On this busy afternoon, in this cafe, the seven of us talked about our future.
"Are you sure you refuse that, Captain?" Vivi asked, looking at me with an expression trying to reassure me.
"It is okay. After all, it was I who had decided that."
"But... Captain..."
"You don't call me to captain again, because I'm not your captain anymore."
Even though I forbid it, Vivi still calls me captain. However, because I kept forcing her to call me captain, she finally hesitated to call me that.
"Cap—Daylon, we're fine with being expelled, but what about you?" Mulyadi asked.
And it wasn't just Vivi who hesitated to call me that, but them too.
I understand what Mulyadi meant. The four of them are quite famous and their faces can be recognized by many people, so they still get the jobs they want, jobs that play the Mobile Heroes game as professional players or casual players. So, they can know what their future fate will be like.
I am different from them. I am not widely recognized by the public, even in this country of Indonesia. I hide my identity, so society will never know the real me. Plus, now Evan, the new owner of the Bengawan Club, has taken action to prevent other clubs from signing me. Therefore, I will not know what kind of job I will have in the future. Maybe I became a beggar, or maybe I became an office slave, or maybe I became unemployed and did nothing.
It's bad, but I'm the one who made that choice.
"That's right, Cap—Daylon," Egy said, looking where I was sitting. "Even though I'm just a substitute, I still get a job. Maybe in the future, I will be a streamer or YouTuber. But if you, Cap—Daylon—what about you?"
Egy wanted to call me captain, but he tried hard not to. He struggled, his mouth struggled. I salute his struggle.
"This is bad... bad," Firly said. "Maybe there will be several clubs who will sign me if they find out that I am not under contract with the Bengawan Club. I can still play the game as a pro. But how about you, Cap—Daylon? You will..."
Yeah, surely there will be many clubs who want to recruit Firly because of her good ability. Firly will get a new club after many people know that she is not under contract with the Bengawan Club. I'm very sure of that.
"I'm going to be a great player."
With that said, Anton stood up from his chair. After that, he sat back down quietly and without any clarity.
"You're not very clear, Anton!" Hanna said. "Now is not the time to show that you are a great player, but to remember all the services of our captain; Daylon. May you rest in heaven, Captain. And besides, Anton, you're just a substitute, aren't you? Why do you say that you are a great player?"
"You're so noisy, poor woman."
"Oi. You're exaggerating, Anton."
Those were inappropriate words for her to say. To be honest, by saying that I should rest in heaven, she already assumed I was dead. She was the one who was exaggerating. But oddly enough, she said that Anton was exaggerating by saying "poor woman" to her.
Instead of having to take care of them, I chose to convey what they were worried about, what happened to me.
"I can't say too much about it, but I know that every time there is a meet, there will be a farewell. Maybe today will be my farewell day with you guys here. So, don't worry about what my future will be like. Just relax, live your life as you can, and believe in it. That way, it already makes me happy."
"Cap—Daylon..."
I understand for sure they don't want this breakup to happen, but it can't be helped, it's not my will and I can't do anything for them this time. I still have my limits as a human, so there's no way I can overcome this problem that has happened to us. I chose to give in, relent and act as my last duty as their captain.
This way, at least they knew that I wouldn't betray them for accepting Evan's offer. Even though in the end I was the one who was sacrificed in this case.
"No, it can't be like this," Firly said, looking disapproved of what I said. "You don't keep on sacrificing yourself, Captain."
"I told you, call me-"
"Whatever!"
She seemed angry with me, even to the point of cutting me off.
"I don't accept this. I'm going to complain to FEI and ask them to double-check what that guy did to you. I will-"
"Thank you, Firly. You are a good woman, and I am glad that you have been my comrade in arms. But sorry, this is a reality you have to accept."
"…No, I don't want to accept this."
"You should be aware that that man has officially become the new owner of the Bengawan Club. You saw the evidence, didn't you? So, whatever he does, want to fire me or stop me, he can do all of that. He has the money to do that. So you have to accept that, Firly."
"But..."
"Once again, thank you very much, Firly, for worrying about the future of this former captain of yours."
Since I was little, I was always taught about the facts by my bad environment. I have always believed that the fact that I was poor and became a delinquent was true. Therefore, I will never be able to change the fact that has already happened. Even if you can, that's before it happens.
I was too late, too late to leave the club before the man arrived. I was too late to predict all this and instead focused on building a house for my mother and sister. I was so focused that I forgot that I was being threatened during Tournament N2. I was too late to prevent this problem, and I realized it.
"Captain… why… why do we have to separate like this? Isn't there some other way to part?"
While Firly was talking, I saw several people were watching us.
Right time.
I can predict what will happen next. I could tell that people who were looking at us would approach us, asking for photos or autographs.
And that's right, immediately a lot of people came to our table.
Yeah, you could say we're quite famous. Well, it's actually like that, because we won a lot of matches and have been on private television shows, and that was without me.
Before the crowd approached us, I stood up from this chair.
"We will meet again, whether it's as comrades or foes. For 3 years, we have made history in this team. Thank you, thank you for accepting me as your captain. See you later, Firly, Vivi, Mulyadi, Firly, Egy, Anton, and Hanna. The six of you are my great comrades."
After I said that, I walked over, past the dense crowd, and left my comrades there.
"Captain..."
I can guess that they didn't call me. I'm sure they appreciate me not revealing my identity to so many people. Therefore, when I left them, I didn't hear anyone calling my name.
***
"Thank you."
I came out of the convenience store after buying a pack of cigarettes. Then, I continued my journey to return to my family's residence.
Since I now don't have a job, and I can't be extravagant in spending money, I decided to walk there even though it would be quite a distance.
Taking off the mask and putting it in my pocket, I lit a cigarette and walked to the crosswalk.
I was late when I got there because the crossing light was already red. So it took me 30 seconds to wait and was able to walk to the other side.
The precious thirty seconds I used to wait.
On the other side of the street, which was quite quiet before, now many people were waiting to cross like me. There were 7 people there, 5 males and 2 females. They must be office slaves dressed modestly and formally.
Their number will increase because there are 2 males wearing jackets running towards them. Therefore, their number is odd, nine people.
At this second I take advantage of my time to wait to be able to cross there.
While watching the two males, I continued to wait.
However, the moment one of them showed something in his hand, my gaze immediately turned to a woman wearing a white coat who was there, right across from me.
It was a knife, a knife held by that person. He must have wanted to kill that woman.
I could guess that from what the man holding the knife saw. His eyes were fixed on the woman, filled with hatred and vengeance. I can feel it even if it's just from his eyes. I can predict what will happen next.
The woman is in danger.
I quickly ran straight to where the woman was.
I kept running even though there were many passing vehicles. I kept running even though I knew that I too was in danger. I kept running even though I didn't know the woman.
Seeing the two men getting closer, I increased my running power to arrive faster than them. I can predict that this time I won't be late.
"Watch out!"
I grabbed her hand, put my arm around her, and managed to prevent the man from stabbing her.
"Eh?" She was confused by what happened.
However, when I managed to prevent that, my palm was badly injured from being hit by the knife. I pushed the knife away with my hand so it wouldn't stab the woman.
The moment the knife pierced the palm of my right hand, the man pulled the knife and tried to attack me.
Even though my right hand is sore and injured, I can still use this right hand to hit it.
PUK!
My punch hit him right in the face, sending him flying there.
Since I knew that it was not only the man who intended to kill this woman, I quickly hit another man wearing a jacket.
Some people quickly grabbed them and some beat them. Meanwhile, this woman, whom I managed to save, had a confused look on her face.
"Y-You okay?"
"Ah. I'm fine."
I'm lying, I'm not in good shape. My right palm is torn, and it's quite deep. This wound continues to bleed. So, I'm not in good shape.
"I'll call-"
"No, it's not necessary. I'm fine."
Again, I lied to her.
"But that hand of yours..."
"Rather than caring about me, you better find out about them. You seem to be hated by them, Miss."
"…Your hand is injured. Your hand must be treated immediately."
I had reassured her that I was fine, but she instead focused solely on me, not those who intended to kill her.
She should have realized that she was in danger, but she cared about me. It was very inconvenient for me.
"Let's go to my hospital now!"
"No need."
"Why? Your hand is injured."
I watched her face focused on me, saw her clean and shining skin, saw her long jet black hair, saw her beautiful eyes, and realized that this woman was the perfect woman for a woman.
"Let's go to my hospital! You can't refuse that! I don't know what makes them hate me, but I have to take care of you first who has helped me. Therefore, let's go to the hospital now!"
She spoke like my mother, ordering and coercing me, and that made me respond with silence.
Therefore, I could only smile at her without saying a single word.
"This is not the time to be cool, you need to be taken to my hospital right now!"
"..."
"Come on!"
It's not that I intend to refuse her help, but because of my undetermined circumstances, I was forced to leave her. Because at this time I need the love of a "mother", who is currently waiting for me to come home.
I left her without a word, even making her confused as to why I refused her help. Even so, once again, since I could predict what would happen next, which would be where a lot of people would flock to this place, I was able to get away from it without her being able to follow and find my whereabouts.
"Wait!"
It was her voice, sounding quite loud to my ears.
I ignored it, kept walking away from this place and trying to hold back the pain.
"Ah… how unlucky I am today. Mama, I hope that tonight you will make me my favorite dish. It seems… I want to cry for the misfortune I had today in your lap, Mama."