Things We Used To Share

The Cursed Songbird

"Why are my eyes blue?"

Rido looked to Hiro, who stood in the doorway. His eyes were downcast and he was deep in thought.

Rido turned around, gesturing for Hiro to come closer. Reluctantly, he did walked forward.

Standing in front of his uncle, Hiro looked into the same rusty red and sky blue they shared.

Rido's were much darker.

"I'm sure you've seen many strange things as a child. Shadows walking around, your eyes glowing, or even a shady figure at some point."

Hiro froze, eyebrows furrowing. He remembered the dreams, Kaname worrying over him, and the shadows.

Rido placed a hand on his blue eyes, a frown on his face. It was one of the few times he didn't smile or smirk. He was angry, but not at Hiro.

"It's a curse. One placed upon the Kurans a millennia ago."

Hiro froze, eyes wide.

A curse?

"The blue in our eyes signify insanity. How it happened is a mystery, but it passed down to me. And now, you."

"Insanity?" Hiro asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Rido nodded slowly. His eyes closed, his hand reaching for Hiro. He placed a hand on his cheek.

"You will crave power, blood, war. You'll be forced to do terrible things. Destruction will bring you peace."

Hiro frowned softly, thinking to himself. The hand on his cheek was cold. And it smelled of blood.

It always did.

"Is that...what happened to you, uncle?" Hiro asked him. "You weren't always like this?"

Rido smirked, moving his hand back. He didn't answer him, instead laughing.

"Are you afraid of turning into me?" Rido asked.

Hiro looked away, unable to answer. But his answer was clear. But Rido only laughed more.

"Slowly, you'll start to lose your mind. It's inevitable." Rido chuckled.

"What about a cure?"

"For a curse more than a thousand years old?"
Rido seemed fond of his naive thoughts.

Hiro grimaced. That seemed almost impossible, didn't it? But his only option couldn't be to change and become someone else.

Something else.

"It is only a matter of time."

"Did my parents know?" Hiro asked, eyebrows furrowed. "About the Curse?"

"Of course. But they were blinded by their love, which became fear once they had a daughter."

Yuki..?

"They kept you locked away with her, didn't they? In hopes you'd grow closer with her and want to protect her."

Hiro thought back to the days he was left to take care of her. How she would cry for their mother and father and Kaname, and doing what he could to keep away her loneliness.

He missed those days.

"You were old enough to be seen by the world, just as Kaname was. But they were afraid."