Chapter 27 - Acceptance

She started it off saying

"I called you a bunch of mean things before"

"I've been called stuff like that my whole life. Nothing's going to change if one more person calls me that"

"I punched you in the face multiple times"

"I'm actually a little masochistic and I enjoyed all your punches. So there's no problem there"

"I have hobbies that you might disapprove of"

"I'll accept it even if it's BDSM or exhibitionism. Heck I'll even join you"

"I'm a glutton and love to eat a lot of food which is unbefitting of a girl"

"Well I love to cook and am willing to make anything you ask for"

"I'm highly competitive when it comes to studies or sports"

"Then good luck. You'll be needing it since you'll never beat me in both"

"My hair is natural blonde, so you'll always stand out and be watched by others if you're near me"

"Haven't you seen my hair? We're practically the same. Their just staring at us because we look fabulous"

"Many girls hate and despise me at school"

"Welcome to the 'girl hate' club. I've been in it since I was a child"

"I'm basically the idol for all the boys in school. If you're close to me, they'll get jealous and show you their wrath"

"If anyone tries anything on me, I'll make him wish his father put on a condom when he was making him"

"I have many family circumstances"

"I'll be the guy who gives you a shoulder to lean on, if you need any support regarding your problems"

"You don't know anything about me"

"Then I'll just learn more about you after becoming your friend"

"You'll be my first friend in a while so I'll be very clingy and will always want to spend time with you"

"You can even live in my house if you want to spend more time with me"

"I'll want you to come with me to anywhere I want to go whenever I ask you"

"Fine by me. My schedules are always open"

Her face that looked liked she was challenging me before, now looked like she wanted me to win this game. She then said in a softer and gentler voice

"What if you don't like something about me?"

"Then I'll just learn to accept it"

"What if you find out something that happened in my past?"

"I don't care about what happened in the past unless you want to talk about it. I only want to be friends with the present you and that's all there is to it"

She then looked a little pale as if she remembered something horrible and asked with her voice quivering

"What if you betray me and leave me like the others did?"

With how she was shaking, it seems something traumatizing happened to her. I had to say something that would give her complete trust. So I said

"I'll jump in front of a truck like I did today and end my life if I do something like that"

And I wasn't kidding when I said that

She brightened up a little and looked at me with hope in her eyes

"Will you be my friend to the end no matter what happens?"

"Even if the whole is against to you, I'll be by your side and that's a promise"

She paused for a second and looked as if she set all her hopes on me and asked her final question

"How will I know you're not lying and will keep all these promises you said?"

I took a deep breath and said

"I don't know what you've been through in the past for you to feel this way and I don't intend on asking about it. All I know is that, right now you are lonely and want someone to be by your side. You're exactly how I was in the past so I can understand how you feel. Although I've never been betrayed like you were, I can imagine how it would feel when the people you trusted, turn their backs on you and walk away. I've had only one friend in the past and I lost him due to some circumstances. So I know how it feels to lose a precious friend. I promise you that I will never let that same thing happen to you again and will always be your friend till I breathe my last breath"

As soon as I said that she had the same look of hope and happiness I had back then when I got my first friend

So she's finally accepted me as a friend. That was a long and hard struggle but after seeing the smile she was giving now I felt that it was just a small effort for such a huge and beautiful reward

Her eyes started tearing up and tears of joy flowed down her cheeks. To finish the deal I finally said

"So, my name is Yamamoto Yuuto. What's yours?"

She smiled while having tears in her eyes and said in a cheerful voice

"Rena, Akatsuki Rena. Nice to meet you"