Held and his mother were in the kitchen, eating the leftover almost rotten food from the pantry. Both seemed to be trying to forget the whole situation from earlier.
— Mom, why didn't dad like your job? Isn't it a job where you help young people boost their self-esteem?
The little boy asked his mother, because he didn't know the truth behind her work. This left the red-haired woman shocked and deep in thought, since she couldn't tell everything to the child.
— Well… sometimes your dad just gets jealous… yeah, it must be that!
She said that to calm the strange and heavy atmosphere they were going through, while trying to cheer her son up by making the best food she could. The best she could make at that moment was a simple bread with butter and cheese, but even something so simple ended up making the red-haired boy happy.
— Thanks for the food, mom!
The boy began devouring the bread, acting as if he hadn't eaten in days, which surprised and cheered his beloved mother, who was afraid he wouldn't like the food.
— I'm glad you liked it, dear!
She said with a big, kind smile on her beautiful face—a smile her son would inherit in the not-so-distant future. Not wanting to stay still for too long, she decided to make something to drink.
— What would you like to drink, son?
— I want some coffee, mom!
The mood had already settled, with the fight from before completely forgotten. But in one of the alleys of that dirty, damp neighborhood, Held's drunk father stumbled, trying to keep his balance, which was extremely difficult after all the liters of alcohol he had consumed.
— That bitch… she'll pay for this!
He hiccupped after saying that, then sat down on the ground right on top of a puddle of sewage mud, thinking about the words he had heard earlier during the fight inside his house.
— Maybe she's right… maybe I should get a job and change things, while there's still time!
He said this to himself, but someone didn't like this line of reasoning coming from the drunk man. That someone was the fat man from before, who entered the alley very irritated and sweaty from the walk.
— Don't even think about it, you bastard!
The horrible man shouted at the drunk father in the alley, his voice loud and stressed, as if cursing that "stupid" and senseless idea.
— Are you really going to listen to a dirty whore? Don't tell me you're some submissive loser who can't see things for himself!
The drunk man was confused by the sudden appearance of the man in front of him, just staring silently at him for about ten minutes, like the punchline of a bad joke in a series.
— Are you some illusion in my head? Man, I think that booze was a bit spoiled… or spiked with something… hic!
The ugly, hairy man just got irritated by the alcoholic's words. To the arrogant ball of hair, being called an "illusion" shattered his ego into a thousand tiny pieces.
— No, you idiot, I'm not an illusion of your mind!
He quickly pulled a gun from his bag; it looked like he had gone somewhere to get that extremely dangerous item.
— Look closely at this gun, I'm lending it to you so you can end that slut's life!
The drunken man didn't understand anything. He wanted to kill the woman but also wanted to try to restart his life with her. He looked at the fat old man offering the gun until he decided to hold the weapon for a while.
— But… why would I do that?
This question only angered the fat bastard more, who decided to "push" him himself.
— You like to drink, right? Well, that bitch has a lot of money that can help you buy booze. With her dead, you can take that money for yourself. I'll pay you for that too!
When the man mentioned the booze, Held's father quickly accepted the idea, seeming very excited about it. In the dark alley, a person watched their conversation—it seemed to be one of her clients.
"They want to kill Alyne; I knew I shouldn't have introduced that fat guy to her!"
Alyne was the name the woman used at night to hide her real name. This third man in the shadows ran from the place to try to call for help from some competent authority, since even with his powers, he would be easily eliminated there due to lack of training and preparation.
At Held's house, he lay in his room while his mother was in the living room near the kitchen. The boy stared at the ceiling.
— Tomorrow I'll try to bring good food here, no matter what!
He said this burning with determination for the next day, knowing what he had to do to help his mother. But this was soon interrupted by a noise downstairs, like something breaking.
— Mom!
The boy said as he jumped out of bed and ran downstairs, wanting to know the cause of the noise. Halfway down the stairs, he already heard someone speaking.
— You bitch… I came here to kill you, the boy, and take the money, got it, you whore?!
That voice was his father's, clearly very drunk and greedy. The boy couldn't ignore what his father said, charging at him at full speed. The boy's muscles grew during this determined attack to protect his mother, seeming to be the manifestation of his power.
— Stay away from her, dad!
He said, grabbing his father's arm—the same arm holding a heavy-caliber firearm—trying to make him drop the weapon.
— Shut up and let me go, you little shit!
The drunken man said, elbowing his own son's back while firing random shots all over the house, trying to hit his target.
"What to do, what to do?"
The woman thought, until she saw the phone fallen on the floor. After thinking a bit more and seeing her son willing to die for her, she chose to pick up the phone and call for help from the nearby army post.
— Please, I beg you, help me—
Her words were cut off as one of the bullets hit her solar plexus, making her bend over and drop the phone.
— Mom!
The boy shouted and punched his father in the face with a right hook. The force was so strong it made him bleed a little from his nose and stunned him. The old man got extremely angry and fired two more shots at the boy, hitting him just barely.
— You monster!
The boy kept advancing, grappling with his father for about eight to ten minutes until help finally arrived and immobilized his father. The soldiers had an easier time reaching the house thanks to the client of his mother who wanted to save her.
— Mom, are you okay, mom?
The boy ran to his mother, picking her up and shaking her to keep her awake as long as possible.
— This wound hurts a lot… your father really shot me…
She said with a heavy voice due to the bullet and the blood loss during those minutes before her bleeding stopped.
— Please mom, hold on a little longer… please!
The boy was crying, trying to keep her awake so she wouldn't die in his arms and could be saved. The woman looked at her son's bruised body while saying:
— You didn't keep your promise… you got hurt…
She said this softly and morbidly because of the blood flowing from her solar plexus. The boy started crying a bit and tried to calm her.
— Mom, don't say anything else, rest! I'm sorry I didn't keep the promise either… I'm sorry!
When the woman saw her son crying because of this, she just gave him a soft smile, stroking his face and trying to calm his tears.
— Don't worry about that, son… you know, I once heard a long time ago… it's not about how many times you fall during a "lifelong" promise… but how many times you get up and try to keep it again!
Held couldn't stop crying even though he tried to stay strong in that situation. His mother kept smiling through it all.
— I'm proud of you… please, always be like this, forever!
Those were her last words to her son, dying in his arms with a gentle smile until the end. Held kept crying painfully as his power absorbed his mother's abilities, revealing he could take the skills of those he "sympathized" with. A woman came up behind the boy, putting a hand on his shoulder and saying:
— That's really sad… well, I'll take care of you until I find a family willing to adopt you.
And so Held's life went on. His father and the hairy old man were sentenced to death shortly after these events. The woman from before ended up adopting Held herself, becoming the second woman whose photos Held kept in his house. He met his squad's vice-captain and his sister, who would become his future wife, spent a long time training, and completed that eighteen-day mission with his adoptive mother, who also died during that mission. But despite all the suffering in his life, Held never stopped smiling and helping others because of it.
— Wow, that muscular man gave me a hard time, but it ended better than I thought!
Back to the present, this was Lume, stepping on a rock among the rubble with a big sadistic grin on his face.
— But his change of feelings… tells me a lot…
Lume said thoughtfully, though his reflection didn't last long, because Held's arm suddenly emerged from the debris. The redhead pulled himself out and stood up, showing eyes full of determination. Lume was obviously shocked but didn't stop smiling watching that.
— Interesting…
He noticed the "abuse" marks on Held's body, very similar to those he had on himself, and heard Held's feelings again, noticing they were still the same as before. The night assassin's reaction was to start laughing, which confused the soldier before him.
— Sorry about that, it's just that this is the first time I've dealt with someone as strong as you… I want to—
Lume dropped to his knees, put both hands on his face, then pulled them aside revealing a macabre "smile" covered in some of his blood and dust from the destruction.
— I want to make you play my favorite song!
The soldier responded with a smile and raised his fist in front of his body, his hair blowing in the wind.
— Let's go then, I want to see if you can change my song!