MTTA: Resurrection

Suspicious Activity.

"That sounds like an okay plan," Jason nodded and then looked to Tori who was already on her way toward the door. "We will be back at the first sight of anything suspicious that could lead to the shrine, in the meantime you guys should probably play along as if nothing is happening." He looked back at us and I nodded; that was a fair addition to my very basic plan.

"There is always so much tension when the three of you are in the same space, did something happen before you rescued me, big sister?" Haiiro looked at me with his eyes wide in query.

"Huh, tension how?" I asked back to see what he had picked up on; aside from myself Jason and Justin, nobody else knew that I was once their captive, I was careful to not mention it to a soul since it would probably raise a lot of questions and flags, especially for the Kitsune we panned on rescuing from their confinement.

"Justin seems to have a problem with you interacting with his brother, but at the same time he interacts with him just fine does he not, and when they came with news earlier I saw it again, while Jason is more relaxed and composed you Justin have been increasingly tense, especially when your brother speaks to Seiya, which is a lot, such an attitude is bad for one's mental health you know…" He turned his attention to Justin at this point causing Cidelle and Gregory to go more silent as they observed.

Doctor Cidelle was no i***t, the moment any of us slipped he would be there to figure it out, but in the meantime everyone was acting under the assumption that they were like this because I was still mated to Jason while being solely Justin's; in that respect it made sense, but outside of that they really were at each other's throats a lot, most of the time being Justin who was unable to keep his composure and lash out at his brother with any chance he got.

"Justin?" I looked around at him when I felt his hostile intentions toward Haiiro for pointing it out. "We can go somewhere else and talk about this, I wanna know what is going on in your head as well." I reached out to take his hand but he jerked himself free of my grip and started toward the door just as he had done before.

"I'll be back." He grunted pushing past Haiiro and Cidelle who were in his direct path, again, what was I supposed to be doing differently, it was almost as if he wanted it to be like this, it was his idea to ask Jason to come in the first place, and of course, Jason trying to reconcile their relationship after all that had happened in Hollow Valley said yes, plus with their base a giant crater he had essentially lost his home, his alternative was to stay back with Lisa but she had agreed that he come as well, what was Justin thinking?

"Well…" Gregory cleared his throat and took a seat, and as the door closed so too did doctor Cidelle. "I suppose all that remains is for us to wait for some kind of news then." He stared blankly at the windows, refusing to look at anyone else.

"Is everything okay between you and your mate Seiya?" Haiiro asked concerned and I took a seat as well, inviting him to sit next to me as I took a deep breath to clear my head.

"I thought they were, but now I am unsure of anything, whatever it is tough I wish we could resolve it soon so I can focus on my goals, I know he sacrificed a lot for me and I am grateful because of it, but I hope he didn't put any impossible expectations on me, otherwise I would have been failing to meet them for a while now." I placed my hand on his side as he laid his head in my lap and reached for the laptop on the coffee table before me, opening it right onto a messaging app and calling Lisa.

"I suppose it would be inconvenient to say he might have an inferiority complex because of your recent achievements, right?" Haiiro added looking up at me and I stared back down at him with an apprehensive and surprised glare.

"Haiiro, I would appreciate it if you think about what you are going to say and consider how it affects those around you."

"I was taught honesty is the best way to a person's heart." He seemed confused at my suggestion, but I persisted, this was the twenty-first century, people were fickle and sensitive to everything now.

"And as usual I respect and appreciate your honesty, in fact, I prefer it like a breath of fresh air, but that does not stand true for everyone else, especially when you are speaking of matters that seem complicated and not so easily resolved." I lectured him, to which he raised an eye while Cidelle nodded.

"What she means young lad, is that not everyone will take your well-intended words as such, they are harsh and cut on levels of emotion, you ought to be considerate of his emotions."

"He is a man, why do I need to treat him like a princess and butter my words with consideration; he should be able to take the truth and improve himself from it no?" Haiiro argued. "Emotions are for women and children, it is a man's job to be stronger, braver, more of an elite and the protector, why should I waste nice words meant for a fair maiden on a seasoned warrior?"

"Damn," Gregory commented on the boy's words, and we seemed to underestimate just how different ideologies were back in his tie compared to now.

"Haiiro, no." I rubbed his head as he closed his eyes. "There is more to it than that, we have a lot to talk about it seems," I stated as a matter of fact when the video call went through and Lisa answered with a chuckle while Jerard was in the kitchen with Matthew behind her laughing and doing the dishes, apparently, they were finishing lunch.

"Mikayla, did you finally get off that stuffy boat?"

"Yeah, we made landfall around three hours ago," I answered quickly smiling back as I saw my uncle quickly drying his hands to come over.

"Hello Lisa," Haiiro sat up and waved at her as she pushed out the camera to get more space when Jerard came and sat next to her.

"Hey little man, have you been protecting big sister Seiya as I asked?" Lisa chuckled, and he laughed back with a blush, flexing his small hands and nodding.

"Of course, I am stronger than I look you know!" Haiiro shook himself and gave a pretty convincing macho impersonation before breaking into chuckles when everyone laughed at his performance.

"And you, how are you feeling?" I asked her and she leaned back to reveal her baby bump.

"Better than I expected, I asked some elders I know and they told me that birth for our kind is one of the easiest, mainly because of our healing factor, and I see it every day, I have a few seconds of sickness at most before all of my symptoms vanish, so it has been fairly simple doing my daily." She smiled at me and I nodded at that information, wondering if it was the same for Kitsune as well.

"Have you spoken to Jason since we left?" I asked, half expecting that she would deny his existence.

"He calls me every night before I sleep to check in on me; stuff like how my day went and how my health is, as well as any news on the baby, he somehow always gets me when I'm in bed." Lisa surprised me with her answer, he may not seem the type because of his overall attitude but he cared a lot it seemed, it was comforting that a good person was in there, after all, I nodded with that news and looked to Jerard next.

"Uncle, it is good to see you in one piece." I looked at Jerard who was all teeth and giggles as he observed the interactions we were having with each other. "They haven't been too much trouble have they?" I asked and he shook his head and waved his hands.

"On the contrary, they have become a staple of my everyday living, it is good to open up to people again after so many years of avoiding them, the adjustment was barely a week and since then it has been smooth and peaceful here." He answered with a chirp to his tone and attitude that reminded me of the morning we left to go back to Hollow Valley.

"What about you, is everything going according to plan on your end?" He asked, noticing that my smile had been getting smaller and smaller as the conversation went on.

"Well, there haven't been any deaths if that's what you mean," I answered and he responded with an awkward chuckle and scratched the back of his head.

"It's probably my imagination, but you hesitated there for a sec didn't you?" He asked seriously. "It's presumptuous of me to say this out of the blue Seiya, but don't lie about it, please make sure to take care of yourself." He stared at the cam with a waving finger. "You just came back into my life so you leaving already is far too terrible an idea, so be safe out there." He stared with conviction, and I looked passed the laptop at Justin who entered the room silently and smiled back at Jerard.

"Don't worry too much uncle, I'm in good hands." I reached for the keypad, "Also, Shiro says "Hi" I added and nodded as he was also saying his goodbyes and then reached for the keypad on their end as we both hung up the call.

"Did something happen?" I asked Justin who stopped behind Gregory and just stood there staring out into space.

"Ah, no," He answered with a shake of his head, stepping closer inside and staring back at me. "They're already on their way back, it looks like something is happening after all."