I hate you

Chapter 1

With a fluid lightning fast slash, almost too fast to see, Xei Ming disarmed the man in front of him. For a moment the two stood still glaring at each other, eyes sharp enough to cut steel. A beat passed and then they both burst out laughing.

"You're good...for a college kid" Feng tian said with a smirk. His eyes were twinkling with the exertion of a good fight and something that looked like pride, though he would never admit to the latter.

"Yeah. Pretty good for a college kid to beat you" Xei Ming smirked right back. Pretty good was an understatement. For a person to surpass a martial artist expert within two years of learning under him was no short of a miracle but Xei Ming had done just that. It was fact that never failed to surprise and fill Feng Tian with pride whenever he looked at Xei Ming.

Feng Tian harrumphed. "Is that how you talk to your master?" But his steely black eyes were smiling.

Xei Ming threw him an indulgent smile and a shrug for good measure.

"Cheeky bastard, should just put you over my knees and spank you"

"You'll have to catch me first, old man" Xei Ming laughed, playfully swinging the wooden sword in his hand. Feng Tian was not old...only 45 and the term only served as a type of a reluctant endearment.

Feng Tian chuckled and motioned for him to follow. Xei Ming followed him to the adjoining room and watched him pull out a smooth black box out of a drawer before shoving it into his hand.

"Happy 20th birthday"

At the confused look on Xei Ming's face, he explained. "I know your birthday is not until a week later but it just feels right. And whenever something feels right-"

"It usually is" Xei Ming finished for him with a small smile. This line was something he would never forget. Part of it was because the old man used it wherever and whenever possible and partly because it resonated with him.

"Go on, open it" He waved an impatient hand at him.

He grinned and slowly opened the book to gasp when he saw a beautiful flute nestled inside it. It was beautiful in it's simplicity. It had no carving but one could see the care that went into carving the flute into a delicate work of art.

"I love it. Thank you" He breathed, smoothing his fingers over the flute.

"It was my mother's. Thought you might like it"

Xei Ming's eyes widened. Feng Tian was an orphan, having lost his parents to land slide when he was only ten. Xei Ming, having lost his parents to in a car accident himself knew what everything left behind by his parents meant to a person.

He shook his head. "No-I"

Feng Tian lightly hit his head. "Never refuse something offered to you. Now back to practice"

A few hours later Xei Ming was let off with his whole body aching. He could fight toe to toe with his master and even win but that didn't mean it was easy. Feng Tian was a martial arts expert and he had the spirit of one. Strong and unrelenting, it was not easy to beat him and a moment of inattention could result in loss.

He massaged his aching shoulder, flute in hand as he walked out of Feng Tian's house, grumbling complaints. He went through the things he could do in his mind. He did not want to go to an empty house just yet.

A trill of sweet laugh disturbed his musings. He instinctively glanced towards the owner, the laugh pulling a slight smile from him. It was a girl with pig tails bouncing as she skipped across the zebra crossing. Reaching the middle of the road she impatiently waved at her mother on the other end of the road. Her mother an older version was juggling grocery bags, clearly struggling but still smiling as she rolled her eyes at her daughter.

It was clear that they were close. Xei Ming couldn't help but feel a painful but sweet tinge in his heart. He almost missed the screeching sounds but when he looked up again, to his horror he saw a truck speeding insanely fast right towards the girl.

The mother was too shocked, her feet glued to the ground with horror. She wouldn't make it, by the time she managed to react...it would be too late to save her.

His feet moved before he knew it and he was racing toward the girl in the middle of the road.

He remembered pushing the girl out of the road and then he was flying. Pain...impossible pain that coursed through his entire body. Something warm running down his temples and coloring his vision red before everything went black.

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It was difficult to breath and his head was killing him....in fact his entire body was killing him. he wanted to go back to sleep. He tried to open his eyes but found he was too weak.

"When will Xiao Wenhe awaken?" A male voice he couldn't recognize. Who was he referring to?

"I don't know. He must have hit his head hard when he jumped into the river. So it might be a while but he will wake" A woman's voice this time. A doctor? He thought fuzzily. Were they talking about some one who had tried to commit suicide?

"I don't want him to suffer like Rui. Maybe we should have let him take his own life"

Huh? That was insanely messed up. Even as he disbelievingly thought that, it was becoming harder and harder to concentrate darkness pulling at his consciousness.

"It's been two days and he still won't wake up"

"He will. When his body is ready, he will" The woman spoke sounding not so sure.

He let the darkness pull him into unconsciousness.