Chapter 250: New Armor (1/2)
Arthur was both stunned and nervous, so the words he chose as a response to Miko's confession were far from appropriate.
”How would I know if you were different from Hazel?” He blurted out, realizing immediately that he screwed up.
”How would you...” Miko looked at him with wide eyes. ”Hah,” She gave a helpless laugh. ”Has Hazel contacted you since the trial ended? Has she ran around trying to protect you, warning you about anything that might happen?”
”I didn't mean...”
”You meant exactly what you said,” Miko said before standing up. ”Jerano is going to be thrown into something by Tanera. I'm sure that before that, you'll meet your beloved Hazel. I'll talk to you later.”
Before Arthur could say anything, Miko disappeared to leave him sitting alone. He had his hand raised and lowered with a clench.
'Why did I say that? Even if I thought of it, Miko is different.' Arthur sighed as he stood up as well. 'She was the only one who kept helping me all this time. Now, I treated her the same as someone she hates.'
He left the tower and returned to the campus. He got to see Oliver running around the field alone, class over.
”What's taking you so long?” Arthur started running beside him. ”Just use mana to finish early.”
”The professor said I can't use mana,” Oliver answered with his fat jiggling. ”I need to... run ten laps... and I'm hardly at my... 7th.”
”Oh, alright.” Arthur ran beside him. ”Oliver, what would you tell a girl if she told you that she likes you?”
”What?!” Oliver turned to him with, what Arthur assumed to be, wide-eyes. ”Did someone confess to you? Is it Nera? It can't be, right?”
”Relax, there's no way that would happen.” Arthur laughed. ”I thought you didn't feel anything for her.”
”Oh, of course not. It's just that I need to protect my friends. That's all.”
”Nera would be happy to hear that people need protection from her,” Arthur said sarcastically.
”I meant to protect her from you.”
”What?” It was Arthur's turn to look at him with shock. ”What's wrong with me?”
”Well,” Oliver stopped running and tried to catch his breath. ”You're not a dating material, simply.”
”Why is that?” Arthur frowned.
”Alexie, you're a good friend of mine. That's why I'm saying this.”
”Just spit it.” Arthur felt like smacking him in the head.
”You're not the most emotional guy on earth,” Oliver said as he wiped his sweat. ”The only time I saw you happy or at least excited was when you are fighting.”
”When did you see me fight?”
”When Nera caught us, we watched you guys take down that giant knight. That's not the point. It feels like you're always holding back, not willing to interact with people. As if you're scared that by being happy around people, you'd give them the chance to rob that happiness.”
”That's not true.” Arthur shook his head. ”I just...” He didn't know what to say. He had never thought of this before. Was he incapable of making any real relationships with the people around him before he had awakened because he was busy?
”I'm not saying that you're a robot, I saw you get angry. I just never saw you try to get to know others. It's always as if you're just going with the flow.” Oliver had a sympathetic expression. ”I still consider you as a brother, you're a good person.”
”You still haven't answered my question.” Arthur deflected the subject.
”Well, it depends on how you feel,” Oliver answered. ”If you like her back, you'll know what to say. If you don't, you'll be confused like you are now.”
”What if I have never seen her like that?”
”Then you need to spend time together,” Oliver said with a wink before resuming his running. Arthur left with a sigh.
He returned to his room where he found Reece asleep. As soon as he closed the door, Reece woke up. 'It' yawned before jumping on Arthur after he sat down.
”I want some food.”
”Make your own.”
”Sure, I'll have a reality show called Cat Chef.” Reece smacked his leg with his paw. ”Make me some food.”
”Fine, what do you want.” Arthur gave in and went into the kitchen.