"I know your mother will hate me when I meet her but I am doing this because . . ." the man stopped to cough.
He stretched his hand towards the man with his lips parted but there was nothing he had on his mind to refer to the man as so he simply stood on the side and watched all that happened before him.
It went by really fast, flashes and shadows flashing past his face and he remained rooted on that same spot unable to detect the right thing to do.
He remembered the same way he felt when his parents died. it felt like a replay although he was very grateful that this time, there was less blood and tears and more confusion and barely any sadness.
He did not know the man so it was not surprising that he did not know how to react to the man's death. He almost knew nothing about the man but it was inevitable for him not to feel pity for his life.
It made him wonder what wrong he had committed in his past life to make him open to such oppression from the universe. He had just agreed to the man's offer and barely had the chance to agree verbally the way he had planned on the way here.
All the words he rehearsed and the plans he had on his mind to prevent them from mistreating him flew out of the window of the room. He was still lost in his thought on that same spot until someone touched his shoulder.
He flinched instinctively and took a step back with his eyes barely focusing as he raised his head to look at the man whose hand rested on his shoulder now. this was that old man's guard.
"Oh, I am sorry, I will leave now," he said as he began taking further steps backward. He was stopped with a hand on his wrist. "I am sorry. I must have come at the wrong time and I should not be here at all."
He had a strong feeling that perhaps the bad luck he gave his parents followed him to his grandfather's house. It was unavoidable for him to feel guilty. The man had died right before him. He was confirmed dead by a doctor he knew nothing of.
His time of death, everything was confirmed right before Haruki just like it happened when his parents died. The warmth of the tears that ran down his cheeks was not enough to let him know that he was crying until he tasted his tears.
It was so salty; he began sobbing aloud as his legs that had become tired of standing like an untrained soldier on duty gave way and he slumped to the floor with a thud.
Was he not sad? Then what was this feeling of loss? He left his aunt's place because he believed he had a place where those who shared the same blood with him lived and rather than appreciating their kindness, he deposited a piece of baggage of his bad luck in their room.
"Master," the man suddenly said as he bowed deeply and stretched his hand towards Haruki. Haruki shook his head and avoided that hand. He moved backward away from the hand that seemed like it was calling him forward to his execution.
"I was wrong," he muttered as his body began to tremble.
"Master," the man called out to him again as he stretched his hand to him and beckoned for him to move forward.
"I am sorry, it is my fault," he continued to mutter as he could not understand why he had to witness another death. He was brutally made to understand the statement that says blood was thicker than water.
The man he barely knew could evoke such a feeling in his heart? It was strange. He tried to understand what happened but he could not despite how he tried to give another explanation for that sense of loss that left his heart feeling empty.
He raised his head and looked around as he thought of what life awaited him after he had left his aunt's house and he had nowhere else to return. He would end up becoming a vagabond.
He sighed and stood as farther as he could away from the man in front of him. He bowed deeply to the man and decided to escape before those men kill him for causing their leader's death.
It was time for him to grow up completely. Remembering the vow he left with his uncle, the tears streamed down more and he was tasked with the work of mopping it off the sleeve of his shirt.
When he tried to leave, the man did not let him leave. He tried all he could to struggle out of the man's grip and somehow, he got knocked out with a hit on his neck.
He concluded that his life was over and he will most likely get buried with that old man as his consciousness slipped away.
/ / / ^ \\\
Instead of getting buried with the old man as he expected, he was bowed to by a few dozens of well-built men in a black suits who came for the funeral.
He had waited through the whole funeral process waiting for the death that will come to him. When they returned home, he could only see the mixture of black and white ahead of him before even bothering to look at those men's angry-looking faces.
He looked at the old man's bodyguard and he could not help but cock his eyebrows in confusion. He bit his lips and those men approached him. He could only guess at that point that they will all take turns stabbing him so that they could all play a part in avenging their boss.
He concluded that he will most likely become minced meat when they are done and that thought scared him to the point that he had to consciously hold back the sudden strong urge to use the restroom.
They stopped and with a loud shout, they all bowed. After the bow that almost took the spirit out of young Haruki, those men went on their knees and kowtowed before the youth, It took a lot of willpower for him not to faint from the shock.