38: thank you devil

A/N: would be best to listen to this song when reading this chapter:

SAVED by The Spill Canvas

❤️I am unraveling unbearably empty and if this ground gives way I just hope that you'll catch me❤️

***

Pi

“Wow you really cooked!” bulalas ko at inamoy-amoy ang dalawang putahe na niluto ni Rocket. You know that food with an orange sauce? I have no way of knowing if it’s afritada, menudo or what, I don't really know what makes them different from each other. Ang mahalaga ay makakain ako. He also had a recipe with some veggies on it, and man that looks delicious.

“Set the table,” wika niya at inilapag ang pitsel sa naglalaman ng tubig. Have I already said he looks so cute in that pink apron?

“Rocket.”

He looked at me.

Napasimangot ako habang tinitingnn ang mga nakahain sa mesa. “Where’s my hotdog?”

I want hotdogs but he didn’t cook even a single one. Wait. Don’t tell me...

“Hey hey, do you really want me to eat your--”

“Shut up titless and just set the table.”

Boo, pikon! Pero aminin, na-excite siya dahil do'n.

I stomped my foot and pouted. “Hotdogs!”

Napabuga siya ng hangin, tanda ng pagsuko. “Fine!” Then he turned to his back and walked straight towards the fridge to get hotdogs.

***

I was enjoying my food. Katunayan ay hindi ko na matandaan kung pang-ilang dagdag ko na ‘to ng kanin. Rocket can cook, that fact is fascinating. I love to bake but nah to cooking. Napansin kong panay tingin siya sa akin samantalang nagfocus naman ako sa pagkain.

He set down his utensils, “Tell me bakit mo ako dinala rito.”

“The food is great,” sagot ko sa kanya at nagthumbs up sa kanya.

“That’s not what I am asking.”

Napasimangot ako habang ngumunguya. “I just complimented your cooking skills, say thank you devil.”

He sighed. “Thank you devil.”

Napasimangot lamang ako lalo. “No, you’re the devil duh.”

“I beg to disagree.”

This time I rolled my eyes and resume eating. “Whatever.”

“So why?” pagpupumilit pa rin niya. Mukhang wala siyang balak na tantanan ako sa tanong niyang iyon hangga’t hindi ko siya sinasagot.

“I told your mom, it’s for a weekend getaway. Red is successful in pulling Flavio's nails and now he is limping, that alone is worth celebrating!”

He doesn’t look convinced though. Well anyway, it’s not mainly the reason but it true that I wanted a weekend getaway. I love adventures at madalas ay ginagawa ko iyon mag-isa but now that I knew he’s Apollo the hacker, why not let him tag along to teach me the basics?

“It’s not mainly the reason,” sabi niya.

“You are one smart devil! Yup not, because I just want a companion which is new to me. Madalas akong nagbabakasyong mag-isa. Let’s say it’s a practice. In few days I’m off to a vacation with my dad and John, sorry Rocket maybe you won’t see me long, like a week or so.”

He smirked at me. “That’s great news.”

“Huh do not try to look upset there.”

“I’m not.”

I grinned. “Try not to miss me that much okay? Don’t worry kapag may panahon ako, I will send you nudes of me.”

He groaned. “Do not!”

“Why?”

He looked at me unbelievably. “You say you wanted a companion, why me?”

Napatigil ako sa pagsubo. Hmm, why not?

“No reason.”

“I don’t buy that.”

Nag-isip ako ng ibang dahilan. “I know! While we’re here, why not teach me basics of hacking, that would be great right?”

He pressed his fingers on his temple as if saying I am such a pain in his neck. “I am not a hacker.”

“Have I told you you’re bad at lying?”

True. You can easily spot if he is lying or not. Like now. He’s lying because he is avoiding gaze, lips twitching a bit. I knew how to spot liars, it’s a gift.

“I am not a hacker,” he said with conviction ngunit mas lalo ko lamang napapatunayan na siya nga si Apollo. Plus scholastic backgrounds prove it too. He took ethical hacking course in one of the best universities in the world.

“Yeah yeah yeah try harder Apollo, try harder.”

***

Napatingin ako sa mga alon habang humihigop ng kape. It’s past nine in the evening and titless was cleaning the whole house for hours while I’m stuck at the veranda with a cup of coffee. It’s not a bad view but I’d rather stay in the room but titless sealed the door with a signage telling no entry just because she wanted to clean.

I don't even understand why I was dragged here. I’m a bad companion at trips because I am a boring person. I’d rather surf the internet than surf in the waves. You could say I'm no fun yet titless thinks otherwise.

I get it. Dinala niya ako rito para sa rason. She’s convinced I am Apollo the hacker. Apparently, titless is bad at mind games but smart at some point when she actually uses her brain.

Still she’s an idiot.

I am stuck in an island with an idiot.

An idiot who drugged me few times just to get what she wants. Bold of her to think I will give up the secret of being Apollo the hacker. No, hackers like us wanted to stay off the spotlight.

I know little about titless.

I know she's stupid at times, bad at mind games, smart when analyzing situations, brutal when needed and how she's merciful when it comes to the poor and old people.

She's devil, if the devil's a woman to which I don't understand why she keeps on addressing me as the devil.

She is the devil.

But other than that, I have no idea who she is. Okay, anak siya ni Antonio Bellomo, the country's biggest drug lord and other illegal stuff.

But no other info other than that.

Biglang bumukas ang pinto at pumasok si titless na nakasuot ng robe at may dalang tasa. She had a towel in her head too, which means she came from the shower.

"Hello Rocket, I'm done cleaning at nakaligo na rin, mind if I join you for coffee?" tanong niya ngunit hindi pa man ako nakakasagot ay umupo siya sa tapat ko at humigop sa kape niya. "Aaah I miss this!"

Tinitigan ko lamang siya habang nakangiting humihigop. Now that I noticed it clearly, she had two tiny dimples on the side of her upper lip at lilitaw lamang iyon kapag totoong ngiti ang pinapakita niya.

I can see now she's genuinely happy while sipping her drink.

"Kaninong bahay 'to?" tanong ko.

Inilapag niya ang kape bago sumagot. "Kay Zero."

"Ah your bodyguard."

She scowled at me. "No, Zero is more than just a bodyguard."

"Boyfriend then?"

Mas lalo siyang sumimangot. "No, I'm his little sister, we had that bond since we were kids." Napangiti ulit siya nang may maalala. "When I was in kindergarten a mean kid put a wad of gum in my hair so I had it cut para lamang matanggal ang nakadikit na gum, and you know what Zero did to the guy who put the gum? Kinalbo niya!"

I don't know how to respond to it. She looks really happy as she recalled memories of the past. Maybe through this I get to know more Lennon Pi Bellomo.

"He burned down the auditorium of my elementary school when I cried back then dahil nakailang rehearsal na ako para sa theater play namin, tapos pinalitan ako bilang bida."

That is so sick but hey I did something as sick as that when I thought I lost mom and Zywon. It made me think that the bond between her and that Zero guy is immeasurable and no one can ever break.

"So he played hero all this time?" I know I sounded salty but I don't really give a damn about her and that Zero guy.

"No, of course not, I'm not a disney princess who needs saving at all times okay? May mga pagkakataon rin na si Zero ang nililigtas ko. Ninakaw ng kaklase niya sa grade school ang ballpen niya na bigay ko. That guy was a bully just because he's obese he thinks he should be feared! So I got the pen and stabbed his crotch with it."

I smirked. Huh so she had aim at that spot since then.

"Tapos no'ng binasted siya ng unang babaeng niligawan niya noong high school, I pushed the bitch from the fourth floor."

I choked, what the hell? "You did what?!"

"She said Zero is the guy she will never fall with so I made her experience what actual fall is, duh."

I scoffed. "Psycho!"

"Hey hey she had the audacity to turn down Zero, she's not even that pretty! Mahilig lang siya sa fake lashes kaya maganda siya sa paningin ni Zero who obviously had no taste in women that time!"

"I get it titless, you are each other's knight in shining armour." Or so it seems. He was protective of her, so as she's him to her.

Huminga siya nang malalim at naging seryoso ang mukha. "I fear I will be such burden to him and he won't get married soon. Back when I was kidnapped, he sworn his words to protect me at all cost."

Pakiramdam ko ay unti-unti siyang nag-oopen up tungkol sa buhay niya. Maybe when I get to know her story, I will understand why she's a psycho at times.

"You were kidnapped?" tanong ko.

Mapait na ngumiti siya. "Yup, with my mom and she's killed in front of me."

Death is traumatizing, trust me I knew it. When I thought mom and the baby died, it feels like everything around me died also. I was no longer the kid my mom wanted me to be.

"It must be hard."

"It was, but I never cried."

How? Crying was the only resort I found when I was in the hellhole I was before. It doesn't makes you feel better but so as the words of the people around you.

"I live to find who are the guys who killed my mom at igaganti ko siya. I will make them taste the hell they put me in. Rocket I was a kid that time, how could thet do it in front of me?" tanong niya. She's calm, at least in words but her tight grip on her cup tells me otherwise. She's mad, no, even beyond that.

"What happened?"

She sadly smiled. "Ni hindi man lamang siya namatay nang diretso. They made her suffer, they tortured her. I saw how my mom begged them na palayain ako but they didn't. All that time I didn't hear her beg for her, she begged for me."

Hindi ko na alam ang sasabihin ko. I never knew she had that experience. Maybe that explains her craziness and that tattoos. Maybe there's more to her that meets the eye.

Napatingin siya sa suot niyang relo. "Oh it's time for my med."

Tumayo siya at pumasok sa loob. Sumunod naman ako sa kanya at tinanaw siyang abutin ang bote ng gamot sa taas ng ref.

"What are that meds for?" tanong ko, handing her a glass of water.

"Doctor says I'm clinically depressed so I'm inclined to take them but hey I'm not."

Maybe no, I think she's beyond that. If Pi is a frail woman, I'm sure it wasn't long when she would have already hang herself somewhere. But no she's brave to embrace the trauma and start a new life from it.

She became cruel and brutal, she shots people instantly just because they annoyed her. She had a lot of ink; her way to deal with shits in her life. She used sex as an escape.

Still she's strong for making it up to this point of her life.

I hate it admit it but with that difficulty, she made it and it was amazing.

"What?" untag niya nang mapansin na nakatitig ako sa kanya. "You look like you pity me Rocket, hey no, I don't need pity."

"I don't," sagot ko.

She put down her glass and faced me. "So what's that look about? What are you thinking?"

I walked towards her at napaatras naman siya, hanggang sa maramdaman niya ang sink sa likuran niya. She doesn't look like she's in panic ngunit nagtatakang napatingin siya sa akin. I pressed my body to her, thinking the sink has been helpful.

"I was thinking this robe needs to be taken off." And I untied it, sliding the soft fabric on her soft shoulder, letting it fall in the floor.

Such a shame to see her not fully naked beneath, but the lace underwear isn't bad.

Oh damn I really like her sun-kissed inked skin; suits her best.

"R-rocket... Oh..." She whimpered in pleasure when my lips trailed her jaw down to her shoulder.

"Sssh. Consider this a reward Titless. A reward for making it this far, you're one tough woman."

Then I lifted her by her hips and placed her on the counter top, parting her legs so I could stand in between before I started kissing her in full attention.

And she responded with burning passion.

#

ShinichiLaaaabs

A/N: I'm a tease, I know! haha! Gonna cut this here lol #Ticket4dawin