CINDEREKI Chapter 3

Fanfic by: Sora Vasconcelos

Translation: Ingisha Valer

It was already 8 o'clock at night, CindeReki had already finished cleaning everything and his stepbrothers were ready, but CindeReki was not. The carriage that would take Shadow, Cherry and Miya to the dance had arrived, so he knocked on the door of the room where his stepfather was.

—¿Tell me? —Shadow asked as he opened the door.

—The carriage is here— CindeReki warned sadly and with downcast eyes.

—Oh, but CindeReki, haven't you dressed up yet?" —Shadow's tone of voice was of a very feigned concern, which annoyed CindeReki a lot.

—No, because I won't go —the redhead's voice was sad, and he turned his back on Shadow to leave.

—You won't go? What a pity...— The man showed a smile from ear to ear. Everything went as he had planned. —But there will be another time, and maybe... —Shadow was going to continue speaking, but CindeReki interrupted him.

—Yes I know...Good night. —the boy went to his room. Once again Shadow and his step brothers had gotten away with it.

——🔥❄️——

CindeReki's room was in the attic of the house. It was very small and full of cobwebs. In that place he only had; a very dusty bed, with only one sheet and no pillow, a closet with all his clothes full of ashes, a broken mirror that his step-sibling Kaoru "give" to him, a very large and very old trunk which CindeReki had never opened before and furthermore, in that very small room, there was a large window in which Crazy Rock Castle could be seen in the distance. CindeReki, at that moment, could see how many very elegant carriages arrived at the castle.

—Mmm... what difference does it make, not even if it was so much a dance. —CindeReki approached the window leaning his arms on the frame, and stared at the castle —Besides, those palace dances must be very boring, annoying and surely... —the more he looked at the castle, CindeReki could notice that it shone brighter and looked more magical, it seemed very beautiful and surely it was the same inside. Thinking about all that made him sad, he couldn't help his eyes fill with tears —Surely divine... —he rested his head on his arms —But I'll never be able to go to that place —he stopped seeing that castle.

CindeReki wanted to go to the palace to get to know it completely, he didn't want to party with the others all night, he just wanted to visit that place. He always imagined going through the castle gardens and seeing all the flora and fauna that it had. Stroll with his skate around the garden. Why was the palace garden so important to CindeReki? Because that place was huge and surrounded the entire castle, it was the perfect place to skate for a long time, spin around, and do a lot of tricks. He wanted to go to that castle to see the prince and to skate all over the garden all night and all day. infinitely.

When CindeReki turned around, the first thing he saw was the trunk that he had never opened before. He had gotten that trunk from his father's old room. Shadow got rid of all the belongings of CindeReki's father, but the redhead managed to keep that trunk, it was the last memory he had of his father. So he went over to that trunk to open it for the first time. To his surprise, the padlock was already very worn, so he was able to remove it without problems, and without using the corresponding key. Opening it he only found two things inside.

One of those things was a sheet of paper, it seemed to be a letter, and he managed to see that there was something written on it, but he didn't read it because he didn't pay much attention to it, because what attracted his eyes was something else that was inside... The other thing that was in the trunk, was a beautiful suit.

A very beautiful suit. It consisted of a very soft long-sleeved white button-down shirt, accompanied by a very elegant black tie, a red jacket with black details and black dress pants. The suit was in very good condition, it was perfect and it looked very beautiful.

After appreciating it he quickly grabbed the sheet, and was able to read what he had written, and what was on it made him shed a few small tears of happiness. The sheet had a simple sentence:

¨To my beautiful son, Reki.

-With love, dad. ¨

CindeReki, by seeing that letter, began to cry with happiness and hugged the letter, closing his eyes. His father had left him a beautiful suit. That night he could go to the dance and see the garden he always wanted to see. He opened his eyes to see it again, realizing something. The bad thing is that the suit did not have any accessories, nor did it have shoes included. That was a problem.

CindeReki remembered that recently, his stepbrothers got rid of some things they no longer wanted. He remembered that Cherry had thrown away a very beautiful pink cherry tree brooch, he had thrown it away because, according to the pink-haired man, it was very old-fashioned, so the red-haired boy had picked it up a long time ago and kept it with him, now he had a beautiful accessory. He also remembered that last week, Miya threw away some very beautiful brown shoes, and he had done it because they were too big for him, so CindeReki kept them, and luckily they fit very well. Now his suit was complete.

CindeReki never had new clothes, he always kept the clothes that his stepbrothers threw at him since they never bought or gave him new things.

—Now I can go to the dance —he said excitedly. He took the suit carefully and hugged it —Thanks dad.

——🔥❄️——

Miya, Cherry and Shadow were already ready to go to the dance. The three headed for the exit.

—Don't forget, when you are presented with the prince... —Shadow stopped his children in front of the door to tell them something important, but was interrupted.

—WAIT! —CindeReki's voice was heard from upstairs.

Shadow, Cherry and Miya turned their faces looking very surprised towards the stairs, and CindeReki was going down them very happily. The boy was wearing the suit he had found, and as always, once CindeReki dressed up and wiped off the dirt that covered him, he showed the true beauty that he naturally had, and that surprised the step-siblings at how well he did. It looked stunning.

—Wait for me, please —the boy went down the stairs completely —Isn't it cute? Do you like it? —CindeReki asked very enthusiastically, his heart beating with happiness inside his chest. He smiled, turning around, showing his new suit very excited —Do you think I can go like this? —He asked, smiling naively as he looked at Shadow.

—DAD, I DON'T WANT HIM TO COME! —Cherry raised his voice, begging his father.

—No, no, no, no! Tell him to not come with us! —Miya took Shadow's suit to start pulling him and making him pay attention to his tantrum.

—Children, children!" —Shadow calmed down his children —Don't forget we made a deal. Right, CindeReki? —asked Shadow looking at the redhead —And I never failed to fulfill what I promised...—Shadow's tone of voice was very serious and conveyed a lot of fear. Shadow gradually approached CindeReki slowly and threateningly. The man's eyes reflected hatred towards the boy. Shadow didn't like seeing his stepson happy.

That look alarmed CindeReki, his stepfather's behavior scared him a lot, since he didn't know what he could do to him. But what the boy didn't know was that he wasn't going to get hurt by Shadow.

—But you're so smart, CindeReki, that brooch is the perfect accessory for your outfit —Shadow touched the cherry tree brooch the boy had —Do you agree Cherry? —Shadow asked, looking at his son.

—No! Doesn't match his suit! I believe that... —Cherry trailed off because after seeing the brooch better —That brooch is mine! You are a thief! —the pink haired man recognized it and approached the redhead —GIVE IT BACK! he recognized it. Cherry popped the brooch off CindeReki's suit causing the flap of his jacket to tear.

—Those shoes are mine too!" GIVE THEM TO ME! —This time Miya threw himself at CindeReki's chest, knocking him to the ground in order to take off his shoes.

—That jacket is the same as one of mine, YOU CAN'T HAVE ONE LIKE IT! Cherry snatched the jacket from him roughly, causing the sleeves to rip.

—That tie is just like mine!" YOU ARE CRAZY, SLIME, IF YOU THINK YOU CAN USE ONE LIKE MINE! —Miya took off his tie, ripping the collar of Reki's shirt in the process.

His stepbrothers ended up tearing up CindeReki's suit with great fury. CindeReki tried to stop them, but they both had him on the ground, and he couldn't do it. They were destroying his only complete good suit and the one left behind by his dearest father.

While Shadow watched what his children were doing with an evil smile. He didn't have to do anything, his children did everything. He didn't want to stop them either, but seeing that Reki started kicking back he stopped his children, so they wouldn't get their suits dirty.

—CHILDREN! —Shadow called his children and they stopped looking at Shadow —That was enough... —the two, the pink-haired and the black-haired, moved away from CindeReki to approach the door that was opened by Shadow —Hurry up or we'll get there too late. You know I don't like to get upset —the boys left the house looking at the redhead with contempt and got into the carriage in silence, but Shadow stayed behind looking at how CindeReki was.

CindeReki was lying on the floor, disheveled, his red sack ripped and some torn pieces of cloth were scattered around him. His elegant black tie had the stitching undone and was lying dirty on the floor, his white shirt was open with the buttons ripped off, the collar was undone, and his shoes were no longer there. Seeing him like that made Shadow smile evilly. CindeReki looked like he would burst into tears at any moment.

—Good night... —the man came out of the house with a mocking smile on his face.

The moment the door was closed, CindeReki couldn't help it anymore and, letting his tears flow, he began to cry inconsolably. The redhead couldn't keep seeing the mess around him, so he got away running towards the garden. CindeReki, midway, took the skateboard with him and climbed on it with tears in his eyes. The boy went to the garden and leaned against a tree covering his eyes with both hands while he cried. He stood for a few minutes before falling to his feet, but afterward he couldn't stop crying, letting many tears flow.