Fall Is Beautiful

Chapter 4: A world of puppies and rainbows

"Aim higher- no no not like that! Give me the gun." Hina had been training me for the past week now. It was hard. He woke me up before the sun came up and had me run laps down the road and back. Then, he'd have me hold the fully loaded gun and aim it at him. At first, I couldn't do it. I wouldn't do it. I couldn't aim a loaded gun at my guardian- what if I accidentally shoot him!?

After that, it was when Jafar would be getting up, and so he'd come out and join me in training. He'd run up and down hills with me, do jumping jack contests with me- which he surprisingly won most of the time- and worst of all, Hina had him aim the gun at me. It wasn't loaded this time, though, but still... watching my little brother aim that death weapon at me, his eyes crinkled as if he's also hating this, was extremely tensing.

"You must be prepared for your loved ones to betray you. You cannot let your emotions get in the way of your safety." Hina had explained to me. "And for you, Jafar, you must be ready to betray the people you care about for your own good, along with theirs. These are the main lessons I want you boys to learn. Teach them to each other, learn from each other."

I hated every second of that lesson. Most of the time I'd just outright leave, or Jafar would. Why would Hina do this? How could he do this? Jafar was the only family I had left and he wanted me to be prepared to kill him if necessary... my god...

...

One night- I was driving, Hina was snoring away in the back of the car- I found myself drifting away into my thoughts. Serendine, Laya, Sharrkan, Yamuraiha... I missed them all so much. It hurt so bad. I kept on thinking of Serendine and her smile. How her pink hair brightened up even the darkest days. I missed teasing her with Laya. I missed calling Shar names like Shark. I missed telling Yam that science class was over and having to drag her ass out of the classroom. I missed when I was a kid...

Click

Zzzp.. zzzzzp..

L: damn Shar, you need to brush your teeth more- your breath is rotten.

Sh: Oh shut up, Laya. You only say that because you are the princess that you are.

L: and what's that supposed to mean, exactly?

S: Come on guys, do we really have to argue now? It's pizza night.

Y: Yeah, we should be enjoying the crust, cheese, sauce and pepperoni.

Si: Duh, you can just say pizza.

Y: It's more fun to explain what we're eating.

Sh: I really don't understand you, Yam.

Y: Neither do I.

L: What I understand is that you're both lovers.

Y: We are NOT.

Sh: Why do you keep calling us that?

L: I don't know.

Si: Because you are lovers. It's so obvious.

Sh: Just like you and Serendine?

S: *Gasp*

Si: Oh-ho, you did not just call me and Sere lovers.

S: We could never be lovers- not in a thousand years!

L: Mmm we'll see about that. Let's play spin the bottle!

All: No.

L: Man, ya'll are no fun.