I couldn't take my eyes off what was in front of me. I had to call someone and ask for help.
I was afraid, I was desperate.
I was surrounded by darkness.
But in that darkness, a light approached me, a light in the shape of a hand caressed my face.
I could feel how warm it was.
Thanks to it, the darkness dissipated, and only I remained.
But before I could thank it…
My alarm was going off. As usual, at the same time and as part of my routine, I got out of bed and put on my school uniform.
Something that broke the routine was opening the door to my room, to see the hallway with no light on, the only light in it being the sun coming in through a window at the end.
Don't tell me that...
Amaya's bedroom door was closed. I could already smell what had happened.
I headed to her room and carelessly opened the door. And there was the princess, lying face up in her cape, her hair a mess, hugging her pillow, and without a shirt or bra.
I walked over to her, standing in front of her bed, and grabbed her shoulder.
" Amaya…"
I started shaking her until she woke up. The worst part was that it took me a while to wake her up.
"Mhhhh…" After a faint grunt, she yawned briefly, only to realize it was me waking her up.
"…Why are you waking me up?"
" Because you fell asleep, maybe?"
"Ah..."
Amaya reached for her nightstand to check the time on her phone.
"...Fuck, I'm not going to be able to shower anymore..."
I don't know what to believe.Her alarm didn't go off. Mine did, but she didn't wake up to it.
Amaya sat on the bed a little lazily, resting her hands behind her, then yawned, without even covering her mouth, and stretched her hands up as far as she could.
"…Put some clothes on, it's not so hot…" I said while looking to the side, trying not to get him angry as soon as he got up.
"Ah-" She looked down, realizing she wasn't wearing anything to cover her chest, covering it with her arm until she put on a t-shirt, one that was thrown on her chair.
"Sorry," he said, after putting on his shirt.
"Shouldn't I be the one begging for forgiveness and pleading for his life? And what were you doing shirtless, anyway?"
Amaya sighed, still half asleep.
"I shouldn't care that you accidentally saw me like this in the first place… But if you look at me with any strange intentions, I'll take your eyes out." His voice was too neutral, and it seemed like he was joking.
" How stupid, you know I'm not going to do anything like that. It's not like I'm a perverted sissy."
"Yessss, you're exactly that. Well, I have to get dressed, sir."
I see you weren't in the mood to fool around in the morning.
"Yes, yes, whatever you say." And so, I left her room without a word, then continued with my routine of eating breakfast, brushing my face and teeth, and waiting for Amaya to go out together.
The only times she goes out with people, or goes out in general, is to go to class, to run errands, or when we force her to go out.
I've always worried that Amaya doesn't have friends. I've been worried about it, and I'm always complaining about her not having anyone. She hasn't told me much about the people in her class, only that they're all very average, and that she's better off alone, although I don't know if I should believe her.
She's a shy person, but at the same time, she doesn't show much interest in trying to meet new people, just like me. I hope she's doing well with the whole studying thing, too.
I'd love to help her in any way I can, but in the end, I just cause her more problems. I always end up venting, and she's always the one who comforts me. That's why she knows me so well; I'm like an open book when I'm with her.
He's a better person than I'll ever be.
She doesn't deserve to be alone. I don't see it affecting her much, though, but she's also a little more withdrawn than usual.
Does she not trust me enough? Or is it because she doesn't want to hurt me or upset me?
It's probably the latter. And if shehasn't said anything to me, it's because she's fine. I trust her.
"..."
Without warning, someone put their arm around my shoulder.
"Hey."
"Oh, hi."
It's &$%"!, and behind him are =@º\' and _¨*^?¿·.
"What's wrong? Are you more besotted than _¨*^?¿·? Have you not slept, or are you still thinking about yesterday's question?" &$%"! said in a mocking tone.
"Oh, no, I was just besotted."
"Could you come up with something funnier…"
"Like what? Do you want me to say that I saw you hiding in the courtyard reading an ecchi manga the other day?"
The moment I said that, =@º\' started laughing, _¨*^?¿· just smiled a little.
"You know I don't have anything like that."
"So what's hidden in your dresser?"
&$%"! was silent for a moment, not embarrassed, but annoyed.
"Under your mattress, in the top corner.", &$%"! responded with an even bigger threat.
Now, even _¨*^?¿· was laughing, though, in my defense, only a little!
With a straight face, I extended my hand, offering &$%"! a handshake.
"Let's call this a draw."
He accepted it and responded with a serious tone as well.
"No, I win."
"Third drawer, under all the junk you have in there."
As I said that, I started to feel my hand being crushed. How rude of him.
Just because it was me, it already hurt twice as much as it should have. I don't like being weak, but I'm not going to try to change it. I don't have to.
"I think it's a good idea to call it a draw," he said in a calm, friendly voice.
"Okay, okay, sorry. But stop it!"
Even if it was verbal, I don't know why I get into these kinds of fights.
In the end, I always end up losing. With my crystal body, it's not right to physically abuse people!
Time flied by, and so we settled to eat all together on recess.
Normally, when the 4 of us get together, we go out to the patio, but today, neither &$%"! nor _¨*^?¿· had brought food.
_¨*^?¿· He doesn't normally eat at recess, but today he was hungrier than usual. Oh &$%"!, I had just forgotten about bringing lunch.
We all 4 decided to stay here, since it was hot outside.
"Hey, &$%"! Have you bought 'Super Smash Bros', or not yet?"
"No. Are you that eager to play it?"
"Yes!" I said enthusiastically, "I want to beat you all up, like in the last installment!"
"Of course, since you can't even handle _¨*^?¿· in person, you prefer to humiliate us by playing."
"Ehh, no, I think he could beat me in a fight, =@º\' "
Whenever we met, we did it at &$%"!'s house.
His parents are very nice, and he was the one who had all the multiplayer games.
Sometimes we just meet up there to hang out for a while. I'll never turn down a place to sit and be comfortable.
"I feel bad asking my parents for another game. They've already got about three this month."
"But we all paid for it! And besides, you took your share out of your savings."
"Well, if I feel like it, I'll ask them ag-"
Suddenly, someone slammed a table while shouting.
"I'm not fucking amused!"
The cafeteria looked like a funeral. Everyone was looking in the direction the shout was coming from.
The one who raised the voice was a student, more specifically, a punk. Probably one of those who've repeated once or twice a year, and he was with a friend of his.
At the table, sitting to his left was another kid, who looked like a nerd.
He had nothing on the table, and he looked like he was about to leave.
This smells like a mess to me. Ignore them, Riku.
"I-I already told you I don't have it."
"I told you yesterday to bring it! I've been telling you for two days!"
The older boy sounded angry, although he seemed to be exaggerating a bit. The nerd, on the other hand, was scared and nervous.
"That's it! You have to give us the money, you fucking brat!" One of the friends behind the punk added fuel to the fire.
"I'm not going to let this go!" With that, the boy grabbed the nerd by the arm, trying to drag him away.
Uh? What's this, Disney Channel? Since when am I in the 80s?
The oldest had just taken advantage of the moment when there were no teachers here.
The rest of the students had stopped watching the scene. I guess they didn't want to get into trouble, or they weren't interested in what was happening.
I'm surprised, since people like to poke their noses into everything.
Well, there was someone who wanted to poke their nose into the matter.
=@º\', believing himself to be a hero, stood up from his seat.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I rebuked him in a low voice.
"If you want to stay here, go ahead, but let me go."
I tried to stop him, but it was like talking to a wall.
"You don't have to get involved in things like this. You're not going to come out well!"
"Look, all I want to do is vent about the last game. It's not going to be that bad."
=@º\ headed toward the bully. After thinking twice, &$%"! Went after him.
"If I don't go with you, you're sure to cause trouble."
And now they both want to pick a fight?! They may be physically fit, especially =@º\, but it still seems silly to me.
It's not like we're kids, someone will get up and find a teacher...
Both _¨*^?¿· and I sat there. I didn't want to get involved, and even if _¨*^?¿· wanted to, I don't think his shy mind would let him.
Even though they're going, I'm not going with them just because they're my friends. I'm also a little embarrassed, and I'll only do more harm than good.
"We'll have to call a teacher..." _¨*^?¿· said. "...I suppose you want me to go get one."
" You can wait. Someone will come with a teacher, and if not, they'll know what they're doing. Besides, a teacher can't fix this by a long shot. It might stop it, but it'll probably happen again in the future." I made that very clear, for the record.
"Who do you think you are, besides a clown, to just wake up like that?" Seeing how =@º\ and &$%"! were approaching him, the bully started to focus on them.
"Someone who doesn't have two brain cells, unlike the rat in front of me."
"If what you want is to turn me on even more, then let's go to the fucking yard." Fuck, now he even sounds more pissed off. At least he has enough sense not to start hitting each other here.
Both &$%"! and the bully's friend stayed behind each other, although they weren't covered by their backs. It was as if they were the tank's support.
It didn't take long for them to leave the cafeteria, heading straight outside.
I could have supported them or tried to stop the situation, but I didn't want to go through that trouble, and I left them aside.
I'll apologize later. Or should I even apologize? Is it wrong not to want to fight with others?
And isn't it already too late to act? I mean, it's been six minutes since they left. But still, no one really did anything.
Even though I wasn't about to do anything, someone decided to get up.
"I'm going to find a teacher," he said to me before leaving the cafeteria.
Wow, I guess this is serious then. All the more reason not to get involved.
In the end, half the class was staring at the kid the bullies were messing with, and the other half was staring at me…
What are you looking at? Did I do something strange?
Although I wish you would stop doing that.
The eyes looking at me decreased, but there were still a few.
I think I'm going to go.
Although it didn't last that long, I did feel more guilt than I should have after that last bit. Besides, it had been 8 minutes since they left, and 2 since _¨*^?¿ left.
"…Ugh, fuck…" I whispered before getting up, too.