Chapter 124: Realization

"Are they the ones?" Taro asked, pointing towards a group of men who had been looking towards them for quite some time.

"I mean, is there anyone else here who's literally glaring towards you?" She asked, before giving out a loud laugh as if she wanted to spite them.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" He asked.

"What do you think we should do?" She asked.

"Well, if we're going with my plan, I would've beat some sense into them by now." He replied.

"And if I allowed you to do that, you would've been in jail by now already. That's kinda stupid, you know." She sighed.

"I know. But, it's been long…" His voice trailed off in the midst. He was reminiscing about his times in Wados, working as the team leader in the disaster management squad. He kinda loved that position. He frequently got a chance to battle it out with the perpetrator if he or she was still around by the time they came. If not that, there were the arenas where he could battle it out. Compared to that, he felt rusty since he hasn't done any beating for a long time. And this feeling overcame his rationality in times like this.

"Ha, I don't know what you're talking about, but I think you should act sensibly—like, you are a teacher, right?" She spoke.

"Well, you were the one who asked me to leave that entire persona off. Currently, I'm an immature brat who's a bit hotheaded." He replied.

"Interesting. I'm actually glad that I told you about this. Had I not, I wouldn't have known that you got this side as well." She smiled.

"Argh. I don't like how your words sound so genuine yet flirty. You sure got the charm, alright. If I was a lolicon, I would've been attracted to you." He spoke with no chill.

"Such a risky joke. But how dare you call me a loli? I'm one year to eighteen, you know?" She replied.

"And I'm one year close to twenty-eight. What's your point?" He asked.

"Well, I'll be eighteen, the legal age, next year. If you are not finding me attractive because I'm not of legal age, after a year, we could date, you know?" She was blushing as she said that.

"Nope. Not interested. At all." Taro's reply was stern.

"Wait, didn't you just say that you would've been attracted if-" Before she could complete her sentence, Taro cut her off.

"Yea, in some alternate universe where you weren't my student. And even in that case, I'll be a bit taken aback. I'm simply not interested in relationships now. It's not my major priority." He replied.

"Then what is?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"Your major priority. What is it?" She asked again.

Taro stayed silent and thought for a while before coming up with an answer. "Living my life normally, I guess?" He replied.

"Then how has your life been till now? I mean, you're a teacher, for Pete's sake! How more normal can your life be at this point?" She asked, sounding a bit frustrated.

That's when he seriously looked back to his time on Earth. Even though certain things happened which wouldn't slot him into the 'normal people' category, like the tournament incident, since those events were wiped off people's memories, nobody looked at him differently. No one thought he was weird or treated him like a stranger. He found a family, even. If he had asked his previous self about his dreams of being normal, he would've described this scenario. Taro felt it; Abhirami is right. This was the life he was looking for. Being normal didn't look impossible anymore, since he was living so.

"Huh, I never put much thought into it before, but you're right. This is normal!" Taro went off on a laughing fit which surprised both Abhirami and the stalker group.

After the initial surprise, Abhirami was more or less happy that she could talk some sense into her teacher. Since she was on a roll, she continued riding that momentum. "Look, I don't know what kinda stuff you went through before, but let me tell ya. Your major priority has been fulfilled ever since you took the job as a teacher." She spoke.

"It does seem so." He nodded his head vigorously before heaving a sigh of relief. "You know, because of certain things that happened in the past, my concept of normalcy is quite wonky. So, thank you for reminding me that the life I'm leading is normal as well." He gave out a genuine smile.

Until now, there had been two concepts of normalcy in his mind- one of the Earth and other of Wados. While the life he currently led was treated perfectly normal on Earth, it wouldn't be so in Wados. On that planet, being normal means having a superpower and extraordinary abilities. So, when both these concepts continuously clashed in his mind, he forgot that normalcy actually meant being able to blend into a society without people judging you all the time. Normalcy meant not being ostracized by a group of people for being different somehow.

Even though Taro was enjoying this normalcy by hiding certain parts of him, he felt like life is much better if you have something to hide rather than having all your cards out on the table. Back in the day, the Wadorians treated him as a weirdo since everyone knew he didn't have a superpower. However, that wasn't something that could be hidden because once you check your aptitude.

Now, he's treated as a normal person because he could hide his power. The key to the life he sought to lead was right in his hand unlike before, and that was truly the best thing that could've happened to him.

"Ha, you don't have to thank me for that, you know? I just said what came into my stupid mind. That's it." She got embarrassed when he thanked her.

"Well, you might think it as trivial, but it really helped me. So, if there's something that you want—like a gift or something, do tell me." He spoke.

"A gift, huh?" She thought for a while before shortening the distance between them in an instant. She gave a peck on Taro's cheek. "There ya go! Got my gift." This time around, the ones surprised were Taro and the stalkers.

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