26 Chapter 24.5 : When It Rains, It Pours. 2/2

A/N: Ayo here's the second part, I tried a bit of story telling.

Don't forget the stones, I edited this on the bus smh...

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The old man was taken aback, "So you can be quite direct when you want?… That drug… Indeed I consumed it too…"

"So…? Can you tell me more about it?" Kurai pressed the old man.

"Yes I could…"

Kurai interrupted him, "Oh! Thanks really!"

"...But first listen to this old man's little story, alright?"

He hesitated, truthfully Kurai didn't know how much time he had before the nurse came back.

"Yes." He nonetheless agreed.

'The nurse was definitely a lazy one…'

The old man gazed at the cloudy sky outside.

"It's the story of a poor child. He struggled a lot growing up, his mom was dealing already with 2 kids and his dad, dealing with spliff. He was young, not even a kid, but he took it on the chin and moved forward to better things." [1]

Sighing, he looked back deeply into Kurai's golden orbs.

"He remembered his dad working in the crib at night, before vanishing. But the kid didn't judge him. He thought that he never lived the life father lived. He even met him a few years later, even though the kid was still a toddler." [2]

Kurai continued to listen to him attentively, even though he noticed something weird in his speech.

"Unfortunately, the father disappeared again."

The old man took his cover off and wore his shoes, "The kid had to vent, to get words out of his chest, so he went out looking for fights."

Beckoning Kurai to get out with him, the old man opened the door and sat on the balcony.

"He also had an ego about himself so he didn't really like to talk about it."

Kurai nodded, it's not like he didn't have a harsh life when he grew up too, no, he could say that his upbringing was even harsher.

"Fortunately, he never went to consul houses even if he got caught a few times." The old man shook his head and looked outside again.

Stopping his tale for a few seconds, he commented, "It's gonna rain, huh?"

Kurai glanced at the sky too, seeing dark clouds slowly forming from afar.

He then resumed his tale, "The kid thought that he didn't really need any help, and so he just bit my tongue…"

This time, Kurai definitely caught the inconsistency in his speech.

"Going out in the streets, he made friends, but all this shit was too crazy for him…"

"That's how I knew that the kid couldn't chill in his head for too long. Or else he would start second guessing everything he knows, thinking about his pals, questioning who are my bros, and who lives or who won't."

Now understanding that the story was more grave than he thought Kurai's face was solemn.

He even interrupted the old man, "It's about you, right?"

Tearing his gaze away from the sky, the old man's face was neutral. He nodded at Kurai without a word and continued.

"Back then my head was already a jumbled mess."

Slowly droplets of rain started falling. Thankfully the balcony was covered.

"Like I said I was never under arrest, but my mom needed help, I saw her dealing with stress."

"What I put her through was already enough. She deserved more, I had to bring money, not for me, for her."

"I thought about starting to roll the weed and burner. Fortunately, I could control my mind so as to not get lost." A self-depreciating smirk escaped his mouth while Kurai didn't even blink and let him pursue. [3]

"Back then, Mom told me never to borrow, because life ain't all about dollars, it's about moments. But I couldn't hold them all, some of them were horrors."

'I can guess, yeah.' Kurai related to him.

"See it got me thinking... And before I knew it, it broke me down. It hit me a lot."

"Fortunately back then, Mom had a friend, who had a teenage girl."

'Saved by love, no, I don't really like where this is going.' The weather and the old man were matching, the sky was answering to his grave story by making thunder fall more frequently.

The rain started to fall more loudly too, drenching everything, even the unlucky people still out in the streets, caught off guard by the rapid change in weather.

"She was young but still older than me, she didn't have many friends, bullied time and time again, we grew up together and she started smoking peng, someday she even smoked more than 10."

The old man started reminiscing, "She got less quiet, and people started thinking that she psycho now, so she got diagnosed bipolar." He chuckled.

To Kurai though, this smile was full of hate, 'For them or himself?' He thought.

"One minute she happy, then certain stuff happens, her life's over. And she stuck with that for life, it takes her life over." The old man continued, more loudly to properly get heard by Kurai.

Kurai was confused, the old man looked really crazy right now, the light from the lightning reflecting on his face made him seem quite scary.

"She had her ups and downs, I remembered being young, she used to read to little me, I couldn't see, but she was as giddy as she could be. She found the one she loved and they tried for years to conceive."

"Miracles must happen because she got pregnant with a little baby…"

Even though Kurai heard him loud and clear, he had a gut feeling that it wasn't the end.

"But the miracle wasn't a miracle it seems…" The shadow reflecting on the other half of the old man's face got darker.

"And back then, as I read this out, I felt my heart starting to bleed, because that boy got this disease, it's the rarest of its breed."

His weak point being triggered even Kurai's heart started to ache.

"He'll forget to walk , talk, and eventually he'll forget to breathe."

*RUMBLE*

The loudest thunder of the night echoed a few miles away from them.

"It's fucking terminal, and she gotta go through that, see me, I couldn't do that!"

The sky got darker, so dark, Kurai thought that it was already midnight. The rain was still as heavy as before. If not stronger.

"If God fucking exists, then why the fuck would he do that…!?"

*RUMBLE*

Thunder answered to the old man's soul tearing shout.

Kurai took tissues from the table and gave it to the old man who was now looking at him, "Here, I'm not crying, you are." He said.

"It's the rain, kiddo, it's the rain."

It wasn' that Kurai was heartless or anything, but he already got his fair share in the past. He now could only respect this man, and give him the silence he deserved.

Kurai didn't really know what to answer to all this, so he preferred to remain silent. And allow the old man to get his bearings back. It definitely looked like the old man got too carried away to Kurai.

'Old age maybe? Or no, wasn't he crazy? The drug could have late side effects too…'

The old man then interrupted Kurai's train of thought, "Ahah, sorry I got in too deep…"

He threw the tissues away, and concentrated on the kid's first question, "Anyway what do you think a drug like this would do, to me ?" His face, now looking at Kurai, was seriousy, he wasn't even blinking.

He continued, "Lemme tell you...I later went to the army, and got back... But the world had changed too much and I decided to retire."

Catching his drifting thoughts again, the old man resumed, "So the drug, yeah... I consumed it, and if I had to be honest it's pretty bad. But what the fuck can it do to me? Kill me?"

"I am alright old." He spit loathfully.

"Showing me nightmares?"

The old man dryly stated, "I stopped dreaming long ago."

"Putting me down, destroying my mentality?"

"No, it can't, a mere drug can't beat me! Not after what I went through!" He shouted the last part.

Once again Kurai listened to him without missing a beat, his testimony was rich in life lessons and knowledge, which made Kurai respect him even more.

"As for your friend… Well, I don't know anything about a remede… Maybe the legendary Dragon fruit could do the work, or maybe it'll work just like a placebo effect." He murmured the last part, though, thanks to his hearing Kurai heard it loud and clear.

'Dragon fruit, huh?'

"If your friend is strong enough she can totally beat it alone, like me."

Taking a pause, he developed further, "Those are only nightmares after all. Maybe you could help her too, strong emotions, such as trust or some occupations like a sport… Anything to divert your friend's mind works."

"I see." Kurai started thinking about all the possibilities.

If he tried to divert her enough, maybe it could, in the end, overshadow everything?

Kurai didn't know for now, but one thing he knew for sure, 'I'll make you work hard, so hard, that you'll wish to sleep willingly!' Unfortunately, his sadistic side took over even though he had good attention.

"This is only an artificial illusion, even though it shouldn't be underestimated, someone with enough guts to stand his own ground, or someone who already went through a lot can easily ignore those petty dreams."

*Tap Tap*

Kurai started hearing footsteps, "Your friend should even gain something out of it, if he or she reigns over the dreams."

'Ah! Shit!'

Kurai nodded, nervously glancing at the door. 'At any moment…!'

*Tap Tap Tap*

"Or you could just make your friend so tired that when sleeping time comes he won't even be able to dream, hehe!"

Kurai felt bad but he quickly got up and bowed, "Oi, Old man, I'm reaaaally thankful in her stead, but I think I gotta leave now!"

Even the old man could, now, hear numerous footsteps dangerously approaching, Kurai nimbly opened the window and jumped out just in time.

Seeing him jump recklessly, the old man murmured quietly, "A girl, huh?"

He then sighed, clicking his tongue, 'Tsk tsk, it's good to be young I guess.'

Suddenly, with a loud bang, the door burst open; nurses and security agents entered the room, looking everywhere. But they didn't see anything so they settled their anxious gaze on the old man.

"Where is he!?" Nervously asked a nurse, the same nurse who was reading a magazine earlier.

The old man slowly turned his head toward them,

"Who is who? Who is he indeed?…" The old man tilted his head confusedly.

"The little boy with purple hair! The one that came earlier!"

"What little boy? I'm sure I was alone…Before you left..."

'Hah.' Outside the window, Kurai chuckled hearing the old man playing dumb with the guards. Then, discreetly, he left.

'Thanks again.' Quietly like a thief in the night, he got into his cat form and sped up toward Hiroshima.

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[1] : spliff is another word for cannabis.

[2] : Not the crib for babies, but here crib means 'place/house where illicit activities take place'.

[3] : Burner = Disposable gun.