We Are Similar

Conflicts pt1

So uh.. Just a heads up. This next bit could trigger some people. Okay you're warned. Proceed.

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Prof. Oozora looked like she wanted to burst into tears. Hiro was trying his best to comfort her. Ban, Ami and Kazuya exchanged glances with each other with sullen gazes. Yuuya looked down, feeling rather frustrated. Takuya, Yagami and Prof. Yamano could only mentally sighed and tried to be strong for the kids. Izayoi turned to face the other three girls, who seemed to feel rather guilty. He wouldn't blame them, as he was feeling the same way.

Gouda, having to finally revover from shock, could only stare at his rival with pitying eyes. Sendou hadn't meant for that all to happen. But after listening to what Jin told them, he pieced everything together so quickly, it just had to be let out.

Prof. Yamano's word was the trigger for his outburst. 'Lonely'. Sendou knew all too well how it felt. After all, his family had neglected him his whole life, he couldn't call his old gang his friends, and Gouda was just someone who forced him to do things he by chance ended up thinking was fun. His sister is his world, the only one he has to keep him sane. He couldn't bare to lose her. He didn't want to imagine either, but he didn't have to, because Eva was an example to him.

Eva doesn't know who her parents are. She lost her brother when she was three. He lived in the Kaidou Mansion with Jin, who uptil now still refuses to admit his true feelings for her. Jin left her for a whole year to study on his own and Eva had been recruited by Prof. Yamano at the time. During the whole brainjack incident, she became close friends with Niara and Kirito. But friends aren't family. He knew, oh how he knew.

When she was at her weakest point, that was when Mizel striked. He may have wanted to destroy humanity, but he treated Eva as his sister regardless of her being human or not. He didn't judge. He didn't critisize. He was just there.

From when he first met her, Sendou knew she was the type to make friends anywhere she went. Those kinds of people irritated him the most. He always had mental insults directed at Gouda for being so chummy with everyone. By making friends, he's just showing how weak he was, with the excuse of 'numbers are stronger'. But Eva was different. She didn't make friends because she wanted strenght. She didn't make friends to watch her back or to play or to talk or do whatever chummy people do. She made friends because she was terrified. Terrified of being left alone.

It hadn't made sense to him at first. If she was terrified of being left, why would she make more? Won't it cause more pain? Lately, that question had him more on edge, especially when she told him she knew his sister. It shouldn't be a surprise. Kiyoka did left for Brinton in her previous field trip.

The more he thought of it, the less he understood. Until it hit him. It came like a brick flying from nowhere. When Niara and Kirito are too busy arguing, she turns to him or Gouda. When they were arguing, she turns to Kirito and Niara. When none of them are available, she turns to Jin. She made friends, with the risk of her fear coming true, because of said fear.

She grew onto everyone easily. She herself wouldn't notice until it was too late. She got close with everyone, without ever meaning to. She wrapped herself onto others to cease her fear. The very thought of that made Sendou smirk mentally. She isn't so innocent after all...

Now this is where his quetion lies. Like it was mentioned earlier, friends are not family... In his eyes, family doesn't always mean friends either. So is Mizel really her friend? Or was he just trying to use her?

~~~~~

"So... Left or right?" Niara asked as they reached a fork in the path.

Eva had successfully hacked the secret passage way and they were now traveling through it. Endless tunels, stairs, tunnels and pipelines and more tunnels and tunnels and tunnels... Niara sighed. This is gonna be a boring walk.

She followed Eva to the right, as she seems to be in a trance. Perhaps Mizel was talking to her and guiding her along. What freaked her out was that Eva was just barely floating above the floor. She knew Mizel could fly but seeing Eva do it was making her shiver.

Then she saw a yellow light, much like the first time she travelled down here with half of the Seeker group. They entered the room and found none of the Mizel bodies there.

"The must've been disposed after the incident..." Niara muttered.

Eva was back in control as she looked around. "So... What now?"

"Link me into the system."

"But you could get traced-"

"No, this area is cut off from all the others. It has it's own network which can't be accessed from anywhere but here."

"That's why we couldn't find your base so easily."

Niara raised an eyebrow. "What did he say?"

Eva went to the other side of the room, where a control panel was. She let her fingers roam on it and saw static as Mizel moved himself into the computer. The lights suddenly went out and Niara supressed a yelp. Holograms began appearing around them. They showed multiple recordings, data... and a schematic for the android's body.

Machines came to life and began to work on one of the pods. Niara and Eva had stood a bit further back to make sure they aren't in the way. When the lights came on, they saw the same android that had attacked them just a few months ago. He seemed different though. Instead of an emotionless expression, he had a small smile on his face.

"Hello there, sister." He said, slowly.

Eva grinned ear to ear. "It worked! You did it!" She ran over and hugged him without second thought.

He tensed. He clearly wasn't used to physical contact despite having been pet by her so many times in the robot dragon's body. And poked by that stick. Slowly, he moved his arms to her back and hugged back. "Am I... Doing it correctly?"

Eva let out a chuckle. "Don't sweat it, brother. Everyone has their own kind of hugs." That statement made her froze for a second. That was the first time she called him brother outloud... Mizel thought of the same thing and smiled a bit more. "Yes, I am your brother." He muttered.

"Uhm... Sorry to interrupt.." Niara said, waving a hand. She successfully got both of their attention. Now what? She really didn't think this through. To say she was scared was an understatement. She had no idea how to actually and properly interact with Mizel. Should she just talk to him like any other friend? But what if he tried to hurt them?

Eva sensed her worry and her heart sank. "Niara?"

The russian girl snapped out of her daze. "Sorry, sorry... I'm just still in a bit of uh... Well you know..."

"You still don't trust me, do you?" Mizel asked, his smile never fading.

"I won't deny that. But... I'm more worried about my other friend." Niara replied. "Her name is Olivia Nixon... And she really doesn't like you."

Eva was confused at this. "Why?"

"You remember when Mizel attacked eveyone in the world at once?" She said bitterly. "Olivia's father was in the police force. He was killed in that war."

Eva's eyes widen as she turned to her brother. "You... Why would you..."

That was when his smile finally disappeared. "I see... So he was one of my victims..."

Eva was unable to hide the shock in her tone. "Y-you mean you actually killed people or purpose?!"

~~~~~~~~~~

We never really get much insight from Gouda or Sendou, do we? We know Gouda is someone with a bubbly and easy-going personality. But what about Sendou? Why does he act so tsundere-like most of the time? I felt a bit of an interest into his character lately and ended up with a bit of a made up history for him. He seemed to be that type of person to me.

But don't misunderstand the chapter. Sendou is someone who could understand Eva's intentions, but their relationship is only to that extent. Jin is still who Eva is meant to be with, if he ever managed to confess that is.

Also, looks like things will get rather complicated soon. We're definitely at, if not nearing, the climax of the story! I have no idea what will happen in the next chapters or how many more of those there will be, but it'll be a ton of fun to write them and see your reactions. That's for sure! :)