A small yawn broke through Shujinkou's lips. Normally, a student would be very anxious over the prospect of being called to the office of the Student Council, but his awareness of the two sides of the young president along with the fatigue he felt from a lack of sleep stifled that emotion's plans to take over.
The tired student opened the doors and found Fuyu looking through the pages of a pale yellow folder.
"Good morning, Shujinkou," she said, flashing a soft smile before looking back down at the folder.
He instinctively sighed in relief. He knew for sure that he wouldn't be able to handle Fuyu in her "Presidential Mode."
"Morning, Fuyu," Shujinkou said as he approached her desk. "You wanted to talk to me about something?"
"I just wanted to know how things were going with Rei," she replied as she adjusted her glasses.
"It's going okay. She seems to be getting used to going to school here."
"That's good."
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as Fuyu continued to search through the folder. "Hey, uh, Fuyu…"
"Yeah?" the young student president turned her curious gaze back to Shujinkou.
"I was kind of wondering why you picked me to be the Student Liaison."
"I told you. I needed someone I trust to handle this task," she answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Yeah, but why? I mean it's not like we really know each other. Why would you trust me so much to be a liaison or offer me the position of VP?"
Fuyu simply stared at Shujinkou and placed the folder on her desk. The dead silence that blanketed the room began to unnerve him until she started to smile at him.
"Let me tell you a story, Shujinkou," Fuyu said. "It takes place a long time ago…"
A long time ago, a much younger Fuyu adjusted her glasses as she continued to read "Psychology for Dummies."
"I really don't get the title for these books," she thought until an elastic rubber band bounced off her head.
She gently rubbed the throbbing wound on her forehead as she was approached by three boys. The annoyed expressions on their faces made it clear to Fuyu that a confrontation was unavoidable.
"What was that for?" she inquired.
"That was for your mother getting us grounded!" one of the boys shouted.
"It's not my fault that she diagnosed you three with displaced violent tendencies that needs to be monitored," Fuyu nervously pointed out.
She was then shoved to the ground, the force of the push causing her glasses to fall to the ground. With her vision greatly diminished, Fuyu could do nothing but squint her eyes as she heard the sound of breaking glass and teasing laughs. Soon all laughter stopped as the sound of police siren loomed from the distance. She then heard the sound of heavy footsteps as the siren sound grew louder and louder until it suddenly came to a stop.
"Are you okay?" she was asked. The sound of the voice and the short stature of the blurry figure in front of her was enough for her to discern that she was approached by another young boy. A hand was soon offered to her and, after a few seconds of deliberation, accepted it. She was easily lifted up to her feet and anxiously looked around her immediate area. "I think your glasses are beyond saving."
Fuyu reached forward and placed her hands on the boy in front of her.
"That's not good. I'm hopelessly blind without them," she fretted.
"Maybe I can help you," the boy said. "Where do you live?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Oh, right. I'm a stranger. Um… I know, I'll take you to the local police place. Does that sound good to you?"
Fuyu tightened her grip on the boy's hand and slowly nodded her head. Even though she had no idea who the person in front of her was, she had to no choice but to believe that he had her best interests in mind. Without another word being said, the boy slowly began to lead her from ground zero.
It was a strange feeling. Having to trust someone she didn't know was frightening and heartwarming at the same time.
"So you were reading a book about phycology?" the boy suddenly asked.
"It's about psychology," Fuyu corrected.
"Oh. Are you reading about because your parents forced you too or do you enjoy learning about it?"
"Kinda both. I kinda want to understand what my mother says half the time."
"What's your mother do?"
"She's a school counselor/psychiatrist at my school. She's really good at diagnosing everyone there and, contrary to popular belief; it's really nice to have a parent at your school. That said, it can come with some problems."
"Like what?"
"Like some students taking their anger out on the counselor's daughter when the counselor's suggestions to the parents result in them getting in trouble or further trouble."
"That sucks."
"It's like the book says, 'Kids can be cruel.'"
"I think that can go for anyone…"
The boy suddenly went silent and would remain so until he finally stopped moving.
"We're here," he announced.
He then led her inside, allowing Fuyu to give the police her father's cell phone number. Once they made the call, the boy led the blind Fuyu to a nearby bench.
"Thanks for bringing me here and for helping me out against those bullies," she said.
"No problem," the boy assured her. "It's not like I could just watch what I saw and do nothing about. I'm like Sora in that regard."
"From Kingdom Hearts?"
"Yeah. You played that game?"
"Mm-hmm. I even beat Final Mix on the hardest difficulty on Level 1 without dying once."
"Whoa! That's impressive! I didn't think anyone could actually- Wait a minute… Does that include the bonus bosses?"
Fuyu proudly nodded her head.
"Whoa, I didn't think that anyone could actually do that without cheating. You gotta be one of the best rpg gamers around," the boy complimented.
"It's little easier to do when you pick the staff at the beginning," she chuckled.
From there, Fuyu began to explain exactly how she achieved such a difficult task. Every item she had equipped, when to use which magic and what weapon every party member needed to be equipped with depending on the situation.
Despite the fact she couldn't see too well, Fuyu couldn't help but feel that the stranger was holding on to her every word.
"Sweetie!"
Her explanation was soon cut off by a very familiar voice. She turned towards the direction of the voice and noticed a large blurry figure approaching her.
"Daddy?" she queried.
She watched the figure's head nod up and down.
"Well, looks like you're in good hands now," the boy said.
"Looks like it. Thanks for helping me, uh-" Fuyu paused, realizing that she did not know the name of the person who helped her.
"Shujinkou. My name's Shujinkou," the boy introduced himself as he jumped on his feet. "I gotta get going. I promised my friend that we'd get ice cream once I got home. See ya, later."
Fuyu's father neatly placed a pair of glasses on just in time to watch Shujinkou open the front entrance door. He then turned around, smiled and waved goodbye as he left.
"Wait a minute… That was you all that time ago?" Shujinkou couldn't hide his surprise as Fuyu finished her story. "Wow… And this whole time I thought I met you when Monika introduced us to you."
"I don't blame you for not remembering me," Fuyu smiled. "After all, I never even got to tell you my name. But I think you can understand now understand why I know I can trust you, right?"
"I don't know, Fuyu. I mean I was just helping somebody who was in trouble."
"Well, from my perspective, I was a near-blind helpless girl who couldn't tell what kind of person approached. My choices were to either be stuck in a tough spot or gamble on this person who offered to help me. Even if it was a short meeting, you helped me looked after me when you didn't have. That says a lot about a person. Plus, you coming here that one time to help your friend shows me that you haven't changed that much in that regard."
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he processed what he was told.
"I still can't believe that you remember me after all that time," he finally said.
"Acts like that leave an impression on a person," Fuyu reasoned. "Anyway, I don't want to hold you up any longer. You better get back to class before the teacher teaches something important like they always do when you miss class."
"Right," Shujinkou nodded his head in agreement and walked towards the door.
"Hey, Shujinkou," he turned back to Fuyu, curious to what she had to say. "Did you ever beat Final Mix: Proud on Level 1?"
A proud smile appeared on his face as he raised his hand to wave goodbye. "Yes, I did."