The final story

"I suppose I never gave you the details." He sighed and then began to tell her the story of how he first met Sophia. "After mother abandoned me, I wandered around for a while, and the old man found me. You know that part, right?"

"Yes, you were in Ireland then."

"Yeah, after he passed away, I wandered around for a long time. I ended up on the streets of London and turned to thievery. I didn't have any money. I only had my guitar on my back, and even when times were desperate, I did not sell it. I wasn't as attached to music then, but it made me very sad when I thought of parting from it. I wandered around for a long time until, eventually, I ended up in an orphanage. I don't understand how I got there but before long, I lived there."

An orphanage?

"But that place was no normal orphanage. The real purpose of that place was to sell children. It was a place for human trafficking. I didn't think much of the place at; first, all I knew was in this place, I didn't have to starve. I could eat good food, have good clothes, and have a roof over my head. It was similar to heaven for me. After being abandoned, and after the old man passed away, I was alone. The orphanage had many children. At first, I didn't get close to anybody." Haruka trailed off.

"But one day, when I was going downstairs, I heard some of the new people sobbing. 'How could you sell off the children to those people? They are from the club- you know how shady their business is?' The older adults would get angry and say, 'don't forget what the purpose of this place is.'"

Lila clenched her fist. Haruka is not even halfway through the story, but already she felt her anger.

Haruka must have noticed since he suddenly kissed her. Lila's cheeks turned red, and he laughed. "Calm down, okay?"

"Stupid."

"Back then, there was a war going on. I quickly learned that the country needed money, so there were places like the club that chose beautiful children from the orphanages. These children would be offered as merchandise. Since I was still new, I was not chosen yet. The people in the orphanage did not want the new ones to run off and spread the news, so they chose people who had been there longer. One time I snuck out and followed. I saw the kids there being whipped, cut, beaten, and tortured. That was when I saw Sophia; she was in such high demand that they did not give her time for her injuries to heal."

"Did you approach her?"

"No, I had no power. I knew I couldn't help her. But then, one day, I heard how she gouged out her right eye. It seemed she thought if she disfigured herself, they wouldn't want her anymore, but that was wrong. Those people desired her even more; they were a strange bunch with disgusting fetishes. I didn't intend to approach her, but I caught her trying to commit suicide. She failed, of course, and for some reason, I called her a loser. She tried to challenge me by killing herself again, but she couldn't."

"Did you know she wouldn't?"

Haruka nodded. "It was obvious after watching her for a while. The reason she couldn't commit suicide despite all the pain and hardships was because she still had hope. I would occasionally see her staring up at the sky whenever she returned from the club. I invited her to come with us."

"Us?"

"I tried not to get close to anybody. But Kojiro Ruki was different; no matter how much I pushed him away, he never left him alone. Ruki did not care about my background or bad personality. He would say things like pain is proof that you are alive. He was the same age as you and gave me the same foolishly honest vibe. It did not take long before I trusted him. He was the one who told me to invite Sophia; it seemed he was interested in her but did not want to frighten her."

Ah, could it be, the person Sophia truly wants to see is this person? 'I thought it was weird. Sophia never directly said she loved Haruka. Sophia always said things like they belonged in the same hell and that Haruka was hers. But she never said those three words.'

Kiryu always said that he felt that Sophia did not love Haruka.

'No matter how much of a monster you are, you can never harm the one you love.'

Right, how could she torture Haruka in the name of love?

"Later on, we devised a plan to escape. The plan started very well, and we almost escaped. But the orphanage director caught hold of our plan and chased us. They caught up and shot us. Sophia was targeted the most and shot in multiple places. It didn't matter to them if she was hurt since the patrons liked her better damaged. They dragged us back to the orphanage, and Ruki, he-"

Lila wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Ruki as the oldest was used as an example. They beat and starved him endlessly. They tortured him beyond death. Once in a while, they would give him hope and then crush it. Ruki's feelings for Sophia were obvious. They told him if he ever tried to escape, Sophia would die, and I would take his place. Even when I returned, I wasn't treated as badly. It seemed Ruki made some type of deal with them.

But then there was a patron of Sophia's who wanted to buy her and make her his wife. Ruki was so angry and escaped. He did not think of the consequences anymore and tried to take Sophia away. That night the servant who cared for us tried to get me to leave too - but what greeted us was Ruki's dead body after he shielded Sophia."

At those words, she felt Haruka's anger and simply held him tighter. Unfortunately, this is all she can do for him.

It would be wrong of her to say careless comments like she understood what he was going through.

"Those people were too inhumane, even after they killed him. They tossed his dead body into a pit of wolves. The night after the incident, Zane showed up in the orphanage. I knew right away he was no normal man. I observed how people treated him. I knew right away that he would be able to help us. I couldn't figure out how to get him to help us, though. It seemed there was no need, one day, I was told I was free and that Zane was the one who told them to free him. I asked about Sophia, and they told us she was sent to the hospital."

"So from that time-"

"From that time onwards, I stayed with her. At first, nothing intimate happened between us. They gave us some money to start a new life, but it wouldn't last long, so we still had to get jobs. At first, I resorted to thievery and joining gangs. I didn't know how to get honest work. Then there was that other accident, and then I slowly realized how stupid my behavior was."

The reality is that his story's scale is far too large, and she does not know where to start.