Akademya de Majika

AdM80

Natigilan si Felix.

Maya-maya'y napangiti. "You finally called me lolo..." Lumawak ang ngiti niya, sa wakas umabot na sa mga mata. "Feels great, Lonan. I feel great."

Hindi umimik si Law. He can still feel that something's wrong, but he didn't dulge into it, even though he was so curious about it.

Also... He didn't want to admit to himself that he was, in fact, scared.

Yeah. The Law Skullwalker is scared.

Him being scared... I think we shall all, too, be scared.

The next day...

Iro opened an eye.

He closed it too soon. The sunlight coming from the outside through the floor-to-ceiling windows is blinding. He rolled onto the other side of the bed before opening an eye once again. Good thing that side no longer was reached by the sunlight. He was able to open both his eyes.

Bumangon siya at natulala sa kawalan.

He looked like a mess. Well, he was always a mess...

Everything about me is a mess. My life, my family, me...

Napamura siya bago muling humiga sa kaniyang kama. Tinatamad—wala siyang ganang bumangon. He plan to stay on his bed all day—yes, yes, yes, he will never leave his dorm today.

Looking at the blank ceiling, his mind wandered... the memory of yesterday's happenings flashing before his very eyes...

"Why are you doing this?" He asked his mother, voice void of any emotion.

At that moment, it's as if he was Law.

Napahinga ito nang malalim bago siya nito nilingon. "Just... please, let me do this, alright? Let me—"

Hindi niya pinatapos ang ina sa pagsasalita. In a ridiculed voice, he stated, "Let you be a mother to me?" Kunwari ay hindi siya makapaniwala.

He then crossed his arms and looked away. "I thought you quitted being my mother years ago."

Hindi ito umimik at pinagpatuloy lang ang ginagawang pag-aayos ng mga gamit niya. That made his blood boil. No one has the right to neglect him... Kulang sa pansin kasi.

Tuloy ay kung anu-anong masasakit na mga salita ang nasabi ng binata. "Stop acting like a great mother... Oh, wait. Stop acting like a mother to me at all. Ha..." Sumandal siya sa pader at nilagay ang mga kamay sa mga bulsa ng suot na pantalon. "What am I saying?" He scoffed. "You are never one."

He was being rude—yes, he know, but he did not care. He was that selfish.

Hindi pa rin umimik ang ina, kaya lalo lamang uminit ang ulo ng binata. Tumaas na ang boses niya. "Why are you involving yourself in my life again?! Masaya na 'ko na wala ka, nabuhay ako noong wala ka! Bakit ngayon, bumalik ka pa?!"

"Kayo n'ung dati mong asawa, noong nawala kayo, nabuhay naman ako, 'di ba? Kinaya ko mag-isa! Kinaya ko lahat mag-isa! Lahat ng pagpapahirap, pagdurusa—kinaya ko lahat ng 'yon!" He got emotional remembering his childhood... how he begged those monsters to stop, how he cried for help, how much he suffered, how many scars he'd got and how his own parents neglected him.

"Bakit hindi mo na lang gayahin 'yung isa? Nagpapakasarap sa buhay at wala nang inaalala pang anak!" How he hate his father.

So much more than this woman in front of me.

But I hate them both. I hate them. I hate them. How I wish they are not my parents.

Nakasalubong niya ang mga mata ng ina, lumuluha ang mga 'yon... and he will never admit, even to himself, that he felt guilty.

"P-Patawarin mo na 'ko, anak..." Anito, nagmamakaawa. "P-Pakiusap... Patawarin mo na si Mama... Inaamin ko, naging makasarili ako noon... at lubos kong pinagsisisihan 'yon..." Humikbi ito.

"S-Sabihin mo sa 'kin, Iro, a-anak... Ano pa bang kailangan kong gawin para mapatawad mo na 'ko? Ano? Sabihin mo, gagawin ko... Kahit ano, basta mapatawad mo lang si Mama."

There was a long silence, before he decided to break it. "None... Wala kang kailangang gawin," He stated, voice and eyes void of any emotion. "Kasi kahit ano pang gawin mo, hinding-hindi kita mapapatawad." He can see hurt in her eyes. He even got more gui—no, he won't admit that. He will never admit that to himself.

"Wait," There was hope in his mother's eyes when he said that. Napailing siya. "Siguro kung hahayaan mo akong matahimik—kung mawala ka na sa buhay ko, baka sakaling mapatawad kita."

"You did the right thing, Lunaless. You did right thing." Pagkumbinsi niya sa sarili habang nakatingin sa repleksyon sa salamin ng kaniyang walk-in-closet.

He stared at his reflection for a while, but later on, he frustratedly shuffled his messy hair.

Ang plano niya kanina na hihiga lang siya magdamag sa kaniyang kama—kansela, sapagkat ngayon, nagugutom na siya. Wala siyang pagpipilian kundi bumangon at pumunta sa kantina, ubos na kasi ang mga kendi niya.

— a Riddlestory —

He went to where his shirts' rack was and got the first shirt his hand landed on and immediately put it on.

For he was not clearly on his mind, he didn't remember that there was a table where on top of it was a bottle of wine and a box next to his shirts' rack.

Tuloy ay hindi sinasadyang natabig niya iyon.

He heard the sound of a glass shattering and when he looked at the direction of where he heard it, his eyes instantly widened.

I'm doomed!

Lolo will surely kill me!

Ang nabasag kasing bote ng alak ay pansamantalang pinatago sa kaniya ng kaniyang lolo. Kukuhanin daw nito 'yon sa kaniya kapag kailangan na nito muli 'yon.

Ngayon, wala na itong makukuha pa... Basag na, eh.

Nagkalat ang alak na nagmistulang dugo sa sobrang pula hindi sa sahig kundi sa nagkalat pang mga papel sa sahig. Napakunot-noo ang binata. Hindi pamilyar sa kaniya ang mga nasabing papel. Sa katunayan, noon niya lamang nasilayan ang mga 'yon.

He bent down and carefully picked up one, but as he was about to get up, his eyes landed on a familiar bracelet.

Rio Wave Bracelet... the bracelet he got as a gift in his fifth birthday that is given to him by...

Napalunok ang binata.

He got chills as he suddenly remembered what he said last night to the one who gave him that bracelet... "Siguro kung hahayaan mo akong matahimik—kung mawala ka na sa buhay ko, baka sakaling mapatawad kita."

No... I don't mean what I said.

Mama...