I woke up to the smell of scrambled egg and was fast to leave the small room. I found a plate with food in the kitchen together with a small note. Vince had really made me breakfast... how sweet.
The leader and other members are holding a meeting to discuss the incident yesterday and plan how to proceed with certain matters. Come to gym hall 2 at 1 PM. I will know immediately if you decide to run away.
I admired the beautifully written letters before realizing that it already was 12:50 when I took out my phone from the backpack I had left here.
In a hurry I ate up all the food and simply left in Raven's hoodie and the pair of grey joggers that I had been wearing since yesterday. I didn't even bother to wash my face but went outside the apartment and down to the cafeteria as fast as people would count as normal.
When I arrived at the said place the only person I spotted was Raven following my every movements with his eyes. He stood right in the middle of the totally empty gym hall.
"Slept well?" He wondered when I saw my reflection in the windows. My hair was totally messed up and all over the place and I had been running through the building like this... great. To hide it, I pulled over my hood and checked if anyone was watching.
"My back was hurting a little but I slept fine." I replied reminding him of how he had yanked me to the ground yesterday.
"Why am I here? Vince left a message..." I continued and looked up and into his hazel eyes that gladly were at ease right now.
"I've been at a meeting this morning where they discussed how to proceed with mellontikos but that is not what has to concern us. Like Vince already told you there is a chance that we will be assigned to a mission in London to investigate the seen Falcob man and if you prove to be worth it we'll take you with us. Jane and Vince are currently informing the newcomers of possible dangers after yesterday so I am here to sort some things out with you after we didn't finish yesterday." He sternly kept his eyes on me while talking as if lecturing me about something.
This was the reason I had to get out of bed so suddenly. I couldn't even shower, nor change clothes or get a bit more of rest. Speaking of that... did Raven even sleep if he attended a meeting this morning? And what about his leg? I already wondered about that yesterday but he seemed to be fine. Or maybe he pretended to be?
"Then what do I need to do to go with you?" I wanted to know.
"Like we said yesterday: you need to earn our trust... my trust." He explained but I couldn't hold back my thoughts.
"As if you'd trust anyone." I mumbled. Raven took a step forward but quickly caught himself.
"That is why I need to know a lot more about your gifted powers, blondie. So I can trust in myself defeating you if possible." He countered and I remembered yesterday night with a grin.
"You mean so you can keep your hair?" I teased him before he came at me but of course I was faster and stood at the other end of the hall in less than a second.
"Too slow." I winked at him and crossed my arms in satisfaction. Annoying Raven could really become a new hobby to me.
"How fast can you go?" The older tried to not let himself get distracted when he raised his voice so I could hear him at the other end.
"Faster than the speed of sound if I'm really determined. Let's say about 500 meters per second. I never tried running much faster." I thought about what the fastest speed I ever ran could be. But 500 should fit.
In the blink of an eye I went back to him and stopped right behind his back.
"But that is quiet tiresome because every second I run in high speed feels like full on sprinting for a second to normal humans." I continued my explanation making the older flinch away from me suddenly appearing behind him.
"Don't get too close or I'll kick you out." He hissed making me tilt my head in confusion.
"We literally fought 10 hours ago and the whole two last weeks..."
Was he more cautious now that I used my speed? In theory I really could just stab him or maybe even knock him out whenever I wanted.
"Of course, but now that you act even more like an annoying brat I might not be able to stop myself from kicking your ass anymore. Yesterday I've been generous." Raven clenched his teeth and damn I really questioned my sanity as a human when I thought about annoying him even more. Why was this so much fun?
I appeared directly in front of him next.
"More questions? I doubt that's the only one." I wanted to know when he reached behind his back and pulled a gun that I hadn't seen before.
Immediately, he fired three bullets at me still being right in front of him and I was barely able to dodge all three because of the close distance. Dumbfounded, I glared up at him.
"You could've killed me!" I breathed out from the sudden shock.
"Nah, these aren't real bullets so you could have been barely alive if they had hit but this answers my second question." Raven now regained his calm again and put the gun back with a satisfied expression.
"Now, does your speed only include running?" He continued his interrogation and I decided to better keep a little more distance for now.
"No, my eyes can spot things quicker and I can move any body part quickly... like this." I let my hand shake but it was so fast that he probably couldn't even see my hand anymore.
What I didn't expect was to see him hold his laugher and look away for a few seconds. I stopped and stood there in confusion.
"What's so funny?" I asked and received an answer that brought me in an awkward situation that I didn't like.
"Surely has its benefits if you can move your hand so fast if you know what I mean..." He bit his lip to hold his chuckle when my brain worked for a moment until I realized what he meant.
"I- No, that's gross!" I accidenlty screeched and immediately stopped in my actions and mentally slapped myself. Perfect Rune... just perfect.
"Hhaha that's gross~" It was too late when Raven started copying me and I could not do anything but try to pretend that I didn't care. Why did the only moments I saw Raven laughing had to be because he laughed at me...?
"Don't tell me you've never even tried it, don't lie to me blondie." Raven kept chuckling and I crossed my arms and turned my head away.
"I don't think I want to talk to you about that." I attempted to change the topic but now that he found something to annoy me with, it was over.
"Weren't you the one saying you like sucking things when you ate that lollipop? You started first." The older shrugged and kept teasing me by giving me a wink.
Yes, I had said that as a joke because I thought it was funny but right now it wasn't... maybe a little bit.
"But you kept staring at my chest, first in training and then yesterday." I said back and walked slowly toward him.
"Dunno what you're talking about. I never did that." He held his hands up in defense playing innocent.
"Maybe you're just paranoid because you're a virgin." He added and I stopped.
"I'm not." I grinned and Raven's eyes went up to meet mine again.
"Not paranoid?"
"Not a virgin, honey." I winked back at him enjoying the fact that he was speechless for a moment.
"Hm, whatever you say. Probably fucked an ape or something." He turned around and mumbled just loud enough for me to hear him before clearing his throat. However, I did not care about what he said since I knew he probably did insult me to hide the fact that he didn't expect this.
"An ape is still better than you." I whispered back because my stupid self sometimes couldn't hold back. Raven froze while wanting to walk to the other side of the gym hall.
Slowly he made eye contact again.
"You can't know unless you try." He smirked and I choked on my spit. He did not just? I didn't mean it like that! It wasn't like I didn't want to try but- wait WHAT?!
"I think it's best to continue were we left of." Raven interrupted my sudden mental breakdown pretending that he did not just say that. But from the corner of my eye I could spot him still laughing at me.
After that we kept testing the limits of my speed without putting too much energy into it because I was still in my sleeping clothes and wanted to shower. I was also supposed to show Raven how good I was with knives and easily hit him in close combat despite the few times he managed to yank me away. So much about not getting too close, huh? My emotions were already all over the place.
"You can go now. I'll show you to your apartment where we will meet with Vince." Raven then finally called it a day after another hour when I was at the verge of collapsing.
{Raven}
I led Rune into one of the elevators and upstairs again, making sure his eyes were covered enough because he didn't wear contacts. His hair was still a mess and I had to resist the urge to untangle it. But literally what was wrong with me? Maybe it was because I didn't sleep or because I still felt betrayed by him so I couldn't think clearly. I had to admit that his skills far exceeded my expectations even if I'd never admit it. Without a strategy he'd easily beat me in a fight but he lacked the will to go as far as seriously hurting or killing someone. I could tell by his reaction to killing these people yesterday.
We just had to go one floor higher when someone entered the elevator and I suddenly felt the pressure of that person's presence suffocating me.
His black buzz cut and the grey suit that was a contrast to his hazel eyes were still the same as I remembered. Even though I was 1,90 meters tall he was taller than me and glared down at me nothing but disappointment in his eyes.
"Brother..." his cold voice send shivers down my spine and for a second I forgot that Rune was still next to me.
"Neil... I thought you were still in Japan?" I asked him and kept my voice as professional as I could. My brother and me had never spoken kindly or overly emotional to each other. He had taught me that people would not respect me if I did.
"The leader brought me here to lead the mission in London that you'll also join but I doubt that's something to discuss in front of an outsider. I am in a hurry so don't make this too long." He shifted his gaze to Rune for a second. The younger leaned on the wall with his arms crossed and hood hiding his face.
I had to get Neil away from him as soon as possible. He'd see that something was wrong faster than anyone else...
"You're right. Welcome back to LA, Neil." I bowed slightly in front of him because I knew in Japan they did that and Neil spent most of his life there.
"Tsk, I heard you were poisoned by the attackers yesterday." His eyes gleamed dangerously and I could not endure looking at them any longer so I broke the eye contact and looked down instead.
"I-"
"I taught you better than that. In the end you're still a child." He spat making me clench my teeth before biting my lip. I was not a child... I was good in what I did here but why couldn't I say that to his face? Why could I not even look him in the eye and felt like a failure every time we talked? It had been at least two years since I last saw him but everything suddenly felt like back then.
The next moment the elevator door opened and I didn't realize that this was our stop until Rune took my hand and pulled me out of there. The daze I had been caught in went away and I finally took a breath.
With force I yanked my hand away from Rune.
"Don't touch me!" I yelled more loudly than intended but meeting my brother so suddenly made everything chaotic and I couldn't control my frustration. Rune was surely about to make fun of me for how I reacted in front of Neil. He would use that small lack in my confidence to get on my nerves for sure. But what could I do? Usually, it felt amazing being overly confident and intimidating people but being with Neil was the same as being a helpless kid again. I wanted to hate him... but I just wasn't strong enough to do that.
"Raven..." Rune held up his hands as if to signal that he didn't intend to harm anyone. He took off the hood.
"... are you okay?" His voice sounded soft but serious when he spoke. Did that mean he pitied me? Oh hell no, I didn't need that. I was about to snap back at him when I realized how that made it even more obvious. Instead I put on a smirk and posed with my hand on my chin.
"You know, I'm always damn fine. Now let's go to your apartment." I winked and didn't even leave him a chance when I already walked away. I wasn't weak, I wasn't so vulnerable that anyone could intimidate me.
The following minutes of silence that I created through this came unexpected. I had been certain that he'd start asking questions and wanting to know more since I never talked about my older brother to him.
But somehow I thought he might have grasped the situation quickly enough... he purposely avoided not asking more questions. It was better like this.
"Here." I gave him the keys to the apartment directly opposite of mine and we both entered. It was a little smaller than mine but had everything necessary.
Rune did not complain about anything when he already left into the bathroom after I told him there were already clothes put for him there by Vince.
Perfect... I sighed in thoughts and let myslef fall down on the small sofa to bury my head in a pillow. Why of all times had Neil to show up now? I was busy enough keeping a Falcon family member a secret from everyone else and was happy to leave to London for the mission but now Neil was supposed to lead it?
I was old enough to lead a mission on my own. Even Mr. Gray had said that and I actually preferred him accompanying us rather than Neil. I hadn't even been informed in advance because the olders still thought I wasn't ready despite being 24 years old and proven to be skilled enough. Everyone here knew that... I was treated like a celebrity among people my age, girls were going crazy to go out with me so why did Neil still have to treat me like always?
I threw the pillow at the television and wanted to throw another when a soft singing tone came from the bathroom. Rune was singing or more like humming a beautifully sad melody while being in the shower and I couldn't do anything but be mesmerized by it. The melody sounded like a nordic sea folk song... just like something that sirens would sing to bait humans into following them into the deep oceans.
I had almost forgotten than Rune was still Dandelion, my favourite newcoming singer online. Maybe he wasn't lying about everything before we found out about him... maybe his real self wasn't much different from how he was before.
Why did he show me his singing back then in the park, risking to reveal his identity to the public? He had also saved me from death 3 times but with what motive? If he didn't want anyone to know about his secret he could've just let me die yesterday and no one would've suspected anything.
In a moment of feeling a little spark in my heart I remembered how he had wanted me to try banana milk even after I went to far and made him cry during traing. I also remembered how uncomfortable he seemed when holding a gun.
Was this all his real self? Was he pretending all of this? Nobody had ever done such casual things as offering me their food or singing for me...
Probably, I was going too soft on Rune... I had never cared so much about anyone that I felt bad after hurting them despite my 2 friends and Ayaka.
Didn't that only prove my weakness if I already went as far as possibly sympathizing with the enemy?
Was it just sympathizing? How pathetic.
"Hey!" I turned around the next second when I saw Rune with wet hair wearing only a grey bathrobe walking toward me with furrowed eyebrows.
"I called your name like 3 times. Is there a blow dryer anywhere?" He wanted to know and I just now noticed how my mind had driven off from the moment he had started singing. Pearls of water were running down Rune's neck, down to his collarbones until they dissapeared behind the robe. Subconsciously, my eyes traveled from his upper body down to his legs that were only visible form his knee down. He was slim and his skin was flawless, yet I knew how muscualar he actually was from having trained before. How did he manage to have such beautiful legs as a man? Wait did I just call his legs beautiful?! Fuck!
"Uh.. nevermind I'll let them airdry."
Suddenly the younger turned around in a hassle and locked himself in the bathroom again.
Did he notice where I stared just now?! I had to tell him that it was an accident! What if he thought that I was checking him out? God damn, this was so embarrassing.
'No Raven' I talked to myself in thoughts. 'Just say, you wondered who put the bathrobe inside the bathroom because you can't remember anyone bringing one..'
What a stupid idea. This whole situation with Neil made me lose focus. My thought were all over the place and while I tried concentrating myself on one thing, the next second my thoughts were somewhere else.
How could Neil's presence do that to me? It had to be the reason I acted so weirdly just now...