Reflection In The Mirror 2 Acceptance

  His very pregnant sister in law who is probably experiencing morning sickness. 

   The thought made him pause as he stopped and stared at the door of the guest room blankly. His sister was pregnant. She was pregnant with his brother's child… his brother who switched places with him so Hide wouldn't have to go to prison. 

 Without another word, Hide stood up and grabbed his jacket then ran out of the room and out of the house without saying anything, unable to stand in the apartment any longer. 

 He ran… 

ran… 

  And ran as fast as he could, his freshly dyed red hair whipping in the wind like a freshly spilled blood. His bandaged hand once again bled from the pressure of his clenching fists, his nails digging into his palms almost to the point of cutting into the flesh.  

   His lungs burned from breathing in the cold November air a.s.saulting him full force. 

But Hide couldn't bring himself to care, he couldn't deal with anything else now. So like a coward he is, he ran.

  From the house,from the mirror, from the demon whispering in his mind, from his failures, from the truth. He ran from many things, wishing to leave them all behind, so that they would never trouble him again. Most of all, he ran from the pain he felt. 

  He was suffocating, unable to hold it in and keep on. His muscles protested against the strain, the wounds from his last fight ached painfully. But none of those compared to what he felt inside. 

 Hide was-

   He was-

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!" 

  He screamed. 

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" 

  He screamed again and again, lump in his throat only tightening the more he yelled. He hated this, hated everything! Hide didn't want this… He never wanted this. So why did this happen!? When did everything go wrong!? 

   His legs gave out and he collapsed into the cold sands of the beach, distinctly aware of his tears blurring his vision, falling and wetting the sands under him. 

  I-It-It was-

  Sob

I-i-it was all-

 Tremble 

   'It's all is his fault' 

The demon whispered into his head-

  "That's right, everything is his fault" 

-tempting him with promises of revenge, pointing out the person who was in blame to all this.

Right, of course it wasn't Hide's fault that everything turned out this way. After all if it hadn't been for that stupid Hero nothing would have went wrong. If that utter b.a.s.t.a.r.d hadn't interfered in somewhere he didn't belong, if only that two timer hadn't chosen him over Hide. His family would still be alive, his brother wouldn't have taken his place leaving his pregnant wife behind.

That's right…. 

If that's right then why was he still feeling like this!?  Why was he still so gui-

  "Hey, you okay?" 

Hide's head snapped up and stared at the person asking him this question and felt his whole being shake with anger and thirst for revenge. In front of him, stood Roy Moonrise, the "Hero"....

  Suddenly the black haired boy laughed sheepishly, eyes darting to the side. In…  embarra.s.sment?... 

  "Yeah, I guess that's what people are calling me these days.." he trailed off nervously,scratching the back of his head. 

 "You don't like it?" 

"I- not really… Anyway, You okay?" 

 Pushing aside the demons of his mind, tempting him to finish the being in front of him right this instant, Hide stood up wobbling a little and dusted his pants. 

 "I guess… I was letting out some frustration.." he mumbled trying not to sound or look suspicious to the person that beat him. Glancing at Moonrise from the side, Hide thought for a bit as awkward silence well between them. 

  On one hand, ending the brat right where he stood would be preferable. But on the other hand, engaging in battle right now is not a good idea. He still hasn't fully recovered from the previous fight they had and he has to stay low for a while. Since even with him "imprisoned" everyone would be on high alert for at least a month.

   Deciding on his choice of action Hide turned towards Moonrise. He chose to not reveal himself for now. Don't they say 'Keep your friends close, but enemies even closer'? 

    "So what is the mighty hero doing here?"

  Hide asked, trying to keep his tone light and cheery, even though it was a little hoa.r.s.e from the screaming season he had done earlier. Black haired engineering student beside him cringed slightly. 

  "Well I heard someone yelling so I came down here to check and-" 

"-found me crying? Yeah"

 Hide laughed bitterly and dried his eyes, taking a few deep breaths to stop his hiccups. Moonrise beside him shrugged sheepishly and kicked the sand. 

   "Wanna talk about it? 

  " What!?"

 " O-Oh, umm.. Well talking always helps soo..Uhh what I meant is uhh-"

   Was this moron serious!? He wants him to talk to him about his trouble when this stupid hero was the one in the fault for all his troubles!?  Well.. Not all of them but still… He stood there staring incredulously at Roy Moonrise causing the Hero to blush so red that he just snapped up. 

  "Aghh!! JUST TALK TO ME IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT OKAY!?" 

"...." 

"...." (-///-) 

  "Pfft-"

"H-Hey, wh" 

"Haha...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

  "W-why are you laughing!?" 

  "Oh G.o.d, oh G.o.d-pfft hahah you're so.. Hah hah-- naive… Pfft hahaha…" 

  "Oh stop it!! Don't laugh!!" 

 "I can't- I can't… Hahaha" 

  This kid is so naive! How the h.e.l.l did someone like Hide even lose to him!? Oh G.o.d, his sides hurt! Taking deep breaths and trying not to laugh Hide finally stopped laughing and wiped away the stray tear that he shed. When he finally looked up after calming down, the so called hero was pouting, his cheeks tainted pink from what probably was embarra.s.sment. 

  "You're a strange fellow… One minute you were crying, then in the next minute you were laughing at me without any care in the world." 

  Even though he said that, the glimmer in his eyes was enough for Hide to tell that he was glad. That he was glad that Hide was not crying anymore, even if it was by laughing at his expense, and for the first time since his defeat Hide was stunned into silence. 

   'Ah.. He wore his emotions in his sleeves' 

He thought as he felt a small smile tug into his lip and turn into a full fledged grin. There was a slight tug in his heart with a sad edge but Hide pushed it down. 'Not now.. Just, not now.'

   He opened his mouth to talk when another familiar voice interrupted him. And Hide felt his whole mood darken once again and he frowned as Roy Moonrise turned and hugged the owner of the voice. 

  'So the two timer haven't dumped the guy yet it seems'

  He wanted to tear this b*tch into a mess and feed her remains to the monsters of the pit. But it wasn't the time now was it? He schooled his features and masked his irritation behind a polite smile as the Hero turned to introduce him to the bint. 

   "Ah, Liliana meet umm.." 

"Danial William Black. Call me Daniel" 

"Right, Liliana meet Daniel. Daniel this is my girlfriend Liliana Coldwell" 

 "Nice to meet you Daniel" 

 She had the gall to offer him a handshake. Which he gracefully ignored and gave a tight smile and a nod in return. He then turned to the boy between them. 

  "You're better off dumping her… she'll break your heart soon enough" 

 "Hey! What the fu-" 

 But Hide was already walking away, leaving them behind aware of the shouting hero and the calculating look in the betrayer's eyes as she held back her current toy.  

    Yes they can play the game. More the merrier, better the taste of victory would be. 

. 

. 

. 

  On his way back to the apartment, Hide made a few small stops before continuing on his way. 

     When he got back, he placed the shopping bags on the kitchen counter and tentatively smiled at his haggard looking, worried sister in law. 

  "I got you a gift, the pharmacist said they're good for the baby and would reduce morning sickness…" 

 He quietly murmured and handed them to her, who stared at him as she accepted the apology and threw herself at him, sobbing into his shoulders. 

  They only had each other now. But Hide will change that, he promises to change that! To bring back his brother. 

   Comforting his still crying sister, Hide allowed himself to relax. Not fully but right now, there was nothing to be wary of. And Hide can live with this. 

   Yes, he can live like this. Just his brother, Eliza, Hide and the baby, Hide's nephew. There is nothing he won't do to make that happen. 

  Now it's just matter of time and-

      -his stomach grumbled, small laugh

escaping from between his lips as Eliza giggled and pulled away from the hug to prepare some food. 

   'I promise, I will bring my brother back. Even if I have to die for it.'