Pulling open the window of the second floor hallway, I carefully stepped out onto the ledge before reaching out and griping the edge of the rooftop. Taking a moment to insure I had a secure hold, I hoisted my up and over onto the roof. Making sure I made plenty of noise as I did so, so that she may hear me coming.
Treading lightly, I climbed up to the peak of the roof, watching were I set my foot down so I did not damage the any of the tiles.
Once I reached the ridge, I took a moment to make sure my footing was secure as I wouldn't want lose my balance and fall tumbling down no matter how unlikely that was to harm me, before I turned to around to face her.
She was squatting down at the end of the ridge, resting her arms on her knees as she stared out at the sunrise. She didn't bother to turn to face me, so all I could see was her back as she stared out onto the horizon.
I waited, there was no need of me to say anything, and sometimes just being there is enough. I had been hoping she'd come, waiting for it actually. That's how I was able to sense her the moment she arrived.
How she simply waited here, as if she knew I would be coming after her. She was right, I was willing to go much farther than this if it meant helping her.
It was not for Kokabiel's sake alone that I revealed Excalibur. There was one other person I needed to save that day.
The wind pulled on my hair as I watched over her. She was dressed in that same school uniform that she wore for the fight, though undamaged somehow. Her white hair drifted behind her on the steady breeze.
"Once there were two sisters." She began, speaking in her usual monotone voice, her eyes never leaving the sun. "They were as different as can be. One as black as the night, the other as white as snow. Yet despite their differences they loved each other, more than anything else in the world.
"Though they were poor, they were happy. In this world full of treasures, the only treasure either of them ever wanted was each other. And that was how they always wanted it to be. Even if they had no gold, even if there was never enough food, so long as the two had each other they were happy.
"That is why they promised to never leave one another, that no matter what life threw at them, they would always be together.
"But one day things began to change. The big sister found a job. Now the two sisters finally had a house to live in. They no longer had to steal or beg for food, they could buy their own. They had more food, better clothing and a nice warm place to sleep.
"But they were not necessarily happier.
"The big sister had to spend a lot of time working, and had less time to spend with the younger one. And whenever she returned from work, she was always very tired and couldn't play with the little sister as much as the younger one wanted to.
"But still, even though she was busier now, they were still happy. For at least they always had each other.
"Until they did not.
"One day the younger sister woke to find her elder gone. She kept asking everyone 'where was she, where was she', but no one answered her. Even after she was taken away, imprisoned all she could ask 'where are you? Where did you go?', and still no one answered her.
"But as time passed, the amount of times she would ask would drop, until one day she stopped asking all together. By then they didn't need to answer her. She had begun to realize the truth.
"That her beloved sister had abandoned her.
"'Why', that's what she kept asking herself during those hellish days. 'Why?' Did she get tired of looking after her? Did she get sick of working so hard for the two of them when she didn't have to? Did she… did she no longer love her? But in the end it did not matter why, for she understood…
"That for all their promises, for all the times they've been there for each other, the older sister left her younger one without so much as a goodbye.
"And now for the first time since the day she was born, the little sister was alone in the world-"
Her voice hitched towards the end, breaking, leaving her unable to finish speaking.
Silence returned again, this time broken up occasional sniffling. I didn't say anything, didn't ask if she was alright when she so clearly wasn't. I just stood there, simply waited there for her. That was all I could do.
When she began to speaking her voice was no longer the emotionless monotone that she usually spoke in. It was faint, but for the first time I could hear true emotion held in it.
"For a…for a very long time I thought my sister had stopped loving me." She turned her eyes up to the sky, "But there is no way that can be true, can it? After all," she raised a hand up to the sky, fingers stretch out as if could touch it. "Look. The sun, it's still there isn't it? It hasn't burn out. And the stars still shine at night, they haven't gone away. Then …
"There is no way that can be true,
"For as long as they burn she will always love me. Until the day they extinguish she will continue to do so and forever after, outlasting the sun and stars themselves."
From beneath her skirt a long white tail appeared, along with a matching pair of white colored cat ears on her head. When she turned around, the face I saw was filled with neither courage nor determination. It was broken hearted thing, filled with soul-searing pain and sadness. Yet still,
Still,
She carried on.
Despite her fears, in spite of her pain, she called out her name loud and clear.
If that was not courage, I did not know what is.
"My name is Shirone." Her eyes shone with unshed tears and her bangs continued to drift in the air in front of her, pulled by the wind. "It means 'white sound' and it… and it was the first gift my sister had ever given me. The first gift anyone had ever given me."
And despite how sad she looked I could not help but feel a glimmer of joy. At long last, her walls were beginning to tumble down and finally she has stopped hiding. She was allowing herself to feel again.
"I am Shirone, the little sister of the black cat Kuroka. And… and… "One of her ears was weakly raised while the other laid half way down to her head as she spoke, but now they both fell flat against her head as she continued, ".…and I miss her. So so very much.
Despite everything she's done she's still my sister and I love her so. With every beat of my heart."
Tears fell freely down form her eyes now, not even trying to hold them back any longer. She looked back at the horizon again, and for a while no one said anything the silence only broken by the sound of the wind, until she decided to speak up again.
"Neh- Shirou. The sun and the stars, they're still shining. They haven't extinguished yet, have they?" She asked, so quietly that I could barely hear her. "So that means that she still loves me…right?"
I turned to look towards the horizon. "Yeah," I nodded, "they're still shining."
"…that's good."
And so the hurt, lonely kitten finally gathers up its courage and leaves its box to face the world.
...
Sometimes, there are no villains to fight.
No monsters to kill.
Sometimes the thing that's hurting you comes from inside of you.
Sometime the monster only lives in you.
It shone in the darkness, as if it were a splinter of light.
Steel-greys eyes examined the blade carefully. He held it high before him, slowly spinning it left then right in his left hand, as his eyes trailed over inch of the sword. Looking for flaws or imperfection that simply wasn't there.
"A sword of light." No one was there in the woods with him but if there were, they would have heard the shocked disbelief that filled it.
From his soul which could only forge tainted swords, where he was sure that nothing else could be born, for the first time it forged a sword crafted from the purest of lights. Untainted, unspoiled, it was sword as clean as rays of a morning sun.
"It was that simple." He lowered the sword while he stared blankly at the trees ahead, lost in his own thoughts. "It was always there, this power was always there." He looked down at his empty right hand. "I always could have done this."
He continued to stare down at his empty hand for a time, before he raised his head and clenched his hand into a fist. He held the sword up before him, and after taking a moment to examine the blade one final time, he flipped it before thrusting the sword down, deep into the ground before him.
Releasing the hilt, he took a step back and examined his work. The sword was planted tip first, like a grave stone protruding from the earth, shining so brightly it was if it stood beneath the light of the sun rather than in a dark clearing within the Kuoh Academy's woods.
Crossing his legs he dropped to the ground and sat before the sword. He stared at it, not moving, not sure what to do before he ran a hand through his hair and looked away. After a moment he let lose a sigh and turned back to face the sword.
"Well guys, I've decided." He spoke to the sword as if it were a living thing. "I'm…I'm going to try living for once. I'm not quite sure how to go about it but…but…I'm willing to give it a shot." He took a deep breath and shut his eyes before carrying on.
"I'll probably…no, I'll definitely not be very good at it and I'm sure I'll make an utter mess of it." His eyes drifted open and gave himself a determined nod. "But I'm going try."
He raised himself to his feet and dusted his pants before turning around and walking away, towards the exit of the clearing. Just as he was about to set foot outside of the clearing's boundary and onto the road that will lead him out of the woods, he hesitated.
Pausing, he turned his head and looked back at the sword that still shone in the dark. The only light in a place filled with shadows.
"Goodbye."
Then he strode out and this time, he didn't look back.
...
Hey guys I really need you to throw some power Stones ;)
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