Air Hero

Three years later

Without anyone knowing, three years have passed since the incident at the memorial monument. The monument has been rebuilt again, and on the day of the anniversary, many people come for Memorial Day once again. Bringing flowers with them and placed them at the monument to signify that they still remember their family and relatives that passed away in this place.

On one east side of the memorial, a girl wearing a black derby hat can be spotted with black sunglasses covering her eyes and a gorgeous black dress. She looked solemn yet graceful as she laid down the bouquet of carnation flowers on the foot of the monument.

“Brother, this time, I am not late. You know, I’ve been promoted to C-rank recently. It is still far from your A-rank, but I’m getting there. They praised me for being a prodigy and such, but it still hurt me how they seemed to forget about you. You are a real genius and a true hero for me. I’ll be leaving now, but I’ll come to see you again. Please watch over me, brother Yoon.”

As the girl wiped a drop of tears from her face, she takes off the black sunglasses for a moment, and at that fraction of time, Max would surely not recognize her even if he sees her. The girl is Yuna. Compared to three years ago, all the trace of her naivety has been long gone and replaced by a mature and composed look. The girl is maturing into a woman as she learned more about life. She has also become a well-known figure as eighteen years old C-rank heroes are rare.

Although she still wants to catch Lindt and Vanya, she is not as gullible as she used to be. Along with her heroes’ job, she learned some wisdom and realized how stupid she was before. Although it was done in secret, she is still looking for clues about them, but it isn’t that successful. That’s because she couldn’t search for them openly, and the risk of being involved with dangerous people like Bonio and Yann still exist.

Yuna is confident that if she faced Bonio and Yann again, she could put up a fight and escape from them unscathed, but still, she couldn’t defeat them. Once again, she also remembers how lucky it was for her to escape their grasp. If she got caught back there, she believed that either she would be dead right now or have been brainwashed into becoming a villain.

Looking at the clear blue sky, Yuna once again put her black sunglasses on and walked away. Before she leaves, she muttered something only for her to hear. “Max, how is that boy doing?”

********

As Yuna left the memorial monument area, from the west entrance, a young man entered. Sporting messy black hair that is still wet, clearly, it wasn’t long since he takes a bath and doesn’t even bother to dry his hair. If there’s one thing to note is how all of the girls that passed by and saw him, turned their body once again to take a second look at his body. The black jacket that he wears couldn’t hide his well-toned body. It wasn’t muscular but just enough to make all girls wanted to be embraced and protected by his arms. The young man ignored the looks given by the girls and yawned as he looked at the sky.

“*yawn*… It sure is hot today.”

The man approached the monument with a single flower in hand and a beer bottle in the other. He puts down the flower and the beer bottle as he crouches down in front of it.

“Mom, Dad, I’m here again. I must be a bad child that only comes and visit you once a year, right? But, don’t worry, I still miss you guys every day. Here’s another flower, Mom. I remember we used to joke around and make garland crowns in the park. It was done using this flower, right? Sorry I couldn’t find another one or make the garland crown for you. As for Dad, I vaguely remember seeing this brand of beer inside our refrigerator. Although I never saw you drink, you must have liked this brand, right? I’m eighteen years old today. I wish I could pour you a drink so, let me open the bottle and pour it for you.”

The young man opened the beer bottle with a flick of his finger and poured the content down to a grass patch beside the monument. Seeing that it was emptied and no more liquid coming down from it, he puts the bottle into a recycle bin and sits down in front of the flower.

“Mom, Dad. Tomorrow I will have my hero examination test. If I passed it, I would finally be able to become a hero. Mom, Dad, can you believe it? Your son will become a hero. Just like a dream come true. However, becoming a hero is only the beginning since I will be starting out from the bottom at D-rank. I learned that becoming a hero isn’t easy, and to be those figures inside the TV, I will probably need to achieve an A-rank, at least an S-rank, to be like Captain Green. You know Captain Green, Mom, Dad, the hero with the broccoli hairstyle. Too bad that somehow, he has retired from the hero field. Nevertheless, I will try to become someone as amazing as him.”

The young boy then wiped the sweat from his temple, and it exposes his face. If Yuna is here, she wouldn’t believe that the face belonged to Max. Just like how Max won’t recognize Yuna if he saw her again, Max has undergone considerable changes himself.

The trace of the pale and malnourished boy can be spotted no more. His face is now healthy and full of life. From his eye, you can feel his energy. Unlike how his eye used to be like dead fish eye, he has truly changed and grew. Max is unable to smile for ten years, but now, his face is very radiant as he smiled widely while talking to the monument.

*beep beep*

Suddenly, while Max is still talking alone, his phone ring. Max didn’t even need to look at the caller ID since only one person will call him. Max picked up the phone, and before he got the chance to say anything, he can hear a loud yell.

“Max! Happy birthday!”

Kalina’s voice can be heard loud and clear from the phone. Max even needs to close his ears with his fingers due to how loud it is.

“Geez, big sis. That was loud.”

“Haha, are you surprised?”

“Of course, did you call just to say that?”

“What do you mean just to say that? It’s your birthday, right? At least I need to say happy birthday to you. If not, I bet nobody is going to congratulate you. So, how about we have a birthday party tonight? It’s my treat, don’t worry.”

“Big sis, even if it was me treating you, it will be basically using the money you give me.”

“Haha, that’s true. Anyway, we’re eating out tonight, okay? Tomorrow is your big day anyway.”

“Okay. If I refuse, you will probably bug me for a week for it. Just call me later or send me the address of the place. I’ll be hanging up now.”

“See you later.”

After closing the phone call from Kalina, Max smiled and looked at the memorial monument.

“Mom, Dad, the biggest blessing in my life after losing you might be meeting big sis, Kalina. Right now, I have a big sister that cared for me. Are you the one that sends her because you don’t want to see me drown in sadness? Anyway, I’m leaving now. Don’t worry, Mom, Dad. I’m doing fine. I’ll come again.”

Max then leaves the memorial monument with a smile on his face. It’s a clear contrast to how he visited this place three years ago while looking down. If Max’s parents could saw him from the heavens, they must be feeling happy for him.