The After The Rain
They're Injured

When her eyes caught the figure of the man who had been beating Sekala out of the door of the room, Kinara immediately barged in to check on Sekala's condition, to make sure that the wound on the man's face does not increase while ensuring that the man who just came out did not go further.

Meanwhile, Sagara still stepped up with overflowing emotions inside his chest. He was still unaware of Astari and Andanu, who were now casting different gazes at him. Astari with a look of longing that can no longer be hidden, while Andanu with a look of hatred that seemed to be able to tear Sagara's body into small pieces of meaningless.

"Wait!"

Sagara felt his arm being blocked by someone, so he turned his head, only to be made aghast when he found Andanu staring fiercely at him. Beside the young man was the woman he had once adored, Astari, who was now looking at him with watery eyes.

"Lo what is the same business Mas Sekala?! Why'd you hit him, huh?! Is your life always to destroy others?!" andanu's series of questions is not at all Sagara gubris, because now the focus is really only on Astari.

No lie, he misses this woman so much. For many years without each other, his feelings for Astari were still just as great. Even if he knew, in the heart of the woman, there might be no more name.

"Jawab, motherfucker!" Andanu pulled Sagara's arm so that the man would turn his attention to him.

However, after their real gazes met, Andanu was at a loss for words as Sagara brushed aside his hand, then turned around and immediately swung a step to leave from there. It was as if the ravings he had thrown out since then were meaningless. It was as if his presence was just like an invisible speck of dust.

"Fuck! You haven't answered my question!" Andanu screeched, about to catch up with Sagara, but Astari quickly restrained her arm.

"You wait here, let Ma'am talk to him." Whisper Astari, with one hand holding Andanu's arm and another hand rubbing the young man's chest softly to calm his emotions.

Letting Astari meet the man who had broken her heart, and destroyed their lives, was not a good thing. So, Andanu shook his head violently without needing much consideration.

"Nothing. Ma'am can't be involved with him anymore,"

"Nu," Astari said. "Again, let Mbak meet with him to straighten something."

"Nothing needs to be straightened out again, Ma'am. He betrayed, wasted the trust that you love and ruined our lives without a remnant. That bastard shouldn't still be living in the world. And ... he should not appear before us again, especially while beating Mas Sekala kayak earlier."

"Mbak will see him anyway, Nu."

"Mom!" Andanu yelling. Then, after he realized that Astari's countenance had changed after he shouted, Andanu exhaled a rough breath. His body turned around, his hair he grabbed himself and his face he rubbed rough.

Again, he's in this phase. The phase where she could not control her emotions and shouted in front of Astari, when clearly she knew her brother did not like to be yelled at. And again, all of this is because of that male bastard named Sagara.

After his control of his emotions returned, Andanu turned to look at Astari, who now looked a thousand times more fragile than before.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap Ma'am. I'm just-"

"Yes, I know."

"..." - ".Andanu.

"Now, please give Mbak a chance to meet Saga. Just once, Nu. Promise me, after this, I will no longer look for him."

For God's sake! Andanu is not willing to let Astari get involved with Sagara anymore. But, seeing how miserable Astari was right now, Andanu felt he had no choice but to nod his head with a heavy heart.

"This once. After that, whatever happens, please assume that the human is dead."

Astari does not know if she will be able to keep her promise to Andanu. But he kept nodding his head. Because, he only needs to make sure of one thing, and after that he will really withdraw from Sagara. Forget all the memories woven between them to then establish a new life.

After getting permission from Andanu, Astari hastily stepped out, hoping Sagara is still outside the cafe—or at least has not gone too far.

Astari circulates the view, through the dark night covered with a thin drizzle, to find Sagara standing next to the cafe building, hurting both his hands with a gaze that was thrown far above—on the dark starless sky.

"Ga," with a trembling voice, Astari called out the man's name.

The called look. Their gazes met, fixated for a full thirty seconds before Astari finally withdrew first, only to dare to take a step closer towards the man who until now still loved half to death.

Arriving in front of Sagara, Astari did not immediately speak. He even secretly scanned the appearance of the man before him. When you look around, Sagara becomes thinner than the last time they met. The smile lines on his face disappeared, his eyes also turned a hundred and eighty degrees from what used to be— was no longer as warm as the days when they were still in love with each other.

Sagara's hurt. That's what Astari always knew. However, as someone who had once cared so much for the man, he still could not do anything. Something he ended up regretting for so many years, for letting this poor man live in misery, hated and blasphemed by Andanu for a mistake he didn't really make.

The story of the affair between Sagara and other women is just a trick, a joke deliberately made by the man himself to be able to escape from his relationship with Astari. At the time, Astari did not understand. He did not understand why Sagara had to try so hard to distance himself, even though the man came to him with bruised and festering wounds, he will accept the presence of the man with all his heart.

After years passed, he understood that Sagara just did not want to lead him to destruction. That the man was dying, and did not want to make him fall apart.

"How are you, Saga?" the longer, the more the voice of Astari shook. His body also trembled as tears continued to force out of his tired petals.

In front of him, Sagara was still mute. The man just stared flat. Hiding any rumbling feelings in the chest and trying to stay calm.

"You .. don't get ruined like this" Astari said. The tears he endured desperately now won, dripping one after another until they began to wet his cheeks.

"Destroyed or not, it has nothing to do with you." Sagara's voice sounds strange in Astari's ears. In the past, such a tone would not come out for him. There is only Sagara with a soft voice and a winning tone, not cold as it is now.

Though his heart ached again thanks to Sagara's words, Astari nodded her head. He knows. Clearly knew that whatever happened to Sagara's life was no longer his business since the man decided to no longer involve him.

Only, Astari could not lie to herself. He still loves Sagara, still wanting to interfere in every problem that plagues the man because he realizes Sagara has no one to complain about all the pain that the man has.

"Come in. I don't want you to fuss with your sister just because you're stubborn enough to see me,"

"Before a while," interrupted Astari. "Can I just hug you for a second, Ga? For the last time, before I really pull myself away."

No matter how hard Sagara tries to transform himself into an untouchable cold figure, in the end he will not be able to win if his opponent is Astari. That is why he chose to go far, so that his heart would not waver whenever the eyes of the woman looked at him as she is today.

Because, when Astari's small body finally got inside her arms without her having a chance to hold it, the storm inside her went back to craze. Memories after memories that they have passed many years ago began to arrive, alternating similar footage of random films, played randomly, reawakening the feeling that he had originally put to sleep and deliberately locking him tightly in the heart.

In the end, Sagara lost again, as his fucking arm arbitrarily moved back Astari's embrace.

"Don't cry for a useless human like me." The whisper of Sagara after before only the sound of the sobs of Astari. "I've been devastated, so there's no more power to protect you from anything." Reciprocity. A small swipe he gave to Astari's back, to calm the little storm inside her.

"I ... have also been destroyed for a long time, Ga." Great-granddaughter Astari, with a face half-set on the chest of Sagara's field.

"Don't hate Sekala anymore, because it will only make you more burned out with revenge. I ... can't see you out, Ga. You have to stay, even though I realize that we don't have the chance to be together again like we used to."

Sagara grimaced as Astari made it clear. About the possibility of them getting back together, which feels more impossible than the possibility of reviving the dead. He was clearly aware that his steps had been too far swung, so it was too difficult for him to return to Astari even though from the first it was only the woman he always went to.

Sagara has hurt Astari and her family. So, he was self-conscious enough not to step back towards the woman.

"Yes? Stop it, Ga? Remove your resentment towards the child, and continue your life calmly. For Mom's sake, for me?" Astari pleads. Because only then, he can let Sagara go of his life. That his heart would not be broken in vain. So that their relationship is run aground does not leave more wounds. So that he and Sagara can both move on with life even though they can no longer walk the same line.

Sagara said nothing. He just moved to bring Astari's body deeper into his arms. Because it could be, this is the last chance for him to be able to hold Astari this close. Because after she let go of this woman, she might have to run even further.

...****************...

"The name is Sagara,"

The silence that lasted for a dozen minutes finally collapsed as well when Sekala opened her voice.

In the car, he and Kinara sat next to each other, hiding themselves from the rain that was falling more and more.

After the return of Andanu and Astari from Orion, as well as Sagara who disappeared behind the darkness of the night, Sekala followed with Kinara away. However, the girl refused to be escorted home, before knowing what was really going on.

So, Sekala stopped his car not far from Orion, asking for time to calm down before starting to explain one by one the events that brought Sagara came and beat him earlier.

"He's my brother, Kin." Sekala continued, when now Kinara's gaze was back anchored to him.

"What mistake did Mas Kala make until he came and mukulin Mas Kala kayak earlier?"

"Many," that one word Sekala said without thinking at all. Then, a faint smile rose adorning his handsome face that was now stained by the tear on the corner of his lips.

"That's epaphthal?" ask Kinara again. She lived as an only child, so she had no idea what kind of relationship people had with siblings, and what kind of problems could make them hit each other like that.

Nodding at once. Although there is one side in him that is evasive, trying to convince himself that his birth to the world is the fault of both his parents, not himself. That the true hatred of Sagara is directed to their father, not to him who does not know anything.

"The mother Mas Saga is sick, because of me. That's why Mas Saga came with a furious rage. Because ... Which child would want his mother hurt?"

"Wait a minute" Kinara interrupted. "Mas Saga's mom?" tanyanya's confused. Didn't Sekala say that the man named Sagara was his brother? Then why does Sekala now call his mother Saga, instead of saying our mother?

I realized Kinara was confused. And the first thing he could do was to smile, to calm the rumbling in his own chest.

"Me and Mas Saga are one father's brothers, different mothers." Clearly then.

It was obvious that Sekala caught a pretty drastic change in Kinara's face. The shock could not be hidden, even though the girl looked hard-earned to hold back.

"Dad married Mother secretly, without Mother's knowledge. And ... only discovered after Mother died, because Dad was forced to take me to Mother's house to be taken care of with Mas Saga." Even when bitter memories of his arrival at the Mother's home a dozen years ago filled his head again, Sekala could still maintain her smile.

"My presence hurt Mom and Mas Saga. Then, it's only natural that Mas Saga would hate me so much." As soon as it drew a view, anchored it to the wet rain-soaked streets.

"But, Mom is different. The kind woman accepted my presence with pleasure, loving me like a child. I guess, because of that too Mas Saga hates me even more." Smile the best. Recollecting the kindness of Mother actually makes the wound in her chest increasingly painful.

"No child can choose from whose womb he was born." After just being a listener, Kinara finally opened her voice.

Just when Sekala turned her head and their gazes met, Kinara grabbed the young man's hand, rubbing it quietly.

"I understand why Mas Saga hates the presence of Mas Kala" he said. His gaze now fell on the corner of Sekala's injured lip. Want it to feel like he rubbed the former for longer to just help ease the pain. But that desire he pressed hard for fear that his tears would fall when his skin managed to come into contact with the wound.

"But, the birth of Mas Kala was not Mas Kala's fault at all." Kinara's gaze returned to Sekala's eyes. "Anyone can hate the presence of Mas Kala, that's their right. But Mas Kala should not hate himself, for the mistakes that Mas Kala did not make."

"I know," once again clasped Kinara's hand. "But to get rid of this guilt is not at all easy, Kin."

Kinara nodded her head. "It's not easy, it doesn't mean you can't." Said later. "My there. We can get rid of that guilt together."

"You can't get involved in the mess of my life" she tried to pull her hand from Kinara's grasp, but the girl insisted on holding her back.

"Let me in."

Once riveted. Going in? To where?

Her confusion grew so much that when Kinara touched her chest, placed the small palm of her hand against her rumbling chest.

"Come here."Said the girl. "Let me enter here to help Mas Kala clean up what's messy. Because ..." a little pause was created, only to bring Kinara back to look into Sekala's eyes deeply. "Mas Kala has also helped me a lot to clean up the mess that was inside me before. Now, it's my turn to help Mas Kala."

"Kin, man,"

"Can?" tagih the girl, expectantly from the look in her eyes.

"You've been there for a long time, without you noticing." Sekala said in the end. He had no plans to express his feelings at a time like this.

"Then, good." Kinara smiled. His hand he kept away from Sekala's chest, yet his gaze was still fixed on the man's bead. "We ... where do we start?" tanyanya.

As Sekala shook his head, Kinara took out her own initiative. He moved forward, carrying Sekala's body into a hug, rubbing the man's back slowly.

"Start from here." His whisper. "We start by convincing Mas Kala if from now on, there will be me who accompanies Mas Kala through hard days. I'm not alone, so don't be afraid anymore."

Supposedly, Sekala immediately thanked Kinara. Because this hug is so meaningful, it makes him feel valuable many times more than before.

But his tongue is too thick. So all he could do was return Kinara's embrace, lean his tired body on the girl, and fully surrender.

In the midst of the increasingly heavy rain, Sekala's tears suddenly fell. And she doesn't know if the tears are falling for her guilt towards Sagara and Mom, or even for Kinara who is now willing to get into the complexities of her life

Seriate