25. Akatsuki no Monologue
Rin was always afraid of monsters.
Told scary tales since she was young, she learned to fear the dark, and the loneliness that accompanied it. The creatures that lived inside, and fed on her terror, were to be nothing but disdained. She was told each one was heartless and evil.
The day she was sentenced to live with one of those monsters was the scariest one of her life.
He was different- a beast, surely, intimidating and unsociable; but he refused to kill her and rid himself of the burden of a human girl. She feared him, yet he never did anything to hurt her. Instead, he brought her roses. Beautiful roses of all colors from his precious garden, and he asked that she learn to love him as he was. A man inside, cursed to a life of unhappiness, named Len.
Love him? An ugly, terrifying monster? It seems impossible- but gradually, her thoughts changed. She learned that he was not intimidating, but afraid himself to speak and hear a response. He wasn't unsociable, he was shy. Interactions went a long way, and learnt of his loves and past, the curse he underwent. She started seeing him as a friend, of all things, and his outward appearance soon stopped giving her pause. When she saw him, she learned to smile instead of cower, and their friendship grew.
Yet, even when she treated him kindly and stayed by him, he seemed lonely. Her presence made him happier but he still seemed sad, and eventually she asked why.
He told her it was because he felt one day, she would leave him. He poured his heart out to her, and in his eyes she saw the human boy he once, pleading with her to stay. Len took her hands in his, and asked her to stay, or leave- whichever suited her heart best.
She was forced to choose then, whether she'd rather return to the village, or stay with her new friend, the boy she'd come to cherish. He had feared the answer, and she realized the choice was made for her the moment she decided to become his friend. She'd grown too close, and the monsters hidden in the shadows weren't as scary with him by her side.
So she'd smiled, squeezed his hands, and told him in a strong voice;
"I refuse to let your story end in tragedy."