3 ? Chapter 3 : The rat in the city

The day started with a cold and heavy morning. The rain poured down mercilessly on the ground of the earth like waterfalls. Lacian's snores and tossing around on the top bunk never interrupted the sleeping raven guy under her. The clock ticked nonstop, wanting to wake the two sleeping persons inside the average room. Francis mumbled under his blanket and turned to his side, facing the wall. The guy opened his eyes, revealing his golden brown irises, blinked a few times and snapped in a second. He turned and looked at the wall clock that read 7: 30 am.

"Shit! I'm gonna be late for school!" Francis cursed and immediately tossed the blanket covering half of his body away. The soft cloth landed on the floor like a smooth feather. Francis immediately grabbed his blue toothbrush and mounted it with a lot of toothpaste. He quickly faced the mirror and saw some of his bed hairs sticking out. He finger combed his messy hair while brushing his teeth harshly. His gums could bleed the way he shoves that brush inside his mouth. There was no time to grab a glass of water so Francis turned the faucet on and let the running water fill his palms. He gargled the water and spit it on the sink. He clicked his tongue as he stared at his own reflection on the mirror winking at himself.

"Tch! Still handsome as ever!" Francis chuckled and grabbed the first bottle of perfume he could get, sprayed himself like a pro and swalah! -he's ready to go!

"Why are you shouting?" Lacian asked while rubbing her eyes with her index finger. Francis ignored his master and grabbed his backpack. He swore, he would be late for school.

"I have to go now! See you later!" Francis yelled and opened the door, went out and slammed it behind. He immediately ran towards the station, hoping that he could still catch the last train. He ran through the stairway without minding the shoulders bumping with his own.

"Hey! Wait!" Francis shouted when the train left ten seconds earlier than the moment he arrived.

"Great!" Francis shouted in dismay, hands hanging in the air as a sign of defeat. He stared at the train as the thing drifted away, living him a panting mess. Francis turned his body about face like a lousy vegetable and took a step going back home.

"Going home already?" Francis jumped out from shock and looked at Lacian. The naughty lady was sitting on one of the benches in the waiting station while eating a blueberry lollipop. She was wearing a black jacket, her headphone hanging around her neck, the pair of jeans she was wearing last night, a pair of sneakers and a pony tailed hair.

"How did you get here before me?" Francis asked. He was still panting but lost a little bit of his manliness when he noticed that Lacian wasn't sweating nor having a hard time to take oxygen at all.

"Teleportation?" Lacian answered with her usual sarcastic and nerve breaking tone. Francis literally ignored her lack of sense response.

"You're not helping, Ace" Francis rolled his eyes in a pouting way. He took another minute to respire normally.

"I just did some running through the alleys, climbing some walls instead of taking the never-ending stairs and a lot of leaping, yeah" Lacian shrugged her shoulders while clicking her tongue, the hard candy hitting her teeth as she rolled the thin, hard plastic straw of the lollipop. Her lips were tainted with dark blue and she looked like a villain in some super hero movies.

"No kidding?!" Francis could never believe what he just heard. Perhaps Lacian was just having fun with him again.

"Yes! I usually do parkours. Now!  There's no time for us to talk. Good boys should go to school. Let's assume that today is your first day of training!" Lacian grinned like an idiot with her blue tinted lips and grabbed Francis by the hand, dragging the panting guy towards the train that just left.

"Hey! Hey! Wait! What are we going to do?!" Francis  noticed that Lacian was running too fast and she was sticking too close to the running train. The raging train made Francis's heart thumped in an abnormal way, those beats you feel when you're having a near death experience.

"At the count of three, we jump!" Lacian shouted in a naughty manner and held the guy's trembling hand.

"You're kidding me, right?!" Francis shouted in disbelief as he saw the train not losing its speed at all. They were currently tailing the back of the train.

"Three! ..."

"No! I don't want to die!"

"Two!..."

"Oh come on!!"

"One! Jump!"

"Bullshit! Waaaaaaa!" Francis jumped towards the train like his life depends on it. The two of them were grabbing the bars tightly. Francis kneeled down while gripping on the bars and panted hardly. He thought he was dead the moment that they jumped.

"How was it?!" Lacian asked while grinning as she looked at Francis still trembling. Francis felt he was about to throw up out of nervousness. Adrenaline rushed through his veins and he managed to throw a weak glare towards his master. He calmed himself down and grinned.

"That was cool!!" smiling like crazy,  Francis relaxed a bit later.

"Yeah right! I'll show you something even cooler! Come with me!" Lacian extended her arm for Francis like a mother encouraging her child to stand up from a disastrous fall on the ground.

"We're not climbing up there, are we?" his guts were telling him that his master would always be unstoppable and unpredictable. He might not be able to do the things that Lacian is capable of doing, that includes climbing on top of the train.

'Please don't take me up there! Please don't take me up there!' Francis prayed silently when Lacian looked up at the top.

"We are! Woo-hoo! up we go!!" with no signs of fearing death, Lacian climbed above using the ladder made of bars and gestured Francis from below to follow her. Francis could see himself crying inside while trying to show a brave and courageous aura outside. The strong wind caused by the train caressed Francis's every part of skin as he climbed up, shaking feet that almost betrayed him, trembling hands that started to back out on their own, Francis was beyond nervous, he was scared.

"Hey!" Lacian's voice made Francis flinch and looked up at her in an instant. This was probably the worst day of Francis's life ever.

"I got you! Trust me! You'll have fun!" there was never a sign of positive thoughts coming out of Francis's mouth despite Lacian's encouraging words. He mentally slapped his face and made his way up towards Lacian.

"Look!" Lacian pointed the horizon towards the direction they were heading to. Francis rose his head and saw the glimmering water of the sea. It looked like the sun was kissing the sea.

"Cool, isn't it?!" Lacian asked with a conceited attitude. She knew that Francis would be captivated by that scenery. Francis awed in silence while letting his jaw hanging because it was too beautiful.

"Sometimes, risks bring beautiful outcomes. But don't do this often without me, got it? You might die without me knowing." Lacian said in a humorous manner.

'You can't die before me, idiot. I still need you to finish my life.' Lacian thought seriously and grabbed Francis by the wrist. They started running and leaping through the long train with grins on their faces.

"Don't forget that you still have classes to attend to!" Lacian reminded Francis. Francis gasped when he realized that his speed was synchronizing with Lacian. He was no longer trembling and is dashing confidently. The train stopped at the first station and the two of them jumped out of nowhere, leaving the other passengers in a state of shock.

"Two people just jumped from above the train!" one of the passengers shouted and pointed the empty top of the train. In the corner, Lacian and Francis were chuckling like crazy and escaped from the commotion. Francis learned basic parkour stunts such as climbing, jumping, back rolling and leaping. He was having fun with Lacian while heading to his school. Lacian noticed something strange around them.

"Hey! You go ahead and study hard! I'll deal with a job today!" Lacian shouted and stopped running.

"Okay! See you later!" Francis waved goodbye and started running away. Lacian turned to the next corner and lured in her stalker. She knew that the next corner was a dead end, never underestimate the rat in the city.

"What is your business with me?" Lacian asked with a threatening aura, her voice was intimidating and not a single hint of fear was shown.

"My job is to kill you, rat of the city." a guy with muscular figure and dressed in ninja suit appeared from the dark corner. A coil formed from the pit of Lacian's stomach. Excitement and fear filled her being, it has been a long time since she had a real bloody fight, might as well warm up a little bit with that ninja man.

"Sorry, but that job is already taken" Lacian said with a grin and positioned herself in a fighting stance. Veins popping out from her fists to her forehead. She knew that this fight would never be an easy one, her guts told her so.

"Let's get this over with" Lacian declared. The two made a clash and fought in the middle of the dark corner without letting the civilians near the place notice.

Lacian thought: "This fighting skills feel famiar to me." She smirked underneath her breath and attacked the enemy using her long legs.

"It reminds me of someone I used to know" Lacian mumbled as she stumbled on the ground after receiving a turning kick from the enemy.

"Bring it on!" Lacian yelled while smirking. The city remained as how it was. The people were busy with their own lives everyday. The usual noises and the rustling of the wind. Everything was normal --except for the struggling rat in the city day by day.