Chapter 5 - Him

(Midori POV)

Today, I'm going to go shopping for my weekly necessities in my usual shop place. On foot, I walked quickly, several people looked at me as usual. Even though Im used to it, it still hurts, being stared at with such disgusted eyes. So, as a habit, I quicken my pace so that I can finish shopping quickly.

At that time,

"Oh!"

Due to lowering my head too much while walking, I accidentally bumped into a man in front of me. Realizing my mistake, I was about to hastily apologize, when he shouted at me. With a very angry look on his face.

'h-how is this..?', I was confused, at the same time afraid of what gonna happened to me.

"I-I'm sorry!" I bowed to him many times, begging him to forgive me and let this pass. But as usual, the world wasn't that good. Gripping my shoulder with his hand, he said, "Haa? You think just an apologize is enough? Look at this girl~ she bumped into me, and maybe I got injured because of it. And she's just apologize? Hah! Come with us!". With that, he and his two friends dragged me to a quiet alley that was there.

"a- ah! No!", I tried to fight back. But my strength wasn't enough to get me out of it. 'What sould I do? How can I get out of this situation ? Somebody help!', panicking, I tried to get help. Looking around the shopping area that should be busy at a time like this, I saw a lot of people passing by us.

I looked at them, panicked and clearly in need of help. But those people, with their cold faces, just passed me and looked at me with disdain and pity. It was obvious that they are didn't want to get into anything troublesome.

'no, how ruthless...', I was once again faced with this extremely ruthless state of society. Is it because of my face? Is all this again because of my ugly face? I am thinking. If I had a pretty face, would they change their mind and save me? Cruel, why is this world so ruthless?!

"Don't fight back! Come quickly follow me!" the man holding me tightened his grip and pulled me harder. Can't do anything, I just helplessly walk with him.

"Hahaha, stupid girl!"

"hey, how about we play with her for a bit. I think that would be pretty good"

"ou! That sounds good! Hey!... Wait, no. You can do it but I won't. Look how ugly her face is! Hue, I'm disgusted just by looking at her"

"Uwwa, you're right. Then I won't either."

"Yes, I agree"

At first, I thought they were going to **** me, but when they took off my hoodie and saw my face, they lower their intentions and didn't do that.

"Well, let it be. Hey you! Get your wallet out now, you have some money in there right! Quick, I want everything you got in there to treat my injury from you bumping into me!"

Obviously, he wasn't injured or anything. This is just a fairly common form of blackmail, but because I was so scared, I was about to take my wallet out of my bag.

"Come on, get out your wallet and we won't hurt you!"

"hi! U-umm"

I hastily pulled out my wallet, but before that could happen, I heard a voice,

"hey hey, what's happening here?"

There, walked a man with a relaxed look. With a questioning face, he asked that.

"Haa? What's wrong with you, want to act like a hero haa?", hearing his question, they looked at him and warned him.

"please let her go" the man said, pointing at me with a serious look. 'I-is he trying to help me?!' I thought , surprised. I thought that nothing else would save me from them when I saw what happened earlier, but I guess I was wrong.

"oy oy oy, looks like you want to find trouble with us huh?"

"it's okay bro~ just think of him as extra money"

"Hahaha, that's right!"

"hold him!"

After that, what happened really surprised me. The three of them were made unmoved by him. Without even letting them land a single blow on him. Skillfully, he knocked all three of them unconscious.

I was so shocked and amazed that I couldn't say anything. Even when the man was about and try to hostage me, he managed to knock him down easily without fear.

After the three of them passed out, he turned to me and asked how I was. Still shocked by what happened earlier, I belatedly answered before I answered him with a thank you and bowed to him. Seeing my condition and having convinced him, he told me to wait in front of the convenience store and call the police.

After a few minutes, the police came and arrested the three men. The police also asked for an explanation for what happened, and it turned out to be him, Ryousuke Toru, so that he mentioned to police. Toru-san skillfully explained to them clearly what happened with me who occasionally spoke to confirm some events.

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"Really, thank you very much for everything"

Smiling at my helper, Toru-san, I thanked him. Being around him, I felt a comfort that I had only ever felt when I was with my parents. He gave me a sense of security because it was his actions earlier that saved me, and...

His eyes.

His eyes showed neither disgust nor irritation. He looked at me without any prejudice. In fact, what I see is appreciation.

I'm very observant about this, so I know. He's a good guy. He doesn't even seem bothered when I'm around him.

"You're welcome, are you going straight home after this?", Toru-san asked.

"umm… No, actually I have to buy some materials for my household…"

"Well then, see you later," he said. He waved his hand and was about to leave.

"W-wait! A-anoo, Toru-san... If you don't mind, I'll treat you to something. In return for what happened earlier, anoo... Etto, is there anything you want right now?", I asked him. . For some reason, I feel like I'll regret it if I just let him get out of here. So I spontaneously asked him, without even thinking what he would ask me.

'oh, how's this?! Will he object to this? ', I was afraid he would be bothered by my question.

But it seems my worries were in vain. Excitedly, Toru-san said to me "what? Really? Then ice cream! The chocolate one!"

"Un!"

The smile on his face that time, I will never forget that.