5 Chapter 5: Support and Growth
That day, my little sister caught a fever of 39 degrees Celsius, but, magically, the next day, I was woken up by her, who was more energetic than usual, literally jumping around as she called me.
When I looked at her page, I saw that her resistance had jumped again, going straight to 15.
'Is her talent really that low?' I thought in amazement.
After all, it was a total addition of 5 points.
Well, thinking too much about it I don't think would help me figure out why she improved so much, and, whatever it was, I was happy for her.
"I'm glad your fever went down and you're so energetic, little Kumo." I touched her head with a smile.
Looking at me, she showed a beautiful smile, displaying a row of white teeth, and said, "Yes, today I woke up with a lot of energy!"
At the door of my room, my mother was wiping away a trail of tears while a happy smile curved her lips; until then, I guess she had gone to check on my little sister and found her here.
Her biggest worry was Yakumo's frail health. I've lost count of how many times I've seen her cry when Yakumo got sick.
Suddenly, the strange and familiar sound played in my head, then the book appeared and opened, stopping at a page that said: [18 Weekly Coins Credited]
'My efforts in trying to improve my friendship with the students yesterday paid off well.' I thought: 'And, I think by helping my little sister, it must have influenced a bit in this amount of coins I earned.'
I even managed to exchange a few words with Sasuke, which was surprising since he doesn't like to talk to anyone in the class.
If so, even if it's just 10 weekly coins, buying a little golden hammer is not a difficult goal to achieve.
Of course, I knew there must be a limit to the number of coins I could get from interacting with others. But, although they say the higher the expectations, the greater the fall, I don't like to stop trying just for fear of losing.
As we walked after breakfast, I could feel my mother's gaze on me.
"Mom?" I called out to her.
"Aizen, how are things going at school?" She asked.
"It's going well." I said with a simple smile: "I made several friends."
"That's good." She smiled.
Since last year, when I hit the boy who spoke ill of Yakumo, I could tell that my mother was worried about whether I was managing to make friends and do well in school.
Well, I didn't really try to get close to the other kids; first, there was a mental age barrier. Even though I was reborn and living seven years as a child influences me often, making me act like a boy my age, I still feel more comfortable talking to someone older.
Of course, being a child, I'm never taken seriously, nor do I even wish for that. I'm not in a hurry to become an adult. But sometimes, I find myself thinking that I want to grow up soon, at least until I'm fifteen.
"Even if Big Brother doesn't have friends at school, he has me, Mommy!" Yakumo said seriously to our mother.
I laughed when I saw this, "Yes, you're right, little one, I have you to play with me when I come home."
"Hehe~ Yes, I'm Big Brother's best friend~" She giggled as she swung her chopsticks in the air.
My mother, seeing this, had a wide smile on her face.
━━━━
"Good morning, everyone." I said with a friendly expression.
"Good morning, Aizen."
Gradually, my classmates greeted me back.
"Hey, Aizen, listen to this, listen to this." Naruto approached me.
"Yes, Naruto?" I paid attention to him.
"Isn't it amazing?" He said: "Yesterday when I tried doing what you told me, I felt like I got stronger, do you think I'm talented?"
The way he spoke, though a bit muddled, was still easy to understand, and of course, I knew what he was talking about and pretended not to notice his presumption when I said: "Have you tried the exercises I recommended? Squats, push-ups, and sit-ups can really help increase your strength and improve your motor coordination."
"I understand." Naruto smiled with his eyes closed, then opened a wide smile: "Thank you, Aizen."
"You're welcome." I said amiably.
Others approached in a similar manner, however, not everyone talked about basic training like Naruto, after all, the number of orphans in the class was small and Naruto was the only one who was more excluded by others.
"Aizen is so kind~"
I heard some little girls whispering this.
I simply smiled.
Although I had ulterior motives in doing so, wanting to increase my weekly coins by forming a friendship bond with Naruto and the rest, it still doesn't change the fact that I started to enjoy talking with some of them like Shikamaru, who had a high intellect for his age.
"Aizen..."
I heard a timid voice very softly, and when I looked in a certain direction, I saw Hinata looking my way, but she lowered her head when I looked at her.
'Mm, it's hard to approach her with her being so shy.' I thought.
However, that didn't stop me from trying.
━━━━
At home, I played with Yakumo for almost an hour after coming back from school; soon after, I went to the Dojo.
My training hadn't changed much. In fact, I tried to change it before, following a training regimen I saw in a manga, which proved that it shouldn't be done.
To my dismay, instead of increasing my strength, I lost 1 strength point because of that training. Because of this, I began to be cautious and not test random training routines.
For now, I'll stick to the basics that I did before. If I find something that might yield better results, I will test it; however, I need to have at least some assurance that it will be helpful. At least I need to know that someone else has tested it before and had positive results.
A good teacher would be Might Guy, but it's difficult to meet with him these days, probably because he's out on a mission.
The sky was darkening, and just like other days, my sweet little sister came to call me.
"Big Brother, dinner~" She said this as she opened the door, then left leaving the following words in the air: "Take a bath first, you must be stinking again, hehe~"
I laughed helplessly at her antics, but didn't leave yet. Instead, I murmured: "Book."
The moment the book appeared, I went to my page.
━━━━
Name: Aizen Kurama
Weekly Coins: 23
━━━━
Talent: Medium High
Strength: 34/100 -> 37/100
Agility: 52/99 -> 53/99
Speed: 53/98 -> 54/98
Endurance: 32/79 -> 38/79
Mental Strength: 61/100 -> 62/100
Skill: 41/80 -> 42/80
Aura: 44/82 -> 45/82
Chakra: 49/100 -> 50/100
━━━━
'It's satisfying to see my growth after training...' I thought.
Some only improved by 1 point, but that already represents progress. As long as there is improvement, it means I'm on the right track, which makes me quite satisfied.
