Chapter 44

Syl made his way through the forest in the direction he saw Karuizawa leave.

After a short while of walking he saw something extremely disturbing.

Syl saw a wet sticky substance on a branch ahead of him.

"Is that… blood?"

Syl's face hardened and he started sprinting while activating his observation haki.

Within 30 seconds he saw a figure and heard light sobs coming from the area.

"Are you alright?! I saw blood!" Syl asked in a panicked voice as he approached Karuizawa.

She turned around with a panicked look on her face.

Syl instantly noticed the fact that she had a massive hole in her shirt.

Syl noticed a small cut on her rib cage right under a giant scar.

He sighed in relief. It was a tiny cut.

He ripped a sleeve off of his shirt and handed it to her.

"Here." He said as he looked away.

"Sniff… sniff… T-thanks." She grabbed it out of his hand and tied it around her torso, covering both the wound and her scar.

Syl chuckled while looking to the side. "No problem, Karuizawa."

She sniffed again. "Did you see?"

Syl nodded. "Luckily it was a small cut. I'm glad you're not seriously injured."

"T-that wasn't what I meant." She replied nervously.

Syl looked back at her.

"Then I don't know what you're talking about." He said with a shrug.

She smiled through her tears. "Thanks."

Syl smirked. "I don't know what you're thanking me for, but, no problem doggie."

She snorted in laughter as she sniffled. "You're a doggie, dummy."

Syl sat down on the log she was sitting on beside her facing the opposite direction.

"How are you?" Syl asked.

"... Fine."

Syl chuckled. "You know, the hardest part is taking that first step. Reaching out."

She wiped a tear. "I don't know w-what you're talking about."

Syl looked up towards the night sky. "Wanna hear a story?"

Karuizawa nodded.

"Once upon a time there was this boy. He was a super cool and handsome little guy, but he was alone. He woke up one day in a strange place when he was just a wee little lad. Turns out he was in a foster home. He didn't even remember his parents or anything before the foster home for that matter."

Syl sighed.

"Then one day, he was adopted. He got to meet new parents. Now these parents weren't like most adoptive parents in stories, they were amazing parents! They were super nice and loved their son unconditionally. They became this little boy's heroes. In fact, he loved them so much that when he went to school for the first time next year, he bragged to all his classmates about them."

Syl chuckled and shook his head.

"'My parents are the bestest! They picked me up from the foster home and gave me lots of things!' He would shout on the playground. However, the other kids quickly realized he was different, and children don't like those who are different. The little boy was isolated, made fun of. He was bullied by all his classmates, for being different, for being adopted."

Karuizawa gasped. "How horrible."

Syl smiled sadly while looking at the stars.

"Indeed, children are very cruel beings. Anyway, this little boy didn't know how to deal with this. Even at the foster home the bullies weren't this cruel. At school they started to make fun of him and excluded him from everything, they even started hitting him and stealing his things. He didn't want to tell his parents because he didn't want to be sent back to the foster home."

Karuizawa started crying harder.

Syl continued on.

"He kept his mouth shut for years. Never telling a soul about his injuries or any of his bullies. He used anime and manga to escape from reality. When he was reading stories about his favourite heroes saving the world, he felt invincible. He no longer felt like a powerless little boy. However, back in Canada, many kids frown upon things like anime and manga. 'Nerd! Loser! Fag! Creep! Weirdo! Freak! Etc.' He was only bullied harder when they found out about his interests. However, he never stopped reading and watching them, these shows and his parents were the only things keeping him going. He had long lost the thought of a brighter future, he didn't even dare wish for it, he was just content living as he was, a victim."

Syl clenched a fist.

"Then one day, everything changed. When he was at hockey getting undressed one of his teammates saw a bruise on him. The teammate confronted him about it, but the boy denied anything. He didn't want to be sent back to the foster home or lose his parents, he was only 9 years old at this point. However, after a week of being asked, the boy finally broke. He cried and told his teammate everything that was happening. The teammate told his parents, who told the boy's parents and the boy was terrified. Except, instead of criticizing or belittling the boy, his adoptive parents cried and apologized. They said they were sorry for not noticing and helping the boy even though it was hard for him. They talked to the school and the bullies faced punishment, and the boy transferred schools."

Syl sniffled.

"Once he went to the new school he once again said the same things. 'My adoptive parents are the best! I love them so much!' However, this time, instead of making fun of the boy, his classmates were happy for him. 'We're glad you found good parents! What are your parents like? I've never heard of someone with adoptive parents before, so cool!' He received support from his peers. From then on, his life became 1000x better. He was a much happier person, although he still had scars from his past, he learned to move forward. He enjoyed his life for years after, until one day his parents died and he moved to Japan, where he searched for new interesting things to fill the void in his heart…"

A tear streaked down Syl's cheek.

He sniffled and wiped his eyes.

Then he chuckled. "Pretty fun story eh? Anyway, moral is that sometimes although it's scary, you need to take the first step and reach out. The first step is the hardest one after all."

Karuizawa broke down into a fit of tears.

Syl smiled and pat her back as she cried.