Chapter 24: Absent

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!

Roy wakes up by the alarm of his phone. Tired, Roy blindly grabs the phone, which he accidentally knocks on the ground. Samuel, who's awoken by the noise of the phone falling on the ground as well as the alarm noises it's making, sees his owner struggling to get his phone. Sam heads towards it, grabs it using his teeth, and gives it to Roy. Roy appreciates Sam's actions but also is disgusted by him. Roy pets Sam as he takes his phone back. Luckily, the phone isn't damaged, nor it doesn't have any bite marks. It's only covered in drool. Samuel's drool, that is. Roy wipes it off using the side of his bedsheet and proceeds to turn the alarm off. Roy then sits right upon his bed, yawning while stretching at the same time.

'Mr. Daichi didn't show any mercy last night. Mr. Chiba likes American bacon that much that he ordered 20 packages of it. By packages, I mean medium size boxes. Varari and I had to go back and forth many times. Which consumes many hours of my sleep.

I probably should have used Determination Drive to speed up the process. Or the portal thing that I usually use to carry things… Dammit! Why didn't I use that?...', Roy angrily thought.

Roy sighs at the thought that last night would have been so easier. Roy pets Sam. Sam licks Roy back. Roy smiles at this. After that, Roy stretches again and heads inside the bathroom, but he soon heads outside forgetting he doesn't have a towel inside to wipe himself.

After the bath, Roy is feeling more awake than ever. Roy puts on his boxers first, wearing his white shirt next, then his yellowish pants, socks, and shoes. After that, Roy puts on his blue sweater and tie. Finally, his black blazer.

After finishing his uniform, Roy heads over to his bag, making sure he doesn't forget a thing but he remembers… Roy looks at his right wrist, remembering the conversation last night.

"Sir, have you seen my watch today? I guess I might have lost it here.", Roy asked.

"Watch? I heard of no watch. You might have to check Lost And Found tomorrow. They might have something there. Now get on with these 100 packages.", the principal ordered.

Roy grabs his wrist. Roy is saddened by the thought of losing his watch forever because that watch is important to him. Roy shakes his head, trying to clear his mind.

"Lost and Found...where was that again?", Roy muttered, trying to give himself some hope.

Roy grabs his school bag and heads towards his door and with a deep breath, he opens it. Roy heads over to his stair to see Odaka and Reika eating breakfast already. Reika is already in her school uniform. Roy also sees a plate with eggs and bacon on it, but nobody is eating it.

'That must be mine.', Roy thought.

Roy went downstairs. Reika and Odaka notice them. Reika then runs toward Roy with a small hug on his leg. Roy appreciates it and pats her on the head.

"Good morning, Rei.", Roy greeted her.

"Good morning, onii-chan!", Reika replied cheerfully.

Then Roy heads over to the table Roye faces Odaka with a gentle smile on his face.

"Thank you for agreeing to not only make breakfast but also prepare Reika for school. I am glad to have a brother like you.", Roy thanks Odaka.

Odaka giggles at what he hears and is flattered by Roy's words.

"No problem, Roy. I'm always happy to help.", Odaka said as he smiled.

Roy nods and then sits down at the table to begin eating. Reika also starts eating it as well. Odaka, who's already finished eating, stands up, cleans his plates and utensils, and goes to the living. Roy opens the TV and watches the news. Roy hears them talking about the usual. Crimes, crimes, disasters, actual good news, crimes, and more crimes… Roy doesn't prefer to watch the news, unlike Odaka who seems to have his full attention on it. Odaka's focus on the tv can sometimes be a problem. Calling Odaka's name can lead to deaf ears. They even have to physically shake Odaka to make him notice them. However, in the middle of it all, they all hear something particular that is different from the rest.

"We also have a weird one, a weird news per se. Umm... Apparently last night a man who was being robbed by 4 men was saved by a mysterious hero.", a female newscaster said.

Roy stands up upon hearing this and approaches their TV. Reika follows him as well. They then show a clip of them interviewing said victim.

"Uh yeah, right here. This is where it all happens. I was screaming for help due to being rob and then a cloud of smoke appears which surprised me. The next moment, the robbers were all knocked out."

They then show a CCTV clip of what happened. True to the man's word, there he is, being robbed by 4 men. A smoke appears and a figure jumps in, seemingly coming from the roof of a house. Then it cuts, it showing the mysterious person jumping out of the smoke. Soon, all four men are shown sleeping on the concrete floor. It then shows both clips of the unknown hero jumping in and out but zooming in and pausing at the right time. It's blurry enough to not see Roy clearly but his figure is right there on the screen. Roy clenches his fist, frustrated at his own stupidity and carelessness. As well as crossing his arms and gritting his teeth.

"I don't know about you, Sakura, but this feels like a movie but in real life.", a male newscaster commented.

"I know, Shiro. Investigators are finding who is this vigilante. Are they foe or friend? Are they human or something otherworldly? Are they a hero or a villain? Keep watching this channel for future news!"

Odaka looks at Roy with worries, worrying that there may be other ninjas in the neighborhood that they may encounter. Seeing Odaka's expression, Roy makes up a lie. Roy grabs Odaka's shoulder using his left while he faces the TV.

"It seems like we aren't the only ones here. Be careful whenever you go out of the house from now on.", Roy said as he looks at the TV again.

Odaka buys the lie and nods. Roy then heads back to the kitchen and proceeds to eat his breakfast. Reika also did.

"Onii-chan? Was that you?", Reika whispered.

Roy nods. Reika's eyes widen. Roy signals Reika to stay quiet. Roy then leans in.

"If you keep quiet about this, we'll get cupcakes.", Roy made a deal with Reika.

"CUPCAKES!!!", Reika shouted.

Roy puts his finger on his lips again. Reika covers her mouth using her tiny hands. Roy looks at Odaka who seems to have not heard her scream. As well as Odaka's 100% focus is on the news.

'That's Odaka alright.', Roy thought.

Roy takes another bite. Soon, Roy and Reika wave goodbye to Odaka who is still laser-focused on the TV. They then close the door and lock it. Reika grabs Roy's hand and starts dragging him first to her school.

"Alright alright... Let's go.", Roy said in response.

Roy picks up the pace and only a couple of steps, they're already there. Lucky for them, Reika's school is near their house. At the entrances, Roy sees mothers, fathers, guardians, and an old man dropping their kids off. Roy ignores them and lets go of Reika which she instantly sprinted towards her school but soon stops. Then Reika turns around, run towards Roy, and signals him to come closer to her. Roy does that and as soon as he kneels, Roy is met with a kiss on his left cheek. Roy smiles and pats her once more. After that, Reika goes inside her school. Roy turns around to leave but he sees an old man giving him an angry look.

"Yes?", Roy asked the elderly man.

"You shouldn't let your sister dye her hair.", he responded angrily.

Roy's confused by this. Then he asks again.

"Excuse me? I don't understand...", Roy said confusingly.

"A Japanese only have black or brown hair. Not red like your little sister.", he replied firmly.

Roy looks at her little sister talking with her classmates. Roy sees a couple of children who have other hair colors than black or brown but most of them have black and or brown hair. Roy finds this weird. After that, Roy looks at the elderly man again.

"It's not dyed, it's natural.", Roy contradicted him.

"Oh yeah, like I believe it. People like you should be proud of your natural hair color.", he sarcastically said before leaving.

Roy scratches his head in confusion but he shakes it off and starts walking towards his school.

"Huh?!", somebody said behind Roy.

Roy turns his head around to see a punk-looking boy staring at Roy at the moment which they suddenly look away. Roy ignores this and continues on.

Roy walks to his usual route, nothing but the usual until a limo drive by. Roy's eyes widen when he sees what's inside the car. It's so fast that he can only get a glimpse. A glimpse of a sad-looking silver-haired girl with blue eyes. The limo then drives off. Roy stands there in confusion.

"Ichika?", Roy muttered.

Roy stares at the car until it disappears from his point of view. Roy then puts his hand on his forehead.

'What's happening to my usual morning.', Roy thought.

Roy tries to shake it off. Roy takes a heavy sigh before continuing. Roy then reached a point where Yua and Sara meet him but...nobody's there. Not a single person he knows is seen on the sideways. A car passes by him, making him snap out of it but it also reminded him of Sara and the face she was making. Roy just hopes that "she" would come.

After a few minutes, Roy finally arrives at school to see his friends there, gathered. Including Sara. All of them had gloom on their faces and then they see Roy. Sara's sad face then turns to anger. Sara then says something to both Alvin and Varari and leaves quickly. Roy sees this and sighs. Roy approaches the remainder of his friends.

"Bro, you messed up.", Alvin said.

"I can see that...", Roy replied.

"Your classmates were said to "add salt to the wound" to her when you were taken to the clinic. This causes Yua to not want to go to class now...and I don't think she will if this goes on.", Varari informed Roy.

"...", Roy said nothing to this.

Roy becomes silent. Roy thought that he would see Yua again so he apologize for what he's done to her. Roy thought it would be easy. Turns out, he's wrong.

Roy just takes a deep breath and heads inside to do what he is supposed to do as a student.

When Roy enters his room, along with Alvin, he instantly looks at the empty sit where Yua sits. Roy then overhears a conversation in their class.

"Looks like Yua doesn't want to come here. She usually attends early.", girl 1 said.

"Ha! She should do this every day. So, I won't hear her annoying voice.", girl 2 said.

They all laugh, enjoying that Yua isn't here. Roy becomes angry about this. Roy's about to approach them and talk some sense to them until...

"Well, at least Abellona won't suffer from her today. I don't want to see him in that state again.", girl 3 said.

"Yeah! That was super scary! I didn't know you can annoy people till they're unconscious.", girl 1 replied.

"Hey guys, I think Abellona heard us.", girl 2 notices.

The three of them then look at Roy to which he immediately turns his head away from them, clenching his fist due to remembering the very reason Yua's not here. Roy took a deep breath to calm himself down. Alvin, being a bro, wraps his arm around him.

"Hey, I wouldn't worry about this. She would probably come by when it comes to training later. Yua probably doesn't want to face those people who bullied her.", Alvin tries to give Roy hope.

Roy cools down hearing this. Roy then nods without looking at Alvin. After that, Roy goes to sit at his chair, looking at the window, thinking of how things would go down. As well as making solutions, replies, and moves. Basically, making a strategy to say sorry to Yua meaningfully and effectively because Roy knows that a blank sorry is stupid.

Sara enters the class, done with her duties. Sara sees Roy on his chair, which she instantly looks away. Sara is livid. Sara continues to ignore Roy and sit down on her chair. Seeing Sara like that makes the guilt that Roy is feeling sink even deeper, but he wouldn't blame her. If someone hurts the people Roy cares about, he would also be furious at them. Roy just sighs and looks down at his desk. Mr. Date then enters the room.

"Kiritsu!", Alvin shouted.

Suddenly everybody stands up properly, including Roy.

"Rei!", Alvin yelled.

All of them greet Mr. Date, bowing as well.

"Chaku seki!", Alvin lastly said.

Everybody then sits down and the class begins. Roy looks out of the window again. Thinking...over and over of how he can say sorry to Yua...