Making a decision

Within the next next days, they went around doing their daily jobs as usual. They would laugh and joke when they were together. But anytime they were left alone, the words of Old man will replay in their heads. He was going to train them to become demon hunters.

On Friday evening, Jato went back to his house, he was finding it difficult to make a decision. They had previously cleaned up all the goo so the house was neatly arranged and empty. The emptiness of the house brought tears to his eyes., he looked over to the kitchen and could vividly picture his grandma preparing something for him, he looked at the chair she loved sitting on, she always said it was the most comfortable.

He could picture her sitting there and scolding him for doing something wrong. He walked over to the room where he last saw her., where she had died., he remembered coming into that room, and he remembered how the demon had attacked them...

"NOOOOO.... He screamed in fear as he pictured grandma being attacked.. He breaks down.., this is exactly why he could not live here alone..., he was surely going to go insane..

" I want to help catch the bad guys grandma but I'm scared.., I'm just so scared..., tell me what to do grandma.., please tell me what to do.....

Back at home, Zairo was also having the same problem as Jato. He could not make a choice. He knew deep down that he wanted to catch bad guys, but he was not sure about demons. Since Old man started training him, he felt he was strong enough to face anything, but that goo demon proved that he knew nothing. He could not imagine what would have happened to him that day if Chinju had not intervened, he would probably be a pile of stinking goo.

The thought of him being defeated again scared him. Definitely there would be stronger demons than that goo demon. What will happen if he becomes a demon hunter, and ends up facing a very strong demon, what if he is not capable enough, what was he supposed to do.. He ran his fingers through his hair over and over again out of frustration as if the answer to his current predicament would fall out of his hair. All these confusing things filled his head till eventually, he slept of.

Chinju kept on telling herself that she was strong enough., both physically and mentally. She really wanted to be a demon hunter but she was scared.., scared of herself.., scared of the kind of life that awaits her if she chooses to become a demon hunter..,

"Old man Sam really is bad.., he should have just made it compulsory and not given me a choice..... This was what she was thinking when she also drifted to sleep..

That night, Old man went around checking up on all three of them, Chinju and Zairo were already asleep when Jato entered the house. Old man was sitting on a chair waiting for him.

"you're back? Old Man says..." yes I'm sorry I came back late I was at grandma's" Jato replied with his head down... "I don't think you have eaten yet, wash up, eat your food and go and rest...." alright Old Man"Jato replies.

Old Man stands up and turns to go inside his room, but he pauses.. "Jato".... "yes Old Man?....." no matter what your decision is tomorrow, your grandma would be proud of you".... He says and walks into his room..

**********************

The long awaited Saturday is finally here. That morning, It was weird because Old man could not find any of them when he came out of his room. He went to Zairo's room but it was empty, then he went to Chinju's room, it was also empty. Jato was not in either. "where could they have gone to?? Old Man asked himself. He went to the back, hoping maybe they were already in the training basement waiting for him, but the flowerbed was still above the door that led to the basement so obviously, they were not there.

The store was open though, they had cleaned the house. So where did they all go to, he kept asking himself, it was just 7:30am. Then a thought came to him.... 'did they run away??... Were they too scared to make a final decision that they ran away from home?... All three of them??.... He tried pushing the thought away from his head, but it kept on coming back. The thought of them running away from home made him panic, so he started calling out their names frantically.....

"Zai!!.. Jato!!... Chinju....

He called out hoping one of them would answer, but their was no response. He decided to go outside and look for them.

" Old Man you're awake".... Old Man hadn't stepped out of the wack gate when he heard Zairo's voice...

"Good morning Old Man".... Chinju and Jato chorused.... He had never been happy to see anyone or hear anyone's voice like this before. He let out a deep sigh of relief..... "Where did you go to??he asked them...." Grandma Pat came this early morning and told us she just got back from her fruit farm and that we should come help her in offloading her fruits ".... It was only now that he noticed Jato holding a bowl of fruits.

" Oh.. So that's what happened.., I thought that..... "you thought that what Old Man Sam?? Chinju asked..." it's nothing, don't worry about it.... What are you still doing standing there, come inside and wash up so we can have breakfast.....

*********************

After breakfast, Old Man sat in the store for a while before heading to the training basement. He was giving them time to get ready. He really wished to see all three of them down there. When he got to the back, the door to the basement was already open, he could see the light was on.

He was really happy, he was happy that they chose to learn the ways of a demon hunter.... He slowly went down the stairs, but to his disappointment, it was only one person that was standing there. It was Chinju.

Truth be told, he was disappointed that Zairo and Jato did not show up but he was also surprised and happy that Chinju did. If anyone was not going to come, he was expecting that anyone to be Chinju. But there she was, being very brave.

"You came?.... She nodded in response.." I'm glad you did, although it is a pity that Zairo and Jato did... He was still talking when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He waited patiently to see who it was.

"Old man, I don't think I will ever get a chance to be fat again, coming down these stairs daily will not let that happen"....he said as he came closer to Old Man.. It was Jato...,Jato was here... Old man was really happy to see him... "your grandma would be proud of you" he says, Jato nods in agreement...

Now if Zairo would just come at this moment, it would be perfect. Old man kept on looking at the stairs, hoping to see him coming down but he did not.

"well I guess it's just the three of us" he says....

"what about me?? There faces light up as they here his voice, they all turned to the stairs. He came matching down the stairs like a superhero from a movie...

" You just have to get the spotlight don't you??.... Jato asks teasingly....