Scorned

A Memory Never Forgotten

They arrived at the bus stop and ran into the third person who made up their group, Olwin, they quietest and most trusted with secrets. The boy waved at them and moved to stand over by them. Deeke bounded over and gave him a hug, "Hey Ol where did you go yesterday? I was waiting for you by the library so we could study together." The small boy looked very uncomfortable as Astrae walked up, "Hey Olwin how you doing?" Olwin pushed up his glasses and shifted, "I was busy helping Mari with her homework. You know how much attention she needs." They both rolled their eyes at him, "Oh yes she needs so much attention." Astrae placed a hand on his forehead and pretended to faint, "Oh Olwin please help me with such, hard work~!" Deeke began to laugh and imitate him to an even worse extent, "Oh Olwin please help me~! I'm your fiancé and I know that you truly love me~" Olwin turned a bright red and started twiddling his thumbs, "G-guys b-be quiet! W-we a-aren't supposed to t-talk about it y-yet!" They both sighed, "He's too correct for us."

When the bus finally arrived, the three of them hopped on and claimed an aisle to sit in, talking about things they had done on break. For the next hour they talked, while Olwin sat and stared at the ring on his hand. It was a small thing but to him it meant the world, most people never found their match. Some were sent to fight various wars, others had died or been born in the wrong timeline. Seeing a perfect match was nearly impossible, people had taken it upon themselves to create forced matches. Some went as far as destroying matches, using some chemical to erase the bond between the pair. "Hey... Did you guys see then news yesterday? There was another attack... This time two Matched went missing. An elderly couple I think..." His two friends swiveled around to face him, "Again? This has been the seventh attack in a month?" Deeke pressed her nails into the palm of her hand and turned pale. Astrae looked mostly indifferent but vaguely interested, "Who needs a match anyway? You spend most of your life looking for a person who might be dead for all you know or care for that matt-" "Astrae shut it!" Olwin gave him a harsh look which shut Astrae up immediately. He looked over at Deeke who had turned paler in the previous moments. Unfortunately for her, Deeke's match had been sent to fight, dying in the process and left her waiting for him to come and find her again. They only thing she ever had from him was the tarnished charm bracelet around her wrist, which was slowly becoming crowded with the amount of things that had appeared on it. Everyone was given an item at birth that was supposed to lead them to their perfect match but even this was imperfect. Most people's matches had died before they had been born or they died before their match had been born. Some even had no match to look forward to, those whose item was cracked or even much worse shattered. Having a broken item meant that you would never receive a match and be placed somewhere to "recover" and live out the rest of your life. Nobody knew what happened to these people, most just hoped that it never happened to them. Once when Astrae was little he had seen someone in his neighborhood collapse from the strain of their future match being shattered, it was the most awful thing he had ever witnessed. He turned away from his friends and looked out the window, trying to remember what had happened to the child.

"Hurry up and throw it already! You're so slow Astrae!" A small boy yelled from across an empty field. He had short blond hair and was wearing a yellow shirt with stars on it. "I'm coming Ryoji! You run too fast and I can't keep up my legs are shorter! "Astrae laughed and began to throw the ball when suddenly Ryoji froze and looked down at his pocket, "R-ren..." He started to scream and drop to the floor, writhing in agony yelling out his match's name. Then as quick as it came, he just stopped... Everything stopped. Astrae dropped the ball and rushed over to him, trying to pick up his friends body while also panicking, and began to drag him back to the neighborhood. Ryoji was rushed to the hospital where it was revealed that his item had been shattered. His match was dead and wouldn't ever come back. *Insert fricking Waterfall here*

Astrae shot out of his chair when he felt someone touch his arm, "Hey come on you're going to be late." Deeke and Olwin were sitting on the seat beside him, "Was it the dream again?" He nodded and they both looked worried, "Ah how many times do you see it? Oh come on let's go!" Deeke stood up and ran out of the bus, Olwin and Astrae followed suit.