Purity Online - The World For The Fallens
Day 63: Accepting Destiny (Part 19)
Yuukaru returned to the real world, where Ryugai and himself were turning their heads to look at the stars twinkling in the dark blue sky. The half moon that was at the top of the sky began to move westward, ready to set.
"Hey." Ryugai opened the conversation after a few minutes filled with silence and the sound of night bugs passed. "Do you think the action you're doing is right?"
"Eh?" The smile on Yuukaru's face faded away. He turned his head towards Ryugai who then also turned his gaze away from the starry sky. "You mean?"
"Do you think that by escaping reality, you can have eternal happiness?"
"Of course," Yuukaru said. "By running away from reality, we can get the happiness we should get."
"You're wrong." Ryugai looked at Yuukaru with a serious look.
"Eh?"
"Flying from reality for a moment is necessary, but you have to go back to reality. We all have our own homes, and our homes are not here. It's an ideal place to get happiness, but not a place to go home."
"You forgot? You have a family too. Your faithful family is waiting for you at home. The place where there are people waiting for you to come home, that's the place that deserves to be a home. After all, aren't we all here because we want to turn the world into a better place? If we don't go back to the real world, then who will make that world? The valuable life lessons we get here will end up in vain.”
“How? You want to stay here forever and ignore your body in the real world? You want to make your real-world family worried and sad?"
"Th-That's ...."
Yuukaru downed his own spit. He was out of words. Ryugai's words were right. This virtual world is an ideal place to feel happiness, but not a place to go home. He had to return to his home in the real world. He didn't want to worry his family.
Yep. Ryugai's words had defeated his selfishness as well as stirred up a fighting spirit within him. He can't run away from the real world forever. He had to go back to fighting and not just hide like a turtle.
"Hey ...." Yuukaru's mouth that had been clenched began to open again. "If I go home now ..., do you think they'll take me back? I've run away from them."
Flashes from the past began to project in Yuukaru's mind. A flash of it when he was a toddler. On that day, he was preoccupied with playing with his friend so that he forgot the time and did not realize that the sun had set. Finally, he returned home at seven in the evening in secret for fear of being scolded by his parents. He did not dare to open the door and enter the house, only being able to hide behind a wall by the window with a body that was trembling in fear. However, finally caught also by his mother who went out of the house a few minutes after he came to dispose of the garbage.
"Oh, you're finally home too, Yuukaru." Unexpectedly, instead of being angry, it was precisely the Mother smiling gently. "Come in. Dinner is ready at the table. It's cold, you know."
"Mother ...." Fearfully, Yuukaru stepped out of her hiding place. "Mom not angry?"
"For what? You're home now, so why are you mad?" The mother stroked her little princess' golden hair gently. "If you apologize and promise not to repeat it again, no problem."
"But .... I'm a bad boy ...." Yuukaru lowered his head.
"Mother is your parents, and this is your home. So, I'll always leave this door open, because I know you're coming home. As a family, your mother and father will always take you back. Now, let's go in. The food will be cold."
Hearing his mother's loving words, little Yuukaru's fear disappears. He raised his head and smiled cheerfully."Yep!!"
A smile began to be painted on Yuukaru's lips. He got up and turned his body which was engulfed in the moonlight facing towards Ryugai. The night wind made her golden hair slightly flutter. “I've decided. I'll stop running from reality. I'll go back to fighting. I don't want to hide forever like a coward.”
“I ... will return to the real world!!”
To be continued
Next Chapter:
Day 63: Love Letter (Part 20)