Excelium [Editing]

Kabanata 13

Zai's Point of View

Dahan-dahang lumapag sa lupa ang lalaki at pinunasan niya ang baba niya dahil sa pawis.

Tumingin naman ito sa amin at dumako ang mata niya kina Levine at Papa. Yumuko siya dito bilang paggalang.

"Good afternoon, General Yan, Headmaster Levine and..." anito at tumigil ang mga mata sa akin. Bigla naman akong inakbayan ni Levine.

"This is Yan's daughter, Zai" pagpapakilala niya sa akin. Sinulyapan namin siya at nanatili na lamang tahimik. No one should know my true identity and being Yan's daughter is a way to conceal it.

Umayos ng tindig ang lalaki at tumingin sa akin.

"I didn't know that General Yan has a daughter" anito habang naglalakad palapit. Wiping his sweats off.

"Ah yes. You see. She is a secret. You know what I mean? Being a general is a tough responsibility. Rebels can danger your or your family's life. So he hid her from the public. They had it rough" tila naniwala naman ang lalaki sa sinabi ni Levine. Now I just discovered one of his talents. He's a good damn liar.

Tumango naman ito sa akin. I was staring at his white hair and silver eyes. It was my first time seeing it in real life. Sa mga anime ko lamang ito nakikita at ngayon ay may totoo ng tao ang nakatayo sa harapan ko. Nagtungo naman si Levine sa tabi ng lalaki.

"And this is Kleiv. He is a great student from the academy. He's the vice president of the student council actually"

"Nice to meet you" saad ni papa.

"Thank you for taking care of that demon back there. We actually do not have any weapon with us at the moment" tila nahihiyang saad ni Papa.

"It's my pleasure sir. Now if you'll excuse me." Saad nito at naglakad palayo. I also saw that he looked at me once before he turned his back. Doon ko lang napansin na nakasuot siya ng puting long sleeved polo na pinatungan ng itim na apron. Pumunta siya sa isang gilid at binuhat ang isang kahon na naroon at tuluyan ng nilisan ang lugar.

"He's a working student. Students earn money from killing demons when they accept the mission that the school give. But vacation is unfortunate for those who doesn't have sufficient money for themselves. They have to work to earn." tila proud pa na saad ni Levine habang nakatingin sa likod ni Kleiv na naglalakad palayo.

He's a quiet guy.

"Let's go home. I think we had enough for today" suhestyon ni Papa na sinang-ayunan naman namin. Naglakad na kami pabalik ng cabin.

~¤¤*¤¤~

Nasa gilid kami ng cabin at nakatingin ako sa mansanas na nakapatong sa isang maikling poste na hindi kalayuan sa akin.

Hindi mawawala sa isip ko ang mga mata ng lalaking iyon. It's one of the things that I admired. You see, I'm an anime addict. And it was like, seeing an anime who came to reality.

"Focus, Zai. Don't let your mind wonder off" napatingin ako kay papa na nakatayo sa gilid at nakahalukipkip ang mga braso. For a gentleman like him, he's strict when it comes to his teachings.

Hinawakan ko ng mahigpit ang hawak kong dart at ibinato iyon sa mansanas. Hindi ito tumama.

"You won't take a break, unless you hit 50 apples" istriktong saad ni papa at pumasok sa loob ng cabin. Sengkwentang mansanas. Wala pa akong natatamaan maski isa. Tumingin ako sa langit at nakitang hapon na at malapit ng maggabi.