Surviving With The Power Of Three Save Files

Chapter 4: Being Chastised

"What do want? Mind your own business!"

A boy with red-hair looked back at Yuuma, with a scowl.

However, the black-haired boy only remained lax, as he picked up a pebble and threw it at him. Hitting his face, though only a light and humiliating tap, the bully looked as furious as an 11-year-old could look.

"What's your problem?!"

Walking closer in anger, the red-haired boy clenched his fist, ready to hit him. As he twisted his body and lunged forward into a punch, Yuuma's eyes glinted, before dodging it easily, by slightly tilting his head..

A small child's attempt at a punch was sloppy at best, and Yuuma's experienced much worse things. This was literally child's play to him. He didn't even try to waste time by setting a save file before this encounter.

The bully looked surprised at his quick and efficient dodge. However, he quickly tried to recover, and used his other arm to deal a blow. The situation only repeated itself, as Yuuma easily dodged his attacks.

The boy's face was becoming just as red as his hair. Feeling the humiliation of all his attacks being so easily dodged, in front of his friends, he kicked a rock on the ground.

"Whatever! This isn't fun anymore! Let's go! Let these two losers hang out with themselves!"

"Eh? Really? Are we just leaving?"

"Yeah! We're going! Now!"

Quickly walking past the black-haired boy, he didn't wait for his friends to follow. However, just as he passed Yuuma, he tripped and fell flat on his face!

"Agh!"

Tucking his leg back in, the black-haired boy laughed under his breath, hiding it with his hand. As the red-haired boy got up, his face became red with humiliation, hiding his red nose, that was caused by the impact.

"You should be more careful. I thought that only dumb people trip over nothing, but I guess there might be an exception, unless..."

Yuuma had a smile, as he mocked him again.

Turning to face him, the red-haired boy seemed as though he wanted to retaliate. However, he then turned his head, and walked off. His friends were surprised, but they quickly followed after.

"Tch. Thought he would've picked another fight again. Guess he's not all that muscle-headed."

Yuuma was disappointed, as he wanted to fully teach him a lesson. However, class was about to start, and he can always find him again, anyway.

Looking over at the boy from before, he walked over, extending a hand towards him.

"You okay? You should probably head to class soon. It'll suck if you ended up getting into trouble because of guys like that."

Looking up, the white-haired boy was surprisingly not crying, like Yuuma had thought he was. His hair was messy and there was some dirt on his face, but he still looked very adorable.

"Ah... thank you..."

Grabbing his hand, he pulled himself up. Brushing the dirt and sand off his clothes, he fixed himself up.

Yuuma looked at him.

For some reason, he felt familiar, but he doesn't remember meeting anyone like this in his last life.

"Why were they messing with you, anyway?"

"..."

He remained silent, so the black-haired boy quickly lost interest.

"Well, if you don't want to tell me, then I'll just get going the—"

"I kicked him and then called him dumb, a few days ago."

"Eh? Doesn't that mean it was your fault in the first place?"

He suddenly showed a face that heavily denied even the thought of that.

"It's cause he was making fun of a girl in the hallway! She was about to cry! That type of injustice shouldn't be allowed!"

"Ah..."

Yuuma sighed, thinking about the dumb things people did as kids. His best guess was that the red-haired boy probably had a crush on the girl, and made fun of her like most boys did at this age. Immature, but it's not entirely unexpected.

"He'll probably grow out of that. But, you also shouldn't attack someone out of nowhere."

The boy looked unconvinced, but he didn't try to refute what he said. Sighing once again in defeat, Yuuma pat him on the back.

"Well, he kind of pissed me off, and I did antagonize him, so he'll probably try to pick a fight with me later. I'll teach him a lesson then, okay? Anyway, I'm going to class now, bye. Make sure you don't get into another fight, if you can."

Walking away, Yuuma left the white-haired boy, who was still confused about his intentions.

...

Walking to his classroom, he tried remembering where his seat was. However, it was to no avail, as he hadn't been here for so many years.

Scratching his head, he breathed a sigh. He couldn't believe he was going to do something as dumb as this...

"Save."

After hitting one of the slots, he went and walked up to a random classmate of his.

"Hey, do you know where I sit?"

"Eh? How could you not know where you sit? It's the middle of the year already."

"I... I just forgot, okay?"

"Pfft. Well, if I remember correctly, your seat should be over there."

Pointing to a groups of desks together, he guessed that his seat was the only one open. As he sat down, he could hear snickers behind his back, and his desk mates all looked at him weirdly.

"This... is my seat, right?"

A little girl with a bobbed haircut, laughed to herself, before getting out of her seat.

"No, it's this one. I was just talking to Hanami, before class started."

Some more laughter could be heard, but Yuuma just smiled politely at them.

"Thank you. Load."

After hitting the slot of his earlier save, he thanked his past self for saving earlier. He didn't know what he would've done if it weren't for that.

Saving himself from embarrassment, he nonchalantly walked over to his seat, asking the bobbed-hair girl to vacate.

Sighing to himself, he put his stuff down.

'Hahh... I still am reliant on this ability. But, it definitely saved me from embarrassment. Yosh! Let's keep going!'

"Yuuma! What took you so long?"

"Hm?"

Turning his head, Yuuma looked over at the girl beside him. She was who the other girl was talking to, earlier. Luckily, because of the girl saying her name earlier, he was able to remember it.

"Ah, Hanami."

She was his deskmate, but they also got along. Although they didn't have much in common, they were still friends. He didn't remember her much, after reaching high school, as she had moved away.

"I just took a detour for a bit."

"Eh? Then what happened to your face? I don't remember that from yesterday."

"Ah? I just tripped and fell. It's nothing too big."

"Hahh... you always get hurt so easily. There's a limit when it comes to being reckless, you know?"

Yuuma laughed awkwardly as he was chastised by her. She would often do this, even when they had reached middle school.

However, rather than any nostalgia, all he could think about was the fact that he was being lectured by a small child.

'Please. Let time pass quicker, so I can escape this embarrassment...'