chapter [21]

{Rune}

When Vince arrived we talked a lot about the upcoming mission and planned department dates and strategies. It was all superficial for the moment but Vince went more into detail when mentioning Neil leading the mission with two of his comrades.

Again I could feel Raven's mood switch like before. At first I held back asking anything about his brother because what we experienced in the elevator was a side of Raven that I never saw before. He had looked intimidated, nervous and vulnerable in front of his brother but if I told him that, Raven might think I'm trying to find a weak side on him. Probably, he didn't like this behavior either so I wondered what made the brothers relationship so... toxic.

"As far as I know, Rune, Kate and Ed will be allowed to come along since all three received the best reviews from the seniors so we'll be a group of 9 people." Vince was in the middle of explaining.

"9 people..." Raven thought out loud and furrowed his eyebrows.

"We need to be really careful then." He stated giving me a slight glance from the side that I simply mirrored.

"That is why I gave the task of taking responsibly for Rune to you." Vince answered totally unfazed by my obvious disagreement.

I could take care of myself and even if someone watched over me, I was still capable of running away any time I wanted to... it wasn't like they could stop me.

"What's that mean?" I crossed my arms.

"It means personal observation 24/7. I'm really sorry but we can't take risks here." Vince apologized even though it did not sound sincere at all.

"Especially since Kate and Ed will be with us most of the time and they ought not to know either."

Perfect... since I noticed Raven staring at me in the bathrobe before, the atmosphere had been uncomfortable but now I was forced to stay with him as soon as we'd leave for the mission. God damn, how was I supposed to focus then?

...

The day passed by when I went back to Vera's house giving her a very long and detailed explanation of what had happened. I could not tell granny that some people knew about my identity now but my sister gladly understood.

For her own safety we decided not to call for a while but only text or if necessary meet up as friends.

I took all the necessary stuff I had stored at her's with me one after another to bring it into the apartment. Jane and Kate had offered to help me get my things but they shouldn't come across Vera and her house if possible and I also wanted to be alone for the moment. So many hours being with people was exhausting to an extent that I just wished to hide somewhere for a while. But I couldn't... I had to deal with it and it was mostly my fault.

When I arrived at the Inoue company building in the evening with the last suitcase I coincidently came across Neil and next to him Ayaka on their way to the cafeteria. My apartment was a few floors higher up but I had also decided to stop at the small inside convenience store near there to buy some ice cream and cake.

From further away Neil Inoue already had that overly cold and intimidating vibe that spread form the way he walked to how his face had probably never smiled.

Having his hair so short fit well but I was sure that if this guy showed a little more emotion he could be really attractive.

"Neil! I want that kitty shaped strawberry cream bun they sell there." Ayaka's voice was heard over all the other voices of some people talking here and there or just walking by. She pulled Neil's suit but he shoved her away gently and glared down at her.

"Too much sugar is bad for your health. You should eat more vegetables like your father tells you to." He stated and added some more words that were lost in the surrounding noise.

To be honest, Neil felt a little different right now than when being with Raven in the elevator. Not that cold.

"Rune!" She suddnely called out my name when I realized she had spotted me passing by them.

I smiled at her and squatted down a little to receive her tight hug when she almost jumped on me.

"Hello Ayaka." I grinned.

"Why are you carrying a suit case?" She immediately started asking a question and I quickly explained how I now lived in an apartment here when the tall figure of Neil showed up behind her. Closer up there was certainly a similarity to see between both brothers. Same hair color, same amber eyes although the shape was slightly different. While Ravens eyes where sharp and pointed a little downwards on the inner corner, Neil's eyes were more almond shaped and they weren't shining as much. It was visible that they had ancestors from western and east asian countries though.

Neil's lips were also smaller than Raven's and his jawline even sharper while his nose was perfectly straight and more pointy than Ravens. It was very interesting to look at for sure.

The only bad thing was that he glared down at me like I was an imbecile.

"Ayaka, I told you not to make friends with strangers." he voiced out as if I wasn't even standing there.

"He is no stranger. He saved my life and he is Raven's trainee." Ayaka put her hand on her tiny hips so her black skirt swung to the side.

"I see..." Now Neil shifted his gaze to look me in the eyes. Thank good I was wearing contacts... I held the eye contact and didn't back away because if I judged this guy correctly then just like Raven he thought other people feared him or respected him so much they didn't dare looking at them. There were too many arrogant people like that.

"Rune Smith. Honored to meet you." I introduced myself overly formal.

"We already met in the elevator yesterday when you treated your brother not so politely instead of saying hello after having traveled here, oops where are my manners, excuse me" I added and smiled at him politely just to earn the expected death glare. That guy was surely able to kill me right here and now but I did not think he was the person to do that and lose controll so quickly.

"Keep your nose out of other people's business if you value your life." His voice still sounded the same as before but the threat was probably no joke. So he wasn't that much of a player but came straight to the point...

"Neil!" Ayaka yelled at him and punshed his leg but not hard enough to even make him move.

"You know, I'm Raven's friend so I couldn't hold myself back there." I sighed and winked at the little girl when she came walking back to me and hugged my arm. She really was adorable.

"Friend? Why should Raven even care about someone that obviously cannot ever reach his level of skill?" Neil spat fully sure of himself when he seemed to start enjoying this in a bad kind off way.

"Choosing friends depending on their skill potential is inappropriate and has nothing to do with what friendship is about. As an adult in a leading position in this group you are supposed to know that." I dropped my smile and turned on my heal to leave the scene after quickly whispering a good bye to Ayaka.

"See you later. Take this to buy your bun." I gave her some money and soon walked away entering the store before they could. Uh, I loved how it felt good to verbally slap a person that deserved it although I held myself back a little to avoid causing too much trouble. If he ended up kicking me out of the mission I'd simply go to the leader and ask for the favor that she wanted to grant me.

"Rune." I almost flinched because of that sudden call and realized that I already had reached my apartment with a package of strawberry cheesecake in my hand.

When looking to the side I saw Vince waving at me when he closed up.

"Hi." I greeted back and he helped me opening the door and getting the things inside.

"Uhm, what's up?" I asked being unsure why Vince still waited for me to go in.

"I am actually here to talk to you alone but it'd be better to do that inside." His lips barely moved when he talked and I already thought I did something wrong when witnessing how extra serious he was at the moment.

"Sure..?" I went inside and sat down at the small round table, him opposite of me. With a sigh he let his hands slide through his curls and all my attention was on him. Vince had always been difficult to predict even when he had been drunk. I did not know much about him but his intentions were hopefully honorable...

"Rune... I actually messed with your papers and pulled some strings to get you into Inoue group." He explained full on dropping facts and even though this came totally unexpected I tried not to let it show. With just that it sounded confusing. I needed to know more first.

"...why?"

"You know that I can sense gifted powers in people around me but actually I can also sense what exactly their gifted power is. It's a hidden skill in the Vernez family that only few of the purest blood line have so I never told an outsider about it. Please keep it a secret."

I observed him closely and in his face and eyes I noticed a little discomfort. Why telling me this in the first place... and more importantly...

"So you knew from the beginning that I am from Falcon? Why didn't you tell everyone? You could've found other evidence than your ability!" I got a weird feeling about this... did that mean he didn't want me to get in trouble or was there some ulterior motive behind it?

"Yes, I first felt your presence when we found Raven in that alley in Berlin and I almost freaked out but of course I couldn't let it show. Later when you came to the vacation home I finally got to see who you were and pretended to believe your lies. Then I started to observe your actions and found out about you flying here and applying for Inoue group... don't get me wrong, I tried to get closer to you without it seeming suspicious that way. I am sorry for lying to you." Vince told me and his hands were resting calmly on the table. So he really had known everything from the beginning and I didn't even realize it. What if he had told the others? I could literally be dead right now.

"Still... I don't get your reason for this." I didn't let myself get distracted and further questioned him.

"Actually, the Falcon group had some allies that supported their researches on a project they called "Healer". I don't exactly know what it is but it's certainly true that it has the power to destroy the whole gifted society. This is not its real purpose though so the Vernez family that used to be an ally still supports the Falcom groups project. For years we have been searching for survivors that could tell us about how to create and use what was planned in that project but we never succeeded. Those we found were all clueless."

I listened closely as he went over his story. So the Vernez family had build an alliance with mine? It certainly felt good not being hated for once...

Project Healer... I already knew that this was what the other groups feared. But what exactly was it that not even the Vernez family knew the details?

"When I sensed your gifted ability it was different from other Falcon group members. It is very powerful, almost pressuring and there is something about it that I can't identify. You could say that different abilities have different colors to them in a way. Inoue feels purple to me, somehow like a thunderstorm, Vernez a dark blue like the bottom of the ocean and Falcon usually feels green and fresh like a spring breeze... but yours feels like the light of a star, brightly silver and shining. I've never witnessed this before so something about you has to be special. In this mission we might get more answers but I am certain you hold some kind of special role in all of this... it's a feeling." His hand moved to his chest to empathize these feelings when Vince observed me full of expectations.

"I... am no special one among other Falcons I know." I stated rather slowly when letting all Vince had said sink in. It was true though. My skills were as good as Vera's although I was slightly stronger than her because I exercised more but despite that there was nothing special about my abilities. They were already strong as they were so I wondered if what Vince said might change something about this. All of this made things even more confusing.

"I thought as much as that after Raven told me about your training yesterday but there is a possibility that there is something hidden within you that we might be able to unlock if we know more. Also... I know that Vera is your sister but her aura seems normal compared to yours." I looked down at myself visualizing Vince's words. Surely, it felt like I didn't know myself sometimes but... how could I not know about something like this. Was I really different from Vera?

"And that's one of your reasons to take me to the mission?" I asked causing him to nod as his brown locks bounced slightly.

"Then why are we keeping this a secret from Raven and Jane...?" I really didn't understand why. They were his closest friends and I thought of them as trustworthy with this after already keeping my identity a secret.

"This might sound egoistic but if I tell them about my abilities right now... what will they think? I basically lied to them about it all my life and I don't want to risk our friendship... Also, I can see how Raven grew closer to you and giving him more reasons to be cautious and mistrusting would destroy that a little, don't you think?" He smiled a little and I returned it. I got what he meant with his friendship and I empathized with that so there was no problem. Hearing that he cherished his friendships was nice.

However, most of my attention subconsciously fell on that last sentence. Raven grew closer to me? Thinking about what we've been through, Vince might be right but it felt different hearing this from someone else. The way Raven would sometimes look at me or touch me when he didn't even have to and when he gave me his clothes... all these times were special moments in which I had felt strangely drawn to him and with time passing I wondered what he really thought of me. One day he was nice and the other he totally changed.

"By the way... is there a story with him and his brother Neil? They seem to have a quite complicated relationship..." I hinted my nosyness but quickly noticed how Vince backed away a little.

"If there is nothing more you want to discuss about this... I can only tell you what I witnessed myself because this topic is vulnerable to Raven so he never talks about it..." He sighed but I had already expected something like this. So there really was something going on between those brothers?

"Jane and I first met Raven when he came here from Japan being 9 years old. Back then he was already a very serious child. He did not play with the others and he was always alone. At school he exceeded all expectations and always had straight A's but moving on to middle school he started bullying other kids whenever there was no one from the company watching him. Back then I coincidently overheard a conversation with his brother and quickly realized how Neil influenced him. Raven was taught that showing emotion made him weak and that every friend would someday turn his back on him or only liked him because of his status. Additionally, no matter what Raven did, it was never enough to please his brother.

At some point I think he secretly started dating a girl but unfortunately she was using him for his money. After feeling that pain Raven must have felt even more convinced of his brothers principles..."

"Then how did you become friends?"

"We were put together for a training mission led by Mr. Gray and he taught us about the importance of trusting your comrades. Jane and I pitied Raven back then so we endured his mean words and eventually got closer to him bit by bit. Neil then went back to Japan and only visited once a year but it's always the same with him and Raven once he returns."

"I see..." I nodded to show my empathy while imagining what young Raven might have been like.

"Actually..." It seemed like Vince wasn't done talking yet and I looked up at him again with curiousity.

"Before you arrived here Raven was a lot meaner and more moody than now. I know it's hard to believe that he can be worse but I've never seen him treating anyone like you before..." Vince explained leaving me with new questions. Why was his expression so weird?

"As in a good way or in a bad way?" I said this very slowly but the older did not give an answer anyway. Being treated differently than everyone else surely made me feel a little special but I wasn't sure yet if that was a good thing.

"But now that you say it... is... Raven bi or pan or something by any chance?" I formulated this question carefully because I did not know if Vince might take it the wrong way. I was just curious...

"Raven? Haha, what makes you think that? Did he hit on you?" Vince started laughing before resting his chin on his crossed hands. He was now actually smiling for once and I felt kind of awkward...

"No! But... I dunno I caught him several times looking weirdly, he lend me his clothes more than once and he just... does random things that are not normal between friends. Why the hell am I talking to you about that?!" I was pretty sure that I'd regret talking so much about my thoughts to a person I barely knew but I just had to let it out somewhere even if I sounded like a lovesick teenager.

With each of my words Vince's grin grew wider making me realize how he actually looked really cute when he was happy.

"Hm, that's new to me. But I should definitely go talk to Jane about this. She is an expert when it comes to love."

"That's not what I-" I tried setting things clear but it was already too late.

"Yeah yeah, you know every reason to annoy Raven is a reason to live and I won't let that one slip." Vince chuckled. What did I get myself into this time? Why were all people here so weird...? And most importantly how awkward would it be if Vince and Jane were starting to make weird remarks or something?!