Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Almost Death But Was Saved By His Gentleness.

Today was a cloudy day, inside a comfortable bedroom, a boy who had his body wrapped in a red blanket with zigzag lines; opens his eyes slowly.

He looks around him only to see his chattels fixed in their rightful places. His intimidating eyes move around.

"Where did she put it?" his eyes ended at a long blue staff which was placed on top of a blue pillow, a folded paper can be seen on top of it.

He slowly gets up from his bed, the red blanket deliberately slides down from his body; exposing his smooth naked white upper body with a tattoo resembling three various animals.

The boy halts in front of the long blue staff, and he kneels on the wooden ground and stares at it. Furthermore, he picks up the folded paper.

He reads it quietly, he didn't smile while reading the paper. After that, he folds the paper and puts it inside his pocket. Hence, he grabs the long blue staff and stands up.

His eyes catch a glimpse of something, it provokes him to look at it, only to see a long piece of red fabric that was put on a wooden table near the tall mirror. He steps toward it and picks it up from the wooden table.

He gazes at it, and he whispers. "I will never forget that day, Efrein. Since that day, you were the first person that earned my pure admiration."

With gentleness, he wraps the red piece of fabric on his long blue staff. He steps in front of the long steady mirror, therefore, using his one hand: he twirls it around at a slow pace, then it is followed by a fast pace.

A tall red gate in front of a house opens up, a boy wearing informal red upper and bottom dark clothing comes out from the opened red gate.

"I'll be going now!" the boy looked back at the gate, henceforth he began his journey onward.

A girl with shoulder-length pink hair with red highlights, a pair of beautiful blue eyes, wearing tight purple clothing; walks towards the right side of the walking boy.

The boy shifts his eyes toward the girl beside her. As a result, he didn't smile at her arrival, yet he takes a deep breath as he shifts his eyes forward.

"If it isn't… Leila. A good day to annoy me aye?" he rolls his eyes, "But sorry, I don't have time to be irritated by any of your mockeries."

He starts to speed up his movements. "I'm so sorry, but I need to go. I'd rather be beaten up by a group of thieves than to be a victim of your mockery."

"Teka, saglit lamang!" she yelled out.

Efrein didn't pay attention to her as he adds more speed to the pace of his movement and as expected, the girl who has the name of Leila also fastens her movement, making her chase Efrein's speed.

"Argh! Tantanan mo ako!" Efrein groaned.

"I beg you! Can you just lend me your ears for a second?!" Leila hissed.

"No! Gosh! Leave me alone!" Efrein retorted.

Efrein unexpectedly scrambles towards an alleyway beside him, making Leila's eyes widen and she sprints to chase him.

Efrein continues to explore the alleyway; many inappropriate drawings on the wall can be seen. There are many trash bags on the ground and some have holes on them making any rat or cockroach feed on it.

An awful smell welcomes his nose, provoking him to cover it, the beggars raise their faces a bit and their eyes meet the figure of Efrein; a slight smile forms on their dried dirty lips.

While running towards the end, one beggar stands up, Efrein suddenly breaks from his escape. Two feet was the gap between them.

Efrein gives orders to the beggar who's blocking his way. "Can you let me pass?! You see, I'm trying to escape a frustrating crackhead woman."

The beggar smiled under the dirty fabric which was covering half of his face. "I don't think so… Maybe you should give me money first? Or everything you got?"

Efrein scribbles his hair, he gives him a sullen look. "Makaipon nga ng ten thousand wala ako! At tsaka, who are you to give me orders?"

The man grimaced upon Efrein, hence he delivered a kick on Efrein's gut, but Efrein jumped sideward to avoid the kick. Yet another kick lands on his back, causing him to fall to the ground.

He stands up and turns around, he sees another beggar standing in front of him, a mischievous smirk forms on the beggar's lip.

"Listen, kid, we're here just to steal money,

you know… To have something to nibble, so we need you to—!"

Before the beggar ends his speech; A severe speed approached him, and he was sent towards a wall. His body deepened into the wall, causing multiple cracks on it. The life-saver person was a girl with pink shoulder-length hair with red highlights on it.

She remains standing in her position, and her eyes are filled with antipathy. She declares while her eyes are looking at every part of her surroundings. "No one can lay a finger or even look at him in his eyes."

One of the beggars was snickering at her appearance, he stops snickering and asks Leila a question. "And who are you to interrupt us? Even though you had sent away our pal in a blink of an eye—!"

Leila once again moves at terrific speed, she delivers a kick on the speaking beggar's face, as a result, the beggar crashed to the other side of the nearest wall. The remaining 4 beggars who are filled with resentment rush towards Leila.

Leila steps aside, and she rotates around and then delivers a kick on the first beggar's waist causing the first beggar to roll on the ground.

Leila shifts her face towards the second and third beggars, she veers toward them. She crouches and touches the ground. After that, she dashes onward the remaining beggars. 

While running, she inhales and exhales a massive flame, the flame wraps the remaining beggars causing them to drop and roll on the ground.

Leila stares at their situation with a grimaced look on her face, she mumbles while clenching her hands. "He's mine to protect… No one can touch or lay a finger on him, dolts."

Efrein walks beside Leila, he rests his hand on her clothed shoulder, Leila moves her eyes toward Efrein. 

"What?" 

"I am so sorry for shooing you away, Leila."

Leila smirks and she looks in front of her. Efrein looks at the beggars who are covered in flames, it inflicts him to panic.

He runs toward them and says, "H-Hey! Wait for me okay? I'll get an ambulance!"

Efrein glances at Leila with an alarmed

look. "Babalik ako!"

Leila nods at him in response, ergo he sprints away from the scene leaving Leila alone with the burning beggars.

She says, "Sinister beggars like all of you, deserve to die yet… I cannot kill you. But I can do one thing."

She points her hand in front of the beggars.

Efrein returns to the scene, his eyes see Leila sitting on the ground while resting her back on a wall. 

He speaks, "Where are they? The ambulance is just at the entrance, waiting for them."

Leila shifts her eyes toward Efrein. "Huwag na kamo sila maghintay, sapagka't umalis na sila nang mapayapa."

"You did something to them, right?" he rested his hands on his waist, he's glaring at her.

Leila answers, "Don't blame me like that, you won't like when I get mad, blockhead."

Efrein angrily looks around. "And where will they go? To a nearby river?"

Leila inhales deeply, she stands up from the dirty ground. A wall of fire appears behind Efrein and it provokes Efrein to turn around.

Efrein shouts, "You woman! I have a lesson with Aunt Z! Wala akong oras para sa ganitong mga bagay!" 

"And why?" she asked.

Efrein turns around with a grimacing look on his face but was changed to a shocked one. 

Leila has her face closer to Efrein's face, Leila holds Efrein's clothed waist, and she puts her mouth closer to his ear.

She whispers seductively. "And why? Did I give you permission, baby?"

Efrein grits his teeth as his cheek becomes even redder. "You're just my annoying friend! Hindi kita baby!"

Leila smirks and she pulls her face away from his ear, the wall of fire still occurs behind Efrein. 

"No... I am your mommy. Now, you're going to follow me… Blockhead." she touched his lip and proceeds to rub it, and her eyes remain fixated on his face.

"You know… I wouldn't hit a woman… But, just this time only." Efrein kicked her stomach causing Leila to fall on her knees.

The wall of fire vanishes, Efrein runs away from the scene. Leila smiles. "You're going to be mine, blockhead. Yet I didn't kill those beggars, I just made the flame vanished from their body."

Efrein rides a wagon that's being pulled by horses. Inside, Efrein regains his breath with a smile on his face.

"That fruitcake. I knew that she freed those beggars," he said to himself.

"The ambulance was just a falsehood. I watch her all along during the minutes that I was gone," he smiles, "but nothing can change my mind… She's the most annoying woman in this city."

The horses that are pulling the carriage stops beside a tall building, Efrein walks out from the carriage and pays the driver the righteous amount of money.

He ambles inward the tall building, henceforth he uses the stairs that will lead him towards his favorite place on the building.

"Finally…" he pushed the doors in front of him.

No one was around the rooftop, only a woman with a scarf on her head, and a woman with a little boy beside her.

Efrein proceeds to walk and halts beside the woman whose wearing a dark scarf full of patterns of white roses. Thus, he didn't take a glance at the woman beside her, he's just gazing at the marvelous sight of smaller buildings, roads, and the clear blue skies.

"I'm at peace," he muttered.

Then his eyes divert at the woman at the other side of the parapet, who's holding on to the parapet, preventing herself from falling. He steps in front of the parapet that the woman is presently holding onto.

"H-Hey! Hold on ok!" he requested which the woman nods to.

Efrein with all of his strength pulls the woman, and then he falls on the grassy ground of the rooftop, and then the woman falls on top of him.

Both of them blink a few times not realizing the position they're in; Efrein was sitting on the ground while the woman who was staring at him is sitting on top of him.

The woman covered the innocent eyes of the little boy beside her, hereafter, they proceed to walk away from the scene.

"Mama! I want to see it! Don't be such a hindrance!"

"Foolish boy! What they're doing isn't appropriate for your age!"

"But mama!"

"No buts Leilio! No buts!"

"You're a killer of joy! They're like in a romantic movie! Where the boy meets the girl that will dry him all night—!"

The boy received a harsh slap on his head from his mother.

"How old are you?"

"I-I'm 13 years old, Mama…"

"And where did you learn such words?!" the mother questioned her son which was Leilio.

"From papa's collectibles of girls wearing blazing charcoal.." Leilio the son replied.

"Blazing charcoal?!" the mother yelled.

"Because he said, 'those girls Leilio if you see them they will make you feel the contact of blazing charcoal on your skin, definitely hot,' that's what he said." he was embarrassed to say that to his mother.

The mother and son left Efrein and the woman standing while gazing at them.

"That was weird…" both of them whispered.

Efrein looks at the woman beside her, and the woman does the same. Efrein was the first one to speak. "Uhm… I believe that we had met before."

The woman looked down making the scarf on her head fall on the ground, making Efrein sees her long straight red hair. She raises her face only to make her face greet his face.

She grins. "Kumusta? Ako nga pala si Nana... Oo, nagkakilala na tayo noon."

Efrein smiles. "Ikaw nga! Ang babaeng nakahulog ng scarf niya. Oo nga pala! Ako nga pala si Efrein at ikinagagalak kitang makilala"

"Thanks to you, I was saved by your gentleness," Nana bowed down repeatedly at a fast pace.

Efrein looks around while waving his

hands. "I-I am p-pleased with 'knowing your name p-please! Don't bow your head!"

Leila stops bowing down, whereas she nods in agreement. "Ok. Then, what can I do to repay your kindness?"

She stares deeply into his eyes, whilst Efrein felt shivers on his whole body. "H-Hey! Don't give me that look!"

"Sige." she made her eyes widen as her eyebrows are raised to the highest level.

Efrein scowls. "Not that! What I meant to say was 'give me a normal not glaring or eyes widening stare'."

As a result of his plea, Nana just gives him a normal stare.

"Then what can we do?" Nana asked.

Efrein hums in response while scratching his chin.

"Tusok-tusok?" Efrein said.