Chapter 44 - Back to Class

I opened my eyes and sat up.

Haah,

I yawned and stretched my arms wide.

It was now Monday.

It was finally time to get back to class, we haven't been there in a week or something. So it felt a little weird but that was fine.

I put on my training clothes and knocked on Rio's door.

"Coming!" I could hear a muffled, energetic voice coming from the door.

"Good morning, Leo!" Rio said with excitement as the door opened.

"Morning."

After we greeted each other, we went to the track for our daily run. Since we skipped it on Saturday I ran for twice as long as I usually did on Sunday.

I didn't really have much to think about this run, so it went by quickly. Could I have thought about some hard, complicated, problems? Yeah. Did I want to? No. So I didn't.

I met up with Rio and stretched,

Haah. I yawned.

"That was a good run!" Rio slightly jumped like he was getting motivated.

I don't know why, but running is a little fun... Is it because I can notice the difference? Haah, I don't know.

Afterwards we went back to our rooms and got dressed in our school attire.

We began to walk to class.

"It's been a while since we've seen our classmates!" Rio looked a little upbeat.

That's true, over the weekend, I actually didn't see any of them other than when I was with Kazu. Though, I wasn't particularly looking for them.

Now that I think about it, I haven't actually seen Kazu since Saturday either. I wonder if he died.

Almost immediately after my thoughts, I could hear a voice from behind me.

"Hey! Leo, Rio." It was Kazu.

"Good morning, Kazu!" Rio waved at him.

"Morning." I also waved.

"Where have you been?! We wanted to hang out with you on Saturday!" Rio asked

"Ah, I've been trying to cheer everyone up. Some of our friends had been scared or something along those lines because of the Ogre. Luckily, I think they should be fine now."

My condolences, that sounds like a lot of work.

"Oh! So you were looking after them?" Rio asked.

"Yup! That's one way to put it, I want to make sure that none of my friends are feeling down!"

That's admirable, personally, that's way too much work. But man, I really wrote you to be a pushover though huh? Or is it naïve? One of the two, I can't remember.

"You're such a good guy, Kazu! I'm glad you're our friend!" Rio smiled.

Good person? I forgot that was an option.

Kazu smiled before speaking.

"Hah, thanks. I'm lucky you two are my friends as well, you're both amazing!"

This is so cheesy... Has the classroom always been this far?

…

We had finally reached the classroom.

We were the first three to arrive.

I sat in my seat then stretched and yawned.

Rio sat in his seat and Kazu stood by and talked with him, I had put my head down and relaxed.

I wasn't all too tired, it just felt natural to do.

A few minutes later the classroom slowly filled. The mood felt fine, as everyone was still talking with each other as they usually did. I could feel a few more eyes on me than usual though.

Soon after, the teacher had walked in, and everyone quieted down.

Mr. Mispholfo cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Good morning, class."

"I hope everyone is doing well."

"Rowe is up and currently with the principle."

If I remember correctly, that should be Gene. Would it kill you to just use our first names?

I could hear some sighs of relief and could even see Kazu start to cry.

What? Why are you crying? It's not like he died or something.

"I'll explain what we know about the Ogre situation so far, you deserve to know."

I rested my hand on my chin and paid attention.

It's nice to have competent adults, they'll be able to explain why the Ogre was there.

"First, I'll start by saying this. We still have no idea how the Ogre got there."

My hand dropped to the table.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Haah, I sighed.

Why do they always just make me regret my thoughts right after I think about them?

I put my hand back up to my cheek and exhaled heavily.

Well, I mean if they couldn't figure it out then it must really be hard to find out.

"Ms. Brent and I personally checked every inch of the forest and confirmed there was no demons there."

"We had even been monitoring you all from the start. But, somehow, we failed to notice the Ogre until after it had attacked you lot. It was like it suddenly appeared. But that is no excuse for us not noticing. I apologize." Mr. Mispholfo bowed his head.

"The principle is currently apologizing to your parents and will come apologize to you all personally as well."

There were some gasps and shocked eyes from my classmates, I didn't know what they were thinking, nor could I ever know what they were thinking.

All I know is that I wanted to move on from it already, I didn't care about their apology or thanks. What's happened has already happened, just accept it and move on. If you're really sorry then give me some money or something.

I could feel a nudge on my shoulder.

"Leo?" It was Rio.

"Hm?'

"Are you mad at the teachers?"

Mad? Why would I be mad? I mean other than the fact that you could've died, but that would be my fault for not protecting you.

"No?"

"I'm a little mad..." Rio looked down at his table

"I see."

Mr. Mispholfo began to speak again.

"You don't have to accept our apology, just know that this won't happen again, we at Heavensward strive to give you the best teaching and comfortability there is to give."

"Mr. Mispholfo!" Kazu stood up and spoke.

"Yes, Heardstone?"

"We accept your apology!" He shouted and bowed.

Huh? Where did that come from?