"Have a great day at school, honey!" said Mrs. Aruk while making breakfast for her husband in the kitchen.
"Thanks mom, love you po!" "I love you too" Mrs. Aruk was laughing as Ikeru hurried to go to school because he woke up late.
"Shit shit shit... I can't be late for school again" He curses while he ran as fast as he could since it was his fifth time in the week that he's been late in class.
He passes an old man who always sits every morning at the table outside the local café.
"Good morning, Ikeru! What's with the hurry?" "Good morning po manong! (uncle, friendly word for an old man who isn't familiar to you.) I woke up late this morning, I had no time to shower and I have math class in three minutes "Ikeru said.
He was exhausted, desperately gasping for air. "I better get going now po manong, enjoy your coffee!" "Have a great day at school kid!" But Ikeru was already far away.
"Heh...this kid" said the old man, taking a small sip from the newly brewed coffee.
"Oh no I'm already two minutes late, fuck!" Ikeru was sprinting to the classroom.
"Watch out kid!" "Hey, keep the tempo down!" "No running, kid!" Ikeru could hear the teachers scolding him from all sides but he chose to ignore them and finally arrived at his classroom door. He knocks two times and opens the door slowly.
"Sorry po Ms. Mae" Ms. Mae, Ikeru's Math teacher looked at him in disgust.
"You filthy pig, you didn't even shower before you come to school? You are five minutes late!" Everybody was laughing except one kid.
"Is he new?" Ikeru thought. "Ikeru sit down!" Ikeru took a sit at his desk and Math class continued.
He had no troubles answering the questions the teacher asked him but whenever the teacher was writing on the board, he looks at the new kid.
"He looks... quite different. He has the skin tone like a Pilipino but looks more... like a mix" Ikeru thought.
Suddenly the teacher called someone up. "Oi new kid, answer me this" The new kid stood up, ready to answer the teacher's question.
The new kid answered the hard question in a short time and got it correct, everyone is in awe, but Ikeru is busy observing him and figuring out what ancestry he is.
"W-Well done, you can sit down" The new kid smirked and sat down.
When it was time for lunch break, Ikeru's stomach started rumbling. As he got in waiting line to get his tray of food, he saw the new kid sitting outside the canteen eating from his lunchbox.
"Hey kid! What do you want to have for lunch?" said an angry voice. Ikeru quickly looked away.
"I'll have Sinabawang Isda po (fish and veggie soup), ate (sister, used to refer to an older woman)." The lunch lady gave Ikeru his food and went to the table, where no one was sitting at.
He took a small glimpse outside to see if the new kid was still there.
"I swear I saw him a second ago, where did he go?" Ikeru thought.
He started eating his fish soup. Ikeru finished his lunch, gave his tray away and went to attend Spanish class.
"Buenas tardes, Ikeru, here is your Spanish quiz. Full marks as always, well done!" Ikeru, of course being an aced student was proud and laid back on his chair as the teacher explained some grammar rules on the board.
After a long day of school, Ikeru made his way home until the bullies came.
"Look at you, you have white hair, how ugly"
"Yeah you look like grandpa!"
"What are you, 78?"
Ikeru ran away, small tears were dropping as he bumped into a boy. The boy held out his hand and apologized, Ikeru recovered his shocked state and nervously held the boy's hand to get him back at his feet.
Ikeru bowed his head slightly and proceeded to continue his walk when the boy suddenly walked with him.
"May kailangan ka?" Ikeru asked asked in Filipino
"Huh? I'm sorry I don't understand..." replied the boy anxiously.
"Do you need anything?" Ikeru asked again in English
"Oh well my name is Haro Takahashi, I'm new around here, care to show me around?" Haro introduced himself.
"I-I'm Ikeru Aruk, nice to meet you Haro. Well over there are some market places, sari-sari stores, street vendors... just some stuff to get you around here" Ikeru responded.
"What's a sari-sari store?" Haro asked excitingly.
"Well, it's a local term to refer to a small shop filled with snacks, medicines, health products, just a general store" Ikeru explained to Haro as they crossed over the road to the sari-sari store.
"Do you want anything?" Ikeru asked Haro as they went through some snacks.
"No no no, it's ok!" But Ikeru could hear Haro's stomach craving for food.
Ikeru asked the lady for a bag of chips and paid.
He hands over the bag of chips and says "Here, take it" "Thank you Ikeru..." said Haro as he opens the bag.
But to Ikeru's surprise, Haro offered him some. Ikeru nodded as both find a bench to sit and enjoy the chips.
After they finished, Ikeru and Haro said their goodbyes and went home.
"He is different from the others... He doesn't make fun of me..." Ikeru thought while walking home.
He arrived home and saw his mom cleaning the living room.
"How was school, honey?" "School was great, I guess... I met a new kid, he seems very nice. Want me to help you clean?" Ikeru asked as he puts his schoolbag down, walking towards to his mom.
"That'd be nice Ikeru, just put the dishes away. There are some fruits on the table" "Thanks mom" Ikeru put the dishes away and went to get a fork to eat the freshly cut fruits.
He then took his bag upstairs to complete the assignments the teachers have given him.
The next morning, Ikeru got ready to go buy food at the local market. When he opened the door, Haro was waiting for him.
"Good morning, Ikeru! Where are you heading?" Haro greeted Ikeru.
"O-Oh hey Haro... I'm on my way to the local market..." said Ikeru quietly.
"You alright?" asked Haro. He was worried.
"Just some homework I finished late at night... luckily, it's the weekend but I need to buy some food, because my mom is going to cook..." Ikeru responded.
"Mind if I tag along?" Haro asked joyful.
"Sure, I might teach you some Pilipino culture while we're at it." "Yes please!" said Haro excitingly.
Ikeru never met someone as happy as Haro. The two boys made their way to the local market.
"Where are you from?" Ikeru asked Haro, as he wanted to know more about him.
"I'm from Germany, I'm actually half German and Malaysian." Haro responded.
"Then you'll know the basics here at South-East Asia. Hot climate, rain seasons. That's it." Ikeru said to Haro.
"The local market here is called palengke" "Noted" Haro replied.
"Everything in the Philippines is speaking in the mixture of Tagalog and Spanish, you know Spanish?" Ikeru asked Haro.
"Well... no, not really" "You gotta need to learn basic or common Spanish to do so, and Tagalog is basically Filipino, the national language but Spanish isn't required." Ikeru explained.
"Noted." Haro responded.
"Don't worry Haro, most Pilipinos knows English unless it's a native from the mountains like the Ifugao but even then, isolated tribes know basic English." Ikeru explains to Haro, while they walk across streets. "Oh, that's awesome!" The two boys chatted more as they went to the local market.
"Dang... there are a lot of people today..." Ikeru said in disbelief.
"Well, living five years in mainland China, this is completely normal" Haro was tapping on Ikeru's shoulder.
"You lived in China?" "Yes, I'm familiar with Chinese, German and Malaysian culture. I assume bargaining is a way to get through in this market?" Haro asked Ikeru.
Both of them started walking into the huge crowd. "I suppose. Let's get some beef, my mom's cooking Bistek Tagalog, basically a beef steak marinated in soy sauce and onions. It's very delicious. You maybe want to come over for dinner?" Ikeru offered Haro.
"Wait really? I'd love to come over for dinner!" Haro was very excited.
They started running through the tough crowd looking for the butchery.
"There it is" Ikeru pointed at a small building, which lies at the end of the market. Haro and Ikeru made their way to the butchery.
"Hello boys, what can I get you?" "We need 5 kilograms of steak, po" said Ikeru. "That'd be 1686.34 Pesos" While Ikeru was getting the money, Haro stopped him.
"We'll give you 1300" Ikeru knew what Haro was trying to do. "Why so little, kid?" "Why sell it so expensive, uncle? You're selling your steak 400 Pesos more than the actual price and we still are offering you 100 more" The butcher placed his knife on the cutting board. He leaned over the counter, looking directly into Haro's eyes.
"Fair enough, kid, I'm impressed" While the butcher puts the steak on the counter, Ikeru grabs the 1300 Pesos out of his wallet and gives it to him. Both of them walks out the shop.
"You really are good at bargaining" said Ikeru, holding the 700 Philippine Pesos they still had.
"Well, the good thing is that you no longer have to pay the full price now" "Thank you Haro" Ikeru thanked him.
"No worries! C'mon let's go explore more and then help your mom with dinner!" Haro said full of energy.
Ikeru led Haro to a local library to borrow some books.
After finishing getting the books, Ikeru took Haro back to his house with the beef from the market.
"We're back, mom!" Ikeru greeted his mom with Haro following behind him
"Welcome back! And who's that handsome young man behind you?" Mrs. Aruk asked Ikeru
"Oh, mom, meet my friend Haro Takahashi! Haro this is my mom." Ikeru introduced them both to each other.
"Hello! I'm friends with your son here and he's awesome!" Haro said to Mrs. Aruk
"Oh my, thank you for being my son's friend, Haro." Mrs. Aruk thanked him
The two boys helped Mrs. Aruk prepare and cook the Bistek Tagalog, after some time, Mr. Aruk got home from work.
"Hey, honey I'm back!" Mr. Aruk said as his gaze fall onto Haro preparing the dinning table.
"Oh, hello sir! I assume your Ikeru's father?" Haro greeted Mr. Aruk
"Y-Yeah, I am Ikeru's father, and who might you be?" Mr. Aruk asked Haro
"I'm a friend of his, he asked me to come over for dinner and-" Haro got interrupted as Mr. Aruk fell to his knees and started crying
"S-Sir! Are you alright? I'm sorry if I-" Haro got interrupted again as Mr. Aruk talked while sobbing
"My son finally got himself a friend! Oh I thank the gods for this moment!" Mr. Aruk said
"Don't worry, he'll be fine." Ikeru said behind Haro as Mrs. Aruk rushes in to Mr. Aruk
Mrs. Aruk shouted at Mr. Aruk in Korean as she wiped the tears off him and dragged him back to their room.
"What did she say?" Haro asked Ikeru "Don't worry about it, let's worry about the food." he replied as he went back to the kitchen as Haro continued preparing the table.
The two boys and Ikeru's parents sat down and prayed for the meal before eating, while eating, Ikeru's parents chatted with Haro and thanked him for befriending Ikeru.
After a few days, Haro became Ikeru's best friend and became a part of his family too. But it isn't complete without a little... tragedy.
"Have a great school day honey!" said Mrs. Aruk while making breakfast for her husband in the kitchen.
"Thanks mom, I love you!" "I love you too" Mrs. Aruk was laughing as Ikeru hurried to go to front door to greet Haro.
"Good morning, Haro!" "Good morning, Ikeru!" said Haro while hugging Ikeru.
"Good morning Haro, here take this Sinigang (stew) and garlic fried rice I just made" said Mrs. Aruk, holding a large container.
"Woah! Thank you, auntie!" Haro slowly opens the lid.
"This looks so good! C'mon Ikeru, let's go to school and eat this for lunch break." Haro grabs Ikeru and runs off the school.
"Have fun boys" "Thank you, auntie!" "See ya later, mom!" It was the last week of school and the teacher asked Ikeru to carry documents and test papers to the printer room as soon as they arrived at school.
Haro decided to help Ikeru and the two boys chatted as they made their way to the printer room. They arrived at the printer but one of the bullies was looking for Ikeru to beat him up. He found him in the printer room and went in moments later.
Ikeru saw the bully and to his shock, the bully pulled out a pocketknife and charged at Ikeru ready to attack him.
"Leave him alone!" Haro yelled. "Shut up you little bitch!" said the bully, pushing Haro away.
Ikeru got really mad, as he sees his friend lying on the floor rubbing his head, he tries to dodge the attack but gets his eye slashed by the knife.
He drops the papers and covers his bloody right eye.
"You disgusting faggot, you are a mistake, I bet your parents didn't want you at all!" the bully insulted Ikeru as he covers his bleeding eye, gasping as adrenaline and shock fills his body.
"Your asshole gotta be pretty jealous of all the shit that comes out of your mouth" said Haro as he tries to get up, while rubbing his head. He stepped in to confront the bully but Ikeru stopped him, he then tried to open his injured eye to no avail but Ikeru faced the bully.
Ikeru stood up and gazed his blurry vision to the bully who was grinning at him.
"What do you want freak? Do you want me to slash your other eye too?" he said to Ikeru.
Ikeru brought his fists up, preparing for a fight. "Come at me, brat." Ikeru said in a deep voice and challenged the bully.
"Gladly!" The bully accepted the challenged and charged at Ikeru
Ikeru barely dodged the attack, the bully came in for another stab, intending to seriously injure Ikeru.
"This old man... Is faster than you!" Ikeru yelled back at the bully, using their insults to mock them.
Ikeru parried the attack and managed to snap the bully's arm in two in one quick motion.
The bully screamed in agonizing pain and dropped the knife, Ikeru grabbed the knife and stabbed the bully in the neck.
The bully was trying to gasp for air but ended up dying. Haro was completely speechless, seeing his friend killing a bully in front of his two own eyes.
Ikeru looked at what he had done as he kneeled in a bloody puddle.
"Are you ok? Ikeru.." Haro tried comforting Ikeru.
"I've done it... I finally done it..." Ikeru mumbled to himself
"What? Ikeru, get up, you're bleeding!-" Haro got cut off when Ikeru started to laugh
"Hehe... Haha... HAHAHAHA THE OLD MAN BEAT YO ARROGANT ASS! SUCK IT KID! HAH!" Ikeru burst out laughing while covering his eye
"Ikeru! We need to go, you're bleeding hard!" Haro yelled at Ikeru
"Yo, set off the alarm to the fire, break the printer and make sure it goes up in flames, burn the papers covered in blood too. I'll go and dispose this brat's body somewhere." Ikeru instructed to Haro.
"A-Alright, but stop the bleeding first, here, use my shirt." Haro said as he gave his shirt to Ikeru and holding it on his eye.
Everyone fled the school as smoke from the broken printer burned along with the paper Haro used to fuel the fire came out of the window
Ikeru went back and followed Haro out of the school where everyone is.
Soon, the ambulance arrived along with fire fighters.
Ikeru's parents rushed to the hospital as soon as they heard the news.
"OH MY IKERU! WHAT HAPPENED?!" Mrs. Aruk rushed to Ikeru while crying
"Mom, I'm fine. Just a scratch." Ikeru insured to his mom
"IT ISN'T A SCRATCH! YOUR EYE IS BADLY HURT!" Mrs. Aruk protested
"Please stop screaming... You know I hate loud noises..." Ikeru said to his mom
"Oh... I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it that those lazy staffs couldn't spend another peso for a better printer!" Mrs. Aruk lowered her voice
"... How bad is my eye?" Ikeru quietly asked
"W-Well... can you try to open it, sweetie?" Mrs. Aruk said
"A-A little, it still hurts..." Ikeru responded
"Can you open it a little? I want to see if it really is ok." Mrs. Aruk encouraged Ikeru
Ikeru tried to open his eye and successfully opened it.
"I-I..." Mrs. Aruk started to tear up more
"How is it, mom?" Ikeru asked his mother about his eye
"Well, bud... It's badly damaged... I think you won't see through that eye anymore..." Mr. Aruk spoke
"Is that so? Well I guess I have to be more careful about my last remaining eye then." Ikeru confidently said
"I heard the news, I've filed a lawsuit already." Iruku, Ikeru's older brother entered the room.
"Long time no see, kuya (brother)." Ikeru greeted Iruku.
"Like wise, how are you? Are you alright?" Iruku asked Ikeru
"Well, looks like my eye turned into the same color as my hair if that's what you're asking, kuya~" Ikeru cheekily responded
"At least your still charismatic, do you want mango graham?" Iruku asked Ikeru
"Yes, please." Ikeru accepted Iruku's offer
"Alright, I'll be back." Iruku excuses himself to buy mango graham for Ikeru
"Can you tell me what happen?" Mrs. Aruk asked Ikeru
"Well, just a faulty printer that exploded, luckily, the lid cut my eye and not glass." Ikeru replied
Haro decided to visit Ikeru the next day along with his parents. When Haro arrived at the hospital, Ikeru was silently watching the clouds from a nearby window.
"Hey, Ikeru!" Haro greeted Ikeru
Ikeru turned his attention to Haro and ran up to him giving him a big hug
"Woah, easy there bud. You still need to rest so don't use too much energy!" Mr. Aruk said to Ikeru
"Hey, I miss you too, Ikeru. But, how is your eye?" Haro asked Ikeru.
"W-Well, I'm blind in that eye now, but hey, I got this neat scar now! Hehe" Ikeru responded happily
"You sound happy, I don't know if I can be happy if I lose an eye." Haro said to Ikeru a bit confused.
"Well, because you are here, dummy~" Ikeru flirted
"W-Well, my parents brought you snacks we got from Malaysia and Germany, wanna eat them together?" Haro offered as Ikeru agreed.
Mr. and Mrs. Aruk looked at each other with a smug face
"Ooh~ Young love~" both of them whispered.
A day later, Haro woke up next to Ikeru as he stayed the night in the hospital with Ikeru.
I need to go to the toilet and pee... Haro thought to himself as he made his way to the toilet
After finishing, Haro went back to the room and saw Iruku menacingly looking at him with his arms crossed
Haro trembled in fear as Ikeru's big brother towered over him.
"And who are you?" Iruku asked Haro
"I-I-I'm Ikeru's f-friend... I-I saved him... f-f-from the f-fire... Hehe?" Haro stuttered
"And your name?" Iruku asked again
"I'm H-Haro T-Takah-hashi..." Haro introduced himself
"I'm Iruku Aruk, Ikeru's older brother." Iruku introduced himself.
"N-Nice to meet you, s-sir" Haro greeted Iruku
"Well, go on in, he's still asleep but no need to stay outside trembling like a puppy." Iruku let Haro in.
Haro went in and sat next to Ikeru.
"So, tell me about yourself." Iruku asked Haro
"W-Well..."Haro nervously responds
"No need to be scared, I'm not going to hurt you or something." Iruku insured to Haro
"O-Oh, ok. Well it all started-..."
Haro and Iruku chatted while Ikeru is still sleeping.
A few days later, the lawsuit Iruku filed was approved and money was given to Ikeru's family for compensation and paid off the hospital bill.
Haro helped Ikeru pack his stuff to go to Korea, after a few days of packing, they all went to the airport and flew to Seoul, Korea.
"아, 대한민국 서울에서의 새로운 시작!" Ikeru said as they landed in Seoul.
"Huh?" Haro asked Ikeru
"A new start at Korea I said." Ikeru repeated his word to Haro
Ikeru and Haro went to Mrs. Aruk's house and there they meet a person cleaning the house. A boy about their age, maybe younger greeted them.
"Hi! I'm Akii Nerumi, house keeper for your parent's home!"
Next Chapter: "The House Keeper's Sorrowful Past."