The Rejected Family

Chapter 8

Reject stopping, Part 2

Muro runs resolutely, skirting the structures that separate him from his destination until he finally reaches the desired street.

A long queue stands at his family's business, making it difficult for him to see as he desperately searches for the location of his enemies. Kikyo is spotted, motionless, staring at the side of the tent.

Mom! I made it in tim— 

As he looks more closely at the place, Muro halts. The spot that gathers all the attention in the street is now controlled by Saul, who is standing there with all the boys fallen before him, completely defeated and unarmed.

With a closer look, Muro realizes that the aggressors are just pre-teens with ordinary physiques.

"Hahaha, you scared my family! You shouldn't be walking around with that sharp thing!" Saul laughs, not a scratch on his body, which is exaggeratedly muscular at the moment, with the huge muscles in his arms reaching extraordinary proportions under the effect of his rejection.

One of the fallen boys asks him, "Who are you, you bastard?"

"Showing up with such strength, are you looking for trouble?" A companion adds.

Muro watches from afar, not saying a word, uncle Saul?

"Our money is obviously in the till, on the counter. Why did you attack from the side? You could have stolen something if you'd been quick," the uncle doesn't understand the young men's decision.

"Money? Why would we want that?"

With a fixed gaze on the large pot of food, the hands of one of the boys tremble, pressing into his stomach, while he remains silent. Saul notices the various bruises on his thin arms.

"If you can, be quick because now we need to try somewhere else," the most talkative one retorts.

"Come on and get it over with, big man. You're going to hit us harder, aren't you?"

"Oh, that was just a reflex. I told you, you scared people who are important to me. I apologize, hahaha."

Saul turns to Kikyo, who is watching the situation from a distance.

"Hey, Kikyo. Prepare three delicious meals for these guys!"

The boys are surprised, not believing what they've heard, "what?"

"It's not that simple; we don't have any resources left."

"Don't worry, I've been eating too much anyway. It should be easy for me."

"What do you mean?" 

"I just have to go three weeks without eating, then we won't have any losses."

"But that—"

Kikyo's vision is filled with the three hopeless young men on the ground. She understands the situation and agrees.

"Do it. I'll contribute by skipping a meal."

"Okay, brats, permission granted! You can look forward to it; I'll treat you!"

One of the boys asks, "is this serious?"

"Isn't he making fun of us?"

"Just get in line, please. Things are complicated today," Kikyo appeals to her new customers.

Saul looks at his companion, displaying a look of complete seriousness.

"Ah, but your last statement isn't going to happen," he challenges her.

"Huh?"

"Three weeks won't be a problem. You eat normally. Besides, you can stop working for today."

"I told you, don't even think about i—"

"While Muro wasn't awake, you took care of quite a lot on your own, didn't you? You can lean on me now, Kikyo."

One of the boys adds, "yeah, lady, you don't look well."

"Really?"

Saul turns to Muro, who is watching from afar.

"Besides, I think your shift is coming to an end anyway. Now it's our turn."

"Wow?" Kikyo spots Muro.

"You've looked after him enough for now; how about letting the boy help out a bit?"

Kikyo stares into her son's reassuring eyes as she reflects on the situation. She then turns her back to the boy and walks in the opposite direction, away from the tent.

"All I wanted now was a hammock. Who knows in the future, right?"

Uninvolved in the whole mess, Muro thinks, depressed, Repeller or not, apparently nothing has changed. What good is my rejection if I don't use it for anything? I have no idea how long I've been asleep. What would happen if Uncle Saul wasn't here?

Muro focuses on the Mountain of Trials and mutters, "am I ready for the trial yet?"

Fern approaches the boy, carrying a packed lunch. He says excitedly, "hey, Muro! Are you going to take part in this trial?"

"Yes, we'll finally be able to, I guess. What about you, Fern?"

"Me? Oh, no. That mountain wasn't made for me."

"Aren't you interested in going up?"

"Of course, we all do. It's just not possible for me, hahaha. Not everyone is like you; what a nice family you have!"

"What are you talking about? You won't know if you don't—"

Saul's shout reaches his nephew, "hey, Muro! Come here, kid!"

"Go on, give your uncle a hand. See you later," Fern says goodbye.

After hours of uninterrupted work, the sunset arrives at the Foot of the Mountain. Muro and Saul now carry food products they bought at their friend's market.

Fern finishes serving his current customers, "can we call it a night?"

"All right, Fern! Thanks for your help," Saul thanks the store owner.

"It's been an intense day for you. You should rest this evening."

"Not at all. I was prepared for twice as much trouble. I thought you took it easy this time; I even got a helper."

Having their last conversation at the entrance to the market, Saul and Muro take with them foodstuffs such as sacks of flour, rice, grains, and other homemade foods. 

The place is the largest building in the region, even with a simple structure. The resources are being deposited in a wooden wheelbarrow parked in front of the establishment. After transporting the purchased contents, the middle-aged man puts the last load of food in the cart.

With his muscles exaggeratedly strengthened, Saul finishes the task without too much trouble, thanks to his powers. 

"I think we've bought everything for the week."

Discouraged, Muro replies, "Yeah, probably."

Saul notices the boy is depressed.

"I know, it's tiring, but... hey, did you know there are bigger and faster vehicles in the other villages? Things may get easier in the future.”

"That would be great..."

"Really? Even that didn't cheer you up? You used to love talking about the mountain."

"The mountain, huh...?"

Muro is lost in thought, remaining silent. Saul moves the wheelbarrow with all the shopping away from Fern's market. 

They walk through the Foot of the Mountain village, taking the goods on the way home.

"Hey, Uncle Saul. Do you think I'm ready for the trial?"

"You? Hahaha. Are you kidding?"

"Huh?"

"How could someone like that be ready? Until a few days ago, you hadn't even had a rejection. You get all sad over things, you're late for your duties, and you're not even of age yet!"

"So, in the end, I'll just keep making everyone wait for me."

"Oh, there you go again. You've got it all wrong. Sometimes you overthink, Muro!"

"Huh?"

"The only requirement for entering a trial is that all team members are Repellers. That's the only restriction. You've become a Repeller, so we can start now."

"Start?"

"The trial is a competitive environment. Dozens of people will be fighting for their future. It's obvious that you won't do anything in there as you are now. However, that doesn't stop us from taking part."

The boy's doubtful silence gives Saul an excellent opportunity to think. His memories flow peacefully, recalling the event with the three boys in the tent.

"Hey, Muro. You saw that mess earlier, didn't you?"

"With the boys? Of course, even though I was late."

"Do you know why they were so desperate to eat?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Of course, very obvious. Hahaha. But to be more specific, food is always the beginning of some period of the day. Whether it's morning, afternoon, or evening, it's where everyone gets the energy to start some activity, some routine, or to enjoy the rest of the day. Those boys wouldn't start their afternoon until they had food."

"There you go with that."

"Oh, stop it. This makes it easier for you to understand why I insisted on feeding those boys, right?"

"Well, you—"

"I gave them the chance to start. That way, they could finally do what they needed for the rest of the day."

Muro keeps walking in front of the cart while Saul pushes the load behind the boy. There is a short descent in front of them, an uneven ramp. The boy walks down it.

"Uncle Saul, what do you mean?"

"You can lean on me for as long as you need to. We're going to the next trial."

With raised eyebrows, Muro gets an unexpected answer.

"The next one! When did you guys agree to this?"

"There will be plenty of opportunities for you and everyone else to excel there. I'll hold the line until you're ready."

The wheelbarrow starts to move down the ramp; its wheels wobble intensely —thanks to the unevenness of the road — making it difficult to move and unbalancing the load.

"Hey, be careful! The path is unstable!" The boy warns.

"Make sure you start your journey as a repeller on the right foot! We'll be there to hold you up whenever you fall, like a real pillar!"

A complete imbalance. Some of the products in the wheelbarrow fall down the ramp, sliding towards Muro.

Saul senses the danger, "oops, that's bad!"

Saul throws himself before the wheelbarrow, jumping out to protect the boy. Through a body shield that separates the objects from his nephew, Saul's powers strengthen his physique to bear the weight on his back.

Muro looks attentively at his uncle, who is trying to hold all the contents in the wheelbarrow. After noticing something, the boy flashes a slight smile.

"Get out of there, Muro!"

Abruptly, Saul involuntarily lowers his head, briefly losing consciousness. The same phenomenon happens to Muro's body.

While he is unconscious, the adult's body ends up letting some objects fall off the wheelbarrow. When he returns to his senses, the powerful body is controlled by another mind, once again holding the load.

Saul's mouth verbalizes the boy's thoughts, "so all I have to do is grab every chance that comes my way."

"What the hell is that?" His nephew's body reproduces the adult's words.

In a quick reaction, Muro's body dodges the falling products.

"If you don't keep running, I'll overtake you. A pillar, eh? That sounds great!" The boy communicates through his uncle's body, gaining control of all his immense strength.

"Don't you dare relax just because you're at the top, you slacker."

"Pfffff! Hahaha! Your rejection is too cool, Muro! Did we swap bodies? I've never seen anything like this before!"

Saul watches Muro, in his body, trying to hold the load at the top of the slope.

"You're not late, kid. And if you need more time, I must get it as someone who's on top."

Looking at the Mountain of Trials, the adult makes another comment out of his nephew's mouth, "well, before we go home, we have to find out when the next trial is."

"Hehehe, can I do that on your body? I'll feel cooler."

"That's enough, turn that thing off."

A new morning. The sun beams aggressively through the space in a bedroom wall. Along with the dawn, strong winds collide against the skin of a sleeping boy.

Opening his eyes slowly, he sleepily says to himself, "today... today it is..."

The window gives him a view of the same landscape as always, but now that image has a new meaning.

"Trial day!" Muro gets up, quickly waking up.

Opening the door as if he were running from a fire, his smile lights up the long corridor.

"Wake up people! Wake up, everyone!" His excitement radiates through the house.

Lua opens the door to her room, answering her brother, "who are you yelling at, idiot?"

The young woman has never looked so well groomed with her hair combed and in her best clothes, added to her clean face. All her preparation reflects her awakened state, like someone who woke up long ago.

"Do you really think you're the only one in a hurry? Do you know how long everyone has been waiting for this day?"

"Then where is everyone?"

"Isn't it obvious? They're at the door, waiting for you."

"What!"

Muro rushes down the stairs and opens the door, anxiety moving every inch of his body. 

The scene he is about to witness has been imagined so many times that he could describe the position of everyone there without even opening his eyes. 

Enjoying every second of that morning, Lev and Toki run through the streets. 

In the guise of Muro, Kelly is standing next to Kikyo. 

Blessed with the sincerest patience, Calos, Saul, and Honda sit on the ground.

One is lying on his stomach, bored.

"See? It didn't even take that long," Saul says.

Toki perks up, " Muro!"

Kikyo looks at her son, a slight smile on her face. 

"So... shall we go?"

The boy's mind has no more words in his thoughts, but his mouth moves on its own, as the most genuine smile can be seen on his face.

"Let's go!"