Through the Oddest Circumstance
Chapter 4: A Boy with Two Faces, a Story about Ryo Akiyama
Pairings: Mimato, Takari, Jenruki, Kouzumi, Kouyako, Taiora and Ryo/ OC
Takari-san: Hmm… is this getting dull or something? If so then, Gomen! I promise it'll get more interesting anyways here's the next installment… Enjoy and R/R.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, I own the plot and somehow Megumi though her name is from Gatekeepers.
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Burning hot flames surrounded a home in a small village. The roof made of bricks collapsed making the surrounding people know no one had survived such an accident… or so they thought. A small figure was coming out from the flames, a weapon strapped behind his back and another being carried. He was a young boy, his face had scratches and he was weak… yet no one came near him, they only whispered around him intently, not bothering to aid the wounded boy.
They referred to him as a demon… a demon that wasn't eaten by deadly flames. They thought of him as a monster that would kill them if they went to near, but in truth he was just a young boy who needed help.
Days passed the boy sought for shelter yet no one took him in, he was a monster in their eyes. They believed that if they let him in their children would die and they would be brought bad luck.
He was forced to stay in the remains of his home, his food, berries he would find in the forest and sometimes an animal if he was lucky, his water taken from the lake. At night he would try to keep himself warm by rubbing his hands together and blowing them…
One day he woke up, he was going to his usual time of hunting, ignoring the murmurs of people around him. He had grown accustomed to such treatment. He was doing his routine when the villagers approached him…
"Boy, off you go… the king is coming to this village, we cannot risk letting him find out that we have a boy demon in this village." An old man said as children around laughed at him teasingly.
"But, this is my village as well… I do not care of your nonsense." The spoke plainly with no expression to the man which made the passersby gasp at his outright disobedience to the man.
"Truly, this boy is a demon…" some of the people murmured.
"Yes… and he never leaves without those two swords either, his parents may be knights but this boy is obviously a demon"
"Yes, surely my son will not disobey or talk to elders in such a way."
"He was born different."
"He survived deadly flames, it is surely a work of a monster!" different people exclaimed.
"How dare you, boy." The old man said, he used his walking stick to hit him in the face, in which sent him flying towards the wall.
"A cursed boy." They all glared, some of them using sticks to poke the boy, some children throwing stones at him.
"You should not stay here… away!" they shouted but the boy didn't budge.
"Away!" More shouts…
"What is happening here?" a stern voice commanded.
"My lord…" the villagers said.
"What is happening? What are you doing to the boy?" the king commanded.
"He... he is a demon, my lord… a monster…" a man replied as the others nodded.
"You say this boy is a demon? Tell me… What did he do that was so terrible?" the king asked.
"He survived great deadly flames that only a demon could." A villager replied as the others nodded in chorus.
"Deadly Flames, you say… so tell me. Why do you despise the child because he escaped death? Why do you call him a demon because he is lucky?" the king asked.
The villagers were silenced.
"Come boy… I will take you to the capital of this kingdom and you shall live in the castle and I will train you to be a knight." The king said getting the boy.
The boy looked up and the king looked at him mercifully.
"Don't you see that he is just a boy? A boy who saw lots of things he shouldn't have at this age…" the king said as he saw the bitter expression on the villagers change unto expressions of pity.
"I better go now… did you forget anything?" the king said to the boy gently as he shook his head to say no.
"I see… let's go." The king said leaving the village with the boy with him.
The boy looked at the man in awe… no one… ever since that incident treated him well. He stood up and watched the man… he smiled lightly and took the kings hand, which was outstretched to him.
*******
Darkness… darkness covered everywhere.
No one was around… only a faint shadow and the king.
The faint shadow suddenly plunged a dagger into the king and he spurted out blood from his mouth.
He slowly fell…
Slowly…
He was dead right then and there.
*******
Ryo Akiyama panted and wiped off the sweat on his forehead… 'All a dream… It was all just a dream, a nightmare… but of all the things to dream of, why that?' he thought.
He didn't want to think about that anymore nor fall asleep again and risk the fact of having the same dream so he decided he would go down to the kitchen and have a drink. He got out of bed and slowly made his way down the stairs of the huge castle to the kitchen which was supposedly empty at this time of night.
He slowly went in and found a young man at the age of 15 with light feathery brown hair and emerald green eyes helping himself to a huge bowl of ice cream.
"Oy… Tomoki… so it was you who's been eating all the ice cream around here." Ryo commented as he took a glass and filled it up with water.
"He he… Well… since the princesses aren't around I guess I wanted to help with the food consumption." The boy named Tomoki laughed lightly.
"Yeah, the princesses… I wonder what's happening to them…" Ryo said, taking a gulp of water.
"They're alright… I know it; I mean they were the ones who wanted to get away… I saw it in their eyes." Tomoki said looking serious.
"Yeah… You're right, Ruki-sama always complained about being trapped, how she wanted to go to the world outside and begged me to take her with me to our hunts and missions often." Ryo said in a matter-of-factly tone.
"Hai… but I don't understand, they have everything they need here, right?" Tomoki asked, licking some ice cream off his fingers.
"Yes… but they believe they will lead a better life outside… a life they control with their own free will, not the chains that bind them here. They want to be… them." Ryo said looking down at the floor.
"Hai… that is true isn't it, Ryo-chan?" a female figure approached the rambling two.
"Megumi-san…" Ryo said, his voice sounding slightly irritated.
"Yes, Ryo-chan?" she grinned mischievously.
"Really, you two are a racket…" Tomoki laughed lightly.
"Would you rather have us become a boring old coot and make you die of boredom?" Ryo laughed lightly.
"No, I wouldn't want you to be like Lt. Daisuke Motomiya… 'Hey you… bow down to me and say you'll serve the queen!'" Tomoki grinned broadly; imitating Daisuke's hoarse, commanding voice.
"He he… I was afraid you'll actually say yes but I guess no one would want the beautiful old me change to that boring, suck up lieutenant that the queen loves so much…" Megumi laughed while Ryo was roaring in laughter in the background, unable to reply.
"Yes, quite suck up, is he? He is not well liked by the people but we cannot deny that he is a great warrior." Tomoki told the two who were laughing.
"Yeah, I guess…" Ryo replied.
"Well, I'm getting quite sleepy… better get some shut eye." Tomoki yawned and walked up the stairs.
"Bye then Tomoki… You sleep tight, okay?" Megumi smiled.
"Hai… Oyasumi…" Tomoki looked back for a while and went on his way up the stairs which left Ryo and Megumi in an intimate silence.
"So… uh… well… umm… night then…" Ryo blushed lightly.
"Umm… yeah… night…" she replied blushing as well.
"Yeah… err… better go now…" he stuttered, pointing towards the stairs nervously, slowly making his you to it.
"Umm… yeah… good night then…" she smiled nervously, going to the other stairway.
"Night…" Ryo said softly, bending down to kiss her softly on the cheeks and ran away swiftly.
"Ryo…" Megumi whispered, blushing touching her cheek in a dazed expression.
*******
'What was I thinking, if any of this comes up in the morning, I couldn't take that… no, of course not. I couldn't proclaim to the whole palace that I have a slight infatuation on Megumi… slight… yeah slight, nothing more than that… of course not.' Ryo thought as he leaned towards the wall on his room.
'Idiot… if she asks me anything about it, I'm dead meat… and how Tomoki will tease me will kill me. I hope she understands… she always did especially the first time we met. She was the only one like me… thought as a monster, the king helped her as well and in a weird sort of way she helped me too.' Ryo thought memories of the past flooding his mind.
*Flashback*
Ryo Akiyama smiled brightly as he ran on palace grounds for the first time. The king took him in as promised and he was having a great time, the queen wasn't quite as pleasant as expected but their children were kind except that they didn't seem to want to be close with him, since the king narrated the story to them and they were frightened a bit, but believed their father yet still a bit afraid.
He slowly moved towards the training area of the army, he looked at the sword which he was carrying; it was purely black, designed with etched designs. He pulled the other sword which was strapped to his back… the moment his fingers touched it, he felt coldness… it was also of the color black, a short sword and had design of the color light blue. He didn't know why but he preferred the other better. He looked at the swords, the only thing left for him to be reminded of his parents who have passed away… he was lost in thought until he felt someone tapped his shoulder…
"Hello…" he was greeted by a warm, cheerful smile.
"Hello…" he replied when he turned around.
"Who are you? I haven't seen you around here before…" the little girl with short navy hair, pale skin and blue eyes.
"Ryo… I'm new here… the king took me in. My parents died in a fire and I was the only one to survive…" Ryo looked down in sadness remembering the times when his father taught him basic sword techniques.
"I'm sorry… I don't really know how you feel since I still have both my mommy and daddy…" the girl said guiltily.
"Well… it's not your fault… you're just lucky and I'm unlucky…" I muttered the last part.
"Nuh uh… all of us were given luck maybe it just didn't work out at that time." Megumi said trying to comfort the discouraged boy.
"No… the world hates me, people thought of me as a monster… everyone did." Ryo said softly, tears beginning to well up in his eyes.
"Monster? I don't think so… you are human just like me… you still have luck… or else you wouldn't have met the king, correct?" the girl smiled at him.
"Yes…" Ryo whispered softly, wiping the tears off his eyes.
"See? There are still lots good things in this world…" she smiled, patting him on the head. (They were about the same height then)
"Thank you… you're one of the few who understands…" Ryo smiled.
"A lot of people will understand, they just don't see that yet…" she said and smiled.
*******
Those words that she said reassured Ryo that he would never be alone… but what happens when Megumi herself forgets these words she told Ryo that day?
*End of Flashback*
Ryo woke up and found himself on the floor. He must've fell asleep after thinking about her and the incident so much.
'A new day again… Another boring day, another boring mission…' he thought sighing as he prepared himself for the day.
He took a quick shower and dressed up quickly. He went down the flights of stairs and arrived at the dining area where Megumi and Tomoki were having an animated conversation but as Ryo went closer there was a sudden silence and Megumi grown silent.
"Ohayo, Ryo-sama…" Tomoki greeted totally oblivious of the fact that the usually cheerful and animated Megumi was silenced by the arriving of Ryo to the dining room.
"Ohayo, Tomoki-san, Megumi-san…" Ryo smiled somewhat nervously.
"Ohayo Ryo-kun…" Megumi said some sort of lifeless tone.
"Oh by the way Ryo-sama… the queen called for another meeting, I think we are discussing about the lost of the princesses again and those thieves." Tomoki said after looking at Megumi weirdly for a while.
"I see… better hurry up then, we wouldn't want Lieutenant Motomiya biting our necks of for being late, right?" Ryo laughed lightly as soon the other two joined in…
*******
"Well… let's go in then…" Ryo smiled as they stood in front of the door.
"Of course… what else is there to do?" Tomoki replied laughing lightly.
"Well duh…" Megumi said who seemed to be back to her normal self once more.
"Ha ha… I guess you're right." Ryo laughed as he pushed the door open.
There were shadows in the room, different shapes and sizes but the one in the middle was obviously female… and she was the queen.
*tbc*
Takari-san: Sorry for the short chapter… I had tests and had a hard time doing this. I hope you enjoyed this chapter…
Preview of the next Chapter:
Chapter 5: The Chosen One
Back to Matt and the others they suddenly meet two people that tell the of the chosen one… Who is this chosen one? What is this treasure and what is its connection to the Tachikawa family emblem?
Takari-san: ^-^ I post this monthly… ^-^ I can't wait to write the next chapter, I hope you enjoyed this, don't worry Mimato fans there will be lots of Mimato in the 5, 6 and 7 chapter… Hope you enjoyed this… ^-^ R/R!