78 How Can It Be?

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Tokyo, Japan,

Hayes Residence,

Samuel POV,

In the living room, a silver haired teenager could be seen sprawled over the sofa with a bored expression on his face... Samuel.... had nothing to do at the moment... Quite literally nothing... The Sun seemed to be rising outside and his mother, Mei was watching something on T.V with shining eyes.

Yesterday, Samuel had gone out with Mary and it was a rather pleasant experience. The french girl tried to be daring but had only ended up completely flustered whenever something of that nature was even remotely suggested or hinted at.

Though, it was both hilarious and amusing when she realised she'd have to ride on the back of a bike with Samuel being the one driving.

They'd gone to an arcade but the entire ordeal was not normal at all, having had to make a quick escape from there after Mary somehow broke one of the games out of frustration. After that, there was a bit of shopping and they also ended up eating together.

All in all, it was a good and pleasant experience for both. Though, admittedly, Samuel may have gone a bit too far in his teasing which had resulted in Mary blushing up a storm when they parted ways.

Then it was just Samuel picking up Mei and dropping her off at home before doing the same with Rin as well, he was free till next week anyway. From there it was just looming around the house like a shut in till night came.

'On that note, you need to read the rulebook.' Echidna pointed out with a small glint in her eyes, she knew Samuel's personality, even though he'd get a perfect attendance if asked, it wouldn't be what he himself wanted... School was boring after all. Even the Witch of Greed agreed, rather than watch someone ramble on about a topic, she'd much rather read the book herself.

"Agreed." Samuel nodded thoughtfully, hopefully there would be loopholes he could employ.

Before the two could continue however, Samuel's phone buzzed loudly prompting him to quickly pick up the call, "What's up?" His tone seemed relaxed and it was, he had already dropped off Rin. There was nothing else to do.

"H-Helph.."

"...Shouko?"

Samuel immediately sat up straight, his eyes portrayed confusion and to some extent, what was going on? Did she get caught up in some kind of trouble? Criminal Activity had been going up a lot lately right?

He clenched his hand in slight anger, there was no time to think, "Where?"

"Home."

Samuel stood up in a hurry, picking up the keys from the table, "I'll be back later!" Informing Mei, Samuel practically ran out of the house, throwing open the doors on his way and rushed off with a somewhat worried look on his face, he'd not let any harm befall the girl no matter what.

"....What happened?" Mei questioned no one in particular, her son had just rushed out of the house after a phone call. Naturally, Mei was both curious and worried.... though, she had also seen him bend a gun's barrel with his hands so she doubted someone could injure him in a physical altercation.

-x-X-x-

Shouko was in a dilemma at the moment.... Sitting on a tatami mat in her room, the girl looked around in slight tension, had calling Samuel really been the best decision? Her mother was at work and her sister was at school, Shoya Ishida, her childhood 'friend' was a viable option but.... compared to Samuel, Shouko couldn't help but admit that her relationship with the latter was more genuine.

By no means did she blame Shoya for the loss of her hearing back then but, she was a teenager. It was hard to forget things like those.

In contrast, Samuel was earnest and honest with her since their first meeting, if that wasn't enough, he seemed to not even be affected by her 'disability'.... So yes, they'd known each other for barely a week but she, Shouko favoured him more.

Though... Shouko didn't realise that the tone of her voice ended up giving her 'friend' a huge misunderstanding.

Soon enough, she heard the very audible sound of a revving engine, through the hearing aid of course, and her eyes widened in slight surprise before she smiled, that was far too fast.... Shouko had genuinely expected Samuel to brush the matter off... Someone with his looks and personality should have had dozens of other things to do and people to hang out.... It made the half deaf girl slightly happy.

Though, the next thing greatly confused her instead.

Shouko slightly trembled hearing a small crash, "...." What was going on?

-x-X-x-

Tokyo, Japan,

Shibuya,

Samuel POV,

Samuel parked his bike in haste but he'd been slightly tilted so it went off balance and skidded across the ground... However, he was quick to salvage the situation and use his own foot to stop the bike from going further by force.. Considering the speed Samuel had been going at, a small boom was produced when he kicked the ground.

'Chill out bruv, you're overreactin'.' Echidna imitated a British accent, giggling soon after. The girl had no pitch control so it was probably a misunderstanding... Though, the Witch of Greed didn't tell her contractor, this was good to watch. For all his thoughtfulness, her contractor ended up overreacting when it came to certain people.

Parking the bike, Samuel ran up the stairs and knocked on the door, "You there?" His voice was slightly high, not quite shouting but with the way he sounded, it wasn't necessary either. Who was he kidding though? If she was in actual trouble, no one would answer the door.

However, just as he was about to kick the door off it's hinges, it was opened by... Shouko.

"....?" Samuel took a step back, slightly confused... wait...

'This is too precious.' Echidna laughed loudly, covering her mouth with a hand, it went exactly as she thought it would.. It didn't make it any less hilarious though..

"....Good morning.." There was a bit of a pause before Shouko spoke through hand signs, though, even if she tried to, the girl couldn't quite hide the small happy smile on her face.

"What happened?" Samuel asked in a serious voice, maybe it was some emotional matter for her. It would make sense. Had it been a regular day, he'd have praised her appearance but now wasn't the time. Shouko wore a light pink shirt and a skirt, her long hair was tied up in a ponytail and her sleeves were folded.

Confusion flashed through her eyes, why did he look like he'd just run a marathon?

"I.. needed help with shopping..." Shouko slowly signed, a clueless smile formed on her face seeing Samuel sigh and lean against the railing..

A few moments passed in silence before Samuel just smiled, "Alright, where to?" It was his own misunderstanding, there was no need to get angry at her.

'.....This is discrimination.'

Shouko nodded, she'd learnt her lesson last time, going shopping alone ended up in misun-.... nevermind that, she was a lonely person with little to no friends. Deep down, Shouko herself knew that it was just an excuse to spend some time together..

Samuel folded his arms, looking at the thoughtful and troubled expression on Shouko's face in curiosity, did she have something more to say?

After long few minutes spent in silence, her shoulders slumped and Shouko decided to come clean about it. Samuel was a person who had been genuine with her, to deceive him after he'd probably rushed here was just wrong and she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"I'm sorry... I just wanted... to have a day out with... a friend." Shouko signed slowly, not daring to raise her gaze.. Slightly afraid as to how he'd react to being deceived after their last, rather unique, interaction.

'.....How does someone like this exist...?' Echidna too was taken aback by the deaf girl's words...

Samuel's eyes widened in a mixture of shock and surprise.... Echidna's words perfectly summed up both his feelings and thoughts about what had just happened.. How was this possible?

Samuel was... stunned.

Did people like this truly exist?

'You and I both know.. she's not lying... That just makes it more astounding.'

Shouko mistook his silence for disappointment and anger, this made her slightly tremble, "I'm.. sorry.."

"No I.. I'm not angry." Samuel scratched the back of his head, slowly processing his current situation. How could someone be this... well... real? He'd never interacted with someone that was this genuine and kind ever.. period. Maybe if he had, his life would be different.

Because this, it shocked him, it threw him for a loop, left him astounded, whatever you wanna call it. As someone who was used to deceiving and being deceived, this was something completely unexpected. How was it possible? How was someone genuinely kind? How was someone so.. Like this?

"You're not angry or disappointed?"

"I'm just... speechless."

Samuel ended up letting his real thoughts slip out.

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Share thoughts pl-, you know what? I'm done.

If I don't get 3 thoughts, I won't post tomorrow.