“What? She’s not coming out of her room?” Samuel asked, looking surprised. “Why?”

His wife shook her head and replied, “I don’t know, but there’s more. She’s not even responding to me.”

“Say what?!” He exclaimed, looking seriously at her. “Why’s that?”

“I don’t know. I knocked on her door and asked her to come out, there was no response,” she replied looking helplessly at him. “I’m worried about her, Sam.”

Samuel looking seriously at his wife before saying, “I’ll go talk to her.”

As he got off the bed and rose to his feet, Alex told them, “No, dad. I’ll speak to her.”

“What?” His father and mother both said at the same time, turning to face their son in surprise.

When his mother first announced of Luna’s behaviour, Alex was just as surprised as them. However, while his parents were confused about it, he quickly deduced the reason behind Luna keeping herself locked up in her room, and that he was involved in it as well. This made him feel responsible and react immediately when his father declared what he wanted to do.

“You’ll go talk to her?” Samuel asked, looking surprised.

His son nodded at him and replied, “Yes, dad. I’ll talk to her because, right now, I believe the only person she’ll listen to… is me.” When his father looked doubtfully at him, Alex raised his voice and said, “I’m her childhood friend, dad! We’re really close! Surely she’ll speak to me when she didn’t respond to mom!”

Samuel nodded in understanding, realising his son was making a point, but he had a responsibility as the head of the family to take charge of this situation. However, he was doubtful that she would listen to him when she refused to respond to Sarah trying to get her attention.

Sarah looked at her son at first and saw the determination he was filled with, making her feel for him. This made her turn to her husband and made a request to him.

“Sam, let Al go talk to her,” she requested, making him turn to look at her in in amazement. “He’s right…! We don’t know why she locked herself in her room, but Al is right. Right now, the only person she would listen to is my son.” She turned to him and smiled as she asked, “Isn’t that right, Al?”

“Absolutely, mom!” He replied, beaming at her for the support she provided for him.

Samuel switched his gaze from his wife to his son before sighing and saying, “Fine. When mother and son are united, what’s there left for me to do?”

Alex grinned happily, and moved over to the edge of the bed to get up. He was surprised when his mother followed him nervously in a ready position as if to catch him in case he slipped and fell.

He laughed at his mother’s silliness and said, “Relax, mom. I’m completely healed!”

“I know,” she replied, smiling weakly at him as he rose to his feet without any issue.

He went past his father and took a few steps towards the door when he suddenly came to a stop and looked over his shoulder. His father stood behind him and looked as though he had intended to follow after his son.

“Dad, no,” said Alex, raising his finger and pointing accusingly at his father. “I’m going alone.” When his father looked surprise, he went on to try and reassure him by saying, “She won’t attack me, or do anything to harm me in any way, okay?”

“What?!” His father exclaimed, looking alarmed by his son’s words. “I wasn’t worried about that! I-It’s just that I thought I should follow you and provide you some support. That’s all.”

Alex gave his father a piercing gaze that made Samuel flinch before he said, “Okay, but I won’t be needing any help, dad. I’m going.”

As he turned, his father began with, “But‒!”

This instantly made Alex swivel around on the spot and face his father with a serious look on his face. He raised his finger again and pointed it at his father, this time in a threatening manner as he said three short words.

“I’m. Going. Alone.”

There was a finality in his voice that left his father in no doubt about heading them. So, Alex walked out of his room and headed left towards the room that Luna occupied. There were three doors along that corridor, one leading into his room, the middle room that Lucia stayed in, and the last one was being used by Luna.

Alex came to a stop outside her door and knocked twice before asking, “Luna! Open the door. I want to talk to you.”

He waited for a few seconds in silence for the door to open, but it never happened. Wearing a puzzled look on his face, he raised his hand once more and knocked on the door, three times this time with more force so there was no way of missing it.

“Luna! It’s me, Alex! Please, come out. I want to talk to you,” he said in a raised voice.

Once again, he waited a few seconds for the door to open, but the seconds ticked by with there being no sign of the door being opened. It made him feel depressed, and his shoulders slumped in sadness. It was then that he sensed that he was being watched, and he turned left to see his father, mother, and his teacher poking their heads out to spy on him. They realised they were discovered and quickly ducked back into his room, which made him smile and roll his eyes to the ceiling.

“Between them and me, I don’t know who’s the child here,” he thought humorously. Then he faced the door that did not want to open and thought, “Well then, Luna, if you’re going to be like that, then so shall I.”

With that thought, he immediately lowered himself and sat down on the floor facing the door.

“Luna,” he began in a loud clear voice so that she could hear him on the other end of the door. “I have to first apologise to you for not meeting your expectations, but I am weak, and I stood no chance against you. You were just too strong, so it’s only natural that I’d get knocked out and injured because of how strong you are! You should be proud of gaining such strength!”

He paused, looking at the door for a few moments with hopes that it would open. However, it remained shut as his words apparently fell on deaf ears, but he did not give up and continued speaking in the same manner before, light and casual to get her attention.

“If you’re worried about my injury, it’s all been healed thanks to Miss Lucia! She’s a great healer as well as a great teacher; it’s just dad who’s the idiot one here.”

Samuel, who was eavesdropping on his son from his room, put on a depressed expression on his face when he heard those words. Beside him, Sarah was grinning broadly by her son’s words and looked at her husband with a proud look on her face. As he turned to face her, she mouthed the words, “That’s my son,” while raising and dropping an eyebrow as a challenge.

He raised an eyebrow of his own before he sighed and looked away. Behind them, Lucia was trying her best to hide the smile that threatened to form on her face at the funny behaviour of the parents of her student. They remained silent and still as they listened to what they son carried on saying in a loud voice.

“Dad pushed you hard and let you grow into a level that you probably did not expect. Correction. None of us actually expected you to be that strong! Even now, I don’t clearly remember what happened, but my teacher told me how you closed the distance on me in an instant and delivered a knockout punch that sent me flying! I immediately believed her words because I knew you’d be able to become that strong, but I never expected you reach that stage so soon! I’m very happy for you, Luna! I’m really, really happy!”

Alex paused again and looked hopefully at the door for a few seconds in silence. He was almost imploring the door to somehow get unlocked and open on its own, but he also knew that would be too convenient. However, as the seconds went by, the room behind the door remained silent and there was no indication of anybody coming to open it.

This depressed Alex very much and made him begin to reflect on himself for what had happened. This whole mess started when he encouraged her to fight him instead of telling her to give up, which he realised she had been hoping for him to ask. However, at that time, he did not want to make his father look bad in front of others, and motivated Luna to fight him. Now, he realised what a great mistake he had made with his decision because the one who got truly hurt from it all was Luna.

She was always energetic when she was around him, and seemed to want to play with him more than with the kids from the neighbourhood. She was also dedicated to him because of how close she was with him, helping him out when he got stuck on something and focused his mother around the house with the chores, and even begun assisting her in the cooking. His childhood friend was doing all of that so that she could be of use to him in the future, all of this because she loved him.

“She loves you,” he recalled Lucia telling him a few months back when she discovered how much the girl cared for her beloved childhood friend.

At first, Alex did not have the courage to believe in her words, and maintained a close relationship with Luna like he always did in the past. However, as time went by, he soon started to notice how her behaviour towards him had been gradually growing, and he too was surprised when he found himself drawn to her.

However, he thought none of it when he singularly thought about not disappointing his father, never thinking how Luna would get affected by it. The result of his carelessness caused him immense pain, and being given this silent treatment was going further in injuring his heart.

He came there full of confidence that she would listen to him, but doubts begun forming in his mind as his confidence vaned from all the thoughts he was bombarded with.

“The reason she isn’t responding to even me… Does this mean… she’s‒!”

As the thought formed in his mind, his eyes widened with shock, and he leapt to his feet to bang heavily on the door while shouting, “Luna! Don’t do anything rash! Please!” He took a deep breath and said, “It’s not your fault that I got hurt, Luna! It’s my fault! It’s entirely my fault! I’m very sorry that I ended up hurting you by making you attack me! I was stupid! I’m an idiot! I’m a big idiot! It’s all my fault, but I don’t want you blaming yourself over it! Please! You’re not the one at fault!”

He wanted to see her again, he wanted to see her smile, he wanted to see her laugh, he wanted to be with her forever.

“If anything happens to you, I can’t live with myself! I can’t live without you!” He implored her, his body shaking from the fear for the one person he finally wanted to be with forever. “Please, Luna! Open the door! Please…! I’m begging you, Luna! I need you!”

His voice grew weak and became faint while his shoulders shook from how close he was to tears. He finally understood the feeling that had been developing in him for her was love. On the spur of the moment, he wanted to knock the door down, but he also worried that it might push her away from him, something that he did not like to happen.

Suddenly, there was a sound behind the door before it quietly opened, causing him to straighten up. The door fully opened wide to reveal Luna standing in the shadow of her room filled in darkness. It turned out that she did not switch her lights on and simply had been sitting on her bed before finally deciding to get up and open the door to meet him.

Alex blinked at her, feeling surprised and worried at the same time by how disheveled her appearance was. Her hair was facing in all directions, and she had her head bowed slightly that hid her face from him. It pained him to see the state that she was in as a result of his one stupid decision.

“Luna?” He asked her in a nervous voice.

“It’s not your fault, Alex,” she said slowly in a soft voice while keeping her head bowed. “I’m the silly one. I knew you did all of this with the best of intentions. I know that, but… but...” and she finally lifted her head to reveal her tear stricken face, with her eyes very red from all the crying, “I hurt you… Alex. For that… I… I’m despicable!”

Without saying another word, she began to cry silently in front of him while raising her hands to cover her face. In the next moment, Alex stepped forward and pulled her into a hug that startled her and made her eyes widen in shock.

“I’m sorry, Luna. I’m truly sorry,” he whispered into her ears while hugging her. “It’s all my fault. Don’t blame yourself like that. I can’t watch it.”

She shook her head and replied, “No. No, Alex. You’re wrong. It’s my fault that I hurt you. I attacked you with my uncontrollable strength, not holding back and hurt you very badly. I‒!”

“There is nothing to feel sorry about, Luna!” Alex said in a firm voice, withdrawing from her and looking at her with a serious face.

When she remained standing there with her head bowed, he forcefully tore her hands away and used his hand to lift her head up to look him in the eye.

“Look at me! Look at me!” He said, repeating his first sentence a second time with greater force that caused her to blink in surprise. “Can you see my face? Am I hurt? injured? Am I injured? Am I bleeding? Am I dying?!”

She blinked at him in surprise before slowly shook her head as her response.

“See? It’s not the end of the world. I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here, and I’ll always be here for you, with a big stupid grin on my face,” and he grinned broadly at her.

Luna stared at him in awe for a few seconds before her whole body shook, and she moved forward to hug him tightly. As she did that, she burst into tears and began crying like that almost a minute. Alex did not interrupt her as he believed letting it all out was the best solution to the turmoil she was experiencing.

Once she stopped crying, she smiled feebly at him and said, “I’m sorry, Alex. I’ve shown you an embarrassing side of me.”

He raised both of his eyebrows in surprise before smiling and winking at her as he replied, “Well, I lost to you, so I guess that makes us even.”

His statement made her look surprised before letting out a small giggle. Just then, a tear trickled down her face, but he immediately wiped it away with his hand and smiled affectionately at her.

“Don’t ever hole yourself up in your room because I may have to break the door down next time,” he told her, and this time she heartfully laughed at the joke he made.

While the two of them laughed happily, the scene was witnessed by Samuel, Sarah, and Lucia. Sarah shed a single tear that she quickly wiped away with her hair while Samuel looked on with a proud smile on his face. Lucia was looking amazed at how a drastic scene had quickly turned for the best due to the best efforts of her student.

“Oh…! You two!” Samuel cried out loud, bounding forward and wrapping his arms around them both before drawing them together. “Don’t make me worry so much! I might faint!”

“That’s my dialogue!” Sarah said, walking forward and standing beside him while giving him a stern look before looking down and smiling down at both Alex and Luna. “Still, I’m glad the two of you made up.”

As the two nodded back in reply with smiles on their faces, Samuel said, “The one thing we can learn from this is not to become too full of ourselves and not be too stubborn because it’s not a healthy practice!”

“You said it!” Sarah said, nodding in agreement and smiling broadly. “If such a thing happens, let’s blame it all on Sam.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!” Her husband exclaimed, looking incredulously at his wife.

“It’s exactly what I meant!” His wife replied, looking heatedly at him. “These two wouldn’t be feeling this sad if you hadn’t been so stubborn! So, as the man of the family, I think you have the right to take on the blame for this and that!” Then she smiled up at him and gave him a thumbs up gesture while saying, “Don’t fret. I believe in you!”

He looked at his wife in horror and exclaimed, “No way that’s fair!”

As the family bickered and laughed together with joy, Lucia watched from the background. She was relieved to see them having a good time once again, but she was also thinking about what she witnessed.

“For some reason, it looked as though I was seeing an exchange between two adults and not two kids. Strange. Both of those kids are really strange. They’re capable of doing things that don’t fit their age. Even their mentality does not fit their age. That’s very strange in itself,” she thought to herself, wondering about those two. Then she sighed and thought, “Maybe I’m overthinking about this. For now, I’m glad they got back together again.”

She smiled at the two children warmly, hoping those two would have a bright future, not knowing that years later, Luna would come to be known as the Hand of Destruction, and together with her beloved partner, they will come to be known as the Rule Breakers.