His Final Vengeance
by Autumn Win-Dow
(AoGA House Cup. Words: 1562)
"I never loved you, Ruka. It was all a lie."
Ruka's grip on the steering wheel tightened – his knuckles turning white from the pressure. He ignored the glare of the tunnel lights, which added colour to his route, but did not affect his heartbroken mood. The interior of his car felt strangely cold – he felt his spine shiver, his hands tremble, and his lips parch. His leg twitched from an impatience which he didn't know where it emerged from. His thick jacket didn't serve as a warm enough cover from the sudden cold in the vehicle. Ruka felt like he was trapped in an ice cavern, without anything to warm him up.
He couldn't believe what he had heard only five minutes ago. He had known that Hotaru was quite cold in regards to other people's feelings, but had never expected her to admit to doing such a harsh thing to him.
Hotaru had used him for revenge.
When he had left to study abroad in France for three years, it had turned out that Hotaru was in a relationship with his best friend, Natsume. Before his conversation with her about the matter, he had heard from witnesses that they had a passionate relationship which lasted for a year. Ruka was upset enough by the fact that Natsume had chosen not to tell him about his former relationship with Hotaru – even when he had introduced his ex-girlfriend as his own girlfriend – but learning that Hotaru still loved him made him feel like his heart had been stabbed a thousand times with a silver dagger, then doused in petrol and set on fire.
Not only that, Hotaru had coldly admitted after their break-up that she had felt nothing for him – she was merely using Ruka for revenge against the man who had betrayed her in the past. When he asked her if she felt good avenging a betrayal with a betrayal of her own, she didn't answer.
Ruka didn't know what to think of it. All he knew was that he felt betrayed by both the woman you fell in love with, and your best friend. He didn't know if he was glad that the truth was out, or if he had the right to feel vengeful himself.
He could barely recall Natsume's words about Hotaru when he still didn't know about their former relationship.
"You shouldn't date her. She looks like she spells trouble."
Ruka had laughed Natsume's comment off, saying that it was Hotaru's nature to appear suspicious.
Never did he know.
Later, he ended up fighting with Natsume about the secret withheld from him. Punches were thrown everywhere, and blood oozed out of cuts on their faces. Ruka was furious at his best friend for not telling him anything, and when he asked why, Natsume's answer was simple.
Natsume had kept the secret because Ruka looked like he loved her too much.
No matter what had happened, Ruka knew that he still loved Hotaru Imai. Despite the way she had used him in order to stir Natsume up, and to destroy him and his pride, Ruka's heartbeat still stirred when he thought of her.
Ruka stomped his foot on the brake suddenly, and the car halted with an ear piercing screech, in the middle of the empty tunnel.
He had decided. He was going to show Hotaru a tiny fraction of how he felt, in the matter of a minute.
Ruka hurriedly reversed his car, and started driving along the direction he had come from, while he tasted salt water in his mouth.
"This is pathetic, Hotaru. Getting revenge for a betrayal with a betrayal?"
Hotaru firmly squeezed the steering wheel with her hands. Half of her attention was focused on the rapidly appearing shapes of light on her pale hands, and the other half was on the dark halls of the tunnel in which she was driving through. The darkness never became bigger or smaller – as she drove down, the darkness would turn into the concrete walls of the tunnel, to be replaced with a deeper darkness. It reminded her of a black hole about to swallow her and her car up into a place inescapable.
She pushed her back into the seat, and her arms were stick straight as she held immense control of the wheel. Strands of her usually near hair were splayed over her heart shaped face, and her breath started to quicken, provoking a sudden hyperventilation.
Never did she expect her composure to break so easily after the job was done. She had hoped that she would able to deceive and break both Natsume and Ruka, and the only sadness she would feel would be a hint of remorse for dragging an innocent man into the whole situation. She had even expected a single teardrop to emerge from the corner of her eye in remembrance of what once was.
Hotaru had never expected to feel distressed after meeting the traumatised eyes of Ruka Nogi, the man she had tricked.
Hotaru did feel pathetic, even if she had achieved what she had intended to do.
She had wanted to get revenge on Natsume by hurting not him, but his best friend – the one he had always told her about, and possibly the only person who he had cared for more than herself, Ruka Nogi.
Hotaru had always been cautious about money, so when she had been cheated off a large portion of her value as well as being framed for fraud by none other than her boyfriend, she felt enraged. Betrayed.
And after eighteen months in prison, she understood that she couldn't fight fraud with more fraud. She wanted Natsume to taste more than his own medicine.
However, she thought she had still loved him, despite all that happened – the fraud, the arrest, the pain.
She had never been confused about her feelings before, until she met the man she planned to betray herself.
Unlike her and Natsume, Ruka was more of an optimist who stood strong to his morals and values, and never believed in the concept of revenge as a valid way to achieve something. It was ironic, since he himself was being used for revenge. Hotaru was forced to act while she was in a relationship with him, and as time passed and he was feeling even happier and in love, her heart felt heavier. She was never supposed to feel sad over such a plan, so she was confused as to why she felt that way.
"You yourself aren't so sure about how you feel. That's what I call a fatal flaw."
Natsume's words to her from a week before they started their relationship would often echo in her head every time she would say goodbye to Ruka. And she, after three years, finally started to believe them.
Hotaru had never intended to fall in love with Ruka on the way, but after she had broken up with him, she knew that she had. She couldn't lie to him fursther, so she had decided to bring him out of his misery with one last lie - the biggest lie of all.
"I never loved you, Ruka. It was all a lie."
And she had already betrayed him to the extent that it was impossible to resolve with a happy ending.
He probably hates me now. Now I'm the victim in this one-sided relationship.
Instinctively, she pressed her foot on the accelerator. The lights of the tunnel were speeding up and passing her at a faster rate.
Ruka predicted that in less than a minute, he would see her car. He knew that it was unlikely that another car would be driving through the tunnel at that time. He was certain he would sight the familiar sleek BMW Hotaru drove.
Emerging from the black hole in front of her, she saw the all too familiar silver Mercedes driving the opposite way – towards her. Even though she wasn't an expert in knowing her own feelings, she was certain about the feelings of others. Ruka had thrown all of his morals out of the window. Knowing that she deserved what she was going to get, she stomped on the accelerator.
Even after all that happened, Ruka trusted her. He had a strong belief that Hotaru was going to think of herself, and she was going to evade his car and drive away as if nothing happened. He had hoped to evoke even the slightest fear in Hotaru's heart. He was sure that she didn't love him, so he was sure that she wasn't going to follow his stupid plan.
It wasn't the case.
The cars drove towards each other. They were quickly nearing, metal to metal, bumper to bumper, mirror to mirror, man to woman.
For a split second, their eyes met. Their stares were both emotionless and certain of their actions.
She'll evade my car. I know it.
Hotaru did not evade the car.
Ruka did not regret driving the wrong way along a one way tunnel.
Neither of them had ever been more certain about anything else in their lives.
Besides, all they did was look forward and accelerate, as they met halfway.
A/N: Hi! This is somehow inspired by the K-Drama 'The Innocent Man'. This fic can also be considered as a reverse fic of 'Two Way Street' - the difference being that this one was tragic and angsty, and TWS is much more light hearted and happy, and is a NxM. You'll understand the smiliarity when you read them both.
:)