Chapter 73 - I Know

She kept on staring at me too hard. What does she want now? 

Again this situation is difficult for me. If I ask her why is she staring at me I will have to listen to that and I certainly don't want that because the only reason I decided to come here was to be at peace but the moment she sat beside me I lost my most loving thing, peace.

And if I don't ask her she might continue staring at me, I don't want that either. It's weird if someone keeps on staring at you without any reason, right? 

I have two options, and both lead to a dead end. This girl is definitely bad news. I can't associate with her more than this. Who knows she might even come to my class to ask something.

As I was thinking about it something happened that I forgot to take into consideration. 

"You know what...?" she can also ask her question first hand. I completely forgot that. 

Now that she has spoken something should I just stay silent? But if I continue to stay silent she might continue to pester me. Observing her till now has made it clear that she won't stop until she gets her answer or I force her to stop. 

"Are you listening...?" she continued to pry further. 

"... Yes... I'm listening. What do you want?" I asked even though I might regret it later.

"Aren't you a bit different?" she made a perplexed expression, which left me perplexed as to what she was saying.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked her. 

"Like you know the rumors, right?" she said.

"... I know that the rumors about me but I don't particularly know what are they... so, you can say I don't know exactly what are the rumors about me," I replied vaguely.

"What?!" she yelled right behind my left ear.

"... Don't yell at someone when you are this close," I continued, "Also since no one tries to talk to me directly or talk to me about the rumors I don't know. Is it that surprising?" I don't think that's something to be surprised like that. 

"No, no, no. You are waaay of the mark..." she said. 

"?" but I still don't get her point.

"Don't tell me are you a complete airhead...?" she asked me. 

"No... why would you say that?" is she making fun of me? Her face looked a bit serious but her way of questioning seemed a bit like she is making fun of me.

"But seriously," she said, "Do you really not know?"

"My answer is still the same," I said. See, this is what I was talking about. She will continue asking me questions that I think as stupid. 

"Fufufufu...." she began laughing all of a sudden. But she was still trying not to let out her voice too much, maybe because the earlier group might return because of the sound.

"..." even though I stayed silent and stared at her thinking only one thing, why? Why am I still sitting with her here? 

"... The most f-famous among... fufufufu... is that, a-all the second years think that you are of a son of a big yakuza's group leader... fufufufu..!"

"A-And... the first years think that you are a playboy... fufufufufu...!" she tried to control herself but the moment she thinks she was in control and look up at me she burst out laughing again and again. 

I sat there observing her but I think I heard something weird. 

Me? A son of a yakuza? Playboy? I don't even have that many female friends, to begin with, how did they come to that conclusion? Is this some kind of joke?

"Wait, wait... aren't the rumors supposed to be about me holding a gun or using a gun at someone?" I'm confused right now. 

"That was fun..." she said. After many failures, she was able to control her laughter. 

"The one about you holding a gun and using it was something that gave rise to the spread of rumors and to be honest that was the point when everyone became afraid of you, even those who don't even know you. The reason being, the rumors spread like wildfire and it might have twisted bit by bit by many people," she said. 

"So you are telling me that someone spread the rumor and later it was changed?" what is this? Like how much can a rumor be distorted? Isn't this a bit too excessive? 

"That is exactly what happened," she said. 

"I think I understand that thing but why did you laugh this much?" I asked.

"Look even if the rumors are spreading about you, aren't you supposed to be a little bit knowledgeable about it? So, that you can do something to change your reputation," she said.

"I don't really care what other people think of so why should I do something unreasonable such as that?" the only thing is that all that is just a rumor and the rumors are meant to disgrace the person. So there is a high possibility that all of that is actually false, if they have the slightest bit of brain in them they will come to know it's just a way to break me. 

"What? You don't care about that? Aren't you a bit concerned?" she said.

"... You are the one asking me questions for a quite a long time why don't you answer some of mine too?" I proposed something. 

"Alright... I'm fine with either way," and she agreed to it instantly.

"Why don't you tell me the real reason you laughed at me?" I asked my first question.

"Ah, it's just that the moment I talked to you looked somewhat herbivorous so imagining you like a playboy or a son of a big yakuza leader seemed funny, and also you are an airhead," she said.

"I told you, I'm not an airhead." 

"So, what's your second question?" she looked eager to answer the next question. Is she the type that likes to talk a lot? If someone would ask me, I would say 'yes' without hesitating for a second.

"Why were you alone in the gymnasium?" I asked. 

"Hmm..." she paused, "I wanted to practice..."

"And you expect me to believe that?" I said as I stared at her in the similar way she did earlier. I thought I will give her the taste of her own medicine but it appears that she doesn't dislike it since she also stared back at me. 

"... Why don't you believe it?" she asked me. 

"I might not know you or come in here on daily basis but the way you acted earlier when those group of girls came in I completely understand that you have some alter motive and I want to know what it was," I said. It looked like she wanted to get rid of those girls. Throwing the balls across the court isn't something that can be done without a reason obviously. 

"Aren't you asking something personal?" she asked me. 

"What you were doing to me till now isn't personal? Even though it was a failure, you were still trying to pry into my personal life. Isn't that right? If not I will back down right now and leave," I said. Since the beginning, she was trying to ask me things I don't have to disclose with someone that easily.

"Hmm... how about this, I tell you why I was doing practice all alone and you tell me whether you had a conflict with Peter ever," what? Why is she mentioning Peter? I don't think he has got anything to do with this. 

"Alright, let's call it a day then," I said to her. I just asked her about her because she was doing the same thing to me but instead of answering me she handed me an exchange offer. The offer that I don't even care about. Did she really think I will agree to something this foolish? And then I just got to know her why would I tell her something like that?

"What?" she looked confused. She really did think I would comply with her. 

"Why would I tell you something like that? If you don't want to answer that's fine with me since I don't really care what you do..." I was halfway stood up and was about to stand up completely but she pulled my shirt down with full force.

I didn't think she would pull me down and because of my lack of awareness, my shoes slipped and I was about to hit the ground but fortunately, I placed my hand on the ground before the impact and slowed myself a little making my fall less hurtful. 

*Thum* 

It wasn't that painful as I thought. 

I turned around to see what happened and saw a pair of legs below me. 

She placed her leg so that I wouldn't directly hit the ground and because of my hand I was able to slow myself making enough time for her to act but still I didn't think she could react this fast. I guess basketball people have to fast o their feet at least. 

"A-Are you okay...?" she looked a bit concerned. 

"Who is asking? The one who made me fall..." I said sarcastically. 

"I'm sorry...! Did you get hurt anywhere?" she looked worried. 

"I'm okay but don't do that type of thing again," I said. 

"I won't... but I need a favor..." she asked me. And I know I'm going to regret this one also but I still said it.

"What...?" I think I have asked something I shouldn't have.

TO B CONTINUED....