CH 3

After leaving the classroom, I managed to get home despite feeling more physically ill than ever before.

It is more accurate to say that I had no choice but to go home. Of course, there was no place for me at school after what had happened, and I didn’t have the presence of mind to go outside to cool off and clear my head, at least for a change.

Fortunately, my mom is at work and my older sister and younger sister are at school, so it’s just me at home right now.

（….I look terrible.)

I look at my face in the bathroom mirror and mutter to myself. I feel as if I’ve aged more than a year.

I feel a little better, probably due to the nausea I let it all out when I got home. The headache, which could have cracked my head open at any moment, has subsided considerably now that I’ve taken a strong painkiller.

My body has recovered somewhat, but my mind is not doing so well. I enter my room and fall backwards onto my bed.

I meditate and calmly repeat deep breaths. I prayed that my mind would calm down a little so that I could think straight.

But the clearer my thoughts become, the more the scene that I don’t want to remember ruthlessly comes back to my mind.

You were thrust from heaven to hell today.

The cruel memories that cannot be erased, force me to face reality without mercy.

It’s a bad dream… I try to escape from reality, but it doesn’t work that way. Even if I escape today, tomorrow will come and I will be obligated to go to school.

If I can’t escape, I have to think of a way out.

I am not as smart as Rinto, and I don’t have the guts to stay calm at a time like this.

But even with such an ordinary person’s brain, there is one thing that is clear to me that I must do from now on.

First, I have to clear my name, and then I have to drive Rena Saito into a corner for framing me.

That is my top priority right now. I’m not going to let my feelings of hatred or any other half-hearted kindness come to my mind after being beaten so thoroughly. I feel hatred…or perhaps even stronger feelings than hatred because I am not calm right now.

As a concrete action, should I go to the police first and… hmmm, should I get my phone back first? I have no idea.

My body is an honest one, and as I was thinking about all the things I should be doing, I suddenly felt sleepy.

Before I slowly fall asleep, I remember the most important thing.

Come to think of it, I wonder how Mio is doing…. Just remembering her crying face makes my heart beat so fast that it feels like it will collapse.

I wonder if I should have pulled her hand and left the classroom with her at any cost.

No… I hate to think it, but if the pure-hearted Mio believed Rena’s nonsense, it was probably a good decision for me to go out by myself now.

Either way, I’m worried about Mio. I’m sure everything will be fine with Rinto. The people around her will be concerned about Mio.

But still…I swore I would make her smile more.

I can’t believe I made the most important person cry because of me….

Mio…

“–Ga! –Iga! Hey Taiga! Wake up!”

I open my eyes in a hurry as someone knocks me awake. I don’t feel like I slept at all. I look at the clock and see that only almost an hour and a half has passed since I fell asleep.

I look in front of me and see a woman in a suit standing there.　

“Mom?”

“Mou! I was told to come to school alone with Taiga, so I ditched work and came home, you know? And the principal called me personally! I was so worried that I rushed home, but look at you…”

My mom jokingly tried to pinch my cheek. I was still sleepy and unresisting, so I was pulled at her mercy. But as soon as she saw my face, her hand stopped.

“You… What kind of face do you have? Are you okay?”

She asked me with deep concern if my face was that bad. His kindness made me feel like I couldn’t say anything. I was so worried that if I let my guard down even a little, I would start crying like an old man.

“Well, you must have been involved in something, right? Don’t worry! I’m here for you, okay?”

I couldn’t hold back a single tear, which trickled down, because of my mother’s kindness, which she shows at times like this, even though she is always joking around.

“Okay, okay! Do you want me to pet you?”

“N-No, thanks!”

I was embarrassed and lightly shook off my mother’s hand that was jokingly trying to stroke me. Mom looks at me with kind eyes.

After what happened in the classroom, I thought I had no one on my side. Maybe… even Mio seems to be crushed with anxiety that she will leave me… I’m really scared…

That’s why I’m feeling much better now that I’ve been touched by Mom’s kindness.

Yes….. it’s okay. I still have my family.

To tell you the truth, my mom and I are not related by blood. I am not even related to my sister, who is in the first grade. The only blood ties I have are with my older sister, who is a year older than me, and my father, who is dead. I’ve only seen my real mother in pictures.

If it is said that we are not a real family, it may be true if we focus on the blood ties.

But for me, my mother has been my mother and my sister my sister since the day my father introduced us. We have lived in harmony and supported each other for a long time without rebellion.

I couldn’t sleep much, but I felt much lighter than I did before I went to bed because I was touched by the kindness of my family.

“Do you want to know why you were invited to the school?”

“Fufu, you don’t want to tell me, right? I’ll find out when I get there.”

Normally I know I should tell my mom now. If we go to school anyway, she will know everything. But… I don’t know what to say at a time like this, but I can’t bear to talk to my mother from my own mouth because of the content

“I’m sorry, Mom, for everything. But I just want to say this. I know there will be a lot of things said over there, but I didn’t do all of them.”

Then, of course, she said,

“Obviously!”

She gave me a thumbs up with the biggest smile on her face.