Chapter Ninety-Two: I Hate Him the Most!

Aoki Tsukasa rarely allowed himself such laziness, but today he had bought a pile of ready-made food and brought it home.

Pizza, hamburgers, fries, fried chicken, all stuffed into a full bag.

His whole body ached today. He was so exhausted that all he wanted was to collapse onto his bed and sleep soundly, and he truly had no desire to cook. A girl her age would probably be fond of this kind of food, too.

Just after he got home and opened the door, he saw Sora sitting at the dining table in the living room, holding a black rabbit.

Her silver hair fell over her shoulders. Her brows were faintly knit, and her gaze was both worried and a little angry as she fixed Tsukasa, covered in injuries, with a silent stare from the chair by the table.

Tsukasa set the food down and awkwardly hugged his school jacket before him, hiding the somewhat tattered white undershirt beneath it. His expression was sheepish. "Why aren't you upstairs playing on the computer, Sora?"

Sora merely stood up and took the school jacket from his arms. Seeing the dried blood and dusty dirt stains all over the white undershirt, and the way some of the fabric seemed almost torn open, her breathing turned heavier. "Did you get into another fight?"

Though she looked young, her expression had the grave seriousness of an adult. Tsukasa scratched his head, a little amused. "I'm not fighting every day... It's fine. I just had a little conflict with someone, and it's already been dealt with."

Sora stared at him, her eyes burning with anger. "You're lying!"

Tsukasa blinked. It was the first time she had ever shown him such obvious anger.

Sora laid the jacket out on the table, spreading it open. Looking at the many footprints and bloodstains on it, and the little holes where the seams had come undone, she said angrily, "Nao Tohashi told me everything."

That girl... Tsukasa secretly clicked his tongue. Why had Nao Tohashi told Sora about this? Her heart was already weak; what if worrying about him made her condition worse?

He decided he would have a good talk with Nao Tohashi by phone later. For now, he gave an awkward smile. "Really, it's nothing. The wounds on me are only superficial. At worst they hurt a little, and they'll heal soon."

Sora looked at him, her lips pressed tight, her eyes gradually filling with tears. "Can't you just stop fighting?"

"Nao Tohashi said those delinquent third-years and second-years all teamed up to cause trouble for you," Sora said, lowering her gaze and holding the black rabbit doll tightly in her arms. "How is that nothing... You're lying!"

Her voice trembled with the edge of tears.

Tsukasa sighed, crouched down, and used his bandaged hand to rub her hair, tracing lightly along her brow with his fingers. "All right, all right, I was wrong."

"I'm sorry!" Tsukasa said seriously. "I made you worry, and I'm truly sorry. But they won't come looking for trouble with me anymore. I've already taken care of it."

Sora's small body swayed slightly, and the sound of tears being forcibly held back could faintly be heard in her throat. "Why did you have to fight them, Tsukasa?"

Tsukasa blinked, then cupped her little face in both hands and made her look up at him. He gazed at her misty eyes with gentle warmth. "Don't cry."

"I'm very strong, you know!" Tsukasa said with a smile, catching the trembling tear at the corner of her eye with his fingertip. "And it wasn't like I wanted to fight them. It's just..."

He sighed and said sincerely, "Some things are things I have to do. And some trouble isn't something I can avoid just by trying to stay away from it."

Sora looked at him with reddened eyes, her small nose twitching softly. "Then, please don't fight them anymore, okay?"

Tsukasa averted his gaze guiltily, unsure how to answer. If he could, of course he would also like to be a carefree idler, spending each day reading books, watching videos, and playing games, passing time happily and at ease.

But now, not only because of the system's restraints, but more importantly because Maeda and the others were looking to him with hope, and even because the ambitions swelling ever larger within his own heart... all of it meant that conflicts in the future were inevitable. So he could not casually make promises about what lay ahead.

His lips opened and closed, but he could not bring himself to say anything false. In the end, he fell silent.

Sora reached out and pushed away the hands cupping her cheeks. Her expression grew cold. "Why?"

Tsukasa licked his pale lips and looked up at the ceiling. "I..."

"Tsukasa..." Sora's breathing grew heavier, and her voice rose. "Didn't Tsukasa say he'd protect me forever? If Tsukasa gets hurt in fights, how can you keep your promise?"

"You were the one who said you would never break your promise!" Tears slipped from the corner of her eyes and fell onto her delicate chin. She looked up at Tsukasa, her eyes carrying a trace of pleading. "Tsukasa... If it's you, then you can definitely do it, right? At worst, if they bully you, then Tsukasa can just study at home like I do. I've already finished all of high school on my own."

"I can teach Tsukasa his lessons, and Tsukasa can play games with me, and we, we could also..."

Tsukasa drew a deep breath, lowered his head, and looked into her expectant eyes before interrupting her in a heavy voice. "I'm sorry, Sora. I can't promise you that I'll never fight again."

"....."

Sora slowly lowered her head, and the hope in her eyes gradually turned to disappointment.

"But I will absolutely, absolutely never betray our promise! I will do everything in my power, give everything I have, to protect you." Tsukasa reached out to stroke the top of her head, his gaze earnest. "Believe me, Sora."

Sora still kept her head down, but the small hand clutching the rabbit doll tightened a little more.

Seeing her like this, Tsukasa felt a pang of pain in his chest.

"Sora..." Tsukasa gently pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry... please believe me one more time."

Sora sobbed in silence. After a long while, she forcefully pushed Tsukasa away, wiped at her eyes herself, and looked at his dirty undershirt. When she lifted her head again, her expression had returned to coldness.

"I..."

"I hate you!"

"Tsukasa... I hate you the most!"

Her face was still streaked with tears, and in her eyes there was only disappointment and sorrow. Her voice trembled with anger.

With that, she turned and hurried upstairs, leaving Tsukasa alone in the empty living room, unable to speak for a long time.

At last, Tsukasa let out a long sigh, grabbed his clothes from the table, and went to the bathroom. He pulled off the blood-soaked undershirt and threw it into the washing machine.

With both hands braced on the washbasin, Tsukasa stared expressionlessly at the bald, cold-faced man in the mirror, at that body of his, all hard muscle and scars, and felt both familiarity and strangeness.

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