This chapter is in Enri’s point of view.

June, Seven years old.

“Ooi! Where did he go?” In the neighborhood park which kids consider their playground, a group of boys among whom the oldest was around twelve years old, can be seen to be running around the park as if searching for something. The oldest was the fat kid with a yellow shirt shouted.

“He clearly ran towards here just now!” A boy standing near the fat kid replied.

“Yeah, I also saw it!” Another boy who seemed younger than the rest of the group reported to the fat kid. 

“I know! Find that foreign kid!” The fat kid who seemed to be the leader of the group shouted his orders for the others to search around the park. 

“Oi, fatty what's up?” Watching the charade from under a tree as I was reading a book, I was curious from all the commotion. 

“Oh, look who's here. Isn't this my bro Enri?” The fat kid looked over and found it was me as he reluctantly came over.

“What? You aren't happy to see me eh?” The fatty flinched as he saw me lowering my eyes at him. 

“No. Absolutely not. Ahaha!” The fatty acted as if he was in front of his angry mother. He spoke very politely and didn't dare to be domineering like in front of his companions just now. 

Of course, his current attitude is what I personally ‘trained’ him. After that day when he took my things and almost pushed Serika down, I was actually blacklisted and ostracized in his group. Among all the things he could do, he chose the most stupid option, so in retaliation, I challenged him everyday over every little thing. Of course, I beat him in everything no matter what he proposed to do and group fights were no exception. Ha! Serves him right to get beaten!

“So what's up?” I asked while sweeping a glance towards all the kids who were searching around from place to place. 

“hmph, you see. There is this new foreigner kid who bumped into me. I asked him to apologize but he just pushed me and ran away. My guys saw him coming here, so we're looking for him.”

“Foreign kid?”

“Yep. That punk’s face looks similar to us but he's got blonde hair and silver eyes, like a white kid. He's got guts messing with me.” Oh, that is quite rare indeed. You don't get to see a mixed easily these days, not to mention in this neighborhood since most of them are stars or famous people.

“Did you see him?”

“No and I don't care. Just quiet down and don't bother me.” White kid or not, who cares. I'm not that bored. Moreover, I still haven't finished reading this book yet. 

“Yes, of course.”

After ordering the fatty, I was going to go back to reading my book but I remembered and looked around to check for a certain person.

She should normally be playing around in the sand and the swings but… hmm? She is nowhere to be seen? 

Ugh, this is weird. Today is a Sunday so we decided to come and play in the park like we usually do on Wednesdays, and Fridays. Serika actually didn’t want to come since she wanted to watch the new cartoon but the TV accidentally broke down. Mom had to pacify her so long just to get her to come here.

What should I do? As a good brother, I’m supposed to go find her but I’m at the climax of this book at the moment. What a dilemma.

In the end, the climax was more enticing, and I ended up forgetting about finding Serika only to look around in panic later. Fortunately, I found her near some bush near the trail going into the trees further back of the park.

I asked her where she’s been but all I got back from her was a mischievous smile and the answer that it was a secret.

Look at this girl.... 

Two weeks later,

Hmm,

Hmmmm,

Strange.

Something is fishy with my sister recently.

Before, she was quite reluctant about going to the park during the week.

However, she is suspiciously eager recently. Not to mention her mysterious secret outings which are getting more and more frequent. I once interrogated her but she was as stubborn as a piece of wood and refused to say a word. *sigh*is this what others call a rebellious phase? Isn't this too early?

Back to the present, I after taking all things into consideration, am now stalki- following my sister while slowly crouching on the ground with the nearby bushes as cover. In front of me was Serika who was standing there while looking around as if she's waiting for someone.

Suddenly, there was a sound coming from a nearby bush just as I was planning to reveal myself. Serika seems to notice it too as she turned to the sound.

“Ahh!” Before I could react, there was a shadow behind her and she screamed.

Serika is in trouble!

Without looking clearly, my body rushed out on its own. The next moment I threw my body towards the assailant.

“Ow!” A pained voice sounded as both of us tumbled to the ground. Of course, it hurts for me too but at least I got a body cushion below me so my pain is definitely less.

“What are you doing to Serika?” As soon as I regained my balance, I quickly grabbed the opponent's collar and readied my fist for a punch to the face. Surprisingly, the body under me was around the same size as me, if not just a tad bit smaller.

“Ni-chan, Stop!” My fist was just a few centimeters away from his face by the time Serika shouted. Only then did I get to have a good look at the one being pinned on the ground.

Blond hair, silver eyes, and a beautiful face that could be mistaken as a girl. Isn't this guy a half?

Speaking of which, there have been rumours of a half hanging around the neighborhood for a while now. It's this guy isn't it?

“Ugh…” The mentioned boy let out a pained groan while I was in thought.

“Ni-chan, can you please get up first? You are hurting Shell!”

Glancing at Serika's face and the boy's face, I slowly got up while not forgetting to send a glare at that girly boy's direction.

“What were you trying to do to her?” I don't know why but I just feel irritated looking at the guy's face. What kind of boy looks so feminine? Not to mention his voice is soft just like a girl.

“I- I was planning to scare her...a bit.” the boy flinched at my voice and timidly answered. I unconsciously clicked my tongue at his meek attitude, and unsurprisingly, the boy flinched again until his eyes were getting misty.

“Ni-chan, no bullying Shell!” Serika who helped the guy up quickly pulled him behind her as if she was a hen protecting her chicks. I got more and more irritated at the sight. It was my first time meeting a boy who was so weak that he needed a girl (my baby sister who is even weaker than him) to protect him.

This was the first meeting between me and Shelton who was the same age as Serika. I found out later that the two of them has been secretly meeting to play together recently. They agreed to keep it a secret due to the irritatingly timid Shelton being afraid of the fat kid's gang.

Even more annoying is that Shelton was apparently a child of our parents’ good friend, and he will be living in the neighborhood from now on. 

Instead of being happy for getting a new playmate like Serika, I was annoyed at the appearance of an eyesore popping in my life.

I didn't have the best impression of him. In my eyes, he was too timid and weak. He would get bullied all the time for being different from the rest. With him like that, Serika too would sometimes get in trouble with others to protect him, and most of the times I ended up as the one helping them out.

This went on for over six months until one time, Serika got injured when they got surrounded when I wasn't there. She had to rest at the hospital for a whole week. This was the last drive to my irritation, so I dragged Shelton away to teach him a lesson. 

I remembered telling him to not be around Serika and us anymore if he keeps on being such a wimp. I vented my feelings on him and gave him a good lesson.

He disappeared for awhile, and appeared again as our neighbour. I secretly warned him again but by then he seems to have changed. There was an indescribable light in his previously cowardly eyes. From those eyes, I can feel another type of annoyance as well as excitement. Annoyed due to him being close to Serika, and excitement due to having found someone I can compete with without holding back.

September, ten years old

Time flew by in the blink of an eye, I am already ten this year. Recently I have a worry and it's that I'm having this jittery feeling whenever I'm around a certain girl in school. The girl was called Hana. At first, it wasn't as bad. I just thought that she was cute like a timid animal and somehow reminded me of Serika when she was little. She was shy, small, delicate, and would look very cute when she smiled as her dimples would show. She didn't seems to have that many friends. Overall, she gave out a clumsy vibe that makes me not want to let her out of my sight. *cough* The reason I know her this well is because my eyes keep on following her unconsciously, and it's not that I am a stalker. Yep, definitely not. 

Another good news is that Serika has grown to be very healthy. She is nine now and from what the doctor said, the fact that her heart's grown akin to a normal person's and self-repaired the damaged part is nothing sort of a miracle. Serika is very healthy and athletic now. Partly due to her interest in Kendo, me and Shelton has chosen to be in the club so that she will be able to see the sport up close. We are now the aces of our school's Kendo club. In fact, I found that I was quite talented in it, and I was even nominated by the coach to register in the Child Kendo tournament (Shelton refused due to family reasons).

I wasn't planning to participate but I got an unexpected motivation from a conversation I coincidentally overheard.

“Ne, Hana-chan. I heard Enri-senpai is going to be participate in the Kendo tournament. What do you think?” A girl whose name I can't remember poked at Hana.

“What? Is that so?” Hana who was washing her hands in the sink half-heartedly replied. 

“What do you think about Enri? I think he's really cool.”

“Un, I also think he is kind of cool…” Hana softly replied while her cheeks turned pink. I can feel my heart beating faster from her words in return as I waited for her next words.

“Especially when he is practicing Kendo, his posture and sweat filled form is so handsome, isn't he?”

“Uhm…” Hana shyly agreed.

“I think he'll definitely be the champion if he participates in the tournament.”

Hana shyly nodded as a reply. Then they left the sink.

After that, I agreed with the coach and told my parents that I am going to aim for the championship. I also had Shelton spar with me when he was free with Serika cheering for us on the side. 

On the day of the tournament, all of the family was there to cheer for me except Shelton who had to go back to UK to pay his yearly visit to his mother.

Of course, I won the matches in a breeze. However, there was this guy a few years older than me who was so desperate to win that he even played low tactics. In the end, I beat him fair and square that he had no choice but to admit defeat.

The second day of the tournament which was the finals was also smooth though mom and dad was busy with work and weren't able to come see me. At least Serika and Hana were there. In order to not disappoint, I spontaneously won every single match and got the championship.

I celebrated a lot with the club members and the coach while Serika said she was going to wait for our parents to come pick us up.

At that time, a boy suddenly called out to me saying that a girl called Hana wanted to see me in the park near the school. My heart beated really fast when the familiar name came up. I kind of want to see and talk to her, so I went there immediately after telling Serika I had to go somewhere for a bit.

My expectations were broken as soon as I saw Hana standing there behind a group of boys who looked to be delinquents. The head of the group was someone I just met and beat the day before. He was the desperate guy.

Obviously, the boy came for his grudge about me beating him yesterday. However, what caught me by surprise was the fact that he was Hana’s big brother. He somehow found out about my crush on Hana and asked her to help draw me out.

For a moment, I felt betrayed and hurt when my eyes met with Hana’s panicky eyes. She knew, huh. She knew and still helped him. I can feel my heart hurting even more than the pain inflicted by the boys hitting me.

Feeling somewhat funny at my stupid self, I laughed while enduring the hits. How stupid I was. But thankfully I can still feel the pain on my body. I left my actions to my instincts and finally fought back.

A very simple rule of mine: “They hit you hard. You hit them harder.”

I lost track of time and I couldn’t even feel my hands anymore. All I remembered was dodging, punching, kicking, and even headbutting. By the time I came to, everyone was laying on the ground groaning in pain. My fist was bleeding. My face was so bruised that I knew I looked like a pig head even without checking in a mirror. It’s only in Animes that someone can still look unscathed after a fight like this. I may be young but I know at least this much.

I turned to the sound of a whimper. It was from Hana. She had a terrified look on her face as her eyes met with mine. Her eyes were visibly turning misty as I kept staring at her. Then she fell on her butt as I stepped towards her.

“Don’t ever talk to me again.” I softly said near her ears. She cried while trying to stand back up and finally took to her heels running away from the place.

I stood there looking up at the sky when I felt a few drops of rain falling on my head.

Ah, it’s raining.

Feeling exhausted beyond words, I just stood there unwilling to move a muscle letting the rain wash my face.

Suddenly, a bad premonition washed over me. Despite being so tired just a moment ago, my feet once again burst with energy allowing me to run to the entrance of the park.

What I saw from afar was something I would never ever forget in my entire life.

Hana was crouching down on the road as a cargo truck who was driving fast approached her. In that split second, the driver turned his wheels avoiding her by a hair's breadth. I haven’t even got the chance to let out a relieved breath when I noticed a car in the direction the truck was veering off to.

As if it was replayed in slow motion, the moment felt like an eternity. No matter how fast I ran, it was impossible for me to reach it.

There was a loud crash followed by the sound of grating metals.

I can feel my heart breaking into pieces and my world falling apart.

It was because I recognized the car which was hit by the truck.

I also saw the people inside of it. They were people I’d recognize even from a hundred meters.

They were my parents and Serika.