Chapter 4: Red String
"What do you want to order, Na? What if your dad orders your favorite rainbow ice cream for you, hm?"
The middle-aged man's voice, which sounded so soft and contained a lot of love, brought Aruna back from her subconscious. This girl didn't give any answer and only stared fiercely at the man, of course everyone at the table was stunned.
They knew that Aruna was difficult to control and sometimes can be quite impolite, but this girl always act like a good-girl around her "father". The cliche story where a little girl considers her father as her first love also happened to Aruna, sadly.
Aruna never had memories of her biological father because she had been abandoned since she still a baby, so the person who filled that role in her mind was actually this person.
Even when this man left her and her family, the person who continued to defend him and keep waiting for his return was Aruna. Therefore, at the end, Aruna truly felt devastated.
All her views about family, about marriage, about men were shattered into nothing. Just because of one person, the person who currently sitting in front of her.
So, this person should be grateful that Aruna only glared at him and didn't gouge his eyes out using the fork that was very close to her hand.
But instead, she has to be the antagonist again here.
"Stop ruining the atmosphere, if you want something just say it, don't be rude." Her mother rebuked her.
Aruna's fierce gaze began to fade as it moved to her mother. From the past until now, her feelings for her mother are still the same. It's just that in the past she misinterpreted it as hatred. But actually, the feeling she felt towards her mother was only disappointment.
Disappointed at not being treated the same as her older sister.
Disappointed that her mother didn't try harder to understand her.
Disappointed that her mother gave up so quickly when it came to her.
Disappointed because she couldn't get the love she so desperately craved from her mother.
Disappointed because, of all people, why did her mother also give her a cold shoulder and turn into a monster that chased and cornered her to the edge of a cliff.
"Mom..."
"As usual, you can only ruin the atmosphere."
In a matter of seconds, the peaceful atmosphere turned very tense, not a single word could come out from Aruna's mouth.
'So, there is no use. No matter how many times the story is repeated. Both Aruna, who is 12 years old, and Aruna, who is 26 years old, will be silent and unable to do anything in front of her families. I'm still the same, the person who was exiled by her own family.'
"Stop, stop. Don't fight, Aruna definitely didn't mean it."
'And what's worse, the person who defended me was the person who would later stab me with a knife many times. If that wasn't enough, he would also tear my body apart until it broke into pieces and dance on it happily while singing enthusiastically. What can I do, my first love is too sweet, right?'
Aruna said in a scornful tone.
"I will go to the bathroom first, okay?"
"Me too."
Not wasting any time, Aruna followed from behind. Sweetly, her "father" slowed down his steps so that Aruna wouldn't be left behind.
"What's wrong, Daddy's princess?"
If she didn't hold back, Aruna was sure, she would certainly vomit all the contents of her stomach when she heard that question. As usual, she did not hold back the anger in her eyes.
"You can stop pretending in front of me, I know everything."
Confusion was clearly written on the man's face, he stopped his feet and looked at the girl whose body was much smaller than him.
"Know about?"
"Everything. Give mommy her money back and get lost."
If you didn't see who was speaking, you wouldn't think it was a 12 year old girl.
Of course, the man was stunned to hear Aruna's unexpected words. Because all along, even though this girl was difficult to control, she wouldn't go to this extent. Especially to him, in public places too.
There was a long pause created by Aruna's surprise attack. The girl now had the smile she usually wore on her face.
"How was my acting just now? I was preparing a performance to register myself for the drama club at school."
There was a small sigh that the man tried his best to hide. Then, he smiled proudly and gently stroked the girl's hair.
"Oh yeah? Dad's daughter is really talented."
"Ha ha ha, did you really think I would say something like that? Besides, there's no way dad would steal mom's money, right?"
Aruna successfully launched the second attack, once again creating quite a lot of damage. Not waiting for her opponent's reaction, the girl immediately ran into the bathroom.
There, she immediately fell on the floor. Her legs were shaking, her heart was beating very fast. There was fear mixed with immense satisfaction booming in her heart.
'I've decided, I won't let his death be an easy death. I'll use the bluntest knife to slit his throat. I will make his days full of fear and terror.'
"Errr, miss, looks like you went to the wrong bathroom."
Someone's voice that sounded familiar blocked Aruna's happiness, her eyes immediately turned towards the source of the sound.
There, stood a light-skinned boy, shorter than her, and still wearing his school uniform. The boy looked at her cautiously, as if afraid of offending her.
As soon as Aruna saw the boy, her eyes immediately wandered around looking for his name tag. Then, when everything was almost proven that the person standing in front of her was indeed the person she missed so much, Aruna subconsciously got up from her position and hugged the boy.
It didn't stop there, something even more surprising happened, the tears that Aruna had been holding back so desperately now burst out. Breaking down the strongest dam she ever created. She cried loudly, like a child who had just been separated from her family at an amusement park and then was reunited with her family once again.
'This heartbeat, this warmth, this aroma...'
When she had calmed down enough and regained her sanity, Aruna let go of her arms and looked at the boy's face.
'No doubt.'
"So--" before Aruna's mouth could utter one word, the boy was already cut her sentence.
"Sorry! I-I didn't mean to, I, I didn't mean to scold you. I-i-it's just, it's just..."
"Bwahahahaha."
'Turns out it's really true, he can't communicate well with people he meets directly. What should I do? Her is so adorable. Can I kidnap him?.'
Laughed at by strangers, the boy grew more anxiety and his desire to escape grew greater. Realizing this, Aruna forced her laughter to stop.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh at you. But, you really remind me of someone. Ah, that's also the reason why I hugged you earlier and errr, you know... cried like that."
The boy fell silent.
'Somehow, the 10 year old version of you seems easier to understand and read. If we had met like this in that life, would we have had a sweeter ending?'
"I met him in another world."
There was confusion that was clearly visible in the boy's round eyes, as if asking Aruna for an explanation.
'Really.'
"So, in another life, I met him. At that time, I was 25 years old and he was only 23 years old. Our meeting started on the wrong foot and made many things complicated. So, I kept trying to fix everything. But, turned out, it was too late. There was nothing else I could do but cry. I was very lonely and wanted to hug him. So, when I saw you..."
Aruna deliberately stopped her sentence. This girl knew that the boy in front of her wouldn't understand what she was saying. So, Aruna just smiled and gently stroked the boy's black hair with longing eyes.
"Let's just say there is a red string that connects us, and brought us together today. If that's true, then..."
Again, Aruna hung up on her sentence, this time the reason was that she didn't dare to continue. She was afraid, she would start expecting something. Like in the past. She swallowed it all and looked back at the boy in front of her.
"My name is Aruna. If we meet again, don't avoid me, okay Rijal?"
The boy who had previously continued to stare at Aruna with confusion and a bit of curiosity mixed with it, was now shocked.
Aruna then pointed to the name tag pinned to the boy's right chest. Realizing that Aruna was not a strange person, let alone a kidnapper (actually she really think to kidnap you, boy), the boy again dared to look into the girl's shining eyes.
There was clearly happiness radiating there, the radiance felt quite warm and comfortable, like sunlight in the morning. Then, as Aruna said earlier, the boy began to see a red string hanging from Aruna's ring finger. Slowly but surely, the direction of the end of the string became increasingly clear.
The end of the red string stopped right in front of him, then hugged his own ring finger tightly.
'It really connect us.'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone