6 Criminal

"Today is a-" *hic* "-a good day!" *hic* "...hahahahaaa!"

The old man stumbled through the alleyway, waving his bottle of beer to and fro in high spirits. He hummed a little tune and took off his hat, waving both items in the air as he walked forward, spinning around and around in poor circles.

Suddenly, he tripped over a crack in the pavement and fell on his face, sending his bottle flying a couple of feet away. He sniffed and pushed himself back up on his shaky legs, his good mood taking a drastic turn.

He gave a mighty roar and drove his fist in the brick wall that stood next to him, breathing heavily. He stood there for quite a while, his fist still pressed against the wall.

Then he pulled away and inclined his head towards the sky, wiping his nose with the sleeve of his oversized, worn jacket. He took in a deep breath and shouted, his voice loud and raspy.

"Rune!"

He shook his fist at the air, staggering a few steps back.

"Three years, Rune!" he thundered again. "Where are you?"

He looked back down on the ground and kicked the bottle of beer even further away.

Three years have passed, and the criminal underground has changed so much. It changed so, and not many people liked the new way it ran, nor who were the ones running it. In fact, this old drunk man hated it.

What happened that night three years ago, it was still a mystery.

What happened? How could Rune have died?

No. No way. Rune? Dead? That's just funny.

"Hahaha..." *hic*

The old man swayed back and forth as he made his way slowly through the alley. "Rune," he murmured inaudibly to particularly no one. "This old man is waiting for you to come back. It's so boring without you. Chase those motherf*ckers out of the criminal board, Cereus and his little wussies don't belong there-" *hic* "-I started my little gang just for you, kid."

*hic*

"Then we'll go back to the good old days-" *hic* "-when we had our little wars. You little b*stard. Unless Cereus is able to show me your dead body, I won't believe you are dead."

He took a slow step and ran himself into the wall, holding himself up with both hands against the brick and mortar. "If you don't come back for me...come back for your friend-" *hic* "-Cereus, he...!"

He lowered his head and vomited everything he had downed in the last hour on the corner of the alley.

"Euwgh..."

He coughed and wiped his chin against his sleeve, trying to shake the buzz out of his ears. "Take revenge, you brat," he continued to murmur.

"Come back for your friend...Zeke. Cereus- Cereus...Cereus killed him. Cereus killed Zeke. Zeke is dead. Take your revenge, avenge his death," he said, punching the wall.

He cried out in agony as pain shot through his knuckles to his wrist. He clutched his hand tightly to his chest, hissing in pain. "Argh!" he shouted as he kicked the wall repeatedly until he tripped and fell again.

He pushed himself up once more and growled. "Rune, I'm waiting...everyone's waiting for your return. Your body disappeared that night, there's no way you're dead. I don't believe Cereus' little f*ck story. Help us take everything back..."

Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

He jumped away and whirled around, coming face-to-face with a red-haired lady and a man. Both were taller than him, and they smelled like...

He jumped further back, snarling. "You are officers," he spat. "What do you want?"

The lady stepped forward with a sly smile on her face. "Do you perhaps know the name...'Old Man Drunkard'?" she asked.

The old man froze. "'Old Man Drunkard'?" he repeated. "Who are you? Who gave you that name? Only that little brat calls me that!"

The lady smacked her lips. "He's the one," she said to her colleague.

"Hey! I asked you who gave you that name?" he demanded as he took a couple more steps back.

The detective sneered. "Oh, we can't tell you that information. But since I don't like that boy, I'll tell you just a bit. He's a young man in his early twenties, very mysterious, very rude. Maybe you know him, maybe you don't!"

His eyes widened.

Rune?

Can it really be?

Hell, it has to be...

"Take him down," the lady ordered as more officers came running towards him.

The old man darted his eyes back and forth. "What do you think you're doing?" he shouted. He can't be caught now. He needed to find Rune.

He needed to bring him back.

He turned and started to run as the officers drew closer, drawing weapons from their belts. "Chase him!" they shouted.

The old man grimaced and braced himself. "Get lost, you f*ckers!" he shouted.

He leaped into the air and sliced his hand across the air, letting a gust of wind carry his feet higher into the air and away from the pursuing officers.

"He's a f*cking aerokinetic mage! Shoot him down!" roared the commanding lady in charge. "Hurry up, d*mn it!"

The old man turned his head to see the red-haired lady's raging expression, boiling as red as her hair with hatred and anger as bullets whizzed past his head and body up into the sky.

Sorry, lady, you can't take me today...

_______________

Today is the twenty-third of March, Gray thought as he stared at the little stand-up calendar that Milo, his neighbor's son, had given him a couple of days ago.

It's been a whole week since he had got his job at the corner store, and things were already looking up. He had paid his rent with that money he got from the police station, and Althea was kind enough to give him an advanced payment so he could buy some things for himself and fix up his apartment.

But the most important part about this week was in fact, that kid.

Okay, maybe he wasn't a kid, Emrys was probably only three to six years younger than him.

Gray still wasn't sure how old he should consider himself to be. Twenty-one? Or should he be twenty-four? If he died at the age of twenty-one and was reborn three years later, shouldn't he still be twenty-one? You don't age when you're dead, right?

But anyway, Emrys seemed sincere and genuine about his request. He went to the store every day after school, even during the weekends to help Gray while he worked.

He's smart, Gray thought with a smile. He made sure never to bring up the matter more than once each time he visited...

To be honest, Gray himself very perplexed by this situation. No one had ever come up to him in the past like that and ask for help. And what Emrys wanted exactly, he wasn't entirely sure, he only was sure that the kid wanted help with his prowess.

But how was he supposed to teach another person how to use their powers?

Gray sighed and changed into a new set of clothes he bought at the nearby stores yesterday. He grabbed his keys and headed out of the apartment in the direction of the store.

He might as well just say yes to Emrys' request now that he's been asking for a whole week. He'll just figure out what to do along the way, he's sure something will come to mind by then.

If Emrys really wanted to follow him, their upcoming adventures will bound to become a roller coaster ride.

What time was it? Gray wondered.

Should I give the kid a surprise?

Then, I'll go earlier and find him at his school...

_______________

Emrys walked through the empty halls of his school alongside the windows, thinking about what he should do next.

When will Gray give him an answer? That man was unpredictable. One day he would look satisfied with him, another day he would just ignore him completely.

Was Gray really the right mage?

"Hi, Emrys!" a teacher greeted as she walked past him. "Its break, you don't go outside with the other students?"

"Ah, no," Emrys answered. "I like staying inside."

...he may have many admirers, but it's not like he had any real friends, anyway.

"Oh, alright then." The teacher waved at him and smiled before she disappeared around the corner.

Emrys turned to stare out the window and down at the students who were milling about in the courtyards, playing basketball, or just talking with their friends.

These people all seemed happy with where they were in life, but how come he was the only one who wasn't?

Suddenly, a voice spoke up right next to his ear, jerking him out of his thoughts.

"Hey," said a familiar, sly voice.

"What the-!" Emrys jumped aside, scared out of his wits, adrenaline already pumping through his veins. He lowered his arms slightly as he realized the person was Gray.

Gray stared at his hands with his dark eyes, smiling crookedly. "So you're a cryokinetic mage," he mused out loud.

Emrys quickly straightened up his composure and stared down at his hands where Gray was looking at. Ice crystals had formed and spiked on his hands given the fright just moments earlier.

Emrys pursed his lips and pulled them back, trying to do it as quickly and efficiently as he had seen Gray do before. He struggled for a moment before the crystals fell away and disappeared.

Really, it wasn't as easy as how Gray made it look.

Emrys sighed inwardly and glanced up at Gray expectantly. "Why are you here? How'd you get in?"

Gray stared at him stupidly through the long strands of his black hair that fell in his eyes. "Why, I walked in, of course! Isn't that how legs work?"

Emrys' mouth fell open, exasperated. "No, that's not what I meant-"

Gray smiled and stepped forward, looking entirely different with his new black windbreaker and ripped jeans. "I know, but that doesn't matter," he said. "Today, I came...to say 'okay'."

Emrys froze on his spot as Gray turned to look out the window. He agreed? After a whole week of going to the shop, it worked? "Y-you'll help me?" he asked, just to make sure.

Gray continued to stare outside the window, peering at the students down below. "Isn't that what you wanted?"