The ginger-haired kid had never heard anyone refer to him in such a manner. Most people he encountered always considered themselves superior, despite him potentially being far better than them.
After their brief interaction yesterday, he was convinced that Haruki was just another spoiled and arrogant child. Little did he know that Haruki would return the next day with an entirely different demeanor. It seemed unnatural.
"So, hey, what's your name?" the child suddenly heard the question from below.
How straightforward!
Even Haru realized it and laughed it off, "Sorry, I'll go first. My name's Haruki Fukuda. Or just Haru, for short."
Even more straightforward!
The ginger-haired boy furrowed his brow, silently judging this peculiar person.
But Haruki seemed oblivious and continued to poke at the grass with his stick, thinking aloud, "If you were telling the truth about the initials under the swing, then your name starts with either K or N. Hmm, but you look more like a K."
Taken aback by those words, the child grew even more cautious.
"Still, I think I'm going to call you... Ginger."
The child remained speechless. Ginger?
For some reason, the nickname sparked a strange sense of familiarity within him. Disliking the feeling, he furrowed his brow.
"Not bad, right?" Haruki continued. "You've already got the hair, so it shouldn't be hard for you to get used to the name."
"Don't call me that," the kid finally spoke. "It isn't my name."
Haruki hid his smile as he continued poking at the grass. "It's not? Then what is it?"
The ginger-haired boy almost slipped up but quickly sealed his lips, realizing he would be falling right into the other's trap.
Having received no response, Haruki lifted his head and found the kid frowning at him. He shrugged casually, "Ah, worth a try."
"What do you want?" the kid asked, his tone cold.
"To enjoy my time at the park," Haru replied, idly playing around with the stick. "And just so you know, I didn't lie about my name."
"Casually giving out your name to strangers," the tree-boy scoffed, his attention returning to his book. "You're just asking for trouble."
"But didn't we meet yesterday?"
"We didn't plan a second meeting," the ginger-haired kid said. Well, at least not for his part.
"Oh," Haru pondered for a moment, then snickered. "Well, it's a good thing that the stranger I gave it to happens to be a helpless little kid then."
"How do you know I work alone?" tree-boy challenged.
"Because you seem like the type who doesn't have a social life," Haruki didn't hold back his personal attack. "Reading a school textbook alone in a tree at a park full of people? A novel is one thing, but a textbook? If that's what you call a 'social life', then god have mercy."
The ginger-haired kid fell into a contemplative silence. Haruki's words struck a nerve. It wasn't like he was wrong in his assertion. Tree-boy really had no social life whatsoever—no friends to hang out with, not even a pet.
Ignoring the silence, Haruki resumed his investigation. "So, what, you a middle-schooler? I recognize that Math textbook since I have the same one at home. We're probably in the same grade—"
"What are you doing?" the kid interrupted.
Haruki stopped twirling the stick and asked, confused, "With this?"
"No," the ginger-haired brat snapped.
"Hm?"
"Stop talking like we're acquainted or something," the kid's eyes narrowed in distaste.
Haruki raised his brows. "Why? Is it a bad thing?"
"Enough with the innocent act," the kid accused, his anger bubbling over. "Yesterday, you clearly couldn't stand me and even said I was annoying."
"Yeah, but that was only because you dissed me first..." Haru grumbled to himself, feeling embarrassed and guilty.
However, the boy seemed to have missed Haruki's words, assuming it was another insult. Ginger's anger intensified, and he seethed through gritted teeth. "I hate bullies who play 'pretend' the most."
Haruki was taken aback. Him? A bully? How had he suddenly become one?
"If you've got something to say, then say it clearly!" the ginger-haired kid fumed.
Wearing a strained smile, Haruki attempted to clear things up. "Hey, listen, Ginger—"
"Stop calling me that!"
Jeez... he really looks pissed; Haru thought. He mentioned something about yesterday, so I guess that's why he's still so angry? But I already apologized for that though.
"What is it that you really want? Money? You're with that fatso's group, aren't you?" the kid complained. "You guys already took my watch, so what more do you want from me?"
Haruki was even more puzzled and tried to pacify the other, waving his hands. "Shush, you'll attract a lot of attention if you start yelling. What watch are you even talking about? Calm down..."
"I am calm!"
"Okay, then don't calm down."
"....Huh?!"
Haruki sighed and ran his hands down his face, suddenly feeling exhausted. "Look, I honestly don't know about this 'group' or 'fatso' you're talking about. But from what you just said and how you suddenly acted up when you thought I'm one of them, I can tell you're being bullied."
Ginger fell silent.
"Yesterday, I admit, I was mean and let out all my pent-up frustrations on you," Haruki, unable to meet the other's eyes, spoke softly as a wave of shame flooded over him. "Something was bothering me at the time, so I'm really sorry I lashed out at you.'"
Ginger anger subsided somewhat after hearing those words. Despite his initial skepticism, the sincerity in Haruki's voice brought a sense of calm to his emotions.
"Just now, you asked what I wanted, right? To be honest, I'm just looking for someone to talk to and help me take my mind off things. But now that I say it out loud, it sounds a bit strange, doesn't it?"
The fiery passion that had consumed Ginger's heart gradually faded, and he returned to his usual calm demeanor. He coolly gazed at Haruki, as if observing some strange being, before speaking frankly.
"In other words, you don't have a 'social life' whatsoever either."
Haruki stiffly nodded in agreement. "Yes, you're absolutely right."
Ginger scoffed, leaning back against the tree trunk, his book in hand. "As long as you're aware."
It's fine. I brought this upon myself; Haru thought, fighting back invisible tears.
"So?" the young tree-boy abruptly glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "Did it work?"
Huh?
Seeing Haruki's puzzled expression, Ginger felt a hint of annoyance creeping back. "Tch, you're the one who said you needed someone to take your mind off things!"
Haru chuckled and nodded. "Sorry. Yeah, it worked. Thanks."
"Whatever," Ginger muttered.
Haruki remained silent for a while, a smile playing on his lips, before suddenly remembering something and redirecting his attention to the kid again. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something. You changed your clothes, sure, but why aren't you wearing shoes again? Do you enjoy going barefoot?"
"Did you ever consider that I might not have any shoes to wear?" Ginger asked.
Haruki glanced at the kid's feet, raising an eyebrow. "Even from up here, I can tell that those are well-maintained feet." He then reached a conclusion and slapped his fist into his palm. "I know, it must make climbing easier for you, doesn't it?"
Ginger was about to retort with something snarky when he noticed the expectant look on Haruki's face, as if being proven right would bring him immense joy.
"Does figuring it out make you that happy?"
"So I was right then?" Haru's happiness seemed to grow.
Ginger decided to ignore him.
"Alright, so do you bring your shoes up there with you or ... PFFFT, what am I even asking? Okay, so we've figured out how you climb, but now I need to know how you get back down. Do you use the ropes from the swing to descend?"
Ginger, who had vowed to himself not to answer any more of Haruki's questions, was taken aback when his mouth moved on its own. "Rarely."
The other boy pondered for a moment. "Then what do you do?"
"I jump."
"Eh?" Haruki's eyes widened as he calculated the daunting distance between the lowest tree branch and the ground. It was still quite a height, and a disbelieving laugh escaped his lips. "Haha..."
Ginger's expression twisted into one of disdain, clearly unimpressed.
Observing Ginger's displeasure, Haruki wisely suppressed his snickers. "You're not kidding?"
The question hung in the air as Ginger retorted, "Why do you look so surprised?"
Haruki couldn't help but express his bafflement. "You're so small. A jump from that height could cause serious damage."
Ginger shrugged nonchalantly. "I have sprains here and there."
"And you think that's normal?" Haruki furrowed his brow, even more perplexed.
"I've grown used to the pain," Ginger replied matter-of-factly.
Haruki was left speechless, his puzzlement etched on his face.
"What's with that expression?" Ginger demanded.
Sighing, Haruki responded, "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."
Curiosity piqued, the other pressed, "What is it?"
"Yesterday, I met a strange kid sitting on a tree branch," Haruki recounted casually, shaking his head. "Today, I discovered he was a little stupid."
An exasperated vein twitched on Ginger's forehead, his frustration evident. "Is this your way of making fun of me because you think I can't make the jump?"
However, Haruki continued with his act, assuming a mockingly dramatic tone. "Alas, he was truly stupid beyond saving..."
Ginger's anger flared, causing him to abruptly rise to his feet, not bothering to close the textbook he had been reading, clutching it in one hand.
A sense of foreboding washed over Haruki. "Hey wait, what are you doing?"
Without a word in response, Ginger focused his gaze on the ground below. It was clear what he had in mind.
Panic gripped Haruki as he leapt up from the swing. "Look, I was only kidding, okay? I know you can make the jump."
But Ginger disregarded his plea, determined to prove that he couldn't be easily looked down upon. Without hesitation, he leapt off the tree branch!
Haruki's words caught in his throat as he instinctively lunged forward, arms outstretched, ready to catch the fool who believed he could fly.
Ginger's eyes widened mid-air, puzzled by Haruki's sudden actions.
In the next instant, a loud collision echoed through the air, and both children's vision faded to black.
~~~~~~