Criminal X : Epitome Of Evil

A newspaper rolled along the ground with the silent air.

Pablo, standing on the stage, his eyes on Flashy.

The soldiers, standing below, their eyes on Flashy.

And the man in question, his eyes were on the man whom he had betrayed a few seconds ago.

Pablo.

Flashy's heart reverberated with a sense of guilt as heavy as the guilt of not saving his mother.

The man whom he had almost cursed was the man who stopped people from laughing at him.

Of course, cursing isn't bad. People curse all the time. Flashy was close enough to Pablo to curse him. Pablo wouldn't mind it too… Well, he might have minded it but not enough to break the friendship with Flashy.

But what stung Flashy was that he had promised Pablo that he would make sure his boss reaches the top. He himself referred to himself as a slave of Pablo.

And slaves don't rebel.

But Flashy did. Even if it was just for one second, he did.

That's why… he made a vow.

A silent vow was made by the loudmouth and he would keep it in heart and if he ever broke it, he would kill himself on the spot.

"Son!"

"Huh? Yes. What?"

Flashy broke out of his stupor by the shout of his father.

Gerald looked at him with a frown. "I was calling you for a while. You were lost somewhere, I suppose?"

Flashy shook his head and called back his usual smile.

"No. I am fine. I was just surprised at their apologies."

Gerald smiled in return and Flashy finally looked at the soldiers.

"Everyone," He said. "There is no need to say sorry to me. We all are friends here. Of course we can laugh at each other. So there is no need to be scared or some other shit. Boss just scolded you all because he cares for me. That's all. I am sure if it were someone else instead of me, the boss would have still fought for them. No one is special here. All of us are one."

Flashy flashed a wide smile and he made sure to look at Pablo too.

But Pablo had a scowl on his face and Flashy chose to look away.

The soldiers though, they heard Flashy and after five seconds…

Clap.

Someone clapped, shattering the silence.

After that, claps were showered on Flashy.

The young man scratched his head, smiling like a teenager getting asked out by his crush.

Pablo nodded at the soldier who clapped first and it was, of course, Draxus. The man knew what Pablo wanted, judging by his scowl.

Meanwhile, Flashy revelled in the claps and Pablo crossed his arms in front of his chest.

The next moment, from beside him he heard some more claps.

He spared a glance there.

'Why are you clapping for? He won't be able to hear your claps anyway.'

Cupid stopped clapping and smiled. "I am not clapping for him anyway."

'I see. So you finally went senile and started clapping for nothing. What a pain.'

Cupid closed her eyes, holding back words not suitable for an Angel to speak.

"I was… clapping for you."

'For me?'

"Yes. You defended Flashy. You finally acted like a friend. You are finally becoming a normal human, Pablo."

Cupid was all smiles as she wiped her imaginary tears.

Pablo stared at her and eventually…

'No wonder no other Angels respect you.'

He shook his head.

Cupid's mouth went agape.

She inhaled half of the air present around but before she could use it to say something…

'Don't bother. I only defended Flashy because I noticed his embarrassment when the soldiers were laughing. He isn't mature enough to not pay mind to others' words. He must have betrayed me for a second because of that. But I corrected my mistake right away. I didn't want to lose a soldier before the mission at least.'

Cupid's eyes widened even further.

"So you don't care about him at all? You don't see him as his friend? You weren't angry for real when the soldiers laughed at him? All that was an act?"

'Well, it would be a hassle to find someone like Flashy. So I made sure he stays with me. You can say that I was angry at the soldiers but not for laughing at him, but for making him angry towards me. So yeah, you can say I wasn't acting.'

"Oh. I get it now." Cupid nodded a few times. Her shock and surprise vanished and a hint of satisfaction danced on her face.

Pablo raised one of his brows and opened his mouth. But this time….

"Don't bother." Cupid interrupted him.

Pablo chuckled.

Cupid added, "You don't want Flashy to go away from your life and you can give any reason you want, but deep down that's what friendship means—not letting go. Period."

Pablo's chuckle died. His jaw clenched but…

"Focus on the mission. Don't waste your breath on me." Cupid spoke first.

Pablo gritted his teeth and his eyes caught the gazes of the soldiers locked on him.

They were waiting for Pablo to say something as their sorry session was over long ago.

Seeing them, he sighed.

He could reprimand Cupid later, the mission comes first. Besides, if they saw Pablo getting angry over an empty space beside him, they might try to change their Marshal or leave the mission.

Therefore, he ignored Cupid and again brought back his composure to the soldiers.

"I don't have all day, soldiers! Just come and take one item like a good boy."

Pablo ordered and Flashy finally came forward, striding towards the red box.

He arrived in front of Pablo, bent down and picked one item.

He then raised his head, looking at Pablo on the stage and with trembling lips, only one word came out.

"Sorry."

That's all.

He said it and turned around, standing among the soldiers again.

Pablo side eyed Cupid.

'Heard that? He said sorry. Sorry comes from guilt. At that moment, he felt cruel anger towards me and since he has a moral heart, even the thought of cruelty towards me is betrayal for him.'

"Yes. He is a Human after all. Unlike you."

Pablo scoffed. 'Angel, If you go down to the end of the barrel of humanity, to the nitty gritty of being a Human, you will see…'

Pablo's gaze drifted far in the sky, as if staring at the Gods sitting behind it.

'I am the most Human of them all.'