Blue eyes, red eyes.
Hair like golden thread.
Hiro Saitou tapped his pen, jotting down these notes in his notebook, eyes clouded in thought.
"… You look sad. What are you thinking about?"
Across the desk, Ai tilted her head curiously, her voice light but curious. Her gaze drifted to his notebook and caught sight of the odd words he'd scribbled.
"Are you planning a story or something?" she asked.
"Yeah… just sketching out a setting," Hiro said honestly.
"What kind of story needs those colors?" Ai asked, her curiosity piqued.
"A revenge story."
Ai blinked. Her face remained unreadable.
But—blue, red…?
A sudden realization hit Hiro. Ai's eyes shimmered with violet and red. Could it be…? Was the other child the opposite—blue eyes, blonde hair?
Foreigners? Half-Japanese?
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
That narrowed the possibilities. But even now, he didn't have enough to be certain.
"Hmm… revenge stories sound kind of lame," Ai muttered, looking away.
"Yeah. They're boring when you know how they end." Hiro chuckled softly. The weight of the original plot tugged at his chest.
Wouldn't a story about growing up together with your kids be more powerful?
"The author thinks his own story is boring? Now you've got me curious." Ai gave a teasing smile. "You're just embarrassed to admit it."
That hit him harder than it should've.
He wanted to tell her everything, but his gut twisted. If he blurted it all out—names and everything—it'd only cause trouble.
"I haven't worked it all out yet. Just the rough ideas." He deflected with a smile.
He'd need to carefully rewrite the entire setup—character names, relationships, motivations. Changing the fate she was meant to face… without tipping her off.
Ai leaned on her elbows, gazing at him.
"Well, when it's done, tell me. Or better yet, write it down. I want to read it."
Her voice was soft. Gentle.
She had no idea she was the central figure in the tragedy.
"…You won't be mad?" Hiro asked. "What if it ticks you off and you want to punch me?"
"If I'm mad, you can make it up to me with something outrageous." She smirked. "But if you do it on purpose, it doesn't count."
"This story's been in my head for a long time… Changing it won't be easy."
He glanced toward the podium—still lecturing—and lowered his voice.
"Once upon a time, in a small, cold town, there lived a little girl who'd lost her parents. She had nothing—no food, no warmth, just ragged clothes and aching hunger…"
Ai rested her chin on her hands, listening quietly. Her expression softened.
"One day, an old woman appeared. She wore the robes of a nun and said she'd adopt the girl—to raise her as a holy sister, someone who would redeem the world."
"But the girl said she was just a beggar. How could someone like her become a nun?"
"The old woman said, 'That's why you're perfect. You've suffered. You've seen the world's pain.'"
Ai's eyes didn't blink.
"She accepted and trained under the nun. Four years passed. The girl became a maiden and took on the old woman's duties."
"But not long after, her belly began to swell. She was pregnant."
"The nun was devastated. A holy sister, breaking her vow…"
Ai's brows twitched slightly. Hiro saw it but kept going.
"She was hidden away in the mountains to carry the pregnancy in secret. Six months later, she gave birth to twins—one with red eyes, one with blue."
"She named them Ruby and Sapphire."
"She loved her children dearly. But love wasn't enough. She wanted them to be raised right—with good teachers and safe homes."
"But she had no money. No resources. She asked the nun for help, and the nun agreed—on one condition: she must pretend the children weren't hers."
"They claimed the twins were orphans found in the mountains."
"She returned to the temple with the children and became a holy sister again. No one suspected."
Ai's lips parted, but she didn't speak.
"She began preaching. Her reputation grew. The monastery sent her to a bigger temple to speak."
"She asked for help educating the children—books, tutors, the works."
"Then, one day, she overheard them speaking."
'Mom's a nun,' Sapphire said. 'So where's Dad?'
'It's a virgin birth,' Ruby joked. 'There was no dad from the start.'
"She laughed with them. But inside, her heart ached."
"She wanted her kids to know the truth. To meet their real father. But she was scared—what if it hurt them?"
"So… she wrote him a letter."
Hiro paused.
Ai said nothing for a long moment. Just stared at him.
"…And?" she asked softly.
"That's as far as I got," Hiro said with a forced laugh. "Still working on the next chapter."