Chapter 8

The hall was silent, with only the muffled songs from all the booths ringing through the hallway. As soon as Tomiri left the room, she immediately headed to the lounge, where the vending machines were. It took only a moment, and sitting there was Haku, with a can of cola in his hands.

"You should really return, you were having fun, no?"

"Don't worry, it felt a bit too overwhelming anyways."

"Grab any drink you want, my treat."

"Dont mind if I do"

Haku stood up, and they both went to the vending machine right across the room.

"No fair! Why does the strawberry milk have to be so high up?!"

"Heh."

"I know that youre grinning under that mask! It's not funny!"

"Alright alright, I'll stop."

"You'd better."

They both went back to the sofa. Tomiri sat down, and started drinking her milk. After a long sip, she finally let out a big sigh.

"So… you want to explain what happened back there?"

"Are you interested in hearing a story?"

"Yes!"

"Well, the story goes something like this: Once upon a time, there was a little boy with a decent-looking face. His parents, taking advantage of this, made him do modeling and earning a great deal of profit. As his schedule gets more and more crammed with modeling sessions, he gets more and more outcasted at school. Eventually, all the modeling got to him and he developed a big ego, along with a superiority complex, acting high and mighty towards the little friends that he had. His friends got sick of the way he acted, saying things like 'Just because you had a pretty face doesn't mean you are better than us!' and 'Your face doesn't match how you act. A saint from the outside, but a demon in the inside'. They left a scar on him, both mentally and physically. He thought that: Maybe, just maybe, if he hide his face, everything would return to normal. He was so afraid of his egotistical past self that he never wanted to show anyone that face of his, determined to ruin his own image so that he'll never get full of himself again."

"I… didn't know…"

"No one does."

There was a moment of brief silence between the two, both not knowing what to say to the other. Haku took another sip of his cola, then proceeds to throw it into the trash can in the corner of the room.

"Well then, shall we leave?"

"Uhm… Sure!"

They both headed down stairs, after being greeted by the staff, they headed straight for the train station.

"That boy, Haku-kun, do you mind telling him something?"

"Sure."

"Tell him that it's normal to be selfish and want to be the center of attention. Tell him that he shouldn't ruin what he's spent years building, and that he should be himself even if it means having an ego and being self-centered."

"What if he returns to his old self?"

"Then I'll be there to stop him."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Well, I'll make sure he hears those words."

"Thank you."

"We should probably start running though, or we might miss the last train."

"You know that I can't run that fast!"

"How about I give you a piggy back?"

"You sure?"

"Very."

Haku kneeled down, just enough for Tomori to hop on. She wrapped her arms around his neck while he held her legs.

"Hang on tight!"

"Woah is this what you usually see - WOAH SLOW DOWN IDIOT!!!"

Haku ran straight ahead at full speed, with each step becoming wider than the previous. Before long, they had reach the train station, barely making it before the train arrives. Haku fell down on the floor, gasping for air.

"I… told you… we'd be late… if we… walked…"

"Heheh, I guess you were right."

They both looked at each other's eyes, and they started laughing. Though, a passing janitor had spotted them, and then yelled loudly:

"Hey boy! Those floors are dirty you know!"

"Ahh yes! I'll get right up!"

As the janitor walked away, his mind was filled with times from when he too was in highschool, fooling around with his friends and girlfriend. 'Ahhhh to be young and in love.', he thought as he started to mop the floor again.