Chapter Text
Kugutsue 0.1
On his five years old birthday, a teddy bear was given to little Ruki as a present, the said bear had soft blond fur covering its stuffed body, and a sliver color ribbon wrapped around its neck. Overjoyed for receiving such lovely gift, Ruki hugged the pretty teddy lovingly, refused to let go. Smiling at his childish behavior, his parents suggested their son to give the terry a name; they thought it was a nice idea for their son to name his companion.
For the few days afterward, little Ruki thought deeply, struggled to think of a suitable name for his pretty huggable Bear. There was a name at the tip of his tongue but he couldn't pronounce the syllable correctly. It took him a few more days before he could eventually tell his parents what name he had decided for his Bear.
"Reita" He said.
As the boy spoke this name for the first time so proudly and lovingly to the Bear, for a second there was a sparkling flash appeared in those black plastic eyes, but maybe it was just light playing trick to the eyes. The little boy couldn't be certain.
The teddy bear named Reita remained to be Ruki's favorite toy and companion for years to come. The boy spent his time playing with the teddy after he had finished his schoolwork, telling the bear how he (yes, in Ruki's mind Reita was a boy bear!) was dear to him, taking the bear to bed every night, hugging it close to himself as he slept. He even readjusted Reita's ribbon to wrap around the middle of his face like it was a nose strap, thinking it gave his beloved bear a cooler look.
But like all childhoods, Ruki's childhood had come to an end one day. It happened when his parents decided that their son was to leave the comfort of their home and go studying in a boarding school. The decision was made when the boy was nine years old, Ruki had wanted to take Reita with him but his mother ordered him to put the teddy bear into a box and left it behind, saying that he was a big boy now, too old to be still playing with silly toy such as a teddy bear!
So Ruki left home and went to study in the new environment of the boarding school, in the first few weeks he had missed his Reita but soon enough schoolwork, new activities and new friends had taken up all of Ruki's attention and it didn't take too long for the boy to forget his once beloved toy.
***
Years passed by, Ruki graduated from high school, but before he went to university Ruki decided to spend his summer holiday in his home town with his parents.
After a simple dinner with his aged parents, Ruki went upstairs to his old bedroom, dropping his bag he threw himself to his bed, looking sleepily up to the familiar surrounding of his room.
Then his sight focused on a dusty box at the far corner of the room, he thought he had seen this box before but couldn't recall when. Out of curiosity he moved to pack up the box, lightening the lid to see what is inside. Lying at the bottom of the box was a faded teddy bear with a sliver strap wrapped around the middle of its face.
Confused, Ruki took the bear out and studied it, trying to recall what it was, but the memory of his childhood had long faded away, now he couldn't recall the bear's name, nor did this old companion mean much to him now. So after a long look at the old teddy bear, Ruki simply put it inside the box, back into its old corner.
To be continued.