37. The Wolf That Fell In Love With Little Red Riding Hood
It is forbidden to break the rules of any story.
Every fable, fairytale or otherwise, has restrictions. You must never, ever break the laws of the book, or become out of character. You cannot change the tale, you cannot change people, you cannot change. Forever, you are placed in your role.
If under any circumstance the story is toyed with, the pages will be irreversible. The world itself will end and restart, erasing all memories and beginning again.
Even under such dire constraints, Rin couldn't deny how much she longed to break the ties that bound them. She, and him.
Her, the girl in red fated to encounter him day after day.
He, the wolf who would hunt her down.
Those are their parts to play. She must always be frightened of him and never speak to him, and he must always scare her away. If even one word is spoken between them, it all would end.
And yet…
Yet, she wishes to know his name. It's strange that she would care, or want to know the name of her enemy. Being confined to their places, this is how it should be, monster and human girl, but… some part of her doesn't think that's how it should be. Like it should be different.
Something is missing. Something isn't right. It's not fair that she can't try to speak to him.
(Something about his eyes always reminds her of the sky- such vivid cerulean irises. And despite the way he roars, his gaze is kind when she catches him staring her way before their encounters.)
She's not brave enough to break the barrier between them and speak up. It would ruin their world, corrupt it, and she'd be responsible. In the end, she also wouldn't be allowed to remember their talk either, which matters the most to her.
...Though with this thought in mind, it only makes her wish to do it more. To talk to him normally, to see if he's as gentle as he seems. Pretending to be afraid of him now becomes harder and harder with each passing day.
...Maybe someday, she'll do it.
Or maybe… somehow, someway, he might make that first step instead.
For now she'll keep to her role. But a time will come when she won't be able to stifle herself anymore, and something will slip out.
She both fears, and anticipates, that day.