Almost two weeks had passed since the incident. All this time I stayed in my room without leaving it, not even to eat. I am still trying to accept the fact that I killed someone.
To most people, it may look silly that I still have not gotten over it. But they do not know what it feels like to take someone's life. It's very different from what they think.
But that was not the only problem. This incident was all over the news. As much as I tried to hide it, now everyone knew what I had done.
Some of them might think I am a hero. But deep down, I know I am not. A hero does not kill.
I started thinking, "What if everyone at school is afraid of me?" Maybe Miko and Yuuki will not want to be with me now. Damn, I just managed to make friends, and now I am losing them just like that?
"No! I will not accept that!" I yelled.
"Shinji, are you okay?"
"Ah, yes, mom. I was upset about something."
"Tomorrow I'll go to the school to see what the situation is. Hopefully Miko and Yuuki will still want to hang out with me." I said and leaned on the bed to sleep.
(The next day)
"Alright mom, I am going to school."
"How come? Did you finally get over it?"
"Y-yes." said I in a low voice.
"Aaah, I can see you still can not let it go. But that's okay, take your time. I know it's hard for you."
"Thanks mom." said I and left the house.
All the way there I could not stop worrying about the situation that would await me at school.
When I got there, my worries grew even bigger. My whole body was shaking. I had to take many deep breaths to calm myself down.
"All right, I really am. Let us get started then."
At first I thought everything was fine because no one seemed to have any interest in me at the yard. But that was not the case. When I entered the building, more than half of the students were lined up in the hallway and they were all staring at me.
Some of them were pointing at me and whispering to those standing next to them, while others were taking pictures of me. Damn, I was sure something like this was going to happen.
As annoying as it was, I was most interested in how Miko and Yuuki would react.
As I continued down the hall, the whispers grew louder as someone shouted, "How does it feel to kill?" I could not figure out who that person was, but I was sure I would see them again.
Before I knew it, I was surrounded by the students who kept asking questions. But then (thank God) Miko and Yuuki came to the rescue. They cleared a path for me and took me to their office.
There, besides Miko and Yuuki, sat two boys and a girl. It was the first time I saw all the members of the student council together.
The three of them turned around and looked at me. They all had serious expressions on their faces. It was as if they wanted to criticize me for all the mistakes I had made in my life.
But you know what they say. Do not judge a book by its cover.
And they were the perfect example of that.
As Miko closed the door, one of the two boys came up to me and grabbed my hand.
"Hello, how are you? My name is Yagami, nice to meet you." He said as he shook my hand vigorously and smiled at the same time.
"A-ah y-yes pleased to meet you too, I am Shinji."
"So Shinji, I have a question for you." said the other as he pushed his glasses closer to his eyes.
"What is it?"
"Hmm, do you watch anime?"
"Yes, I do. To tell you the truth, I watch a lot."
"I see, I see." He said and stood up from his chair.
And then he appeared in front of me.
"I am glad to have you with us, comrade. We are going to have a lot of fun together." He said as he mimicked Yagami's movements.
"Oh, by the way, my name is Hajime."
"Nice to meet you."
"Hey Shinji, I am Natsumi. Nice to meet you." Said the girl as she pushed Hajime to get closer to me,
"Tell me Shinji, do you like the president or me better?" And she came even closer to me.
At that moment, Miko appeared near us, separated Natsumi and me, and said, "That's enough now.
"Aw president, are you afraid that I will take your friend away from you? You know I prefer girls, right?" She said while pressing Miko against the wall and putting the fingers of her right hand on Miko's lips.
"E-eh? W-what are you doing?" said Miko blushing.
"Come on President, do not I make your heart race?"
"N-natsumi, stop it. Shinji is here."
"No, no. Do not bother with me. Please keep doing what you are doing." said I, smiling.
To be honest, this scene right in front of my eyes made me forget all my worries. Miko is so cute when she blushes. I could watch her do that for hours. *Ahem* I mean, I would not like to get involved in her personal problems. But from what I could see, I was not the only one enjoying the sight. Yuuki, Hajime and Yagami were also looking intensely.
"Eeeh? Shinji?"
"You heard what he said. Let us move on."
"No, no, I do not want to."
"Eh, I guess there's nothing to be done. If you do not want to, how can I force my beloved president?" she said, releasing Miko.
Damn, why did they stop? At least I made it before the show was over.
Then Yuuki came closer to me.
"Hey Shinji, I see you managed to take a picture. Being the good person that you are, could you send it to me?"
"Hehe, of course. That's what friends are for."
But since we were engrossed in our conversation, we did not notice that Miko was behind us.
With two quick motions, she smacked us upside the head, took my phone, and deleted the photo.
"Shinji, did you make a copy of the photo?" said Yuuki in a whisper.
I nodded and gave him a thumbs up.
Now I managed to get a better look at the other three. Yagami had black hair with blue eyes, Hajime had brown hair with yellow eyes and wore glasses, and Natsumi had red long hair and green eyes. They were all wearing the clothes of the disciplinary committee.
"*Ahem* Everyone, I wanted to talk to you about the school festival.
""Eeh? Did not Yuuki already prepare everything?" said Yagami, Hajime and Natsumi together.
"Yes, I have prepared everything... Hey, how did you know that? So you really were not sick. You little..."
"Anyway, that's not why I asked you here. As you already know, I asked Shinji to put together a team for the upcoming technique competition, but after everything that happened, no one is willing to participate anymore. But we can still participate, even if it's just Shinji. If we win, the director has agreed to let the six of us go to the beach for a day. So Shinji, what do you think? You have the final say."
Before I could even think about it, everyone turned to look at me. I could feel their gazes looking deep into my soul.
"All right, I'll do it. Stop looking at me like that."
"Perfect, now you are all ready to go to the beach in three days." said Miko with a smile.
"Hey, why are you so sure I am going to win?"
"Because I have confidence in you. And I have seen your skills, so I am sure you'll win."
"That's not even a real reason."
"Good, now everyone is dismissed."
The rest of the day went exactly as I expected. Everyone stared at me the whole time. It was so annoying. Even during breaks, I could not relax at all. Miko had to take me to the roof terrace of the school so I could have a normal break. Normally the roof terrace is off-limits to students, but I was there with the president of the student council, so everything was fine. There were also the other members of the student council on the roof. Apparently they are used to taking breaks there.
I was finally with people who would not judge me all the time, and I have to say I had a great time with them all. The breaks that day were much better than the ones I usually took. With each of them, I got a little closer to myself.
When the bell that announced the end of school rang, everyone except Yagami, who said he had something important to do, accompanied me to the school gate to avoid contact with the other students even more.
On the way home, while I was talking to Ruby about what had happened and trying to convince her that I did not need psychological support, I saw at the edge of my eye Yagami talking to a man a head taller than him in a park.
Naturally, I was curious about what was going on, so I snuck behind some bushes to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Boy, where's the money?"
"I am sorry, sir, but I do not have the money right now. Can you wait a little longer and I'll..."
Before Yagami could finish his sentence, the man punched him in the face and he fell to the ground.
"I do not care what excuses you have, I want the money. You have two days. Or you can say goodbye to your home." The man said and continued walking away from Yagami.
I was still trying to figure out what had happened. Did Yagami owe someone money? And if so, his behaviour was a bit exaggerated. And what did he say about Yagami's house? What is actually going on here?