For the sensitive: blinkandyou'llmissit RM.

Ryutaisen Ryuu : Shubun no Hi
Spring Equinox
March 21

It was a cool, misty day, heightened by the fact that it was still early morning. The graveyard was silent as grave, in quite the literally sense. He had planned his visit very carefully. He wanted no interruptions, no unwanted media. He proceeded slowly and methodically to a large obelisk of softly-colored off-white marble. It had been erected in tribute to his late and beloved wife. Stopping in front of it, he stuck his hands in his pocket and looked up at it with a long, low, world-weary sigh.

Reiyuki Ryuu
(2010 – 2046)
Beloved Wife
Adored Mother
She Will Be Greatly Missed

Ryutaisen Ryuu loved to think that everything had turned out for the best for Ryuhou and himself.

His son had always been the independent type. If Reiyuki had been alive, he probably would have been forbidden from joining HOLY, something that Ryuhou had dedicated his life to. It was, after all, an extremely dangerous organization. But Martin had gotten Ryuhou's errant power under control, focusing it to fine point. As of very recently, his 15-year-old had surpassed almost all of his HOLY comrades, becoming an A-rank Alter User. And as for Ryutaisen... and as for himself, he was content to live out his life comfortably, hand the estate over to Ryuhou and leave this world without a hitch. What else could he possibly wish for? What else could he possibly need? A successful son, a flourishing business venture (The Lost Ground), plenty of money...

The state of things in his world today, however, was far from the stylized series of events he had pictured in the youth of his marriage.

Everything was perfect, naturally; not a hair out of place, a feather ruffled. He was so happy during that point. He remembered so clearly, as if living in the memory at times. Reiyuki was pregnant with Ryuhou, though they hadn't decided on the name quite yet. She was very filled and pouted at the mirror every morning (something he found absolutely ridiculous). Ryutaisen remembered dreaming about what his son would be like. He had hoped little Ryuhou would look similar to him. He remembered planning out his son's future, where he would go to school as he got older and the kind of things he would excel at...

When Ryuhou had been born, it was like a dream. Ryuhou's features had obviously favored his mother's, but that was all right. He was strong and healthy, no complications or visible disabilities. He grew up with continuity of health, a bright boy, but slightly on the serious side. He had few friends. There were few other families of his economic standing in the Lost Ground.

Then the Kiryu girl came around.

Despite her genius, she wasn't a know-it-all and despite her princess status she wasn't horribly spoiled. In fact, she was quite sweet, very cheerful, and – most importantly – open-minded. She didn't care about Ryuhou's Alter power. In fact, she was amazed by it. Reiyuki spoke so animatedly about how cute they were together. After Mimori had left, Ryuhou was depressed for a while. However, with her there, he had come out of his shell quite a bit, becoming a little happier and more inclined to play rather than act so profound.

And then it happened. The shocking attack of the Mysterious Alter that had taken two lives away from Ryutaisen – his wife and his son. Gone was the semi-serious and sometimes cheerful Ryuhou he had come to love so dearly, replaced by a stone-cold replica, the coldest ten-year-old he had ever met. Gone was Reiyuki, love of his life, one who had stood by him so steadfastly and been such a kind soul. His vision of the future was shattered and rebuilt to fit his new, cynical, and jaded world.

However, he didn't let this one event rule his life. He didn't let it ruin him or his son. They carried on as if their lives had never been interrupted, never been torn asunder by cruel Fate.

That's why Ryutaisen took this one day, the Spring Equinox, to grieve. He grieved the passing of his wife, the hollow, single-mindedness of his son, the state of the Lost Ground today...

But while he grieved, he kept in mind that with spring comes the promise of new life and growth and rebirth and it was for this reason that he never lost hope.

He knew that Ryuhou would find his way, be it with HOLY or against.

I was originally going to do a piece for the Autumn Equinox in which Reiyuki came in spirit form to see how things were coming along, but I ditched it. Kind of random, but I thought you guys might like to know. Just for kicks. Like, um, special features on a DVD or something.