three

He'd uttered this in such a casual tone, my mind almost completely overlooked it. It sounded more like a comeback than an actual, legitimate answer to my dogged conscience's question.

For all of two minutes, the two of us said not a word-Nozomi, with his back against the wall, neck slightly bent so that he could stare fixedly at the ground at his feet, whereas I could look nowhere else but him. A part of me still couldn't believe what I'd heard, despite how some others may have taken such a thing lightly.

"I don't understand, you were able to find your way to your seat on the first day, and-"

"I'm not blind, you idiot." Nozomi let out a noise of disgruntlement, frowning even more than he'd been before. "Visual impairment, haven't you heard of it?"

"Can't you just use glasses?"

"You really must have a thick skull."

"Yeah, I won't argue with you there."

I approached Nozomi with careful steps, urging myself to avoid acting as though I were pitying him, while at the same time wishing he'd stop being so stubborn and independent. There was nothing wrong with wanting to help someone, and surely there was no reason for him to be refusing it so strongly.

"Gimme your hand."

"And what do you plan on doing with it?"

"I dunno, maybe intertwine our fingers romantically and skip off into the distance together so we can get married or something." I laughed quietly to myself, shaking my head disappointedly at the hopelessly confused expression Nozomi now had on. I didn't mean to spite him. Anyone would've found it amusing. "I'm trying to help you stand, genius. Now take my hand. How far is your house from school, by the way?"

He had finally faced me, those cognac eyes wider than ever and flooded with an immeasurable amount of uncertainty. "A-…about six blocks," he said. I gave a low whistle in response.

"That close?"

"I…can get there…on my own."

He's more hesitant now. That's good.

"You couldn't even make it to the door, pal, I don't think it's safe to let you walk home like this."

He fought it. Not physically, but I could see it-he was in the midst of a mental conflict, vigorously battling the urge to take another's hand and allow them to get closer to him, to see what it was that kept him so reserved. I meant what I'd said earlier, how I only had good intentions, more so now due to this newly acquired knowledge I possessed.

"C'mon, Nozomi," I said tenderly, smiling in a sympathetic yet respectful manner-well, that was the look I strived to maintain anyway. I couldn't be assured my efforts were successful until that ever present frown of his vanished.

He took my hand. Reluctantly, no doubt, but nonetheless it was progress. I rose to my feet and lifted him up along with me, taking heed to watch his face warily in the chance that his expression might change to something a little more…pleasant.

Witnessing the lack of positive change was honestly disheartening.

"I'm sorry."

That was the first thing he uttered once he was standing again. An apology-of all things, it just had to be an apology. Even to myself, I couldn't explain why that affected me the way it did, but I wasn't about to start denying it either.

"In this situation, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to say thank you."

"…"

"Oh, I get it. You're shy." I sported a playful smirk. "Don't worry. If that's the case then I promise not to tell your girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?"

Confusion. I realized then and there that my presumption had been incorrect all along. I let out a quiet laugh in spite of myself, considering not pressing on the matter any more then I already had, though I soon found myself doing so regardless.

"So, she's your sister then."

"…yeah."

I found it somewhat shocking that he hadn't responded austerely or with sarcasm. Improvement, I thought, this had to be improvement. As I led Nozomi over to the doorway, now clutching his wrist kindly yet securely, I bit my bottom lip and endeavored to bury the last of my curiosities, reminding myself over and over again that this was none of my business, that I need not get involved. But each time I glanced over my shoulder to get another glimpse of his inscrutable countenance, I felt my feet sinking deeper and deeper in the pitfall trap I had unknowingly dug for myself.

The pitfall trap…of which was synonymous to the innate desire to understand others emotionally.

It really did appear as though we were the only students left in the entire building. The hallways, sufficiently lit by sunlight pouring through the stain-glass windows on the left side, were entirely void of activity, void of the voices and laughter and people that typically were always found occupying its otherwise empty space. It was odd—I never stayed this long before. Sure, I did enjoy a little peace and quiet every now and then, but this was eerily quiet.

All the more reason to break the silence, huh.

"So what's it like?"

Without even looking at him, I could tell that Nozomi was already beginning to glare at me with a judgmental gleam in his eye. He let out an audible puff of air through his nose.

"What's it to you?"

"I'm curious," I replied in full honesty. "Respectfully curious, I should say. That is, if you tell me, it's not like I'm going to run around mocking you behind your back or anything like that. I'm good at keeping secrets."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

I hummed thoughtfully for a moment. "Dunno. I was hoping it'd make you a little more comfortable with opening up, I guess."

"You're trying to comfort me?"

"Well, yeah, I thought that much was obvious."

There was a hint of wavering disbelief in his tone, which almost tempted me to turn around to see if his expression had altered at all as a result. I was weak in some instances, and I did end up looking back. Nozomi's eyes were on me.

"I have no peripheral vision," he said solemnly, gaze not shifting in the slightest, which put me somewhat on edge.

"No…peripheral vision?"

"Yeah, as in I can only see what's directly in front of me, and mostly, only out of one eye, although sometimes even that image is blurry." He moved his free hand up to touch his temple. "Like today, for example, I was suffering from a severe headache, and just about everything was out of focus. All except…"

"Except?"

Somewhere in the middle of his brief explanation, I'd once again turned my attention to the hallway ahead of me so that I could be assured I didn't pass the exit whenever we came to it. He left me on a cliffhanger he did, and for a moment I wasn't entirely sure he would ever finish that statement he'd so haphazardly begun. But he did. Quite ambiguously at first, but he must've felt the need to clarify himself to avoid misunderstanding.

"…except you. With that bright red hair of yours, it's almost impossible not to see you…you stand out, has anyone ever told you that?"

"You have no idea…"

So Tomoru had been right after all. Funnily enough, it was, to some extent, satisfying to hear him say what he did. And once again I could feel proud of being born with this flamboyant characteristic of mine. Even if it were in a roundabout way, I believed I was able to help someone this time around.

And what an oddly fulfilling sensation that was.

I ended up leading a one-way conversation absentmindedly for just about the entirety of our walk to Nozomi's place, and throughout that short period of time the boy spoke not a word. He simply stared at the hand firmly gripping his wrist, almost as though a part of him believed it would otherwise soon disappear.