♡

It was not uncommon for Rien to surprise you with a new bouquet of flowers. Sometimes he picked them in the wild himself and sometimes he bought them from a florist. He would bring you roses, tulips, peonies.. and whatever flowers you loved.

❝Honey, sweetheart.. I'm back from work.❞

He exclaimed with his usual gentle voice. He was holding a small bouquet of flowers.

❝Daddy! Look at what I drew!❞ Your daughter ran up to him, showing him a new crayon drawing, sparkles in her eyes. It was a simple drawing like most children did, drawn with multicolored crayons, a bright yellow sun in the top left corner, and a few stickmen that resembled your family, with big smiley faces.

❝That's a great drawing, sweetheart.❞ He said, lightly patting your child's head as she giggled happily.

❝My love, you are back early today.❞ You said, glancing from the kitchen counter. You had just wanted to start making dinner.

Your eyes trailed to the bouquet he was holding as he walked up to you.

❝Here. I bought these from the florist next door. The flowers reminded me of your beauty..❞ He said with a small smile, handing you the flowers.

❝Oh, my.. thank you, dear.❞ You kissed him on the cheek, then settling the flowers in one of your many vases you had bought just for occasions like this.

❝Anything for you..❞ He was lost in your eyes, that were staring at him with such fondness he could not describe. He wished he could stop time just to treasure this moment, he wished it would never end.

❝..Let me help you with dinner, honey.❞

~~~

❝Dad? Why did you stop reading?❞ A small child asked confused, gazing at her father who was lost in the picture book he was just reading.

He stared at the flowers on the pages.

It was the same type of flowers he had brought you that day. Same color, same shape.

It brought back his painful but treasured past memories that he could only reminisce.

It reminded him of that time when he was lost in your eyes that were staring at him softly and lovingly, full of fondness that till this day he could still not describe. How could you love a person like him that much? He had wondered.

It reminded him of your lips, which always gave him a gentle peck on his cheek everyday right before he left for work, or when he would return home from said work.. He was reminded of when you kissed him on the lips the day you got married after saying your vows..

Your gentle care, your soft voice...

❝Dad!❞ The child tugged at his sleeve, snapping him out of his daze.

❝..It's nothing, sweetheart.❞ He told the child reassuringly, before closing the picture book. ❝We'll finish reading this book another day..❞

❝Ehh? Again? There's already so many books we haven't finished reading. I want to know the ending!❞ The child complained, annoyed at how her dad refused to read books till the end.

Rien could only stare with amusement at his daughter's little tantrum.

also if you didnt realize, the child at the end is yoshihide/ryoshu from when she was a kid

i kinda dont like how ts fic turned out

The Oracle's Proxy was not unfamiliar with how weird and random the prescripts could be. It could tell him to go eat 99 bananas and dump the peels in a pile, Or it could make him go kill some random guy in the backstreets and dump their body in the same banana peels he threw not many prescripts ago. He wouldn't question it either, afterall that was how each member of the Index were taught to be.

• • •

❝Do you wish me to raise a family?❞

• • •

It didn't take long for Rien to find a woman he could call wife .

He had met you in a bar he frequented often, either for his prescripts or his own volution, you had worked there as a waitress.

He was familiar with you since he was a regular there. You often exchanged eye contact.

His voice was soothing, always gentle and quiet. You liked his voice. And especially liked to converse with him.

You also liked how he always protected you from being harassed by drunkards or some random asshole.

He often brought you flowers, be it a singular flower he picked up to bouquets of different flowers.

You liked how he asked you to accompany him for a walk after your job.

He would then ask you to be his partner, and soon he would propose to you and you would get married. You would then become a housewife, he had told you he earned more than enough to sustain you both.

You would think it was fate that brought you together, a lovely one. He was such a caring and gentle husband.

You liked how despite him being often gone for his "job", he would always find time to be with you.

You also liked how he would ask you to help him re-dye his hair, it was an intimate act. With him sitting on a chair in your bathroom, and you behind him lightly tapping away at his hair with the dye.

It wouldn't take long for you to conceive a baby. A child that had his original hair color, but had your eyes. A lively and loved child that would perhaps take on both of your personalities.

Rien has never had such a domestic life before.

Waking up next to your pretty face. He would wake you up with a kiss on your forehead and check on your child, before leaving to fulfill his prescripts.

Then he would return right on time for dinner. He'd give you a gentle kiss on your cheek and help you settle the table for dinner. He would try to help feeding your baby and fail miserably as your child would spit the food out and make everything messy.

It was a laughable scene, really.

At the end of the day, you would go to bed together after putting your baby to sleep.

He really should have never grown fond of this.

But he did.

And that was a mistake,

such domesticity would never last in The City, and especially not for someone like him, a member of the Index, an Oracle's proxy.

• • •

*beep* *beep*

...

❝Do you wish me to lose my family?❞

• • •

That day, he'd tell you he had some job to do up in the north. Then he'd tell your child that he had a package to be picked up in the afternoon.

Instead of the deliveryman. You would have never expected to be met with a sword right on your and your child's faces. Blood seeped. No matter how hard you resisted against them, the intruder wouldn't stop attacking.

Rien had finished his mission fast, he wanted to return home early.

And that was when he had witnessed the brutal scene.

As much as you screamed for help, he didn't move... He just stared, stared in horror.

Not even when your child was begging him to help, he didn't budge.

He didn't dare to defy the prescripts, as much as he wanted to.

Only after the intruder left, he finally moved, walking up to your and your child's bodies.

Rien embraced you both, tears streamed down his eyes as quiet sobs followed through.

You had never seen him cry, and you certainly would not witness this scene. For you were already long gone.

• • •

He had always wondered if Hermes was making him imitate someone. To strip him of his identity and take on a new one. Making him love a family just to take it away from him right after.

Since then, he had always regretted not defying the prescript. He came to realize he was a coward. A coward that could not defy the prescripts as much as he wanted. He would always complete them in the end despite delaying it as long as possible.

It is in his final moments that he came to accept the fact. He truly was a coward.

He could only wish he could have another chance with you. He would then no longer be a coward. And he could finally be able to protect you.

The City was cruel.

Rien was no different from others, he was just another victim to its cruelness.

~~~~~~

idk shi how to write a good fic despite me reading so many 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

i'll probably write more rien fics even though my writing is ass LOL

also could u tell i did not know how to come up with a better title ?