8 Rainbow

Now, Guaracy was in the middle of a crowd, in a dark street, reliving his first day of school. Obviously he would rather take classes in the morning, but as the majority of the students worked, the school only offered classes at night.

The front of the school was very crowded, because it was the only part of the street well lit, however Guaracy didn't have to worry about that, most of the people avoided being near him.

Guaracy has let his hair grow, in an unsuccessful attempt to hide his scars and the mangled ear, but as his scar started in the cheek he couldn't really hide it.

The biggest problem with the scar is that people are always inviting me to a gang… and the police love to stop me, Guaracy thought as he walked through the school corridors.

The only difference between this school and the jail is the painting... four gates in a single corridor... even the tube TV is inside a cage.

"Guaracy?"

He turned and saw a boy smiling while looking at him.

"Paulo?... hadn't you moved?"

"Yes, but it didn't work... It's great to see you man..."

"That sucks... are you going back to your grandma's house?"

"Yes... Do you remember what I told you, that my father got a job in the countryside?"

"Yes, he was like a judo teacher, if I'm not mistaken".

"That's right, but since it didn't work out, he'll open one in my grandma's garage... would you be interested in participating?"

"Hm… yeah… it seems cool"

"Tomorrow, Why don't you stop by the house?... ah... man... what is this scar?"

"I was shot…."

"Damn... how was it?"

"Ah... I'll explain later, the story is long and upsetting..."

Before Paul could keep asking, they heard "Paulo who is he?..."

A girl was walking towards them, she was holding a book, her uniform was all personalized, but what stood out the most was the light blue hair contrasting with her dark skin.

"Guaracy, this is my cousin Yara"

"Hi.."

"What a badass scar..." she said.

"what…?"

"You would be awesome doing cosplay... we can even participate in events..."

"What hell are you talking about ??"

Paulo looked at him and said "haha... Don't worry... she'll keep talking about it..."

*

*

After 20 days, Guaracy was starting to get used to living with his uncles, he trained Judo with Paulo and Yara in the afternoon, in the morning he helped in the family's business, that is, selling water and other items on the beach.

After walking 8 hours in the sun and selling a good part of the merchandise, he rested for two hours and went up the hill towards the house of Paulo's grandparents, as they were one of the first in the settlement their house was very large, in front of the house there was a garage of about 10m wide that served as a dojo, the facade had a simple sign with the name of the dojo and the name of Paulo's father, Lucas Bellini Kobayashi.

As Paulo's mother is an African descent he can be considered a typical Brazilian. As there was little time for class to start, Paulo and Yara were already in Kimono talking to the other students at the gate, Paulo is 1.72m, with wavy black hair, he has light brown and slightly almond shaped eyes, Yara was a few inches taller than Guaracy at 1.68m, her curly hair was, today, in a purple shade.

Guaracy greeted his classmates and ran to change, the room was simple, but they had enough mats to avoid accidents, when he returned they had already started the class, Guaracy ran to his place and started to follow the instructions.

After class, Guaracy and some other students decided to train a little more, Paulo and Yara stayed to give some tips to the group's newbies, as they trained since childhood, Lucas used to let the two go over the main moves.

After being thrown for the twentieth time, Guaracy was on the floor panting and covered in sweat "hey Paulo, when are we going to learn techniques like punches, knees or how to defend ourselves from someone armed?"

"Hmm…. We will teach some self defense techniques, but our focus is more on competitions "said Paulo.

"But… I'm not going to participate in championships, what I really need is to avoid dying on the street" said Guaracy, still breathless.

"You can't dodge bullets... but you will definitely be able to defend yourself" Said Paulo as he held out his hand for Guaracy to get up.

Guaracy didn't have time to answer when he heard the teacher calling the group "Guys, that's enough for today…. do not forget that next week the qualifier starts… "

"Wow... it must have passed 40 ° C today..." said one of the students as he was going to change, Paulo, Yara and Guaracy started to rearrange the mats for the next class.

"Oh, Guara, do you want to have lunch with us on Sunday? My grandmother's lasagna is amazing" said Paulo.

"It sounds good," said Guaracy.

"I'll try to come, but I don't know if I can get there on time, my friends and I managed to close that order that I had told you guys about, it took a while, but the owner finally approved the art" said Yara excitedly.

"Congratulations..."

"And the best part is that in addition to painting the facade, we convince them to decorate some internal walls", she continued.

The next day, Guaracy was walking on the beach announcing his products, I can't wait for Sunday… Last time, I had pasta and some sushi. The annoying thing is that they keep inviting me to go to church with them.

"Our focus is for competitions..." murmured Guaracy shortly before seeing a large group of people.

The characteristic music denounced why they were there, these capoeira circles were common in the community and at his school, this one in particular, was very lively, there were people of various ages training, teaching or just having fun.

Capoeira was created to look like a dance, the movements are more acrobatic and rhythmic with the idea of ​​hiding the combat side, even today it is more focused on the cultural side, many still train and teach the techniques of self-defense.

When Guaracy arrived, a couple was demonstrating some movements, hm... I didn't know that the movements were so cool... that's why there are so many people watching, they must be professionals...

The names of the movements are a bit funny, some are names of animals and others are like blessing and rainbow...

He watched for a few minutes and went back to selling on the beach, the presentation was really cool... I can search on the internet for some more techniques from them. The next day Guaracy passed by the same part of the beach and they were in the same place.

Guaracy didn't even notice that he started passing there every day to watch the group. A week later, while he was looking at the training, one of the instructors got out of the circle and walked over to Guaracy.

He came over smiling and said, "Do you want to come and train with us? we...".

"No, thank you! I was just looking... "Guaracy took the styrofoam box quickly and was about to leave when he continued to speak.

"Wait! it won't cost you anything, I don't know if you have noticed, but we need one more to complete the pairs ".

"I don't know... I still have a lot of things to sell..."

"Okay! We will be here all morning, so if you change your mind just say so... ".

"Hum ok, thanks!.."

Bewildered, Guaracy was about to continue selling his merchandise on the beach again when he realized that he had no reason to refuse the offer.

"Yes, I do want to learn"

"Sure!" the old man held out his hand and continued" My name is Francisco "

Guaracy talked to him for some time before saying goodbye, he accelerated to finish his job a little earlier so he could train with them for 1h before the group stopped for lunch. The class was really fun and the group was very welcoming to him. From there, Guaracy began to attend all classes.

*

*

6 months later, Guaracy had a styrofoam box under his arm and in his other hand a bag with sunscreen and other things, he was advertising the products when he saw Paulo, Yara and some other classmates playing beach football.

"Hey Guara, come and play with us," said several of the group.

"I can't right now... I still have some goods to sell..."

Yara looked at the others and said "If we all help, each one takes a little and we finish selling quickly"

"No need, you can..."

Yara didn't let him continue, she pulled him aside and whispered, "Stop being silly! Have you forgotten how the championship went? he was all depressed, I only managed to convince him to get out today "

Guaracy scratched his head and "He looked like he was fine! and he even said that the 4th place was... "

"silly... with everyone there, what do you think he would say?... you will play with us!" she turned to the others and "Come on guys! it will be quick... I get the hats".

The others in the class hesitated a little, but there weren't many products and they wanted to help, so each took a little and in half an hour, Guaracy had already sold more than he would sell in 2 days.

They stayed on the beach all afternoon and decided to stop at a snack bar before returning home.

"Did you hear about the disappearances?" said one of the boys.

"It must be more of a faction dispute, as always..." said Guaracy.

"I don't think so... I heard that when they were looking for one of the victims, one of the witnesses said that the girl disappeared in midair" said Yara.

Paulo, smiling said "Are you telling me that aliens did it?... haha ​​... the guy was probably high..."

They continued talking about aliens and school... The group stayed there for another hour, before they realized that if they didn't go up now, they would be late for school.

While the others were already going up the street, Paulo still with an afflicted countenance said "Hey? Do you guys want to go to the mall? I'm not in the mood to go to class today... "

Yara excitedly said "Cool! I was planning to watch the last Avengers movie, Guaracy, did you watch the previous one?"

"I have never seen any of them..."

After going home to store things and get dressed, they spent a few hours having fun at the mall and ended up staying a little longer than planned, they had to walk through the dark streets of the community after 10 pm.

As they were going up a staircase, Guaracy couldn't resist and ask "so, Paulo, how are you feeling?"

Paulo was already rehearsing a lie, when he rethought and said "To be honest, I'm not really well... I really needed to win that championship..."

Guaracy smiled and put a hand on his shoulder "Oh man, don't worry much about it! There is no point in getting discouraged now, for sure you are going to do well next time!"

"You don't understand... if I had won, I would be able to participate in an international championship. And now it will take too long for me to have another chance like that..." Paulo looked at the dark and dirty streets, "I... hate this place! I can't wait to get out of this hell... "

*

*

Guaracy heard Ni Wodàyn say "Let's take a closer look at your recent memories, let's see if any of them explain your appearance in my world"

This memory was very recent, it takes place ten days after Francisco's wake and only 15 days before Guaracy end up in the forest, the capoeira teacher spent most of his life teaching children and trying to improve the lives of people in the community, but as every good deed has its punishment, he was killed when the police thought that the drill in his hand was a weapon.

Guaracy was in the second year of high school, more precisely in the library.

Because in that year, they weren't lucky enough to stay in the same class, they always spent the break and a few hours before class in the library studying for the entrance exam.

Yara always seemed to have a book in her hands, she sat down next to him and said "Did you see Paulo today? he never misses school"

"I don't know... did you try to call him?"

Guaracy hadn't yet taken Francisco's death well, the capoeira circle continued, but he didn't feel like going anymore.

"I called, but he doesn't answer"

"Maybe he is grounded... after class we can go to the dojo, this book over there, is it new?"

"Yes, and it is great! it is about the true story of a Chinese woman who was captured by a pirate, seized power and expanded, getting to a point that she controlled 300 ships and a total crew of almost 40,000 pirates ".

"Cool... when you're done, lend me."

"Ok... so… you said you were going to a tribe, with your family… how was it?... "

"We came back this morning... My uncles went to have a service there..."

"And how is it with the tribe?"

"The atmosphere was very tense... the conflict with the loggers is getting more and more serious... but the visit was cool... I got to know some relatives, only the air is weird..."

"Haha... It's just that you're used to the constant pollution..."