Not so Happily Ever After.. ♪ PJSK AU

8- You're looking for me, aren't you~?

🎈⭐

Tsukasa couldn't sleep that night, only he saw them. He didn't tell anyone, not that they'd believe him, he would be talking about Rui. 

The sorcerer.

Nobody has seen Rui in years. Nobody has even heard of the name Rui in years. Not after his disappearance, lots of people thought he had died, some thought he went to find another village to live in, or maybe he was always here but just hiding in the shadows. He could do magic after all, he always could've used some sort of spell to hide himself. 

Tsukasa looked at Saki who was sleeping, since the castle collapsed they couldn't sleep in their rooms, they found a little shed in the garden, Honami and Shizuku cleaned it up and Toya found some cushions to let the royal siblings sleep for the night while everyone else tried to figure out what to do. They would come to Tsukasa in the morning with their suggestions. Tsukasa thought about his parents, they were out of the village for a little, how would they react once they've come back? Thoughts flooded his head, from the castle, to his parents, to Saki, to Ichika, to— 

. . .

Rui.

Tsukasa began to lose his mind, he saw Rui! Rui Kamishiro! The sorcerer! The guy nobody has seen in years! Yet he was with Ichika. 

Tsukasa couldn't take it, he got up, peeking out of the shed door. The guards and maids were talking to each other, luckily not near the shed. He took a candle that was in the shed and a lighter, he lit the candle and snuck from the shed to the forest. He didn't know how far he'd have to go to find something, calling out for Rui or Ichika wouldn't be the best option because maybe someone would hear him. He just hoped that he'd eventually find something or someone. It might end up being a bad choice, why did he go along with this. 

"You're looking for me, aren't you~?"

Tsukasa froze, no doubt that was Rui's voice. 

"Fufu~ you know it's not safe for a prince to be wandering the woods alone at night, especially if no one is aware of where you went. There could be monsters out here or even worse... There could be—

Sorcerers."

Rui laughed, Tsukasa looked around to see nothing. "Rui," Tsukasa called, "Can't you at least reveal where you are so we can talk normally?" 

"Oh? But, then it wouldn't be fun. I haven't played with Tsukasa-kun in years, at least make the reunion fun."

"I'm not here to play!"

"But I love playing."

"Rui!"

"Tsukasa-kun"

Tsukasa sighed, a little annoyed, it was Rui after all, Tsukasa didn't expect him to change. Yet Tsukasa was happy that he didn't change, after everything that had happened years ago, Rui remained playful and unserious. 

Tsukasa wouldn't be able to survive an angry Rui.

"Rui, I want to ask you questions."

"Oya? Tsukasa-kun wants to ask me questions? Well then," A bright flash of purple appeared before Tsukasa, making him squint, it disappeared and Tsukasa saw the sorcerer, 

"Go ahead, Your Royal Highness." 

"W-where's Ichika and what relation do you have with her..!?"

"Ah.. For some reason I didn't expect you to ask about Hoshino, but it makes sense that you would. She's at her house, sleeping. Although I don't understand why I need to answer that second question."

"I just want to know."

"Hmmm.. That is not a valid reason, next question."

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Why would I?"

"...just please."

"You seem so desperate to know, yet you don't have a good reason to. You make me laugh, Tsukasa-kun."

"Where have you been all these years..?"

"Taking care of Mafuyu, helping Ichika, hiding from the village that despised me, I did think about checking in on Tsukasa-kun but he'd probably scream loud enough anyone could hear."

Tsukasa felt guilt at the mention of the village hating Rui, magic isn't a very popular thing. Rui was a rare sight because he knew magic, but that doesn't mean he was liked. He didn't use magic for the wrong reasons, in fact he tried to help others with it, that's why they tolerated him in the village for a while. 

Mafuyu's parents had gotten really sick and passed, she had nobody, not until she met Rui. Rui's mother took care of Mafuyu, and Rui taught her some of his magic, but in order to learn something, you need to make mistakes.

But Mafuyu made a big mistake..

Hearing about the sorcerers, a male went to Mafuyu and begged her to use magic and heal his sister. Mafuyu went to their house and took a look at the male's sister, but she was too sick for Mafuyu. Mafuyu wasn't as good at magic as Rui at the time so Mafuyu suggested to the male to go seek for Rui, then left. The male did look for Rui but couldn't find him, but every second his sister got sicker. That same night the sister passed, and the male began to blame Mafuyu. 

"She could've healed my sister! She told me to look for someone else instead knowing that he was no where to be found, and while I was gone she must've went back to my sister and cursed her. That damn witch!" 

Witches were hanged, and soon would be Mafuyu. 

While Rui was still away, the only person Mafuyu could turn to was Rui's mother. But a mob broke into their house, brutally murdering Rui's mother and arresting Mafuyu. In the middle of the trial Rui finally returned, and it wasn't pleasant for him, he found his mother dead on the floor inside his house and outside was a crowd. In the middle of the crowd was Mafuyu on a stool with a rope around her neck, it took a singular kick to the stool she was on to kill her. Rui had to do something, while filled with various emotions such as rage, sadness, worry and disgust, he created a mess. 

Fire everywhere, pieces of houses crushed on people, sounds of screaming and crying, blood in many places, and the disappearance of the sorcerers.

Tsukasa knew the whole story, the story nobody else in the village knew. It was a horrifying sight, but Tsukasa didn't hate Rui for it, he instead hoped Rui was okay.

"Tsukasa-kunnn???" Rui looked at him as if he was examining him.

Tsukasa snapped out of his thoughts, "Huh?!"

"Sorry if I startled you, but you kinda just got silent and started looking uncomfortable.. Maybe Tsukasa-kun should go back to sleep!"

"Don't think I can with all the guards and stuff outside that shed, they'll be asking lots of questions."

"hmmmm, I have somewhere you can sleep just for tonight."

"Wh—"

Rui put his hand on Tsukasa's head, doing the sleep spell again, Tsukasa's eyes became tired as he closed them, he then fell but Rui caught him before he could hit the floor. "Night night Tsukasa-kun!"

(Sorry I haven't wrote in days.)