I practiced as a monk alone in Japan.

Chapter 80 The Raven (Second Update~)

"When I was little, I was very fat and short. At that time, my family's situation was gradually improving. My father worked very hard and provided me with a good life. It was also around that time that we moved, changed our environment, and made new friends."

Miura Akihiko spoke in a low voice.

"Those people from Gaocheng?"

Akihiko Miura nodded. "Yes, it's them. My older sister went abroad to study a long time ago, so I was basically living alone with my father during that period."

"Your sister? When did you suddenly have a sister? Where did this new addition come from?"

Gen Tsukino asked strangely.

It seems like I haven't heard him mention it since the first year of high school. Could it be that I subconsciously overlooked it?

Miura Akihiko said irritably, "I never said I was an only child, okay? It's just that my relationship with my sister is so-so, and I don't like to talk about her. Besides, she's my dad's ex-wife's daughter. She used to live with my dad's ex-wife."

"It's so complicated, is your sister pretty?"

"Is this the key?"

"Okay, okay, you say."

Miura Akihiko composed himself and continued speaking.

"It was because of the divorce that my father's ex-wife, who was better off, left with my older sister. This was a huge blow to my father, but it may also have been a driving force. By the time I was born, my father had already made a name for himself. But my father was very cautious. In his words, acquiring wealth is only the beginning of success; the key to success is how to manage wealth."

Am I here to learn business strategies? What Buffett's dinner?

This time, Tsukino Gen did not interrupt.

Miura Akihiko continued, "So from a young age, he would tell me that as a man, I should know how to be patient and restrained, and not to expose my emotions over trivial matters. After we moved, he also told me that his status was different now. He would do everything in his power to protect everything that was hard-won, and he also told me that I couldn't act impulsively like a child, and that I should understand his good intentions."

Miura Akihiko gave a bitter smile. "But I was just a child back then. Even so, I listened to my father because I knew how hard he worked for the family. Sometimes I even wish I hadn't been so sensible, maybe I wouldn't be so weak now."

Hearing this, Tsukino Gen basically understood why he always felt there was something strange about this boy.

"Is it because of your understanding of your father that all those things happened later?"

Akihiko Miura nodded.

Recalling the past and having your scars reopened is not a pleasant experience.

But even though he smiles in front of others every day, is it really that easy to be seen as the most down-to-earth rich kid? He just tries his best to forget those things and live in the persona he has created for himself, which seems to make him feel a little better.

But today, when Takashiro Katsuya and the others, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, appeared, he realized that nothing had changed at all. They were still seeing and treating him the same way they had before.

What's worse is that I still haven't made any progress.

“They all come from good families, and we gradually got to know each other through our parents’ business dealings and relationships. In the eyes of those adults, we should be compatible friends, have common topics, and grow up happily in the same environment. Actually, I also got to know them with hope, because I was short and fat when I was young and didn’t have many friends, and I longed to become friends with them.”

“At first it seemed normal. I tried to fit in with them, played the same games, bought the same things, and did the same things until they caught a stray cat. Katsuya Takashiro asked me: What do you want to do to this stray cat?”

"I was very confused at the time. I thought about it and said, 'I want to adopt it and raise it to be beautiful.' But do you know what they said to me?"

"what?"

They laughed at me and then asked, "Don't you want to kill it?"

"."

"They even invited me to kill that pitiful, emaciated stray cat. I refused, but I couldn't stop them from torturing the cat in various ways until it was on the verge of death. In the end, they cruelly killed it, even throwing its body off a high-rise building, which startled the sanitation workers. I still remember the cat's weak eyes at the end, and how they laughed so happily, like a group of monsters."

"But I did nothing. I couldn't stop them, nor could I reprimand them for being wrong. I was afraid they would exclude me from the group because of it. I was even worried that my behavior would cause them to be unhappy, and that this would then affect my father from their parents' perspective."

The teacher's voice was so loud it made me sleepy, but the voice around me was deafening.

Gen Tsukino said softly, "Your father is worried that you are not mature enough, but you are too mature, to the point that you worry about those things. You should know that it won't really make any difference."

Miura Akihiko nodded bitterly, "Of course I understood when I grew up, but back then I was sensitive and fragile, and I would really think that very small things were extremely serious and then blame myself. I am even afraid of cats now. After that cat died, I dreamed for several days about the terrible way that cat died."

"and then."

"They seemed to realize that I wasn't one of them. So after warning me not to tell anyone about this, they turned their attention to me. Under the guise of inviting me out to play, they played all sorts of tricks on me, like making me dig in the sand to find treasure with my bare hands, when in reality I would dig up the carcass of a small bird with its eyes gouged out."

“They would also force me to go to the convenience store to cause trouble, and then leave me standing there alone to be scolded by the store manager.”

"They would also hold my head down and submerge me in the water when we went to the swimming pool, saying it was to teach me to swim, but several times I felt like I was going to drown in there."

“They would laugh merrily at my frightened expression, as if the more terrified I appeared, the happier they were. I think in their eyes I was no different from those little birds or stray cats.”

Gen Tsukino looked at him. "Haven't you thought about telling your father about these things?"

Akihiko Miura shook his head. "No. I think I can handle it. I think I can protect myself well. I don't want my father to worry about me, and I don't want him to think I'm a weak person."

At this point, Akihiko Miura's eyes reddened, and he could only bury his head to prevent this somewhat embarrassing scene from being discovered.

Even though he knew he wasn't good at hiding his true feelings.

He said, “I made a lot of efforts for this. I tried to find excuses not to be with them and gradually distanced myself from their group. I worked hard to exercise, played basketball to try to grow taller, lost weight, and became more cheerful, kind, and approachable. I thought that way I wouldn't be afraid of them. I thought I hadn't caused my father any trouble and had protected myself well, until today.”

A deep sense of powerlessness welled up inside him; most of his childhood memories were a horrible gray, devoid of any other vibrant colors.

He controlled the trembling in his voice and said.

"I only realized today that they've changed, they've become better at pretending. But I haven't changed. I still can't do anything in front of them, I can't refuse anything, I'm still weak. You're right, I really am a piece of trash."

Gen Tsukino shook his head. "I've already told you, don't keep using the word 'useless.' Besides, you've already done very well. If someone else had your experience, they might have become withdrawn, socially anxious, or even afraid to go to school. Some might even have committed suicide because of it. You're still thinking about improving yourself and protecting yourself. That's already quite remarkable."

This is not a useless comfort born of sympathy.

Gen Tsukino knows he is special, but he cannot impose his own standards on everyone else.

Even though Akihiko Miura wasn't exactly an ordinary person in the absolute sense—he had a well-off family—can we ignore the trauma he suffered from it?

In other words, Tsukino Gen even felt that it was highly abnormal that Miura Akihiko was still a normal rich kid after all these things.

Akihiko Miura looked at Gen Tsukino with some surprise.

"really?"

Gen Tsukino nodded. "I rarely lie to comfort others, and I'm not saying this to comfort you. You've already done very well, and I was quite surprised that you could still stand in front of me and tell them not to hurt me."

Akihiko Miura scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly.

"Because I feel so sorry for you. After all, it was my cowardice that led to this. You are my friend, and you were dragged into this because of me. If those people hold a grudge against you, then it will be my responsibility."

Gen Tsukino narrowed his eyes, as if he had suddenly thought of something.

"Right, they might not retaliate against you, but what if they retaliate against me?"

"Hey, no, why didn't you think of that back then?"

Miura Akihiko asked in an annoyed tone.

Gen Tsukino shook his head and said righteously, "I was hot-blooded at the time, after all, how could I allow them to bully my friend?"

"this."

"So I came up with a solution."

"What do you want to do?"

When Miura Akihiko saw Tsukino Gen's gaze leaning closer, he had a bad feeling.

Well, this boy always liked to quietly make a fortune. For example, when school started, I thought he was just a good-looking boy. But he ended up ranking in the top three of the grade in the exams. At that time, his homeroom teacher was Yamazaki Jihei, who arranged for him to sit next to him in order to help with his studies.

I thought it was normal for a boy with good grades and good looks to get involved with a girl like Kazama Sakura. He was a model student, a good boy.

As a result, he was able to do something like retaliating against Katsuya Takashiro on the spot.

And now, what is he going to do?
“A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye.”

"What do you mean? Is that what Yanxia says? I don't understand."

Miura Akihiko asked in confusion.

Gen Tsukino said softly, "I told you before that you did a great job. Now there's an opportunity for you to do even better. Would you like to try?"

"What exactly do you want?"

Do you know where they like to go after school?

"Huh? Why are you asking that?"

"Don't ask why. Just tell me, do you want to end the nightmare these people are giving you?"

"I"

"It's okay if you've thought of an answer. School's out for a long time, I'll wait for you."

Gen Tsukino quietly watched the crows flying past the window. They didn't care how hoarse and unpleasant their cries were, and they landed freely on every rooftop they wanted.

Huh? It seems like I've forgotten something? Tsukino Gen thought to himself.

Akihiko Miura looked down at his hands.

He suddenly clenched his fists.

"I think.!"

The birds by the window suddenly flapped their wings and flew away, leaving behind a few black feathers.

……

I finally fell asleep last night!
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(End of this chapter)