(This is a sort of reminiscing chapter character understanding chapter. It is important but if you're not a fan you can skip it.)
Xui lit an incense at Hidetsugu's altar, shaking the matchstick to snub the flame out. He calmly covered the pot, looking at the painting hung on the wall, intertwined with mourning bouquets and vines creeping up their pots intertwining with the frame. Clasping his hands together to pray in song, the man inhaled shakily…
He felt eyes.
His face broke out into a slightly amused smile, before clearing his throat and straightening up, "you aren't being as sneaky as you think." He turned his head sideways to a giggling child and a shy toddler. The younger squeaked and hid behind the older, staring at Xui, "Sylvester, why have you come here?" Xui whispered, turning his face back to the two. He offered a hand to Hiroto who immediately teared up and ran to him, hiding himself under his arm. "He's being a cry baby!" Sylvester huffed.
"I'm nooottt!" Hiroto sniffled. Xui chuckled, "well then, if you two are going to be disrespectful in front of your father's shrine we can have this session another da-"
"NO!" They shouted collectively.
"Behave then…" Xui sternly glared at them. Sylvester approached the painting shyly. "No shoes." Xui gave a pointed look at the child's sandals who pouted in frustration, neatly adjusting the shoes outside. He sat in front of the frame quickly before Xui could criticise him for something else. Hiroto slowly approached Xui while his brother was gone. Hiroto squeezed his stuffed bunny, eyes widening in wonder at the painting. "It's pretty!", and his cheeks warmed in excitement, the frame was changed every year. Xui smiled and fluffed up his hair, "yes, it is Hidetsugu." He softly muttered. "Why didn't he stay?" Hiroto looked at Xui in curiosity and the man didn't waver, "He needed to go home. He couldn't stay."
Sylvester excitedly looked at the incense, the smoke represented a pathway of communication to the spirit in Feyrinorism; the majority Juvian religion, "father!…"
"…I hope your spirit's not annoyed by my constant presence." Sylvester blew out the stick after lighting the incense and smiled to himself, "Forgive your son." He sighed, stretching himself into a cross legged more comfortable position, staring at the well maintained painting, "I am worried… I'm worried about everything, about Hiroto. He hasn't talked to me about anything that happened after I left and it's been four years since I've been back. Mother's husband did something. It's haunting me. He put him in the ascendancy, the clever bastard contracted me to a firm in Britain so I couldn't do anything about it…
The 700 missed calls that I could have picked up. The calls that didn't go through to me… I'll never forgive Masato. He somehow put him in the commision of all places…" Sylvester palm faced and used his nails to pull down on his face. Suddenly he heard a bang behind him, Hiroto in a cloak, entering the house mysteriously before sneaking into his room. Sylvester raised an eyebrow before huffing. The argument earlier today wasn't going to give him any answers.
He looked at Hiroto nervously, "wha-"
"I'm going to be away at night today."
"A day? How come?"
"Duty calls." Hiroto looked at Sylvester in an apologetic expression, "don't wait for me to come back." He muttered. Sylvester blinked and sighed, pinching his nose, "don't forget to eat dinner at least you brute." A robotic assistant came to hand Hiroto a curry bowl and Hiroto nodded in thank you out of habit. He poked the grains, scrutinising them. The assistant looked at him in curiosity, whirring and then looking at Sylvester.
"Do you remember our father?" Hiroto stared blankly at the wall before looking at his brother, "or… is it… an obligation that you visit him…"
Sylvester blinked in shock as the assistant slowly backed away. He scooted a chair out besides Hiroto and crouched down to see him as he was sitting on the floor. Hiroto put his bowl down in front of his crossed legs, "I don't remember him very well but I admired him. Xui described him often and I choose to believe the stories." He scoffed, "I have one faint memory where I was crying after a nightmare and begging for a hug, Keira had woken up from my shenanigans and father came back home late. He picked me up and cradled me back to sleep."
Hiroto quietly listened, "do you think he'd have loved me still after what I did."
"I know he would, don't doubt it."
Hiroto sighed and proceeded to eat the curry quietly. Sylvester ruffled Hiroto's hair before getting his own bowl.
Later that night as Sylvester slept, Hiroto wore a hood over his head and apologised to his brother for being trouble quietly, before sneaking out.
"2:27 A.M. CURINFIWEL NICHIGAT OLREderin ich'n; shateze'thinsha ichando-olrins renaymin haq. HAQ."
"Night curfew in order; all citizens should remain indoors."
Kill on sight wasn't something mentioned, but was understood. The streets were barren, no cars present on the highways that swirled around the commercial buildings, just the eerie buzzing of warnings around the city. The bright red lights stung his eyes, it made him more aware of his situation; the exact thing the warnings told him not to. He slowly plugged in some headphones into his ears and teared his eyes away from the horrifying atmosphere of the city at night. Not a bird moved, not even the sound of crickets survived here.
He checked the address on the card again, and fed the coordinates into his barcode system, "location, ready."