She Died

Chapter 5

Point of View: Eros Magdayo

“I’m back! Let’s eat!”

“You took so long!”

She sat down beside me, pouting. She’s always pouting, for crying out loud- is she a duck or an angel?

“You know, I think you’re right. Memo is kind of scary. Did you know he asked me so many questions!” Alam mo sa tingin ko tama ka, nakakatakot si Memo. Alam mo ba andami dami niyang tinatanong sakin!”

“Like?”

“What I was to you… Why am I here… Those kind of questions.”

“What did you answer?”

“The truth.”

I started, annoyance and disbelief coursing through me immediately. This girl…!

“Ha?! What do you mean by that!? Which truth do you mean!?”

“Wha- well, of course, the whole truth… That I am angel with a mission a- ouch!” I smacked her quickly on the head. Was she an idiot or an idiot!?

“Waaa! Bad! Why did you hit me!?” She cried out, rubbing her head.

“Didn’t I tell you that if Memo asked you anything just invent answers!?”

“But I don’t know how to lie…” She sulked, pouting as she did.

“Argh! I can’t believe you!”

“Eh, I don’t think he really believed me anyway, since he just laughed at me. I think he thought I was joking…”

“You know what, let’s just eat,” I tried to take the spoon and the bowl from her hands but she wouldn’t let go.

“Oi, give it to me,” I tried to snatch it from her but she wouldn’t even let go of the spoon and soon enough we were having a tug of war. “Argh, Eris! Let go already!”

“Nope, stop!” She placed the bowl and spoon on the table before placing ny hands together. “Before we eat, let’s thank God for the meal!”

“Why should I thank Him, whoever He is, when I’m the one who bought the porridge? I don’t need to thank someone for the things I buy!

“You know, everything we do and have here on Earth, we should be thankful of. God made everything here and so the fact that we can enjoy life and it’s luxuries are because of him, so we should be thankful.”

“I don’t believe in Him, I’d rather believe that humans came from monkeys.”

“Hmph, yes, well it is obvious, since you look like one,” she muttered under her breath, a frown on her face.

“What did you say?!”

She just ignored me and faced the table, bowed, closed her eyes and prayed.

“Lord, thank you for the food that we have and most of all, thank you very much that I’m eating with Eros. Amen.”

She opened her eyes afterwards. I raised an eyebrow at her before dryly asking, ” are you done? Can we eat now!?”

She only nodded with a smile. I took the plastic container and poured the porridge into the bowl, before I took a spoon. “Come on, let’s eat.”

“It’s time to eat!” She cheered out happily before she scooped out some porridge and ate them. I started eating too, while I watched her eat, her eyes closed, happiness radiating from her.

“Mmm~! As I thought, it’s best to eat porridge when it’s raining!”

While I was watching her eat, I suddenly felt like… she resembled someone I knew…

As if I already saw her in the past.

… Whatever. It might just be my imagination.

***

After we ate, I placed the bowl and the spoons back on the table.

“Now I’m really full… I feel sleepy Ero-ero!” She said, before yawning wide. She rubbed her stomach before yawning once more. Her head leaned onto my shoulder too…

I raised my shoulder and pushed her off of me. “Don’t lean on me.”

“He-y!” She cried out, pouting before she just rolled onto the sofa. I rolled my eyes at her.

“Ero-ero!” While she was lying down, she pulled on my t-shirt and I tumbled down on the edge of the bed near her, surprised. I hissed at her. “Oi! What was that for!?”

I was going to stand up again, but then in a flash she placed her arms around my shoulders and stretched her legs among mine, so I was stuck in her hold.

“Teddy bear!” She cheered, an amused grin on her face. I tried to restrain myself from hitting her.

“Hey! I’m not your fucking teddy bear, now get off of me before I throw you off!”

“Aww! Look what you did Ero-ero! Because you said a bad word, the amount of progress you made in the necklace was decreased! By about a percent…”

“Don’t call me Ero-ero!”

“But it’s so cute! Sounds like Hello Kitty’s friend Kero Keroppi!”

“I don’t care! Get off of me!”

But instead of doing that, she just hugged me even tighter. “No way! You’re so warm Ero Ero… like a teddy bear! Let’s just stay here for a while like this, please?”

“I don’t want to- I said I’m leaving! Get- off- of- me… I really will throw you off of me! One! Two!”

“Ero-ero. Stay. Please? I’ll tell you things to speed up your mission,” she pleaded, a pleased look on her face, and while I wanted to throw her off even more because of that, I reluctantly gave in, but not without a glare. “Fine! Tss!”

“Yay! Ero-ero, do you know that the heart was 10% percent red? You gained 5% for finding me a shelter, and another 5% for the food but because you cursed, 1% was taken off of it.”

“Then how is it 10% if some got deducted? Shouldn’t it be 9% instead… do you even know how to do math? Tss!”

She giggled. “Well, you did choose to stay by my beside and that made smile, and did you know that making someone smile is a good deed? So you get a percent added, Kuya Teddy Bear.”

I gave her a glare. “Can you stop giving me nicknames!? And don’t call me Kuya! Moreover, didn’t I say I’m not a teddy bear!?”

She stuck out her tongue. “You are older than me though, you’re already 18 years old! I’m just 16 years old, so I’ll call you Kuya Teddy Bear!”

“Tss!” I stopped arguing with her, I already knew how insisistent she could be.

“Kuya Teddy Bear, do you still go to school?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Why? Did you graduate already?”

I burst out laughing. “Graduate? Me, graduate? Nice one! I couldn’t even get out of highschool!”

She started, her eyes wide in curiosity and surprise evident in her tone. “You’re still in highschool? Why? Aren’t you 18? You should be in college by now.”Bakit? Graduate ka na ba?”

I shrugged. “Repeater, I didn’t finish school.”

“What? Why?”

“Obviously, I didn’t come in for classes,” I drawled out, hoping that that would satisfy her, but apparently not.

“Why?”

“I was too lazy for that.”

“Why?” She pressed on, and I snapped at her.

“I said I was feeling too lazy for that! Stop asking me about it!”

She frowned before falling into a completative silence. “Starting tomorrow, go to school.”

I scoffed. “Who are you, my mother? Ordering me around as you please!”

“I’m not ordering you, I’m only telling you. Going to school and studying can be considered a good deed as well. Think of the tuition your parents paid for!”

“I don’t have parents.”

“Ha?”

“I’m only an orphan in Ate Risa’s family. Someone who came by accident… no one really likes me there, except maybe Ate Risa. That’s it.”

“Hey! Don’t talk about yourself like that.”

“It’s true though? I’m just- oi! Didn’t I tell you not to hug me!?” Her hug became tighter and she pressed herself close to my side like a leech, irritatingly enough. “Oi! What the- are you trying to suffocate me!? Oi!”

“I can feel it, Kuya Teddy Bear.”

“Feel what!? Can you just let go of me!?”

“You don’t feel loved, you feel so alone so you’re like that. You try to hide your loneliness by acting tough and wild.”

Thud.

Why does it feel like there was a pang of something in my body just now? As if for a moment, something hurt.

… argh, it must be because this woman is too heavy! Tss! I pushed her off of me. “Off! You’re so heavy!”

She yelped before frowning, “you! Why did you suddenly push me!?”

I stood up from the bed and turned to leave. “Whatever! I’m just going to go home, I can’t reason with you anyway! Waste of time! Tss!”

“Wait Ero-ero!”

“What do you want now? And can you call me by my name!? Tss!” I was at the door by then and about to leave, and her habit of calling for me just when I’m about to leave really got to me.

Her hands were hidden behind her back and she smiled at me. “Let’s go to school tomorrow!”

“I’m not even going to say anything!” I scoffed before leaving and slamming the door loudly.

And while I was leaving the clubhouse, there was a sudden thought in my head from everything she was chattering about.

“Wait… do I even have a uniform still? Argh, what kind of school doesn’t let their students in if they’re not in uniform!?”

Aw shit! Why does that angel have a large influence on me when all she did was nag, smile and annoy me? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was using her magic powers on me! Argh!