The Rejected Family

Chapter 7

Reject stopping, Part 1

A fresh morning.

The sun aggressively penetrates through the space in the wall of a bedroom, like windows that only increase air circulation but don't prevent a single fly from entering.

Along with the dawn, strong winds collide against the skin of a sleeping boy as if trying to wake him up as soon as possible. He rests on a small mattress on the icy floor.

Already used to waiting, Muro's two siblings and their father wait incessantly for him to wake up.

After witnessing the most experienced man in the room reading an irrelevant comic book, Lua, sulking, speaks to Calos.

"Shouldn't you be helping my mother?"

Without taking his eyes off the magazine, he replied, "my priority is to look after my son; the rest can wait."

The young woman — who was writing commemorative phrases for the new Repeller on sheets of paper —interrupted her activities to take the matter more seriously.

"Was that a joke?"

"Did it sound like one?"

"One, are you listening to this drivel?"

The girl's failed projects were crumpled into little balls of paper, which often found their way into One's hands. The boy threw the material in his sleeping brother's face, trying to escape the boredom overtaking him.

"Whatever."

"See, I didn't say anything wrong," says Calos.

"It's unbelievable that you can even say that with such a straight face. All you've done in that room all day is read that stupid magazine," says Lua.

"What else do I need to do? My kid's asleep."

"What nonsense. One, take care of him."

The sad child hardly opens his mouth, "Gee, Dad. What a mistake."

Denying the criticism, the adult points at the boy, "you're messing up."

He also points at his other daughter, "you're drawing."

"They're texts, not drawings," the girl confronts him.

"And I can't read a magazine?"

"It's not the same."

"I've already done my chores. Leave me alone."

"You haven't done anything!"

"Now it's your turn, stop drawing."

"Get to work!"

"Lua, your father is getting stressed."

"Get out of that room! One, kick him out!"

The boy joins the conversation, "Dad, you should go outside."

Calos goes crazy, "stop answering her!"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You're trying to wake me up, aren't you? You've done it; you're good at it."

The sleepy voice comes straight from the mattress, drawing everyone's attention as if spotlights were pointing to the source of the sound. Muro is awake, sitting relaxed.

His father is surprised, "Muro!"

"What's up?" One greets him.

"What's with all the fuss?"

"Aren't you forgetting anything?" Lua questions his memory.

Congratulations, Muro! Mighty Muro! Congratulations on the rejection! The boy reads the messages written by Lua, and several sheets of paper guide his eyes.

Finally, a Repeller! He stares at that particular sentence.

Repeller, his focus remains on that single word.

Trying to process what is in front of him, Muro mutters.

"Repel... ler...?"

Contrasting with his slow thinking, the day is busy in the Mamoru family's tent. Kikyo and Saul run their main business behind the large house, with no direct connection to its interior. With no space between the houses, to get there, you have to go around a cluster of six houses, which is the quickest way to the back of the house.

The tent gathers dozens of people daily, looking for the bare minimum of what is essential for survival: a simple meal. A queue that got out of control a long time ago, whose supervision depends on the honesty of each customer. Few kitchen utensils occupy the preparation benches, most of which are filled with the same ingredients, a sustainable repetition of flavors.

With dark circles under her eyes from countless late nights, Kikyo stands at the front of the tent, serving one customer at a time. Holding a disposable cup containing a soft drink, her concentration is broken by an unexpected scream of the most profound joy.

"WOO-HOO!"

The excited boy's scream startles Kikyo, who drops the glass on the floor, spilling the liquid.

"Looks like he's awake," a mixture of anger and relief composes her words.

"Heh," Saul smiles.

Impatiently, the first customer in the queue expresses his displeasure.

"You've got to be kidding... Could you speed it up?"

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again," the woman replies.

"I don't need it to happen again. I just want to eat soon and return to work. Do you get it?"

Averting her stress-filled gaze, Kikyo looks for the quickest solution. 

"Saul, give me something to clean up this mess."

"All the cloths here are wet."

The frustrated voice reaches for the window of her house, trying to communicate with someone on the second floor. 

"Muro! I need a floorcloth!" She calls out to her son.

Saul mocks her, "is this how you welcome our new Repeller?"

"Stop fooling around and speed things up."

The first customer in line resumes his hostility, "Ma'am, I just want my soda right away. Please."

"I'm so sorry; I'll get it for you!"

Flowing down the stream of disappointment, the Foot of the Mountain streets are once again filled with the group of nobles next to the crowd of hungry people queuing at the tent. Five individuals in exuberant attire walk around their leader, even more dazzling than his companions.

"Ridiculous! This is an insult to my name! We've already followed all the orders; why are we still here!" Walter reinforces his contempt for the place.

The citizens move out of the way of the nobility, completely clearing the passage in the center of the street. With everyone clustered at the corners of the road, the queue for the establishment is forced to move to the side, lining up next to the Mamoru family's tent.

"That team of vermin still has a chance of taking part in the trial, even after all the trouble they caused in the last contest! Unacceptable!" The group leader continues.

"If they're strong enough to possibly get permission from the council, doesn't that mean it's a good thing?" One of his subordinates asks.

"My goodness, this will be the most dangerous trial in a long time. Two teams made up of monsters; we should keep our eyes open," the top-hat guy adds.

"Quiet! This is disrespectful of my time! How long will we have to wait for the council to give its stupid answer? They should have sent another developer for this task!" Walter loses it.

"We don't even have an estimate. I think we'd better feed ourselves for now."

In the middle of the crowd, on the sidewalk, three boys are sitting on the ground, having the tastiest meal of their lives. Plastic containers full of food, homemade food in abundance, lovingly prepared by Saul's hands.

The boys can't keep their hands off a simple slice of meat accompanied by a light combination of grains as if they were in front of a cauldron full of gold.

"It's a good thing we were quick. Look at all these hungry people," one of the boys comments.

"I don't think we could have waited another second."

"What are you doing, folks? We don't know when we'll be able to eat something like this again. Try to keep your mouths busy with every crumb on this plate," he says with difficulty while chewing the protein intensely.

"You don't even have to ask!"

An intimidating voice is heard, and someone behaving with remarkable superiority interferes with the feast, "look what we have here..."

The noble group positions themselves in front of the boys. The woman in high heels looks down on everyone, a vision of complete understanding of everything within her reach.

"I'm no longer going to be embarrassed by my belly rumbling around for nothing. No matter how bad this filthy food is, I've reached my limit," she suppresses her disgust.

"Do what you want. I will never contaminate myself with something like this, even if only my bones remain," Walter turns away from his subordinates.

"Thank you, sir."

Carefully folding her dress, as she respects every tiny line of the fabric — plated in gold — she crouches down, keeping her posture upright and her feet balanced. She takes the bowl containing the desired food out of the boys' hands with uncanny tranquillity.

"W-what's going on?" asks one of the youngsters.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm not going to wait in a queue like that. You can go back in and buy another one later."

"That was our only—"

"Oh, whatever. It doesn't matter."

The guy in the top hat questions the lady, "a single piece of meat? Is that useful?"

"It was the first thing I saw. It will serve to fool my stomach until we eat something good."

"Those three idiots were going to share it? Are they dumb by any chance?"

"Hey, Mr. Walter? Do you hear that? They're avoiding contaminating themselves like you, hahaha."

"You should feel honored then; you saved their stomachs."

The group of nobles walks away from the boys, taking all the food with them. Left behind, the boys try to understand what has just happened, staring at each other in disbelief.

"Are they… is this serious?"

One of the boys stands up with his fists clenched, his anger moving his body. 

"Wait!"

A companion's hands grab him, trembling with the tension in his muscles.

"It's over; we have to accept it. We can't get into a fight."

The standing boy looks at his other friend, who is licking his fingers incessantly, trying to make the most of what he has left.

Filled with resentment while staring at a shard of glass on the ground, the guy determines, after gnashing his teeth, "not against them."

In contrast to the tension of the streets, Muro's room is filled with genuine excitement, the boy's liveliness driving away any negative feelings that might try to enter the room.

"Did you hear that, One? I'm a Repeller!" The boy — who has just woken up — celebrates incessantly.

His brother replies, "yeah!"

The glow in Muro's eyes is like a beam of light, repeatedly hitting his three family members, making them increasingly uncomfortable with so much energy being emanated.

"Lua, I'm a Repeller!" He continues.

"That's obvious. Haven't you seen all the messages I've written about that?"

"Dad, I'm a Repel—"

"Sorry, kid. I'm not in the mood," Calos interrupts his son.

Another member of the Mamoru family enters the room but with a repeated appearance. Lua's body walks freely, right in front of the girl herself.

"Muro, your mother's asking for a floorcloth downstairs. Oh, and congratulations on being a Repeller now," Kelly says, taking on her granddaughter's appearance.

"Grandma Kelly! Right, I'll take it immediately," the boy accepts the task.

Calos is confused by what he sees, "wait, which one of you is the real Lua?"

"Of course it's me! Don't you even recognize your own daughter?" The actual owner of the body speaks up.

"How can I tell the difference between two identical people?"

"Are you kidding me?"

Muro distances himself from the others, leaving through the door of his room and letting the others argue for nothing. Looking for the floorcloth he needs, he walks through the corridors of the second floor.

Meanwhile, in the street behind the house, Kikyo and Saul continue to work hard under the Mamoru family's tent. 

"Thanks for the preference, and sorry for the inconvenience," Kikyo serves the angry customer.

"Don't worry, that was the last time I stepped in here."

The customer's departure leaves the attendant with her head down, unable to face the others in the queue. Saul glances at his companion, noticing her agitation, as the next person in line approaches. 

"Number three without vegetables, please."

"Right now!" Without even looking at the face of the person ordering, the worker moves on to put the plate together.

An unexpected misstep causes her to stumble, falling to her knees on the floor. In a moment of anger, her ears recognize the voice of a friend.

"In your own time, Kikyo," the customer catches her attention, and Fern calms his friend down.

"Fern! You've come at a good time. Your patience is always welcome."

Feeling a brief sense of relief, Kikyo notices Saul's eyes on her back but remains focused on serving the customer.

"Are you worried, big man? Do you think some bullshit like that is going to stop me from putting the money on the table?"

"It's just that... you should stop for a while." 

"And you're saying that to me? If one of us gets weak, things will get complicated, Saul."

"When they're all grown up, I will make sure you rest in a cozy hammock."

"I can hardly wait."

On the outskirts, three hungry boys are next to the tent.

At the same time, Muro reaches the second-floor window, the only possible communication with the back of his house, which allows him to see his mother and uncle working hard. In Kikyo's room, the boy is alone at the moment.

My first favor as a Repeller, hehe, he thinks excitedly.

With a silly expression, Muro bends down in front of the window. Within reach, there is a medium-sized cardboard box with a rope tied to it.

You'll be receiving a Repeller's cloth soon, eh? What an honor for you! He reflects as he puts the requested floorcloth into the box.

After approaching the window to complete his task, he looks down the street where his two relatives are.

Here's the special delive—

Muro suddenly lets go of the box, causing it to fall out of the room, along with the rope and the floorcloth. Startled by what he saw, the boy takes a step back.

What's that? What's going on here? He sees the group of boys surrounding his mother. One of the guys has a shard of glass in his hand and is pointing it at Kikyo.

Who are these people? I have to do something!

With sweaty hands and trembling legs, the boy feels he has to move at all costs. 

"You're on a roll, huh? What are you looking at?" Lua enters the room where Muro is.

Rushing with all his might, the boy passes his older sister, running through the house's corridors without even noticing her.

"Hey, where are you going?"

Lua looks out the window where her brother was standing, trying to understand his distress.

That's it. Frightened, she sees the group of attackers.

"Mom!" She calls out to Kikyo, making Saul look around and realize the situation.

At the highest speed an ordinary human being can reach, Muro goes around the cluster of houses in his neighborhood, trying to find the first path between the houses that will allow him to get to the back of his home, where the Mamoru family's tent is.

Three of them had a shard of glass in their hands. Several people are around, but there could still be a lot of damage. If they're Repellers, it could be even worse, he thinks about the threats.

Raising his hands before him, the boy regains his confidence: I'm one too, now. I'm the one who has to sort this out! I can handle these guys on my own!