When Akio had heard Kuroka's sudden confrontation of why he always avoided her, Akio felt stumped as to what to reply to her. When Akio had wanted to say a reply towards Kuroka, but due to anti-social attitude, even from way before he was again reincarnated in this life. Akio had developed this attitude as he grew up from when he lived with his sister Yuzuriha in the orphanage. Both Akio and Yuzuhira were orphans before; he and Yuzuhira were adopted when he was 5, while Yuzuriha was four back then by the Ogawa Family.
And in the times spent when he was in the orphanage, Akio had already become quite smart, at least compared to other kids his age back then, Although Akio didn't know who his parents who abandoned both him and Yuzuriha at the orphanage when they both when Yuzuriha was still a newborn. At the same time, Akio was only a year, and a half-year-old back then was.
And the reason that Akio knew that Yuzuriha was indeed his biological sister was due to the orphanage caretaker back then, which Akio had contacted a few years later after the Ogawa family had already adopted him, was that when Akio had been left in the orphanage, beside his infant self at the time, was Yuzuriha inside the same basket where both of them was left in.
And with a DNA test that Akio had done back then, it was genuinely proven that he indeed was related to Yuzuriha. So other than dad, due to Akio's inborn intelligence, while he was in the orphanage, he had mostly had taken care of Yuzuhira and read old and random books stored in the orphanage.
Although Akio had never been ostracized or ignored in the orphanage, which could have caused his anti-social personality, it was actually due to Akio's time in growing up in the orphanage for four-years which at the time due to his matureness and intelligence, the others thought of him as a weirdo, so due to that, Akio had never had played like a child throughout his childhood which caused him to develop his Anti-social personality.
However, after he and Yuzuriha were adopted, he did get a few friends, such as Senku and Taiju Akio still hadn't anti-social personality never did get fixed hence, unless the people who approached Akio were either insistent on being friends with him or a person that Akio's character liked. Akio's circle of friends remained very small, even when he had become quite famous in Japan, as a genius in his younger days.
Due to that previous personality and the treatment Akio had experienced in the village this last ten years. Akio's social skills hadn't developed at all. So for once in his life, Akio had never been close to a girl before aside from his sisters in both lives despite his wisdom and intelligence.
So due to his lack of emotional knowledge in areas such as social interactions, Akio had felt a great deal of difficulty in expressing the words he wanted to tell to Kuroka without making her feel bad or even hate him since he couldn't think of an excellent wat to speak the words, which he knew would probably hurt her even if Akio knew that she was a knucklehead, she was still a girl.
After thinking it through, Akio finally answered Kuroka with a straight and honest look while carrying the firewood he had taken for a while. While also slightly being awkward in his sentencing.
[Akio] " Kuroka, Umm... What can I say? The reason that I avoid you is... You're quite exaggerated will to always... what's the word, always asking me for training/combat techniques. You know that I don't hate you; it's just that your quite annoying for this stuff; I know you want to become stronger to maybe help your dad and brothers in their hunts or something. But even so, you can't just always follow me in the village sometimes to ask for another combat technique, or even going to my house without permission, since did you know that It was hella embarrassing for me in the house for a while since a girl, aside from my sisters, suddenly had wanted to meet with me since, as you know in our village, aside from my family and certain people in the village ignore and look down on me due to my special condition. And due to that from you could see from my brothers especially my Brother Bane, thinks that something is on with us, which is not true."
"So Kuroka, the most reason that I always avoid you is that, even though I am smart, but in terms of emotional aspects such as friendships and such aside from my Family, of course. like you, I'm inexperienced in those topics, so ever since you started to getting closer to me for quite a while now since you were someone, I didn't much then, and since I didn't have any friends aside from my siblings, I didn't know to approach you."
"So in light of that reason, while we traveled here, I realized that, despite my faults, I now think that my over- avoidance over you is a bit too much, so if you can at least, let me off, and don't be as persistent as before, then I'll willingly teach you some combat skills I know, but you have to keep it a secret just like before."
After finishing those words, Akio slightly expected that he would get punched based on Kuroka's attitude or even get wild on him to berate her for being too persistent and annoying to himself. Still, surprisingly Akio just saw that Kuroka just nodded her head at him while seeming to acknowledge his words. While silently telling him in a low voice.
[Kuroka] "Oh, so that's what your views, on me, huh. Well, first of all, I promise to try and lessen to annoy you for my insistence on asking you for combat techniques. From your words, I realized that despite my quite lackluster knowledge is very inappropriate, so I apologize for that. And lastly, I apologize for me causing embarrassment for you, Akio.
And as Kuroka finished saying those words. She then left in a certain direction while still gathering firewood along the way. After seeing the unnaturally silent Kuroka walking away from him, although Akio was both relieved and free, but after seeing her silently walking away, Akio had felt something in his mind, of both sadness, regret, and disappointment in himself, as he thought to himself.
[Akio]' Did I really do the right thing? Was I though brunt ?'
After that heavy event concerning Akio's relationship with Kuroka, nothing of note happened afterward. Both Kuroka and Akio gathered enough firewood for the temporary camp that the party had planted in Jugami Forest. However, unlike before, when Kuroka had constantly asked Akio to teach her new techniques, now the both of them were in a state of awkward silence until they had managed to return to the camp with all the firewood they had gather. And when they returned, it was already sunset.
When Emily, who had just returned earlier from scouting the forest, without finding any dangerous animals and beasts of note, wanted to rush over the returning Akio however, before she ran over, she then realized the sullen look his brother was giving off, which was a pretty rare occurrence for Emily despite spending most of her time with her brother ever since they were little.
So seeing her brother's mood, she just decided to come to her brother and try to comfort him as much as she can. And like everyone in the party, they also noticed their brother's current mood, but due to them not having a relationship as close as Emily's for Akio and not knowing how to handle this situation despite being a few years older.
So on that note, they just decided to leave Akio to Emily since they knew that Akio would probably open up more to Emily, while most of them returned to their own roles for the night before deciding to start the hunt tomorrow. While Akio's older sister's who noticed Kuroka's unnaturally silent attitude, also tried to help Kuroka.