Rue walked down the hallway, holding his backpack straps, tightly clenching them in his hands. Quietly gritting his teeth. ‘How dare they take him from me…!’ His footsteps echo barely any to no sound at all, nobody around him noticing him walking through them to class, like he was invisible. ‘If it wasn’t for the AWA… I wouldn’t be alone again…’ He quietly turned down another hall and into a classroom and quietly sat down at his desk, resting his backpack on the backrest of the chair and laying his head down on the desk and closing his eyes.

“...Rue…” Rue’s eyes quickly jolt open as he jolts standing, the desk chair sliding backwards and falling over.

“Who was that!?” Rue quickly looks around, no longer in the classroom, but in an infinite black void.

“Where am I!?” Rue’s heart races as he rushes to his backpack, the voice from before echoing.

“Rue…!” Rue quickly grabs a pencil from his backpack, recently sharpened.

“Don’t call me that name! I left that behind long ago!” a silence echoes for a moment.

“Rue-” Rue quickly engulfs the pencil, sliding his foot back and javelin-ing the pen engulfed in flames toward the voice.

“I said don’t call me that!” Suddenly, the pen is grabbed by something midair, Rue feels a strong force on his chest as he’s pushed to the ground. A figure holds Rue down and holds the pencil to Rue’s neck as he gulps.

“Who are you, what do you want!?” The figure smirks, it’s long red cape flowing in non-existent wind, it’s red hair and red eyes smiling maniacally.

“My name doesn’t matter when you're asking a future version of yourself!” Rue grits his teeth.

“What do you mean!?” the figure smirks further.

“Think about it, Rue Achlys… everything in your life has been DESTROYED by the things we call ‘Abilities’... You’re dad, Mom… Your grandma and now… your best friend-” Rue kicks the figure in the gut and rushes to stand.

“Don’t talk down on Kat OR my dad! Don’t ever mention my dad EVER AGAIN!” The figure stands up, his smile has faded, his hair returning to black and his red eyes returning to gray.

“What’s wrong, Rue? It seems I was right… Abilities have destroyed your life…” Rue grits his teeth.
“Okay, yeah, they have, so what about it!?” The figure smirks.

“Why don’t you take action… destroy the thing that has destroyed you… destroy abilities and everything related to them!” The figure appears in front of Rue and pins him against an invisible wall. Rue’s pupils shake.

“I-I’ll ask again… who… are you!?” The figure smirks maniacally.

“I’m You… and you can call me”

Suddenly, Rue is smacked on the head by the teacher, waking back up in the classroom, breathing heavily. The teacher exhales.

“No sleeping in class, Mr. Achlys”

As the meal was winding down and the last few bites were finished, the three friends lingered at the table, the quiet buzz of the bustling restaurant in the background. Ryuuji leaned back in his seat, content despite the cramped space. Rue muttering slightly.

“Don’t know why you chose such a busy place, Ryuuji,” Ryuuji scoffed.

“We all love it here. A little wait won’t kill anyone,” Ryuuji grinned. Rue just exhaled, feeling restless. His mind seemed somewhere else entirely.

“I’ll be back,” Rue began rising from his seat. Ryuuji looked up, a curious frown on his face.

“Where are you going?” he asked, but Rue was already walking away, his shoulders tense.

“Bathroom,” Rue called back. Mia didn’t even register the conversation. He was staring out the window, lost in thought as the last golden rays of the setting sun reflected off the buildings.

Rue walked down the corridor to the restroom, the noise of the restaurant fading behind him. As he pushed the door open, the silence inside hit him like a cold breeze. The bathroom was nearly empty, with only the soft hum of the fluorescent lights overhead.

He locked the door behind him, leaning against the sink for a moment, his eyes unfocused. When he reached for the soap, his gaze fell on something wedged between the edge of the mirror and the wall. A folded piece of paper. Rue’s breath caught in his throat. He hesitated but reached out anyway, pulling it free from its hiding place. The crinkled paper unfolded in his hand, revealing a bounty: $500 for the capture—or death—of an Awakened roaming the streets nearby. His heart began to race.

Take it.

The voice seemed to echo in his mind, cold and insistent. Rue’s hand shook as he stared at the paper, his pulse hammering in his ears. The temptation to act—something so easy, so simple—hung heavy in the air.

“No,” he muttered under his breath.
“I can’t…” But the voice didn’t go away. It only grew louder.

Take it.

Rue slammed the paper back down onto the counter, his breath coming in shallow gasps. His reflection in the mirror seemed to distort, a flash of something dark behind his own eyes. He quickly turned, splashing water on his face to clear his mind, but it didn’t help. The image of the paper, the temptation, lingered like a weight on his chest.