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When I opened my eyes, I was on my bed again. This time my whole body ached.
Mom rushed in. "Oh, Denki! You're awake. Are you alright? This is the second time you've fainted. Is something wrong?"
"No, Mom," I said. "Believe me, I'm fine."
Suddenly Dad barged in. "Denki. You saw the Tempest Dragon, didn't you?"
I blinked. "Who? What dragon? …Oh. The paranoid old grandma. Yeah, I've spoken to it. A lot."
Dad's face darkened. "What did I tell you, Denki—"
"Bullshit," I cut in before he could finish. "It showed me bullshit, Dad. And I have to get stronger to stop it from happening. I have to protect you all."
Then I smacked my own head. _WTF am I saying?_ No way I'm gonna be the hero type for this city. That sucks. One mistake and it's a death sentence. Bullshit.
Dad's expression went stone serious. "First of all, Denki, stop using the word _bullshit_. I've warned you several times. There's no bull-shitting in my house. So stop." He sighed, then looked at me with focused eyes.
"It's time, Denki. Time for you to start your journey to kill that bastard that almost ruined the heart of this city long ago. You need to end him, Denki. You need to tear Demon King Asura apart! Do you understand me?"
His face was pure revenge and rage when he said it. Maybe the Demon King took something from him.
I asked, "What happened, Dad? Why are you so determined to see his end—"
"He took my brother from me," Dad said, cutting me off.
*Dad's Flashback*
Seventeen years ago. June 14th. A black storm came for our city.
The sky filled with black clouds that rained blood instead of water. Anything the blood touched went up in blue flames. The Protection Society evacuated most people. Me, Yutaro, and my brother Gentaro were part of the Protection Society of Wind Tempest City.
We used wind as armor around our bodies and were sent to confront the beast raining havoc on us. He sat on the tallest building, on a throne, watching our city burn. We charged to kill him but were overpowered. Our protection was failing. We had one option left.
We ran.
He caught up. Trapped us in a dead end. He just stared, waiting for us to move. Me and my brother knew only one of us would make it out alive.
Gentaro's voice was weak. "Go, brother. I'll be fine."
"You fool," I said. "You really feel like dying, don't you? We can make it. We just have to outrun him."
"No, no, no," Gentaro shouted. "We already tried that, Yutaro. Remember—you have a wife. She's pregnant with a son. You have to survive. For her. And for me."
A tear slipped down my face. "I'm not going anywhere, brother. We're in this together."
Gentaro punched my shoulder. "Fool! Wipe that tear off your face. Sometimes bullshit like this happens, and the best and last thing to do is _to survive_!"
Then he used the wind-armor protecting his body and blasted me into the air, above the clouds, out of the city. I landed on Asois, a nearby island. I looked back at our city from afar. Black clouds. Smoke from the flames.
That was the last time I saw my brother.
*Flashback ends...*