Class Incognito

Singularity of the Thunderstorm (2)

"This has to be a prank, right?" I asked as we read the invitation. I mean, sure Kaiser is known to be ruthless, but I never anticipated him to do something so drastic.

"Sadly, Marc is not fond of pranks, in fact. He never makes one, sure he can tease, but not in this scale." Mrs. Noan said.

"That's true, Marc's too serious to make jokes like this. And remember something Diego. Marc and Kaiser aren't on the best of terms." Vann notes.

True, but Marc not pranking? What kind of person is he?

"So Kaiser is making his move." Sir Auron said gravely. "This is sooner than expected."

"And who do we all blame for the delays?" I snapped and Vann shoots me a venomous look.

"Diego that's enough. Is there anything else I you would say?" Ms. Emma asked, trying to dissipate the incoming arguement.

"About that. I would ask for someone to watch Marc for us... But..." Mrs. Noan asked.

"No need. Marc's attending a special class. Free of charge of course." Mr. Auron said and me, Seth, and Vann looked surprised. What Special Class?

"Don't do something funny to my son Kayden." Mr. Noan warned.

"Or?" Sir Auron mocked.

"Hurt him Kayden, and you'll answer to me." Mrs. Noan answered in a smiling face, but her eyes told me there is more than her friendly demeanor and Sir Auron straightened.

"R-right... Don't worry, Marc will be specially monitered before and during his one month venture to Ros Ursa." Sir Auron said meekly, so he's afraid of Mrs. Noan, good to know.

"Now then, why won't you spend the night? I'm sure all of you are tired?" Mrs. Noan said and I must admit, eventhough I didn't ate much, I was getting sleepy.

Vann, Seth, and I were led to the rooms, and we were shocked to find out that we were sleeping with the Noan Brothers.

"Hey Vann, Hey Diego. And... uh..." Elios greeted us but he still hasn't met Seth.

"Seth." He introduced himself as just Seth. Not adding that he is my brother.

"Hey there Elios! You look rather chipper these days huh?" Vann greets him and looks at the other two. "You two must be Conner and Keith?"

"Did Marc talked about us?" Conner asked. But I heard some strain in his voice, like he doesn't want to find out.

"Not directly... He mumbles in his sleep from time to time during his stay in the hospital though. Always talking about you guys and all that crap." Vann waves his hand and the three of them were perplexed.

"Why is he saying? When he's awake I mean..." Keith asked.

"Beats me. Marc was always keeping his distance, and he doesn't want to talk about his nightmares with us." Seth answered.

"Is he still trying to join Incognito?" Elios asked, and I remembered, I did try to recruit him once, but now he's in Regis Dragonia too, so the offer was off.

"Sadly no, shame too. I wanted to fight with him and against him." Vann said wistfully and the three brothers sighed.

"Okay what's wrong, why are you three making those faces?" Seth asked, his brotherly instincts are kicking in again.

"Was his mumbling about: always telling us to stop about something?" Elios asked, a quiet anger seems to be coming off from him.

"Not exactly... wait, I know I recorded it." Seth said as he fished out his phone and plays a video of Marc in the hospital bed.

'I'm sorry... please don't leave me... I don't want to be alone, I don't want to be alone... I'm sorry, I'll be a better brother so please... Don't hate me.'

What the? That's the most cringiest thing I have ever heard. He doesn't want to be abandoned? How weak is his mental strength anyway?

"He's having those nightmares again?" Keith asked with horror on his face.

"Wait... what do you mean 'again'?" Vann inquired. And the brothers all looked at each other.

"For starters, Marc is our adopted older brother. But we don't know much about him. Whenever we ask about his past before coming to our home, he would tense up, violently shake, and cry all of a sudden. And he mumbles about 'snow' and a park." Conner recounted for us.

"Snow... and a park?" I pondered but didn't think much of it. Marc's situation is unfortunate but he should reap what he had sown.

"So he wasn't a delinquent?" Seth asked. And the three brothers glared at him like he said something like 'let's rob a bank.'

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Elios asked, his voice rising to a shout.

"The scars on his eyes and his chin... were they always present since he was young?" I asked.

"The scar on his chin is because of me." Conner said proudly. "I won in our sparring sessions every single time. And I misjudged my strength one time and punched him too hard, which resulted in a cut."

"And mom scolded you so hard your ears were ringing for a week." Keith notes and Conner frowns at him.

"As for those on his eyes, since he came to us as a patient, his eyes were all scratched and dried with blood. And his hair was completely uneven. Dad said he had severe autophobia." Elios continued the story. His eyes heavy with concern.

"Why did he scratched his eyes and made his hair uneven?" Vann inquires and all three shake their heads.

"We don't know. Only our dad knows, and Marc... isn't too fond of remembering his past." Keith said. "Plus, he doesn't know how to process most emotions. I helped him cope with it, but since the nightmares are re-surfacing, that means something or someone triggered it."

"What? But he laughs and cries like that. Are you sure he's not pretending?" I said, my suspicions towards Marc was being fueled by this level of secrecy.

"What do you mean by that Diego?" Elios asked me, his eyes narrowing with distrust.

"I'm just saying... If you're really his family, or the ones that save him rather. Wouldn't he told you everything because he trusts you?" I put in and Conner smacks his bedside table.

"Stop crossing a line." He said, his voice was seething with quiet rage. "You know nothing about Marc!"

"And you guys do? You saw him, Elios. How he channels his power when he's angry. Do you think that he's the same innocent adopted brother? Or just a man made weapon of you father. One who only knows how to hurt others and takes pleasure in them?" I put in and I didn't know why, but at that moment, Seth blocked all three punches of the Noan brothers and was stopping Vann's Ice-ladened arm. His blood dripping from the melting ice.

They were about to lunge again when gravity began to intensify. The door opened and Sir Auron and Mr. Noan was giving all of us a stern look.

"I guess you forgot that some kids here have enhanced hearing." Mr. Noan scolded his sons and they all look away, but not before glaring at me.

"Seth, Vann. You two, to the medical wing. Diego, come with me." Sir Auron commanded and we obliged. But as I walked towards the door, Vann grabbed my shoulder and whispered in a vehement tone:

"I hope they punish you for this, fucker."

I ignored his threat and just followed Sir Auron. We reached the office of the Patriarch, and he told me to sit down. A few minutes later, Mr. Noan comes in, clearly distraught of what happened a while back.

Both adults bore at me with a a combination of vicious silence and unexplainable expressions.

"Look, if you have something to say, can you get on with it?" I said after waiting for almost 10 minutes of silence.

"I win." Mr. Noan said and Sir Auron hands him 15 Credits.

"You guys were betting?" I inquired with an annoyed tone in my voice.

"Yes. To see if you were going to apologize or not. I hedged that you would apologize, considering our long standing relationship and my faith in you." Sir Auron said in a defeated tone.

"Yet, I still won. So... Why do you think we called you here, Mr. Daigo Narukami?" Mr. Noan said and I froze. A Senzaku name must never be revealed outside of the city. But how did he know? I was growing more and more suspicious of this man the more he opens his mouth.

"I know using your Senzaku name is offensive. But can you blame me? After bismerching my adopted son like some hooligan." Mr. Noan's eyes glowed red for a moment, telling me that I don't have any reason nor any right to be angry with him.

"What do you want?" I aksed and Mr. Noan wags his finger.

"I should be asking you that... What do you want to know about Marc?" He asked.

Why do I need to ask about him? I mean sure, I am curious, but this is hardly the time to get to know him.

"Diego, you should use this opportunity to ask. It might save your skin in the future." Sir Auron said. His eyes glimmer with a maddening glint, like an idea that would give me the worst nightmares.

"Okay, I'll bite. What happened to him?" I asked.

"For starters, he was abandoned. Tossed aside by his real family because he didn't met the standards." Mr. Noan said and I didn't feel anything. So what? Everyone who doesn't have the strength will always be tossed aside in the trash.

"Marc was broken, not only physically and mentally, but also emotionally. He didn't know how to process his emotions because he felt like if he did, he's done something wrong." Mr. Noan continued and I was still unmoved.

"That's it?" I asked, clearly bored of a soap opera like story.

"That's all I can tell you. Because I trust Marc will tell the whole story to you when he's ready." Mr. Noan said, clearly upset he didn't gain my sympathies. But Sir Auron was shaking his head.

"So why do you want me to know this?" I asked and Sir Auron rose to his feet.

"I'm so glad you asked my boy. Because your mission, which is the request of Mr. Noan, is to be Marc's partner in Ros Ursa." Sir Auron said witha manic grin on his face.

I could hear my gears stopping, my heart pounding, and my ears roaring. What did he just say?!

"T-this... This is outrageous!" I exclaimed and Mr. Noan extended his hands again and Sir Auron hands him another 15 credits. Are they still betting on my reactions?!

"Why me?! I mean, Vann is closer to him. Why not send him?" I asked.

"Because Vann has another mission. In Senzaku."  Sir Auron said and I froze again. It was either this... or Senzaku again.

"But why me? Marc and I don't see eye to eye that often." I complained.

"Marc said Vann and Seth are his friends, and thus, he doesn't want them to be distractions." Sir Auron told me and I think he did a great assessment of the situation. Friends can be a distraction, but why me?

"You and Marc have intense animosity with each other. Take this time to get to know him. If possible, you might relate with him." Mr. Noan said, his eyes told me that he knows the situation I'm in.

"The job is simple Diego.

But I still hated this idea. I wasn't equipped with the skills necessary to go full undercover in a different place for one month with someone I loathe? Seriously this had bad idea written all over it.

"I can't make any promises." I said.

"Don't worry. Marc may not look like it, he's really a good kid. He's just... have a lot to process." Mr. Noan promised but I wasn't getting my hopes up. Whateve backstory he has, I'm not convinced that everything will be all right.

Morning came, and I didn't get enough sleep. (Mainly because I was sleeping in a separate room and thought I was isolated or something.) But I did get some sleep during our voyage back to Lupus Alma.

There is always an agreement in Incognito. Once you are given a mission, you cannot disclose it to the other members. So naturally, the whole trip was driven in silence.

We've arrived by late afternoon, where Vann and Seth hurried over towards the Residential Area, no doubt about caring for Marc.

"You won't go with them?" Sir Auron asked.

"Nope. Marc and I will meet in Ros Ursa, so I want to relish the moments when I don't want to see him." I said and I could hear Sir Auron sigh.

"A little caution, Narukami... You might be indebted to Marc during your stay in Ros Ursa. So I suggest, you make peace with your prejudice towards." Miss Emma said and they left towards the Lune Building.

What do they mean? Me? Be indebted to Marc? Well whatever... Just two more days before I leave for Ros Ursa. And it's making me nervous just thinking that Marc is my buddy during the trip.

"Trust nothing but your strength..." I told myself everytime I feel like I'm about to lose confidence. I am the heir to the Narukami Legacy, and as the strongest sibling, I am not going to let anyone belittle me.

I stared at the dusking sky, whatever happens in Ros Ursa, I'm ready.