'As expected, he started spouting bullshit.' Chrome internally sighed, completely prepared for such a reaction. Bullying was just a fun hobby for Krig who was still in disbelief, but things were completely different when it came to the youth called Fredrick.
It wasn't like Fred was the only person with an impressive background, nor was Chrome the only bullying target in the school. However, all of the big guy's bullying life mainly revolved around Chrome himself!
While Chrome had two prominent reasons to be bullied for, most bullies avoided the students of the Special Class. Even Krig did things moderately until Fred's actions gave him the confidence to go further and further. As proven by the ton of unpleasant memories that Alter Chrome had accumulated, Fred specifically hated Chrome's guts!
The current him held an extreme mix of negative emotions towards the pest known as Chrome, but the start of it all could be boiled down to a single point, Jealousy!
'I thought I would finally get rid of him!'
Being the heir of a rich family that transitioned into a rising Extra Family after the day of the awakening, Fredrick was naturally arrogant. However, the people around him were no more than bugs that didn't enter his sight. He could bully people or abuse her authority, but he didn't… The lowly were simply not worthy of his attention.
Life at the peak was lonely just as it was great. Fred had no entourage that surrounded him to lick his boots, nor did he have any friends, everyone earning his disregard didn't fit inside his picture frame…
Thankfully, that trend didn't continue forever as everything changed with his entrance to Future Highschool. For the very first time, he met someone who he could truly view as his equal. She was not only brilliant but also extraordinarily charming. Coming from a family with a status comparable to that of his own, Alice's entry into Fred's field of vision completely changed his outlook on life!
Even in the world that changed beyond remembrance, the golden-haired girl possessed overwhelming talent. Her special ability blended too well with his into a perfect 'Sword & Shield' combination. Simply put, they were a perfect match!
Unfortunately for him, the only colorful part of his life didn't seem to share Fred's view. Instead, one of the background characters that he never considered looking at received most of her attention. As a result, just like Alice was the first to spark his desire for companionship, Chrome was the first one to invoke the darkness of oppression in his heart…
One of the bugs that he didn't even bother to shoo off was licking the piece of candy that he desired all over! That was unforgivable!
Exploring the options which he could crush the insolent Chrome was, Fred finally resorted to the simplest and most effective one of them all, bullying. Regrettably, that only affected his pursuit of Alice negatively. Although she distanced herself from Chrome so that he wouldn't pour his anger on him, Alice completely ignored him still.
The neverending grudge that Fred held didn't allow him to simply let Chrome continue on with his life just like that. The current Chrome thoroughly understood that after going through his counterpart's memory, but it didn't seem like Fred was going to change his approach anytime soon… Especially when Alice was starting to interact with him again.
"I'm not obliged to prove myself to you, though? As a member of the Special Class just like you, it's my privilege to come and board the bus as long as I personally verified the signs of my awakening," knowing that a softer approach wouldn't make much of a difference, Chrome bluntly replied. With his nonexistent Exos reserves, there was no way he would waste it just to prove someone irrelevant to be wrong…
"And you think you can screw up and embarrass us just because of that great privilege of yours-"
"Fredric, enough!" Link directly interrupted.
"But…"
"No buts, let's all get on the bus. The earlier we arrive, the faster you can confirm if Chrom is lying or not. He would naturally bear the consequences if he is proved to be playing around," the Teacher's tone turned serious as he equally glared at both Fred and Chrome.
"Fine!" Fred harrumphed before angrily stomping his way into the bus.
"Just don't aggravate him any further, Chrome." Bryce lightly tapped Chrome's shoulder, following suit as he boarded the bus with quick steps.
'That's settled for now at least.' Chrome calmly climbed the bus's stairs as well, he was fully aware that Fred would be one of the greatest obstacles on the path he desired to take, but it wasn't like submitting to him would make things any easier, his counterpart had already proven that theory wrong.
Ignoring the bully who had taken the farthest seat all for himself, Chrome looked at Bryce who waved at him while tapping the seat next to him. It seemed like he no longer adapted the distancing approach now that both of them had gotten the chance to flip their fates around. After all, having more friends in the place they were going to was always beneficial.
Chrome was unbothered with seating choice as he was already dealing with the stress of the upcoming tribulation. As such, he just hopped into the window seat beside Bryce even if his impression of him wasn't the best…
Since the commotion was quickly dispersed, the small crowd outside all boarded the bus, the last entrant being none other than Alice whose eyes wandered until they landed on Chrome, walking up to take the seat that was exactly behind him.
"Hey… Are you alright?" Alice's soft whisper made its way to Chrome's ears as soon as the bus started moving, causing his stress headache to grow stronger.
'Just what kind of dumb luck did this counterpart of mine have…' Chrome's internal sighs were endless as they linked with one another. Starting with his parents' disappearance, Alter Chrome's life had too many strange alterations.
His broken friendship with Bryce, the enmity of someone he barely knew like Fred, and lastly the close relationship he had with Alice. Bryce's circumstances were understandable, but how did Alter Chrome cross paths with someone like Alice that early?
To his surprise, Chrome had discovered that both his counterpart and Alice were actually childhood friends!
Having read so many novels with that redundant setting, he couldn't comprehend how it followed him into this Parallel reality. Although it was disproven already, Chrome couldn't help wondering if this was just a lucid dream that his subconscious desires had been strongly leaking into…
Realistically considering the matter, Chrome seriously compared his relationship with Alice on both sides, trying to spot a recognizable pattern.
'Let's see.'
In this parallel reality, everything stemmed from the close friendship between both of their fathers. The two of them always made sure to meet often, bringing along their children and encouraging them to grow similarly closer and keep the link between both families. Under their great effort, young Alice and Chrome were converted into the ultimate pair of childhood BFFs!
Their bond only flowered further as they grew older, especially for Alice who grew strongly attached to the introverted Chrome. Considering this point, her intimate behavior all seemed to make sense, but Alter Chrome only passively accepted it as someone uncomfortable with dealing with girls…
With the untimely disappearance of his parents, Alter Chrome only built more walls around himself. Alice's father still tried to help him financially at the start, but he quickly stopped for some reason, leaving Chrome to fend for himself with no one else to rely on. Both Chromes had no idea why that happened, but Alter Chrome definitely suffered from trust issues as a result, causing his already low EQ to drop even further.
'It doesn't fit.'
On the other hand, the current Chrome's Alice was just a normal classmate of his that never turned to look him in the face. His father had only mentioned being classmates with hers once at a parental meeting, but that was the extent of everything that linked them…
Regardless of the point of change that he failed to pinpoint, Chrome wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. Was he supposed to rejoice that he had a ready to use waifu as his childhood friend in this reality? Or should he feel bad for the sake of his counterpart that only suffered as a result of this relationship?
'Whatever, let's just go with the flow for now.'
While he possessed his own distinct personality, Chrome decided to blend in some of his counterpart's traits so as not to garner too much suspicion by changing his personality in a matter of days. In the reality where Superpowers existed, he could be accused of being one of the impersonating shapeshifters for acting too out of place!
"I'm alright, Alice. Sorry for acting strangely last time, I was just too excited about receiving the Pill that I wasn't in the right mind. Thanks for protecting me back then," Chrome whispered back at Alice.
"That's good, there is no need to worry about something like that between us. Let's do our best at the examination and get in together!" Alice's whisper tickled his ears once more before the conversation came to a stop.
Clap. Clap.
"Now then, since not everyone has had the time to specifically prepare for the examination, let me go over what you should expect while we are on the move…" Grabbing the attention of the students with a light clap, Link stood in the middle of the bus in preparation to impart them with information.