NOVEL WEB Chapter 102: Chance
"I didn't have to go through a lot of trouble to get back to my school life, of course ignoring the fact that I received a lot of warnings from the teachers, plus I was aware that there were rumors or stories about what I had done… Maybe that was one of the reasons why most people avoided me, although I still had my friends, the bad thing was that I was practically a grade below them and I had to get used to my new classmates." Kurono had left the topic of Kazumi since he felt that he had said everything he wanted to express, so it was time for him to focus a little more on himself. "And it was like I said, maybe it was because of the stories about me or because I was repeating a grade, but I was practically ignored by the others, although it was also a bit my fault since I didn't try to relate to them."
"So you adopted the image of the cold and troublesome boy, hehe." Shizune couldn't help but laugh a little since he imagined Kurono like that.
"Yes, you could say that that was the case..." Kurono was a little embarrassed since what Shizune said was quite accurate, but he still had to continue with his story. "Well, since that situation had arisen, the only idea I had in my mind was to concentrate on studying and continue until I graduated since I liked more being able to work and help the orphanage as well as to cover anything that I or Kazumi-nee needed, although maybe I shouldn't have told her all that to her since she reprimanded me many times and stressed that she would take care of that aspect for the moment."
Shizune covered her mouth as another small laugh threatened to come out of her, not only because of the situation Kurono was recounting, but also because she found it very cute that Kurono wanted to support others so much even though he had to focus on other aspects.
"And finally, the situation didn't change too much concerning the treatment I received from my classmates... Or well, it changed a bit after another event occurred." Kurono remained silent again for a few moments before noticing Shizune's curious look. "Trust me, I'm not one to go around looking for trouble, but I can't do anything if it comes to me."
Kurono's words were somewhat confusing to Shizune, but it wouldn't be long before he began to explain in detail.
"In short, on the way home I found a guy harassing a girl, and of course I beat him up… But don't look at me like that, my first idea was to talk and make sure what was going on, but that guy had no kind of intention to do it." The small excuses that came out of Kurono were precisely due to the judging look that Shizune was giving him. "It was a few blows here and there until he ended up on the ground before I could put my attention on that girl, but before I asked her anything, she ran up to me and thanked me, even called my name, which made me very confused at the time."
And as a normal reaction, Shizune was also curious to know the outcome of all that, although, on the other hand, the memory of the time Kurono had saved her had just come to her mind, it was also the event that made both of them met and get to where they were now, so she was paying quite a lot of attention.
"It turned out that it was one of my classmates, we had moved away from the place where the body of that subject was and it was when she told me everything, that she was on her way home when that guy began to follow her, maybe it had been better call the police to avoid future problems, but luckily we never heard from him again." Like Shizune, Kurono couldn't help but compare that situation with the time he helped Shizune, and realized that he had learned not to commit those little mistakes. "I gave myself the task of walking her home to make sure there would be no more problems, we talked a bit on the way, and I felt that she was trying to get to know me a little better, especially since she had directly apologized to me since she also was aware of how everyone treated me, to which I told her I didn't really care."
Shizune felt that Kurono was getting a bit lost in those memories, mainly because she could tell how her gaze was completely focused on nothing, but as more words came out of him, a feeling of melancholy could also be felt in the air.
"The next day, and to the surprise of many, she approached me on her own during lunch hour, in her hands she was carrying a couple of bentos and she gave me one of them. She must have seen my confused face at that moment as she explained that it was a way of thanking me for how I had helped her, so I thanked her and was about to leave, but she forced me to sit down again and took one of the seats near me since she had the intention of accompanying me..." Kurono was once again experiencing those complicated feelings that only he could understand, he no longer knew how many memories that he had been avoiding all this time were now continuously appearing in his mind, but at the same time, he was surprised that they were still as clear as if they had happened yesterday. "I don't think it's necessary to mention the fact that I could hear some murmurs around us, I also told her that she better leave me alone or they'll start saying things that might upset her, but she ignored everything I told her… It really was a simple action on her part, and although I didn't know it at the time, I had just made a new friend after all this time."