Ruler Vol 2 Chapter 23
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Author: Anit666
In the taxi ■■■■ kept telling me about the games he had suggested me, and was even giving me tips on how I should play them. I like how passionate he is about these games, even though he never had the chance to play them.
Worry not, ■■■■! You will soon be playing them yourself!
After about 45 minutes, we reached ■■■■■■’s home. When we got off the taxi, ■■■■ asked me in a slightly bewildered tone.
“Huh? This is ■■■■■■ house, isn’t it? What are we doing here?”
“Don’t worry about that. For now, just follow me.”
He still seemed to be confused, but obediently followed me. Well, given that today is his birthday and that I have brought him here, he must have understood already what we are here for.
That’s why the real surprise is the gift. I don’t think he would expect us to get him such an expensive gift. I’m looking forward to his face when that happens.
With a warm feeling in chest, I rang the doorbell of ■■■■■■’s house. A moment later, her mother opened the door.
“You’re here! We were getting tired waiting for you. Come inside!”
“Thank you for having us.”
He spoke courteously and entered after me. Her mother led us to the drawing room. We entered first, and as soon as ■■■■ entered, ■■■■■■ and my mom who were standing by the door burst the party poppers and we all chanted in a chorus.
“““Happy Birthday!”””
And we all started clapping. ■■■■ looked dumbfounded, and started looking behind him as if checking whether there was anyone else. When he found no one there, he pointed at himself and asked in a confused tone.
“Are you talking about me?”
“Who else is there except you, duh.” (■■■■■■)
“Today is my birthday?”
He scratched his head and took out his phone. After some scrolling, he finally put it back.
“Whoa, it really is my birthday today. But how did you guys know about it?”
“We checked it in the class attendance register.”
“Uwaaah! You girls are stalkers! But……”
He went silent for a moment, as if thinking about the right words to say.
“Thank you. Really. You have my heartfelt gratitude.”
He spoke in a voice full of happiness. Everyone looked at him with warm eyes.
“But ■■■■, did you really forget about your own birthday?”
My mom asked. Yeah, did he really?
“Ah, as embarrassing as that is, I did forget. Since I live alone, never really had friends and most of all, I wasn’t interested, I never celebrated my birthday.”
His dark past is making me sad god damnit.
However, ■■■■■■’s mom stepped up and rubbed his hair.
“Aww, well, don’t worry about it. Because from now on, you’ll be celebrating all of your birthdays with us.”
“Hehe, thank you.”
He thanked her shyly.
“Anyway, let’s hurry up. It’s time to cut the cake!” (■■■■■■)
She pushed us towards the table. A white box was placed on it. She removed the box and what came out was a chocolate cake. She quickly lighted the candles on it. The candles numbered 17, ■■■■’s age.
“Now, come here and blow these candles.”
“Like this?”
He sat in front of the cake, and blew out the candles. The moment he did so, everyone started clapping and started singing the song.
“Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you dear ■■■■, Happy birthday to you!”
He seemed a bit embarrassed over it, and sheepishly cut the cake with a knife and brought it to me. I took a bite out of it, and then took the piece of the cake from him to let him take a bite.
Only then did I realise that this was an indirect kiss. W-What have I done?!
As I was getting embarrassed over it, he did the same with everyone present there. Hmph, what sinful man. Getting indirect kisses from 4 women at once!
“Now it’s time for the gifts.”
I said excitedly as I took the bag containing the PS4 and presented it to him.
“Huh? This is for me? I cannot take something that expensive!”
He got flustered and raised his hands in the air, showing that he won’t take it. As I was troubled over how to give him the gift, my mom came to my rescue.
“Now now, don’t be like that ■■■■. These girls worked very hard at their part-time jobs to raise the money for your gift.”
“But I still cannot accept it.”
He was still adamant about not accepting the gift.
“You know, refusing to accept it would mean refusing to accept their feelings, and that would make you a scummy man. And do you know what they say about scummy men?”
“W-What?” (■■■■)
He asked in a slightly terrified voice. Given how my mom was once an actress, her acting skills are nothing to scoff at. She increased the strength of her grip on his shoulder, and with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes and a cold voice, declared.
“They say that those scummy men are stabbed in the back by the mothers of the girls they have broken the heart of.”
“Hueh?”
He released a weird voice and brought his hands down in fear. This was the moment I was looking for! I swiftly pushed the bag in his hands and me and my mom stepped back.
“H-Hey!”
“La la la la I can’t hear anything.”
He looked troubled over what to do, but soon sighed.
“I should probably stop whining about my desires to you two……”
He spoke in a defeated voice as he looked at the bag in his hands, and then looked up at us.
“Thank you very much.”
He spoke with a voice full of happiness. Seeing the pure unadulterated joy that lit up his face made me feel giddy inside. These expressions and smiles that I was seeing for the first time were also making me happy.
This is perhaps the best day of my life.
This day-
This day that I wish would last forever-
“Ah?”
Is a goddamn farce.
An icy sharp wind suddenly brushed past my cheek, and my dulled senses cleared all at once.
And with the clearing of my senses, all of my memories returned with a snap.
What is this disgusting place?
The moment I became aware of it, the warm scene in front of me started crumbling. The laughs ringing in head stopped, while everyone started becoming mosaic and pixelated.
I laughed at my own stupidity for not realising this till now. I mean, I couldn’t even hear the names of the two people precious to me.
The world started falling apart like the shutdown of a 3D render. Right, this is a dream that I’m seeing right now. A dream that I have seen several times in my sleep. And a dream I have forgotten countless times.
I have seen- no, I have lived this dream numerous times before, but this is the first time I have been able to break away from it.
The world vanished, and I started falling in darkness. The next moment, I plunged into a sea and start sinking in its dark depths. I cannot see anything, and neither can I feel my cold, frozen body.
I can hear the sound of someone whimpering in this sea. It is the sound of the real me, who is crying here and waiting for me to one day pull her out of here. I am nothing but the last self defence mechanism I put up to save myself.
I have to hurry and find the real me crying at the depths of this sea and drag her back to the surface. This might be my only chance after all.
However-
“I feel I should apologise for what I’m about to do to you.”
A cold, nefarious voice resounded in the sea.
Shit! I have to hurry!
“You might see my actions as outright evil. You might even hate me.”
Hate you? As if I am capable of doing it!
“But you see, I am not the villain here. I do what I do because there is no choice.”
No choice?! Everyone has a choice!
“I can’t kill you, but I won’t have you standing in my way. Until we see each other again.”
The moment he said that, I started rising up.
No! I have to get to the bottom of this sea! I have to, or else I won’t remember anything. I will continue living my life without even knowing what I had lost, and what I gained.
But despite my struggles, I continue rising. My hold on my consciousness starts becoming weaker. And so, I lose to this darkness, again.
Ah, I see. It’s not that this is the first time I have been able to break away from that disgusting dream, it’s just that I don’t remember the previous times I escaped from it.
Which means I have lost every single time.
It must be repeated that this a dream that I have seen many times before.
The dream is vanishing, and so am I.
And once more, I forget about everything.
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