REN AND THE HEARTLESS DEVIL

I never expected to be back in this place after 10 long years. Here I am again breathing Philippine air. We migrated to the US when I was still 10 and I don't know the reason why. I mean why America when we can go to Japan that's where my father came from. But who cares they never treated me nicely anyways.  Parang hindi ako kasali sa pamilya. It was always my older sister and brother who were good in their eyes. I became a rebel just to gain their attention, I was involve almost every day in a fight at palaging laman ng guidance office. I want them to notice me, to scold me whenever I did wrong but I failed. They never went to my school even once lagi nalang assistant nila ang pumupunta sa school in their behalf. Until 5 years ago I had enough and run away from home. I realized that no matter what I do, they will never notice my existence. I left America with only a one-way plane ticket to Japan, 500 dollars and my back pack. I was so desperate that time to be free. I can still remember that day I arrived in Japan. I've never been there kahit may dugong Japanese ako since naglayas lang naman si papa sa kanila at wala din akong kakilala kahit isa man lang but it was my dream country kaya dito ko napiling tumira after I left home.  Flashback After I've check in sa isang hotel I decide to take a walk outside at medyo gutom na din ako it was already past 8 in the evening. Excitement took charge of me hanggang sa namalayan ko nalang I am alone walking in a not so lighted up alley naliligaw na pala ako. I was about to go back when a group of guys showed up and walked towards me. "Anata wa dokoni iku tumori desuka?" (Where are you going?) the guy with the black shirt said. I was so afraid that time at hindi ko man lang mabuksan ang bibig ko. Isa pa di ko din naman na gets yung sinabi nya.   I turned my heel and was about to run but the nearest guy grab my wrist at wala akong nagawa but to cry. Mag isa lang ako and there are four of them. The black haired guy grab my other hand and pin me on the wall and started licking and sniffing my neck. "Plea-se s-top I'm begging yo-u" was all I manage to say while crying. His hand was going to rip my shirt when an empty can hit his head and a guy in a hoodie showed up "Dare ka teemee?" (Who are you?) the guy growled while holding his head. " Tsk" yan lang narinig ko mula sa lalaking naka hoodie tapos bigla nalang nyang sinugod silang apat. And all I can say is WOW as in wow ang galing nya he was so swift and so graceful while fighting it was like he's dancing. And in just a snap tumba na yung apat.  "Daijobo desu ka?" the hoodie guy said while facing me. At ako nakatanga lang sa kanya I'm still in awe from what I saw. "Hey! English?" sabi nya ulit to get my attention. "I..ah, w-hat did you say?" at last nahanap ko din yung boses ko. "I'm asking if you're okay" sabi nya while checking my face that made me blush. His face is so enchanting and gwapo nya! "oh, I'm okay. Thank you!" sagot ko naman sa kanya then I smiled. A genuine smile which I have not done since I forgot when. We introduced each other and his name is Kenji Tanaka tapos hinatid nya na ako sa hotel.  It's the start of our friendship. I've found out that he's a gang leader which is not surprising from what I saw right. Akala nya lalayuan ko na sya but no, I was really fascinated by this gangster stuff and asked him to teach me how to fight. I spent 3 years of my stay there in training. Handling weapons and mastering martial arts and I can say that I am already a different person from who I was when I was still in the US. We became closer and without noticing it we already fell for each other. He was my first love and I am his. I became a member of their gang and those were the happiest days of my life.  But as I've said happy endings were never true, it was our anniversary and I am very excited kasi sabi nya may surprise daw sya para sa akin until a phone call breaks my heart he was ambushed and kidn*pped by our rival gang. I was not thinking straight that time I didn't inform the other members I moved on my own thinking I could save him.  I hurried my way into the abandoned building and what I saw breaks my heart even more, Kenji was full of wounds and bruises. "Kenjiiiiiiiii!" I called his name while running towards him. I was so close but then someone grabs my hand and stops me. " Ken please wake up!" I said pleadingly with tears rolling down my eyes. "Ren yo-u shouldn't be here" sabi nya while doing all his might to raise his head and look at me. "I'm here to save you" I answered him and smiled bitterly. "You know I-I love you so much right?" sabi nya sa akin while smiling kahit na nahihirapan na sya alam ko yun nakikita ko. " Of course I know! Baka! I love you too, everything’s gonna be alright okay?" I can't stop my tears from falling.  Nakakaawa ang hitsura nya parang di sya yung malakas at kinakatakutang gang leader. He was about to answer when one of the guys surrounding as cut him. "What a nice show, too bad it's going to end now." He points his gun to Kenji's head and quickly pull the trigger not giving me and Ken a chance to say anything. He falls to the ground and I was in shocked, I can't move, I felt numb. "NOOOOOOO!!!" was all I manage to shout and I can see nothing but red like I am hungry for blood. I don't know what happened next or how I did it. I just notice that I am the only one standing and the rest of them were lying cold and lifeless on the ground.   "Gabbyyyyyyyyyyy" someone shouted beside me and I was pulled out from my trance.  "What the f**k Yuri!" I hissed and give her my cold stare. And I can see she's scared. She should be. By the way she's Yuri Mondejar also a member of our gang. She's one of the very few people that can shout at me like that. When Ken died our gang was dissolved, some members formed their own group while the others joined other gangs. Habang ako, I continued my training kahit na alam ko na lahat I still want to be stronger. And when I’ll found their head I’m gonna crushed and torture him more than he ever did to Kenji, until he begs for his own death. Yuri stayed with me, she said I'm here only family and it was the same for me too. Now it's been a year since Ken's death and Yuri gathered an information that the Viper's head was in the Philippines that's why we are here. "Gab come on ang init dito" pagkuha nya ulit sa pansin ko. Tsk! Sanay kasi yan sa klima sa Japan. It was still winter there when we left. "Tch!" at nagpatiuna na ako sa kanyang maglakad. It was good that the line for the taxi is not long and we’re already next. We decided to stay in a hotel while we are still searching for a school where we could finish our studies. We're graduating students already, same course chemical engineering. We reached the nearest hotel, isang room lang kinuha namin with twin beds. Nahiga na ako sa kama after naming kumain at makapagbihis habang si Yuri naman busy sa kanyang laptop looking for possible schools. "Scholarship" I murmured sakto lang para marinig ni yuri. "What? May pera naman tayo ah! Dami mo kayang ipon sa racing mo" singhal nya sa akin habang busy pa din sa laptop nya. "Why use your money when you can have it for free" pero di na nya ako sinagot masyadong focus sa school searching nya.  I'm slowly drifting off to sleep when. “YESSSSS!!! OMG!" biglang sigaw ni yuri. "f**k! Yuri!" singhal ko sa kanya, badtrip yun na ih makakatulog na sana ako. “I found us a perfect school. Seishin Academy I've heard a lot of good rumors about this school tsaka malay mo makita natin sila dito. As far as I know Japanese ang ngtatag ng school na to. At ang pinaka good news is online exam for scholarships! " mahabang litanya ni yuri.  Sabagay she has a point. Ive heard about this school when I was still in Japan searching for that bastards whereabouts. "Shut up and just take the test" I told her nonchalantly. It took as 2 hours to finish the exam and I know we'll pass we're not dumb. After taking the exam we decide to rest, it's really been a long day!