The boys 05

So I told him, "You don't have to worry about it."

He looked relieved even though anyone could tell he did not trust me completely yet.

I then said to him, " I know that you are not leaving your house because you confessed to your crush who rejected you."

He had fear in his eyes again.

"Tell me everything from the beginning", I told him.

"W.. Why would I tell you?"

I then said, " I honestly did not expect someone who becomes a shut-in because a girl from another school rejected him to say something like that to a guy who knows even more embarrassing things about him".

"You-you, Are you threatening me?"

Of course, it was a bluff. But all I need to do is make him believe I will.

"I don't know. Am I?"

I gave him a dead serious look.

He succumbed to fear and started talking,

"It was three months ago. I was still dealing with the fact that my high school debut failed miserably. I still had my two friends with me. They fortunately weren't as bad of a communicator as me. So, they introduced me to the friends they had made.

I got along well with them, considering we all were interested in the same things. As for my closeness with them, it reached the point of being close to my relationship with Tatsuo and Emiya. My relationship with them in the first place wasn't that close, it was like good high school buddies, not the kind of lifelong brothers from another mother thing you see in the movies. So we never talked outside of the things we had in common. I wasn't complaining though, even if they weren't close, I still liked their company. Our days were going like this until one of my friends invited me and the others to a place. He said his old friends would be coming too. Everyone else agreed so I did not want to be left out. Everyone except Kiruo, who invited us, was surprised to see two girls there too. And that was where I first met her. She came to me and started a conversation. She was nice to me. So of course my heart instantly melted. We then talked a bit more, and after that, we left the place. We met a lot more after that. I developed a crush on her. I had no way of talking about this with anyone since my relationship with my friend wasn't like that. But they knew since it was painfully obvious. We met even more and my condition got even worse. Until one day, I thought it would be a genius idea to confess over the phone. You know the rest."

"So you got rejected by a girl who isn't even in your school. And in fear of seeing her anywhere, you decided to become a neet".

"Yes".

"You are truly the epitome of bravery".

He looked away, embarrassed. Well, at least he understands sarcasm. Most adults I have met except Ms. Hitomi and normies who are not that exposed to western media would have said, ' but it isn't a brave thing to do.'

I then asked him, "You aren't planning on staying at your home for life, are you?"

He looked as if he was pondering something and then said, "N. No".

The reason he said that is because people after talking about their problems can think more logically. Now is the time to strike.

"Is getting rejected really something that should make you shut yourself in a room?"

"Huh?"

"Well, I know that you got rejected, but is it really that bad? We are talking just fine right now."

"So you are saying that people do not care if I get rejected and I can get along with them just fine even if they find out?"

He said with a look of hope in his eyes. Now comes the cringy line.

"Of course not, the normies and those in the middle cast would probably make fun of you to make themselves feel better. Even if you know that you will still feel bad sometimes because you are human. But that does not mean you should sacrifice your life because

you feel bad. By doing so, you will only diminish your chances of meeting people who you can form genuine relationships with."

It seems he understood what I am trying to say, I continued,

"All you will do is cover yourself with a false sense of security and happiness".

Oh, God, it's so hard to hold back my laughter right now, those acting and improv practices are coming in handy.

It looks like it worked.

He said, " I guess, you are right."

So I told him, "Let's get downstairs now"

After coming down I saw Suijin. He looked at me with a look that seems like he is reevaluating me. Oh boy, I got his hopes up, didn't I?

Suijin talked to katsuo, "So, you are coming to school from tomorrow?"

"Yes".

Mrs. Katsuo was really happy. After talking some more, both me and Suijin and I left. As we walked outside of their home, Suijin said,

"I guess you were not as cynical as I thought you once were, though your methods are unorthodox, to say the least".

"Oh no, I just said those things to convince Katsuo, you didn't actually believe I said those stuff from my heart, did you?"

"What?!!"

I took one of my peppermints from the box and put one in my mouth.

"Oh God, this is the problem with nice and optimistic people like you, you people rarely doubt things and try to see the best in people.

You are so fixated on seeing that I have changed, you haven't even compared my actions to think otherwise, isn't that right, Ms. Hitomi".

Suijin was on a voice call with Ms. Hitomi since we reached Katsuo's home. It was probably Ms. Hitomi's idea. Did she really think I wouldn't see the differences in Suijins composure? I walked past the standing Suijin as my home was that way. I probably looked cool at that time.