"..." Clara was even more shocked by his words and blinked. Along with the sound of the bell signaling the end of the lesson, her sweet cry rang out.
*Dzzzzzzzz*
"What?!"
Elion deftly dodged her flying hands and laughed loudly.
"Hahaha!"
"I'll... I'll kill you!" With a furious but cute cry, the girl began to mercilessly attack the boy.
"Hehehe." The boy laughed, dodging her attacks and running around the classroom.
The students, completely confused, watched the two of them play a strange game of tag.
"Hee hee hee."
"Die!" The battle continued.
In the end, the classroom was too small for them, so they moved into the hallway.
"Haha! Beautiful stranger, want to play tag?"
"Don't even think about running away!"
The boy continued to run backward down the hallway, cheerfully dodging her cute flying fists. He couldn't turn away from such a spectacle.
"You're finished!"
"Hehe... You're so cute when you're angry. Now, I want to be friends with you even more!"
"What!?! I... I'll kill you!" Clara roared, red with embarrassment and anger.
"Hahaha! I told you! Absolutely charming." The boy continued, dodging cheerfully. His unwillingness to miss the spectacle was his undoing, though.
While dodging Clara's hands, he didn't notice the chair in the middle of the corridor. He had brought it there from an empty classroom for rehearsals of the school's first performance. He decided against using the trick of jumping on the teacher's desk but forgot to remove the chair. He paid dearly for this oversight when he tripped over it.
"Ouch...!" the boy muttered awkwardly as he fell on his back.
"I... uhh..." Clearly tired of the endless struggle, Clara tripped over the boy's legs and fell on top of him.
The boy reached out and caught the falling girl by the shoulders.
"Ugh... Hey, you almost crushed me... Why don't you watch where you're going?" The boy said wearily, though he kept a smile on his face.
"Ha... Ha..." Clara was breathing heavily and was being held up by the boy.
"Hey... It's hard for me, too..." The boy said, sounding worn out.
The girl came to her senses a little and stared at the boy, once again finding herself in proximity to him.
"You... I'll kill you..." She continued, tiredly threatening him as she raised her hands and swung them. Surprised by her persistence, the boy couldn't help but laugh.
"Hehe... H-hey... Wait, wait, let's at least get up first." The boy said, barely dodging her tired hands with his head.
But the girl, even though she was on her last breath, was not going to give up on her goal of hitting the boy at least once.
This continued until the boy was cornered and couldn't dodge anymore. Without thinking, he protected his head with his hands. He immediately paid the price when the girl fell on his chest.
"Ugh..." The boy groaned in pain.
"Ha... Ha..." The girl breathed wearily on his chest.
"H-hey... Please get up... I can hardly breathe..." Clearly, he didn't have the strength to lift her, so he could only beg for mercy. But the girl didn't seem to care.
"Ha... Ha..." She just breathed wearily, and it was unclear what was going through her mind.
"H-hey..." The boy said painfully, but he received no response.
Realizing there was no way out of this situation on his own, he tried to get comfortable and catch his breath.
"Haa... Haa..."
"Haa... Haa..."
Their tired breathing sounded in unison.
Finally, after catching his breath, the boy looked at the heavy load on his small chest and asked:
"Well... What's your name, beautiful stranger?"
The girl jerked and raised her head to look at him. After thinking for a moment, she pressed her hands against his chest and asked him.
The girl jerked and raised her head to look at the boy. After a moment of thought, she asked him, pressing her hands against his chest.
"Why do you keep calling me that?"
"Ugh... I don't know your name... That's why I call you stranger... By the way, could you...?" I wanted to ask the boy not to press so hard, but the girl had no intention of letting him go.
"That's not what I mean... I mean the first word." The girl said, pressing even harder.
"Huh... What? Beautiful...? What's so hard to understand? Because you're beautiful..." The boy said, breathing heavily.
"Wh-what?" The girl's mind went blank again. Taking advantage of her confusion, he exhaled his last breath, causing his chest to drop sharply. He slapped his hands on hers and emerged from under her.
"Huh?" The girl exclaimed in surprise as she fell. A moment before they collided, the boy caught her head, twisted her body, turned her onto her back, and placed his hand under the back of her head.
"Ugh..." The girl said awkwardly as she fell backward.
Carefully removing his hand from under her head, the boy held her hands tightly so she could not break free. It seemed she had no strength left to do so because she did not even try.
"Ha... Ha..." Breathing heavily, the boy leaned over the girl, who awkwardly hid her head but looked at him.
"..."
"Ha... Ha..."
"So, what now...?" the girl said awkwardly.
"Ha... What 'what'? I just wanted to know your name... Maybe you'll finally answer?" The boy said wearily but with a slight smile.
"B-but why?" The girl started to object, but the boy interrupted her.
"I told you from the beginning... I just want to know it, and I just want to be friends."
"B-but why do you want to be friends with me...?" The girl still resisted, fidgeting awkwardly.
"I already told you. Just because... I wish it."
"Wish..." The girl looked at him with her dark eyes, in which he could see his reflection.
"Well, yes... Haa... I'm Elion Efistion. Nice to meet you. What's your name?" Elion introduced himself, still holding the girl's hands.
"I'm... Clara..." the girl said awkwardly.
"Clara...?" The boy encouraged her to continue.
"Clara... Mayer." She said, hiding her eyes and looking even more embarrassed.
"Hehe..." The boy laughed slyly.
"W-why are you laughing?!" the girl asked, trying to break free, but Elion's grip was strong.
"Hehe. Nothing. You just got so embarrassed that it was cute... Hehe..." The boy continued to laugh.
"Umm..." The girl pouted but stopped struggling.
"So, Clara Mayer, will you be my friend?" He finally let go of her hands but didn't stand up. He continued to press her, looking into her eyes.
The girl cowered, not daring to look at him, and quietly said,
"I will..."
Elion was a little surprised by the quick answer, but then smiled and laughed.
"Hehehe!"
"W-what's so funny?" The girl became angry and started to stand up.
"Hee hee... I'm just happy you agreed," he said, looking at Clara with a bright smile. She was a couple of centimeters away from him. Then he continued,
"Thank you for being my friend, Clara Mayer."
Clara looked at his bright smile and cheerful gaze. Feeling a strange sensation, she hid her face and muttered awkwardly.
"You're welcome..."
For the first time since her parents' death, a small smile appeared on her face.
A little light began to reflect in her dark eyes.
"Hehe... After all, everything starts with friendship and grows into l..." The boy approached her again, repeating his previous joke.
"O..." But the girl, as if expecting this, suddenly raised her hands, almost slapping the boy on both cheeks. Luckily, he pushed himself away and jumped back.
"Haha... Almost got ..." But before he could finish, the girl jumped up, blushing again, and chased after him, shouting furiously.
"I'll kill you, Elion!" There were now traces of pleasure in her dark eyes from this strange game of tag.
On the first day of their friendship, they ran after each other during every break and teased each other playfully during every lesson.