In the afternoon, the lights in the classroom have already been turned on to provide students with a conducive learning atmosphere. The deceitful school grass entered the classroom feeling like a famous F4 member. He was the lone person who wasn't in a school uniform.
"The school grass can't be a bully with a dead brain! Seeing Hiro makes my hand itch, and I want to put him back into his mother's womb for remaking."
[Milady, your thoughts are currently very dangerous.]
Now, Hiro is dressed in athletic attire. His shirt features a subtle light red stripe across the chest, and he's complemented this with a straightforward pair of jogging pants for his lower body. "The school grass is really handsome!" Girls around Shira squealed when they drooled over Hiro.
Standing at 1.8 meters tall, Hiro already stands out as relatively tall among twelfth-grade students. It's worth noting that many boys may cease growing after their fourth year of high school, while a few may continue to experience growth even after entering university.
"I hate that face. It makes me want to punch blue and black on him. What do you think, Lemolemo?"
[Milady, please restrain yourself.]
Shira turned to Kiba beside her.
"I need to heal him. The faster he becomes healthy, the better he will look! If he suddenly turns into a swan admired by everyone, my eyes can finally rest seeing the brain-dead school grass."
[Milady, why are you hating Hiro so much?]
"Because his whole person looks similar to my cocky brain-dead cousin! Who has nothing to do but bring trouble at home."
Lemolemo fell silent.
As the final school bell rang, Shira's observant eyes picked out Kiba, trudging alone through the dimly lit corridor. "He looked bullied like that. Have you seen him being bullied today, Lemolemo?"
[He heard some hurtful words, Milady, when his brother's teammates appeared.]
"He really has a low self-confidence."
[Will you use the springwater to cure him, Milady? It works very fast...]
"I can't do it, at least not for the time being. If I go with the shortcut, it will be counterproductive. I need him to work hard and see the progress for himself. He needs to face the fears he has been carrying inside. Being sick and fat for all his life and seeing the magic that will change his fate in an instant is not a good idea."
[Why?]
"Because if he does change for a day, his life will be spent thinking that a day's change won't last long. His confidence will tremble if he hears insults, which will push him to blacken earlier than the expected time. And he will be scared if one day his appearance turns back to the 'unworthy-self' he's been treating himself as."
[He is really pitiful, Milady.]
The solitary figure of the young man, cast in the meager light, seemed to exude an air of loneliness. The night's breeze, frigid and unforgiving, swept through the campus, and soon, the heavens opened up, releasing a torrential downpour.
[Milady, you can't get wet, or you'll get sick.]
"I am not that fragile yet."
[But Milady, this isn't your normal body.]
"Oh, right! How weak..."
Kiba halted abruptly, caught off guard by the sudden onset of rain. In his hesitation, he was oblivious to the shelter that could be found under various umbrellas and the company of those who huddled together, seeking refuge from the unfeeling downpour.
"Has the genius become stupid? Why is he standing there and doing nothing?"
[Milady, please offer an umbrella to the Villain. He might be depressed because he has no friends.]
"Don't smart people bring umbrellas nowadays? They are really wasting their brain cells..."
He stood there like a forlorn statue, disconnected from the world, engulfed in a sense of isolation that weighed heavily upon him. He thought, 'I am so alone in this world again that even my brother hates me, and he would choose to accompany his friends more than be with me...'
Unbeknownst to Kiba, Shira had been observing him, her considerate heart stirred by his desolation. She approached him, offering half of her umbrella as an act of kindness. Her voice broke the spell that had enveloped Kiba, drawing his attention away from his inner turmoil.
"Where is your driver?" Shira inquired her words like a beacon in the dark for Kiba. He looked up, realizing that he was now sheltered from the rain beneath her umbrella. Turning around, he recognized the girl who had shared lunch with him earlier in the day.
"Did you hear me, Kiba?" Shira questioned with genuine concern. "Come back to Earth."
Kiba's response was tinged with gratitude and uncertainty. "Ah, my brother and his friends went somewhere, and he took the car…" He cast his gaze downwards, his eyes settling on Shira's mud-spattered shoes.
With the unwavering decision, Shira took charge. "Let's go. I'll take you home."
Initially bewildered by her offer, Kiba responded with a puzzled "Huh?"
Shira didn't wait for further hesitation. "Come on! We're getting wetter by the second!" She tugged at Kiba's arm, pulling him closer to her.
Finally, when she spotted her driver waiting nearby, Shira gently ushered Kiba into the shelter of the car. She handed him a towel, her voice filled with regard, "What are you doing in a daze? Wipe yourself down before you catch a cold."
At that moment, as Shira's warmth and kindness enveloped him, Kiba felt a flicker of hope and connection in the midst of the pouring rain. "Thanks."
After Shira had delivered Kiba to his residence, the mansion loomed grand and imposing. The servants, accustomed to their routine, were taken aback by the unexpected sight of their young master accompanied by the girl.
"Young Master," Butler Xino spoke with surprise, lacing his tone, "the Madam and the Master have been waiting for you."
Kiba offered a slight nod to acknowledge the butler's statement. "Kindly tell my father and mother that I need to change my clothes first," he requested before making a swift retreat to his private quarters.
In his room, Kiba hastily undressed and stepped into the warmth of the waiting bath. The hot water cascaded over him, soothing the chill of the rain-soaked afternoon. The tears that had been held back throughout his life began to flow freely, mingling with the shower's water, unburdening his heart.
He reflected on the unexpected act of kindness that Shira had shown him, the girl who had looked beyond his brother's imposing shadow to see him as a person in his own right. Her compassion had pierced the armor of his isolation, and he couldn't help but be moved by the authenticity of her concern.
As he bathed and cried, he whispered to himself in a moment of painful realization, 'This is the first time someone cared for me sincerely. She saw me as a person and not just someone under my brother's shadow. Shira, you are truly the unreachable flower blooming in a field of a thousand thorns.'
Kiba's arrival at the family dinner table was met with the usual absence that had become so familiar. His brother's seat remained vacant. The warm glow of the dining room chandelier cast elongated shadows that seemed to mirror the void from Hiro's persistent absence.
His father, a figure of quiet strength and authority, inquired about Shira's unexpected assistance. "I heard Shira brought you back," he said, his eyes harboring a glimmer of curiosity.
Kiba nodded in response. "She did, Dad."
His mother, her eyes bright with interest, seized the opportunity to delve further. "That's good! What do you think of her?"
Kiba hesitated briefly, sipping on the soup that had grown cold. "She's a kind-hearted person. She's been my tablemate since I started learning, and she's also my friend."
Excitement bubbled in his mother's voice as she probed further. "Do you like her?"
A smile tugged at the corners of Kiba's lips. "Yeah, I do."
It was a liking for a friend, but her mother mistook it for an intimate affection.
"Great!" His mother's enthusiasm was contagious, and her words lingered in the air as a sense of intrigue colored the room.
Then Kiba noticed his father's rare smile, and he couldn't help but inquire, "What's wrong?" There was something unusual about the way his parents were reacting, and his mother's smile held a mystery that he couldn't quite decipher.
"Oh, nothing," his father reassured him. "Kids should focus on their studies well…" His words were laced with hidden meaning, and Kiba sensed a subtle shift in their usual dinner conversations. However, the meaning behind their smiles remained just out of reach.
Later, as Kiba retired to his room, his thoughts returned to the keychain he had accidentally acquired from Shira. It had come loose from her phone while she was sleeping, falling silently to the floor.
Rather than waking her to return it, he had decided to keep it safe. "I even forgot to return this to her," he mused, holding the keychain in his hand. He gazed out of his window at the rain, the drops creating a soothing symphony against the glass.
A feeling of self-chastisement gnawed at him. "I'm really stupid," he whispered to himself, "I didn't even get her number." The sound of rain accompanied his thoughts, and the keychain felt like a tiny, tangible link to a world that was slowly opening up to him, even as the rain outside continued to fall.