Cardfight!! Vanguard: Bujin

-Part 2

A silent night.

A quiet estate.

Once again, Nozomi stared down those gates from the other side of the street. Just like that morning, his hands were stuffed in his pockets, except this time, he wasn't playing with his dice without realizing it.

His heart was racing.

His head was pounding.

His gut was sinking.

He grabbed this dice and tightly squeezed them.

He moved his right foot forward, then his left, and then it was like clockwork.

The street felt wider like never before, yet he crossed it until he stood in front of those gates.

From one of the pockets on the inner side of his jacket, Nozomi grabbed an old looking envelope, and from within it, a copper key that had turned green long again.

His hand trembled.

At first, he dropped the key while moving it towards the keyhole on the gate, but scrambled to pick it back up as soon as possible.

Once again, he moved the key towards the keyhole, and this time, he entered it in.

Lights flashed from behind him.

Nozomi pulled back the key and looked back at the black car that stopped behind him. He had been caught.

Takabane placed his sunglasses into his blazer's breast pocket as he stepped out of of the driver's seat, grimacing at the sight.

"I'm... I'm not sorry, Takabane-san..." Nozomi admitted. He grit his teeth. "But no matter the crap this family calls its rules, he's still my brother!"

"You're no one's brother, and no father's son. Not anymore. You can look as miserable as you want. You won't get any pity from me. The damage is done, Nozomi!"

Nozomi prepared to talk back, but Takabane cut him off.

"You can't fix anything, because there is nothing to fix. You left nothing to be fixed. Tell yourself whatever makes you feel better, it won't change the fact you're eight years too late."

"I-"

"July, 2048. You could have been here, but you chose to go to Gunma instead. December, 2048. March, 2049. July, 2049. December, 2049. March, 2050. July, 2050. December, 2050. Those were break months during your teacher days, all filled with moments for you to come here, yet you were rarer than a kappa. You had four years after that, yet seeing the world was more important to you than your own family. You returned last year, yet you've done nothing but stare at this gate from the other side of the street. You want me to believe you care about your brother now?"

"I've always cared!"

"You missed his first day of middle school. His graduation. At the start of this week, you missed his first day of high school. You missed his growth. You willingly skipped out on being part of his life. You could have wrote. You could have called. But you decided to be dead to him for eight years."

"I'm making an effort now..."

"You're not making anything! You only know how to come here and wait! Anything else is too much for you! You care? You're making an effort? You could have found what schools he attended, what places he went to when not there or here, yet whatever time you didn't spend at your business you spent standing across the street like a misplaced scarecrow or locked in a card store until day turned to night and vice versa! You can think and say you want to do better and try to solve your past mistakes all you want, the truth won't change! You abandoned your brother without a second thought! Without ever looking back! You left him at the hands of a family who only ever looked at him as a tool! Nozomi Anjou, you're-!"