Chapter 2: Chapter 1: I am bored
Good god, I am so bored.
Hello, my name is Tanaka and I am just ordinary Highschool student like any other person. Scruffy short black hair, average height, average build, average face. My seat is located on row x and column y. It doesn't matter where exactly since we change every month because our teacher became convinced that this helped with learning for whatever reason. I stared out from the window like what I usually do even if my seat is not next to the window. I don't have any friends or do I intend to make any. It doesn't concern me. Some may say that I am living a boring Highschool life, but I disagree. Everyone gets to choose how they live and I have chosen this path.
Hmm…?
I think someone just called me out. How strange. This isn't something that happens normally. May they want something from me. It is the 15 minute break. Do they want to copy my notes? I don't mind. If they pass or fail the next test, it really isn't my concern. I faced the origin of the voice. It was… who was he again? Archive… archive… archive… Ah yes. He is Tachibana. He is tall, athletic and 'handsome', whatever that means, and all around very popular among both men and women.
"Hey are you even listening?" Tachibana interrogated me.
No not really, but I wasn't going to answer that.
"Look here. Just do this work for me will ya."
He handed me a piece of paper. It was homework that is due in the next period. Mathematics huh? I forgot we had that or did I already finish before the end of class.
"You're smart right? So do it."
I looked over the paper and back at the intruder.
"Why?" I let out a meekly reply.
I don't expend more energy than what I needed. The moment the words had left my mouth, Tachibana's hand stretched out and grabbed my shirt and pulled me up from my seat.
"Look. You do what I say or else."
He brought his face close and threatened me. I could see his hands balling, preparing for a punch. It would take energy to heal a wound but that would still be more efficient than the energy that I would need to expend in order to finish the homework in such a short period. Another reason is, if I were to give in it would give him more reason to offload work on me in the future. That's why I stuck with my refusal. I stared blankly back at him. There was no need to say the same idea that I showed earlier.
His fist started to waver and he eventually dropped me into my seat.
"What a creep. Fine. I'll go ask someone else."
With a proud declaration he left with his unfinished work. I had won the altercation.
Classes were over for the day and I was getting ready to go back home. I packed my bag and made my way back home. My home was quite far away but I had a bike so it was an easy distance to cover. I stood at a red light crossing. They had either changed the timing or i had slightly mistimed my departure from school. This doesn't matter. I would arrive at home at around the same time as usual.
A young girl stood next to her mother across the street. She was very excited. Her mother seemed tired. She wore a suit and had a fairly formal hand bag. She was most likely an office worker. She was probably taking her daughter home after picking her up from the daycare. Could she be divorced? It is not strange nowadays to have both parents working but she seemed more stressed out. Raising a child alone is a back breaking task. Her weariness caught up to her and she loosened her grip on the daughter's hand. The green light signaling pedestrians to cross illuminated. The girl bolted from her mother's grip. Screeching tires to the left. A large truck came barreling down the road. The driver had not seen the red light. It was going way too fast…
The average delivery truck weighs 6 tons. Going close to 60 kilometers an hour results in at least 83 kilojoules…
Too much energy expenditure in current set up…
Fear limiter set high…
Time to collision… 5 seconds.
I dropped my bag and started to sprint.
4 seconds.
My bike is too slow for such a short dash.
3 seconds.
The margin is smaller than what I would like.
2 seconds.
I reach the young girl and scooped her up. There was no time to handle with care.
1 second.
The young girl was much lighter than what I had expected. I took her out of the way of the oncoming truck.
Collision.
I said earlier that the margin was small. My left leg was slightly clipped. Not too much, only slight blood loss. It will quickly heal. I let the girl down to the ground. She was shivering in fear and suddenly ran to hug her mom. The mother, who was calling out to her daughter, kneeled down to hug her daughter. Any mother would act like that, if they thought that their child was going to die in front of them. The mother recollected herself and faced me. She was wiping tears in her eyes.
"Thank you so much for saving my daughter!" The mother thanked me with a relieved expression.
She noticed that I was slightly injured.
"Oh my god! Are you okay?!"
I was hoping that my wound wouldn't illicit such a reaction. Panicky footsteps appeared behind me. The man in the truck had stepped out and was hurriedly coming over to us. When he reached us, he promptly bowed down towards the ground.
"Please forgive me!" The man cried desperately.
The woman was still in shock of my injury to respond so I did instead.
"Please raise your head. Everything is okay now."
"I'm so sorry!... Oh, your leg! Please let me take you to the hospital."
For certain reasons it would be in my best interest to avoid going to the hospital. I needed an excuse to sidestep this honest offer.
"It's fine really."
""But-""
The mother and the man both responded, and they said things along the lines of repaying back the favour.
"You don't need to feel indebted towards me, but there's something you can do…"
I turned towards the truck driver.
"Please always pay attention to road. Always exercise caution. Miracles don't happen every day and you may come to regret your actions later if you are too carefree."
The man, who was looking towards the ground, suddenly faced me. It would do him no good to linger on this forever, but he shouldn't ignore what had happened or what could have happened today. I turned around and faced the mother.
"Please remember to take care of yourself. I know that you are working hard to provide for your daughter. But what your daughter also needs is a mother. Don't be afraid to ask for help."
The young girl was clinging to her mother, begging for her mother's attention. The mother patted her daughter's head. Her exhaustion was written all over her face. She hadn't noticed when her daughter ran off. The daughter was acting overly active to gain her mother's attention. It's best for her growth that the mother takes care of herself.
They seemed to be stunned by the sudden advice that I had given out. My involvement in this situation was over. I grabbed my bike and bid myself farewell from them. They had completely forgotten about the injury that I had on my leg. Not that it mattered. Just before I turned the corner towards home, I heard the young girl shout out.
"Thank you, mister!"
No problem. I mouthed that quietly as I disappeared into the next alley with my bike. They hadn't noticed that by the time I was gone. My wound had finished healing. There wasn't a speck of blood. What remained was my torn trousers.
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