My short stories

Forgive, But Never Forget

Note: The story was inspired by the comment from above. Takes place a year after the events of Sibling Love, but is non-canon to the main story. Shu may be OOC.

Shu Kurenai just stared blankly at the laptop screen. To be honest, he was exhausted even though he had just had lunch.

The main reason for that was the fact that he had only gotten three hours of sleep last night and had none at all the previous night. Why? Because of the endless pile of work that he seemed to be burdened with.

Although Shu's little sister Kirika had told him to pay more attention to his health, that was easier said than done when it came to him. Besides, old habits die hard.

Just then, Kirika came into his office. In complete contrast to her brother, she was a huge ball of energy despite having just returned from school. "Shu! I have an A in my English test! Isn't that great?"

Shu smiled at his sister. "Yes sis, good job. I knew that you would do well."

Kirika beamed. She loved receiving praise from her big brother.

Just then, there was a knock on Shu's door. "Come in," said Shu.

A young woman looked in. It was Eliza Walters, Shu's secretary. "Mr Kurenai, there is a couple wanting to see you and your sister."

Shu was confused. Although he was used to people requesting meetings with him, it seemed odd that this couple wanted to see Kirika as well. Maybe the couple were parents of one of Kirika's classmates at school.

"Bring them in," said Shu. So Eliza went back outside.

Kirika looked at Shu. "Shu, who are the people wanting to see me?"

"I don't know," said Shu. "Hopefully this isn't anything serious."

Just then, there was a soft knock on the office door. "Come in," said Shu as he got up to meet the people.

The door opened... And a very familiar couple came in, making Shu gasp.

At first, Kirika was also confused. Then she noticed that the woman looked so familiar... And they shared the same features!

"Mom? Dad?" asked Shu.

Hiroaki and Masumi Kurenai were now standing in front of their children. The same children which they had not wanted and ignored as if they were pieces of trash.

"What do you want?" asked Kirika at last. She had grown up believing that her parents never visited because they were busy. But on her tenth birthday, she learned the truth - her parents hated her and never wanted her.

The Kurenai parents looked at each other. Then at last, Masumi spoke.

"Children..." She paused for a while. She had never referred to her kids as her children before. "We are... We are very sorry."

"Sorry?" asked Shu. "After all these years of hurt and neglect?"

"We know that you are angry," said Hiroaki. "And you have every right to be. But now we realize that what we did was unfair to you two. We apologize for treating you the way we did."

Shu stared at his parents. A part of him felt like the four-year-old boy who had yearned for his parents' love. Another part of him felt like Red Eye again, too full of rage to properly figure out what he was feeling.

Kirika was silent. She haven't really experienced the worst of her parents' neglect, having been isolated from them her whole life. She had never felt neglected as she had her brother and all her friends at the Raging Bulls. But she had no affection towards her parents, who were complete strangers to her.

"That's it?" asked Shu. "After all the pain you had caused me, all you can say is sorry? I loved you, I really did. But you never returned that love. You were never there for me if I was sad or sick. Then you heartlessly left Kirika at the hospital and I had to raise her myself."

The Kurenai parents were silent. "We get it," said Masumi. "We don't expect forgiveness, but we just wanted to let you know how we feel now. We will leave..."

"Wait, I'm not finished yet," said Shu coldly. "I want to hate you, but I can't. Because I feel really bad when I hate. I once let hate destroy me, and I refuse to make the same mistake twice."

The Kurenai parents had no idea what Shu was talking about, but Kirika did. She knew all about Shu's famous rivalry with Lui Shirosagi and the Red Eye incident. That was what Shu was talking about.

"In fact, I feel sorry for you. At least I had my friends by my side when I needed them. You spent so much time hating me and Kirika that there was no room for love. You will never find happiness if you waste your time hating.

"I did something terrible once, which I won't tell you, but you would know all about it if you had actually paid attention to me. All my friends forgave me although I have hurt them. So it's only fair that I forgive you too. But I won't be letting you into my life or Kirika's. It's too late now. I hope that you find peace someday."

The atmosphere was so tense that you could cut it with a knife. Then Shu said, "You two can go now. I don't want to see your faces."

Without another word, the Kurenai parents went out of the office. Kirika looked at Shu. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," said Shu. Then he sat down on a sofa. "I'm just so tired all of a sudden."

Kirika looked at the dark shadows under Shu's eyes. "You look really tired," she said. "You should take a nap. I don't want you to faint in the middle of a meeting."

"Okay," said Shu, who was honestly too drained to even think. He just laid down on the sofa and fell asleep immediately.

Kirika sighed. She had been surprised that Shu had forgiven their parents at all. But that didn't mean that he was going to forget all the pain they had caused him over the years. Kirika was grateful that she hardly knew them at all.