Hero Among Shadows

Chapter 4

As he looks through the handout in his hands that details everything that he should need to know during his years here, Tanaka wanders around the halls of the school. Partly because he wants to visit every single part of the large campus that is available to him at the moment. And so far, his little exploration has been going rather well.

A part of him is still angry at his homeroom teacher for pulling a stunt like that, while another part points out the logical reasons behind the deception as it was enough motivation for everyone to take things seriously. But just as the mental debate was getting underway, a voice calls out from behind him.

"Excuse me?" The voice sounds familiar, leading Tanaka to stop and turn around to look at who it was that spoke. Walking over to him are the two boys he met from the entrance exam. What could they possibly be doing here? And why are they trying to talk to him?

"Oh, it's you two," Tanaka says. "What do you want?"

"We wanted to share some words with you, if you would mind," the bird-headed boy answers. The rockheaded boy next to him nods eagerly, agreeing to what the former said.

"Okay. What is it?" To be honest, the brunette is kind of curious as to what these two are trying to say. After all, he did save them from the behemoth that was the zero-pointer. Once the exam was done, he wasn't sure what they would say or do when they got the chance to talk with him. Not knowing what might happen scares him sometimes.

"First and foremost, I believe that we would like to show some gratitude to what you have done for us both," was what he got. "The conclusion of the entrance exam has been on my mind for quite some time before now. It's been wandering around in my thoughts for that long, if you understand. It wasn't until I spoke to my friend here that I discovered that he also felt the same. And if given the opportunity, we wanted to approach you when you were alone to show our gratitude to you."

"Uh... you mean... you two came over here to thank me?" Tanaka questions upon realizing what the guy had said. The both of them nod in unison to the question. "Well, you're welcome. I was just trying to do the right thing, that's all. Plus, you two were just fine to work with during the exam."

"Oh, I see," the bird-headed boy says. "That's good to know. Now that we're all classmates, we should begin with introductions. My name is Fumikage Tokoyami. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Keisuke. Keisuke Tanaka," Tanaka returns the introduction. "And the pleasure is mine. Would I like to know your name?"

The question was headed toward the direction of the rock-headed boy, who then made several gestures with his hands. It wasn't long before the brunette realized that he was using sign language.

"O-oh, sorry," the Lotal native says in a worried tone. "I don't read and can't do sign language."