Hannah was fuming. She had specifically told her brother not to follow her into mainland. It was a strict order, not as a platoon member, but as the older sister. And yet, here he was, following her into mainland. She had only been thinking about his safety, but he wouldn't listen. She walked back up to the top of the ship, not caring about the glare of midday sunlight burning her skin.

Nikolai sighed as he held an umbrella above them. "I get that you're pissed, but at least go inside. We'll catch heatstroke like this."

She clicked her tongue."Then you go in."

He shook his head. "You know that's not an option. You know me, Hannah. And I know you just as well."

After a bit of silence, she turned to him. He still had his usual blank face, but what she was seeing went beyond that. She finally gave in. "Fine..." And he led her inside.

~~~~~

Muraku was slightly taken back by the younger boy's outburst. He didn't expect him to be worrying about that, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Wataru wasn't on the island when Hannah was 'put to sleep' with many other Kamui Daimon students. He couldn't be the closest to her when they thought her time came. He didn't want to go through that again.

"Alright." He found himself saying. "I'll help you ask Hannah one more time to let you come."

His sobbing almost stopped. "R-Really?"

He nodded. "Yes. I'm sure she'll understand. You're both siblings after all, you must be close. Close enough to understand how the other feels after an argument like this."

Wataru wiped his eyes with his sleeve before blinking. "Close...? I don't think we are..."

"Hm?"

"Nee-chan and I haven't known each other for long... I'm sure she met Nikolai many years before she even knew about me..."

The older boy's eyes widened. "What do you mean by that? You didn't grow up together?"

He shook his head. "I didn't even know I had a sister until three years ago when she came to our door. Mom told me that she had been studying abroad all her life and had only come back because our grandparents died..."

"Wataru..." Muraku was at a loss of what to say. He remembered how devastated Hannah was when Wataru LOST, and how happy she was to return to mainland to see him again. With only those images in his memory, he thought that the siblings are really close. But that didn't seem to be the case.

All she knew was that she's the older sister and simply acted the part. She was trying to protect him without thinking about how he felt, because she couldn't understand her brother's heart and will.

He was wrong to assume that it would be easy to get them to understand each other's motives.

~~~~~

Niara raised an eyebrow. "Okay? So what?"

Her cousin blinked at this. "Wait... You aren't gonna freak out? You knew they were on board and didn't say anything?"

"No no. I mean, since it's them, then can you really say it's a shock?" The woman gave him a questioning look. "Takeru's sister and Kiyoka's brother are my friends and they are part of the Seekers. We're currently on the way to mainland to see those Seekers. And Wataru shouldn't be too much of a surprise for you either. He's her brother, why wouldn't he try to come along?"

"That's..." He looked down, slightly upset that he didn't figure it out sooner.

Niara sighed. "Look, I get that you're worried about your friends, but we adults are going to make sure you stay safe. Correctly this time. Not like the lie we told everyone about the Second World."

"It's not that we think you're gonna lie again." He rolled his eyes. "And even if you did, we'd figure it out in an instant."

"If it's about the danger of going against new enemies, then like I said, the Seekers will be there to protect everyone so-"

"That's not it, Niara! It's not about the trip being dangerous or enemies or whatever! It's about Hannah! You don't know her, Niara! She can't handle this sort of-" He stopped himself short. Then he shook his head and ran out of the room before he could break his promise.

Niara watched in shock. She had no idea what made him yell at her like that. It wasn't the usual annoyed tone either. This time, he sounded... heartbroken? She shook her head. She'll figure it out later. But right now...

She took out her phone and dialed a particular number.

"Lev?" Just hearing the familiar lazy tone was almost enough to make her smile after the recent incidents. Almost.

"Kirito. I'm half an hour away from the docks."

"Oh... Wait, WHAT?!"

~~~~~

Muraku led the younger boy out of the room, in search for his sister. They searched from the top deck before going down the layers. Eventually, they decided to go inside where everyone else was. None of them had seen Hannah. Nikolai hadn't been around either.

"They couldn't have just disappeared..." He said to himself.

While he was in thought, Wataru looked around the room. As soon as he spotted a flash of brown hair, he took off, startling his senior.

"Wataru!!" He didn't listen.

He ran and ran untul he caught up with her. "Nee-chan!"

At the call, the brunette turned around. She didn't seem as angry as before. In fact, her face was blank, almost as if nothing happened.

The younger boy skidded to a stop in front of her. "Nee-chan... Please. I just want to-"

"You can come along if you want." She suddenly said. "Sending you back alone isn't an option."

"Wha... R-Really??" The boy was startled at her sudden change in mind.

"But you're staying in the Seeker's base if we go out on any missions." She said sternly. "Got it?"

Wataru smiled and tackled her into a hug. "I will! Thank you, nee-chan!" She return the hug along with pats on the head.

Muraku watched from the distance, smiling at the two siblings. He was wrong again. She does understand him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Magnanimity: Generosity