Chapter 87: Protected by Love

[With the help of the church, you came to a full-time boarding school, which is a great place for a kid like you, at least it's great for you.]

[Because this school is far away from your 'home,' which is the church where Father Enrique is, you simply cannot accept the 'day school' method. Even going back home during holidays seems a bit difficult. You can only wait for Father Enrique to come visit you. Your life can basically only stay in school—after all, although the church sponsors your tuition and accommodation fees, that's all.]

[However, you didn't mind it, because it was a rare opportunity to get a chance to study. Before entering the school, you thanked the church members and said that you would study hard.]

[The church people just smiled, saying they believed you would.]

[And in fact, it is true. In your daily studies, you appear to be very smart, and your grades are among the best among your peers. In the specialty classes, or the music classes specially selected for you, you fully demonstrate your talent. In addition, you are well-behaved and polite in your daily life, so many teachers like you very much.]

[Especially the music teacher, he saw your talent almost at first sight, and after a few lessons he said that you will definitely become a great musician in the future—at least better than him.]

[Thanks to this, this teacher will occasionally show some 'partiality' towards you, and sometimes even give you some 'special lessons' in private, giving you extra lessons in his free time, and you are happy to do so, absorbing the knowledge about music theory like a sponge.]

[You are also very popular among the students. Because you have taken care of other children in the church, you are very good at dealing with other children when you come to school. You even help the dormitory manager to comfort those children who feel lonely, scared, and cry because of living in the school dormitory. You are more skilled than the dormitory manager.]

[In addition, in your free time, you never forget to help out everywhere, running quickly around the school with the cheerful pace of a child, sometimes helping this child clean the dormitory and make the bed, sometimes helping that teacher move things... You have left your traces everywhere in the school, and the cheerful tunes you hummed have been left everywhere in the school.]

[Your liveliness and energy are almost all spent on helping others, which makes others like you more and more, especially teachers. They particularly like you, a well-behaved and cute child... After all, you are not noisy, nor playful, and you even work hard to help others. You are also very good at studying. Which teacher doesn't like such a worry-free and labor-saving child?]

[Unconsciously, you have become a little 'heartthrob' in this school. Hmm... although there are not even 10,000 people in this school~]

[However, changes often happen inadvertently...]

[As mentioned before, this is a full-time boarding school, but if the student's family can afford it, they can actually go to school as a day student. After all, the school cannot completely confine the students to the school, wouldn't that be "house arrest"? They will be scolded to death]

[Plus, this is a school with special courses and is relatively famous, so in other words... the families of the students here are actually very nice. About 30% of the students are day students, 60% of the children can go home on weekends, and most of the remaining 10% can be picked up by their families during the holidays.]

[As for the few remaining children, some were unable to go back due to various reasons... and some simply did not want to go home and only wanted to stay in school.]

[And you happen to belong to the last category - you don't have the spare money to buy a ticket home, so you can only spend the holidays in school and communicate with Father Enrique and others through video with the help of the teachers who stayed behind.]

[It's actually nothing. After all, everyone has their own worries. Children don't care about each other very much. Children who stay in school and can't go home won't show any emotions to children who go to school every day. Although they may envy them occasionally, it's nothing, isn't it?]

[You are kind to others, and this is especially true. Every time a day-schooler leaves, or when parents come to pick up their children on weekends, you will cheerfully give them a farewell song as a gift, and then show your joy at seeing each other again when you meet again on Monday.]

[There's nothing wrong with that, right?]

[But until one day... a child asked you casually and innocently - "Nozomi, won't your family come to pick you up?"]

[He is really just curious, or he simply wants to express his doubts, or he may just be concerned about you, but... for some reason, this sentence still makes people feel uncomfortable.]

[But you don't care, you just answer truthfully that your "home" and your family are too far away from here, it's too troublesome to run back and forth, and you may not be able to catch up with the course, so you choose to stay in school.]

["Why don't your parents come to visit you?" — He still expressed his doubts naively.]

[This question made you silent for a while, but you still answered truthfully that your parents were no longer around, so there would be no "mom or dad" to visit you.]

["Is that so? That's strange… Nozomi doesn't have a father or a mother… Everyone here has them…" — He spoke softly with some doubt, his tone full of childish innocence.]

[Although you know he didn't mean it, you still feel uncomfortable... because the subtext of this sentence carries an inexplicable "showing off" meaning, which is very annoying.]

[However, you did not blame him. After all, you could feel that he was just curious and just wanted to care about you. What's more important is... he could not understand the impact of a person without parents saying "other people have parents", nor did he understand how much of a blow this sentence would bring to others.]

[He just... simply said what he was thinking.]

[So, you just smiled awkwardly and casually, and didn't care about it.]

[But other children didn't think so… When that child found out about this, he started telling others about it as if he had discovered some "new world"… He just wanted to share the "difference" he had discovered with others. Plus, children at this stage always play together and communicate very quickly. In a short while, all the students in the school knew about it.]

[Honestly, this is really annoying, especially when you find out that the child had no ill intentions, this kind of thing becomes even more... awkward.]

[Although every teacher strictly prohibited the children from spreading the story after hearing about it, and specifically explained that it was very bad to spread such things...but no one listened, or even though all the children listened, no one wanted to stop.]

[On the one hand, it was pure curiosity, because the children did not quite understand what was wrong with the "bad" thing the teacher said, because they did not feel bad or uncomfortable, so they really wanted to know what this "bad" thing was, so they did not stop their actions.]

[On the other hand, it is simply the children's "rebellion". The more the teachers forbid it, the more the children feel that there is something "special" in this matter, and there must be some "hidden secrets" that can be explored, so their actions begin to escalate.]

[On the other hand... maybe it's because you performed "too well" in school and were too popular, so some children were a little... envious, envious of your friendly and popular appearance, and then they became a little... jealous.]

[Jealous that you are so popular and attract so much attention from others, they also want to be like you, or even... be more popular than you.]

[They don't know whether the emotion in their hearts is good or bad, they just want to follow their hearts and act accordingly... So when they discover your "difference" and your imperfections, they become keen to spread this point, and even start to use their childish imagination to imagine what is hidden behind your "shortcomings."]

[Especially when they find that by using your "difference" to express some "imagination" that belongs to them, the children around them will gather around them with curiosity, surround them, and focus their eyes on them, they will feel that there is nothing wrong with their actions.]

[They don't think they are wrong, they just want to be like you, to be surrounded by others, to attract others' attention, to become… as likable as you.]

[Besides, they don't think this will have any impact. They just talk about it. What will it cause?]

[What they don't know is that their "just moving their mouths" can still cause harm... It's just that because they are not hurting themselves, they don't feel anything and don't think there is anything wrong with them.]

[As children, they don't have the ability to discern or understand what kind of impact this incident will have on you, the person involved, and they don't know that their words will actually hurt others... This is really sad.]

[Most importantly…teachers did not stop it severely, and did not know how to stop it, especially when they found that once they warned their students, the rumors about you would spread faster and faster, so teachers could only "cold handle" and wait for the children to lose interest in the discussion.]

[This is indeed a way to deal with it. After all, children's interest comes and goes quickly, but this is actually unfair, an unfairness to you... because it means that you have to endure this "harmless harm" until the children's interest fades.]

[You are very sad. You want to talk to Father Enrique about this matter and tell him about your troubles and sorrows. However... when you dial Father Enrique's number and see his face on the terminal, you are stunned.]

[Because Father Enrique was lying on a hospital bed, he looked very weak.]

[You asked with great concern, and all the troubles and sorrows you wanted to talk about were briefly forgotten by you. Now you are more concerned about Father Enrique's condition.]

[Then you learned that Father Enrique encountered a thief who came to the church to steal things one night... When he found him, the children were already asleep. In order not to disturb the children, Father Enrique planned to comfort him with words and even said that if he encountered any difficulties, he could tell him and he would help to solve them. If he encountered any problems in life, the church was also willing to help.]

[It's just that the thief…seems to be a fugitive. He not only deceived Father Enrique verbally, but also pretended to agree to it in order to get Father Enrique to get close to him.]

[Father Enrique's natural kindness and his duty as a priest made him let down his guard, but unfortunately, the other party did not accept Father Enrique's kindness and stabbed him several times when Father Enrique approached him... But fortunately, Father Enrique finally drove him away and informed the chief of the police station of the situation.]

[Most of the wounds on Father Enrique's body were not deep and not particularly fatal. The main problem was that a few of the wounds hit his lungs. Even after timely treatment, Father Enrique still suffered from the disease and occasionally felt pain when breathing.]

[You can't care about much at this moment. You want to go back to visit Father Enrique... but he stops you.]

["Don't worry, child walking on the road…", Father Enrique said, "Please continue along the path you are on now. Don't be attached to me, and don't keep your eyes on me. You will have a broader and brighter future."]

["You have suffered enough. Although there will still be pain in the future, you don't have to do this. You don't have to focus on the suffering. Move towards a brighter, broader, and more dazzling future. Witness the kindness and love of the world, accept love and kindness, and then... remember it in your heart, move towards a brighter future, and become... the existence you most want to be, an existence like your name."]

["Please don't worry, I haven't left, I have never left, I just returned to His side, and together with Him who is paying attention to you, I am watching your growth... I will always be with you" - Father Enrique said softly.]

[You were not very clear about his somewhat mysterious words, but you still understood what he meant - he told you not to worry about him, he hoped that you could study hard and move towards a better path.]

[Since Father Enrique doesn't want you to worry about him… then you should also not let him worry about you—you think so.]

[So you suppressed your worries and sorrows, and responded to his words firmly, promising him that you would definitely move towards a better future as he expected.]

[Father Enrique smiled happily. Before he hung up the phone, you felt as if he had fulfilled a wish buried deep in his heart. He felt relieved and satisfied.]

[You have become more determined and studied harder. Facing the discussions of the children around you and the rumors that have not stopped, you control yourself and don't care. You try to maintain your original kindness and positivity. You are active in school as before and help others.]

[But... the rumors about you did not stop there. They became even weirder and more intense. There were even obvious fabricated "rumors" that were quite bad.]

[It is still those children who want to be like you who do this because they have no choice, they must maintain this rumor, and even lie and make up rumors about you so that they can continue to maintain the status of "being like you" - being watched and surrounded by others.]

[Especially when your grades get better and better, and your presence becomes more and more dazzling, their actions become more... "outrageous" and more and more excessive.]

[Because only in this way can they be "like you."]

[Their actions are still harmless, and they are unaware that their actions actually carry a lot of malice... But it is precisely because of this that people are helpless and disgusted.]

[This is a child, who has no clear sense of good and evil, has never received clear guidance, and hurts others invisibly....]

[In this state, no matter how hard you try to control yourself, no matter how hard you force yourself to ignore these comments... you are still affected.]

[The sadness that you had barely suppressed surged up again, confusion and disgust spread in your heart, and you were a little absent-minded in the recent music class. Whether it was the music you played or the songs you hummed, they all carried a vague sadness and complaint, which made the music teacher who was in charge of guiding you frown.]

[It's not that this kind of emotion is bad, because the melody and atmosphere of some music are sad. If you practice this type of music at this time, your progress will definitely be obvious, but... this teacher doesn't want this to happen.]

[Because he knows very well that you are in the most critical period now, and it is the time that will most affect your future path. Everything you experience now will directly affect your future path in music and even art.]

[Although it's okay to go with a sad theme, after all, that's also a style, and you can even say that you're still young, and even if you get hurt, there's still time to heal in the future... but he doesn't think so.]

[Time may heal everything, but it will eventually leave scars that are difficult to eliminate or even impossible to erase. He doesn't want you to have such an avoidable "knot" in your heart, nor does he want you to spend more time and energy to heal this "wound" in the future.]

[Because he deeply knows that without the "now", there will be no "later", and he cannot pin his hopes of healing your soul on the illusory "future."]

[Therefore, he intends to help you.]

[Next, this teacher begins to show an extremely obvious "bias" towards you, and at the same time displays an attitude completely different from other teachers. He begins to focus on dealing with the "rumors" about you that are circulating everywhere. Once he finds that a student has started to spread "rumors" about you, he will specifically name that student and "take care" of that student in every way - of course, within the rules.]

[This action undoubtedly caused the students to rebel, and their attention was unconsciously diverted. They began to focus on the "confrontation" with the teacher, and they were less concerned about your affairs.]

[Because they found that if they took the initiative to lead other children to "fight" the teacher, they could also get attention and gaze, and even be surrounded by more people... Although the direction they chose was different from yours, they still got what they wanted most.]

[But this action undoubtedly attracted the "exclusion" or indifference of other teachers, because they felt that this teacher's behavior would definitely lead to complaints and trouble in the future... They didn't want to get into trouble.]

[As for your problem… Although the teachers are helpless and sympathize with your situation, they don't want to offend other students because of this… The parents of the students will complain. If the number is too large, they will lose their jobs. Therefore, they can only take care of you more in private, or comfort you from time to time… But that's all.]

[You saw what the teacher did and expressed your sincere gratitude to him, but at the same time... you were also worried about him.]

[You find him, ask him questions and show concern, and say, "Teacher, you... don't have to be like this. I can handle it, and I'm not too sad. After all... they are telling the truth. I heard from other teachers that if you continue to do this, you will probably get complaints, or even lose your job, right? I don't want to embarrass you..."]

[However, he shook his head and directly rejected your statement.]

["Even if what they said is true, it is not a reason for them to hurt you wantonly… and watching a very talented student who can definitely surpass me suffer inexplicable harm, this is something I cannot accept as a teacher… even if this harm is not malicious" - he said so.]

["I also know very well that those children are just envious of your status, your excellence, and maybe even… a little jealous of you, so they desperately grasp any method that can make them "like you," even if this method is not right, or even wrong… it's just that they don't realize that this method is wrong."]

["Those children simply don't know whether this matter is right or wrong. They simply haven't received correct and clear enough guidance. That's all… So I have to point out this problem for them and their parents. This is my responsibility as a teacher."]

["So…", he patted your head, "Don't worry, let go of those sorrows, be firm in your heart, keep moving forward, become better, become someone that no one can be "like you," so that they can only look up to you, only envy you, but not be jealous… I believe you can do it, after all, you are my student."]

["When you become famous in the future, I can brag about it to others, haha… ah, ahem, sorry, please forget what I just said, haha…"]

["As for the rest, you don't have to worry about it," he smiled, like a gentle breeze.]

[Then, he whispered to you:]

["The teacher will protect you."]

[You stood there in a daze, with a hidden feeling in your heart that you yourself were not aware of, as if a wound left long ago was quietly healing.]

[At this moment, you personally feel a sense of... "love."]