Yuki took his time walking towards the five boys letting the presence speak for itself. It made all of their minds turn wild with fears and ideas of what might happen. They had just seen their leader utterly defeated in a siabsp; Knowing that had happened was more than enough to paralyze them all in their step.

  Yuki khat he didn't have to do much of anything with this type of oppo. He might have been past his fighting days, but street gangs were a very simple bunch for him to deal with. The need for powers wasn’t required. Striking down the head and adding a little fear always had put what seemed imbanced firmly in his er. ‘This is almost b…’

  The grin on his face grew a little more painting panels of imagery in the boys’ minds as what Yuki might be thinking. I few steps Yuki broke into a full sprint taking down two boys with a loud punch to their stomachs. Hearing their panions knocked down was enough to break the others out of their paralysis. They tried to surround him from behind to rescue their unscious friends.

  Yuki tilted his head a little hearing their footsteps closing as expected. He took his left foot up spinning behind himself to smash his dirty shrough the cheeks of the three remaining boys. The boys dropped to the ground sharply out cold.

  A small sigh came from Yuki with a job well done. “You’re safe now!” He looked back over to the person that he had just rescued and blinked. The distance covered between them was in an instant putting Yuki staring face to face with Haruo. “Hey! You’re that guy from the ninja girl’s pce!”

  Chapter 76 – Repeated Words

  Yuki stared on lorying to remember his name (actually went to rescue an unknown person). Unfortunately, even looking closer at him didn't seem to make the name e to him. When he pulled away Yuki’s features ged suddenly as it seemed that the name was finally ing to him. “You’re…really quiet!”

  ‘Still as carefree and clueless as the st time.’ He straightened back up easily ign the previous blows. There was a more pressing matter for him. “Why’d you do that?”

  By the time that Haruo had actually begun speaking Yuki was already out of sight. The quiet words weren't enough for Yuki to hear. Haruo looked around trying to find where Yuki had gone. He found Yuki behind him walking towards a property wall of a house with a boy in tow over his shoulder. ‘What’s going on? He’s speaking to me one sed and then doing something else…’ Haruo followed Yuki out of curiosity when he picked up the boy.

  He watched Yuki drop the kid gently down propped up against the wall. Once Yuki went back he could see that there were three others from the small band lined up together all unscious. He treated them carefully. ‘Why’s he helping them? He just mercilessly wiped them out a minute ago looking like he was enjoying it a now he’s showing them kindness…kihat they never would show… What’s with him?’

  Haruo had to keep watg just to see what was going to happe. “Why?”

  Yuki turned his head a little, looking a bit surprised to see Haruo o him. “Huh?”

  “Why did you help them?”

  “Oh!” Ohe question was made clear to Yuki he stared up into the sky for a moment. He pulled his head back down to look at Haruo directly. Yuki had a smile on his face as he spoke. “Because they’re people too! They might be bad guys, but that shouldn’t mean that they should be treated poorly just because they’re sleeping.”

  It appeared to be an ho answer and oddly na?ve for Haruo to hear. “But they’ll want revenge on you when they wake up.”

  “Then I guess we should be somewhere else when they wake up!” Yuki said cheerfully as he ran around behind Haruo swiftly. He started pushing on Haruo to ence him to move despite his own uainty and fusion.

  Haruo looked back at Yuki protesting, but all he saw when he looked back was the same pleasant expression as before. It was enough to make Haruo decide to walk without the push. ‘Because they’re people? It’s true I guess, but nothing is that simply defined… How he treat it as such?’

  “Haruo!” Yuki shouted so loudly it was difficult to actually determihe emotions attached.

  Determined or not, it was enough to rudely break Haruo out of his internal tranbsp; ‘What’s wrong now?’

  Yuki looked back over at Haruo. “I just remembered that your name was Haruo! It’s been bugging me since I saw you. I was so relieved that I finally figured it out!”

  A twitch developed momentarily in Haruo’s eye as he heard the empty excuse. ‘He yelled that loud just because he remembered my name?’ It became tiring around Yuki with his excitable personality. ‘Empty frivolities…this is why I prefer to be alone…’

  After Haruo had been too quiet for too long (determined solely on a metric by Yuki) Yuki jumped in front of Haruo pnning oing his attention. “You’re a pretty strong looking guy, Haruo! How e you were letting them beat you up like that? I bet with those muscles you could y them out ft easily!”

  ‘You wouldn’t uand…’ Persistence was Yuki’s only useful talent against Haruo. Haruo hoped that Yuki would just give up like everyone else. However, silence wasn’t w on Yuki. “Why did you stop them?”

  “Do I need a reason? I did it because I wao help someoh a problem. That’s eople do. When you ’t do it alohere are others to support you!”

  Haruo had nothing to say ba and even his mind was bnk for a moment. Such a selfless answer wasn’t what he expected to hear. The familiar se gave him pause.

  ‘Do I need a reason? I did it because I wao help someoh a problem. That’s eople do. When you ’t do it alohere are others to support you.’ They might have been Yuki’s words, but someone else’s voice spoke it in his mind.

  The lohat the words hung in his mind the further back he was sent through his mind. He returo a time when he was just entering junih school and alone. It was a on life for him that he had known for as long as he could remember. Being alone was something that he had chosen for himself, it referred over what he had dealt with before.

  ‘Junih was supposed to be the start of my new life. That was what I had decided on doing when I left. I wasn’t going to turn bad return to that, but I was too young to know what to do. That didn’t stop me though. I was determio do it alone and prove them all wrong…’

  Haruo, age twelve, sat in his homeroom css. It had only been a week sihe school year had begun. The young students talked with each other before css began. Haruo kept to himself and would have gone unnoticed if he didn’t look like he came from a trash dumpster.

  He was on his own for the first time so he was not able to do many of the things that were sidered standard maintenanbsp; The school had only given him a single uniform due to how he had entered, leaving him to make do with some hand-me-downs that he had got. Their size was te for him, leaving it to hang poorly on him.

  “Did you hear where he came from?” one boy said within earshot of him to the group. He ended up whispering it, passing on the info to the rest.

  A girl pulled back a little in surprise. “No wonder. They must all live in a ndfill!”

  “We should get a little further away. I think I’m starting to smell him from here again.”

  “Shouldn’t be surprised being a welfare case!”

  “Yeah!”

  The door to the css slid open immediately sileng everyone. Mr. Asanuma, the homeroom teacher, set his notebooks on the desk before looking out into the children. He sed the room making a mental note oate of the room before speaking. In the back er, he saw Haruo alone looking attentive, but totally isoted. Haruo’s desk was even further away today than it was before. Mr. Asanuma narrowed grimly as he held speaking to the css further.

  When the end of the day came and the students started to leave Mr. Asanuma appeared outside of Haruo’s css waiting, leaning against the wall. As he waited he could hear Haruo’s cssmates pig on him again while never hearing Haruo say a word. “Afternoon, students!” he announced clearly in a loud voice that made all of the students jump a little in surprise. “All packed up now?” He looked down over a couple of the boys.

  Some of the easily swayed boys had already hurried away and the girls followed. The st couple of stubborn boys turo look at their homeroom teacher gring back at him surprisingly defiant. “Yoneda o leave. He doesn’t belong here, teacher!”

  “That’s not for you to decide,” Mr. Asanuma said calmly, “Everyone has a right to an education no matter their appearance.”

  “But he smells bad!”

  “And I bet you do as well after pying hard,” Mr. Asanuma teased. “You should be going on along.”

  Both hurried out the css leaving the two alone. Haruo stood up carrying his bag with books over his shoulder pnning to leave. Mr. Asanuma put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “Yoneda, you have a little time to spare? I’d like to show you something, if it’s alright with you.”

  Haruo looked up at the teacher in sileh a pensive look that seemed impossible to pee.

  ‘I wasn’t sure why he had done all that for me. No one ever bothered and I didn’t think they should. I had po just turn him down and leave without a word, but there was something that made me a little curious. Perhaps I just wanted an answer, but I followed him.’

  His teacher led him out of the school and a few blocks away to his house. He offered Haruo his bath to use to up while he had his clothes ed. After a bath, there was food oable where they remained in silenbsp; Once finished Haruo sidered leaving, but he still had questions.

  Haruo pushed the pte away from him. He stared across the table at his teacher. “Why?” There was a serious deep expression on Haruo that had never known simple kindness.

  “Do I need a reason?” his teacher quickly replied to Haruo. “I did it because I wao help someoh a problem. That’s eople do. When you ’t do it alohere are others to support you.” He picked up the ptes and put them over on the ter by the sink.

  Haruo stood up from the chair refusing to believe it was so simple. “What do you want? No one does anything for nothing! That’s not the way it works!”

  Mr. Asanuma smiled for a moment, pleased by something that Haruo could not fathom. “I’m pleased to hear your voibsp; I think that’s the most I’ve heard from you even in css.”

  “You’re weird.”

  “Perhaps, but I don’t think silence is your answer. You have a strong mind and patienbsp; There’s a lot you do.”

  “They aren’t worth the time. Everyone’s got selfish is, it’s best just to ighem.”

  “I see…” His teacher became quiet once more, thinking deeply. It was several minutes before he said anything again. “It’s decided then!”

  “What is?”

  “I’m aware of your situation. So I want you to stay here!”

  That was enough for him. Haruo narrowed his eyes and started to walk away. “It’s pity for you isn’t it? I won’t accept it. Everyohe same. I’ll do this alone.” He walked off back to the door starting to put his shoes ba.

  Mr. Asanuma gave a sigh aered the hallway looking down to the door where Haruo’s back was turo him. “I guess I shouldn’t make decisions for you. How about this then? My door is always open for you to e and use my house whenever you need. If you need a bath it’s here. If you need food to eat it’s here. e on your own terms, but you don’t have to be alone.”

  ‘I was determined. I thought he was doing it so that I owed him or for his own self satisfa, yet he never asked or said anything. I found new uniforms at my desk in the m that fit me. Eventually, I ended up returning insisting it was only for a bath since I had no moo afford it myself aill said nothing to me. It was exactly as he said… He was…my support…’

  Haruo shook off the memories looking back at Yuki. The words he still rang lightly in his ears. He let out a small sigh still not vinced of anything, but there was something that he was certain about. “You’re weird…”