Chapter 104 - Love Them, Regardless

[The Gradral Household]

"Rosa, can you heat up some water? I want to take a shower."

Rosa looked at her brother as he emerged from his room, his upper body naked. With a keen eye of a sister, she scanned his muscular, chiseled torso which glistened with sweat under the lantern's light, and frowned. 

"You've lost weight," she chastised as she leaned back in her chair and closed the book she had been reading. The few days after their parents' death, Reynard and Rosa had spent together the time they could cut out. Rosa had taken a break from work and had informed her business partner, Sephni, to take over the stall for a couple weeks before her return.

Reynard, too, had taken to staying at home and just doing sibling stuff with his sister, which had proved to be much more enjoyable than he had thought. But then again, he was also continuously chastised for this and that every step into the day. But he was sure it was normal, elder sister behavior. After all, Rosa wanted to give him a life where he wouldn't feel the absence of his mother. 

"Have I really lost weight?" Reynard questioned as he looked down at his abs, which did seem a bit deflated than they had a couple days ago. 

Rosa tapped the cover of the book with her fingernails, imitating a piano. 

"You can tell, can't you? Anyways, I was thinking about taking up another hobby, aside from pottery, I mean." To distract myself from all the grief-filled thoughts, she added in her head. 

Reynard nodded as he leaned against a wall, his biceps squishing against it. He folded his arms and peered at his sister. 

"Hmm, I was thinking the same. Have you something in mind?"

Rosa played the finger piano on her book, apparently in deep thought. 

"Have you heard about painting? I've never tried painting before, except the basic stuff I do on my pots. But I want to attempt the things she does...whatwashername? Hetta?"

"Hestia," Reynard corrected, sighing. "I know. She does art for a living. You can try pairing up with her to get started if you're serious about this hobby thing. I've seen some of her art displayed in public. She has a way with colors."

Rosa nodded, determined. "Okay. That's what I'll do. You said you wanted a shower?"

"A warm one."

Rosa stood to her feet and stretched. As she walked towards the kitchen, she noticed the back of Reynard's head as he retired to his room. The color of his hair… It had become rather dull. The usual black glisten it always possessed seemed to be lacking for some reason.

"Hold!" she bellowed and Reynard stood rooted to his spot,

"What?" he asked, turning around. 

Rosa put her face up close to Reynard's hair and examined them with narrow, speculative eyes. 

"How long since you last washed your hair?"

Reynard thought about it, scratching his stomach. "Mm...half a month ago?"

Rosa frowned. "Ew. Your hair looks grey. Are you getting old?"

Reynard picked at a strand of his hair which popped out in his hand.

"It looks more purple than grey. Are you sure we're seeing the same color?"

Narrowing her eyes, Rosa rubbed a piece of his hair between her fingers and then examined the tips. It was as if someone had put a gun behind Rosa's back. Suddenly, she stood back as she stared at her fingers, a shocked expression on her face. Then she gave out a soft gasp.

"What?" Reynard asked, worried. "What happened?"

Rosa took a step back, her eyes scanning her brother's head.

"I! I-um…" she sputtered. "I think I should o-oil your hair."

Reynard frowned, not understanding. "Now? But I'm going to take a shower."

As he turned around to leave, Rosa grasped a hold of his wrist and tugged.

"No! Don't shower yet!"

This time, Reynard's frown was suspicious. "What are you talking about?"

Rosa squeezed his arm, her face desperate. "Look, Reynard, I know I may sound crazy, but I don't think showering would be a good idea right now. How about I-"

"Why are you acting so strange suddenly..." Reynard muttered as he backed away to his room. Rosa followed him. "What in the world..."

Suddenly, his back thumped against his shower room door. Hurriedly, he pulled the knob and locked himself inside. At once, Rosa started knocking at the door. "Reynard, don't wash your hair, do you hear me? I-I-It's damaged right now! If you wash it again, it'll get worse! Do you hear me? Let me oil your hair just once!"

But Reynard wasn't listening.

He turned on a lantern he always had hung against his shower room wall and then blew out the match. Suspiciously, Reynard turned around and faced himself in the mirror. The first thing he noticed was that indeed, he did look a bit thinner. Had he not been eating well? Then his eyes travelled up to his hair.

Under the light, he could clearly tell that his hair wasn't black like the way they previously were. Anyone could tell the color was dull, but it was there. The purple color. 

In haste, Reynard raked a hand through his hair and stared at his palms, his eyes widening at the small black marks appearing on his skin.

"What the hell," he murmured as he vigorously rubbed his scalp and pulled back to check his hand, which was more black now. "What's happening?"

In his desperation, Reynard turned on the shower which their father had built for them a long time ago. Though it required a barrel of water connected by a pipe to the shower head to be filled before it was turned on, it was still a luxury to them.

As he turned the shower's handle, a cold waterfall enveloped him. Reynard didn't retreat away from the electric cold even though the weather was very chilly that day. He wanted to know why his hair was losing its color, and why his sister had warned him about showering.

A sudden series of knocks erupted at the door. "I hear water!" Rosa yelled. "You better not be showering! Do you want to get sick?"

Reynard didn't answer and quickly applied an old, isolated bar of lye soap to his scalp before rubbing it in. He didn't wait for it to foam; he washed it off right away.

"Bloody hell..." he murmured as he stared at the tiles on the floor, which were covered in colored water after it had run off his hair. "Why is it black?"

As soon as his hair was clean and sticking to his neck, Reynard wiped it with a flannel which also got stained in the process. Reynard never imagined his hair's color was anything but natural. He had always thought his jet black head of hair had been inherited from his father.

But when he stared at himself in the mirror again, his reflection had changed. Instead of his usual black, his hair looked purple. A beautiful, dusk purplish-indigo had been revealed from under the black, though there were still strands of his previous color hidden in there.

Slowly, Reynard's eyes widened at his reflection. No, no, no. 

He'd never had purple hair in his life, this was impossible! It had always been black. So what was this? Furious and confused, Reynard yanked open the door and stopped when he saw Rosa sitting calmly on his bed. 

At once, her eyes went to his head and she gasped when she saw it, too.

"My goodness," she whispered as she stood up, her eyes never leaving his hair. "My goodness..."

"What is this?" he hissed, pointing to his new hair color. "" Are you telling me that my hair never was black? 

"Shh. I haven't told you anything yet," Rosa whispered soothingly as she tried to guide her brother to sit on the bed.

"No!" Reynard flicked her hand away. "Tell me why I'm like this." He pulled his hair, his voice getting even more hysterical. "My real hair..."

"Sit down."

"My-"

"Sit down! Now!" The commanding tone in Rosa's voice made Reynard flop down lifelessly on his bed, and he stared up at her with hazy pupils.

"Now listen to me," Rosa sighed and pinched her nose bridge. "God…I didn't want to do it like this. You must've figured it out already, but yes, it's true. You're adopted."

The color drained out of Reynard's face and he stared at the floor, limp. 

The fact that he was adopted...he had always expected to hear it someday. It explained so many mystery's, like why he talked differently than the rest of his family, why he looked different, why he laughed differently, why he always felt left out, why he never felt at inner peace and always wondered if something was wrong with him…. There were so many questions, and too few answers. 

Though he had always somehow suspected it, it pained him to finally hear the much dreaded words.

"Sh*t," he whispered, his voice breaking in the middle, as he put a hand over his face. "Why did they never tell me?"

"Because they knew you'd be this way," she cried, finally letting go of her control.  "This-this-this-this way! The way you're acting right now! As if you're already dead, as if you've lost everything! You still have me, you still have your friends!"

Reynard gave a shaky breath. "I feel betrayed right now. I always considered these two people my parents, and then they turned out to be unrelated to me. Do you know-"

"Shut up!" Rosa cried. "They aren't 'unrelated' to you! They raised you as their own, and parented you when nobody else took you in. Do you know how poor they were then? They barely made ends meet, but still they took on more jobs just to raise this kid who came running about. Do you know how hard it was for them? And you still think they aren't your parents?" Rosa broke into tears.

Reynard didn't know what to do since he had never seen his sister in this state. It was extraordinary, and not in a pleasant way. 

"H-Hey, calm down," he whispered as he took her wrist and squeezed reassuringly. "I know, I know. I love them regardless. Don't rile yourself up like that again."

Rosa sniffed. "Okay. I'll warm up some water so take a proper shower this time." She went off and left Reynard on his own.

That night, Reynard didn't sleep.. Not a single second.