Ascension│Bluelock x male reader

4.1. The Meaning of Life

Fifteen years before the Ascension Project began, and twenty-three years before Bluelock would begin, a young boy sat in a small apartment.

His mother and father always affectionately called him their little devil, because their child, Ryu Nishida, didn't seem to be completely human. From the moment he'd been born, he'd always shown less emotion compared to other babies. They cried - he sniffled. They laughed - he smiled. They threw tantrums - he just stared up at his parents with a mildly annoyed expression.

Yet, he was still adorable. And his parents loved him all the same.

But when he learnt to read, years before any of the other kids, and when he began to pick fights with others at his school, they figured something might be seriously wrong. Then came the doctor visits. But nobody could understand why, or what was different about him.

"Ryu! I'm home!"

His dark brown eyes glanced up, towards the apartment's entrance. A middle-aged man was just taking off his shoes, hanging up his scarf and coat, and letting out a soft sigh at the warmth of the room. That was his father.

And in just a few seconds, his mother came from a side room. She immediately got busy, sorting out her husband's shoes and beckoning Ryu to come over. Ryu didn't move, holding a book a little tighter in his small hands. "Hi, dad."

Their apartment was cosy. Not too big, not too small, with enough space for the three of them to live well. It wasn't in a very nice part of the city, though. The area was safe, but dirty and unkempt, with cracked roads and faulty streetlamps. Yet it was home to them.

The man smiled warmly down at him. He headed over, scooping up Ryu in a princess carry and ignoring the little noise of annoyance. "How was school?"

"Normal." Ryu answered flatly. He pressed the book to his chest, folding small arms over it.

"What did you do at home?"

"Read."

"Want to do anything this weekend?"

"No."

"We could go to that museum you saw online. See the dinosaurs?"

"No."

"Is that book nice?"

"Yes."

Maybe any other parent would've been upset, or weirded out by the single word answers from their nine year old boy, but Ryu's parents didn't pay it any attention. It'd been like that since the start, and they had gotten used to it. "What's it about?"

Ryu reluctantly showed him the cover. His father's eyes widened a little. "The Christian Bible?" He let out a soft laugh, and shifted Ryu in his arms. "You like reading it?"

Nodding silently, Ryu returned his attention to the book. His father smiled down at him, even though the young boy couldn't see it. "Do you just like that one? Or do you want the other religious books too?"

"Other ones too." Ryu quietly said. "Thank you."

And that thank you, even said in one of the most monotone voices his parents had ever heard, even from a boy who had his head in a book, was enough to warm both of their hearts.

His father put Ryu down on the sofa. His mother beckoned him away, and the two snapped a picture before moving to the kitchen. Ryu didn't even notice the picture taken of him, lips pressed together in a half pout, half serious expression.

"How many religious books are there?" The man quietly asked.

"A lot."

"Right... do you think the library has them?"