The Kurukawa Legacy

The Start Of A Great Bond

Atreyu was waiting for her to scold him and regret ever speaking with him, but she remained silent.

"I never knew..." she said softly.

"I'll just... leave." Atreyu stood up and wiped the tears from his eyes before starting to walk down the corridor once more. After a few steps, he heard her voice call out to him.

"Wait!" she exclaimed. She walked up to Atreyu and placed her hand on his shoulder, as he was still staring away from her.

"Do you want to... go eat someplace? Or we could go to the theaters. Anywhere that you could unload some stress." Atreyu turned around, a little shocked.

"Actually... I'm stripped of the privilege to go to any public place outside of school." he managed a faint smile.

"We could just go to my house, then." she also started smiling.

"Actually, I can't leave school premises, either." he chuckled faintly.

"...I'm basically a slave." he continued and his smile fainted away.

"Sneak out, then." she replied.

Atreyu scoffed. "Walls surround this school, and the only exit is the gate."

She thought deeply. "Let's go the the cafeteria, then." she suggested.

"Kaitlin, you can't. If people see you with me, they'll think negatively of you, as well. I'm just not worth that trouble."

Their eyes connected and she gazed at him deeply.

"Since I transferred here two days ago, I've never met anyone like you. Everyone else are always so serious. They work strictly and quietly, as if they're being trained to become rulers one day. They take their outside activities too seriously as well. There's no joy in them, Atreyu, that's why... we should become friends, and be joyful together." she kept looking at him.

"Does it really look like... I have any joy?" Atreyu replied.

"No, not now. However, there is something there. Atreyu. You might not have joy, but you have the hope for joy, and that's all that matters."

He stared back at her, straight into her eyes. Tears started welling up in his eyes.

"You... you read me like a book." he smiled.

"Let's just go to that cafeteria already." she giggled.

They walked through the empty corridor, towards the building's exit. They scanned their finger prints at the big door, which was a security measure the school took. Outside was a beautiful courtyard, a few kids strolling around here and there, but mostly empty. Cobblestone paths led to every direction. Kaitlin looked down on her watch.

"Look at the time," she said. "Most kids should either have gone home or are busy with the club activities, so the cafeteria will be quiet anyways." They continued down a path winding onward to the right. On the top of a small hill was a small but fancy marble building, with tables and seats on one side. They seated themselves and a waitress approached them.

"Afternoon. What could I get you two?" the waitress asked.

"I'll just have a coffee." Atreyu said.

"Same here, please." Kaitlin smiled.

"I'll be back with it," the waitress said and walked back into the building.

Kaitlin and Atreyu looked at each other.

"So," Atreyu broke the silence, "I wa-"

"What the hell?" A boy with short, black hair said as he walked towards them. He wore the white and blue school uniform with a bunch of badges on, displaying his high status.

"Girl, do you have any idea what you're doing? Your sitting with a murderer."

Atreyu just looked downwards to avoid eye contact.

Kaitlin stood up. "He's not."

"Kaitlin, you don't have t-" Atreyu got interrupted by the boy.

"Then why's my father dead?" the boy said.

"It wasn't him." Kaitlin pointed to Atreyu. "The government hunted and exterminated every family member that actually took part in the mass slaughtering. The very few that remained, those few whom did not take part in it, were just stripped of a lot of their rights and forced to work. That's why Atreyu is still alive... he didn't do anything!"

They boy glared at her. "The only reason he's still alive is because they haven't found any evidence that proves against him... not yet, anyways." He leaned down towards Atreyu. "Y'know, they still haven't found the murderer of my father, who was one of the highest ranking officers in the military. None of your family members confessed to killing him before their execution, so I have my hopes high that it's you." He sneered and leaned upright again. Atreyu froze at his words, and had an expression of fear on his face, as if he remembered something. The waitress came walking out with a tray and two coffees seated on it.

"Hello, would you like to order something as well?" she asked the boy as she placed the coffee cups on the table.

"Just came to buy a drink and go," he replied and followed the waitress into the building.

Kaitlin sighed and sat down again.

"You were saying something before getting interrupted. You wa-"

"I want to escape." Atreyu cut Kaitlin short with a whisper.

"Y-you want to escape?"

"Yes. For you and all other kids, this is a school where you become educated. For me... it's a prison where I get treated badly whilst wasting my life away. I can't go on like this anymore. The boarding school I'm forced to stay in is a horrible place to me as well." Atreyu said with a pleading expression. "Can you he-" he fell silent when he saw the boy walk out of the shop with a can of drink in his hand. Not Atreyu nor Kaitlin said anything as he walked past while glaring at them. He stopped for a brief moment and said: "My name's Jason, by the way." before taking a sip from his drink and continuing to walk down the path.

Atreyu looked back at Kaitlin. "Can you help me?" he said as desperation filled his eyes.

"Um, well..." Kaitlin hesitated.

"I could try, I guess." she said, still hesitantly.

"Kaitlin, please, all I need is your fingerprint to open that gate. Other than that, I'll sort out the security guard. Then that's it, and I'll be free."

"What will you do after that?" she had a look of worry in her eyes.

"I don't know... but I'm doomed here. It's only a matter of time."

"A matter of time until what?" she asked.

Atreyu chuckled nervously. "Until I lose my mind."

"When I was forced to this school after my parents' execution, I was in a bad state. I mean... yeah, maybe my parents were murderers, along with the rest of my family, but I still loved them. They gave me life for damn sake. This school celebrated the victory over my family so much, they showed the executions on the television screens. That's why I never really come here to the cafeteria during recess, when the television is on. I don't really go anywhere besides my room in the boarding school and the classroom due to television screens being in every second other room, because most of the time, almost every time that I see one, it's either news about my family's deaths or the victory over them, or sometimes even the live broadcasts of their executions."

Kaitlin put her hand over her mouth. "I'm so sorry, Atreyu."

"Then every time that happens, I'm forced to listen to countless students clap and cheer at the deaths of the people I loved... do you have any idea how it feels?" He said as tears were flooding his eyes.

"Kaitlin... help me escape, I'm begging you." She saw the desperation and sadness in his face. She sat silently for a few seconds before finally clenching her fist.

"I'll help you, Atreyu."