MY RIDER SYSTEM

The pen scratched softly across the paper.

Kael’s sister sat at a small wooden table, hunched over as she wrote. The tiny room smelled of old bread and cheap lavender soap, the only thing she bought to make the place feel less empty.

Kael Morren stood in the doorway, barefoot on the cold floor. He leaned on the frame, grinning like he always did when he wanted to annoy her.

“You’re writing another letter?” he asked, stepping in quietly.

She looked up, and her tired face softened. Her eyes warmed in a way they did only for him.

“Of course,” she said gently. “Just because no one’s out there to read them doesn’t mean I should stop writing.”

Kael walked over and leaned on the table. He looked more elbows and knees than anything else, thin from too many skipped meals and nights spent chasing sleep he never caught. “What’s this one about now?” he asked.

She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she folded the paper neatly as though it was worth something, and slipped it in a small wooden box filled with other letters no one would ever see. Then she reached out and ruffled his hair.

“I wrote,” she said softly, “that tomorrow will be better. That we’ll get through this. And that my little brother is growing too fast his shirts barely fit anymore.”

Kael’s cheeks flushed red. He puffed them out stubbornly. “They’re fine!”

“They’re not,” she teased, poking his side. “Pretty soon, I’ll have to look up at you.”

He crossed his arms and shook his head. “Never. You’ll always be the big sister.”

She laughed, but it came out small and forced. Then she brushed a bit of hair from his face, letting her hand linger a moment longer.

“Exactly,” she whispered. “Which means I’ll always protect you. Always, Kael. No matter what happens.”

He leaned into her touch, not knowing how badly he’d miss it one day.

But as he watched her, Kael’s smile faded. He thought about how hard it must be for her, harder than it was even for him. She had to be strong when they had no money, had to go to the market where she faced people's cruel stares with her head held high. She patched their clothes with sore fingers, skipped meals so he wouldn’t have to, and still somehow managed to smile at him like everything would be okay. Like tomorrow had… hope.

He didn’t know why they kept going when so many others would have given up. Maybe it was stubbornness. Maybe it was love. Whatever it was, survival was all they knew.

An unpaid bill sat under a chipped mug by the sink. Their father’s old coat still hung by the door because they couldn’t afford a new one. And in Kael’s little corner, the only escape he had, sat a beat-up game console.

He loved action games more than anything. In those games, he wasn’t poor or helpless. He wasn’t hungry, or scared, or small. There, he could fight back, win, and be somebody. Nobody played quite like him. In those worlds, he could protect her the way she always protected him.

But here, in the real world, he was just a boy watching his sister wear herself down for him.

For now, though, it was just the two of them, holding on to each other in a world that gave them nothing.

---

*CRASH*

The sound of breaking glass tore their peace apart.

The front door slammed open, hitting the wall so hard the house shook. Heavy boots stormed in, pounding across the floor.

His sister didn’t hesitate. She jumped in front of him, her arms spread wide.

“Don’t move,” she whispered, so low he almost didn’t hear it. Her voice trembled, but the way she held her ground… it was all steel. “Stay behind me. Don’t say a word.”

But Kael couldn’t stay still. Not when those men grabbed her. Not when they slammed her against the wall.

And definitely not when her scream sounded through the room.

“NO!” she cried, fighting to break free. “HE’S JUST A CHILD! TAKE ME INSTEAD—PLEASE!”

Kael’s chest tightened. His vision went red with anger.

“GET OFF HER!” he yelled.

He was barely sixteen, but he looked like a boy dragged through hell. His dark hair was rough and messy, sticking out in every direction like it hadn’t been cut or combed in weeks. But right now, all he felt was anger.

He didn’t care that the men were giants in black masks. He didn’t care that they had weapons or that they could crush him in an instant. All that mattered… was her.

He threw himself at them. He bit down on one man’s arm until he tasted blood. He kicked, scratched and screamed until his throat ached.

“LET HER GO!”

Then the first blow came.

A heavy boot slammed into his ribs. The air left his lungs. Another kick, even harder this time, sent him sliding across the floor, coughing blood.

And through the pain, all Kael could think was that he had to stand up. He had to protect his sister.

“NO!” she screamed. “STOP! HE’S A CHILD!”

Kael dragged himself across the floor, gasping for breath. “Let her go! She didn’t do anything.”

One of the men laughed. “Brave little rat,” he muttered under his mask, and struck him again.

This time, the kick smashed into Kael’s face, knocking him flat onto his back. Blood ran from his nose. It was hot and sticky against his skin.

“STOP!” she begged, her voice cracking with panic. “STOP, PLEASE—”

Kael coughed and choked on blood, forcing his head up just to see her struggling. Her wrists slipped free for a moment, and she lunged. Her nails slashed across one man’s face and he cursed as blood streamed down his cheek.

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!” she shouted. Her voice was no longer just a sound. It was fury, it was grief. Ultimately, it was love sharpened into a weapon. “HE’S ALL I HAVE! DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!”

The man staggered back, pressing his gloved hand to his bleeding cheek. Then, with deliberate cruelty, he stepped forward and slapped her across the face.

*CRACK*

She stumbled, nearly collapsing from the hit. All the while, Kael lay frozen in disbelief.

For one fragile moment, he forgot the pain in his ribs. He forgot about the blood in his mouth. He just stared.

“You…” His voice came out weak. “You hit her…”

The men laughed.

Kael’s teeth clenched through the blood. “You brain-dead bastards…” he rasped, “you hit my sister!”

His arms shook violently, his body refusing to rise no matter how much he begged it to. Still, his rage pushed him forward, clawing at the ground inch by agonizing inch.

And then, she moved.

Slowly, painfully, she lifted her head. The side of her face was bright red and bleeding, but her eyes were still bright.

She looked at him — and smiled. A broken, trembling smile that still somehow told him not to give up.

Then she spat blood right into her attacker’s face.

“You’ll have to kill me,” she said with a strong but trembling voice. “Because I’m never letting go of him.”

In that moment, something broke inside Kael.

The pain in his ribs faded. The blood in his mouth didn’t matter anymore.

'If only I had power…' he thought bitterly at that very moment.

【 SYSTEM INITIALIZING… 】

【 Host Detected: Kael Morren. 】

None of them noticed the faint red light sparking in Kael’s eyes.