From the Ashes II

Nari had a very deep impression of Leandro. Anyone who came into contact with him would say the same.

It was on a sunny day of April that Nari met Leandro, upon being instructed to do so by Hari, her Unnie. She had been very guarded back then. A little intimidated too. Leandro, based on first impressions only, didn't appear to be particularly friendly.

She decided that she didn't like him.

For a child her age, that was the ultimate sentence that would shut off any avenues of friendship.

She and Leandro weren't on bad terms. He had always treated them with nothing but respect. It just so happened that the first impressions weren't exactly the best of the best.

At least, that was how it was supposed to be.

The neutral relationship she pursued to maintain with Leandro was irrevocably changed a week later, when a man had momentarily lost his grip on the leash of his dog, the latter of whom eagerly took the opportunity to run towards her, saliva dripping from its maw.

Everything had happened so fast that Nari didn't have enough time to make her escape. Nails scratched the asphalt. The dog leaped, and a gasp tore through her throat.

She inadvertently screwed her eyes shut as she stumbled back.

"No, Chewer! Stop!"

The man cried out, running desperately.

Nari was frozen, shoulders hunched and trembling. It was… painless? Her confusion made her brave enough to crack her eyes open. In front of her stood a familiar back.

It was someone she didn't think highly of.

Leandro.

He turned his head around. His unwavering green eyes fell on her. "Nari, are you hurt?"

Her mouth opened. "N-No… I… I… your…" After many stuttering starts, she managed to find her voice. "Your hand…" It was bleeding profusely, clamped between sharp teeth.

The man that had mistakenly unleashed that beast caught up to his dog and began to yank it at the collar, kicking him on its flank. Leandro didn't utter a single cry as the dog's teeth sunk into his flesh, mangling tissue and breaking bones.

His eyes met the dog's.

"Enough."

The dog's instincts flared up like a sudden bucket of cold water. It immediately released his hand, scurrying back as it whimpered with its tail between its legs.

Nari held her hands over her mouth, eyes wide open in horror.

Blood trickled down the gaps of Leandro's fingers, dripping on the ground. His hand dangled like an ugly broken doll's. The man's face had gone pale, likely realizing how much he had fucked up. "Oh God… I'm… I'm so so—"

"You should call an ambulance." Leandro advised him. He turned his hand around, inspecting the extent of the damage. "It would be very uncomfortable for me to go on with life with my hand in this state, wouldn't it?"

The man gawked, not sure whether to be horrified by the wound or by the unfazed expression on the child's face. Regardless, in his panic-driven state, he hastily dialed up the number and requested for an ambulance.

While the man talked urgently on the phone, Leandro walked up to the scared dog. Sensing his approach, it whimpered harder, trotting backwards.

Leandro ignored it and crouched down. "Nari, I don't want this experience to scar you." Then, much to Nari and the man's disbelief, he extended his healthy hand, and started petting it. "Dogs are not inherently evil, nor is nature. They're instinctual creatures. Besides…" At that, Leandro briefly glanced at the man on the phone. "Most often than not, their behavior is a clear reflection of their owner's."

He rubbed the dog between its brows.

Nari numbly stared at the whole exchange, hardly believing her eyes.

The dog, after blinking a few times, decided that Leandro was not as threatening as it initially thought and responded to his touch with a playful headbutt. Its tongue lolled out as it panted, barking and wagging its tail.

Leandro smiled. "See? Would you behave like that if you hated someone?"

"..."

The man's phone nearly slipped out of his hand.

"Hello? Are you still there, sir?"

The ambulance dispatcher's voice rang out from the speakers.

Nari's vision blurred, her lips quivering.

"Why are you crying?" Leandro tilted his head.

"B-Because…" She sniffed, wiping the corner of her eyes with the heel of her hands. "... you're hurt…" The more she wiped them, the more would come out, swimming down her puffed cheeks in an endless stream.

"I'll be fine, Nari." He said, softly. A reassuring smile tugged at his lips. "I know it looks bad, but it doesn't hurt that much. If it did, I'd be bawling my eyes out."

Nari looked at him, not sure whether to believe him or not. "R-Really?"

He hid his bleeding hand behind his back. "Really."

The man, who had just hung up, couldn't help but grimace when he saw the maimed mess that was Leandro's hand. He was scared, and inwardly wondered if his dog would be euthanized as a result.

Still, there was nothing he could do about it.

"T-They're coming… they should be here in a few minutes, so h-hold on, okay?"

Leandro looked up at him from his crouched position. "That's perfectly fine." He smiled, and something about it unnerved the man. "I must admit you're quite lucky."

"..."

With his hand dripping blood everywhere he went, Leandro approached the frozen man like a bloody vision out of a gory horror flick.

The child's voice lowered, and each word that came out was like an edge that pricked his skin. "If Nari was the one wounded, I would have buried you alongside your dog."

"..."

"Next time, tighten your grip." Leandro continued, his voice a bored drawl. "Wouldn't want to use your throat as an example."

•••• 

••• 

•• 

•

A year had passed since then.

Nari was, once again, hanging by Leandro's arm. One might have accused her of stealing most of his time, but it was fine.

He didn't have many friends, after all. In fact, he had none. She would always find him tucked away in some corner, either reading, looking up at the night sky, or meditating—which he was doing right now.

She couldn't understand. Meditating… who did that anyway? It was silly. She had tried to imitate him once. Never again. She vividly remembered his laugh when she promptly failed to keep her eyes closed for more than ten seconds.

'Why are you doing that?' Nari had asked, in a bout of curiosity. She wanted to get to the bottom of it, no matter what.

'Doing what?'

'That!' She pointed at his cross-legged position. 'Meditating.'

'It clears my head.' Leandro stared at her, an enigmatic smile stretching across his childish face. 'But that's not why I'm doing it.'

She blinked her big, black eyes. 'Then… why…'

'I'm doing it so that one day I'll be able to protect you.'

'...'

Unbeknownst to him, Nari had etched those words into the deepest recesses of her mind. As a child, she was highly impressionable. And there was 'something' about the way Leandro spelled out those words, that, for some reason, it stuck with her.

It might have been the assurance, the confidence, of being capable of carrying out that promise. Perhaps it was the way his eyes were perfectly still, like an undisturbed lake.

She felt like, for as long as she was with him, there was nothing in the world that could possibly hurt her. It was a misconception that was borne from her unmatured mind. How could a child give that kind of comfort to someone else?

Well, Nari didn't analyze the 'whys' of it. She accepted the fact at face value.

Leandro was someone she liked being around.

However, the adults were visibly uncomfortable around him. Nari could see the stolen glimpses, the hushed comments, and the frowns. They said he was very cute, but also 'unsettling'.

Whatever that meant.

Whenever Unnie happened to be within earshot of those mean whispers, she'd hug Leandro tightly into her bosom, hoping that her overwhelming affection would counter-balance the gossiping adults' words.

Once, Nari was called by one of the caretakers at school to subtly inquire about Leandro's family. She didn't understand what was going on, but was smart enough to realize that it wasn't anything good.

It was probably because of his eyes. She overheard someone say that Leandro's gaze could pierce right through their soul, but that was just dumb.

To Nari, Leandro's eyes were one of the prettiest thing she had ever seen—followed right behind by Unnie's face.

Of course, she'd never admit it to him.

There were many things she'd never admit to him.

"You're spacing out."

She blinked, uttering a very lame 'huh' as she turned to her left, where Leandro was staring at her. His legs were uncrossed, and if his lazy slouching was anything to go by, it meant his meditation was over.

"I'm not…" Nari pouted.

His lips quirked up. Just a bit. Not enough to form a smile, but enough to convey his amusement. "I can hear your thoughts."

"You can?" Nari gasped, staring at him as if he were some sort of alien. She had no idea how right she was.

"Sometimes."

That caught her attention, and a very interesting thought popped out, before she could filter her mouth in time. "Does that mean… you can hear Unnie's thoughts too?" She asked, eyes lit up in anticipation.

"Why?" Leandro asked, leaning back. "You want me to?"

"Well..." Nari's bottom lip protruded as she nearly exploded on the spot. "If you can, you have to do it, okay?! It's not fair! Why can you hear only mine?"

Leandro clicked his tongue. "I can hear… a little, perhaps." He could pretty much decipher the hidden message underneath the words whenever Hari was talking to him—not that he would tell Nari or Hari this, because apparently girls don't like that.

She breathed in sharply, quickly covering her mouth as she stared at him with starry eyes. "What does Unnie think about?"

"Well... it's something very, very odd." He tapped his chin in thought.

Nari blinked. "What do you mean?"

Leandro smiled as if he knew the most dangerous secret, a very dark and dirty secret, but he wouldn't say because the only thing separating the child and her sweet, naive innocence was his sealed lips.

Nari noticed the smile and decided she didn't like it. "Wh-What?"

"Secret. Can't say."

"Wh–You–! You are so mean, Oppa!" She yelled, her hands clenching into two trembling fists. "What's Unnie's thought about? Tell me! Tell me!" Her bottom lip started wobbling.

The way Nari got flustered at the mention of her elder sister only amplified the hilarity.

"Promise you won't tell?" Leandro asked in a whisper, making a gesture. She imitated his actions, leaning close with an eager look on her face.

She nodded. "I won't! Now, tell me!"

"All right. She's..." He leaned even closer, stopping at point blank before her round and confused face. He allowed anticipation to rise for the briefest of moments. "Thinking of your—"

"...My…?" Nari blinked.

"—Unfinished homework. You didn't do it, did you?"

"Aaagh! I did! I did, Oppa! Don't tell Unnie!" She hissed out loud in terror and betrayal.

"Fine, I won't tell Hari Noona. Now skedaddle. It's way past your bedtime."

Nari pouted, cheeks puffing with visible indignance. She crossed her arms, unperturbed by his request. "...No. I don't want to. Besides, it's past your bedtime too."

She sure had the energy of a kitten.

"I'm going to sleep, in fact. And you should too."

The glare Nari leveled him would've made lesser children cry, but all it did was pull an amused chuckle from his end. "Come on. There's a lot you have to do tomorrow." Leandro flicked a stray lock out of her face. "Sleep. I can tuck you in, if you like."

Nari could immediately guess that his words weren't an offer, but an absolute certainty, one that he expected her to follow. Her lips thinned as her shoulders started to droop. She dragged her feet to bed with all the unwillingness of a scolded child, which, as a matter of fact, she was.

"Can I sleep with you?"

Her pleading eyes weren't effective in swaying his decision, as was evident by Leandro's headshake. "Nari... what did we say about sharing the same bed?"

Hearing his question made the young girl hang her head in disappointment.

 Leandro took a seat at her bed and gently nudged the blanket over her. "We can't always sleep together. It's time for you to grow out of it."

"Then..." She hid her face under the rim of the duvet. Only her lively eyes peered at him. "Can you stay here until I fall asleep?"

Despite Leandro's best attempt at restraining it, a gentle smile flitted across his face.

She kind of reminded him of Esmeralda when they were younger.

"I guess I can do that." Leandro hated how attached he was getting, but such was life. "But you have to fall asleep. No pretending."

"Hm-hm."

"Good."

A few seconds of silence passed.

"...Oppa?"

"What is it?"

"Can you hear what I'm thinking?"

He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. She immediately averted her gaze.

"I can't. Looks like my powers have faded."

"I-Is that so?"

"Nari…"

"Hm?"

"Go to sleep."

She smiled, edging closer to him, looking like a cat curled up to sleep.

"Oppa."

"What…" He heaved a deep sigh.

"Thank you."

"..."