Promises and questions without answers

It was already night, people started to come across but they ignored us as soon as they saw me using my powers. I was breathing heavily while chugging water.

“Phaaaw~! This is the best!”

“I have never seen you work this up, did you always do this?”

“Not to this extended… but yeah”

“You haven’t taken PE right? Your body… is so different, you have your abdomen mark and your shoulders and back are all marked too”

“Now, now, if you were a girl I would be flatter”

“Is not like that, man!”

“I know, I’m just picking you up”

I laugh and did deep breaths while looking at the ceiling

“Are you good?”

“Yeah… is just that I am starting to feel tired, I don’t use my powers this often, but I think it was good letting me train my body first instead of this…”

“You have a point, the first time that you let out a ton of wind in your house you looked awful”

“Yeah… I guess I just have to keep training my own endurance, this was a good session”

I stood up and put my shirt on and we started to hear a whining while a dark figure stood up.

“Looks like you wake up already”

“What?...”

The guy that I knocked up a few hours ago finally recovered consciousness, we stood up nervously against him and he sat down on the floor.

“You are a crazy kid, you know that?”

“Yeah… I am aware of it...”

The dude started to crack his bones stretching all over his body and then fell to the ground again.

“Why did you try to stop us? You really shouldn’t care” —asked Yuki.

“I don’t like seeing kids get hurt, you are not the first ones coming in here at a young age, people are not that nice to you once you are in the ring”

“I am aware of that too”

“You said that but you really have no idea of how things work, have you ever practiced a sport? Have you fought with someone besides me?”

“No…”

“I am not very strong, I admit it, to think you knock me up… But if that is your decision, I will respect it…”

“What’s your name, sir?”

“My name? Kuri Tatsu”

“Mr. Tatsu, I am sorry for asking you this all of a sudden but you will be my sparring partner?”

“Huh? What would I help you out?”

“For the same reason you attack me, because you want to see kids get hurt, then help me become stronger!”

“That’s dumb, don’t twist my work”

“Is that a no?”

“…”

Tatsu stayed silent for a few seconds and then sighs.

“Okay, I’ll do it, seriously you are one weird kid.

“Thank you, sir!”

“But I will not do it today, and don’t get your hopes up, I’ll help you out when I can”

“That’s fine, I just finished my training for today”

“Did you… Did you train all the hours I pass out?”

“Yes”

“Seriously… what a kid haha”

Tatsu laughed and left the place while negating his head.

“That was something…” —said Yuki.

“At least I have a sparring partner now, I’ll be easy to know how to work with my powers with someone that uses it too”

“I will I could help around like that”

“Don’t get yourself down, man, you are helping me a lot”

I smiled while passing my arm around Yuki’s neck.

“Let’s go home”

Yuki nodded and we left the place, it was around midnight, but we had finished the businesses we had in there, it was time to go home now. We walked around for a few minutes until we were sure that the place wasn’t discovered yet.

“How many days?”

“Probably two at most, they change location fast after all”

“Yeah…”

Just at the moment we turned a corner, we saw what we thought was not possible right now, an officer, in that instant, my whole world froze for a second.

Eh? A cop? But why? What is he doing here? Am I seeing right, yeah… that’s his plate, have they already found out about this place, no… is only one, but there could be a ton more waiting outside? What do we do? What should I do? Do I use my powers to fly away with Yuki… Should we just pass by… What is the correct choice?!

Yuki touched my arm and all my thoughts disappeared as we passed around the cop, but he stopped us.

“Hey! Kids!”

We stopped and looked at him.

“What are you doing here at this hour? I’m going to call your parents imminently, come with me!”

We nodded and we started walking until a voice called the cop.

“Ah! Cop wait!”

It was Tatsu.

“What is it?”

“You two, I told you to wait for me, this is the reason why I cannot let my eyes out of you”

“You know these kids?”

“They are my brothers, officer, I am doing club activities around haunting places and they insist in coming, you know how kids are nowadays”

“H-Haunting places?”

“Yeah, this place is haunted, or so I thought, I have only heard screams and things moving around but that could be an animal or any other thing”

“I-I get it, make sure to keep your brothers in sight, be a more responsible brother!”

The police turned around and started to walk fast.

“Coward…”

“Tatsu, thanks, you save our asses”

“If you guys are found we are all in trouble, although I need to inform about this to the people around to make sure they didn’t find us”

“Either way, thanks”

Tatsu hit my back, I smiled and sat down.

“How do you guys even know about this place anyway? Do you have a contact?”

“We have now, but we really just research about them and try luck”

Tatsu whistled and sat down.

“You guys are pretty smart then, the police really are incompetents, or maybe they really know where we are and just play around”

“You think so?”

“I don’t know, I would like to know honestly, is not fun to run away”

“So how do you guys even survive? I assume you don’t work or have a place to stay” —Said Yuki.

“Some of us have places where to crash but we are a big community, some of us work and some of us just hang around”

“Which type are you?”

“I do work, but I come here to feel safe, you really don’t know how to be pursued, I really need to be careful… the cigarette guy, you remember him? He was my friend, he covered me up every time some of my powers slipped, I really hate smoking but he helped me out a lot…”

“I’m… sorry to hear that…”

“Yeah… what am I even saying to a bunch of kids…” —Tatsu whispered.

“Thanks again, Tatsu, we are going to be more careful about our surroundings.

Tatsu just nodded and we left the place, now going home. The way to get there was easy, without any troubles. Once we got home I went to the bath and started to prepare the tub while Yuki was watching the TV.

I entered showering and once I clean my body, I entered the tub and saw the ceiling along with the smoke, I left out a big sigh as I close my eyes and submerge myself entirely in the water, a lot of thoughts came to my mind but none of them were relevant or even complete, just a bunch of words that at some moment disappeared from my mind.

I went up from the water and sighed again, leaving the tub and preparing to get dressed. Once dressed I went to the couch and hit Yuki in the arm.

“Bath is ready”

“Oh thanks”

Yuki went upstairs as I yawned and saw the news, a bunch of reports about the daily elementer hunts, prices increasing, and other problems around the world.

“How can adults sit down and watch this alone…”

I change between channels only to be in the same one after a bit and sigh, I could feel the weight of my eyes hitting close, so I jumped to the couch and lay down looking at the TV, Yuki came after a bit and hit my head while he was laying down in the futon down me.

“It was one rough day…”

“You gotta get used to it, man”

“Yeah…”

“But it surely was a lot, you fight against someone and even make him your sparing partner, what a crazy development, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Then the police and your whole routine”

“Yes…”

“Ren…”

“Yeah?...”

“I’m going to be with you no matter what, I’ll try my best to not be a dead weight, I cannot let those two only talk to you while I am just at the side, just look at me man, and I’ll be… you already fall asleep…” —Yuki sighed— “Goodnight, Ren”