Chapter 8: The older brother.
She had spent a lot of time alone with her older brother. When they were children, he always found time to play with her, no matter how busy he was with his studies; they even slept together at one point.
However, when she turned ten and overcame the traumas of two years after discovering a painful truth that she still mostly didn't know, his available time drastically reduced. This was due to several factors: Naruto's own growth, the acquisition of new responsibilities as heir to the Gremory clan and a public figure, and self-imposed ones to ensure the health, happiness, and emotional stability of his peerage. He did his best, of course, but it was a full-time job.
She, for her part, had moved to the human world along with her Evil Pieces to live a schoolgirl life, inspired by the anime she enjoyed as a child.
Their contact had been limited to her scarce visits to the Underworld, where they rarely coincided, unless her father forced her brother to stay home. This was an unusual event, since, although he loved her very much, her visits were not reason enough to alter his incredibly tight schedule.
It seemed both were about to have a long-overdue conversation.
And there they were, sitting face to face in the Occult Research Club room. It was the first time in years they had met again. In her brother's eyes, which previously shone with great mischief and childish curiosity, she now saw deep, tired eyes, but overflowing with immense love. Somehow, they were similar to the eyes Sirzechs actually had, only on a much younger face.
His gaze made her feel tiny, insignificant before the eyes of someone who, despite sharing the same age, seemed to have accumulated thousands of experiences more than her. And they belonged to the eyes of her older brother, a young man who, as far as she knew, had surpassed her in every possible way several years ago.
"I know what you must be thinking," Naruto said, breaking the silence that had occurred only moments ago after his peerage left. He didn't need to be a genius to know what was in her head at that moment.
"What are you thinking?" she asked with a slight smile, believing he was trying to break the tension.
"I left you behind a long time ago so I could shine at the top without having to share that place with anyone else," Naruto declared, slightly adjusting himself on the sofa and crossing his right leg over his left, which gave him a truly terrifying image.
That wasn't the declaration she expected. She had definitely expected... no, she had wished with all her heart that he was joking, that he really hadn't guessed her thoughts. She knew she was selfish; that what her brother had done, he had done because it was what he needed to get rid of his own inner demons... metaphorically speaking, of course. However, her brother's harsh words and such clear and firm tone completely disarmed her. Although she didn't want to accept it, a part of her—the one that missed the brother she grew up with and with whom she thought they would do everything together—couldn't help but envy that he had flown so high and left her behind.
"I... I don't think that," she said, looking back at the floor, unable to meet his gaze. She couldn't stand to see the eyes they both shared, afraid they would look at her with the disdain she was sure would come.
"You can lie to everyone, you can lie to me... but you can never lie to yourself," Naruto declared. He didn't bother to expose her bluff, as he knew that, in the end, she wouldn't accept that she actually envied him for everything he had achieved in such a short time.
"You left me alone," Rias said, her voice slightly broken. "We were siblings... I always thought we would do everything together, that we would conquer the world side by side... But then, you simply had to blindly jump, like an idiot, and... you ruined your own life, you destroyed our future. And then... then you changed, you became someone I didn't recognize. You left me behind. When I tried to catch up with you, you had already advanced so far that the distance was insurmountable, that the gap between us was an abyss."
After that declaration, Rias could no longer hold back the tears she had been repressing since she realized that her older brother had surpassed her and that, no matter how much she tried, she could never reach him again.
Although at another time he would have instantly jumped to comfort her and accepted his share of the blame to make her feel better, the Naruto of today was far from being the man who couldn't bear to see his little sister cry. The cries of Natsume, Oliver, and the rest of his peerage did move his heart, as they came from genuine sadness.
While it sounded somewhat insensitive, Rias was suffering solely and exclusively because of him. He had flown very high and far from her, but that hadn't been an easy path traveled in the blink of an eye; quite the opposite. He fought, fell a thousand times, and kept getting up again and again to grow more each day, to be better than he was the day before. Every night he went to bed determined to try, fail, and learn to surpass himself... that's how he became what he is today. And, although he wished it more than anything in the world, he couldn't have his sister by his side to grow together.
"I didn't abandon you," Naruto stated dryly. It wasn't the time to confront her; although he loved her and wanted to see her mature, being condescending wouldn't help her grow.
At this, Rias immediately looked up, her eyes slightly reddened from crying.
"Yes, you did," Rias said. At that moment, she couldn't scream; all she managed to get out of her throat was barely a hoarse whisper.
Naruto, without losing his monotonous tone at any moment, slightly closed his eyes, fixing his gaze on his little sister.
"I grew up... and I learned to accept my mistakes, that's what I did," he replied.
"I flew high and left you behind... Yes, it can't be denied, I did it on purpose... in a way, you can see it that way. But when I was learning to fly, nothing prevented you from following me. You saw me try again and again and you never came closer. I never stopped playing, Rias. When Sairaorg, Latia, and even the creepy Diodora came to play with us, I was there. When Sona came to the book club, I was there. Even when you wanted to do something with me, I was there. But when I wanted to train or needed help to do something, you weren't there," Naruto declared in a calm voice, without needing to raise it, as he didn't feel it was necessary. "In any case, you were the one who abandoned me... because I did need my sister when the world came crashing down on me."
After saying this, he let out a deep sigh. In truth, he wanted to keep talking, to tell her more things, but he felt it wasn't the right time... She was in the same state he was in years ago, when he chose to blame others instead of accepting his own responsibility. Therefore, he simply got up.
"I love you, Rias, but I'm not going to sink for you every time you have a problem. When you're ready to mature... just... take care of yourself, okay?" And with those words, he disappeared in a magic circle, leaving Rias behind. Alone, she hit her head against the desk and broke down crying with a broken heart, realizing that perhaps... she had just lost her brother. And this time, she wasn't sure if there was a way back.
End of chapter.