A smile was planted on Yuki's lips as he walked into the small cottage hidden in the woods of Payon. He pulled a key out from his pack and stuck it in the lock. The door swung open, the hinges squeaking.
"Hari! Father! You'll never guess what happened today!" Yuki shouted out as he quietly closed the door behind him.
The room was dimly lit, the afternoon sun shining in through the single window on the wall to Yuki's right.
Next to the window was a picture of Yuki and Ryuuji standing next to each other, holding up their weapons. A goofy grin was on their faces as they smiled at the photographer; everlasting happiness embedded in the picture.
Yuki tugged his muddy boots off and walked over to a light and turned it on. In the middle of the room lie a couch, overlooking a giant painting of Morocc.
The smile faded from Yuki's lips as he looked at a man sitting on the couch, his head resting on the back.
"Father, is that you?" Yuki asked the man, walked over to it.
"Guess what! The guild says I'm two weeks away from becoming an Assassin Cross! They said Ryuuji is as well, but I'll keep that a surprise when he turns sixteen in a few days."
Yuki walked over to the man sitting on the couch, stopping dead in his tracks.
The man's neck was cut open, dried blood staining his shirt and the couch. A look of horror was frozen on his face.
"Father!" Yuki screamed, grabbing his father in his arms. He looked around the room and saw a trail of blood leading into another room.
With tearful eyes, Yuki laid his father down and closed his eyes. Yuki tore his daggers out of their sheaths, cutting the leather apart.
The dull thump of his footsteps pounded on the hardwood floor as Yuki pushed his way into a pink bedroom. The walls were stained with blood, and the body of a female Assassin lie lifelessly on the floor, her hand grabbing the edge of a blanket.
Yuki's daggers fell from his hands as he collapsed to his knees, tears running endlessly from his eyes and down his face.
"Hari… Not you too…" Yuki got down on his hands and knees and crawled over to the Assassin's body.
He scooped the limp body into his arms, holding her close to his frame. The sounds of him crying and screaming filled the house as he clutched Hari's body.
From one of Hari's pockets, a ring and a note fell out. Yuki whipped his eyes, still holding Hari close to him. He picked up the note and the ring and read the note aloud.
"Yuki, will you marry me?"
A scream exploded from Yuki's lips as he crumpled the note up into his hand, the ring falling to the ground.
On the wall, "Ryuuji did it," was written in blood.
Yuki screamed louder as he closed his eyes, now shaking. His once brown Assassin's outfit was stained with Hari's and his father's blood as he sat there, clutching the body of his lover in his arms.
"Ryuuji!" Yuki screamed his voice filled with anger.
"I'm going to fucking kill you!"
Yuki kicked the cottage's door clean off the hinges as he stormed out of the wooden house. Thunder boomed and lightning struck a nearby tree. Inside the cottage, Hari and Yuki's father lie side by side, their arms cross and their eyes close.
Tears streamed down Yuki's face as he walked through the forest into a clearing, glaring at another Assassin.
"Ryuuji!" Yuki cried out, clutching the hilts of his daggers so hard his hands and knuckles turned pale white.
The other Assassin turned around, his dark blue hair clinging to his face and neck. A crazed looked was glued onto his face.
"I killed them Yuki! I did it! I actually killed your father and Hari!" Ryuuji laughed.
"You asshole!" Yuki ran at Ryuuji, swinging his daggers wildly in the air.
Ryuuji sidestepped Yuki, sticking his foot out. Yuki tripped over Ryuuji's foot and fell face first into a pile of decaying leaves.
Yuki rolled on the ground just as Ryuuji slammed down one of his katars. The other blade soon followed, and Yuki rolled away once more.
"I'm going to fucking kill you!"
Yuki sprung to his feet and threw one of his daggers at Ryuuji, hitting him in the chest. Ryuuji stumbled back and spat out a mouthful of blood before tearing the dagger out and whipping it at the ground.
Laughter filled the air as Ryuuji tore his bloody shirt off and dropped it to the rain-soaked grass. He brought his katars to his bleeding chest, a cynical grin growing bigger and bigger as Yuki unsheathed another dagger.
"That's right. I want you to die as slow as Hari and your father did."
Yuki screamed louder this time as he ran at Ryuuji, tackling him to the ground. Without mercy, he jammed one of his daggers into his chest and the other in his hand, nailing it to the ground.
With his teeth bared, and tears streaming endlessly from his eyes, Yuki punched Ryuuji in the face again and again.
Through his clenched teeth, Yuki took deep breaths as he stopped punching his former friend and stared down at the grinning face.
Ryuuji lifted up his free hand and cut Yuki twice on the face, right down the right side of his face and over his eye, the other straight across his face.
Yuki stood up and kicked Ryuuji in the crotch before walking away.
"Don't you walk away from me, asshole! I'm still not dead!" Ryuuji shouted out as he tore the dagger out of his chest.
"I don't care. You are going to suffer for what you did."
"Come back and finish me off!"
Without thinking, Yuki spun around in place and ran at Ryuuji. He came to halt when he was towering over the bloody mass that was Ryuuji. What sounded like a yelp filled the air as Yuki slammed his foot down on Ryuuji's chest.
Yuki did this over and over again until Ryuuji was unconscious.
"I hate you," Yuki muttered as he backslid and then vanished into thin air.
Eleven years later
"Excuse me, have you seen this person around lately?" An Acolyte with a scared face asked a Kafra employee, pointing to a picture of Yuki and Ryuuji.
"No sir, I haven't. If I do, I'll let you know," she said, smiling at the Acolyte.
"Thank you," The Acolyte bowed and slowly walked away. He tucked the picture into his coat pocket and sat down on a bench near the fountain.
"Great. Another day gone past without knowing who this kid is."
The priest let out a sigh as he watched other adventurers walk past him, talking to their friends and possibly families.
"All I know is that my name is Yuki…" The Acolyte lowered his head, his messy dark brown hair covering his face.
From the distance, a Crusader looked at Yuki, a look of concern on her face. Without a moments hesitation, she walked over to the Acolyte and sat down next to him.
Yuki lifted his head up and looked at the Crusader who was offering a bottle of water to him. Without a word, Yuki took the bottle and drank from it. The Crusader watched as Yuki finished the bottle off and handed it back to her.
"Thanks. I really needed that," Yuki said, forcing a smile.
The Crusader nodded and tucked the bottle into her item pack. Yuki looked at her shield and sword, both resting on her back.
"Oh, by the way, my name is Yuki."
The Crusader nodded again before speaking. "My name is Maris. Maris LaLuna."