Chapter 53 Talk in the Night Part 02.

When did it start to change?

I was a shy and reserved kid at first. My parents were new stars in the industry of awakeners and just recently being promoted to S-rank awakeners and becoming famous in the nation.

Because of that, my parents were so busy that they rarely stayed at home busy with their rising popularity and when there was some event, like a banquet. They will take me there for feeling a bit guilty that they didn't have much time to spend with their daughter.

I was just a seven-year-old kid who was still green about the world, and accepting their invitation while carrying some hope in my heart that I would see a new world that I had never seen or even find a new friend there who had the same circumstances as me.

However, those fleeting hopes I hold in my heart are scattered in the worst possible way. The adults who approached me, used their warm and welcoming attitude, only to hide a cold and cunning act they held towards me, as the promising daughter of a talented awakener.

The kids who also approach me at the banquet with their smiles hide a snicker that ridicules me for not knowing where my status is as a commoner.

My parents were normal commoners. They luckily received a system and worked hard in their journey to becoming a promising couple with a high Rank. After knowing the truth behind those glamorous worlds. I began to stop coming to the banquet and rather focus on my school. Because in school I have so many friends that filled my heart with joy and made my day colorful.

Since my parents became a hot topic in the nation. The news also spread to my school, making the attitude of the whole class change. They began to keep their distance as if they were afraid to engage with me, and that made me feel a bit sad.

Then the school, the place for me to find beautiful memories, took a sudden turn, but I managed to stay positive because of the existence of my best friend who always played with me since childhood. Her name was Shinozaki Kaede, we were a close friend who happened to have the same hobby and we always stuck together like a pair of sisters.

Even when the school atmosphere was changed and when the other kids started to avoid me. Kaede is the only one who still sticks with me. She always stays with me when I am in need, and always pushes me up when I am down. One day when I was instructed by my teacher to deliver the test book to her office and decide to return to my class, I accidentally overheard a conversation that took place inside.

"Kaede, you're still friends with that girl, right".

"..You mean, Hina?".

"Yeah, that girl".

I could hear Kaede speaking with other girls. But why did they talk about me with those mean words? I have a name you know.

"Yeah, since her parents became famous. She became a bit cocky for attending some party invited by her parents".

"You are right, She always boasts how marvelous and luxurious the place is..".

"She was kind of arrogant to me..".

That is not what I have in mind. I spoke like that because you guys are the ones who told me to describe how the banquet was. My fragile heart began to make a weird noise while my hands were trembling as I bit my lips.

"You also think so right, Kaede?".

Hearing the other girl throw her question at Kaede, made my heart throb. My breath halted as the surrounding sound escaped my ear, and my senses were focused on the conversation inside. I was feeling so nervous about what Kaede thought about me.

"..Yeah you guys are right. She is changed and kind of a bit arrogant..".

"You think so too Kaede".

"I understand that".

The word entered my ears and I felt something inside me crack.

***

Hina, who was biting her lips, told me all the pain she kept bottling inside her heart and Soma who was facing her, stared at Hina's figure who cast her gaze down with a blank expression on his face.

"..Since then I began to close my heart and ask my parents to give me a homeschool and to train me at home despite still not having an awakening in my system yet..".

Soma who opens his ears keeps receiving her grief, knitting his brows because of the difference in content he remembered. There is something new slipped inside her dark past. "Perhaps she is already forgetting the events and didn't tell the protagonist the whole story? Or is it a new insert plot that the bastard Author did? ". He muttered.

He knew that Hina had a horrible past because of his parents' success. She became affected by the corrupted side of the world, baring its fang at herself because of an event that led to a problem that involved her parents. She resolved to not attend the banquet and asked them to train her, for her to become strong both physically and mentally so that she could stand on her own without relying on others.

Whichever is the truth, Soma could only keep opening his ears to listen to her story.

With trembling hands, Hina kept bare her heart to Soma who listened with a grave face. Little by little without her noticing the wall that was built in her heart started to crumble.

".. I am sorry for what my attitude has shown to you, since the first time we met".

After Hina finished with her story. With a meek voice, who is impossible could come from her mouth and apologize for her behavior all this time.

"Ah, No I didn't mind it".

"Is that so? I am glad".

Soma's brain was short-circuited as he suddenly received an apology, from the girl who always keeps her tough front and not wanting to show her weak side to others. He could feel it from the tone she used. There was no sense of haughtiness and it lost the touch of its sharpness.

Hina emptied the contents in her cups before she put the silver cup down beside her seat. She exhales feeling the restrain that always binds her heart loosened. It was a new experience for her. She turned her gaze to the boy before her and found he still retained its serene eyes while looking at her.

"..Sorry, It become a long story".

Soma could sense that she was forcing herself to smile, because of the listless eyes she was having. It was not his intention to let her tell her past that made her change into the ferocious lady he met. He only wants to know what her current troubled thoughts are right now. "Is it because I told her my story?". No use crying over spilled milk. He needed to maintain his normal state and open his mouth.

"No, In fact, I am glad that you want to try to open your heart to me".

"I see. So what is your thought about my story..".

He raised his hand to cover his mouth. looking closely he could see a faint tremble from her fingertips, and she bit her lips still being infected by the trauma she had. Soma took a deep breath in and opened his mouth.

"You are an idiot".

Hina opened her eyes wide not expecting the words that came from his mouth to be a ridiculing word. Her mood began to sink as her eyes turned blurry. Her trembling hands began to clench hard as she gritted her teeth, and then she exploded.

"HA?? Are you kidding me? Even after I told all of that, what I received was a simple saying such as You are an idiot. Don't joke around with me. I know it, you must be ridiculing me like those kids..".

"I am not".

"Like I will believe you, In the first place..".

"I am saying you are an idiot because you are running away from the problems all these years. Why don't you just face the girl named Kaede and ask her about the words she said".

Her outburst was stopped.

"..That,, I can't do that".

"Why?".

"Because of what I heard back then. ,, I heard from Kaede's mouth herself".

"Then why don't you just open the classroom door and make your way to the girl's place then slap them in their face who badmouth you. Because if I was in your place, I would do that a hundred percent".

"What?!"

Hina's thought halted as the strength in her body left. She sat on top of the folded chair then she cast her gaze downward. A cool wind passed their way and cooled her hot head for a bit. Soma who saw her condition continue.

"Listen, Hina, I am not saying Idiot to ridicule you. But because you, despite having many chances to face her to seek the truth, you choose to run away and become a loner who has a problem with communication".

"What?!".

Soma's words stung at her right place. A vein became visible on her temples as she clenched both fists. But Hina exhales and regulates her breathing to calm her rising temper. She raised her head and met Soma's gaze head-on.

"You choose to prioritize your feelings over rational things. Well, I guess you are a woman after all. But, the point is why didn't you just meet her and ask her for the truth from herself, we don't know maybe that Kaede girl was being pressured and couldn't state her honest feelings in front of those mean girls".

"...".

"However, if that Kaede girl was having that thought in her heart from the start. You could just slap her in the face and cut your connection with her completely, and seek the true person you would call friends for life, out there".

Hina heard Soma reasoning cooling her head. She tried to pry her mouth trying to say her piece of mind but it got stuck in her throat. Her mind began to recall those memories and replayed the sound she heard that day. Hina shook her head sideways to get rid of the negative thoughts that started to accumulate in her mind. She turns her gaze at Soma who maintains his gaze at her. Being reprimanded by another kid at the same age, Hina's ferocious act returned, as she crossed her hands on her chest.

"Hmph, What a cold-hearted man".

"Ha? Cold-heart? Call it rational".

"Whatever..".

"Brat".

Soma accidentally let slip of his tongue and it reached Hina's ear. Hina's body shot up from her chair while pointing her index finger at him.

"You, how dare you say I am a brat. Aren't you the same age as me".

"..Well, at least I am more mature than you".

"I don't want to hear that from someone who forgot to say their gratitude for the food they consume and the worst part of that is that he did that in front of a younger child and now that guy said he is mature".

"Ha..?!".

Under the watchful of countless eyes and the moon. They began to throw their banter at each other's faces, and the quiet atmosphere that surrounded the maze turned lively instantly because of the interaction between the two of them.