Incognito (On Hold)

Mayhem 5: Loyalty

Mayhem 5: Trusting someone you know isn't any different with trusting a stranger.

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Claire's PoV

"What the heck are you doing here?" I asked out of frustration.

I grabbed his neck and slightly lift him off the ground. He didn't reply yet he had the guts to look at me emotionless. I tightened my grip making him choke a bit but he still didn't say a word.

"Sir Brauss! Answer me! Why have you been avoiding us?!" I yelled.

He looked away and remained silent. Nova tried to make me calm down but none of her words affected my mood. What I need now is an answer, not silence. 

"Claire! You're choking him! He's your comrade!" Nova pleaded but I couldn't care less. 

"Comrade? You only call him a comrade when he speaks up to his fellow comrades. He's clearly keeping something from us."

Ryu turned pale but he had no reaction to what's going on... and that just made me feel irritated even more.

"Just put him down already Raven!" Nova yelled angrily, which made me bite my lower lip and let him go.

He fell on the ground, catching his breath. I looked away and crossed my arms. I recalled on what I just said earlier...

"Comrade? You only call him a comrade when he speaks up to his fellow comrades..."

Guilt stabbed me right on the chest. I realized that my own words are just a weapon against myself.

I shook off the thoughts going on in my head and focused on the current situation. There was Nova who was already fuming with anger, Ryu who was dead silent, and me... who is currently irritated by what happened.

"Sir Brauss, why are you late?" I asked.

He avoided my gaze as he stood up "I had some things that came up suddenly."

"Yeah right. That was your excuse the last time you came," I replied.

I walked away from them and approached a nearby tree. It was sturdy. I raised my hand and clenched it into a fist while quickly swinging it to the tree. The impact was strong so my hand started to bleed.

"He-Hey!"

I put in all my frustrations in my punches. I was going for another hit when Nova grabbed hold of me and pulled me away from the tree. I struggled to get out of her grasp.

"Let go of me Nova!" I yelled.

"I don't know if this is still part of your bloodlust but you have to stop that d*mn thing now."

Blood was still dripping from my hand. I tried to ignore it but my hand was throbbing real bad.

But the pain of having a comrade hide something from you is worse.

"Claire..." Ryu trailed off, still avoiding my gaze while trying to calm me down "I'm sorry... I-"

"Shut up Ryu. I don't want to hear it. Atleast, for now," I hesitated.

I stopped moving and motioned both of them to let me go. They dropped me  on the ground and I secured my bleeding hand, which Ryu immediately noticed and rushed to inspect the wound.

"Why do you have to be so... violent?" he said under his breath.

This was the second time Ryu witnessed my attempt to hurt myself. Only this time, he didn't get the chance to stop me.