Chapter 4

"Kuro! Kuro! You're late for school!" my mother shouted through the door.

With a shock I woke up and stood up: "What? What time do we have?"

"7:40 a.m.!" she replied angrily.

"Please what?" I shouted , "I need to get dressed!"

"I'm going downstairs, Yuki made you something to eat." said mother annoyed.

I started frantically putting on my school uniform and it occurred to me that I didn't go to my room last night. Wait! Wasn't I still in the dojo yesterday? And this guy. Damn I can't remember last night at all. Was it just a dream? That may be, but it was quite realistic. Even so, I must go now.

"Is Yuki gone yet?" I asked as I put on my shoes quickly.

"Yes," my mother replied in a grim tone.

She was probably still angry about yesterday. I put the thought aside and said goodbye.

I ran the whole 2 kilometers from my house to the school. In moments like these, I'm grateful to do sports with Yuma.

When I arrived at school, I quickly ran into the classroom.

"Ah damn it's exhausting." I whined sighed as I walked in.

"Kuro you're late! I thought you weren't coming anymore." Cathrin said as she approached me.

"Yes, I barely made it. I am... Ran the way here."

Must Fujiko came in right behind me and ordered us to sit down.

I thought the whole first two hours if this was just a dream. This person, who was that? I didn't even see the face. He was moving far too fast. It didn't feel like a dream, but it can also be a mistake in my perception. But even dreams I can always remember well. What have I been training my memory for all these years?

The bell rang for the first break, many went out or to the cafeteria to eat. Miss Fujiko packed up her things and said before leaving: "Kuro, you did well, you didn't paint today! But now you could have at least raise your hand!"

"Yes." I replied nodding, can't she just be satisfied? I sighed and laid my head on the table. Just when I thought I was getting my rest, Cat approached me and asked why I was so calm. "Did something happen?" she asked, worried.

I shook my head and said with a laugh: "Something incomprehensible is going through my head, I need a little time to think."

"You're thinking about something? " Yuma asked horrified, "Help we need an ambulance! Do you have a fever, are you okay?" he roared jokingly, he sighed in relief and sat down, "You don't have a fever, that's good!"

Cathrin started laughing and said , "It must be something serious!"

I looked at them with grunted foreheads and then rested my head on one arm. Sighing I replied, "I had an incredibly weird dream. I can't even remember him exactly."

Yuma started sobbing, "Oh no, the godlike Kuro, who can remember everything, can't remember her dream like a mortal being. What a tragedy." There it was again, Yuma incredibly good dramatic acting. Sometimes I wonder, why he doesn't want to be an actor.

I sighed again; I don't even know how many times I've sighed today.

"Oh Kuro!" Yuma said in a singing voice and put his arm around my shoulder, "Just tell me about what you remember." I turned away from him so that his arm slipped away from my shoulder. I didn't have the nerve to explain it all to him.

Cat tried her luck. She stood in front of me and waited for me to look at her. "You can tell me, can't you?"

"No," I replied bluntly.

"We want to know! Kuroooooo!" the two of them whine in chorus.

"I'm sorry but I can't think clearly right now." They both nodded, not satisfied with what I told them.

We unpacked our food and tried to talk about other banal topics. It didn't take long until it rang again. Time flew by. Yuma complained that he hadn't managed to eat his food.

"Well, now we also have sports." I said desperately.

"Come on, let's go out now, I heard Mister Tobashi is strict!" said Cathrin.

"Do you think? From the sight in the hallway, he always seemed quite relaxed." I answered curiously.

"Every teacher likes you, Kuro." Yuma said as he stood up with a sigh.

"Well, even if the teachers like Kuro, the students don't!" whispered Caroline to Hoshi and Aiko. They looked contemptuously over at us and were just waiting for us to jump on it.

"They were just missing." I said with a sigh. I put my hand to my head and shook it slightly.

We ignored Caroline's statement and all went outside to the changing rooms.

We said goodbye to Yuma and went straight to the changing rooms.

Cat chatted with me and asked what I was up to today. I thought for a moment about it and then replied: "I'm going straight home and cook something to eat, why do you ask?"

"Because you always go riding on Tuesdays, don't you?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yes, but today I'm going back to work. I had to take such a long vacation to reduce my overtime. Now I can go again. Apart from that, I don't feel like going riding today." I said happily. I'm totally happy, if I could, I would go to work every day. It's fun and I like the people. In addition, I can finally have a break from my everyday life.

Cathrin put her hands on my shoulders and shook me through.

"What the hell did you dream that you didn't feel like riding?"

"This has nothing to do with the dream Cat." I answered in a calm voice and took her arm off my shoulder.

Once again, I heard Carolines laughing, she stood behind me and said that I was afraid to fall off the horse and just didn't want to admit it.

Today it was even too exhausting to argue with them. Nevertheless, I could not just let this comment sit on me, which is why I said indifferently: "At least I do something meaningful and do not smear tons of make-up on my face all day."

Caroline was shocked. She didn't know what to say except: "It´s none of your business what I do"

"Likewise, it's none of your business what I do." I replied without turning around. Caroline stood right behind me, she made herself bigger, bigger than she already is towards me. A few girls from the cabin tried to hold Caroline while I stood with my back to her and got my things out. When I turned around, Caroline took me by my collar. I could only smile provocatively at that.

"What's there to laugh about? Don't you know what situation you are in? You're much smaller than me and think you're better?" Caroline shouted angrily at me.

"Yes, I know I'm better than you, in many ways. And yes, I know what situation I am in; however it is not dangerous in the slightest. And even if you hurt me, I wouldn't be the one wrong, because I didn't let my frustration out on you."

"You damn!" she cursed and before I reacted, she slapped me.

I was startled when I felt that. She let go of me, so I stumbled back a little.

"H-Hm now you're not so loud anymore!" she said and wanted to go out. I looked into her eyes, with no emotion behind it. She grimaced. She didn't know how to react to something like that.

Without another word, she quickly spun around and walked out of the room. The other girls pretended not to see anything and quickly followed Caroline. Cat standing on the other side of the bench asked me cautiously if everything was fine.

"Don't worry, Caroline can't even hit hard." I acted as if nothing had happened and took out my things ready. "You can go outside."

She nodded and walked out a little hesitantly. When Cat went out, Yuma was just coming out of the cabin. Yuma looked around, saw Cat and walked towards her.

"Is Kuro not finished yet?" I asked in surprise. Usually, Kuro is the one who finishes first.

Cat who also came to meet me looked very upset. "Man, my stupid sister gave Kuro a slap in the face!"

I looked at her speechlessly, this was not what I expected, yet I quickly caught myself and asked what had happened.

"Because... actually Caroline started the fight." she replied angrily and continued talking. She explained what had happened and sighed desperately that there was nothing she could do. She and her sister were once very good friends, but strangely enough this changed in elementary school.

"That reminds me... Did Kuro threaten her?" I quickly asked, a little worried, "Did Kuro threaten to harm her?"

"Mhm.." Cat thought as if she couldn't remember the conversation: "she just said that everything was okay and that I could go out."

I exhaled in relief. Kuro is someone who does what she says. If she says she helps someone, she does. The same with all other statements. Cat asked why I would ask so worriedly, so I replied, "I've never seen anyone try to stand by his word more than Kuro."

In my entire life, I have never met a more honest person than Kuro. She never hesitated to do anything.

"Really?" She thought for a moment, looked at the entrance of the changing rooms, then her eyes wandered back to me: "If you say so."

I came running out of the changing room and saw the two of them standing there.

"Are you okay Kuro?" asked Yuma worriedly as he bent down at the level of my face.

I tried to calm him down with a smile and said, "Everything is fine. You shouldn't get upset about people who aren't worth it, right? Didn't you tell me that Yuma?"

Yuma nodded sheepishly. He often forgets, or ignores, his own advice.

"Kuro, remember, just ignore her, yes?" Yuma said as we walked to the sports field. He seemed to have thought that I would return the favor. I sighed briefly and then nodded to assure him that I had no plans. Caroline, who was annoyed that I did not respond to her provocation, looked at me provocatively all day.