CH 41

How To Remember Someone (5)

He was a more ordinary-looking guy than I thought. There were no signs of ill-intent or anything strange about him. He looked like someone we would have passed by once or twice. But why did this guy suddenly appear in front of us? Yesterday, I had a lot of things to say to him, but when I saw the culprit’s face, my mouth wouldn’t open easily.

“Um…”

It was the guy who opened his mouth first. Contrary to his bold pursuit of us, his voice was timid. His gesture was shy, as if he was confessing.

“I have something to say to Miss Arsene.”

He was aiming for Leto. Maybe he knew Leto’s identity and was trying to threaten him? Or was he targeting Leto with a strange intent? Anxious, I blocked the space between Leto and the guy. I intended to not leave this space. 

The man looked at me with a troubled face.

“Can you move aside…”

“No.”

No matter what anyone says, I will protect Leto. If anyone was going to threaten or harm Leto, I was going to stop them. Seeing my firm expression, the man’s eyes wavered and he gulped as if he had made up his mind. 

“Miss Leah Arsene.”

“…….”

“I want to go out with you.”

And when he said that sentence, my body froze. I was wondering what was going on right now. He acted as if he wanted to confess but didn’t really know how to. Not to mention it was Leto. Of course, Leto was beautiful, so there were a lot of male students who would stare at him.

However, because of Leto’s sharp and fierce personality, not only men but even women could not approach him easily. Even if they tried, Leto would completely ignore the other person. He didn’t give attention to anyone but me. Then again, no one apart from me was brave enough to talk to Leto again after being rejected.

“Excuse me?”

Leto sounded angry. I understood him. The only reason he had been following us until now was to confess. Leto snickered in ridicule. At that laugh, the 4th grader flinched and slouched his shoulder even more.

“Is that why you followed me?”

Leto no longer wanted to speak to him. 

“I, I heard about your personality. But I don’t mind the rumours and I love your personality, I also like you.”

“Let’s go, Briseis.”

Leto dragged my wrist as if it wasn’t worth listening to him.

“If you don’t accept me, I will keep chasing you! I will keep confessing and sending you letters.”

“Damn you.”

Leto cursed. The guy didn’t seem to want to move on. He was quite stubborn and strange. I was also offended by the man’s words, but strangely, it stabbed my conscience. Because his behaviour was almost identical to what I had done to Leto in the beginning.

Of course, it wasn’t as bad as him, but it still stabbed my conscience and I felt guilty.

“Do as you please.”

Leto approached the guy with a grave expression. Leto frowned as though he was about to hit the guy at any second. However, the guy was smiling pervertedly as though he was happy to even converse with Leto at this moment. Every time I saw that smile, I immediately got goosebumps.

“You don’t know which family I come from, do you? It’s the Arsene family. I can destroy you and your whole family.”

Leto let out a terrifying threat. That’s a phrase I’ve heard a lot somewhere. Was that what he had said to me when I first chased Leto? I wasn’t mistaken, he probably really said that to me.

“Y-You can’t.”

“What?”

When Leto asked, the man made a strange sound and wiggled his finger.

“Y-You are a child abandoned by the duke. Do you think the duke will grant your request? You’re nothing without the duke. Am I right?”

“…….”

“My family is a count, but we are quite wealthy. If you marry me, you will be able to live in luxury without any worries. Leave that damn family.”

Then, the guy dropped a bomb. The man had brought up about his family that even I couldn’t bring to touch without hesitation.

“But you shouldn’t be embarrassed, Leah. I heard your family is strict. But that’s not why you’re abandoned. Rumour has it that you don’t even get your mother’s love. Your father treats you scornfully. No one appreciates you, but my family is different. I want all of you.”

I was overwhelmed by the urge to cover up the man’s mouth. Before that, I glanced at Leto and he was staring at the guy with a cold look as if he was about to kill him. That look was terrifying. A cold air seemed to flow around Leto.

Leto’s darkened face looked as though he wanted to strangle the man at any moment. At this point, it was clear that something big was about to occur.

“I know everything, Leah. How painful it is for you in that family. So come to me…”

“Do you even realise what you’re saying? You pervert!”

I hurriedly stuffed the bottle of orange juice in the guy’s mouth.

“Wa ih?” (What’s this?)

The guy tried to remove the bottle from his mouth, but I stopped him.

“You have to stop talking nonsense. Wow, I can’t hear you because it’s so loud!”

I smiled at the look of the guy who was staring at me fiercely.

“Oh, so scary. Senior, do you want to be known as a pervert in school? Huh?”

“Le go.” (Let go.)

“I know a lot of friends, and if I say something, rumours will spread. Then, won’t you be embarrassed and even your family will be humiliated? You might even be abandoned in this life. You’re afraid of that. Aren’t you?”

“…… you!”

The guy pushed me with a red face. When I fell back, the guy hurriedly removed the bottle from his mouth.

“You’re just from a small baron family!”

“You stalker! You even investigated other people!”

“A, Are you going to keep quiet now?”

“Or else what will you do?”

At some point, I couldn’t control my anger and got impulsive. I retorted to the guy’s red face without backing down. It’s not enough that he followed after my friend, but even exposed my friend right in front of me?

The students around us gradually began to gather around to watch the fight between me and the guy. This is my chance to let everyone know about this pervert and his creepiness! I wanted as many people as possible to gather.

“You just wait and see……!”

The guy couldn’t stand my provocation and grabbed me by the collar. Well, tried to, but someone blocked him. It was Leto.

Without a word, he grabbed the guy’s hand in an instant and swiftly twisted it.

“L-Leah…I-It hurts!”

The guy tried to escape Leto’s grip, but it was useless. Leto’s eyes flashed and he immediately punched him in the face. It all happened within seconds. As the sound of the fist hitting the flesh was heard, the guy fell backwards. At the same time, the students around us were stunned.

‘S-She really hit him……’

Still pissed, Leto went to the guy who had fallen and grabbed him by the collar. Once again, Leto’s fist hit the man’s cheek. Without hesitation, Leto started to punch the guy’s face. Leto, who was punching the guy’s face recklessly without anyone stopping him, was completely out of his mind.

The guy’s face was getting worse. His lips swelled up and his cheeks turned red, making his ugly appearance even uglier.

“Le-Leah, stop!”

I grabbed Leto’s hand in a hurry. He paused at my voice, exhaled, and looked at the guy’s beaten-up face. The guy burst into tears and the students whispered around him. Leto finally noticed this and carefully rose from his position.

“I…”

“Good job. Now, I’ll hit him.”

“Huh?”

Without letting Leto respond, I kicked the guy’s shin. The guy’s face winced in pain again.

“That is the price for following us all the time. You secretly followed us to the bathroom, did you?”

“Ugh!”

“You blatantly threatened to hit me and Leah! You deserve to be hit!”

Ah, I recalled back all the grudges. Before I knew it, I was beating the guy mindlessly.

“Briseis, stop it!”

It’s a shame that Leto stopped me. It wasn’t until I had hit the guy that I realised I was doomed. What if the guy’s parents appear and make a big deal out of this?

Still, I couldn’t help but be angry.

＊  ＊  ＊

Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks.

Thanks to Leto, I recovered and hurriedly left the place. Tomorrow, rumours were sure to be spread here and there, and it will be known to the high committee of the academy. My head was already aching from the expected outcome.

“Why did you do that?”

Leto asked.

“Because I’m angry! He deserves to be hit. But Leah, you should’ve avoided his face. You can hit him more if you aim at places that can’t be seen.”

“You’re so…”

Leto stared at me blankly before he smiled. I smiled back before noticing a wound on Leto’s fist. It appeared to be a wound from hitting the guy earlier.

“It’s alright.”

“…Let’s stop hitting others in the future. Both of us will graduate from this academy and become good people.”

“What?”

“Okay?”

When I asked, Leto nodded.

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Promise.”

When I held out my pinky, Leto reluctantly wrapped his pinky on mine.