Saji and Gasper walked down the rain-soaked streets of Kuoh Town, both holding umbrellas, hoping not to get any more soaked than they already were.
"So… how did you even get yourself into that situation in the first place?" Gasper asked, trying to figure out why Saji had been chased by a devil.
Saji stayed quiet for a bit as they continued walking. Gasper, while waiting for his response, started slowly skipping over puddles and playing with the rain.
It hadn't rained much, he noticed.
During his stay in Kuoh Town, it was almost like a phenomenon. The town just didn't attract rain. Thinking back, this was probably the first time he had seen rain since he transmigrated.
The rain was a bit nostalgic for him. He had good memories of it.
He and his older brother used to play in the rain a lot back in the day, usually ending up sick the next day because of it.
'Haven't really thought of him in a while… have I?' Gasper thought, watching the rainfall and letting his mind wander in the quiet around him.
Gasper...no.
Wolfgang had an older brother who was six years older than him. He was a kind and gentle soul, and, in all honesty, he spoiled Wolfgang with attention and time. He was the ideal person Wolfgang wanted to be.
No matter what, his brother was always there for him. When their parents didn't have time for both of them, he would pick up the slack and make sure Wolfgang didn't feel forgotten. He made sure Wolfgang knew he mattered, even if their parents forgot.
But that all changed one fateful night, when he was just seven years old.
*****
A young Wolfgang thought the watches his father always wore looked cool.
In an act of childish stupidity, he snuck into his parents room, grabbed one, and started playing with it.
The watch he took looked expensive, and by God, was it expensive.
He ran around with it, not fastened on his wrist, pretending he was some high-ranking character from the TV shows he liked to watch. Eventually, the watch slipped off his wrist, falling to the floor and shattering its glass.
Seeing that, young Wolfgang ran to the one person he knew could help him.
His brother.
He still remembered the words his brother had told him that night.
"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it."
And so he left the watch with him and walked away, trusting that his brother would never let him down.
An hour passed, and their mom came home. She didn't say a word to them, like always, and just began cooking dinner with whatever she had on hand. Once she was done, they all ate and finished their food, leaving only one plate still on the table, their father's.
Once it got late, his brother brought him to bed and tucked him in, telling him to go to sleep. Wolfgang obeyed and tried to get some rest, but for the life of him, he couldn't.
But he tried, and eventually he heard a loud, drunken voice coming from the living room.
"Martha, why's my damn food cold?!"
It was his father's voice.
"Well, maybe it would be warm if you came home earlier, Marcus."
"What the hell did you just say to me, you whore?!"
"What, do you need to have your ears cleaned? I said maybe it would be warm if you came home earlier… Actually, I think I know where you were. You were with one of your whores, weren't yo-?!"
SLAP!
"How dare you talk back to me! You know what? I don't need this!"
Hearing the commotion, young Wolfgang got up from his bed and opened his door, only to see his father storm past. His feet stomped the ground as he walked, and Wolfgang heard him mutter as he passed.
"She thinks was with some whore… then that's where I'll go."
Seeing his father walk past, Wolfgang closed the door on pure instinct.
And for a moment, there was silence.
"BITCH! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU PUT MY WATCH?!"
What followed were footsteps of someone running.
"What are you rambling about now-"
BAM!
"I KNOW YOU TOOK IT! What, were you planning to take it and walk away? Is that it?!"
THWACK!
"I don't hic… know what you're talking about!" his mother said with a whimper, but her tone was still defiant.
Hearing his mother being beaten for something he had done, Wolfgang felt a pang of guilt. Even if she wasn't the best mother one could ask for, or didn't act like one at all, she was still his mother.
Swallowing his fear and shame, he opened his door and walked out.
He eventually reached the living room. His father was on top of his mother; her face was bruised, and one eye was beginning to swell.
Wolfgang's father readied another punch.
"Wait!" Wolfgang shouted, catching his father's attention. His father turned to look at him, eyes blazing with drunken rage.
"What do you want, boy?! Can't you see I'm doing something important?!"
Swallowing his fear, Wolfgang said, "It wasn't Mother who took your watch… it was-"
"Me," someone said from behind Wolfgang.
Hearing the familiar voice, Wolfgang turned around and saw his brother standing there. He held the broken watch in his hand, raising it in the air as proof.
"Huh." His father said as he let go of Wolfgang's mother.
Wolfgang rushed to her side, checking her face to see if she was ok.
Then his father spoke again, the words hitting Wolfgang like a punch.
"So it was you who had it! Well, give it here, boy!" his father shouted, snatching the watch from his brother's grasp and inspecting it.
His father said nothing, just raised his hand and struck his brother square in the face.
BAM!
Sending his brother crashing to the ground.
His father, seeing him struggling to get up, walked over to the living room table and picked up a beer bottle he had set down when he came in earlier.
"You ungrateful son of a whore! YOU dare break my things after all that I have done for this family! You better grit your teeth, boy!" he shouted, raising the bottle high.
"Give it your worst shot, you fat, bald bastard!" his brother spat, venom dripping from every word.
Seeing his brother about to be struck, Wolfgang tried to intervene, only to have two arms wrap around him.
"Don't… you'll only anger him more." his mother whispered. As he tried to respond, she covered his mouth and eyes so he couldn't see what was about to unfold.
And then… he heard the bottle shatter.
Sadly, this kind of violence was normal for his father, but he had never gone this far before. In his drunken stupor, he didn't discipline his son for his wrongdoing.
Instead, he beat him beyond the point of return.
His brother didn't even make it to the hospital before succumbing to his wounds.
Once the police heard what had happened from Wolfgang's own mouth, his father was arrested. The same went for his mother. Wolfgang was placed in the system, hopping between families for a while, until he eventually ended up with a good couple who treated him like their own child and raised him into the man he is today.
*****
"Well...it's complicated." Saji said, cutting through the silence
Gasper blinked, pulled out of his thoughts, and looked over. "Oh, and why is that?"
Saji sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you see, me and a couple of my buddies decided we'd go ghost hunting to prove to one of my friends that they weren't real. One moment we were laughing it up. Then the next thing I knew, I was being thrown to that thing like a sacrificial lamb while they ran for their lives."
Gasper's eyes widened a bit at that, his thoughts flashing back to those guys he saw running away before reaching the stray.
'Ahhhh… so that's how they got out of there.'
"Yeah, not gonna lie, man. If I were you, I would drop them."
Saji, hearing this, raised a brow in confusion. "Drop them?…"
"Yep, I mean, they're not your very good friends if they'd just up and leave you to die at the first sign of danger, man."
Saji gave a conflicted look as they rounded the corner. "I… don't know if I can. I mean, I've known those guys since we were kids."
"It's your life. Do what you want, I'm just saying. They're not the best kind of people to hang around with."
"Yeah, maybe you're right…"
←–TO BE CONTINUED—