The Past

"Since you're older, shall I call you Big Bro Nit? Or perhaps Big Bro Nito?" Kyle began while shaking his hand.

Whilst it was true that Nitocris was older than Kyle biologically, Kyle was still mentally older. It was a small matter anyway. Come to think of it, he doesn't have any 'big brother' in this current life. Suddenly, Kyle remembered his older brother - who had been a pain in the neck when they were growing up but turned out decent enough once they were older.

Kyle felt he was rather bad not to be thinking of his own parents and siblings that he had left behind. It was only her children and husband that occupied her mind - with her husband being last on the list.

Kyle mentally slapped himself. Comparing this life with his past life, he had really been quite the recluse then. Not so much a recluse, but kept to himself and only 'lived' when he had kids. Luckily, he was much better in this life. New life, new direction. He wasn't going to waste this second chance.

Kyle's thoughts came back to the present when Nitocris flung his hand away after the shake, while giving him a rather disgusted look, "What's with all these weird nicknames you are giving me anyway? Before, it was Nicky. Now? Nit? Nito? Just call me Nitocris, that will do."

"That's so long and it's boring to be so formal. It's hardly endearing, is it?" Kyle asked.

Nitocris glared at him, "I do not intend to be endearing."

"Fine, fine," Kyle replied with a wave of his hand, "You'll be the hard-nut-to-crack older brother then. We'll wear you down and you'll get used to us calling you Big Bro Nick. It's close enough to Nit in Nitocris."

"Do you even listen to a word I say?" Nitocris asked exasperatingly. THIS was the guy that he admired? He just looked like an annoying kid right now.

Kyle just grinned.

"One final thing," Kyle said, being all serious again, "I need to know everything you know about Drako."

"So he's still alive?" Nitocris asked, though it was more of a statement than a question. Interestingly enough, Kyle noticed that Nitocris looked relieved - and there was even a tinge of happiness in there?

Kyle nodded, now more curious than ever.

"How did a S Temple disciple, that revers life, get to be Kazuya's top assassin?" Kyle asked.

Nitocris was surprised, though he thought that he should have known better by now, "How did you find that out?"

"His fighting style," Kyle explained and Nitocris nodded.

"Pure luck, really, or maybe not luck considering what happened," Nitocris began with a sigh, "You know how strict S Temple is on its disciples. Drako was one of the more rebellious type. He didn't quite like the rules but he had nowhere else to go, having been abandoned there at birth."

Nitocris's eyes glazed over for a while as he thought of the past, "I came across him when I went to my secret base in the hills behind our old house after ... receiving my father's undying love for me. We became friends. He would sneak out often just to meet up with me."

Nitocris sighed, "His name was Suci, which meant purity. Clean. That's what he was then. A really pure and kind-hearted young man. Eventually, he couldn't stand seeing the marks of love my father would give me daily so he foolishly decided to reprimand my father."

Nitocris laughed bitterly, "It was the day I lost my best friend and my freedom."

"So your father captured him and turned him into his puppet?" Kyle queried, "How did he do it?"

"I don't know the actual details," Nitocris confessed, "As I never bothered to find out."

Nitocris's eyes darkened for a while, trying to suppress those memories and the feelings it invoked. He didn't try to find out because he was too busy trying to remain sane himself. If he had been abused before, it escalated after that.

"All I know is that it involved a lot of chemicals and a lot of torture. He broke him. When I finally met him again a couple of years later, he was Drako. He didn't even remember me," Nitocris said.

Kyle nodded, "I could gather that he had been brainwashed. His pain receptors were dulled, which indicated that his brain had been tampered with. Despite that, however ..."

Kyle turned to face Nitocris, "His will appears strong. When I mentioned S Temple, it was as if he had some remnants of memories in there. It was the only reason why I managed to defeat him. His thoughts were being jumbled up and his emotions were haphazard, allowing him to make mistakes."

"Because of that, I felt that he might be saved," Kyle said, "But if he can't ... then he'll be eliminated."

Nitocris nodded his head in understanding. He was surprised that Kyle was willing to try and help the very person that had been trying to kill him all this time. This made him even more glad for agreeing to work together with Kyle.

"AH!" Nitocris shouted suddenly, remembering something important. He had been so caught up with Kyle that he almost forgot it.

Kyle looked at him in puzzlement.

"Kazuya intends to turn you into another 'Drako', to replace him," Nitocris said, "So he has dropped his plans to kill you. He wants to turn you."

Kyle furrowed his eyebrows, "That is a problem, but perhaps it's for the best."

"What do you mean?"

"Kazuya is so heavily guarded that it would be difficult to get close to him. I could always be the bait to enter the lion's den," Kyle said, thinking.

"You're insane," Nitocris said, "That's a high risk. Once he catches you, how sure are you that you can escape? Why would you walk into a cage willingly?"

"I have you, don't I?" Kyle said, "You'll keep me updated on the plans and the move, so I can make my plans and move."

Nitocris just stared at him as if Kyle had two heads. Why would Kyle trust him to give him the information in the first place? Still, he didn't ask.

"My turn for a question," Nitocris began.

"Huh? It's not like you haven't been asking questions before this, you know."

Nitocris glared at him, "That was in response to your statements. This is a real question to ask for more information."

"Shoot away," Kyle said then held up his hand, "But not with a gun, of course."

Nitocris just glared at him again, this time for his extremely lame joke.

"Why do you want me to take over Kazuya's position after we defeat him?"

"You're made for the position, Nitocris," Kyle said simply, "I believe you'll easily get to the top with your smarts and power."

"That still doesn't answer the question," Nitocris pointed out.

"I need someone I can trust in the Underground," Kyle admitted.

"And that someone is ME?" Nitocris couldn't believe what Kyle was saying. Though he had wondered earlier, to actually hear Kyle say it so confidently made his head spin, "Are you insane? Why would you trust me?"

"Gut feeling," Kyle said with a smile.

Nitocris rolled his eyes, "That can get you killed one day."

"It hasn't yet," mumbled Kyle, thinking about the Elite Five guys.

For some reason that Kyle couldn't explain, when he first met Xing Han, Ali, and Sam all those years ago, he had this same feeling that he was experiencing right now when facing Nitocris. At that time, he didn't believe in this feeling. He kept on researching on their backgrounds, digging everywhere and getting Kay to find out about their family history.

He felt like he could not rely on that gut feeling of his and he needed something more concrete. Even though they appeared nice and good - *that* guy from his previous life had been nice as well. So nice and good to kill her.

Yet, no matter what he did and no matter how hard he tried to keep a distance from them, it failed. It was only after Kay's kidnapping incident that made him finally let go of the hesitation and barriers he subconsciously put up.

He never regretted it.

He also never felt that feeling with anyone else again. That is, until now.

So this time, Kyle was going to rely on that gut feeling of his. It's not to say that he's going to trust blindly ... well, not yet anyway ... but he is going to give Nitocris a chance that he otherwise would never have.

"Think we should go in now before Auntie gets worried," Kyle said.

"You're really making yourself at home now, aren't you?" Nitocris said.

"Of course," Kyle replied, "After all, we're going to be family, right? Master Shifu is my adopted father after all and you're going to stay at his house."

Then Kyle went all serious, "After we deal with Kazuya, of course."

When they went inside, they saw how Nitocris's mother was laughing while talking to Master Shifu. She even wiped her eyes, because she as laughing so much. Nitocris was stunned at this sight, for even when Kazuya came over to fulfill his end of the bargain as the 'dutiful husband', she was never like this.

He can't even remember when was the last time he saw his mother laugh.

Before the accident, it was always tears of sadness that came out of her eyes and after the accident, she was polite. She smiled, but Nitocris supposed her subconscious knew that there was something wrong so her eyes used to have a tinge of sadness in them.

His heart lurched and he felt his eyes were getting wet. He cleared his throat, quickly getting his emotions under control.

"We'll need to discuss the plans in detail," Kyle said, "In the meantime, I'd appreciate any heads-up on Kazuya's move towards me."

Nitocris nodded.

Kyle and Master Shifu stayed for a while longer then left, as silently and as covertly as they came. Those that had the house under surveillance never detected their presence at all and found the whole duty entirely boring.