Coach Minos

"I would watch your voice, and also, don't point at your sister." Minos suddenly interjected.

"Who the hell are you bastard, don't go sticking your nose where it doesn't belong." The young boy responded.

"Who am I? I'm the teacher your sister just hired."

Othella was caught off guard by Minos's lie, but she decided not to break it, rather she wanted to see where he would go with this.

"Teacher? I don't need a teacher."

"Don't worry, I'm not a conventional teacher, I'm more like a life-teacher?" Minos said as he got up off the couch with a smile.

"Life-teacher?" The young boy said, confused.

Before he could react, Minos suddenly appeared in front of him, and with a quick sweep of his legs, the young boy fell over, landing flat on his butt.

"That's right, and you can call me coach Minos."

"I'm not calling you anything." The boy said in anger as he stood back up, but before he could get up, he was tripped again by Minos.

Again, he tried to get up, but everytime he was close, Minos would trip him again. His face was as red as a tomato at this point, and his body was quivering in anger.

"Stop it you bastard!" He shouted.

"That's not my name. I'll stop once you say my name politely."

"Never!" The boy said stubbornly.

Just like that, Minos proceeded to trip the boy dozens of times, but he refused to give in to Minos's bullying, and kept getting up over and over.

An hour soon passed, and the smile on Minos's face was completely unchanged. Othella had long since gone numb, meanwhile her little brother was still attempting to get up.

After another hour, his struggles were getting weaker. Minos was completely unaffected, the smile on his face still wide, the little boy on the other hand, was already lying flat on the floor, exhausted.

"Please, stop…"

"Like I said, I'll stop when you say my name politely."

"Mi-minos, please, let me go." He said with a whimper.

"You forget the coach."

"Coach Minos, please, I give up."

Minos laughed, finally stopping his assault. The young boy dragged his sore body from the floor and began limping towards his room.

"Before you go take a break, what's your name?" Minos asked.

The young boy didn't reply, instead, Othella answered for him. "His name is Eubard, but we like calling him Little Eu."

"Don't you dare call me that." Eubard said as he heard Othella tell Minos about his embarrassing nickname.

"Little Eu? Sounds quite catchy, I think I'll use it too." Minos laughed loudly as he watched Eubards face go black. Eubard didn't even have the energy to argue anymore, and just limped towards his room, shutting his door loudly.

"Don't you think you're being a little too rough?" Othella couldn't help but ask as Eubard entered his room.

"Rough? This is nothing, I'll show you rough soon enough. Besides, some people only learn by force." Minos grinned.

…

An hour soon passed, and Minos decided Eubard had taken a sufficient break. Standing up from the couch, he walked over to his room and knocked heavily on his door.

"Leave me alone!" Eubard shouted from the other side.

"I'm afraid that's impossible." Minos smirked as he kicked the door open.

Eubard was sitting on his bed, looking annoyed at Minos who had entered by force. Of course, Minos didn't care about his objections, since he made a deal with Othella, he'd live up to his side of things.

"Break time is over, let's get to work."

"No way, you're not my teacher, and I want nothing to do with you." Eubard said fiercely.

But to Minos, it was in one ear and out the other. With a grab, he tossed the flailing Eubard over his shoulder, walking out of the room as the boy fought back strongly.

"Let go of me you bastard!" He screamed as he repeatedly punched Minos's back.

Othella couldn't help but get involved at this point. She was used to codding Eubard, so seeing him resistant so aggressively made her heart ache.

"How about you let him go, he'll follow you normally." She said.

"Hmm, that's fine, but will you follow me?" Minos said to Eubard.

"No way!" Eubard screamed.

"You heard him. Seem's we'll have to do things my way. Don't worry, I'll bring him back in one piece." Minos smiled as he left the Devim family estate.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" Eubard said, as Minos exited Tropical Tree City and entered into the deep dense jungles.

"I'm taking you to the real world. You've got so comfortable living under the shade of your sister, it seems you've forgotten the struggle of survival." Minos said as the foliage got denser.

It didn't take long for the two of them to reach the volcano. This time, Minos didn't avoid the crowd, rather he walked straight into the center of the conflict.

"Eubard, have you ever seen someone die?" Minos suddenly asked.

"N-no, please, let me go!" Eubard cried out, long since losing his tough facade.

"No? Good, then you'll see something new today." Minos said as he laughed loudly. Eubard's face had lost all color at this point, the young boy being petrified.

"Eubard, do you realize how blessed you are? To be born with wealth, a sister to care for you, a home to shelter you, a bed to sleep on."

"Do you think these things come easy? No, they've been fought for, tooth and nail, by your parents, your grandparents, your ancestors, and now, your sister."

"You should be fighting to maintain this blessing, yet you've done the opposite. Everytime you act out, you draw your family closer to destruction."

"Do you want to be the one to end the long lineage your ancestors have spilt blood to create?" Minos finally asked the crucial question.

Eubard's eyes had gone red by this point. He was never a bad person, but he didn't know how to properly restrain all the grief and anger in his heart, and it made him act out.

The reminder from Minos made him feel ashamed. He couldn't help but remember his parents' smiling faces, his sister's weak body, that was not burdened with the family's woes, even the old butler, who used to stand with a straight spine, but now slouches.

It seemed as if a lifetime had passed, but it was only a few years. In such a short duration, everything seems to have crumbled.

Eubard was always aware of this, but he felt powerless to change anything. The sadness of his parents death coupled with the anger of watching his family get weaker by the day left him hopeless.

Only when he screamed, shouted, and fought did he feel like he had any sense of control over his life. It was also an outlet to let out his anger, but in retrospect, it did nothing but make things worse.

He began crying, but he held back his whimpers so Minos wouldn't hear. Unfortunately for him, Minos could still feel the tears wetting his back, letting him know exactly how Eubard felt at the moment.

"It's sad, isn't it? Having no control over your future, only being allowed to watch as things got worse."

"Sadness is an extraordinary emotion, because it can go two ways. It can lead one deeper into despair, but it can also renew a person's spirit, like rainfall over scorched earth."

"So tell me, is your sadness a cause of creation or destruction?" Minos asked.

"Creation, its creation!" Eubard said among whimpers, as he tried his hardest to restrain his tears.

"Good, then let me be your rain, and I'll help you be reborn." Minos said with a wide smile.

"Yes Coach Minos, please teach me!" Eubard said.

"Since you're ready to learn, let's start with your first lesson." Almost at the same moment Minos finished his sentence, a fierce looking man jumped out from among the bushes.

"Two little rats, how lucky am I! I'm not strong enough to fight the others, but I can easily kill you two." The man said as he let out a maniacal laughter. In his eyes, Minos wasn't worth much, but Eubard, who was dressed in expensive and colorful silk, likely had some money, which was better than nothing.

He drew a large knife from his waist, pointing it at Minos menacing. He circled the two of them for a moment before lunging at full force. Of course, how could such a weakling stand a chance against Minos? With a single kick, Minos incapacitated the man.

As his broken body collapsed into the dirt, his knife went flying into the sky. As the knife fell from above, Minos catched it swiftly by the handle, almost as if it flew directly into his hand. He finally placed Eubard down at this moment, and handed the knife to him.

"Lesson one, life and death." Minos said with a grim smile.