1 A ridiculous way to die...
The banging on the door jolted Aris up.
"Five more minutes…" he groaned while pulling the blanket to cover his head.
"Wake up! Bro!" A familiar female voice sounded in cacophony with the knocks.
Aris got his pillow and covered his ears to block the sound.
He's still sleepy and he never wanted to get out of bed. He had pulled an all-nighter playing RPG's last night.
However, it would seemed that his younger sister wouldn't leave him alone.
"I said, wake up!!!!" There was a loud bang and the door flew off its hinges.
"Little monster!" he scrambled from bed.
"You destroyed my door again…" he brushed his almost shoulder length unkempt hair as he complained.
Clearly, what he said displeased his younger sister. She stood on the door way while holding her ever reliable wooden sword.
Her red eyes flashed as her smile became quite scary.
"I wouldn't have done this if you had gotten up earlier." She said in an overly sweet voice while giving her sword a practice swing.
Aris shivered.
He knew that he would get into trouble if he pissed her off any more than this. But as a brother, it is his job to get on his sister's nerves.
"Aria, I don't have to go to school. So, why do I need to get up early?" he asked while trying to go back to his bed.
Before he could reach his mattress, a wooden sword swung towards him. He lost his balance and fall on his rear when he dodged the attack.
"Hey! You shouldn't hit me. I am your older brother!"
"You are only a few minutes older than me!"
His kid sister always insisted that she is older since she is more mature than him. Much to his chagrin.
"Bro, you need to pull yourself together and go back to school. The teachers had been telling me that you are already in the verge of being kicked out." His sister informed him.
He simply let her words go from one ear to the other.
"Geez, you are lucky that sis is no longer living with us. She will beat you up knowing that you skipped school and holed yourself up in your room."
Annoyed, he bit back. "Why did you wake me up? Just to nag at me or something? And you better not tell, Anika that I am skipping school."
"She is busy with her work anyway. I doubt she would be able to read my messages while she's on the job." Aria grumbled.
He frowned when he heard her. He knew that his twin had to bear the responsibility at home since their elder sibling had started taking on her full time job.
As the only male, he was supposed to shoulder the responsibilities but he wasn't motivated to do so.
"Look, I have to get to school." his sister informed.
"But it's a weekend!"
"I have to go back. I am preparing for a match." The girl said.
"That doesn't have anything to do with me…" he muttered.
Aris barely avoided another slash.
"Basically, bro… I need you to do the groceries, since I cannot come back home on time…" she smiled like a demon.
"But I don't want to…" he evaded a strike from the sword.
He then slid and took the spare wooden sword he kept near his bed to block his sister's attack.
That started their usual sibling spar and unfortunately, that ended up with Aria's victory with a bump on Aris's head.
"The winner gets to boss the loser around." she ordered. "You better do the household chores while you're at it."
"This kid?! When did she grew up to be a monster?" he grumbled while putting ice pack on his bump.
"I can't believe I lost against her again…" he complained after she left. "she used to be a sweet obedient child."
He pulled on his hoodie and mask. Then he got ready to run the errand.
As he passed the hallway, he caught a glimpse of all the medals that his younger twin had won in tournaments.
"As if, I could win against that champ." He mumbled as he trudged downstairs.
He felt proud of her but sometimes, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of envy at his capable younger twin.
"I have to go out again… it has been a while." He pulled his hoodie to hide partially hide his face.
Before he could go out of their residence, he had to pass by Hausen dojo.
This was the only dojo in that small countryside of Linden. The Hausen clan had always run a martial arts dojo since ancient times.
His father used to teach him and his siblings different self defense techniques.
Both his female siblings excelled. Anika was good with ninjutsu while Aria excelled in Kendo. He was the only one who is mediocre.
He swallowed back the lump which had formed in his throat. He hastened to halt the onslaught memories.
While walking in the alley, a pair of teenage boys were coming his way… Aris moved to the other side to avoid them. One of the guys was a classmate from school.
"Hey, isn't that Aris?" one of them asked.
His companion shushed him and they both went on their way.
Aris could not stomach getting into contact with other people. After that incident, the ones he could tolerate were only his siblings.
Deep inside he also wished to gain friends and live a normal teenage life once again. However, he could not find the courage to approach others.
Though he felt a little bit miserable, the cool breeze and the crashing of the waves had eased him a little.
He allowed his gaze to roam the place. The sun had been partially hidden by the clouds and the coconut trees swayed as the wind blew.
"It seemed that I had already reached the seaside area." He muttered as he looked at his smartphone. It had only been a 10-minute walk from their house.
He continued walking and reached the store. But before he could reach the venue, a familiar voice caught his attention.
"Let me go!" the female voice tore the serenity of the place.
"Come with us pretty girl, we will have lots of fun…. Hic." A gruff male voice followed.
Aris' blood boil. Despite not trying to come into contact with other people, his feet led him towards the commotion.
At the scene, he saw four drunk men trying to hit on a girl.
"Isn't that Kanna." He muttered as he recognized his twin's friend.
Clenching his fist, he moved to stop the men from taking the brunette.
But before he could reach them, a wooden sword hit one of the guys on the head and rendered him unconscious.
"Aria!" the girl exclaimed in relief.
Kanna must have informed Aria that she had been in trouble. And his reliable sister came to the rescue.
It only took a matter of few seconds to bring the guys down. Aris was not given the opportunity to save the damsel in distress.
"As expected of a black belter." Kanna said while hugging Aria.
Aris suppressed the jealousy that he felt. "I might feel even more terrible if Aria was male."
He looked at the arms that wrapped around his sister. He had a crush on Kanna since they were young.
"I am glad that they are safe."
From the corner of his eye, he saw one of the men gaining consciousness. Aris ran towards the girls so as to interfere to what ever that goon was planning.
But instead of attacking the two, that man ran towards his car.
Aris' blood ran cold when he realized what the man intended to do. So he sprinted towards them and pushed them out of the way.
The car screeched since it did not hit its target. The man lost control and the car hit the old coconut tree near its vicinity.
Aris did not know what had happened. He was just standing there after he pushed the two away.
The next thing he knew he felt unbearable pain on his head, and something heavy seemed to pin him down.
It was hard to breathe...
"That hurt…" he groaned while he weakly brought his hand to his head.
For some reasons, his vision had turned red and his consciousness started to fade…
[Notice… conditions for crossing has been met…] a robotic female voice resounded which caused his head to throb.
"What in the world is that?" He wanted to ask but he could not open his mouth.
Then a cry from a familiar voice filtered his ears.
"Aris! You idiot!" Aria's teary face was blurry and tinged crimson.
'Don't cry…' he wanted to say. It is the first time he saw his sister cry after their parents died.
"Why did you have to save me? I could avoid that without a problem… you idiot…" she cried.
'Ungrateful brat… it is not often that... I act like a big brother to you… as your older brother… I have to save you.' He thought while helplessly looking at her.
'Besides Aria could have avoided that, but Kanna wouldn't be able to...'
"How in the heavens name… you are going to leave me just because you got hit with just a stupid…." Aria's voice faded along his fading consciousness.
