One sudden encounter can change everything
Enjoy writing this chapter, I hope you can enjoy it too.
There are times when you wonder, was it the right decision I made?
This is one of those, after all I'm hospitalized right now.
I'll ask you how I ended up in this state, maybe I had a fight to defend a cute girl or maybe I jumped in front of a limo to protect a dog or maybe I'm stupid enough to fall down the stairs.
If your answer was the third correct, 100 points.
But it was not how you imagine it, it is more complicated than it seems, what I mean by this is simple, let me tell you a brief summary of what happened from when I was 6 years old until now. Although there is not much to tell.
It has been 9 years since my sister was born, logically I am 15 years old, I am in my last year of high school, in a few months I will apply to Sobu and the following year if everything goes as planned, I should be able to enter easily.
It is not to brag, but I am in the first positions of my school, after all I have 23 years of advantage over the others. So, taking top positions on Sobu's exam would be easy, but if I did, I would be placed in class F, and for now I want to avoid being too close to Yukino.
Although I would like to, I am sure that Yukino would notice my gaze throughout the class and the last thing I wish is that he wants to report me for bullying, so to avoid problems I prefer to be in a different class.
Regarding the 2 things that I plan, I must say that they went wonderfully, at age 8 I enrolled in self-defense classes, then in mixed martial arts and now I am thinking of enrolling in karate since I never had the opportunity to practice it. And I was always curious about him, I can calmly face 3 people and come out victorious, although the practice classes I had during these years were quite exhausting, but you know what they say who follows him gets it. Also, I started to wear contact lenses to hide my eyes and pretend that I had a normal color, since having a strong red draws a lot of attention, I am sure that if I tried to scare someone at night he would run away thinking that I am some kind of demon From the color of my eyes, it's not like it happened to me in an elementary camp or anything like that, so since I entered high school I did everything possible to go completely unnoticed. and achieve it, Hachiman would be proud of me.
Some will think that because I would avoid attracting attention, I have a new chance to live after all, so I should make the most of it. My lifestyle was always standard, so making a sudden change does not convince me, I like to be the background character, who just watches how things happen.
Although that does not mean that I cannot enjoy my life, after all the extras are also happy only that since they are alien to the main story, it is not necessary to find out about their day to day. By themselves, since I started going to elementary school, I decided to go at a steady pace and make it fun for a kid of that age, so they couldn't say that I'm not having fun in my new life.
Of course, if a situation arises in which I can take advantage of it, I would not hesitate to take advantage of it, what do I mean by this, let's take an example, if while I walk at night I observe Yukino being in trouble I would not hesitate to protect her and if this gave me a situation to relate to it, I would not hesitate to take advantage of it, after all I am not interfering in important events. Although they would only be exceptions like the previous example, it's not that instead of Hachiman saving Sable he threw me to protect the dog, that would already totally change the facts.
Now speaking of events, if you ask me what was the event that brought me here, it is easy to answer, staying all night reading novels plus spending all day at school plus going to training in the afternoon results in having my whole body exhausted. and when I went upstairs to go to my room I ended up fainting, thank God Rumi was home at that time and that's why she decided to call an ambulance, I knew it when my family came to visit me, I'm very grateful to her, then I was able finish very badly, but for my good luck I only had strong blows all over my body, however it hurts a lot, but according to the doctor, with a few days of rest I will be fine, having a firm and healthy body helped me a lot.
Returning to the present, I will be discharged tomorrow, but I can move freely around the hospital, being in bed all day is boring.
If I could find a machine that sells Max caffe, I would be very lucky, since I entered high school, I looked for that brand of coffee, although at first it was very sweet, little by little I got used to its peculiar flavor.
As I passed through the corridor that connects the different rooms of the hospital, I noticed a girl with long brown hair and from what I could hear she seemed to be crying, the best option would be to ignore her since given the environment in which we find ourselves. She probably lost someone close to her and being teased by a stranger would be the worst.
So, I decided to ignore her and go on my way. Luckily for me, I was able to find a machine that sold caffe Max, so in order not to come back later, I'd better take 2 with me, one for when I get back to my room and the other for the night.
As I was heading to my room, I saw the same girl again, her face was covered by her knees so I couldn't see her face, this position brought back some memories, on a family camping trip, Rumi ended up getting lost in the Woods After After a few hours of searching and anguish I was finally able to find her, she was in the same position as this girl, crying while hiding her face. You could say that my onii-chan senses were activated, also seeing a depressed girl is not something I like, especially if it brings me a memory of my sister.
So, I stopped and sat next to her, it might be very daring of me, but I couldn't think of another way to do it.
She looked up, as if she was wondering who was bothering her right now.
My first impression of her is that she was beautiful, she had beautiful green eyes and although her hair was disheveled and her eyes red from crying, she still maintained an air of majesty, that would be my honest opinion, although others would say. her who looked terrible. And being around her, I can assume she was the same age as me.
If I was the one who interrupted her, I should be the one to start the conversation.
"Here" I offered him one of my cans of Max caffe
Although she seemed very suspicious of me, she ended up accepting the drink.
"This taste so sweet." I could see her disgust on her face, at least that change in her expression made her look better.
I suppose at this point she should answer something smart and direct, but since I have no idea, it would be better to copy one of her sentences to Hachiman.
"You know what they say, if life is bitter, at least the coffee must be sweet"
" Oh, thanks, I guess. " I could see the doubt in her answer.
"I guess I'd better go, I don't want to keep bothering you," so I tried to get up. only to be stopped by her words.
"Before you go, can I ask you a question?" Her voice sounded sad and a little perplexed, as if saying a few words to me was the strangest thing in the world.
It's okay for me to try to be a filler character, but one shouldn't be surprised that among the extras we are likeable.
"Tell me" I guess she asked me why I ignored her first and then I decided to talk to her or maybe she just wants to know why I gave her my drink.
"Because you decided to speak to me instead of ignoring me like the others" From those words I could deduce that she lived through difficult situations without someone's support, perhaps she has no friends and feels alone. It is not that she cannot understand her situation, after all I do the same, but by my own choice, since having superficial friendships is only something ephemeral and when more time passes, they forget the existence of one.
After asking her question I could notice the sadness in her eyes, with the experience that I have in two lives I can easily read people or what I want to believe, so this girl must spend most of the time alone, and if this was because harassment or abuse would be much worse, I feel sorry for her, or maybe I'm just rambling a lot and it's nothing I'm thinking about.
It would be better to answer honestly, it is not that I gain something by lying. Although to say: you look like my sister so I felt sorry for you would be the right thing to do, if I responded in this way it is more likely that I will end up hating me. The best thing would be to give a generic protagonist-type answer since after all it would not be a lie if it contained the truth.
"Seeing a pretty girl cry is not something I like, so I thought I would try to cheer you up, although from what I see I think I failed." After all, this would be the best answer, I'm not lying.
''Pretty me? I think you are wrong, after all, a girl like me cannot be pretty, '' she said with a self-deprecating tone, as if there had been several times when she denied this fact. I can assume that my theory that he is bullied is correct.
"I'm telling the truth, and it's not that what I'm saying is strange."
"You lie, I can't be pretty," she said raising her voice.
To deny such a thing in this way, the words ugly and unpleasant must be deeply ingrained in your mind, to the point of accepting it as a truth that cannot be denied.
''Why are you saying this?'' I asked her with a curious tone, so that I could also confirm my theory that I had about her.
"The color of my eyes and my face is horrible, I have always been told, my eyes are disgusting, and I should tear them out'' When she said this, she started crying, maybe I reminded her of some trauma she had had. How cruel high school students can be to make you believe those things, there are always cases of bullying, but getting to that point is already serious.
Being teased to such an extent, as well as having no support and telling a stranger how horrible their school life must be to get to this point.
Nor am I someone to say something against this, after all I have witnessed this type of act in my school and although I was able to interfere calmly, I decided not to, since I thought that this type of situation happened normally. But I see that I was wrong, the girl in front of me is proof of that.
Although it is not that she can be of much help, after all I do not know where she studies or her name, I am just a stranger who decided to talk to her at this moment, I have no right to interfere in her life, but it is not that I do not try to do something, it could try to give you some advice and if you decide to follow it could change your way of thinking.
''So, if they say that you are horrible and if I contradict this by saying that you are beautiful, you would be the one to decide what you want to believe, but I assure you something, you are not ugly, you are beautiful and also the color of your eyes is beautiful, if you want. Believing what other people tell you is your decision, but also if you decide to believe my words is your own decision, and I can assure you something, I am not lying about what I have said''. I said this with a bit of irritation, I don't like to see her belittle herself in this way.
I could see her surprise on her face at my words, but at the same time she also looked doubtful, as if she was wondering whether or not she should believe my words. But she still hadn't finished speaking.
''Letting what they think of you influence you is wrong, the one who decides how you look is yourself, because you must stop paying attention to the opinion of people who are not your friends or who are unpleasant to you. Maybe you also think why you should listen to me, after all I am also just a stranger, but what differentiates me from others is that at this moment I am not lying, I can also assure you that your eyes compare better with mine''. In the next act I proceeded to remove the lenses, it became a habit to wear them most of the time, although I try to avoid them in training or at home.
When I take off the lenses, I could see the surprise on his face, since normally the lenses make my eyes look brown and when I take them off my eyes turn red, it gives me a big change in my face or so my father told me.
''Comparing yours with mine, yours looks totally good, besides I use these lenses just to try to go unnoticed and not draw too much attention, but your eyes are totally normal, just that the people who told you that were trying to annoy you and from what I see they succeeded '' after saying this, it seemed that she was not observing anything, as if she was trying to remember those moments that led her to think that way.
I guess that's all I can do, whether she chooses to believe me or not is totally her choice.
''What you decide to believe from now on is your own decision, but if you allow me to give you any advice, it would be that you believe my words '' after saying that I got up and started to continue my way to my room, although there were some words that they detained me.
"I can know your name" This time her voice was clear and concise as if she had found an answer.
"My name is Tsurumi Raiden" With that said, I continued on my way, even though I managed to hear some murmurs that included my name before turning into the hall.
? POV
I was sitting outside my grandmother's room, she had had an accident and was feeling bad, although my father had said that she would recover, but she showed no signs of improvement.
Remembering some things, I couldn't help but start crying.
My grandmother was the only person who supported me, my mother was always busy in the office and my father, as a doctor, is always in the hospital, so most of the time I spent with my grandmother, and right now she is sick. I can't do anything to help her, what kind of granddaughter can I be if I can't help my family?
She always gave me words of encouragement when I started being bullied in elementary school, I thought this would end once in high school, but it didn't, after all the people who were bothering me were also in my new school, I decided I wouldn't say any of this to my grandmother, I didn't want to worry her anymore, so I decided to put up with all this, but when she had an accident I couldn't take it anymore.
She told me that at some point she would find someone who would care about me and support me and that she would not judge me by what others thought of me. Finding someone like that was impossible after all, everyone at school was guided by what those girls said about me.
The words of my grandmother seemed to me something very distant, there is no such person, and if that person existed because she does not arrive at this moment in which I feel so hurt.
There is no use waiting for help that will never come, it is better to stop believing in a fairy tale where a prince will come to help me when I need it.
For them I decided, I would no longer wait for someone who does not exist, the only one who can do something is me, since I am ...
When I was trapped in my thoughts, I noticed someone sitting next to me, everything I was thinking at that moment disappeared from my mind, I began to feel fear towards that person.
"Here" were the words he spoke, he offered me what seemed to be a drink, although I had doubts about it, I decided to accept the coffee can.
Tasting it, I found that it was too sweet. "This taste too sweet" I said those words unintentionally, this person was trying to be nice to me and doesn't seem to appreciate his help, if he left right now, I wouldn't blame him.
When I started to think about how to apologize, his next words stumped me.
"You know what they say, if life is bitter, at least the coffee must be sweet"
How can I say that? Maybe I don't know how difficult my life is, I shouldn't say those words so lightly. Although it seems that she said it without intention to offend me, I must be grateful for the gesture, my grandmother always taught me to appreciate any good gesture, even a small thing.
''Oh, thanks, I guess. '' I said those words with a bit of hesitation, after all I didn't know what intentions, this boy had towards me.
"I guess it's better if I leave, I don't want to keep bothering you" After saying these words he started to get up, but before he left there was something I wanted to ask him.
"Can I ask you a question?" It was what I said hoping he wouldn't reject me.
To which he replied in the usual way "Tell me".
"Because you decided to talk to me instead of ignoring me like everyone else." I wanted to know his answer to this, because he decided to talk to me and not ignore me like everyone else at school does.
"Seeing a pretty girl cry isn't something I like, so I thought I'd try to cheer you up, although from what I see I think I'm failing." Her answer to my question was something I never expected a person to tell me.
''Pretty me? I think you're wrong, at the end of the day, a girl like me couldn't be pretty.''
"I'm telling the truth, and it's not that what I was saying was anything strange." This is impossible, I had some memories of what happened in elementary school, so I couldn't help but get a little angry.
"You lie, I can't be pretty,"
I said this yelling at him, who was he to say these things to me, he should only be joking with me to cheer me up and then insult me and Watch me cry, but it would no longer give him pleasure.
''Why are you saying this?'' He asked it like it was something hard to believe.
"The color of my eyes and my face are horrible, they have always told me, my eyes are disgusting, and I should tear them out", I answered the first thing I remembered, I remembered the words that those girls always said to me, I couldn't help but start crying when remember those horrible moments that I had to go through.
''So, if they say that you are horrible and if I contradict this by saying that you are beautiful, you would be the one to decide what you want to believe, but I assure you something, you are not ugly, you are beautiful and also the color of your eyes is beautiful, if you want. Believing what other people tell you is your decision, but also if you decide to believe my words is your own decision, and I can assure you something, I am not lying about what I have said''
Those words surprised me enough, it is impossible for anyone to think that about me, but a part of me wanted to believe that I was the one who could decide for myself without having to depend on the opinion of other people. But he seemed like he hadn't finished speaking.
''Letting what they think of you influence you is wrong, the one who decides how you look is yourself, because you must stop paying attention to the opinion of people who are not your friends or who are unpleasant to you. Maybe you also think why you should listen to me, after all I am also just a stranger, but what differentiates me from others is that at this moment I am not lying, I can also assure you that your eyes compare better with mine''
I couldn't feel malice in his words, as if everything he told me was true, as if all the time I spent listening to the insults of others, it was my own decision to take them as truth.
After thinking about this, he began to remove his glasses, revealing the true color of his eyes, the first thing I could think was that they were beautiful, a red color that denoted determination and passion for something.
''Comparing yours with mine, yours looks totally good, besides I use these lenses just to try to go unnoticed and not draw too much attention, but your eyes are totally normal, just that the people who told you that were trying to annoy you and from what I see they succeeded ''
When I heard this I was left blank, these were the words that I always wanted to hear, someone to lean on also told me that everything that others told me was not true, I could not help but remember all the moments when I was intimidated, but at the remember those words he said to me, it seemed that everything had been by my own decision, I always had the option to deny it or ignore it, but somewhere inside me I doubted it, if what they told me was true? I did it at the beginning and that led me to accept the words that others said about me.
Now someone like me had the option to deny those words that always haunted me. He is giving me that option that I thought was impossible.
''What you decide to believe from now on is your own decision, but if you allow me to give you any advice, it would be that you believe my words ''
Those words clarified the doubts that I had in my mind, I was not obliged to continue accepting what other people told me, if I was sure of something I had to support myself in my own decision, after all why should I listen to the opinion of strangers or people who only seek to make me suffer.
This conversation helped me to reaffirm my thoughts, it seems that this moment I was no longer alone, a part within me confirmed it since for the first time I felt comfortable being with someone.
While I was thinking about this that boy started to leave, but he didn't even know his name. Before losing sight, it was better to ask, or I feel that I would regret it for the rest of my life.
'' I can know your name'' I said this with all the confidence that I could muster.
'' MY name is Tsurumi Raiden'' After saying this he started to walk away.
'' Thank you for coming to my aid Tsurumi-kun''
Although I wanted to say it out loud, I felt that I could not do it so I could only murmur it in the hope that my words would reach it.
Grandma, I think I have found that person I was looking for.
Although without knowing it, that trust he had in him would be what would make him suffer.
Guest: I'll take that name
: Thanks for taking the time to read it
Harris Hussain: That would be at the beginning and since it was the initial idea was the thought that the protagonist had, little by little he will change his mind and I think that in this chapter he could demonstrate it.
Regissoma: That was the main idea but not everything always goes according to plan and our protagonist will witness this in the future. Little by little it will be seen how Raiden applies his force on other people and it could be said that with Hayama he will not be the exception.
READNOVEL: Don't worry, Raiden will fully enjoy his new life, even though he already is.
Fernando917: It was something that occurred to me at the time, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Saif Omar: Raiden will be his name.
Sayanth Sashikumar: As a fan of the novel, the protagonist doesn't want to get involved in it simply out of admiration for the characters, but don't worry, not everything always goes according to plan, and Raiden will learn it.
If you made it this far, I thank you for taking the time to read this story, although at first it was just a random thing that came up at that time, thanks to his comments and favorites make me want to keep writing. See you in the next chapter and if it goes well, I'll upload it in less than a week.