It had been five minutes since school ended. Hitori was waiting for Umaku outside the school gate. He was nervous, they were going to go to the park together but Hitori didn't even know where the park was yet, he had never left the house except to go to school. He had no reason to leave the house.
But now he was going to see the park with Umaku. So he took a deep breath and heard a voice:
"Hitori? Hey, Hitori!"
He looked behind him, Umaku waving to him. Umaku looked at Hitori with a smile:
"Let's go."
As Umaku walked ahead, Hitori followed behind. They had been walking without speaking for 30 minutes, and already Hitori already felt lost. They were currently walking along a path of magenta and gray colored stones.
The path seemed bumpy and desolate.
Hitori took out his notebook from his pocket:
"Hey, you're sure we're going to the right place, right?"
Umaku replied:
"I know, it looks like a secluded place. But it's pretty popular in our high school, where most people hang out. It's a secret among us though. Dont tell the teachers or anything."
5 minutes later, Umaku pointed: "And here we are."
Hitori was impressed by this place..
On a high, hilly area, amongst the sakura and redwood trees, were several gazebos. Next to the gazebos, there was a broken seesaw and two swings.
Seeing that Hitori was impressed, Umaku explained why he decided to chose this place and pointed the swings:
"I really like here. Even though the roads are bumpy and sometimes dangerous, I think it's definitely worth it. I thought you might like a quiet and calm place, around the trees. We are already alone, wanna watch the scenery and talk about anime while swinging?"
"O-okay." Hitori talked to Umaku for the first time.
Umaku looked at Hitori in surprise and added:
"Sorry, I was a little surprised, Hashiro told me you couldn't talk."
Hitori took her notebook:
"I already can't. I can only say a few words, but I just stutter a little when I do."
Hitori nervously giggled to Umaku.
"It's okay, Hitori. These problems are temporary. Talk to people and socialize and you'll get better." Umaku replied.
Hitori got serious, started to write slowly in the notebook:
"I don't want to talk to people. Thats the problem. Every time I trust them, they let me down."
"Hitori, i really understand you, i really do but-"
As soon as he heard the footsteps, Hitori wrote:
"Someone is coming."
Umaku looked at Hitori:
"Lets go."
At the exit of the park, they encountered a threatening-looking angry girl and a quiet girl standing behind her.
Hitori panicked and Umaku was confused, Umaku started talking to the girl:
"Hey, Kowai. How's it going? Long time no talk-"
Kowai completely ignored Umaku, approached Hitori and whispered in his ear:
"Hey, i dont know the heck is your name,but you spend too much time with Hashiro, you piece of garbage. Stop wasting his time and go deal with your own rotten social problems. Die!"
Hitori started to tremble. Umaku interrupted:
"Hey, hey, hey! I can hear you, calm down a bit. Also, how do you know about Hitori's problem? Were you eavesdropping while Hitori and Hashiro talking or something?"
Kowai started to flush with anger:
"SHUT UP!"
As she prepared to punch Umaku, Umaku grabbed her hand and began to laugh nervously:
"K-kowai, I think you're pushing your luck. Don't mess with us, please!"
Kowai got even more angry, she slapped Umaku with her other hand. She turned around in a fury and called out to the silent girl behind him:
"Let's go, Kurinji."
As they were gone, Umaku tried to calm Hitori as he trembled:
"I don't understand. What does this girl have to do with Hashiro? She's been acting like a creep of her since school started, this girl has always been around Hashiro, these last two years Hashiro started to keep this girl away from him. Needless to ask "why", I guess."
Hitori took a deep breath to calm herself.
Umaku put his hand on Hitori's shoulder:
"You'll get through this, Hitori, trust me. I've had issues like this before too. There was s gir-"
He fell silent as soon as he remembered his past. He wanted to punch them, they didn't deserve to live. He hated them, he wanted them to smash their heads against the wall over and over and make them bleed to death. He wanted to lock them in Keyaru's dungeon in Hedo of Realer.
"F-forget it Hitori. I think we should go too..."
Hitori panicked as Umaku prepared to leave. She made a noise for him not to go.
"What happened, Hitori?" A-ahh, right, it was your first time here."
Hitori relaxed. Umaku looked at Hitori:
"Okay, I'll escort you to the end of the path, you can go home from there, right?"
Hitori shook her head.
Umaku and Hitori talked about their elementary school and its environment. Meanwhile, both Umaku and Hitori tried not to talk too much about their past.