually raised me. I never had a real dad besides Yuuta! You know how much that sucked Hera! The guy I hate the most's dad was the only real father figure I ever had.
Hera had her head down and had stopped crying. She had her fists clenched so tight that had they been any tighter, she'd be bleeding. She moved to speak a few times while Yasu berated her but couldn't find the courage until he brought up parents. Parents. The one thing that she hated so much.
Hera's eyes let off a light purple glimmer and her face had a tear running down each cheek when she shouted at Kenshi. "At least you have your mother! At least she still loves you! You have nothing to bitch about. I've never felt the loving affection of a mother Yasu! I've never heard the lectures you and Ryker got from your fathers! I never had a mother and my dad was a drunk idiot that did nothing but yell at me and my sister everyday. Now she's gone and I'm alone, I only had you and Ryker and now it's just you. Ryker could die at any moment and you are talking like I've never been there for you"! Her eyes went dark again and tears returned to them as her voice crumbled. "I couldn't feel this way about anyone else, I just can't get how you could think we hate you. Even Ryker would die to save you, and he hates you Yasu. You hate each other and yet you always help each other when it matters the most. Why could you never do that for me, I've always been there for you? I'd go to hell and back for you and even farther but you just turn on me the second I screw up"?
Yasu:. . .
Hera: I-I always have and always will-
Yasu: I can't, I can't hear you say something that important to me after what we've just done. Please, don't.