"What happened?", that was the only question she could ask in this kind of situation. At first he did not answer. He just gave a derogate snort and looked in another direction.
"What are you doing here?", his voice was darker than ever.
"I was looking for you", she mumbled and took a handkerchief from her pocket. Carefully she wanted to wipe the blood from his face, but he ruggedly pushed her hands away. Eventually he looked at her with irritated eyes:
"I don't need your help. Go home. This is no place for little girls like you."
"No", she said in a firm voice and surprised herself as much as the boy. But it was the first time she wanted to stand up for herself, because he needed her help right now.
"I won't go", she looked at him with a small pout on her lips, "you're obviously injured, so I can't just leave like this."
Before he could utter another word, she pushed him back to sit on the ground and gently cleaned his wounds. He was too astonished by her sudden persistence as to brush her off one more time. Neither of them said a word while she pulled a pack of band aids from her pocket and treated the cuts on his face. Ren calmed down a little. He started to realize what he had done and how he had treated the girl before, who was now touching his face so softly and carefully as if he was something precious. He could feel the warmth of her finger tips on his skin and a strange sensation crept to his heart. It felt nice.
"Why do you have band aids in your pocket?", he finally asked to relax the tight atmosphere. She smiled a little:
"The last time I was kidnapped it bothered me that I couldn't be of any help to you, so I felt very useless. Yamaguchi - sensei told me to do things in my own way and this was the only thing I came up with. I might not be able to get into your fights, because I'm really weak, but the less I can do is to help you after the fight is done."
Ren nodded his head. His remorse grew from second to second. Nao really cared a lot about her classmates and the only thing he could do was yelling at her.
"Well, all done", she smiled with self satisfaction and sat down beside him after she put the band aids back into her pocket. Ren touched his nose and his forehead. She really did a good job.
"Thanks", he mumbled and scratched the back of his head. Nao did not answer and she felt like she had been a completely different person for the last twenty minutes. So bold.
"And you're wrong, Nao-chan", Ren said after a while without facing her, "you might cry a lot and you're sometimes too timid, but you're not weak."
"I-I am", she stuttered.
"No, you're not", he turned around to face her and was surprised how close their faces were. The tips of their noses almost touched. Both of them blushed and pulled away simultaneously.
"Any - anyway", Ren went on, "don't be so harsh on yourself. I mean you're really awesome. If I were you, I would've never dared to transfer to a school full of boys. You're brave, Nao-chan. Instead of me you never run away. You always face your problems and that is why I admire you."
She blushed after this compliment. But he was not done yet:
"I've really been a fool today. I was wrong about calling you nerdy and that you just help us for your own profit. I apologize for being so rude. Neither you nor the guys are at fault. It's just that...aargh!", he ruffled his hair.
"You're afraid, aren't you?", her voice was barely a whisper, "sorry, if I'm too meddlesome, but I noticed you acting strange after Yankumi mentioned the exams, so I came to the conclusion that you..."
"Yes, I am afraid. Like hell I'm afraid! My family is going through hard times, you know. To give financial support I'm doing some construction work at night. It's hard, but well paid", he explained. Nao was really moved by this for she was in a similar situation.
