Disclaimer: I do not own KKM!
Author notes: A new story. This idea has been bugging me since I read a DC fic named 'Lessons Learned Along The Way' by Diva-esque. It is an interesting story and prompted me to write this one. I hope I captured his personality properly.
A Lifetimes Worth of Lessons
He learns early on that the past isn't worth remembering and the future isn't worth knowing.
He doesn't believe in the past. The past meant a small tattered hut, lot of rocks being hurtled and a miserable life.
Hs mother, a poor lady, looks after him. He doesn't know his father; he doesn't ask. His intelligent dark eyes scan the men his mother brings home on daily basis as he hides in the shadow mot to be seen.
He knows what his mother does; he doesn't question it. He doesn't like hiding in the dark like some kind of criminal while other children enjoy their freedom. He doesn't understand when his mother tells his not to step out. So one day he does.
At 10 he has grown tired of the small hut and the darkness in it. So, after s very long time, he ventures into the sunlight. He knows that he isn't beautiful. Though his mother always called him unique.
So he decides to go out.
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He learns that uniqueness doesn't always mean something good.
The stones hitting him feel harder than they really are to his frail body. So he runs. He runs away from his village. He runs away from his mother. He runs away from home.
The following years are tough but he bears it. Adapting to a wild life, with almost no food and shelter, was second nature to him. He doesn't understand the difference between home and outside.
He doesn't dare show his face- especially his hair and eyes- to anyone anymore. He has seen the consequences of it once and is not willing to repeat it again.
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He learns that trust can easily be given.
He meets a man as he travels around, making darkness his closest friend. At 16, he is still the painfully thin boy he was before. The man, a small slender creature, as shy as him. His naiveté was not yet lost. He decides that they can be great friends.
He is happy that the man doesn't mind his black hair and eyes. Instead the man's interest in him makes him feel warm and welcomed.
So together they travel around the world, visiting different places and gathering knowledge. At last they come upon an area where a king is rumored to reside. The huge palace in the middle of the town confirms it.
He doesn't feel suspicious when his friend offers to go to the king and ask help from him to keep them safe from others. After all it was his fault that they are not welcome anywhere.
So he agrees.
He knows about Sousho. About the terrible forces that spread dishonesty, mistrust and all kinds of negative feelings. So he swears to himself that he won't stop trusting his friend.
Trust was more important than anything else.
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He learns that it is foolish to trust a person so much that you are blinded by it.
Maybe if he isn't blinded by his trust, he would've been suspicious when he sees his 'friend' return with an army of soldiers. He wouldn't wait there, expecting an explanation. He would not be wounded so badly. He wouldn't need to drag himself away from the field as the soldiers lost sight of him.
The blood covers his eyes, making him temporarily blind. He knows that he will never forget the look on his friends face as he entered the cabin with the soldiers.
It will take him many centuries- and lifetimes- to recognize the look on his face as greed.
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He learns that hate can be a powerful motivator.
He turned 20 the day he meets The Man. He doesn't know anything about The Man. He has a powerful aura and a perfect poker face.
As he sits there, The Man comes to him with a proportion. To kill the leader. According to The Man, the leader hates double blacks. The leader of the revolution against Sousho. Shinou.
His anger fuels him and gives him strength. He doesn't trust the man. He doubts he could ever trust anyone again. But the man has given him a mission. An objective.
He is sure that the leader is a terrible person. He will die to complete his mission. He is sure he will be able to compete it successfully. He is always right.
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He learns that it is alright to be wrong.
An unfortunate incident leading to a memory loss causes him to forget about him mission. For the moment.
As he sits under the shade of a large tree, reading a book, a man comes up to him.
He immediately notices the royal aura around the blonde man. He is also aware of the fact that this beautiful man has come to him with a purpose. And looking into these sapphire eyes, he also realizes that he will not be able to reject it.
"Hello. I'm Shinou."
Those words, though never spoken before, triggered his memory. About his mission.
"Will you join us?" Bit looking at those eyes he decided that maybe- just maybe -he is wrong for once.
He accepts the hand offered to him.
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He learns that he can't always get what he wants.
As the battle comes to a close and people turn back to normal, he stands alongside Shinou. He doesn't forget his mission but he knows he will never be able to complete it.
He spots The Man a few times around but blames it on his imagination.
With the shadow of the fierce war slowly disappearing, he hopes to stay with Shinou forever. He hopes that he will be able to confess his feelings to his comrade. He also hopes that it will be accepted.
He has got a peaceful life, a home and people around him that do not fear him. But that is not enough. It never is. He knows that once he has got Shinou it will all be more than enough.
But his hopes come crashing down when Shinou finds out about Rufus. About her being a female. There are many things that he has foreseen. This is not one of them.
But seeing the happiness on Shinou's face, he quietly accepts that he can never have his true love.
He might've got everything he wants. But there will always be some things that he can never get.
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He learns that there are thing worser than death.
As the kingdom falls into a peaceful rhythm, he worries. He is one of the only ones who knows about what is about to happen. The time is slowly nearing.
He doesn't want to lose Shinou.
He has already lost Shinou to Rufus but that was only romantically. He has only lost a lover. Now he was about to lose a friends and his closest confidant.
He doesn't know how but Shinou is the only person he has ever met that can tell what he is feeling accurately.
He often frets over how Shinou is able to do so but always reaches a dead end. In the end, he decides, he doesn't really care. He accepts Shinou's insightfulness gratefully.
So, as Shinou's soul is being removed from his body, he cries. Rufus falls on her knees as bitter tears flow freely on her face but he cries in his heart. He cries for the loss of his friend.
He cries for the loss of the person he loves.
He cries for the loss of the person who is closest to him.
But most of all, he cries for the person who has to endure a fate worse than death.
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He learns that getting reborn again and again soon turns from a blessing to a curse.
He accepts it when Shinou asks him to be reborn again to look after the boxes in hopes that one day they would meet again but he soon finds out that it isn't as easy as it looks.
Every time he is reborn he regains all his memories of all his past lives. The most prominent being the life of the Great Sage.
In many lifetimes, he tries to ignore the memories and go on with his life. But he finds himself thinking about Shin Makuko more often.
He tries to tell other people in his various lifetimes about it but that always ends badly. Either he is burnt on a stake or put in a psychiatrist hospital for treatment. It all depends on the time period.
So he starts to keep quiet about his memories trying to patiently wait for the day when the time will come for him to return.
For the time when he van see Shinou once again.
But until then all he can do is wait.
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He learns that the fruits of patience could be rewarding.
The day arrives in his 57th lifetime. He lives on Earth as a normal high school student. He has regained his memories a long time ago when he was just a child.
He is being bullied but he has gotten used to worse things than this. But as expected, the 27th Maoh of Shin Makuko stops them. He runs from there as fast as he could. But instead of going home, he hides behind a small storage shed and observes.
He sees the bullies' taking the Maoh in the girl's toilet and coming out without him. As soon as the bullies leave, he goes inside
As he expected there is no sign if the Maoh. The Maoh has been successfully transported to shin Makuko.
His work here is done. For now.
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He learns that seeing someone after a very long time can be very painful.
As he starts joining Yuri o his travels to Shin Makuko, he waits for the day when the four boxes will be united together along with their keys.
He knows that the 27th Maoh is the only one who can stop it. His courage and nobleness rivaled Shinou's. But no one could take Shinou's place in his heart.
But he still considered Yuri to be one of his closest friends in all his lifetimes. Maybe Yuri couldn't read him like Shinou could but Yuri will also trust him completely.
So the day the boxes began to open, he sits on the ruins of Shinou temple, waiting anxiously. He doesn't feel any kind of feelings for the monster in front of him. The body might look like Shinou but the soul wasn't truly his. But, for the sake of appearance, he sits there with a slight smirk on his face. He knows that Shibuya can do it.
And he is proven right. But his elation soon turns to shock and sorrow when Shinou's spirit says goodbye for the last time. He puts on a poker face but he is internally devastated. He is going to lose Shinou a second tine and there was nothing he could do about it.
Nothing at all.
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He learns that something's are better left unknown.
This is one of the best lifetimes he has ever had. Shinou has returned. True, it was only as a spirit but he returned nonetheless.
The so called Great Sage masks his elation behind. Fake feelings of annoyance but he can tell that Shinou can see through it clearly.
But there are some things better left unsaid.
But one day his facade crashes down when an old portrait is discovered. Shinou claims it. He has never seen the portrait but when he asks Shinou, Shinou just smiles and calls all the others.
Yuri is just as curious as him but Yuri doesn't try to hide it. Shinou grins and tells everyone that it is a portrait of his father.
He stands there looking at Shinou skeptically. But all his skeptics fades away when the thick cloth covering the portrait is pulled away. The picture was far from a master piece but he could very well imagine the poker face and powerful aura surrounding The Man.
There is no doubt in his mind that it is the same person who came to him all those life times ago with the mission to kill Shinou. Shinou's father.
He remembers seeing the shocked faces of people around him as he closes his eyes and collapses.
When he wakes up, he says that it might have been because of the sun but he sapphire blue eyes observing him from a corner knows the truth.
Not the whole truth.
He denies everything when Shinou asks him about it. He refuses to say why he has fainted when he saw the portrait.
There were a few things better left unknown.
Author Notes: Over! Now I can focus on my other fics. Btw I guess most of you knew that Shinou and Murata are half-brothers but I couldn't find a place to fit it in there. And since Murata doesn't know about it I couldn't add it in the story. Hope you enjoyed. Review!