The Tale of a Century \\ SoraMafu

>> Thirty Two <<

Once upon a time, there was a baby born in a little house on the outskirts of town. This baby, however, was born an angel and shunned for it. Even her own mother payed her no heed. The country had been corrupted centuries before, learning to detest what was pure and innocent.

Not long after birth, she was abandoned in the country side. Luckily, a passing merchant found the little angel in a basket along the dirt path. She was sleeping peacefully, unbeknownst to what had happened.

The kind-hearted merchant took the girl in and raised her as his own daughter. He did not care that she was an angel.

As she grew up, she knew that the merchant was not her biological parent, but she did not know where her real parents were. She kept this to herself as to not worry the old merchant. They lived in a small cottage near a vast forest land, and after a little exploring of the area, she found a nice grove with a thin brook. From then on, whenever she had time, she would spend time there. She believed it was her secret place until one day.

That one day, when the tall trees and bushes gave way to the clearing, she was not alone. There, sitting on a log near the brook, was a boy with dark hair. He turned around when he heard the girl approaching and hopped down from his place on the log.

"Hello, do you live around here?" he asked.

"Yes."

He stared at her, making her squirm a bit. "You have pretty wings," he smiled.

The two spent the rest of the day playing together, but the boy did not reveal much about himself. When the end of the day came, she did not even know his name.

After that one day, she never saw him again...

Mafu closed the book and set it down on the couch next to him. He brought his knees up to his chest and sighed. Soraru had ordered him not to enter his room because he would be busy and didn't want to be interrupted, so Mafu was stuck downstairs. The reaction Soraru had to the book also surprised him. Was there something wrong with it? It didn't seem like there was anything wrong with the story.

He stood up, grabbing the book, and made his way upstairs. Mafu knocked on Soraru's door three times before he entered, and caught the dark haired boy quickly slipping a piece of paper into his drawer. Soraru turned around, pushing the drawer inward. He didn't close it completely. He said to Mafu, "I told you not to come in here."

"Sorry," Mafu apologized. "I was getting a little lonely..."

He walked closer to Soraru, and quickly peeked at the drawer.

He was going to have to check that later.