It's a new day. The sunlight crept through the window before hitting my face, as if the universe itself was trying to wake me up

  "Urgh. . . Fucking sunlight. . . " I whispered to myself before pulling the blanket to my face

  As I tried to fall back asleep, my mind couldn't help but fill itself with thoughts about my friends

  I wonder how worried Suraya is. . . Hope she focuses on herself and her family first

  . . . Farah tho. . . She might pinch my arm if I come back home later

  . . . I hope Syed's fine as well. . .

  Just then, I could feel someone running to my bed before launching themselves like a cannon at my bed

  "Oi, Dani. Wake up, you lazy ass " I heard Adam talking beside me

  ". . . I don't want to. . . "

  "I know you don't like mornings, but come on, be a bit productive, will you? "

  ". . . I want to save my energy for the meeting with the protesters later. Don't interrupt me "

  As I try to close my eyes he then uses his super speed to pull the blanket off my face and open the curtain, making me get blinded by the sunlight

  "Huff. . . Damn you. . . " I said before forcing myself to get up from the bed

  "Get up, sleepy boy. We're heading out "

  "Huh? Heading where? " I asked him

  "Supermarket. Henrik's mom asked me to before she and Henrik go out. So I'm asking you to accompany me "

  ". . . Ah, yeah. . . Today is Monday. They were both already at school, didn't they? "

  "Yep, go take a shower, dude. You're stinky "

  ". . . I'm not "

  "Yes, you are. Because I said so " He said before throwing a towel to my face

  ". . . Huff, give me 10 minutes " I said, dragging myself to the bathroom

  As I walked beside Adam to the supermarket, I then looked over to the list he was holding

  "Did she give you that? "

  "Nah, she just gave me some money and asked me to buy enough food for 2 weeks "

  ". . . How much do we have? "

  "3000 Lorens "

  "I see. You think that's enough? "

  ". . . I think so? Why did you ask? "

  "No, it's just for these past few days of living with them. I noticed that we eat the same food every day "

  ". . . Ok. . . So you think that the food here is pricey as fuck? "

  "Probably. That's why I ask you that, with how much you want to buy in that list, it's already questionable if we have enough money "

  "Dude, don't worry. We check the price first, then we adjust on the spot "

  As we stepped inside, we immediately looked around the supermarket and I saw that the people didn't take many things into their trolleys

  Things such as snacks and cleaning supplies were completely ignored by the customers, as they only take rice, a few vegetables, and cheap meat

  And even then, they were still hesitant to buy them, as they thought over and over before finally putting them in the trolleys

  "Dude, look at this chicken " Adam said before pulling my sleeve

  "What's wrong? "

  "It's expensive as hell. Look at the price for 1 kilogram of chicken here " He said before handing me a package of chicken

  ". . . 90 Lorens? For this package alone? "

  "That's about twice the usual price for this item at Eloimas. Should we buy the chicken? "

  . . . A person usually consumes around 200g of chicken per meal

  Assuming you eat chicken for dinner and lunch, that's already 400g of chicken for just a day

  If you eat this for a week, that's at least 3kg of chicken you need. And that's already 270 Lorens

  There are 4 of us, assuming I follow my calculation, that's already 1,080 Lorens spent

  . . . Not enough to buy other things. Not worth it

  "Too expensive. We buy something else "

  I then put the chicken back in the freezer, as he checked the other meats' prices

  "Beef is 240. . . Duck is 132. . . Why the fuck are all the meats here are fucking expensive?! "

  . . . Huh, there are no pork or veal. . . IInteresting

  "Well, seems like your list isn't valid now " I said calmly

  "Huff. . . Yeah. . . Guess we have to take fish again " He said before he hesitantly reached for the fish package

  We then took a few packages of rice, vegetables, and other things such as eggs and oil before walking to the cashier

  As we're walking closer, I notice some of these people here feel like they are being forced to buy food with those prices

  . . . No wonder people here hesitated, the price here is highway robbery, even for normal people

  . . . I got a feeling this whole thing was planned by the government to demoralize people

  But demoralize who exactly. . .

  . . . There are more dumb people in this country than smart ones

  . . . Are they perhaps-

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Oi, Dani. What're you thinking about? "

  ". . . Nothing. Just a wild thought just now "

  "Then help me check these items out with the cashier. The smoother our checkout, the better "

  ". . . Hmm "

  After we walked out of the supermarket, Adam then raised a piece of money paper weakly to the sky

  "Why. . . Why the fuck food here was fucking too pricey. . . " He said dramatically before kneeling slumped

  ". . . You're being dramatic "

  "For a reason. We only have one Loren left. . . "

  ". . . Can you give me that? "

  He then turned his head to me before handing it while looking at me, dumbfounded by my request

  "What are you going to do with that? "

  ". . . Paying my debt back "

  "Huh? How? Are you about to go gambling? "

  "No. You'll see later "

  Just then, a boy approached us while crying and he then clutched Adam's T-shirt tightly

  "Sh?r! Pl??sh? h?lp m?! "

  ("Sir! Please help me! ") The boy whimpered

  As Adam looked at the boy, he instinctively patted the boy's back, trying to calm him down

  "Hey, hey. . . Calm down "

  As I looked at the boy still crying even after that, I then crouched, gripped both the boy's shoulders gently, and made him turn towards me

  "V?ye, l??kh ?t m? "

  ("Boy, look at me ")

  As he stared into my eyes, I sharpened my eyes while lightly massaging his shoulders with my fingers, calming down his tension

  "?ph y?? kh??p krye?ng, h?wy ?r? wy? g??ng t? khn?wy wyh?t'sh h?pp?n?ng "

  ("If you keep crying, how are we going to know what's happening ")

  "M-Mye. . . Mye vr?th?r. . . H?. . . H?. . . G?t dhr?gg?dh. . . "

  ("M-My. . . My brother. . . He. . . He. . . Got dragged. . . ")

  "Wyh?r?? "

  ("Where? ")

  "?t. . . ?t th? m?ll th?r?. . . ")

  ("At. . At the mall there. . . ") The boy said before pointing his finger in the direction

  I then turned my head and looked at Adam, who was still trying to figure out what was currently happening

  "Why? What's wrong? "

  "At the mall we passed earlier, this boy's brother got dragged-"

  As soon as the word 'dragged' leaves my mouth, a blow of strong wind hits my face as he already runs there with his super speed

  ". . . Damn it Adam. You always rush to things without any plan whatsoever "

  I then turned my focus back to the boy, who was still shivering out of fear for his brother's situation

  "K?dh, dh?n't wy?rrye, mye phr??ndh g?t th?sh. ?n th? m??nt?m?, g? ?nsh?dh? th? sh?p?rm?rkh?t ?ndh zh?sht wy??t "

  ("Kid, don't worry, my friend got this. In the meantime, go inside the supermarket and just wait ")

  "?-?k. . . "

  ("O-Ok. . . ")

  He then entered the supermarket and I quickly ran to the mall as well, carrying the paper bags in my hands

  . . . Hope nothing bad happens

  As I ran to the mall at high speed, I couldn't feel my legs touch the ground even for a second, as if I was gliding instead of running

  As I was running, the scream of my late little brother filled my head

  "No! "

  "Noo! "

  "Nooo! "

  The image of 2 people standing over his mutilated body

  The feeling of being pinned on the ground by someone, as they then lifted my head

  As those images filled my head, I clutched my head and clenched my jaw as I kept running to the mall

  I wouldn't let the same thing happen again. . . I WOULDN'T!!

  As I arrived at the mall, my eyes caught a few guys dragging a boy to their car, and the people in the surrounding area were too scared to do anything

  "LET THE BOY GO! " I shouted before immediately blitzed toward the officer who was grabbing the boy's arm, punching him in the stomach

  The force of the punch made him fly back before rolling on the ground, knocking him unconscious, and blood spilled out from his mouth

  The others who were watching it happen in front of their eyes immediately pulled out their batons, and some were preparing their own spells while the civilians already ran away

  "G?t h?m! "

  ("Get him! ") One of them shouted before the people who were holding batons charged at me

  As they swung the batons, I dodged their attack before kicking one of the guys' ribs at high speed, making him vomit blood before he fell unconscious

  I then punched the other guy at high speed, making him fly back and hit the car, His back hit the door, which then crashed as a result of the force

  A fireball then surged toward me, and I effortlessly tilted my head to dodge it and immediately blitzed through to the caster in seconds

  I then grabbed his face before smashing him to the ground, the ground crumbled as his head hit the ground

  "Huff. . . Huff. . . Guess that's all of-"

  "??, wyh?t th? ph?kkh dh?dh ye?? dh?? "

  ("Oi, what the fuck did you do? ")

  As I turn my head to the voice source, a man who's holding a green sword is looking at me, as if watching an animal go loose

  "Ye?? zh?sht vr?t?llye ?tt?kkh?dh th? ?phph?k?rsh ?ndh ?nt?rr?pt?dh ??r zh?v, dh?n't ye?? khn?wy? "

  ("You just brutally attacked the officers and interrupted our job, don't you know? ")

  ". . . I don't know what the hell you're talking about. But, if you're not with them, leave "

  ". . . Th? ph?kkh ?r? ye?? sh?ye?ng? "

  (". . . The fuck are you saying? ")

  As we both stared at each other intensely, he then pointed his sword at me

  "Wyh?t?z?r, ye??'r? ? ph?kkh?ng tr??vl? h?r? ph?r ?nt?rr?pt?ng ?sh wy?th th?t v?ye ?z?r th?r?

  ("Whatever, you're a fucking trouble here for interrupting us with that boy over there ")

  He then swung his sword at me before I ducked out of his attack and tried to punch his stomach but he effortlessly dodged it

  "Y??'r? ph?sht, n?t ?sh ph?sht ?sh m? th? "

  ("You're fast, not as fast as me tho ")

  He then swung his sword once again, scratching my cheek as I couldn't evade it on time

  I then burst back, backing away from him before blitzing to him and trying to punch him once again but he managed to block it with his sword

  Ph?kkh?ng ?nn?ye?ng. . . "

  ("Fucking annoying. . . ") He said before gripped my neck and threw me away, making me hit the ground hard

  As I tried to stand up, I could feel the surrounding was distorted, before I saw wings coming out from his back, before he walked slowly to me

  For some reason, I freeze in place, my eyes wide open, staring at him in fear

  As he kept walking closer and closer, the image of the faceless entity flashed through my mind, making me feel the same feeling I had when I saw him for the first time

  Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-

  I heard the sound of laughter from my past memory, the men figures flashed through my mind once again, mocking my helplessness

  I gripped my face tightly with my hand, my breath became frantic as my mind kept spiraling on both memories

  StopstopstopSTOP!!!!

  STOP!!!!!!!

  DON'T YOU FUCKING LAUGH!!!

  GET AWAY FROM MY HEAD!!!

  "?? "

  ("Oi ")

  I then instantly turned my head and saw him already standing in front of me, before as I know it, I was already crawling back in fear

  "Stop. . . Stop. . . "

  ". . . H?wy p?th?t?k "

  (". . . How pathetic ") I heard he said, before raising his sword, wanting to end me

  Just then, someone threw a handful of salt in his face, making him stagger back as the salt hit his eyes

  "?rkkh-! Wyh? th? h?ll-! "

  ("Arck-! Who the hell-! ")

  Before he could finish talking, I suddenly saw Dani lunging toward him and grabbing his face, before smashing him to the wall, making it slightly cracked as his body hit the wall

  That guy then knelt weakly on one knee, gripping the sword hilt tightly as he tried to stand up but couldn't as he still felt dizzy from the sudden attack

  Dani then released his face, took the boy's hand, gripped my hand, and forced me to stand up before supporting me with my arm over his shoulder while carrying the paper bags in his other hand

  As we ran away from there, I could see that Dani was saying something out of his mouth, but I couldn't hear any of it

  Or rather, my mind still couldn't register anything yet right now, out of shock and fear that filled my head earlier

  He then snapped his fingers in front of my face, making me snap back into reality

  "Oi, don't space out now "

  ". . . S-Sorry. . . "

  I then turned my head away from him and just looked down at the floor as both of us kept walking

  ". . . Sorry for making you worried. . . " I said weakly

  I couldn't see it, but I could feel that Dani was staring at me for a moment

  "Don't worry about it. Right now, we need to make sure both of the boys are safe " He said calmly

  ". . . "

  As we arrived at the supermarket, the boy who had been waiting for his brother instantly rushed towards him and hugged him tightly

  But, even when such a scene unfolds in front of my eyes, the only thing I can think about now is-

  What the hell will he do to me if Dani wasn't there. . .

  Will he cut off my arm? My legs? My head?

  What if he brings down the sword to Dani's skull instead? To make me feel more pain of watching him suffer?

  I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared.

  What if-

  "Oi Adam. Are you fine? " I heard Dani asked me

  No.

  No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No

  I'm not

  "I'm. . . Fine. I just. . . Thinking about some stuff "

  ". . . Let's go back home "

  ". . . Hmm "

  It's been a few hours since Adam and I arrived at the house, yet he never comes out of the bedroom

  "I just. . . Want to be left alone for a moment "

  That's what he said to me, before walking slowly and closing the door without any energy while doing it

  I didn't instantly check on him because I know not everyone wants to be comforted right away, some want to be left alone so they can let out their feelings

  But if it takes this long. . . Then what I suspected before might be true

  "?dh?m dh?dhn't k?m? ??t ye?t? "

  ("Adam didn't come out yet? ") I heard Henrik say it while slowly walking towards me

  "N?, wyhye? "

  ("No, why? ")

  "Mye m?m zh?sht ph?n?shh?dh k??kh?ng h?r dh?nn?r. Sh? shh? ?shksh m? t? k?ll ye?? v?th "

  ("My mom just finished cooking her dinner. So she asks me to call you both ")

  ". . . ?'ll g? k?ll h?m "

  (". . . I'll go call him ")

  I then stood up from the couch and walked to the bedroom, knocking on the door, and entered it

  I saw him sit down on the bed, his hands covering his face while his head slumped down

  "Adam? "

  He didn't answer me, as if his mind was in another place, kept thinking about something

  I then walked closer to him and tapped his shoulder calmly, snapping him out of his thoughts, and lifted his head to look at me

  "Ah. . . Dani. . . What's wrong. . .? "

  ". . . Can I sit beside you? "

  "S-Sure. . . Why not? "

  He then moved aside a little bit, giving me space before I sat down beside him

  "So, want to tell me what's wrong? "

  ". . . There's nothing wrong going on "

  "Huff. . . I know it. It's about your trauma isn't it? "

  "Wha-. . . How. . . "

  ". . . At first, I thought that wasn't the case. It's been a long time, and you haven't shown any sign since. But then yesterday you told me that you feel scared "

  ". . . "

  "Tell me, you feel helplessness and the memory of your little brother, right? "

  "---! I. . . I. . . "

  ". . . "

  ". . . Yeah. . . You're right "

  "Figure. The moment you met him, it not only gave you a feeling of helplessness. That feeling also triggered your old trauma "

  ". . . Sorry-"

  "Can you stop saying sorry? It's annoying at this point "

  "---?? "

  "I didn't blame you for feeling scared. And I certainly didn't blame you for your trauma to come back. After all, I know that trauma didn't heal that easily "

  "Dani. . . "

  ". . . I'm the one who should say sorry actually. I choose not to include the possibility that you face your trauma again "

  ". . . "

  "So, in exchange, I give you some simple advice. Instead of thinking about what they will do to you, think about what you will do "

  ". . . That. . . Sounds useful. I keep that in mind "

  "Hmm, ok "

  ". . . "

  ". . . "

  ". . . You shouldn't have said sorry earlier, you know? "

  ". . . "

  "I mean, come on, I didn't show any sign of it for almost 10 years. Anyone would have thought that I was already moved on "

  ". . . Still, I'm sorry. . . I'm too focused on the logical side this time "

  He then lightly punched my arm, before giving me a small smile

  "Come on, aren't you the one who told me not to say sorry too much? How about you do the same, eh? "

  ". . . Huff, yeah, yeah. Anyway, Henrik's mom called us for dinner "

  "Oh, dinner's ready? " He said, a little bit too excited despite his mood earlier

  ". . . Huff. . . How easy to bring your mood up. Just mention food and you'll instantly feel great "

  "Hehe. . . Come on, let's go eat already "

  "Hmm, go out first. I want to stay here for a moment "

  As he walked out of the bedroom, I then walked closer to the desk and grabbed the metal ruler that was on the desk

  ". . . "

  I then grabbed on each end of the ruler with my hands, before bending it with ease

  Like it was natural for me to do so

  ". . . I see. So that's my power, huh? "

  I then straightened the ruler before putting it back and walking out of the bed, heading straight to the kitchen

  "Oi dude, the food is almost cold. Sit down already! " Adam mock shouted at me

  ". . . Huff, yeah yeah. . . Coming "

  As I was about to sit down, a few knocks on the front door alarmed all four of us

  "?h, l?t m?-"

  ("Oh, let me-") Henrik's mom said as she was about to get up before I raised my hand slightly to stop her

  "N? n??dh, M?shsh. L?t m? "

  ("No need, Miss. Let me ") I said calmly

  "Ye?? share, Dh?n?? "

  ("You sure, Dani? ")

  "Hmm, ?ll ?ph ye?? zh?sht sh?t h?r? ?ndh ??t "

  ("Hmm, all of you just sit here and eat ")

  I then walked closely to the door and opened it slowly, and saw Uncle Reggie standing outside

  "Oh, hey Dani. Good evening "

  "Oh, I thought who. . . Good evening "

  He then tilted his head to look inside before he saw that three of them were eating

  "Having dinner eh? Well, good timing. You and Adam should stuff your stomach full right now "

  "Oh? "

  "We're going to the meeting soon. So I need both of you at full energy "

  ". . . Finally. About time "