"HAAA!"
"Take a break Red. You've been training for four hours straight now." It was Halo, he's standing by the dojo's entrance with his arms crossed.
"Alright." I walked towards my bag and grabbed my towel. "Why are you here anyway? You're supposed to be out of town, am I right?" I asked.
"I cancelled my appointment with Mr. Lao, I can't leave without you." He said as he walked towards my direction.
"Pfft! What am I? A kid?" He's always like this. Even after what I did way back in the past.
"You're not a kid but you act like one. I need to be around you always 'cause you lose your cool easily." I pouted at what he said but he's right. I can't control myself once I get mad.
"Hey Halo? Let's spar and whoever loses gets to grant the winner's wish. What 'ya think?"
"You sure you can win against me this time?" He asked.
"This time, I'll win!" I answered confidently and with a smile.
"Alright. I'll just go get change." He went to the locker at the corner of the dojo and when he removed his shirt, I saw his scar. A big scar that I've given him. One of the things I'm tryin' to forget.
- -
It was one stormy night. I was on my way home and Halo was with me that night. We were soaking wet when we reached our house. I was so happy that day because after all these years, I'll finally meet my father. He works abroad and this is the first time that I'll be seeing him personally.
"Let's go Halo!" I said happily and when I was about to open the door Halo stopped me. "What's the matter?"
"Something's not right." He said. He moved towards the window and peeked. "Stay here, I'll go first."
"Why? Did something happened?" I asked but he's ignoring me. "Hey Halo!"
He went inside while I stay outside. I don't know what's happening. I peeked through the window and there I saw my mom with a samurai in her hand. Below her is a beheaded body of a man. After what I saw, I ran inside and there I saw the head and when I recognized who it was-- everything went black.
*insert lightning sound*
"Re-- Red?" What happened? Why am I holding a samurai? I looked around but I saw no one besides my father's dead body. "Red." Halo? I looked in front of me and there I saw Halo with his back full of blood facing me. "Agh."
"Halo!" I threw the samurai away and went near him. What the? He was protecting my mom? Why was he protecting my mom? "Look at me Halo! Look at me!" He's now coughing blood out. "Who did this to you?" I asked.
"Do-- don't you re-- member a thing?" He asked in return. "You-- did this." I was stunned when he said that. "Don't mind me *cough* Go help your mom." Help? I looked at her and that's when I noticed that she's also full of blood.
I immediately called for help. They were all brought to the hospital but mom didn't make it. She lost too much blood. I thought that Halo won't make it too but he survived. He's still inside the ICU, he's alive but the doctors are still monitoring him.
Two weeks passed, Halo woke up. He told me everything that happened that night. It was not me who dealt those wounds on my mom, it was my dad. He also said that my mom was just defending herself. I've misinterpreted everything and went berserk for no reason.
"I'm not mad at you Red, okay? I'm mad at myself because I was not able to protect you and your mom from him." But why would my father do that? "Before you went berserk, your mom told me that she left something for you because she knew that this would happen. Check your drawer, she left something there for you." I decided to check what my mom left me after Halo get discharged. I want him to be there with me, just in case something came up again.
After a month, he was discharged but he's not fully recovered yet. I was telling him that he can stay in the hospital longer but he told me that he's okay. We went home together. We checked my drawer together and there we saw a letter inside.
"Go ahead and read it Red. I'll wait outside." I held his hand and asked him to stay with me. "O-- okay."
I opened the letter and started reading what's written inside. It was a letter from my mom. Written inside is the truth. My tears started dripping after I've read everything.
"Are you okay?" He asked as he rubbed my back. I just nodded as an answer.
"I can't believe I tried to kill my mom. The one who took care of me, the one who nurtured me, the one who truly loved me. I tried to kill her just because I saw my father dead without me knowing that she was just protecting me. What kind of daughter am I?" This is the first time that I cried so hard.
"I'm not gonna ask you what's written inside that letter but always remember that I'm here for you, okay? I'll take care of you just like how you and your mom took care of me, I promise." I wiped my tears away and smiled at him.
"Thank you." He smiled in return as he fixed my hair.
- -
SNAP!
"Yow Red, you okay?" It was Halo.
"Ye-- yeah. Let's start?" I asked as I took my stance.
"Alright." Our sparring took almost half an hour. It was a tough sparring match just like our previous matches but this time the result's different. "Well, well, well. It seems like your training has already paid off."
"Yes! Yes! I won, I won!" I said as I jumped around the dojo. "See? I told ya I'll beat ya!" I said happily.
"Fine, fine. What do you want?" He asked with a smile.
"Let's go out tonight. I mean, I wanna eat in a resto. Is that okay?" I asked with a pout. It's because it's been a while since we've had dinner outsider.
"Sure. Just rest for a while before you get change, okay? If you need something I'll be in my room."He walked out of the dojo afterwards and I was left happy hehe!
* * *
