'What you're doing makes no sense,' Kurai muttered, standing by the side of a broken child as he sat and cried into his palms around his shattered home.
He looks up to Kurai, his face swollen with tears; he didn't know what else to do. He bit his lips to stop the flow, but it now feels like he's gonna burst; all the pent-up emotion was just too much. The wounds from his earlier fight with Kioku made the feeling sting even more.
'What else can I do? I'm too weak to do anything else,' Mirai sighed, his breath shaky from his tears.
'Then train, get stronger. I'll help you,' Kurai declared as he walked towards his friend, a small smile etched on his face as he reached out to him, 'If you can't get magic, then maybe we should build your physical strength instead.'
Mirai looked up at him, his eyes bloodshot from irritation, tears stinging the back of his eyes, mouth slightly agape, not knowing what to say to his offer. After a while, he got up, his movements sluggish as he stumbled on his own steps a bit before regaining composure, reaching out for Kurai's hand in a firm handshake.
'I look forward to training with you!' He smiled through his tears, causing Kurai to smile too. Their warmth shared, their camaraderie and newfound friendship made his troubles disappear.
But only for a moment...
Years passed in a matter of minutes, his whole life dedicated to one of study and vigorous training, his body battered from the elements of his own doing, his knowledge of magic expanding just to know how to fight against it.
He kept going after years and years of studying; his eyes scanned every book in the library until he came upon it.
'A rune huh?' He muttered to himself, his eyes darting across the pages, a smile of hope on his face. 'This is perfect!'
His voice was hushed, but his excitement was clear, practically jumping off the ladder, the book in hand to show his friend, a book about every rune known to man—the book that would give him what he wanted, what he needed. He had never felt so happy.
____
'No, you can't!' Kurai immediately shot down the claim, 'You won't survive the amount of mana that thing holds; it'll be too much!'
The curtains to Mirai's dorm flowed calmy with the gentle breeze, the moonlight seeping through the windows, illuminating the two boys.
'You don't know that!' Mirai shouted back, his voice getting a bit defensive. 'Besides, I can just take what I need and-'
'That's not how it works!' Kurai interrupted, 'It'll leak everything into you once it's opened; it can't be closed until you die!'
Tears lightly streamed down the face of Kurai, the first time he ever cried in front of anyone, but Mirai was blind to it. He gritted his teeth in rage and frustration, only focused on his goals and dreams, ignoring everything else.
'You know what, I don't care,' He said in the heat of the moment, lying through his teeth, but his rage took over him. He held back tears himself, not for Kurai, but for himself. 'Just leave; I want some time alone.'
Kurai nodded, leaving before stopping at the door, squeezing the frame.
'Please consider what I said, though it's fine if you won't, but-'
Mirai looked up at the door, his mouth slightly agape to what Kurai might say, his eyes giving way to the tears that took over.
'If you go down this path, you're on your own, and I'll just be watching from a distance as you rot and die,' He muttered, clearly overwhelmed with emotions himself, though it doesn't show as much. He lets go of the frame and made his leave.
Mirai gritted his teeth in rage, throwing a fit about what he said internally as his brain nagged him about the past.
'Just remember, whatever you do, do it with your own power.' his father's words leaked into his head, the same message coming across as his friend earlier.
'Shut up!'
'I know you're going to make me proud.'
His eyes widened, the agony he felt internally, his brain felt like it's about to burst, his mouth wide open as he screamed silent screams.
'Dad!'
---
'Can't we take a break? We've been at this all day,' A young Mirai whined as he plucked berries with his father by the ravine, huge baskets on their backs filled to the brim with them.
The sun shining high in the sky making the surrounding waters sparkle with a shine of purity and beauty. The grass flowing by their sides as the wind plucks strands from the earth sending them into the wind.
'Well, I guess we've been at it for a while huh?' He laughed, 'Sure, we'll take a break.'
They put their baskets aside, sitting on a rock near them, basking in the light rays of the sun.
'Dad?' Mirai muttered, trying to get his father's attention.
His father hummed, showing that he heard him, urging him to continue his question.
'What are these berries even for? We've been plucking them ever since we got to the privileged side of Prospera, and they aren't even that much,' He looked at the limited amount left for them to pick, their hands at the mercy of nature for the lives of these plants.
'Oh, you mean the yakubu berries? Well, we pick them because I sell them to keep up with our deadline for staying on the privileged side of Prospera; their prices are quite steep, haha.' His father laughed lightly at the situation, his hands up to his face to stifle it but he failed miserably.
'Then let's go back!' Mirai shouted, his face determined with a hint of sadness, 'If it's too much for you, we have to go back to the other side!'
His father smiled, petting the head of his son,
'Sorry, kiddo, but if I do that, you can't join the academy now, can you?'
Mirai froze at his father's words; he does have a point, but seeing his father work like this surely puts a weight on the little heart he carried with him.
His father, realizing this, sighed, thinking of what to say that could possibly cheer him up.
'Listen, kid, if you want to make it all up to me,'
'I do!' Mirai interrupted him mid-sentence.
'Well then, follow your dreams, become a ruin hunter like you always said you would,'
'Don't take any shortcuts; there's no success that way, haha.'
Shut up...