Chapter 50: Kids Being Kids, and Don

A few more days passed, bringing me, finally, to the end of my punishment.

Following the event of the incident that day, Leon, Don, Kyle, Trise, Lia, and I were met with equal retribution by our parents. We spent the following weeks grounded indoors with no external contact with each other outside.

My sentence was finally lifted, and with it, a certain distinct feeling of liberty.

My day began as usual. I got up from bed and spent a few minutes reflecting followed by a short series of stretches. I recalled the emotion of rage, pain, and sorrow from that day and meditated on it, feeding off it, and equally reminding myself to channel the memory into my activities.

I breathed a small melancholic sigh from my lips.

With my grounding punishment finally lifted, I wasn't exactly sure what to do with my renewed freedom. There really wasn't much difference to me.

I mostly spend my time indoors reading books, and the last time I went outside, I got into trouble. So even with my renewed freedom, I'm not too ecstatic about stepping out.

I let my thoughts wander to Don and the others. I haven't seen them since the lockdown began, and since then, I've had various thoughts about what they might have been up to.

The gravity of the incident wasn't a small issue, it wouldn't be a surprise if that day left some kind of mental marks on them, like it did me.

Sigh.

'What is up with me these days?' I shook my head in pity, lamenting my most recent melancholic personality.

Moving passed such thoughts, I walked up to my window, ready to swing the blinds open.

'Perhaps a breath of fresh air is what I need. I also kinda feel good about today?' 

At the very same moment, I decided to feel optimistic for the first time in a while, a certain object the small size of a pebble pierced through space at a vicious speed, infiltrating through the gaps of my opened window. Hitting me straight against my forehead, the spot just between my brows, the force of the pebble forcefully chucked my head backward and propelled my body against the floor.

The entire moment happened so fast, it took a few seconds for the pain and the whole thing to fully register.

'D…déjà vu?' Lamenting the nagging familiarity of the situation from the floor in my room, I suppressed a small sigh from registering through my lips and got up, cradling the small new bump on my forehead.

Not exactly embracing the familiarity of the whole thing, I dragged my feet almost reluctantly and walked back up to my window, cautiously ducking down as immediately as I got there.

'Safe.'

Then slowly, raising my head, I peeked out over the window in my room, at the welcoming sight of two young boys cheerily waving in my direction 

'What the hell are they doing here?!' I nearly cursed.

"Oi! Reo! You up yet?" letting loose with no care of bothering the neighborhood, Don made sure to have his presence known with a loud boom.

The persistent brat kept screaming my name all over the place with no sign of resignation.

"Hmm...do you think the pebble got through?" Still peeking slightly from my window, I watched troubledly as I observed Kyle by his side seriously contemplating hurling another pebble of a much more considerable size, while I managed to catch him muttering some unwelcomed things along the lines of, "Alright, let's throw this one next."

"S-stop! Stop, I'm here!" Almost immediately, I jolted up at the very same moment I saw Don jerk his hand backward in a peculiar pose.

"Ah." The two brats paused with the simple utterance of that syllable.

I was going to just wait them out until they left, but the haunting accuracy of Don's aim made my forehead sting. And reluctantly, I heaved a sigh on my way down.

***

"Watsup, Reo? Been a while! Feeling lively?" Don had a wide grin on his face, his hands opened in a welcome as he walked up to me.

"Don..." I nodded mildly then exchanged an acknowledging glance with Kyle, flashing a grin of his own.

Skillfully hiding my earlier discomfort — and anything else — from my expression, I squared a glance at the two, hoping one of them would tell me what they were doing throwing a rock at my face this early in the morning.

"..." 

I broke a resigned sigh a few minutes into the lingering silence that descended and spoke first instead.

"Can I help you with something?" And I genuinely wondered.

If both Don and Kyle were here, there's got to be some reason for showing up so early... 

Then I stopped to rethink.

'I stand corrected.'

"Come on, let's go. The others are waiting!" Without getting a proper reply, I was grabbed by the wrist and dragged out of my home by Don.

"H-hey! What are you—" It was a futile resistance on my part as before I could realize it, I was quickly descending the hill, being led forward by the both of them.

Along the way, I tried getting some answers out of the two, by then I had already accepted I had no say in coming with them regardless.

I shifted my gaze ahead and spotted a small group of kids down the hill standing around a tree at the end of the path.

There were just two of them. Lia and Trise.

And by the time they noticed us from afar, they waved with blooming smiles. I was mildly pleasantly surprised when I saw this. I was happy they seemed okay and fine, but even with that, I couldn't find it in me to reciprocate it.

We got to the end of the hill and met up with the girls. They seemed in good health and as cheery as the first day I met them.

"Yo, Reo! You feeling lively?" Trise walked up to me and said.

What's up with that greeting? Some kind of trend?

"Hey, Trise...I shifted my gaze, "...Lia," I nodded mildly at the blue-haired behind Trise.

"It's been a while, guys."

"Yeah, it has"

Don was bursting with enthusiasm and was surrounded by his usual upbeat energy which was almost so tiring to keep up with. His trademark idiotic grin was flaunted all over his face.

Looking at him, as much as I hated to admit, I was amazed at him. The last time I saw Don, the brat could barely stand up on his own two feet. He was broken and battered...and now, here he is — a total rebound.

"Don, are you sure you're okay now?" Kyle materialized my initial thoughts, a little skeptical. "You were barely alive the last time," — he said — " are you sure you're okay?"

For a moment, I was sure I spotted Don's cheek twitch 

Don spared a glance at Kyle for a second then puffed his chest out and raised his chin. With a haughty scoff and a smug attitude, he declared:

"Hmph, of course I am. Don't underestimate my recovery speed. I'm the hero after all." and took it a step further to pound his chest before choking on his breath.

"Yeah, he's fine"

"Completely fine."

"Full recovery."

"I kind of envy his vitality." 

We all mocked playfully, a chuckle even registering from my lips unconsciously.

'That's a first...' I silently gazed at the cheerful faces and expressions of the kids...and the almost broken-into-tears one of Don with mixed feelings and emotions while realizing it had been weeks since I had honestly had a real laugh. 

'I'm just glad they're fine after all.' Stuck in my head, I hadn't noticed when Lia walked and stood shoulder to shoulder with me.

"...Is everything okay, Reo?" The little girl asked with a pretty smile, and for a moment, the image of a weeping Lia flashed momentarily in my mind.

I lingered for a few quiet seconds and forced a smile back.

"... Everything is fine."

"Anyways, what about you, Reo? You looked incredibly pale back then. Are you okay now?" Trise turned to me and said.

Well, I did fall perhaps a few hundred feet. With boulders and rocks raining against my head.

"Ah, yes. I was just a lot tired back then, but I'm okay now. Thanks for asking?" there was a slight pause before my reply.

I was this close to dying, and in one of the most painful ways.

"Why are you being so stiff, Reo..." Don approached me with a blatant grin, swinging an arm over my shoulders, and reeled me in, "We're all pals who have made it through near-death experience, so what's with that tone of yours?" 

I straightened my back casually and let Don's hand slip off.

"It's just a habit," I said motionlessly. "I speak to everyone like this."

"Really? But you didn't seem to be talking with Lia in the same manner the last time. Your tone was a lot different. It seemed a bit more intimate." Kyle pointed out an unnecessary fact suddenly at my back, with an insinuating grin running from ear to ear.

'Intimate?' I bobbed my head in a silent question and snuck a small gaze to Lia by my side.

Meeting my eyes for a short moment, the girl trembled only slightly, barely noticeable, as she lowered her head and gaze almost immediately. There were small traces of her flushed cheeks I managed to notice.

As if on cue, it was at the same moment, that Trise decided to jump into the fray, feeling mischievous in her way. She paced around, chuckling as she feigned casualness and stood next to Kyle.

"Oh? Hey, Kyle, weren't Reo and Lia alone together for some time before back then?" Then she slowly shifted her gaze to the other girl, " I've been meaning to ask this, Lia, but what were you two little rascals up to back then? Y'know, being alone and all?" She snickered.

Observing this whole unnecessary situation with my share of confusion, I realized something about everything here.

"Lia and I just talked, that's all." Stepping up for Lia, I concisely said, trying to bring a sum up to this unnecessary topic. If this continued, I had my bet down that Lia would soon pass out from an overwhelming share of embarrassment. Even with that, Kyle and Trise's teasing would remain relentless.

And more importantly, there were other things to talk about than pointless bickering.

'Pointless bickering...well, I suppose we are kids, with nothing better to do pointless bickering is one of the best outcomes actually.' I thought wryly, considering our latest event. 

Then I looked towards Don.

"By the way, where's Leon?"

***

(Author's Note)

I have a small announcement to make. Due to personal reasons, I'll be taking a break from A Certain Magical Reincarnation and will be returning, hopefully, next week. A short hiatus, a week-long at most. Once I return, I'll pick off from where I left off. 

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that you continue to support me.