It was the first time I muttered a whole sentence on my fifth year of being alive that my Mom became weird and unknown to me. I was still a kid so I don't know what was happening to her that time but I know what she was doing. She became like a robot suddenly and did what she asked me before she acted like that. She asked me on my fifth birthday what I want to eat and told her that 'I want a cake and a birthday party' at our house despite us being an average citizen of Neorgie. But then suddenly we already have a party at our house and a cake at the center of our table. It was so soon to arrive like a flick of fingers. We were surprised at its sudden appearance that my mother immediately contacted my father and when he arrived, they took me to the government on that day, without even wishing me a happy birthday or even eating together to celebrate my own birthday.
It was sad of course but I just decided to keep my mouth shut even after we got home and kept pestering me to want this and that so they can gain everything they want from me. Of course I did what they asked me to do, we became the richest family on Neorgie and gain everything they want and even if we are already at the peak of richness, they still want to use my voice even if was starting to hoarse from speaking every second and every minute. Almost everyday they ask for some thing they can gain.
And then that day when I was at the age of Twelve, something had happened to my voice. It became too quiet to hear but my parents still asks for something. I almost tear my vocal cords when I drank a very cold water. It was painful that I started to cry and asked my parents to bring me to the hospital but they didn't heard me and still ask for something and then when I didn't speak, they slapped me and kicked me. I just cried and ran away from our house and slumped back at a wall on a alley and wait for the day to come. And then the next day, some of the highschool students took a liking on me and pick on me, kicked me, punched me but I was still in pain that time so I didn't get to fight back.
"And then suddenly, a huge waves of water came from the drainage washed them away from me and then you took my arm and dragged me away from them. You saved me that time so I am very thankful to you, Rus."
Tears are streaming down from my eyes as I hugged his neck from behind. I felt that he put his left hand on my head as he hushed me. You see, even if I'm hard headed, foul-mouthed and vengeful, I care so much for the ones I love the most.
"Stop crying already." And then suddenly my tears stopped from falling. So it was true, his power is Absolute Order. Learning what kind of power he has, I definitely will protect him. I hugged him tightly.
"You stopped my tears." I whispered and then he immediately turned to face me. His bluish brown eyes stared at mine by surprised.
"Ah! No!" Panic rushed onto his face and held my face.
"Um! Ugh!" Dejected he just dried my still wet face from my previous tears. I held his hands and put them down. I smiled at him.
"I'm fine now that I heard your reason and also your voice. I'm happy." I just smiled at him. His voice is so manly, it wasn't so deep, it was a bit airy and like a vocalist of a band. A beautiful yet manly voice.
'It's already nine, you should go to sleep.' His notepad says. I was still laying on his bed with him sitting beside me while reading our textbook.
"Okay, goodnight." I closed my eyes on his bed. I heard him sighed.
"On your room."
"Shh. I'm sleeping." I said still on his bed. I really wanna sleep already 'cause I'm very tired from our defense training and the news they gave us but I still can't sleep. I felt him comb my long waist length black hair, from the top of my head to the pit of my neck and again. And then darkness finally engulfs me.
It was morning when an alarm went off just on top of a dresser beside the bed I'm sleeping in. I put my pillow onto my ear but it was still ringing so I just decided to finally sat down the bed. I just realized that I am now in my room. Did Alex brought me here? Well yeah, probably. I just sighed, answering my own question. I put out my clothes and entered the bathroom installed inside my provided room and washed myself.
It was already 6:30 when I finished my bath and also dressing up when I peaked at Alex's room to see no one so I just headed downstairs and entered the dining room and saw Alex and Miss Mizu eating already.
"Good morning. How's your sleep?" Miss Mizu asked. I sat down beside Alex and started to eat not before I prayed.
"It was fine. Thank you for the food."
"Why are you still on your pajamas?" I noticed that he was still on pj's so I asked him while he eats.
"It's Saturday. And then next week will be your last week in Neorgie Junior High." Miss Mizu started.
"And then, we will finally be in your side to do your so called 'to train' us but you actually want to gain that power for your own good." I just looked down at my food while I said that. I'm not going to apologize for my disrespect, if they want to be respected, they should also respect our own decision and privacy. I heard her sighed and held my hand. I looked up to her and saw her looking at me in the eye.
"Russel, I know this is new to you but you should also open up your mind to us. We just want to help you control your power so that you can use it for your own good."
"For my own good? Really? I am training my power ever since I was a kid! I know now how to control this, I don't want any help." I slammed the hand she was holding at the table that made her startled making me stood up from my seat. She sighed and crossed her arms.
"Is that so? Then let me see what you've got. Come with me at the basement." She said and walked out of the dining room. Just hearing her tone, I know she's mad at me, but I'm madder than them than she knows. I just clenched my fist out of frustration. Goddamn it!
And then I felt Alex held my wrist. I looked at him. He's worried.
"I'm sorry, Alex. I have to protect us from them. I don't want them to use us for their own good." I just sighed and followed Miss Mizu to the basement making Alex's grip loosen and left him at the table. I'm sorry Alex. Thank you for trying to stop me but I have to do this. I have to let them know that we are not like any other kids out there who are gullible and depended to their elder just because we have a unique talent that was given to us. We know how to handle ourselves. We are independent and can live just being ourselves.
I saw her sitting at a wooden box at the center of the basement. I scanned the surroundings. Dusty. And I can even smell rat's feces and soil. Disgusting. It is really that kind of basement where in there are things stored down here that was long forgotten. But good thing that those things are at the sidelines. Nothing will trouble me from attacking.
"So. What do you want me to do?" I asked her who's still looking at me. I heard footsteps at the back and turned to see Alex just a meter behind me with his left hand holding his right elbow just in front of his belly. I turned to Miss Mizu and saw her sea-green colored eyes gleamed from the lighting of the basement. She just sighed and put out a remote and click on it and then, like a shower, water fell down from the pipes making it like it was raining making me drench.
"If you already master your powers, you will not easily be drench." She said making me frown.
"But you didn't even--!"
"If you already master your powers, you can easily make the water stop from flowing."
"I can but--!"
"If you can then why are you drench?" I clicked my tongue and put my hands up and controlled the flow of the showering water towards her but she easily defended herself by an umbrella repelling the water from hitting her. I smiled at myself.
"You didn't stop it, you just bended it. It's not the same from what I told you to do. See, you didn't even tried to stop me from moving by controlling my blood flow. You still got ways to go." She said making me frown again. I'm starting to hate her.
"Look. I know that this is new to you but we just want the best for you. You need us and you know it. You are not the only one who will benefit this kind of situation, Alex will also." She said and looked behind me.
"You two will learn more about your powers if and only if you will come with us. And also you can know more comrades that has the same situation as you two." She then turned to me.
"Please Russel. Think about Alex too. He needs it more than you do. He needs to master his power so that he doesn't have to over think about what he could do to others."
"You don't have to trust our organization, but please trust me. I will not make you two fall from their promises, if that's what you are thinking that I know we aren't."
"I won't trust you either." I told her not looking at her in the eyes. I'm enough of her ramblings. I will talk to Alex later and heard her sighed.
"Fine. But at least trust Alex. He has decided." I suddenly turned at her, surprised. And then turned back to see Alex. He's avoiding my gaze.
"Alex..?" Why? I.. I don't know what to say. I.. I felt like I'm betrayed. I feel like crying. And then my tears fell down together with the water showering me. I crouch down and put my arms hiding my face. I just cried silently as I felt like I've been stabbed in my heart by the person I only want to protect because I don't want him to suffer more than he did with him having a kind of power that can be a temptation. I only want to protect him and then... I don't know what to feel anymore. I just cried my feelings out.
I felt the water droplets stopped thinking that she turned it off and felt a towel on my body as I still on the floor and not looking at them. I heard footsteps, one from behind me, walking directly at the stairway upward, leaving the basement. I peeked through my arms while my tears are still flowing and saw his feet with his slippers on. I felt a pet on my head and then slowly drying my hair.
"I want to protect you too. I know you only want to protect me, I do too. We have been friends ever since 7th grade because you saved me and protected me since. We have learned many things together, started to train our bodies together and I am thankful for that. But I think its not enough. I want to protect you like how you protected me for all these years. If I just stick at your back, I will not grow and I will be not manly enough to protect the only person who have been this important to me than how my parents are. Hedge, I don't even know if they are still important to me though. Only you, Russel, you are the only person in my life who I want to protect for all my life."
I slumped down at him. He held my frame and put my head on his chest that I found calming and warm.
"You're going to get wet." I whispered, enough for him to hear.
"I don't care." And held me tightly.
"I'm sorry. I've become close-minded and selfish. Thank you for being there for me." I whispered as I tugged on his shirt.
"It really pains me to see you cry. This is the second time and it's making me angry at myself because I am the reason why."
I smiled at myself. I can never be angry with this guy huh. Dan it.
"Your fault." I whispered and heard him chuckled.
"Yes. My fault. Forgive me." I just chuckled, pushed myself up and properly covered my body with the towel. Alex stood up as well.
"Dan it. I just showered warm and then showered coldly." I said and started to walk back upstairs, Alex following behind.
"Okay then. The very last day of next week, your graduation ceremony, will be our flight to Tai so you better pack up your things again so that you will just wait until we fly." Miss Mizu just sip her coffee as she said that. We just sat across her as we continued our breakfast after I changed my drenched clothes. I still just looked down at my plate, not saying anything at all nor meeting her in the eye. I'm still guilty but I can't really say that I want to apologize. And then I felt a hand, patting my head and looked up to see Miss Mizu smiling at me, telling me that she's happy that I have accepted my fate and my wrong. I gave a small smile and went back on my breakfast.
"I'm sorry." She started as she just approached us as soon as the graduation ceremony ended. I rose my eyebrow at glanced at Alex who is also witnessing this phenomenon.
"What are you talking about?" I asked her. She glanced back at me and Alex, still embarrassed. Roda just put her right hand on her left arm, caressing it like a flustered baby girl asking her crush out. It's cringe.
"I'm sorry for what we have done to you. I know it will never be gone, the trauma that we have caused you but I hope that we have been forgiven a little bit because you didn't even hesitated to make us think that we have done something to you and we have been punished severely as you two faced us that last defense training we have. I never knew that you two are that strong. So we have sinned you. I'm sorry."
I just looked at Alex as he is also looking back and forth, from me and then to Roda who's still can't look us in the eye. I smirked.
"Oh? You're sorry? I don't even know what you are talking about. Because all these years, I didn't even looked at you to be honest. Your existence doesn't matter to me."
"What?! I have embarrassed myself in front of everybody to please you and then you were just going to tell me that I didn't existed? How dare you!" My smirked even got bigger.
"That's why stop mopping around and get out of my sight." I turned walking away from her. I felt Alex followed me.
"Still dishonest as ever." I heard him hummed. I just rolled my eyes smiling.
"I just don't want to look back anymore. I have to step forward. We have to step up to face what's against us."
And then, Miss Mizu picked us up in front of the gate of Norgie Junior High. A black car was parker as she was leaning onto it while her arms are crossed. She put down her sunglasses smiled at us as we have finally reached her.
"Come on. Hop on. We're ready to fly high up above the Ertha so high. Like a silver crystal at the Skua." She hummed while swaying.
"Weirdo." I whispered. And then hop on the passenger seat behind the driver seat. Alex following, sitting beside me. Miss Mizu's at the rear seat besides the driver. And then, we take off.
The car that was previously a four-wheeled vehicle turned into a Skua car in which it's doors automatically locked as seatbelts are tight around us, preventing us to fall or something. Its outer hinge became wings supporting the vehicle. While its back part became a booster making our vehicle take off faster than Cheetahs.
All in all, it became a Skua Car.
"This is amazing." I murmured. I heard Miss Mizu chuckled so I glanced at her.
"Yes. It is." She said still looking ahead. I glanced outside.
All I can say is stunning, beautiful, elegant, magnificent. I can see the whole Norgie and its neighbor cities from here. The clouds were just a door away from me. I was stunned and just looked at the Skua filled with red orange hue of colors coming from the setting Helio. Still the Ertha is beautiful.
"Oh, we're flying for the next 10 hours so you will just do nothing but wait or maybe read something to ease your listlessness or whatever." Miss Mizu suddenly said making me look at her. I glanced at Alex with his book already out. He noticed me looking at him and tilted his head. Cute. I smiled and slumped down my seat and put my head on his shoulder as I glanced on what he's reading. He slightly turned his book towards me to look at and still continued to read.
"Just gonna sleep all the way. Wake me up when we've arrived." I whispered to him and closed my eyes. I felt him nodded and put his head onto mine. Not that I mind. I felt relaxed whenever I'm besides him. And I just sleep like there's no tomorrow ahead. Not that I care about what our fates will bring us to. But whatever.