123 SS2: While he slept - B (1/2)

.

Note: This takes place after Kazuya returned from his ”night out”.

.

No one knew what Kazuya did before he safely returned to the Shiroyuki household. There was just his little accomplice who held him tightly to cover up his absence during the night.

Tomoyo fell in and out of sleep the whole night because she was worried that her grandparents might discover his absence. She was worried that he might get scolded or even grounded if they discovered that he sneaked out during the night so she tried various things in order to make it seem like Kazuya was in her room.

The robot girl tried different things from rolling up a spare blanket to covering a couple of pillows under the blanket but she still wasn't convinced that her grandfather would buy it. She stealthily sneaked into one of the senior instructor's rooms and grabbed the wig he always wore before meeting with his students. It was after meticulous arrangement that she was finally able to make it look like a figure of someone was sleeping beside her.

When Kazuya finally returned, he saw the relief on the sleepy girl's face. Looks like she tried hard to wait for him and even made a clever ruse in case someone checked.

”Silly girl” Kazuya patted her head gently which made Tomoyo relaxed and sleepy as she rested her head on his chest. ”I should scold you but since you've tried hard, I'll let it slide this time” he grabbed the wig threw it outside the window. He incinerated it so that it would leave no traces before Tomoyo could do anything about it.

Tomoyo made herself comfortable but just when she was about to fall asleep, both of them felt Jirou's presence heading towards them. It looked like he was talking to someone but since there was only one presence, they assumed that he was talking on the phone.

”He can't know that I left for the night” Kazuya told the robot girl who sat up and thought about what to do. It was then that she pointed towards the bunch of pillows that were supposed to be him.

”Sleep…” Kazuya wanted to question her but they didn't have time. He decided to trust this girl that worked hard for him not to get discovered and obediently pretended to be asleep under the sheets.

Tomoyo couldn't think of anything else so she pulled him close to her and hugged him tightly. She remembered that her grandparents said that she had a habit of not letting go when she grabbed something in her sleep.

It was as if the situation had been reversed earlier and Kazuya was pulled closer to the robot girl where she held his head against her own body. Jirou slowly opened the door from outside not long after that and peeked in on the two.

Kazuya concentrated his senses and eavesdropped on the conversation that Jirou was having. It sounded like Domyouji Gakuto had discovered what he had done and immediately looked to Jirou to see if he was in Jirou's place.

”(This old man's intuition is sharp)” Kazuya thought. It was then he heard Jirou's explanation about Kazuya having the perfect alibi.

He was quite thankful to this robot girl and her quick wit. She protected him last night and was even able to provide him an alibi for the previous night. He couldn't help but feel gratitude towards this girl who he never expected that he would get along with after what he experienced with her in his previous life.

Thinking about it, there were a lot of things that had caught him off guard in this life. The Shiroyuki Tomoyo he met was almost the same girl he met in his previous life but she was easier to get along with in this life. He was open to the idea that they may have misunderstood each other but what was the reason that made her approach him in the first place? Was it just because she heard that their family had relations or did she have some kind of connection with him before he lost his memories just like that weird girl Stockton Kurumi?

Kazuya was stuck in these kinds of thoughts now that he had finally relaxed. He was inside one of the places he considered safe so he slowly started falling asleep. He truly had pushed himself hard and he didn't remember how much energy he had spent.

With the thoughts in his mind before he fell asleep, he dreamt of a specific time in his past. It was the moment he met with someone he respected in his previous life yet in this life, it was someone whose cold corpse was resting inside the unknown space inside his ring.

Inside a big park near the territory of the old alliance headed by the former groups in power, Kazuya made himself a comfortable little spot to sleep in. This was to skimp on paying fees to sleep in manga or internet cafes which still cost money. He might need to stay there during the cold season so he needed to save all the money he could.

*THUD*

He heard the sound of someone falling. He stayed behind the bushes late at night so that any patrolling officers won't be able to notice him. They would have asked him to leave the park since it was technically off-limits during night time.

”(A civilian?)” He wondered what someone could be doing here at this time. Kazuya wondered if it was another homeless person who got drunk so he cautiously approached the man. What he found was someone who had been riddled with wounds. He looked to have been beaten up.

Kazuya was very familiar with the kind of injuries this young man had because he suffered from them regularly. If it wasn't from the robot girl who would beat him up whenever she caught him, it would be from the goons that Lee sent before the bastard took Mei away from him.

*groan* The man tried to move but he was just too weak to do so.

”Are you okay?” he tried communicating and saw the man's face for the first time.

”Do I look like I'm okay?” the young man asked sarcastically. ”Can you help me get back to my place? It's not too far from here” he weakly said.

”Okay…” he was afraid to be led into a place where he would be robbed but what more could he lose? If this guy was willing to let himself be beat up just to trick and rob homeless people like him then why would he get beaten up so much? It made no sense. ”Where do you live?”

”It's just by the Kitsune Udon place at Kuugan street” he tried convincing the boy for help. ”I may not look trustworthy but I wouldn't hurt someone who just tried to help”