Magical Boy ~ English version

Chapter 15

Nanaya looked down at his plate.

"I didn't even tell my dad about it." He muttered.

"Your father knows you're afraid of water, but he doesn't know why?" Mineko exclaimed. "He never asked?"

"Yes. But since I didn't answer, he gave up. Kot-chan is the only one who knows. "

Kenji turned slightly to take a look at Darkeas's student sitting far away. He noticed that the latter seemed to be watching their table. When their eyes met, Kotaro winced and immediately turned away. Kenji rubbed his head.

"How can someone so brutal about you be the only one in the know?" He ask. "It's because of him ?"

"No. He wasn't always like that." Nanaya muttered. "Well... not with me. He was always blunt and aggressive with others, but he was my only friend. "

Kenji's usual smile twitched as he clenched his fists. His only friend, and he had told him such horrors?

"Do you think I could still become a hero if I commit murder?" The redhead squeaked.

"No chance." Mineko scoffed. "So calm your ardor. I want to hit him really hard too, just imagine."

"Why ?" Nanaya asked. 

They both turned their heads towards him, like he had just said the biggest nonsense. Rena, to whom they sent whatever they said in writing on her phone, finished reading and had exactly the same reaction.

"I can't believe he has to be a villain." Mineko muttered.

"He's going to get eaten if he joins Darkeas next year." Kenji confirmed.

"Okay, we're listening. Friends are made for that. What's happened ?"

Nanaya hesitated. He glanced at Rena who repeated the question in sign language. His friends ... his father often told him that friends don't exist. That those who claimed to be, always ended up betraying. And Kotaro had just confirmed it. Didn't they just want information on him to fight him when he'll be also Experion? After all, that was the very reason he was born and what he wanted from childhood. He was mentally trying to convince himself of that. They had guessed his fear. So what more was he risking, after all?

"... When I entered kindergarten." He muttered. "At three years old... like everyone else. I was ... "a villain's son" Everyone knew my father. The other children rejected me, they were even violent with me. The teachers were doing their job, but they completely ignored the behavior of others. The only time I complained ..."

"Yes ?" Kenji encouraged him.

"... They told me I deserved it."

Mineko missed half of the sentence she wrote for Rena, her hands trembled with anger. Kenji's glass visibly shattered on its own but that was clearly due to the sudden pressure of the water inside.

"It's about the middle of my first year," Nanaya continued, sliding his hand over her prosthesis. "That ... well ..."

"If you're not ready to tell us about this problem, just move on." Kenji assured, taking his hand. "You lost your eye during the school year, that's all we need to know for now."

"... It just got worse. It scared them. The adults also started to get violent with me. Sometimes they put me on my own in another class while the others played. I started to refuse to cut my hair and hid my face behind it. But that didn't help."

"You must have looked like one of those ghost cliché." Mineko remarked, thoughtful.

"...I do not know what you're talking about."