Chapter 8. This year for sure! (9)
How many minutes did it take for all of that to pass?
After it was all over, I heard it hadn't even taken five minutes.
I mean, a bird had just flown into the classroom to talk to me, and then all sorts of birds came flooding in, flapping around the kids' heads.
Sure, some kids got scratched by talons or pecked at. But since there weren't any serious birds of prey mixed in, no one had deep wounds.
I was worried someone might have injured their eyes, but that wasn't the case.
By the time the Heroes stationed near the school rushed in, Chaeyi had already cut off her ability, and the birds had calmed down.
"......."
And those adults couldn't lift their heads in front of me.
I...... I don't really know.
Where exactly things went wrong, or if they hadn't gone wrong at all.
Or if this world is just that exhausting to live in.
It seems I've truly become an object of terror to the kids.
Absurdly enough, even more so than that day when people actually died or got hurt.
Because on that day, no students died or got hurt. Didn't Soi, Chaeyi, and I manage to block it somehow?
Though it seems they don't remember that.
"......I'm sorry."
"......Why? What are you sorry for?"
What was I supposed to say to Yujin-ajumma, who was apologizing to me once again?
The teachers' office was on the first floor.
There were a few other rooms on the first floor besides classrooms. There were some third-year classrooms, but not all third-years used the first floor.
The third-year classrooms were on the second floor, the second-years were on the third, and the first-year classrooms were on the fourth.
Since I'm a second-year, I was on the third floor.
It was before class, so there were some kids chatting in the classrooms. On the second floor, and the first floor too.
When the parrot first entered and the kids crowded the door to get out of the classroom, other kids actually gathered in the hallway instead. It seemed they wanted to see what the commotion was, watching from beyond the door and through the hallway windows.
That was why it took so long for Chaeyi to get in.
I mean, it was the moment that 'Witch's Daughter' was causing trouble and heading home. They must have been incredibly curious.
......It's not like there was no fault at all. They didn't assign a teacher to a student who was causing trouble and going home, the Heroes who were supposed to protect me were only outside instead of inside the school, and at the very least, they should have controlled the kids gathering outside the windows.
Is that why she said 'I'm sorry'?
"......."
No, normally.
It should have been normal for nothing to happen. Pack up my things, go down, and go home—that should have been the end of it.
So, me going up to my seat for a moment and coming back down shouldn't have been a problem.
Because a consultation with the homeroom teacher could have taken place somewhere without other kids around.
"......."
In the end, my question went unanswered.
The way home.
It's a quick trip if I ride in the car Yujin-ajumma is driving.
I could have gone back alone, but Soi followed me out of school and came back with me.
Chaeyi wasn't there. She seemed like she wanted to follow, but since she wasn't a child of our house, it was a bit... you know, dragging her into this felt wrong.
While I was staring blankly out the window during the not-so-long drive, we arrived at the garage in no time.
The door opened, and only after realizing Yujin-ajumma was getting out of the car did I blankly unbuckle my seatbelt.
Perhaps thinking that even offering comfort was premature, Yujin-ajumma and Dohyun-ajeossi carefully brought me into the house.
Yujin-ajumma, Dohyun-ajeossi, and Soi watched me very anxiously as I just sat blankly on the sofa, without washing up or even changing out of my school uniform.
I thought for a long time.
What was the right thing to do? What should I do from now on?
I looked down at my hands.
I hadn't caught the birds.
But that made it even more questionable. Isn't a Hero someone who saves people, even if they dislike them?
I'm not a Hero, and honestly, considering my ability, I didn't really have any intention of becoming one anyway.
I was afraid of getting traumatized again, so I just left the birds attacking those kids alone.
Was that okay?
I finished dinner in a daze and sat back down on the sofa.
"......Ajumma. Ajeossi."
When I called out to Yujin-ajumma and Dohyun-ajeossi, both of them turned their eyes, which had been blankly fixed on the TV, toward me.
I was a bit dazed, but I finally poured out the worry I had been thinking about the whole time.
"......Um, can I not go to school?"
*
Naturally, Soi cried and made a huge fuss.
Yujin-ajumma tried to persuade me, and so did Dohyun-ajeossi.
But after seeing the footage on the news, they eventually fell silent.
It's an era where everyone carries a camera in their hand, isn't it? An era where you can take photos and videos whenever you want with the camera on your smartphone.
Birds flying crazily around the classroom. Screaming children. A blood-stained white parrot convulsing on the floor.
Some parts were mosaicked, but in reality, it was a story that could be fully inferred from the news content.
Even without inferring, there were things already uploaded to the internet and spread everywhere, and gossip-style posts had gone up in many places.
"......."
Among the things Yujin-ajumma brought up was 'transferring schools.' The idea that maybe it would be fine if we moved to another region and went to a different school became meaningless because of that news.
"It's not that I'm not going to do anything."
I said a bit more firmly.
"I'll study hard and get into the Academy."
There must be things like the GED, right?
"If nothing happens for a little over a year, surely the number of people who remember will decrease......."
To be honest, I just wanted to rest.
I hid that selfish thought as much as possible and persuaded them.
"......I see."
Yujin-ajumma finally nodded.
And she took my hand.
I felt a little relieved.
At least holding hands with someone else like this was okay.
"I see."
Tears were slightly welling up in Yujin-ajumma's eyes as she repeated the words.
Am I that pitiful?
"Then I'll—"
"No."
I cut off Soi, who said she would drop out too.
Isn't that obvious? Even if I go to school, I'd just get caught up in this and that, and that woman might do something strange again.
But Soi is Soi.
Right now, she's just known as the girl who stuck by me, but fundamentally, she's the daughter of a famous Hero.
Surely, as time passes......
No, I'm really sorry, but it probably won't be easy. Since something like that happened at school.
If so, at the very least, if she transfers, wouldn't it be okay there?
Even though I was shameless for even saying this.
"I want Soi to attend school properly."
When I said that, holding her hands tightly with a voice that sounded like I was about to cry, Soi pressed her lips together.
Soi's characteristic stubborn expression comes to mind. Usually, when she made this face, she would never back down, but.
"......Okay."
Soi finally nodded.
"......Sorry."
"What are you sorry for?"
Soi said, as if it were absurd.
"The person who should be sorry is someone else."
*
And, I.
I stayed cooped up at home for a long, long time.
It's not like I didn't do anything. I had to study.
I'm already the Witch's Daughter; I can't be bad at studying too.
So I studied hard.
For the first few days, I was a little sad. To the point where tears would come out for no reason. My heart wasn't as at ease as I thought it would be.
It was because a lot of things came to mind when I was left alone.
The feeling of being wronged. A strange sense of betrayal.
The feeling of being wronged was about my situation. I didn't ask to be born like this, so it was so unfair that I ended up in this situation.
The sense of betrayal was...... thoughts about the kids who had been my friends throughout elementary school. There were kids who were my friends until middle school. After something like that happened.
"......."
But, everything had already happened.
Somehow, I had to gather what was left and deal with it.
It will be okay.
Everything will be okay.
Anyway, I'll hardly ever see the middle school kids later.
How many would I run into after going to the Academy? If they don't awaken, they can't go anyway, right?
......Still, I did occasionally keep in touch with Jihye and Mirae, but that was it.
"......Sniff."
I rubbed my eyes that were welling up with tears for no reason, grabbed my pen again, and studied hard.
Because I wanted to be much better than the kids going to school.
I need to be at a level where no one can say anything later. I need to be good enough that it doesn't matter that I'm the daughter of that woman, or that I dropped out of middle school.
So, it's okay.
I'll make it okay.
If it's not okay, I'd be too sorry to the people who raised me this far.
*
Time flowed slowly, yet quickly.
Naturally, I was alone during the year I was supposed to be a third-year.
I woke up early in the morning, had breakfast together, saw Yujin-ajumma, Dohyun-ajeossi, and Soi off as they left the house, and then studied again.
Occasionally going to the hospital for counseling, meeting the private tutor who helped me with my studies—that was about it.
But the people around me were so devoted to me.
Since I couldn't go to school, they celebrated seasonal anniversaries even more lavishly, and we went on long trips during vacations. Naturally, we took Chaeyi along too.
Perhaps that's why. I was still someone who would get depressed with various thoughts when left alone, but as time went on, I got much better.
In the year Soi graduated, I was able to think this.
This year, for sure, let's try to make real friends.