A/N: This is for AoGA's February Prompt of the Month Contest: Reconciliation. Please leave reviews/comments which are at least 3 sentences in length. Also, the story will provide a series of flashbacks which are in italics to avoid any confusion. Enjoy reading. ^^
"Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself."
-Suzanne Somers-
~o0o0o~
"Murderer!" she cried in anguish. Her hands were stained red. Red, the same color of blood, that stained his limp body on her lap. She clutched his body tighter, protecting it until her knuckles turned white. "You murderer! I won't forgive you! I won't forgive you! You killed him!" She screamed nonstop and looked at him with pure cold hatred.
"I won't forgive…"
He jolted awake from his bed. Cold sweat covered his face and body. His breath was heavy, his chest constricted, his mind lightheaded. It was that dream again, the very same dream that had hunted him for the last 5 years. He stood up from his bed and walked to his bathroom sink. He turned the faucet on, splashed on some cold water on his face, and looked at his reflection in the mirror. What he saw was the very same man she called murderer. His blonde hair covered half of his face. He looked at himself in disgust. Then, the sound of broken glass filled the cold night air.
Early mourn came, Rui watched the birds happily chirping outside of his bedroom window, indifferently watching everything from another perspective. A knock on the door brought him out of his quiet reverie. He walked towards the door and opened it. In front of him stood a young woman with soft blue hair, her face was slightly red, her head down, her fingers twirling together.
"What can I do for you Nobara-chan?" Rui asked brightly. The young girl raised her head and looked at the older man. She opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it once again.
"Uhm… P-persona-san wants everyone to meet n-now," she stuttered shyly. "E-everyone's already waiting. He asked me to come and get you." She finished her head down once more.
"I see. I'll be right after you," he smiled. He turned around and grabbed his student coat. The clouds were gray outside his window but the birds twittered happily as if with no care to the world. He went back to where Nobara was waiting at the door and together walked to their class where the others were waiting.
Rui saw the rest of Dangerous Ability students sitting at their respective seats with Persona in front of the room. He greeted everyone with his normal flair greetings. Natsume, the child with fire alice, glared annoyingly at him. On his lap was the youngest in their crew, Youichi Hijiri. Hayate cracked a lame joke at Rui which he shrugged off with a flip of his hair then took the chair next to his partner, Hajime Yakumo. The bandaged man looked at him for a few moments then went back to reading his book. Rui cocked his head to the side in confusion and was about to ask him what it was when Persona spoke.
"Everyone listen. The academy's culture festival is already drawing near. And you all know what that means…," Persona explained. He looked at every one of the students. Hayate raised his hand. "Yes, Hayate?"
"It means we can eat a lot of those great cookies from the technical cooking class!" Hayate answered enthusiastically, grinning. And as if on cue, every single one of them mentally slapped themselves for Hayate's childishness.
"Idiot," the all muttered together. Persona cleared his throat and continued on before Hayate interrupted him.
"No, Hayate. We don't have the leisure of eating what the technical cooking class will provide during the festival," Persona said in a clipped tone. "Each one of you is assigned with specific tasks in each of those papers in front of you. Of course, you will be assigned to escort some of the academy's special visitors. Is everything clear?
All the students nodded their heads in understanding. "Good. Proceed with the specific tasks assigned to you. If there's a problem, you know what you're supposed to do." With that the masked man finished the meeting and walked out of the room. Natsume stood up and carried Youichi to his class. Nobara bowed to everyone before silently walked out of the room followed by Hayate who was eating an apple.
Rui chuckled as he read the paper handed to him. "Looks like our lives will be entertaining again," he smiled. Hajime casted him side glances from the corner of his eyes then read his tasks as well. "I'm assigned to escort a known politician. You?"
"A well-known company CEO," Rui whistled. "Big shots are coming to the academy. It means more support and money to the higher ups again." He looked at the paper emotionlessly. Hajime silently watched his expression. When Rui noticed Hajime's watchful glances, he carefully masked it away with a cheeky smile on his face.
"Isn't this exciting Hajime-chan? We get to play once again," he grinned.
"Don't call me Hajime-chan," Hajime replied, closed his book and stood up. "I'm not a girl so stop calling me with that suffix." He lightly whacked Rui in the head. Rui pouted.
"Momo-kun then?" Rui smiled playfully.
"Not a chance either," Hajime smirked back and walked out of the room followed by Rui.
~o0o~
The soft piano music floated in the air. He silently wished that the soft tune would never stop playing. He wished it with all his heart. He looked around to see who was playing the tune he had been hearing for the past few days - the beautiful melody that captured his heart.
He opened the door slowly and saw a small figure sitting in front of the piano. The music stopped and the figure looked up at him, motioned him to come closer. And as if in a trance, he walked closer.
"Hello, what's your name?" the boy asked.
"My name is Rui," he replied shyly.
~o0o~
Rui saw the cars passed by. He kept a close watch to the academy's client. It was their duty, as the members of the dangerous ability class, to protect the special VIPs entering the academy's grounds for the festival.
The technical ability class section was currently preparing their work presentations for each VIP to watch. An auction would soon take place after each presentation. Rui hid himself quietly behind one of the curtains on the CEO's box. He watched uninterestedly as each student showcased each of their inventions to the crowd. He also saw Hotaru Imai showcase her latest invention: a capsule that could store anything with just one click. The crowd was amazed at the girl's invention. The auction ended without further ado as the man besides their box claimed Imai's invention.
"She really is talented girl," Rui chuckled and followed his care. He didn't notice another figure silently watching his every move from the shadows. A vengeful gleam in its eyes.
~o0o~
He was panting heavily. Sweat covered his small face as he continued to run faster. Luscious greens enveloped him, as he made his way out of the forest; light was seen not too far away. He saw a small boy sitting silently at a bench with crutches carefully placed just beside him. His heart swelled with happiness as he called out the boy's name.
"Shirou!", Rui smiled broadly and ran towards the boy. Shirou looked up, grabbed his crutches for support and slowly stood up.
"Rui-kun," Shirou replied, smilingly. Rui stopped in front of him, panting.
"I'm… sorry…," Rui panted. "H-have you waited long?"
Shirou shook his head. "No, I just arrived as well." He looked at the rugged features of Rui. Leaves were tucked on his disarrayed blonde hair and scratches on his arms and legs. He chuckled. "Were you running all this time?"
Rui nodded with a big grin on his face. "Yep! I wanted to hear Shirou-kun play my favorite song again. That's why I ran as fast as I can to meet with you," he explained.
"Rui, thank you…," Shirou smiled at Rui.
"For what?", the blonde boy asked confusedly.
"For listening to my music," Shirou inserted his hands inside his shorts' pocket and pulled out a silver chained object. "Here, this is for you." He held out the object and gave it to Rui.
"What's this?" Rui inquired.
"Open it up," Shirou instructed.
Rui slowly opened the round silver object and soft tinkling music was heard. He gasped. "It's my favorite song you always play!" Rui said, awed. He smiled gently and closed his eyes as he listened to the locket play.
"It's beautiful," Rui slowly opened his eyes and stared at his friend. "Thank you very much! I'll treasure this gift forever, Shirou-kun."
"You're welcome," Shirou answered then held hands with Rui as they slowly walked towards the small orphanage building.
~o0o~
They had been walking for the whole day and Rui felt his feet ached as he followed grudgingly the old client assigned to him. It looked like the old scrooge enjoyed sightseeing for they had been to each Alice type class, to central town and to each facility room open for tour to the visitors. They also waited for half an hour standing in line to buy a box of Howalon. He just found out that the old CEO had a liking for sweets and wanted to try the best selling sweets only found in Alice Academy's Central Town.
Rui groaned as he flexed and extended his now aching foot. "This day is starting to get boring and tiring," he yawned and flipped his hair. "Isn't there some kind of action coming along the way?" He looked dully at the CEO and his men. He scanned the CEO's appearance. Face filled with aging wrinkles, gray thinning hair, knowing and serious eyes and a gentle smile. 'He looks okay for a powerful old man. But I don't want to become bald when I grow up. And those wrinkles!', Rui thought shivering at the knowledge of wrinkles and baldness. 'Heaven forbid, I end up looking that old.'
Suddenly, Rui felt an ominous presence close to him. He immediately rose up his guard. Scanning the surroundings and keeping a good closer watch on the CEO, he didn't see any kind of suspicious activity. What he heard next made the hair on his neck stand up. The sound was horribly familiar it sent a whole new wave of nostalgia to Rui. He scanned the place again looking for any indication to where the sound was coming from but couldn't pinpoint where it was.
The place was too crowded and noisy, such a task was impossible to do. He gritted his teeth in annoyance. 'What was that about?' he thought, annoyed. He moved his head from left to right, searching.
"Is there something wrong, Amane-san?", a gentle voice asked behind him. Rui looked behind and saw the old CEO eyeing him curiously. He immediately masked his expression with a charming smile.
"Nothing to worry about, sir~!", Rui smiled. The old man quirked a knowing brow.
"I see. Are you sure about that?", he asked again.
"Yes, I just thought I heard something…," Rui trailed.
"Something?"
Rui shook his head. "It's nothing. I'm sure I was only imagining it. Would you like to see the Elementary School Principal now?" Rui evaded and ushered the man towards the elementary school division. The CEO simply nodded his head in compliance.
"Very well then," the man looked at him oddly and proceeded towards the building. With one last look at the crowded place, Rui shrugged his unsettling thoughts and feelings aside. He had a very bad feeling that something might happen soon and it had something to do with that soft tinkling melody he tried to forget so much.
~o0o~
Slap. The sound echoed through the walls of the old building. Rui watched helplessly as his friend was hit countless times by the boy's mother.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to come close to that cursed child!", the woman shouted which made Rui flinched. "Why do you always have to defy me?" She shrieked and continued to hit the crippled boy.
Rui clenched his fists into tight balls. He watched in agony as the mother dragged away the now beaten child. It wasn't Shirou's fault. It wasn't his fault for befriending him. Tears formed in his eyes. Rui glared at the retreating back of the woman as heavy dark clouds formed around him.
"It isn't Shirou-kun's fault!", he hissed in anger.
~o0o~
He waited patiently outside the Elementary School Principal's office. His face void of any emotion as his memories from his younger years flashed through his eyes. Rui sighed tiredly. Today had definitely been tiring for some odd reason. He rubbed his temples tiredly then looked up to see the ESP and CEO leaving the room.
"I'm glad you enjoyed your visit for the day, Mr. Takahashi," ESP shook the old man's hand.
"It's a pleasure to come and visit your school festival Mr. Principal," Mr. Takahashi chuckled and shook the principal's hand in return. "The inventions are stunning, the programs amazing and the sweets! They are most delectable."
"Yes, we only aim to give the best to our visitors," the principal added with a sly smile.
"Yes, yes. I'll come back soon enough to fulfill the agreement. I'll just send someone in my place to give it." Rui silently followed their steps from behind.
"We will be expecting it," the principal bowed and motioned for Rui to come closer. "Rui, escort Mr. Takahashi safely. I'll leave everything else to you." With that, the man left and walked back to his office.
"Follow me, sir," Rui bowed and motioned for the old man to follow him. They walked silently for a few minutes until the man spoke from behind.
"Today was a splendid day, was it not?", the man said. Rui glanced back slightly and responded.
"Yes, it was," he replied, then continued to walk. Silence loomed over them but was once again broken by the CEO.
"Amane-san?"
"Yes?"
"Do you know the reason why you were my escort?", the older man asked all of a sudden. Rui stopped from his tracks and faced the CEO.
"Is there any specific reason for you to ask for my service?", Rui asked, masking any kind of emotion. The old man chuckled.
"You don't have to look at me with contempt, child. In fact, I should be the one with that look on your face," Mr. Takahashi smiled gently. He inserted his hands inside his pocket which made Rui raise his guard up. A familiar silver chained object was pulled out of the older man's pocket. Rui stared in disbelief. On the old man's hand was the same silver chained locket given to him by his friend Shirou from long ago.
"That. That is…," Rui uttered.
"Do you remember this?", Mr. Takahashi asked. Rui nodded his head slowly. His mask slowly shattering as grief replaced it.
"B-but how? Why do you have that?", the blonde man asked confusedly.
"Do you remember the night you arrived here in the academy?"
Of course, how could he forget? That was the night he was called a murderer. He closed his eyes and vividly recalled the memory.
~o0o~
Shirou was once again playing the piano for Rui. The melody never ceased to calm his mind. It soothed him whenever he listened to Shirou play. When the music stopped, he looked at the crippled boy and smiled.
"Shouldn't you go home now? Your mother will be angry again if she found out you spent time with me again," Rui asked worriedly. "She might beat you again."
"Don't worry. It's fine," Shirou smiled. "Would you like me to play another song?"
Rui looked at him uncertainly and nodded his head. "If you're sure…"
"I am."
"Then play my favorite song please," the blonde boy asked kindly. Shirou posed his fingers on top of the piano keys and played the song Rui loved so much. The song was on its last notes when the door burst open and Shirou's mother stomped inside the room.
"How dare you!", she screamed. Rui looked at her with fear, not for himself, but for his friend. "HOW DARE YOU! YOU DEMON CHILD!"
She slapped Rui's face which made him fall to the ground. "Mother!", Shirou shouted with wide eyes.
"And you!", she motioned to slap the crippled child but was stopped as Rui held her legs together. "LET GO OF ME!" She kicked Rui in the gut and made him bawled over.
The woman kicked Rui countless times and pulled his hair with enough force to snap his head back. He screamed in agony.
"Mother! Please stop! Please don't hurt Rui!", Shirou shouted at his mother. The woman snapped her head back and glared at the child.
"You dare to order me around?" The woman walked to Shirou and wrapped her hands around his neck, slowly choking him. "YOU DARE TO ORDER ME? ME? YOUR OWN MOTHER?"
The child gasped for air as the woman tightened her hands around his neck. Rui opened his eyes slowly and saw the helpless boy. A new wave of anger flowed through him. A wave of anger which opened a dormant ability inside of him.
"S-stop it…," Rui gasped. "I SAID STOP IT!"
A gust of wind knocked the woman away from the child and a dark ominous cloud wrapped Rui's body. He looked at the woman with bloodshot eyes. A mark slowly formed on the woman's body. With just a single thought, a wave of pain shot through the woman's body and she shouted in dire agony.
"I won't let you hurt Shirou anymore!", Rui cried out. "How can you hurt your own child?" He sent out a new thought command that twisted the woman's body in pain. "HOW CAN YOU?"
"RUI!"
A voice called him. Pain seeped through him as hand slapped him on the face and snapped him out of his anger. He looked to see Shirou glaring hard at him.
"Shirou?", he asked confusedly.
"Don't hurt my mother, Rui," Shirou said cold-heartedly. Rui was too confused to notice marks forming on Shirou's body as well.
"Huh? B-but why? She was hurting you, Shirou-kun," Rui whispered, hurt evident in his eyes.
"She's still my mother," the boy smiled sadly. The sudden blur of movements knocked Rui out. One second he saw her from the corner of his eyes, a sharp blade clutched in her hands, the next, Shirou was in front of him, the blade thrust inside his body.
The mother cried as blood flowed out of the boy's body. "SHIROU!", Rui cried and clutched unto the falling body. His hands shakingly covered the large wound. "No. No. No. No." He chanted nonstop.
"R-Rui…," Shirou said as he coughed out blood then closed his eyes.
SHIROU!
~o0o~
He opened his eyes and looked at the old man in front of him. That night, the authorities arrived with Rui looking aimlessly outside of the window. In front of him lay the bodies of both his friend Shirou and his mother. The incident was discreetly announced at a psychotic killer was the suspect for the murder killings. Rui found out that he was an alice and was sent to alice academy under the guardianship of a masked man called Persona.
"What about that night?", Rui asked impassively.
"The woman and child that were killed…," the old man smiled sadly. "They were my daughter and grandchild." He stared at the blonde man's eyes. Rui can see anger, sadness, and another emotion he could not describe. What was it?
He was left speechless for a few minutes before replying. "Are you here to seek for revenge then, Mr. CEO?", Rui smirked. "As you can see, the life I currently live is a life void of repentance. Forgiveness is something I can hardly achieve. Every day I create new acts of sins. Every day, his melody hunts me to no end."
The older man looked at him sadly and sighed. "Yes, I forgiveness if a hard to achieve but it is not impossible. I do not blame you for what happened years ago for I blame myself for what happened to my daughter as well. She…" He opened the locket and the soft music started to play.
"She was undergoing recuperative therapy," he explained to Rui. "Her husband and other son died on a plane accident and left her with her other son, who was miraculously saved from the accident, but was crippled."
"Shirou…," Rui whispered, his heart ached. He stared at the locket. "That was given to me by Shirou. But lost it the night he died."
"This was given to me by the authorities. This was the locket my grandson asked me to make," the old man smiled. "He said he would give it to a dear friend of his. He was giving this to you."
Rui couldn't breathe. He watched as the old man walked forward and handed him the silver locket. "This locket belongs to you. Whenever you hear it, you will be reminded of what happened years ago."
He took the silver locket and clutched it closer to his chest. The older man walked back slowly to the now waiting car. Before turning back and said, "To forgive others, you must first forgive yourself."
With that, the old CEO slipped inside the car. Rui followed with his eyes as the car drove away. The man's words rang in his head. A stray tear fell down his cheek.
~o0o~
Rui sat silently on the soft grass and watched aimlessly at the calm pond in front of him. He heard some shuffling noises beside him and glanced to see Hajime sat close to him. Neither spoke for a few lingering minutes, each buried in their own thoughts.
"What happened to you today?", Hajime asked him after awhile.
"Nothing much. I only just found out that the CEO was the grandfather of a friend I used to have from long ago," Rui laughed icily. "The first person I had ever killed."
He looked at Hajime's reaction but only saw his usual stoic expression. "I shouldn't have expected any other reaction from you, Momo-kun. You still have the same stoic expression," Rui sighed and pouted.
Hajime poked his forehead and said, "Don't call me by that name. Would you like me to be awed by the fact then?"
"Touché," Rui chuckled. He took out the silver locket and opened it. The music he used to love so much now a symbol of his past sins.
"I constantly hear this melody deep inside my heart. The melody I longed to forget but can't...," he uttered. He lifted his hand to the dark night sky, looking aimlessly beyond it. "...for it was a melody I wished to gain, the melody of freedom."
The bandaged man silently watched him and looked at the dark night sky as well. Fireflies flickered silently around them while crickets chirped along with the wind. Hajime poked Rui's forehead then stood up. "Why do you have to repeat the same melody over and over again?", Hajime quirked a brow at him.
"Huh?"
"You can always compose your own melody, can't you?", he smirked and walked back to their dormitory. Rui stared at Hajime's retreating back. Then looked at the small pond in front of him where fireflies floated, their lights illuminating the dark gloomy water. He rubbed his forehead and laughed out loud. He laughed for what felt like a thousand years of laughter. His heart weighed a less lighter. He heard his words once more. "To forgive others, you must first forgive yourself."
He stood up and ran after Hajime then hugged him playfully from behind. Hajime growled in annoyance at the sudden body contact.
"Damn it, Rui. Stop hugging me all over the place!" Hajime said annoyed. The blonde man continued to laugh out loud. He pushed away Rui slightly uncomfortable with their bodies in contact. Rui stood in front of him then looked at him seriously.
"If I happened to write off my own melody, will you listen to it?" Rui asked expectantly. With the same seriousness Hajime replied. "I will."
Rui grinned broadly, turned his back on the bandaged man and skipped towards their dormitory. "I can't completely forgive myself after all that I've done…" he said silently. "But maybe, just maybe, I can forgive myself little by little.
He heard the tune playing in his mind once again. But this time, it was his own melody, his freedom's melody.
A/N: Please support the story entries for this month's prompt. You can find the other entries here.
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