Chapter 52 - Back to the routine [3]

I mean, I hardly know anyone in college, so why is everyone looking at me as if they know me? Besides, even though they're whispering to each other, I can hear clearly what they're saying.

"Look! Isn't that him? Noah? From what I heard from some friends in his class, he's been missing for almost a week" a random girl said to her friend next to her.

"Some friends of mine from other courses said the same thing. I wonder what happened..." said another girl, looking confused.

"..."

Seriously, what's going on? Since when do I draw so much attention? And how do people from other courses know me? If I'm so popular, why am I always alone, having only one friend in this huge college? Someone please, answer my questions.

With these thoughts, I made my way to my classroom. The walk there was pretty noisy, at least to my sensitive ears. Actually, the conversation around me was normal, but given the sensitivity I recently acquired, it sounded deafening. Besides, I noticed that about 90% of the conversations revolved around my mysterious disappearance.

Upon reaching the door of my classroom, I opened it carefully, but still, I ended up attracting everyone's attention. After all, the door was almost directly in front of the tech board. And it wasn't just that, most of my classmates also turned their gaze in my direction. Faced with this strange occurrence, I went to my usual seat.

The situation in the classroom was unique. Both the guys and the girls seemed curious about the reason for my disappearance. In fact, I could hear them talking and forming their own theories about what could have caused my sudden disappearance.

The funny part was, even though they were curious, nobody really approached me to ask. In short, anyone from outside observing the situation in my classroom would notice that everyone was eager to ask me questions, but in the end, nobody did.

At this point, I was seriously wondering how others saw me. Was I really someone hard to approach? I'm aware that I avoided hanging out with everyone since I entered college, but I had my reasons for that. I couldn't leave my sick sister alone at home, but even knowing that, why did I have this feeling that I did something wrong even though I did nothing? I thought, letting out a brief sigh.

Minutes later, the door opened again, and there was a face I hadn't seen in a while: my friend's. Or rather, the only friend I managed to make since I entered college. Although the guy always calls me "siscon" whenever the opportunity arises, he's not necessarily a bad person.

But whenever he calls me siscon, I feel a huge urge to slam his head against the wall. I need to be careful, especially now that I have the actual capability to do so. Siscon is something related to a brother who loves his sister too much, it's kind of an Otaku slang in Japan. The guy is an admitted Otaku, so he kind of lives in his own bubble, despite being handsome and athletic.

Well, I don't really have a solid basis to compare him with most Otakus, but I see him as someone pretty normal. Compared to what is said on the internet, he's just an above-average guy who enjoys watching anime. While I was thinking about it, he approached me with large, hurried steps.

"Noahhhh!!" shouted my dear friend, practically throwing himself on me.

This guy continued to be as clingy as ever. Probably, that was one of the reasons why girls avoided getting close to him. But, to be honest, he's extremely reserved. He's usually like that only with those he truly considers as friends. With other people, he tends to be more indifferent.

"Where have you been all this time? Do you know how hard it was to have no one to discuss the new season anime or to complain when a protagonist turns out dense with the heroines?" said my friend.

I know his reason might sound kinda silly, but the way he tells me this for some reason makes me feel guilty for disappearing, well, just a little bit.

"Sorry, sorry, but I'm back now, so relax a bit, Owen" I said as I pushed him away with all my might.

As I adjusted my clothes and prepared to tell him what practically everyone in the room wanted to know, the door was opened again, this time, the front door to the auditorium, which meant it was the teacher who was coming in.

In seconds, the previously bustling room fell into relative silence as the teacher appeared. Her eyes landed on me almost instantly. Personally, I thought she would notice my return during roll call, but it makes sense for her to look to see if I'm back since I haven't been to college for almost a week.

Slowly, the teacher made her way to her desk and sat down. After that, it was basically business as usual: she assigned us tasks, and we, mere students, solved them as we saw fit.

Personally, I was expecting something more dramatic with my return, but the teacher asked me normally what had happened. I, in turn, said I would explain to her later in the teacher's lounge, as it was something quite... shocking, to say the least.

During that break, I told Owen about most of what happened while I was away. I simply couldn't find any reason to keep it from my family or friends. From my perspective, it was better for them to know about it as soon as possible so they could prepare themselves. After all, there must be some reason why we were able to come back home with our powers.