EIGHT TARGETS
44. Undelivered Apologies

That morning, Araka who was about to go out jogging, dismantling the contents of her room was about to find a small towel made of good sweat absorbent material that she used to wipe her sweat when jogging.  The item already looks shabby, but still he uses it because it is a symbol of his precious memories along with Dirga as a child.

He ruffled the contents of his closet.  Unintentionally, a photo of the memories of the student orientation period 3 years ago in his Junior High had fallen.  There are 6 people in the picture.  But what stands out in the photo is none other than Araka who is the only one not bald in the photo.  The younger Araka now embraces the shoulder of one of the five bald students in the photo.  Although bald, looks handsome but not yet mature with his appearance which although looks shy but graceful and eye color that stands out from the others.  He is the Kaiser who took pictures when Araka became his senior companion during the student orientation period.  Araka looks very happy in the photo where Araka embraces Kaiser with her right hand and shows V position in her left hand while laughing brightly while Kaiser directs his gaze in the opposite direction of the face the senior laughed wryly with a cute expression on his face.

“I just remembered that there was a time like this first huh?  The boy still looks innocent here.”  Araka said with a warm smile.  However, a moment later, his expression turned to sadness.

“Why is everything like this?”  Say Araka with teary eyes.

The sound of broken plates then disperse the reverie of Araka.  Araka immediately came out of her room to see what was happening.  His mother's hands were bleeding from broken plates.  He then shouted.

“Nanny, what are you doing?  Why did my mother get hurt like this?”  Shouted Araka furiously.

“Sorry Mr. Araka, Madam herself who wants to help prepare breakfast for Mr. Araka because Madam has not made food for Mr. Araka.”  The newly hired babysitter replied after the previous caregiver was fired.

“That's right Araka.  Don't blame his aunt.  Mother herself would help Bi Minah to make you breakfast.  Mom just, feeling claustrophobic can't do the job a mother should have for you.”  Said the Mother melacolically.  Unknowingly, tears were dripping down her cheeks.

Seeing her mother shed her tears, Araka hugged her mother tightly.

“Mother doesn't have to do anything for Araka.  With Mother having survived the tragic incident, Araka was already very grateful.  So Araka beg Mom, do not hurt yourself Mother because if Mother hurt again, Araka felt unable to anymore.Hiks...Hiks...” Araka was not able to hold back her tears.  She was crying with her mother.

“Yuk Bu, we leave the cooking business to the experts, Bi Minah.”  Araka held her mother carefully back in her wheelchair.

With a sad face, Araka noticed her thin and weak mother.  He finally regained his senses after looking back at his mother's wound on his right palm.

“Ah, must have hurt Mom.  Bu Litia, help me to treat my mother.”  Araka immediately gave orders to her mother's new nanny to treat her injured mother.

The Nanny also swiftly took the P3K box and treated the wound of Ms. Melisa, Araka's mother.  Araka remained by her mother's side to pay attention.  A few moments later, the nanny drove the Mother back to her room to rest for a while before breakfast.

***

Kaiser, since when has our relationship become this bad?  Is it because I bullied Dios?  Or is it because I support a family hostile to your family?  Or is it from the beginning our personality that does not fit?

When I first saw you in the student orientation period as one of the new students from outside [6], I salute you.  You quickly mingle with your friends and are not even treated as outsiders by the inner circle children [7].

Whatever it is, that's what makes me jealous of you.  If only I had a talent like you, surely my attempt to immediately legitimately be raised into the Lu family would definitely not have any obstacles.

You remember, don't you?  Several times I tried to approach you to make you one of my subordinates.  But you always avoid.  Suppose that time you agree, maybe everything will not go as bad as it is now.  I don't need to be in a relationship with Mr. Sudarmin then get to know Silva so I won't need to know one of his friends named Rihana.  If so, there would be no one to incite the foolish Dirga to bully your friend.

Frankly, if I could be given the opportunity to make my wish come true, then I would choose to go back in time and cancel my actions in cooperation with Mr. Sudarmin so that I could be friends with you.  Although in the end, I cannot possibly make you my subordinate because in the end you become the main heir of the Dewantara Group replacing your cousin Danial who is clearly under the protection of one of the influential Japanese families.  But at the very least, there will be nothing to prevent me from making you my friend.  Well, even if that happens, I might have to forget about my ambition to become the heir to the Lu Family business because the Lu Family is so anti-Japanese.

Kaiser, you know what?  I told you that I never regretted bullying Dios in front of you?

It was all a lie!

However, even if time were to be repeated back to when it happened, maybe I would still have to do the same.  That's all I did for the dignity of my family that you know, my father was a mobster.  If I had not done so when required to do so by people in the circle of relations, I would have been immediately kicked by my father for being considered a coward.  And if that happens, what about my mother's fate?  I was too young to support my own life and my mother without my father's support.  I have no one but my father that I hate to hang on to our lives.

However, you know, seeing it take you away from me, it makes my heart ache.  But now there is no way to return it. I'm so sorry.

Kaiser, do you remember when Aleka and I tried to bully you?  At that time, I also brought four other people, one of whom is a first-class student of your class, his name is Fahrul.  Frankly, I was very surprised to see that you who are usually friendly and cheap smile can have such a cruel face.  You can even beat Aleka whose big body was battered until she cried to call her father.  It was beyond my expectations.

Kaiser, there's actually still a secret I've been hiding from you.  Regarding the case, Silva and I have tried to control the emotions of other children so that Dios' injuries should not put his life at risk.  I was so sure when we left him, even though Dios was battered, there were no vital wounds on his body.

However, maybe because of this my negligence left Tirta behind.  I saw him punch once again after we left the place.  I saw his punch was so ordinary that I didn't take the blame.  I did not expect that the final blow could make Dios's situation as it is today.

But it could have been caused by complications that only appeared after a few moments of injury that caused Dios to coma until now.  Whatever it was, I was the one who was wrong for not being able to prevent it from happening from the start so there was no point in me arguing.

Again, sorry that was a lie too!

The truth is my self-reliance on this Dios that burned my heart.  I am so jealous of him who can be friends with you.  That was the trigger why from the beginning I did not prevent this from happening.  There is a hidden desire of me who wants to see him suffer because I am of a high status defeated by him who is of a low status in obtaining a position as your best friend.

Again, I'm sorry, Kaiser.

NB: [6] The average new students of Puncak Bakti Junior High School come from Puncak Bakti Elementary School, but Kaiser comes from Nusa Jaya Elementary School

[7] Children from SD Puncak Bakti who continue to SMP Puncak Bakti.  They are on average children from distinguished families who form a circle of relationships among themselves and it is difficult to treat others outside their circle of relationships as friends