#12
“This is so… As a professor, I can’t help but feel ashamed. To make sure that the safety of the students in my class is kept by others… … But apart from that, it was a very quick move, Ezio-kun. It was great. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to you for keeping Miss Rubia safe.”
The professor, who always seemed calm and cool, looked at me timidly, and bowed politely.
Whoops.
The professor’s eyes gleamed as he raised his face again.
“… By the way, it was not enough magic power to destroy Miss Rubia’s magic. It seems that something special intervened in the middle. Is that the result Ezio-kun intended?”
what, how did you know
Is he really an Epic class professor? In a very short moment, I accurately caught the manifestation of my abilities.
I nodded.
“That’s right.”
Then the professor shows an interesting look.
“As a scholar, I am curious. If you can afford it, I’d love to hear a detailed explanation of Ezio-kun’s abilities… … ”
The professor’s eyes soon turned to somewhere.
It was Rubia who was standing in front of me.
When we look at ourselves at the same time, we look at each other as if we are hugging one shoulder and show a troubled smile.
“… It doesn’t seem like today is a day.”
did not deny
“… then. See you next class, Ezio-kun. Miss Rubia. Miss Stella.”
The professor, who had said that as he turned to each of us, opened the door, leaving me and the girls in the classroom.
The stillness came again.
It was Stella who broke it.
“Lou, Rubia… Are you okay?”
Stella was the first to scream. As if he was quite surprised by the sudden situation, his fingertips were still vibrating slightly. He quickly approached us with worried eyes.
Rubia looked at Stella and kept quiet for a while.
Then, suddenly, she smiled like the smile she had in front of me.
“yes I’m fine. It must have been messed up because of vertigo for a second.”
“However… … ”
“It’s really okay. Look, are you okay?”
I would very much like it
Looking at Rubia, who began to spin her arms around her as if she was bubbly, when she tried to take a deep breath from the depths of her chest.
“right. Did you study well?”
Rubia suddenly asked us.
I asked a short question from my side.
“… … study?”
“yes. Last time, Stella told Ezio to teach Ezio the amount of last class. I thought you two were doing well.”
I shuddered at those words. I don’t know why.
I made eye contact with Stella without saying a word for a moment.
He seems to have remembered the events of that time, so he closes his mouth and gently avoids my eyes. While Rubia was smirking at us like that, I calmly answered from my side.
“Uh, uh. Stella taught me better than the professor. Thanks to you, it was finished neatly and quickly with no parts to supplement. … … Right, Stella?”
“Yes. … No, yes.”
There was no mention of when and where we studied together. It was a difficult situation in many ways if Rubia found out about it.
… But why do I have to hide this? I thought I just entered Stella’s dormitory after getting fair permission, but is there any way I can honestly say that here?
The secret and accidental meeting with Stella will remain a secret between the two of us. Probably forever, as long as one of us doesn’t reveal it.
“I see… … I’m glad. Jindo, I can follow without missing a beat.”
Rubia didn’t ask any more. He must have sensed something unnatural, but he only smiled softly at me. Somehow, it felt like a corner of my chest was being stabbed with a sense of guilt that I didn’t understand.
As if to ventilate the atmosphere surrounded by a strange air current.
Rubia slowly opened her mouth.
“… Shall we go back now? It’s lunch time after a while. I don’t know yesterday, but today I eat with you… … ”
about that
“Stella, I’m sorry.”
I interrupted while Rubia was talking.
As I suddenly raise my hand, questionable gazes gather at me. After class, with the backpack straps around her shoulders, she looks back at Rubia as if shedding tears.
“You and Yuri should eat together today.”
“… … huh? why… ?”
Stella, who was about to ask a question in one letter, hurriedly adds the latter. If that’s the case, you can just leave it alone.
Anyway, I answered.
“I have something to talk about with him.”
“… uh? me?”
Rubia questioned like an idiot.
There is still quite a bit of time until the next liberal arts lecture.
The same goes for Rubia.
In that gap, I had to share a lot of questions and answers with Rubia. Even if Rubia herself doesn’t want it, somehow.
Rubia’s condition was getting worse day by day. If I keep going like this, I think I’m going to have a bigger accident. From long experience and intuition, I’m sure it was a not-so-distant future.
“Eh, Ezio? I’m fine. I’m really fine… … ”
Rubia’s bright green eyes fluttered slightly. The embarrassment that appeared on his pale blue face.
But what do you do? Once I decided to do that, I couldn’t bend over at my side.
He speaks with a cold gaze.
“Don’t be silly, Rubia. I don’t know you?”
“… … ”
Rubia was vacantly silent at the rebuke that wasn’t mine. Swallowing back the words he was about to say, he slowly lowered his gaze, which was shaking like a pendulum.
… In fact, it’s ridiculous that I even say this. i don’t know you Is it not enough without knowing enough? The period between Rubia and I in middle school was longer than I thought.
We, who were always together at the beginning and end of each day when we were young, have had different dreams on the same road from when.
So, it’s impossible to know what each other is thinking right now. The daily life we had always shared began to deviate in different directions.
Even though they obviously existed together in a specific space called Lawrsen Academy, Rubia and I maintained a precarious relationship, perhaps less than friends, until just before graduation.
No, nothing has changed at all.
It’s rather more complicated.
It was impossible to spend the remaining 5 years with Rubia in such a bitter way, so starting today, I will try to solve it slowly. The tangled knot between us that could not be unraveled. It may or may not be possible, but the first attempt itself was something that had to be done.
If it was like in the past, when I was hugging my worries that I couldn’t talk to anyone like I am now, I would have been able to tell them to myself right away. Rubia didn’t seem to be able to do that now. It was natural.
read at https://noblemtl.com
Darker eyes.
unstable gaze.
Noticeably slimmer body.
Even fatal mistakes that would not normally have been made.
As Rubia’s best friend once, and as someone who will always be.
I couldn’t stand still and watch it any longer.
“So, will you go first today? Sorry.”
“… … Oh no.”
As if there was nothing to be sorry about, Stella, who shook her head, looked at us with worried eyes.
– Kook.
He secretly raised both of his clenched fists, and silently cheered for me from a place that Rubia’s eyes could not reach, then grabbed his bag and walked out of the classroom.
“… … ”
“… … ”
Now it was only the two of us left in the spacious classroom. Rubia’s expression changed slightly as she wrapped herself around the quiet silence. Maybe it was because there was no one to see me but even the acting that I pretended to be okay all day seemed to have finally failed. Eventually, the smile disappeared from Rubia’s face.
A completely unfamiliar atmosphere. A droopy expression like that didn’t suit Rubia.
Thinking that maybe I was the culprit for all of that, my head got more complicated for nothing.
“Rubia.”
“… yes.”
powerless answer.
I turned my back on Rubia, who avoided my eyes.
spoke softly.
“Let’s talk about it here, let’s go outside.”
#13
A pleasant breeze blows.
It was a warm midday in spring. The whole area was covered with greenery that melted in the sunlight and gave off the fresh scent of leaves.
Rubia walked slowly.
It’s only natural that I didn’t have the energy.
At Rubia’s pace like that, I also walked slowly. On the path through the trees and the leaves, we walked without a conversation.
The trail where I happened to meet Rubia the other day.
On the bench in front of the hut at this end, I remember having a short but long conversation with Rubia in a thin negligee. I was reminded of my childhood memories for a while. The ending didn’t seem so good though.
I wanted to choose a place with as few people as possible. The conversation could be long, so I needed a place to sit and rest.
Most of all, it was a comfortable space full of vitality and vitality. Perhaps it is the most appropriate place to heal and appease a weary mind.
Rubia must also make up her mind. So I didn’t say anything hastily. Of course, I had to think about what to say first.
—Tak, Tak…
As I walked slowly, immersed in thought, I had arrived at the end of the trail and the destination.
I could see a shelter enshrined under the giant trees.
small hut. creepy wall. Colorful fish swimming vigorously by the clear pond and under the water. I glanced back at the bench where Rubia was sitting a while ago. After a while, he looked away from it.
“Let’s go in.”
I headed forward first. After a brief pause, I heard footsteps quietly following me.
Climb the mossy stone stairs one step at a time. Repeated the same action five times. After a short walk I was able to grab the handle of the cabin door.
—A little profit…
The old hinges creaked and wept. I didn’t let go of the handle until Rubia, who was following me, came in.
Eventually, when Rubia’s feet crossed the threshold, I closed the door of the hut and turned my head forward.
… … Tick. Tick.
I hear the second hand of the clock hanging on the wall.
Living room with red carpet. Above it was a rocking chair. There is a cushion that looks very soft.
Apparently, someone was taking care of it, and the dust had not accumulated unexpectedly. It was the same for other structures.
A small sofa on the wall. fireplace next to it. willow table. Cute teacups and kettles placed on a tray. Tea leaves for the students who visited this place. A mechanical engineering machine that can brew tea. There is also a bed where you can lie down and rest. The duvet was neatly folded.
“Sit here. I’ll even bring you a car.”
“… … yes.”
Rubia nodded her head slightly.
Rubia seemed to be torn between the rocking chair and the sofa, and eventually sat down on the rocking chair.
Then, quietly, leaning on the backrest with both hands neatly clasped together. Before, he seemed somehow nervous, but he seemed to have loosened up a bit because he liked the relaxed and quiet atmosphere of this place.
Kick, tick… The rocking chair slowly moved back and forth. With that regular sound in the background, I carefully searched for tea leaves to brew with green tea.
I suddenly opened my mouth.
“Rubia.”
“… … ?”
At my call, Rubia turned her head to the side. Facing her eyes that had become languid as if wet with tiredness that began to creep in slowly.
“I want to add some honey to the dew tea, how about it?”
let’s say so
Rubia asked quietly.
“… … How are you?”
He didn’t seem to understand the meaning.
“It was what you liked. I want you to still like me.”
“… … ”
Even without adding anything, I drank dew tea with honey to give it a sweet taste. As I drank sweet tea according to Rubia’s taste, I also fell in love with sweet food.
As time went on, I didn’t like it as much as I used to, but I do occasionally bite into chocolate when I think of it.
Rubia didn’t answer for a while.
So, I waited.
I took out two teacups from the tableware holder. Even if it looks clean, maybe it is. It was solved with a simple clean magic. As I was preparing to brew the tea, I moved my gaze to the rocking chair where Rubia was sitting for a moment at the answer that was still not heard.
The emerald-colored eyes that could be seen through the half-closed eyelids were staring blankly at me. It was a very dull color, so it seemed as if she was going to fall asleep wrapped up in her tightly closed eyelids at any moment.
There was no fire in the fireplace. Yet to me it felt as if a flaming, warm fire was burning.
This little hut was very similar to my house back then, except that it didn’t have an attic, so I suddenly had a vision of the past overlapping through Rubia sitting in a rocking chair.
I asked if he still liked dew tea with honey. Rubia’s lips parted slightly.
And then- I drew a soft curve naturally.
“… yes. I like you. From then until now, all the way.”
… … maybe.
I must have said that I still like the tea I drank often in the old days.
Rubia’s gaze, which stayed on me for a moment while I was making tea, somehow seemed to color the meaning a little opaque.