"Do you believe in psychics?" Rose suddenly broke the silence while we were walking in the park.
"Why are you suddenly asking me this question?" I asked in return.
"Just answer my question," Rose said in a serious tone.
"Just answer my question, too," I replied with a smirk.
"I'm serious!" Rose said with a cute pout. Looking at Rose's cute face, I can't resist making fun of her.
"I'm also serious!" I jokingly said.
"I'm ignoring you!" Rose turned her head around, acting as if she were really ignoring me.
"I'm just joking!" I laughed for a few seconds before turning serious again, "Yeah!"
"Do you really believe it?" Rose immediately faced me and asked while staring straight into my eyes. I have only seen her a few times being as serious as this, so I quickly abandoned my thoughts of teasing her any further.
"Yeah! Why wouldn't I? I won't be losing anything anyway if I believe it, so I might as well just believe it!"
"What if I tell you that I'm a psychic?" Rose suddenly claimed out of nowhere, while wearing the same serious face.
"Pft! HAHAHAHA" I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I thought that Rose was being serious since she was making that kind of serious face, but it turned out she was just fooling around.
Looking at me laughing, Rose punched my shoulder and said, "You don't believe me, do you? How about I show you an example?"
Turning her head around, seemingly looking for something, "That boy!" Rose pointed at a boy holding a red balloon.
"That boy will let go of that red balloon."
I quickly turned my attention to the boy holding a red balloon at the side, and suddenly the same as Rose claimed, the boy indeed let go of his red balloon.
I replied with a smile, "That was just luck!"
Rose showed a playful smile as she quickly looked for another example to show me. "That guy riding a bike will hit that tree in front."
"As if that w-" I haven't even finished what I was about to say when the guy riding a bike indeed hit the tree in front of him as if some sort of power prevented him from hitting the brakes.
"Luck again!" I said hurriedly.
"Ohhh... Is that so? That girl will drop her ice cream! That old grandpa will kiss his wife! That kid's paper plane will fall into the pond. That guy will catch a fish!" As Rose finished what she was saying, everything followed exactly what she claimed soon after.
I was shocked. Extremely shocked. But I still didn't believe her.
"Rose, how much did you pay them?" The only reasonable reason I thought was that she staged all of those. Rose was also the same as me, who likes to fool around... Extremely fool around.
Rose pouted and said, "I didn't pay them to act! I told you I have psychic power!"
"Oka,y let's say you have one, and it's called?"
"Clairvoyance!"
"Ohhh... The ability the see things in a different light?"
"Yes!" Rose replied excitedly, seemingly as if she thought I was finally going to believe what she said.
"Okay... So, you see things clearly then?" I said in a sarcastic tone.
Rose suddenly punched me.
"Ouch! You said Clairvoyance. Explained by our professor, Clairvoyance is the ability to see things clearly. You indeed see things clearly, right?"
"It is indeed the ability of clear-sightedness, but Clairvoyance refers to the paranormal ability to see persons and events that are distant in time or space..." Rose immediately explained.
"That's exactly what I said!" I defended. But I only ended up getting a cold eye from her.
"Okay, okay. I give up! Let's just put it that you indeed have the ability to see the future. Then, how about you look into my future?"
Hearing that, she turned her eyes to the location of my heart, and suddenly a tear formed in her eyes.
"Ah, what's wrong?" I asked in panic.
"Nothing..." Rose replied while shaking her head.
"Is my future really that bad for you to suddenly cry?" I commented jokingly to make her feel at ease.
"No, no, no! Your future is actually bright." Rose said while wiping her tears.
"Of course that's a given! I'm Red Archangel, naturally, my future is going to be bright!"
"You'll be in the heights of your career and will be known as one of the brightest Criminal Investigators in the Philippines. You'll be having your dream car and your dream house. You'll be one of the richest and powerful people in the country. You'll also become the founder of one of the greatest private security companies..."
"And?...." I can't help but interrupt expectantly.
"You'll die with a fulfilling life, the end!" Rose finally finished.
"What?! That's the most boring future I've ever heard! Even those self-proclaimed fortune tellers could say something better than that!"
"Why?" Rose asked.
"That's because you are not in my future! A life without you would be the most boring future I could ever have!" I said as I pulled her within my arms.
Rose's smile that day was mystifying.
Ever since that day, I have always wanted to know the meaning of that mystifying smile. As days go by, I finally realized its meaning.
Everything she said indeed happened one after the other.
I reached the heights of my career and became one of the well-known Criminal Investigators in the Philippines. I cracked thousands of cases about terrorism, mafia and mercenary corps, corruption and drugs, and every other form of crime.
I also bought all of the supercars that I dreamed about and even successfully built my dream mansion in the land that my parents left when they died.
Indeed, I became one of the richest and powerful people in the country, to the point where my words can basically affect the lives of many citizens.
And I also became the founder of Archangel Security INC., one of the greatest security companies in the Philippines.
However, I didn't live a fulfilling life at all.
I might have reached everything, but it was at the cost of Rose's life.
I graduated from college, but I wasn't really serious about it.
I cracked and solved a few cases, but I wasn't really putting my heart into it.
Not until one of the cases I handled became the reason for Rose to be kidnapped.
I looked for her day and night. Use all the power I was permitted to use at my level.
But it still wasn't enough!
That Criminal Organization had a powerful backer, and it hindered me from finding her.
That was the day I realized my powerlessness.
In the end, I was still able to find Rose. But she was already dead.
Rose Heart, deceased. Raped multiple times before the kidnappers ended her suffering. Her death was a warning to everyone that they should not touch what they should not touch.
My powerlessness led me to her death.
Ever since that day, I worked my hardest and put my heart into my job.
The reason I reached everything was simple: I won't allow what happened to me on anyone else.
Lying on the hospital's bed, I stared at the clouds as I silently muttered, "You lied, Rose... I didn't live a fulfilling life..."
I finally breathed my last.