Above Everything Else

Kung may ilalalim pa ang buntong-hininga ni Takeru nang mga sandaling iyon, baka iyon na ang ginawa niya habang patuloy na nakatayo sa ilalim ng isang matandang puno sa parkeng iyon. Wala naman siyang planong tumambay roon. Pero anong maligno ang sumanib sa kanya para pumunta roon ng wala sa oras?

Pero sino ba ang niloloko niya?

He eyed that crying woman who he saw at one part of that park once again. Had Takeru truly gone cold so now, instead of consoling the woman he'd been looking at from afar for a while now, he just remained standing there, just watching her cry like that?

But then again, he chose to leave her a long time ago, that one heartbreaking night. He chose to let her go after the ordeal she suffered a year ago. That was one thing he feared to happen from the start, from the time he knew there was no going back as soon as he realized that he fell in love with her.

To see that woman get hurt because of him.

Above everything else, he valued her life and her safety. Hindi ito nababagay sa delikadong mundong ginagalawan niya.

And yet...

"Takeru!"

That call snapped him out of his reverie and made him turn to the source of that voice. It was Daryll, his mentor. And from the look on his face, it appeared that he was already bored.

Napangiti na lang siya, kahit papaano. Besides, Takeru already knew what it meant.

Which means he had to stop watching Yasha from afar like this for now. Hindi naman niya maiisip na lapitan ito in the first place. Well, her friend finally appeared and she was the one consoling Yasha at the moment. Perhaps, at least for now, that would be enough.

But seriously, how long would he keep doing this? Darating pa ba kaya ang panahong iyon, na hindi siya labis na maaapektuhan dahil sa babaeng ito na minsan niyang minahal?

"Until I make sure you won't cry because of what I did to hurt you before..." Takeru whispered and finally taking his leave before his waiting mentor would start throwing a fit.

Yeah... Maybe he could still keep doing this...

At least, he wanted to in order for the continuously stinging pain to finally dissipate.

"Hanggang tingin na lang ba talaga ang gusto mong gawin?" tanong ni Daryll sa kanya nang umpisahan na nitong paandarin ang kotse paalis sa lugar na iyon.

Pero walang anumang salitang lumabas sa bibig ni Takeru. Nanatili lang siyang nakatingin sa labas ng bintana ng kotse. At one point, he glanced at the sky. It was a clear one, signaling a beautiful day ahead.

Iba nga lang ang ibig sabihin ng kalangitan sa kanya sa mga sandaling iyon.

"Until we finally see the clear sky ahead of our journey to end the war that ruined us to this, there's nothing else I can do but to stare at her from afar. It's better that way."

"Better that way for who? For her? Eh mukhang hindi ganoon ang naging epekto n'on sa kanya. At sa tingin ko, ganoon din sa 'yo."

Hindi na lang sumagot si Takeru.

Something new was still bound to happen. Takeru believed in that when he chose to let everything about her go that night. Sa ngayon, mas gugustuhin niyang paniwalaan iyon.

Kahit gaano pa kasakit ang kinahinatnan ng naging desisyon niya.