Dominika (Pale As Dead I) | COMPLETED

𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢 - 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛

┗━━━━━━━ ｄｅｅ ━━━━━━━┓

𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝟸𝟽, 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝟼:𝟹𝟶 𝚊.𝚖.

"Oy, gising na."

Slowly, I pried my eyes open and I almost gasped when I saw Shishi's face. Buti na lang, naalala ko na bagong gising ako so baka may morning breath ako kaya hindi agad ako nagsalita.

"Napakatagal mong bumangon. Kanina pa kita ginigising," nakasimangot na sabi niya bago siya napatingin sa unan na ginamit ko. He groaned. "Sabi ko 'wag mong tutuluan ng laway, eh. Ikaw maglalaba n'yan."

"Sorry," nahihiyang sabi ko. God, there was a map na nag-form sa white pillowcase. Sobrang sarap siguro ng tulog ko kaya tumulo ang laway ko. Kadiri.

"Puyat din ako pero hindi tumulo laway ko."

"Okay, Mr. Perfect."

Siniringan niya ako at pinunasan yung sweat sa ulo niya using a white towel. "Kumilos ka na. Baka ma-late pa tayo."

"Nag-workout ka?" I asked. Nakita ko kasi na may mga equipment siya sa balcony niya. "Puyat ka, ah."

Tumaas ang isang kilay niya nang bahagya. "Twenty minutes lang. Wala nang gas yung sasakyan. Mamaya ko pa maaasikaso."

I fixed the couch where I slept. Tiniklop ko yung kumot and put it and the pillow aside. "Magco-commute tayo?"

Nasa kitchen island na siya at nagsimula nang kumain. "Maglalakad."

"What? Seriously?"

"'Wag mo 'kong ma-what what d'yan," nakasimangot pa ring sabi niya habang ngumunguya. "Kumilos ka na. Alas otso ang pasok natin."

"Okay," sabi ko na lang and took out my uniform and things I needed kapag naliligo from the travel bag and went to the second bathroom.

Pagkatapos kong maligo, I saw him sitting on the couch, watching TV. Ang bilis niyang kumilos, he was in uniform na agad. Naka-white shirt and shorts lang siya noong ginising niya ako. Mukhang fresh na rin siya ulit. He was drenched in sweat kanina, eh. Huling kita ko sa kanya, kumakain pa lang siya. Ang dami niya agad nagawa.

Si Shishi, pasaway siya sa pagsusuot ng uniform niya. Sa boys kasi, dapat tucked in yung white shirt. But Shishi kept his untucked. His red tie was always worn quite loosely. And he wore hoodies most of the time. I could understand kasi minsan yung lamig sa loob ng classrooms could become intolerable. The only time I saw him wear our complete uniform was the first day of school, when we were required to wear it. November pa ulit kami required magsuot no'n until the end of school year.

So kapag yung complete set ng uniform ang suot namin, Shishi also wore his long-sleeved shirt untucked and he did not wear his blazer. He just always hung it over his shoulder, kagaya noong first time ko siyang makita. He always rolled the sleeves all the way up hanggang ilalim ng elbows niya.

Kahit once ko pa lang siya nakikita na gano'n, I saw a lot of pictures of him wearing it that way. There were tons of posts in Kurai Miwako about him. There was also a forum that was titled PAD Facts and one post in it detailed how similar each older member of PAD was to another younger member. It was cringey when I first read it—kasi who had the time to really analyze them one by one and make that shitty blog?—but as soon as I finished it, na-realized ko na totoo nga in some ways.

Kuya Warren was related to Paris. Na-gets ko agad yung resemblance nila kasi parehas silang mapang-asar and makulit. Kuya Clark was analogized to Shishi. This, I got easily as well. Parehas silang mainitin ang ulo at barumbado. Only difference was, mas friendly si Kuya Clark at mas suplado si Shishi. And Kuya Chico was likened to Kyo. At first, I didn't get it. But the blog explained how and I understood why. In some ways, they were alike. They were both quiet, polite, and very nice.