Rebellion

Research

Ayase waited for the right moment. Nobody was at home, so it was the right moment to sneak out. She ran out of the house, being scared if she hesitated even for a moment that someone would come and catch her. Luckily, nothing close happened. She just ran out, without any problems.

She panted as she came to the library, realizing just how shitty her condition was. She was glad nobody caught her. Hiroji would've insulted her... Or worse. Naoki wouldn't even let her go outside just for the fact that she could've had bad consequences. Bad consequences with Hiroji of course.

She saw Benjiro standing there, putting his hands on her shoulders, as if he was scared she would fall. Unfortunately, she quite indeed did. Surprisingly enough, he even caught her. That surprised her. He always looked so weak, but the fact he could catch her without any complications was amazing. It may have to do with her being overweight, but she was so blushy and mesmerized that she didn't even question it.

"Hold on there, dear. I know you're excited to see me, but that's no reason to make yourself fall over it." He joked around as he pulled Ayase to her feet. 

She smiled shyly, letting go of his hand. 

"I was just trying not to get caught. I don't know how father would react if he saw me with a boy..." Ayase said, trying not to mess up.

"Yeah, I can imagine him reacting badly to a date." Benjiro said playfully as he winked.

"D-Date?" She stumbled a bit.

"I'm just teasing you. Let's go inside." He walked, checking if she was coming along. 

Ayase followed him clumsily, still bashful from the date joke. It looked like she was a bit disappointed he was joking. But, if he was gonna ask her out on a date, it would be more special than just a regular old library. Something expensive, something that will make her feel like a princess. 

As they walked inside, she expected Benjiro to ask the librarian for the book. But, to her surprise, he just went straight ahead, as if he knew exactly where he was going. She followed him through the book cases, seeing he picked out the book from the first try. 

"How did you know where that book was?" Ayase asked, amazement clear in her voice.

"I'm here very often." He smiled, opening the book.

She looked at it. He briefly scanned the thick book. It had hard covers and at least 600 pages in it. Even the font looked extra small. She gulped.

"That's... A very thick book." Was the only thing Ayase could say.

Benjiro looked like the book was getting harder to carry as he held it. He started walking towards the table, letting it hit the table with a rough thud. He looked at Ayase, his grin big.

"Does that discourage you?" He questioned, sitting at the table.

She furrowed her eyebrows in stubbornness.

"No. Not one bit." She sat down, determination on her face.

Benjiro opened the book. She noticed the title was 'In The Honor Of The Deceased Or Missing Children Of 2017'. The children were categorized by age and then by surnames. The kids all had pictures under their surnames along with some essential information like birthday and parents. There was only one problem. They didn't exactly know where to start. 

"How old is Tsukamoto-San currently?" Ayase asked, trying to get to something.

"Well, he's sixteen." Benjiro stated, putting the category to the children between the ages 10-14. 

"He's only sixteen?" Ayase asked, getting surprised.

He never even acted like he was sixteen. She at least thought he was eighteen but looked older, but now she pitied him even more. But somehow it did lighten her mood. That means he could still have his childhood. He had two more years until adulthood.