Midory woke up from her dreams when she heard a noise, in the kitchen, sounds of dishes reaching her ears.
The young woman went about her business knowing that her sister was already awake, she got up yawning and scratched her head, her hair was messy, she began by untangling it.
While passing the comb through the extension of her hair, she regained consciousness of herself, when she stretched out, she finished getting ready.
Within minutes, the noises stopped, a silence invaded the house.
The young woman opened the door to her room when she heard the front door slam shut.
He went through the kitchen finding some ingredients for a sandwich.
I put away and cleaned what was there, then went through his belongings.
Leaving the house, his gaze fell on a familiar figure.
Black hair waved in the air and red eyes shone, that smile made him sigh.
He didn't understand Sunimi, sometimes he seemed to be happy and other times he pretended.
Today was one of those days.
Her eyes weren't deceiving her, she had a rigid posture and some bags under her eyes.
She walked towards her without wanting to investigate, she preferred her friend to trust her and tell her what was going on.
"Good morning"said the young woman, Sunimi also greeted, then they walked towards the institute.
On the way, both were lost in their thoughts.
Midory wandered in memories, without realizing it, her face was colored red, an indiscreet smile crossed her lips, she still had her teacher's gesture in mind, she wanted to thank him when she saw him. For Sunimi, her friend's expressions went unnoticed, she from time to time pinched her body.
Thinking of a way to thank her mentor, Midory stopped smiling.
He had remembered their talk before leaving the barrier and the decision he had made, he did not like to take those moments into consideration, however, even if he ignored it, he had begun to notice certain things in his memories that he had not before, among them, his master's expression when he had given up, a disappointment it pained him to imagine.
That weighed on her heart, it wasn't that she didn't want to fight, she wanted to be strong, but without attacking, as her mentor had said, she was a hopeless case, she resigned because of that.
Trying to convince himself that it wasn't his fault, he had to remember happy times to distract himself.
Midory was not the only one with problems, Sunimi also remembered words that made her doubt, her best friend had lied to her, she thought they had improved, but then they returned to the same, she did not understand why it was always the same, she felt frustrated.
Shortly after reaching the entrance of the Sunimi Institute he stopped, Midory continued walking without paying attention to him.
The minor bit her lips, she wanted to say something to vent, but she didn't know how to approach it.
Her gaze shifted to her best friend, she kept walking.
In an uncertain voice he spoke.
"Midory" she said loudly, the named stopped.
He slowly turned around doubtfully, it was rare for Sunimi to speak to him in that tone, it was always soft or playful, not a demanding one like now.
Her friend's self-conscious face was confused, she didn't understand what she was thinking.
"Yes?" the girl asked, Sunimi looked at the blue eyes on that face of hers and her mind was distracted, her eyes were filled with sadness, she sighed at the memory of her.
"It's nothing" she said, the girl nodded, she wouldn't force her to speak if she didn't want to.
They greeted the guard and walked to their classroom.
Upon entering, everyone moved to their place, Sunimi smiling with some girls and Midory looking out the window.
The rest of the morning was spent distantly, each one in their world.
After the second hour, a doubt attacked Midory.
"Byron didn't come to class" she thought, she wondered why he had been absent, at first she thought he would be late, but the hours passed making it obvious that he wouldn't come, it seemed strange to her that he would be absent on the second day of classes.
Noticing what he was thinking, the young woman discarded the idea, she barely knew him, that sudden interest must have mixed with her frustration.
She had been thinking all morning about whether to ask her teacher to train her, without understanding what he wanted to get at with that.
"I wish to be strong, but without being able to attack, how will I win?" She pondering a response she looked around her hoping to clear her mind.
A pessimistic feeling invaded her, she was tired of hanging around the same problem for hours, she wanted to solve it, however, she didn't know how.
Looking out the window, she saw a group of students on the field, it was the track team that trained every morning.
Paying attention to what they did, he realized that they were divided by their abilities in sports, some ran, others lifted weights, even among themselves they fought hand to hand.
The minor's eyes widened, various images running through her mind.
Remembering the battle in the alley, he had seen wrestling moves similar to the ones track students did, his teacher had called them Styles.
The girl's eyes lit up thinking of a possibility, a few minutes passed before she shook her head, it was impossible, she was bad at sports, she had never exercised in her life except the one they forced her to do in class.
The styles her master had spoken of required the wearer to be in good physical condition, she did not meet that requirement.
He had found the solution to overcome his dark destiny, but it was also his biggest flaw.
The young woman's complex expression remained for the last hour, debating in her head what to do.
After the first part of the classes, during the break, Midory listened to her classmates laugh and joke.
He had thought a lot, but he had given up trying, he wanted to believe that he could do it, but he never felt that he did things right, the people around him always reminded him. Also, she was not willing to do physical exercises, she was equally embarrassed and annoyed.
Trying to relax, he moved his eyes around the room observing the routine of the others, among them, a young woman noticed the way Midory behaved, she stared at him with doubt.
The young blonde was focused on what was happening in another part of the room that she didn't even notice that she was being watched, between light glances, she found a depressed classmate.
He didn't remember his name, but he knew that he liked card games, from Midory's position, in the corner, he could well perceive the reason for his sadness.
That companion shouted insults at his friend while his expression darkened, his other companion mocked him.
With a little attention Midory noticed that the boy was losing.
Still, he kept asking for a rematch.
That got her thinking.
"Why do you keep trying if you're losing? Wouldn't it be better to quit?" She wondered, she tried to remember something about him, taking pictures of times when she was happy.
Through her memories she saw the image of a boy who had fun playing, the opposite of what was happening, she understood the reason why he was sad, it was because of his run of bad luck.
"Perhaps losing and winning are not important, what he enjoys doing is playing" the minor mused comparing it with her life.
Midory always stopped doing things if they seemed difficult to her, whether she liked it or not, she never had the feeling of losing or gaining something, the closest thing was a void, as if her life was missing an important piece of a puzzle , however, she never made an effort to change, she saw it as normal, even the people around her consented to her behavior because they did not expect anything from her, that attitude sometimes left her thinking, however, just as she gave up trying new things, he also did when solving his problems.
Now that he saw a similar situation, he couldn't help but find parallels.
Between musings, a thought startled the minor, the young woman who was watching him approached worriedly, she had seen something strange.
"During my life I have never done anything" she said to herself, the more she repeated it she realized all the times she had given up, from studying for an exam to talking to others, she always made the same excuse.
"It's okay if I don't do it, I'm bad at everything" she said to herself, assuming she was doing the right thing.
Now that she realized, she wanted to cry, a lump in her throat forming, as she forced herself not to let the tears out.
Fingers tapped gently on her shoulder, startled, she turned away.
The one who had called was Sunimi's friend, her name was Rukia, with black hair to her shoulders, green eyes that reminded her of grass in the morning, she got along with her friend, and if the youngest were more open, it would surely be the same with her.
"Sakaguchi, are you alright?" She asked uncomfortably, she had come because it seemed strange to see her partner so distracted, although she didn't like her relationship with Sunimi, she had discovered a long time ago that it was thanks to Midory that her friend had given her what she wanted for her birthday.
He had left an impression on her that time, at least he wanted to know if he could help with anything.
"I'm fine" Midory murmured wiping away her tears, she noticed her classmates were looking at her and she was embarrassed.
Rukia wanted to say something, but held back, she already felt uncomfortable for having spoken to Sakaguchi, continuing the conversation seemed insufferable to her.
She said goodbye with a nod going back to her friends, Sunimi still hadn't returned from shopping.
Recovering from her discomfort, she scolded herself for not controlling her emotions, she was good at it, but sometimes she got carried away, provoking situations like this.
Several minutes passed until he calmed his mind, always with the idea in his head.
"I haven't done anything" he repeated to himself.
Sunimi had returned and when she heard what had happened with Midory she stared at him with an intense gaze, without approaching.
The young woman tried to ignore the black-haired girl during the afternoon, focusing on her memories.
He had several simulations run through his imagination of her doing what she never dared to do, but it made him so uncomfortable to see her change the subject midway through, the afternoon fast-forwarded by then.
At the end of classes, Sunimi left with her friends, Midory watched her go.
"Even now I dare not try" she said to herself.
On the way home, he searched for ways to avoid that intrusive thought, always attacking without being able to stop it.
Midory was good at controlling her emotions, but not her thoughts.
A few blocks from her house, she remembered her teacher and what he had done for her, she felt happy, nervous to see him.
"If I could tell him that I want to try it, maybe it would make him happier than thanking him" she told herself guiltily, she knew that her teacher was not happy with her decision and wanted to find a way to remedy it.
Looking up from the ground, a familiar figure awaited him.
With red hair that lit up in the twilight, along with those bright eyes that reflected happiness, a burly man fixed his gaze on a blonde-haired young woman.
Midory's lips curved into a smile as a warm feeling washed over her.
"If he was willing to help me, even if he didn't want to, he would try" she told herself with a longing growing in her chest.
Next Chapter: A troublesome training.