You Who I Called Sister

If Nero wasn’t so aggrieved or resentful, he might have found Kayen’s constant floundering somewhat amusing, but unfortunately this was not the case. His patience, already near non-existent was waning quicker by the second. Idly tapping his fingers on the bench that he just decided to lean on, Nero awaited Kayen’s response; which he was unsurprised to hear, but still very much disappointed. “Tch, pull yourself together already. It was Ramen and Tarch, mostly.” Nero rolled his eyes, at least Kayen corrected herself quickly enough. “Then what is important, hmm? Was is running away to go on a selfish, idiotic carnage parade across the galaxy to be juuuuust like what you thought ol’ great great grammy Habana was like— OooOoOoor was it confiding in your only brother, who made the mistake of looking up to you so that maybe by some Kai-given miracle he might have understood why you wanted to go before you eneded up going? Trick question, we already know the answer.”

Wood began to splinter and snap, the hand Nero had on the bench had suddenly clenched into a vice grip. The rage that Kayen had expected was right there, standing in front of her... It wasn’t a raised voice, it wasn’t a violent breakdown. No, it was far worse. It was nothing less than most twisted, agonized and tortured expression of utter betrayal left to boil over nearly more than a decade. “So, tell me again, Nero began, slowly approaching Kayen with that ever present hollow stare. “just hoooow much you ‘missed’ me, because if you really did, you wouldn’t have been such a coward, too afraid to come back and answer for the pain you caused.”

Nero slowly shook his head in disdain, as if he was sick of even looking at Kayen. “You beat the tar out of our mother, stole heirlooms that were not rightfully yours, convinced nearly everyone I ever knew to run off with you and never told me a damn thing. You’re lucky our mother is alive for one, oh and hey guess what it gets better, your deaaaar friend Ramen thinks Fateburn is an oversized gaudy crutch and I wouldn’t be surprised if Tarch is terrified of swords given that you kinda sliced the kid’s chest open with it.” He forced a crooked smile. “Ohh and this is just the personal grievances and baggage, just you wait for the moral grievances, because yes I’m unfortunately aware of what you’ve done as a filthy scourge of the stars~” Nero took a step back and shrugged, gesturing to Kayen. “So, go ahead. The floor is yours. Please, explain why you thought anything you’ve done since that day was a good move.”

Excuses. That was all Kayen had it seemed. Nero snarled, dangerously close to baring fangs as a crackle of energy was sparked as a result of a grinding tooth. Being so ludicrously mad made Nero queasy, he was sick to death of this feeling of bile building up in more than a literal or physical sense. Now his fury was directed at more than just his sister, but his own mother as well. He didn’t like what he was told about that battle, or the fact that Kayen was similarly beaten to a pulp— in retrospect he hated the fact that both of them resorted to something so mind-bogglingly asinine. If neither of them wanted it to happen, then why did it happen? This and many other malformed questions burned in Nero’s mind like a continually shattering glass jigsaw puzzle.

Why Kayen was so attached to that damned sword was beyond Nero’s comprehension, sure it had historic value, but it was only ever going to be a sword. “It’s just a sword.” In Nero’s mind, the sword was only a part of a grand history that the wielders of the past were responsible for making. “It never made anyone special. It doesn’t make you special, it wouldn’t make me special. It’s. Just. A. Sword.”

Nero did of course think that if things went ‘right’ then everyone would be happy... The crucial difference being that his version of ‘things going right’ was wildly different to Kayen’s. If he had his way, this encounter wouldn’t even be happening. Instead, the two might have been at Punchin’ Pancakes celebrating a hard earned victory against a gang of intergalactic criminals where the two of them fought side by side with everything they had for the glory of the fight, to save the innocent from tyranny and spur those of courageous hearts to improve as much as they did. In comparison to that, Nero would be living a nightmare if he hadn’t carved out his own life and reached the state of positivity he had— his feelings towards Kayen were the only things holding him down...

As for Kayen’s greatest regret, well, Nero had some choice words for such a statement. “Then after you had recovered, why didn’t you come back? Since when did what other people might think stop you from doing something? You always fought your hardest for something you thought was worth fighting for! So why didn’t you fight for me!?” It easily went without saying that Nero would have wholeheartedly taken on legions of people had their roles been reversed, and this fact was written all over his distraught, confused and altogether ferocious expression. After a lengthy and no doubt awkward pause, Nero sighed, shaking his head. “I guess I’m naive for thinking family means nobody gets left behind.”

Nero stared blankly at Kayen. Though he tried his damndest to figure out the logic behind what Kayen said, any justification he thought of barely treaded water, if at all. If it was never about the sword, why did she make such a massive deal out of it? Nero knew well enough how stubborn both he and his sister were, so he saw little point in fueling a cyclical argument over a weapon or the meaning behind it.

There was one thing however, that Nero seemingly took greater offence to. “Limited? Oh, when using a weapon that doesn’t fit you or whatever, sure, I guess.” Nero scoffed, rolling his eyes slightly. As far as he could tell, Kayen didn’t quite register what he said about weapons not being nearly as important as the wielder. Kayen seemed so adamant that a weapon was her way forward, Nero didn’t understand why, but it wasn’t his problem to begin with. Nero had no idea why their mother was so hesitant to hand over Fateburn either, it wasn’t like she had a use for the oversized meat cleaver herself. “Like I said. It’s just a sword.”

The idea that this entire falling out between his sister and his family might have been heavily based on something as idiotic as who possessed some stupid weapon was something Nero considered, but hearing that it was more or less true only served to grate his nerves even further. Even in the wake of Kayen’s own bubbling golden fury, Nero’s disappointed gaze remained unflinching even though he knew precisely what that momentary glow signified.

As if Nero’s expression couldn’t become any more sour, Kayen had to drop the lamest kind of excuse he had ever heard. His scowl would deepen so harshly that his own eyes flashed yellow for a second, though he did let Kayen explain herself a fair bit before speaking up. “Wow. Just, wow. Protect me? Really? From our own mother, our family? To stop me from deciding to lie or not— and you know damn well that I wouldn’t lie regardless— and you do this... By never telling me the truth to begin with?” Kayen was right about one thing though; Nero did indeed have a good heart. “Tch, as if I’d stand aside and let everyone go wild on each other. I don’t care who’s being an idiot, I’ll still call them out for it. Yeah, I was a kid, but I wasn’t stupid now was I?” He felt as though a solid point was made; he did have an extensive track record of bluntly and honestly calling things like he saw them no matter the scenario.

Interestingly enough, Nero’s expression softened, becoming something between concerned and astronomically furious regarding Kayen’s eye. They both knew betrayal but without the full story, Nero was firmly of the belief that Kayen abandoning him was worse than whatever happened to her.

Someone took her eye, but she took Nero’s fighting spirit.

Nero’s fists clenched. “See? Stings, doesn’t it?” Even though he owed her absolutely nothing, some small part of him was raring to go, ready to throw down with whoever took out Kayen’s eye and introduce their face to the pavement.

“Funny. We aren’t fighting now, are we?” Nero shrugged, gesturing to the immediate area that remained in tact with the only real disturbance being a slightly broken park bench and heavily rustled foliage. “Absolutely nothing that would necessitate my intervention is currently occurring, so I have no logical reason to even lift a finger.” It was a sensible and mature stance to take, but it was almost robotic coming from Nero— someone that Kayen once knew to go in guns blazing whenever he had ample reason to— from training and being challenged to a spar all the way to defending or saving the innocent back home. It was primarily gut feeling and emotion with Nero; logic didn’t have much sway.

Kayen was someone that hurt him deeply, so her being in his field of vision or even within earshot should have been more than enough reason to go wild... Right?

Nero grumbled and shut his eyes. ’Oh boo-hoo, such a difficult choice...’ Kayen’s words did little to soothe him, and he was unsure of what she was expecting. He did however inwardly concede that being stuck in the scenario Kayen described would not have been beneficial either. What youngster would do well when two people that they loved and cared for greatly were at odds? For all his brains and gumption as a youth, odds were slim that Nero would be able to weasel out of something like that with a wholly ideal situation like he could pull off now.

He absolutely would have tried, though.

“Sure, and I feel as though that wasn’t considered at the time of your leaving.” Nero scoffed, but he couldn’t help but smirk ever so slightly. It wasn’t every day that someone of immense pride— especially Kayen of all people— admitted to their weaknesses. Kayen wasn’t a total numbskull, but Nero did expect better of her overall.

Nero’s expression became stony and uninviting once more. “Do I need to repeat myself? There is no point in me throwing a punch or whatever. Besides, denying you a worthy fight is honestly far more punishing, don’t you think?” He had thought about physically striking Kayen quite a few times before if he ever saw her again, he had more than a decade to do that in. However, when he looked back on all those years he was surprised to find that... He had long since made the decision to not attack her. Nero kind of always knew that physically lashing out would do nothing to help him move on, self centered anger and fury never helped him with anything at all, in fact. The source of his strength was always happiness, selflessness and compassion. Even the scars on his body were physical truth of that since they were all a result of him acting on these feelings.

After perhaps an awkwardly long pause, Nero decided to ask Kayen some questions out of the blue. “So, I’m curious. Have you found what you were looking for? Was taking the crown Habana once had worth your ‘greatest regret’?” Kayen’s answer could very well paint Nero’s already bleak opinion of her even darker. Even though he would have trouble believing it, a part of him silently hoped the answer was no.

It was strange to hear, but ultimately it made sense— Nero did find himself indirectly being some manner of moral compass for Kayen in their youth. Sure, she was pretty happy to be sufficiently violent but even as a teen Nero wagered that Kayen wouldn’t take over hierarchical systems of power, resort to piracy or even straight up murder if she was anything like the Kayen he used to know.

Nero was curious though, was the bad time Kayen mentioned connected to what was hidden by her eyepatch? “I know you’re stubborn as hell, but… Yes even for you, passed all my justified biases, it isn’t too late to find that ‘better’ path. Why? Because you still have a life to live... Just, don’t waste it. Don’t be like the jackasses plaguing this planet, or any planet, really. Don’t be like whoever gave you that.” He said, fixing his gaze on Kayen’s eyepatch, genuine concern in his voice subtly that was overlayed by pretty harsh and rigid frustration.

“So, freedom huh? Hmm. Can’t exactly fault you for that one.” He sighed, coming to understand what seemed to motivate Kayen. Even if that act tripped and stomped on his own freedom in some way until he took it back for himself.

Nero was pleasantly surprised in a way; Kayen was confident enough in what she wanted to achieve, which was something Nero would usually easily respect. However, it was Kayen’s admittance to genuinely caring for some of the people she had come to know that softened Nero’s mood a little. He could relate too, he technically had a few ‘students’ in a way— people he coached at sports, people he trained to work at Punchin’ Pancakes, and regulars at Button Smash that he gave tips on how to get better at video games. He too now had a child in his care, the tiny ball of sunshine; his pride and joy, Pankaa.

As for how Kayen explained her connection to Ramen… “Oh?” Nero couldn’t help but smirk, it was a really mischievous and teasing one at that. He knew Kayen well enough to know what she meant. “You always had a thing for redheads, huh?” It wasn’t like he could blame her, he had a thing for redheads too if he was being bluntly honest.

While still understandably of a negative attitude, Nero wasn’t entirely unreasonable. Given he had promised several people to at least talk to Kayen absolutely had something to do with it, he additionally supposed he had recent events in his life put things into a better perspective. “Well, here I am. You at least know what planet I’m on.” Nero snarked. “Is your scouter number still the same? Mine is.”

Nero grinned, and he grinned wide. There was some level of satisfaction in knowing he could embarrass Kayen somehow— not that it was for a bad reason, it was inherently wholesome and a good thing to like redheads after all. “Knew it.”

He sighed however, knowing full well Kayen’s reputation was far less than stellar to the general populace. He wasn’t about to blame them either. “See...” Self improvement wasn’t the easiest thing in the world but Nero definitely had certain expectations of Kayen, and the fact she was so behind in that regard now didn’t help his opinion of her. “I want to believe you, but I just don’t. I won’t even begin to until I have proof beyond words. But hey, look, as long as you’re not planning on something big and ridiculous or roping genuinely good people into some stupid B-S for your benefit, you have nothing to worry about from me.”

On the topic of Vegeta and the Saiyans that called it home however, Nero scoffed. He knew there was truth to Kayen’s statement in regards to their pettiness at least. “Beyond belief.” He rolled his eyes. “Closest comparison I can think of is Mallow but even he grew out of it.”

While Kayen tapped the side of her scouter to initiate contact information transfer, Nero brought up his wrist, revealing a modified (yet still retro) purple lense Scouter— it was a very specific old model, one Kayen might recognize as once being Habana’s property. As expected, it was indeed the nearest one. “Alright, this is yours then yeah?” Nero asked, showing the screen did indeed have Kayen’s own number there. He otherwise quirked a brow, she parked her ship where? “I would... Not advise parking it there, unless for some reason you intend to take on whatever dipshit decides to attack that place… Again.”