1527 Progressing Lives
What unfolded that day would go on to beco one of Rui's most cherished mories. His mother welcod him back without even the slightest hint of hesitation despite all he had done. The rest of the orphanage soon beca alerted to his presence, erupting with joy.
"RUUUIII!" Alice leaped at him as she hugged him. "You're actually back!"
"Took you long enough," Farion grumbled.
"He probably saw so aweso Martial Art technique and forgot to co back ho," Horatio laughed.
"He has always been fascinated with Martial Art," Mika admitted. "I still recall how he made us help him train on that frozen lake when he was a kid preparing to get into the academy. He didn't let us go back ho even if there was a storm coming!"
The adults sward Rui one after the other as they lightened the air with humor, at Rui's expense, of course. Not that Rui minded, after all that he had put them through, he would be shaless if he didn't quietly take at least this much.
However, it wasn't just the adults who were cooed over him. The kids were excited to have their older brother.
Naturally, they had beco unrecognizable in the many years that he had been apart.
"Finally back ho, eh big brother?"
"We're going to have you train us in Martial Art once more!"
"You've grown so tall!" Rui marveled at the sharp contrast between the kids he was familiar with and the adolescents and young adults that he was beholding right now.
Yet among them, two of them in particular caught his eye.
"Max...Mana..." He murmured. "You've beco Martial Squires!"
"Hah, of course, we did!"
He quickly studied their Martial Bodies, he was relatively certain that they had made use of his Hungry Pain technique, at the mont, the threat level that he perceived from them put them about a low-grade Martial Squire, approaching mid-grade.
Which was pretty decent progress considering how young they were. He had no intention of holding them to his own pacing which was undoubtedly the fastest ever in the history of Martial Art.
"We'll definitely have to spar later on, I'm curious to see how much progress you've made," Rui remarked.
"Can we spar now?" Max asked, excited.
"I wish to show you how much I've grown since then, big brother," Mana impatiently declared.
"You haven't finished your als yet," Lashara firmly refused. "Aw man!".
Rui glanced over, scanning the crowd that had ford. "Where's Julian?"
"He's in Hajin, at the institute. He's beco quite busy ever since he beca the deputy director of the Martial Art departnt in the Ministry of Research and Developnt," Lashara smiled, proud. Rui's eyebrows rose. To beco the deputy director of a research departnt within the Ministry at his age was an incredible accomplishnt that was usually reserved for the eldest scholars and researchers with more than a century of experience in their field.
Of course, he wasn't surprised. Julian had always been extraordinarily bright even as a kid. He had begun reading at the age of two, around the sa as Rui. Unlike Rui, however, he wasn't cheating by being an adult as a baby. He was a genuine prodigy, and Rui was glad that he had made the most out of his talents.
"I'll have to speak with him when he cos back, I suppose," Rui smiled, looking forward to the eting.
He paused for a mont as he ran into Senior Xanarn.
"You kept your word," Rui smiled. "I appreciate that."
"No need to thank , Rui. I was just fulfilling my debt," She emphasized, before smiling. "It appears that you have finally accomplished what you set out to. I always knew you would."
Her words were kind, but he sensed so distance between them.
Then again, four years had passed just after they had affird their feelings for each other. Besides, he too knew that there were difficult hurdles that stood in the way of a relationship with each other.
"Yeah, but I would be much less at ease if not for the fact that I knew that you were protecting my family," Rui sighed. "Not to ntion, telling them the truth."bender
Eventually, people broke out of their reverie of amazent and fascination, returning to their own devices. As much as Rui was loved, the day needed to move on, and many of them had responsibilities to tend to.
Over the many years, many of the young adults and caretakers had gotten married together and started families. Rui had noticed many small houses around in the vicinity when he arrived, putting two and two together.
"We got married seven years ago," Alice smiled as she pulled Farion in. "Ultimately, we decided to settle down very close to the Orphanage. That way it would be as though we never left the Orphanage while still having our own ho!"
Rui smiled, hurting that he had missed that. He had known her his entire life and ultimately missed one of the most important days of her life.
"It worked out really well when we did it, and everybody from the Orphanage who got married did the sa thing, and now we ford a small community," She laughed cheerily.
"That's quite amazing, it's like a big family stretched out over the entire area," Rui noted.
The orphanage was much larger than when he was born, thanks to the wealth that Rui and Julian had earned. However, it still had a limited capacity, so it was better for adults to move out but set up a ho very nearby, especially if they had a family.
"And this is..." Rui's attention turned to a small girl who had arrived at Alice's side.
"This is our daughter, Ruina," Alice smiled. "I decided to na her after you, you see."
"Alice..." Rui's eyes widened as he felt himself growing emotional again. "...I don't know what to say."
"You know, I had been afraid for many years that you had forgotten about us and had moved on with your life after becoming an important Martial Artist. I thought that I was happy for you, and hoped you were happy." Alice smiled bittersweetly. "But now that you've co back...I'm so happy you haven't forgotten us."
"I'd never forget you, Alice. I've spent the past eight years thinking about all of you. No matter how many years, decades, or even centuries pass, I couldn't forget," Rui declared, not just to her, but also to himself.
User Comments
0 comments from readers