He's My Family Member

On the other hand, a few minutes earlier, I kept on running away from the sound of metal. I ran along the path, passing the green sea. The shadows of the trees turned long and narrow by the sunset, it was quiet. I could hear my own footsteps. There wasn't any existence of life, everyone seemed to have disappeared elsewhere, I wondered whether it was because Jay was not here.

As I kept on dashing, slowly, the metal sounds became distant. I eventually stopped running.

"I guess.....if I run until here....." I said to myself as I tried to catch my breath, "I won't be bothering them fighting. I don't think.....Mr. Eric can catch me here." Thinking about Mr. Eric, I was shocked that he was a ghost sweeper. On the first time I saw him, I knew he was more than any background person judging by his aura but him being a ghost sweeper was out of my expectation.

I wasn't surprised by the existence of ghost sweepers. I often read stories about them. If ghosts exist, so do ghostsweepers. As long as I was hanging out with Jay, I knew one day, a ghost sweeper would come and attack us and destroy everything.

I knew this day would come.

But why today?

It was just so sudden.

We were just buying drinks earlier. Why did a ghost sweeper suddenly appear?

Mr. Eric looks like he is very familiar with dealing with ghosts.On the other hand, Jay has zero experience in dealing with ghost sweepers. There is a high possibility that he will lose.

If Jay loses, everything will be destroyed.

There won't be anyone to talk to me anymore.

And I will be alone again.....

Maybe I shouldn't go away.....I should stay there and help him.

I must help him.

Jay gave me everything, I can't just leave him and run away.

But what can I do anyway?

Mr. Eric is an expert in fighting, there is no chance I can defeat him.

I can try to communicate with him but what should I say?

There is nothing I can do to help Jay.

All I can do is go home and wait for Jay to return.

I just can't do anything.

Argh....

Why am I always like this?

WHY?!!

Jay is in danger but I am just standing here.....trembling with fear

And doing nothing........

I'm really useless, am I?

∞∞

Meanwhile, at the park, Mr. Eric was staring down at Jay who was lying down on the ground. Jay's body was nearly transparent, it was the matter of time he would disappear. Mr. Eric walked closer to give Jay one last hit. Yet, Jay's hand slightly moved.

Even though his body was disappearing, Jay tried to withstand the pain and stood up still.

"....ah....this really hurts....what have you done...?" said Jay, his voice was weak and fragile, even talking was tired enough for him now. Staring at Jay, Mr. Eric's eyes enlarged.

"I'm surprised you can still stand." Mr. Eric praised, "Not many ghosts can still stand after being hit by my Thousand Demon Chains sword skill."

"......I'm honored. Let's continue, shall we? I haven't lost yet......." Jay stood firmly to stabilize himself and tried to call out his sword. A sword reappeared in his hands but it disappeared again. He had run out of wakan to visualize his weapon already.Mr. Eric sighed.

"Stop it. You can't defeat me. It will be better if you give up." Mr. Eric suggested.

"Give up?" Jay gave a short laugh, "Don't be kidding. I promised Alfie I will be with him no matter what happens. I can't give up. If I give up, I'm just a guy who breaks promises."

Jay's voice remained calm and still, he was going to disappear but he showed no fear in it. Mr. Eric got a bit startled,Jay didn't know why.

"What's wrong, Ghost sweeper?" Jay asked, "You are going to exorcize me, right? Why don't you just get the heck on it?" Jay laughed. He was smiling even when he was facing his death. Mr. Eric raised his sword up high.

"As you wish then!" cried Mr. Eric.

He looked at Jay for the last time.

And he waved his sword.

"WAIT!!!" All ofthe sudden, a voice showed up in the air. A familiar shadow came out from nowhere and ran towards Jay. Mr. Eric was startled by the voice and stopped waving his sword, the tip of the sword was stopped right at the throat of a little boy.

The boy spread out his arms to protect the ghost behind him.

"Alfie??!" Jay cried in shock and grabbed onto Alfie's shoulders, "Why are you still here? Didn't I tell you to run away?!"

"HOW CAN I RUN AWAY when you are in danger?!!" I screamed. I turned around and looked at Jay. My face was soured.

"Jay."

"When I ran away, I was scared."

"My hands couldn't stop shivering. The worst situation kept on flashing in my mind. I could just hear the sound of the sword stabbing inside your body. So terrifying that I barely can move. I was so scared that I will lose you forever. All those years, you were always by your side, I cannot imagine my life without you. If you die, I don't think I will be able to stand it......"

"So, I came back......"

"If I just run away and leave you behind, I'm sure I will regret it forever!" I shouted. I turned around and glared at Mr. Eric, he was still holding his sword against us.

"Mr. Eric, can you stop hunting Jay?" I said in a stern voice. Mr. Eric lifted up his sword higher.

"Of course not. Exorcizing ghost is my job. Now, get out of there, it's dangerous." He warned.

"No! Jay is my family member. I won't let you hurt him."

"Alfie. He is a ghost, not a human like—--"

"I know that! But what's the difference between ghosts and humans?" I asked. I glared at him, my eyes were weeping.

"When I'm small, I felt really lonely."

"So lonely that I nearly gave up on everything."

"But Jay appeared! He gave me everything. The only thing I want in my life is someone who cares about me and someone who loves me. But in the end, it was not a human but a ghost who gave it to me!"

"Don't you understand? Jay has lightened my life and brought me back alive!"

"Even though he is a ghost, he is still my most precious person in the world! So I won't let you hurt Jay!"

"I will not move any step from here until you leave!" I screamed, hoping that my words could touch Mr. Eric. But he didn't seem to care about my feelings, he raised his eyebrow, his eyes were cold as ice. He continued to put his sword in front of me.

"I see. But still, you cannot do anything even if you stand there. You know I can always throw you out and ignore your intentions and exorcist that ghost." He stated firmly.

"You're right. I can't do anything."

"To be honest, before I met you. I didn't do anything at all. I encountered many problems in my daily life but I didn't even try to solve any of them. Jay had tried to convince me many times that I needed to change but I didn't listen to him. I was scared that I would take the wrong path so I escaped from all the problems."

"Mr. Eric."

"I don't think I can stop you."

"But I have a reason that I must stand here. So, I won't let you hurt Jay!"