12. HUG

"HUG"

Mikee stared at Reynaldo intently as he sank down on the table. The class has not started yet in the morning eh... This person seems to be thinking deeply. He was next to it in the chair.

"What's your problem? Why do you seem to be thinking so deeply there?" he commented.

Reynaldo looked at him.

"You know because... I think what happened the other day. We encountered a manananggal. That was bad, I thought we could not go home alive." Reynaldo said.

"I heard that... Grimm is crazy, he even took the manananggal's wing home and flagged it all?!" Mikee laughed softly.

Surprisingly, Reynaldo looked at it, Mikee noticed it so he stopped laughing.

"Why?" he asked.

"Y-Your Grimm’s best-friend and you've been with him longer than us... Did you know that apart from his appearance, he seems to have something different about him? He seems to be very used to dealing with unusual creatures..."

Mikee stared at Rey for a long time and then suddenly, a soft smile appeared on his lips...

"Grimm is really special so he's weird. He's used to the malignant ones because he often sees such creatures... He has six senses. Because of that, will you think differently of him?" Mikee suddenly asked.

Reynaldo shook his head.

"Of course not... No matter what he is, he is my friend eh. I was just surprised that he is not afraid of such creatures... By the way, he is used to."

Mikee never spoke again. The class started shortly after...

Meanwhile...Rusty was very happy that day because she found out that her crush Kief was going to their house. He was going to have special training from her father. She thought, it was a good opportunity. She will confess! Only, her excitement accompanied the intense nervousness she felt. Then, she remembered Grimm... It looks like, she will need his help now.

Grimm was walking comfortably towards the canteen at that time when suddenly someone pulled his hand to the garden. He was shocked to see the owner of that hand. Rusty.

"Wait, what does that mean ?!"

"Just, I need something from you!"

"Hey, don't be like that! You're a woman... "

Rusty stopped walking and faced Grimm.

"What are you saying there? I need your help... So please, listen to me."

"Okay..."

Grimm just obeyed and they went to the school garden.

"Okay, what kind of help are you talking about? Did someone fight you? All right, tell me who and I'll teach him a lesson!"

Grimm unbuttoned the sleeve of his polo shirt. Rusty just smirked.

"Oh my gosh, Grimm... You're just thinking about a fight, you are wrong." She said.

"Ah... Is that so? I thought someone was fighting with you. What do you need?" Grimm's casual language.

Rusty suddenly remembered her crush Kief... Her face warmed up and she looked teary-eyed at Grimm.

"Am I beautiful?" Rusty suddenly asked.

"Ha?!" Grimm reacted in shock.

Rusty's eyebrows met at his reaction. She frowned.

"I said... Am I beautiful?" she repeated her question.

"Do I still have to answer that question? Obviously maybe you know the answer because you are facing the mirror..." Grimm retorted and sighed.

Annoyed, Rusty pulled Grimm's ponytail hair. He was stunned...

"I need your opinion as a man so I ask you if I am beautiful?! Now, answer me correctly!"

"Araaay! Yes, you are beautiful!" Grimm's roaring answer.

Rusty let go of Grimm's hair and smiled at his answer. Grimm, on the other hand, was distracted by the behavior of the woman in front of him.

"Really? Am I beautiful?" Rusty straightened her hair.

"Y-Yes... Wait, what's wrong with you? You look like a lunatic who has lost at mental hospital. What did you eat?"

"I'm sorry... I'm excited and very nervous. You know, Kief is coming to our home. My crush that I have told you... I plan to tell him how I feel. "

"Good luck." Grimm ignored language.

He just folded his arms.

"Wait, isn't it fair that I confess to him feelings?"

"I'm not sure, you will just say how you feel eh."

"Really?"

"Yes..."

Rusty was still not comfortable in those moments... Then, she suddenly thought of something.

"Help me practice. Suppose, you are my crush first and I will confess to you... Just pretend ah?"

Grimm thought for a moment...

"All right, it's okay. You helped me last time. "

Because of what he said, she felt relieved.

"Okay, game!" Rusty said.

He looked at Grimm's face who was also staring at her intently. She swallowed and sighed a few times. She opened her mouth but she could not speak. Grimm just kept looking at Rusty and he was waiting for what she would say...

Rusty was almost deaf to the force of her chest beating due to nervousness. A few more moments... She could no longer control herself and...

"I-I can’t do it! I'm going to die!" the girl touched her face.

Grimm wanted to laugh at those moments but he restrained himself... He just smiled and covered his mouth. He approached Rusty and put his arm around her.

"What are you crazy about? It's not deadly to say how you feel to the person you want... Just relax there. If you do not do this thing. You may not have another chance. Piece of advise..."

Rusty was stunned and looked at Grimm. Because of what he said, she was encouraged. He is right, if she is cowardly, nothing will happen.

"Grimm, thank you..." she said.

"Tsk, what are you... You don't have to be thankful." it's language.

Rusty smiled. Fortunately, Grimm became her friend... Otherwise, no one would encourage her.

"Come on, help me practice again!" she said.

"Hmmm... Okay."

Rusty looked at Grimm carefully and he also looked at her.. He was obviously waiting for what she would say. She was swallowed. Even if it was just practice, the difficulty was still.

"Ahm... Is it okay if I tell you that I like you?" said Rusty.

Grimm smiled sparingly.

"All right, your now my girlfriend! Ha ha ha ha!"

Rusty smirked, this one was obviously teasing her... She removed his hand that was holding her and she turned her back on it.

"You're annoying!" her disgusted language.

Grimm stopped laughing and looked at Rusty who was about to walk away.

"Uy, wait... Did I tell you that my troops and I encountered a manananggal?" Grimm suddenly said.

Rusty was stunned and her ears seemed to grow when she heard the word manananggal... She suddenly turned around and faced Grimm again. She doubted looking at it.

"R-Really?" she asked.

She is really very interested in such topics even though she does not have the ability to see those creatures... She is curious if there are such creatures really.

"True... Do I look like a liar?"

"Hmm... Pretty." her straightforward language.

Grimm frowned...

"Don't be like that...I'm not a liar! Sometimes... But anyway, what I'm saying is really true. If you don't believe me, ask my troops."

"Do I know if you talked to them to make me believe... You are their leader."

"If you don't want to believe me, I'll show you my evidence. Wait for me here and I'll take it."

Grimm immediately left and went to their classroom to pick up his bag. Rusty just sat on the bench in the garden. It was under the big umbrella tree. Just a moment later, Grimm arrived... He was running towards her, carrying the bag.

"Hoy, don't you say you have a cutting class?" she said as she looked at its bag.

"No... The evidence I am saying is here in my bag. Wait, let’s go at the back of the garden. Maybe someone else will see here what I brought."

"Okay."

They went to the back of the garden... Grimm was about to open his bag when he felt as if someone was watching them. He looked around.

"Why?" Rusty asked.

"I-It's like there is someone else. It looks like someone is watching us..." he said.

Rusty also looked around.

"Nothing. Your just imagining that. Open your bag and I want to see the evidence you are saying... Please, I'm excited." Rusty said.

Grimm opened his bag and grabbed a white plastic bag. From the plastic bag he took out the dried wings of the manananggal... They were folded. Rusty was stunned by what he saw, she stared at the thing Grimm was holding for a long time. She was still a little skeptical of those moments.

"Maybe it's just the wings of a fruit-bat. Those types of bats are big..." she commented.

Grimm smirked at what Rusty had said. That's why, he finally opened the folded wings he was holding...

"Tell me, have you ever seen such a large wings? If it was just a bat, this must be too big, right?"

Rusty bit her mouth and she couldn't believe it... It's true what Grimm says.

"W-What happened?" she asked.

"We delivered breads to the shops... On the way home, we are blocked in the way by the manananggal... But of course, there were five of us and he was alone... Huh, he didn't work for us!" Grimm's arrogant language.

Rusty remained staring at the large wings. She did not know if she was jealous of Grimm because they saw a manananggal. Grimm read what Rusty was thinking.

"Never dream of seeing such creatures... They are scary and very dangerous. If we did not fight and we all exercised fear, most likely... It would have eaten the flesh inside us. We are sorry that maybe we are now dead... Be thankful because you have not seen many..." said Grimm.

Rusty then looked at his face.

"You mean, you see ghosts?" she asked.

"Not just ghosts... Just stop your obsession with paranormal creatures."

"I just can't avoid such things. Didn't I already tell you that I come from an exorcist family?"

Grimm was silent and could not think of excuse for Rusty. It has no idea how dangerous the creatures it wants to encounter are...

"What do you plan to do with those wings?" Rusty suddenly asked.

"I'm going to burn it. My parents and my Grandmother scolded me badly for this... They ask me Why did I take it. Nothing, I just suddenly got beaten up."

Grimm folded the wings again and placed them in the plastic bag. He hid it again in his bag.

"Come on, we might be late for class." He said.

"Okay." Rusty said.

They left the garden and Grimm took Rusty to her classroom before he entered his class. Grimm's suspicion was correct, at that moment someone was watching them... It hides on the side of the building, near the school garden.

When Rusty came home from school, she immediately entered her room. She could not get rid of the manananggal’s wings she saw. She was scared, because she remembered what Grimm had told her about such creatures. She stared at the ceiling for a long time and her sigh was steady... After a while she change her clothes and decided to leave her room. She stopped coming down the stairs when she heard her Dad's voice. He was talking to someone...