Rebellion

Poor

Digging and digging. Teruo felt satisfied as he noticed the hole being deep enough for them to need to climb out of it. It means they were close. Those couple of months of digging seemed to be worth it. Finally, some people could get out. Maybe they'd feel proud of him now. Proud of his good work. 

Ayase couldn't get all the way up the hole, so he offered her a hand. She gladly took it, and by his help getting up without breaking any bones. He read that girls would like that. So he hoped she would, seeing as she was a girl herself. 

Shiro, seeing how Teruo did that without any hesitation, tried to do the same thing. If he could do it, so could Shiro. Unfortunately, Satoko only angrily slapped his hand away. She walked past him, not saying a single word. He looked at the floor, feeling guilty. 

"We sure made a lot of progress!" Benjiro commented. 

"Yeah, it'll be done in a week and a half or so." Teruo tried to predict. 

"It wouldn't be possible without you and Akiyama-San. You guys really made the job easy with your strength." Ayase agreed happily. 

Teruo obviously blushed, but he tried to mask it by scratching his face.

"I think Tsukamoto did more. Akiyama was too busy talking to do much work." Satoko said, her voice sounding very angry for just saying his surname. 

Shiro gulped and looked at the floor. Why did he mess this up? No matter how many times he tried to apologize, she just avoided or pretended he didn't even exist. She was so impossible to deal with, but he missed it. She hadn't talked to him in at least two weeks. 

"No need to be rude about it, Miki-San." Benjiro tried to cool down the situation.

"I'm just speaking the truth, Seto." She answered, honestly annoyed Shiro's even here to begin with. 

"We should all go out once this is over. You know, to celebrate!" Ayase suggested. 

Teruo looked at the side, not wanting to even be a part of this conversation. He knew he couldn't go, nobody would allow him to go. Only if it was work related, only then. This wasn't. Sneaking out wasn't even an option. He just felt left out now. He didn't even know why he tried to be nice to them. They were never gonna be friends with him. He couldn't even go to coffee with them. 

"That sounds good. Don't know how we're gonna do it when we're outside of the wall. I mean, I doubt they have coffee shops in that wasteland." Shiro commented, trying to sound smart.

"I'd rather stay in town if you're gonna come with us." Satoko continued being a bitch.

Shiro sighed. This was getting out of hand. He's going to make it up to her, and that day is going to be today. He got his last needed cash for that expensive ass piano he planned to buy her. If that's even enough for her to forgive him. 

They all went home, except Shiro. He went straight to the music shop, all the way on the other side of town. He wanted to buy himself a bike, but it didn't really matter now anyway. He'll just be active another two months or so until he gets more money for a bike. He looked at the piano, that looked exactly like hers. He knew it wouldn't replace the memory and meaning of the first one, but he hoped she would still appreciate it. He ate much less than he should just to save up, and he didn't know if the woman who owns his apartment will forgive him for not paying rent this month. It was a bit crucial, but he really just wanted Satoko's forgiveness. He could sleep on the street for all it mattered. He just wanted to get rid of this feeling of guilt that followed him. 

"Could this piano get delivered maybe?" He asked the shop keeper.

"That would cost 100 gibos." She answered with a smile, as if it wasn't that much. 

His face turned into a one of terror. This town became so much more expensive then when he was last here. This shield really needed to go down. 

"So that would be a no." Was his only answer. 

He bought the piano, taking it out from the shop, pushing it in front of himself without much effort. It wasn't such a big piano, but it didn't matter much. 

He went to the closest convenience store and got himself a nice tight rope. If only he could hang himself with it, he hoped. He sighed in disappointment. He tied the piano with the rope around the most upfront leg of it. He started pulling the rope as he walked. There was a long way until the other side of town. It took him three hours to get there, another three sounded wonderful. As much as he knew this would tire him, he didn't care much. He just continued with his duty, not feeling tired at all. He thanked his powers for that. 

When he saw her house after those large amounts of walking, he felt relief. He rang on her doorbell. Nothing.

 He rang again and again, in different patterns. Then he just pressed it for far too long. Nothing. 

He sighed and went a bit further. He just started screaming her name really loudly until she finally opened her window, which took her twenty minutes to do. 

"What the hell do you want!?" Satoko yelled from her window. 

"I want you to accept my apology!" He yelled back, just not annoyed like Satoko.

"Go away, you albino dick!" She screamed at him. 

She noticed neighbors looking out their windows, which didn't make her care in the slightest. She just showed them the middle finger. They should mind their own business. 

"Satoko, please! I got you this!" He yelled, the desperation in his voice obvious. 

"And why should I care about this stupid ass piano!?" She looked angrier by the second.

"Because I might end up on the street because I didn't pay rent just to buy you this!" He yelled, now sounding a bit annoyed. 

She looked at him for a bit before rolling her eyes. She disappeared from the window. She opened the front door. 

"Get in, Whitey." She said, her annoyance now much less obvious.