“Regale? What a fancy verbage you have there!” Valdis laughed a bit before continuing. “But not a bad idea, none the less. I guess I don’t know too much about you as well!”
“Ummm, I’m not really sure what to say though… I have four older brothers, and my mom often sold fruit and handmade goods at the market to support us, along with my eldest brother who worked as a teacher.”
Akkio put his hand to the side and sat down again. “Well, Valdis, I guess it’s time you get to know my story.” He gave a slight laugh as he leaned against the wall. “It’s a long one, so get ready.” He inhaled and sighed. “I forgot most of it through pushing it out of my head. Nothing interesting happened until I was around six years old. My mom passed away of an unknown illness. The doctors couldn’t do anything about it.” He looked towards the ground and grabbed some dirt in between his fingers and watched it fall out. “There wasn’t anything I could do about it.” He laid his head back against the wall. “It came down to it being me, my brother and my father. They were taking care of me.” Akkio smiled a false smile before continuing. “I never liked my father. Mainly for what followed. But, one day, he came home drunk. I could smell it on his breath. We started arguing and…” Akkio clenched his fist on the ground. “….And he hit me. He told me to ‘fight’ him. But what was an eight year old going to do? I took the blows. I wasn’t going to fight my own father.” Akkio breathed deeply.
“My brother saw what happened and he took me outside everyday and taught me how to fight. Everything I know is from him. So, you could say me and him were really close.” He laughed a bit but it quickly went away as Akkios’ face darkened. “One day, there was rumors going around that a young man was stabbed, a description that fit my brother. I waited for four days for him to come home…” Akkio fought back tears as he pulled his legs in close. “He…never came home.” Akkio kept his head down as he continued. “My father sent me a letter about a week after it happened. He was gone too. He didn’t die or anything but he just got up and left. He told me that it was ‘training’.” Akkio scoffed at the idea of that. He clenched his fist into a ball again and a few seconds later, released it. He took both hands to his face with a downward wipe as if he had just woken up. “So yeah, that’s my story, my past. You deserved to know it.” He said as he ruffled Valdis’ hair with a smile.
Shino sat by and listened to his closest friend tell him that same sad tale again. When he looked like he needed it, Shino leaned over and put a comforting arm around Akkio's shoulder.
"That's still a sad tale brother... well i suppose it's my turn"
Said Shino as he took a deep breath and steadied his nerves.
"Well, I remember my father vaguely, he was in the scouting legion and suffered the fate of many scouts... he was eaten"
Shino deadpanned with what looked like no emotion.
"That happened around the time i meet Akkio, i suppose i traded one family member for another."
Smiled Shino as he looked towards his adopted brother.
"After I helped save Akkio he became part of the family and my mom even took him in as her own."
Shino and Akkio both had dark looks on their faces as Shino continued.
"Then the worst day of our lives occurred... the screams and blood... it was horrible... we both lost the rest of our family that day and wandered for a long time until we came across an abandoned house. We lived there for a while, even taking care of two kid that wandered in during a very bad rainstorm."
Said Shino, the dark look leaving his face and gradually turning back into a smile as he talked about the kids.
"I never did quit my training that my father began and mother continued. I still haven't quit, learning as much as i can as fast as i can. It's why i know how to fight and heal so well... I've also never had a girlfriend before"
Shino said that last bit sheepishly and without making eye contact with Valdis, as his face grew redder by the second.
