7. Degenerate Creep (4)
In class 2 Lucian come to know others girls, like Jessica, Catherine, Jane, etc. as for the boys? he doesn't really remember any.one.
At school he still spend most of the time with Kate, the first few days She always come to Class 2 to play with him. but the frequency have decreased recently.
I'm glad she's able to make friend on her own class
Alice is an extroverted girl, even if she spend most of her time on Lucian and Dia, she still makes friends with others in class. Claudia was the opposite of that. at the current point her only friends were Alice and Lucian. Kate could also be included in that list.
When the semester ended with a final exam, it was not strange with Kate at the top and Lucian as the runner up. With his experience, the elementary school exam was really a child's play, his mental might somehow lowered down but it doesn't mean his knowledge lessened. as for the reason why he is not at the tops with Kate.
I wanted her to be confident in his ability.
Too much might be bad but without it also bad. So he wanted her to be proud but not arrogant. It's one of his ways to boost her.
Alice is the third but Claudia is also in the top ten.
Sigh… I remembered I was always in the bottom third.
A Sports Festival was scheduled after the exam.
Lucian had chosen to join the 100m dash, after all it was obligated to join at least one activity. since he realized his uniqueness, Lucian did not become lazy and kept his routine always even increasing it's difficulty. to be honest, it was because he didn't want to wreck his body with all the thing he ate and it's not like there's anything better for him to do.
***
".. and because of work, we can't come home this week." An unexpected news suddenly came from Clive.
"Dad and Mom apologized we can't attend your sport festival" Mom added looking even hurt than Lucian.
Meanwhile Lucian himself
what should I do…
He was thinking for a way that made his parents doesn't feel guilty, how old is he? 6 years old, he doesn't mind even a tiny bitty of it about not having them attend his sport festival. even himself doesn't care about it.
But he knew, sometimes, child consideration can hurt more than crying making a havoc, that's why he turned on his brain to avoid that ending
"...." Nevertheless, His silence still made his parents think he was sad.
"How about this, we weill give you a new tablet, and also promised we will come next yeat" Clive said trying to cheer his son up.
"Really?!"
I don't really need it but, it's a perfect opportunity.
"Promiise?" Lucian took out her pinky finger.
"Promiise" Clive tangled Lucian's pinky finger.
with this they won't feel that guilty.
The chance was like a godsend for Lucian. Recently he had realized something new about his physical abilities.
With the help of his routine he knew his body was much stronger than his peers but that growth also felt slower recently. Running longer might be able to coup for that, but it's dangerous to increase his usual distance. Who knows what kind of stranger might tempt him with a candy.
that's why…
I just need to increase my speed.
But another problem showed up, what would happen if you saw a 6 yo kid sprinting around the neighborhood. Once or twice might look like he was playing, doing that routinely will make others take a second or even third glance at you.
so.., Lucian chose late at night or dawn. but another solution just brings another problem.
how could he do that when he's living with his family.
That's why his parents went away for business was the perfect opportunity.
***
The next day, Lucian was awake even before 4 in the morning. He came out in his usual running outfit which is just a normal shirt, long flexible pants and shoes.
after a little bit of warming up. feeling the chilly morning air. The temperature is around 23 degrees, not too cold but also not too hot.
Dash… he ran at full speed.
"Haha" Lucian let out a chuckle, his body overflowing with spirit. passing the building one by one. feeling the air resistance was a great feeling.
In his past life, running for a few tens of seconds made him feel like his body was bursting but in the child's body, he once again reawaked, the feeling of running as a child that has never-ending stamina. in adult's eyes Lucian wasn't that fast with his short legs but it's undeniable fast for a kid of his age.
after around 30 minutes running at full speed with many intermittent breaks within. Lucian stopped for a moment in front of his house.
'Haa, Haa" taking his time to stabilize his breathing and reinvigorate himself with a drink he had prepared beforehand.
After a few minutes of rest, he was ready for another rep.
Sprinting felt good!!
he voiced it in his heart.
'??'
Lucian suddenly stopped when a silhouette accidentally entered his vision.
with the sun still not showing any sign, in the middle of the sunless sky, with streets only lightened up by small street lamps…
it was something that you shouldn't take a second look at.
Lucian turned back slowly, walked toward and entered the dark playground. It was the template move of a horror movie where the Main character started the curse because of curiosity.
*creak….
*creak….
the sound of rusted metal moving. The small swing on the park could be seen moving slowly as if someone was playing with it.
The street lamp was just too perfect, only barely lightening up the top of the swing, which made Lucian able to see the rope moving but its seat was covered by shadow.
Lucian slowly approached the slowly moving swing till he could finally see the identity of the silhouette.
….
it wasn't a ghost after all.
There's a small silhouette sitting in the swing. the more he get closer the more he is able to see its identity.
'A child?' Lucian thought slowly recognizing the silhouette.
It was a child with short black hair.
'Somehow he looked familiar' Lucian was unable to see his face so he wasn't able to make sure of it.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Lucian called out with some distance, to be honest he wasn't really that good with ghost stories, but after experiencing death, he did have some mrore resistance but just resistance not immunity.
"?!!" the child stiffened in shock.
'What are you surprised about? I made a quite a footstep coming toward you'
"Sorry" Lucian apologized even when it wasn't his fault. "I didn't mean to surprise you, are you alright?"
"It's fine," The child curtly replied. just like how sulky children are.
"So, what are you doing here ?"
"Nothing" Lucian's question was replied curtly again.
""....""
as an adult Lucian had to be patient. "It's dangerous to be here," he added. It seemed his comment irked the child even further.
*Tch
the child clicked his tongue, he finally dawned his gaze on Lucian. "You're also a chil–you!" he stopped midway.
"??" Lucian tilted his head slightly, not recognizing the child. "Do I know you?"
"Annoying! Leave me alone!!" the child suddenly pointed at me and screamed.
"..., why are you suddenly shouting– oh it's you" Lucian realizes the child's identity. the screams made him recall it perfectly.
"Why are you shouting again?" Lucian realized it was the child who made him unable to believe in the gospel called visual novel.
"to make you remember of course, what else?" she replied as if it was a matter of fact. meanwhile Lucian also had his own conclusion.
'…yeah, this kid has some screwloose on her head'
"Think about the neighborhood, what time do you think it is?" Lucian replied with another tangent, it's the best way to converse with someone with screwloose.
"Huh? that's their problem, why do I need to mind them?"
'... she's hopeless'
"Sigh.. well then sorry for bothering, take care on your way home." Lucian quickly left the site.
"Ah, wait-" she called but Lucian already too far to hear her small mutter.
In Class 2, Lucian came to know other girls like Jessica, Catherine, Jane, etc. As for the boys? He doesn't really remember anyone.
At school, he still spends most of the time with Kate. The first few days, she always came to Class 2 to play with him, but the frequency has decreased recently.
I'm glad she's able to make friends in her own class.
Alice is an extroverted girl. Even if she spends most of her time with Lucian and Dia, she still makes friends with others in class. Claudia was the opposite of that. At the current point, her only friends were Alice and Lucian. Kate could also be included in that list.
When the semester ended with a final exam, it was not strange for Kate to be at the top and Lucian as the runner-up. With his experience, the elementary school exam was really a child's play. His mental might somehow have lowered down, but it doesn't mean his knowledge lessened. As for the reason why he is not at the top with Kate—
I wanted her to be confident in her ability.
Too much might be bad, but without it is also bad. So he wanted her to be proud but not arrogant. It's one of his ways to boost her.
Alice is the third, but Claudia is also in the top ten.
Sigh… I remember I was always in the bottom third.
A Sports Festival was scheduled after the exam.
Lucian had chosen to join the 100m dash; after all, it was obligatory to join at least one activity.
Since he realized his uniqueness, Lucian did not become lazy and kept his routine always, even increasing its difficulty.
To be honest, part of the reason was because he didn't want to wreck his body with all the things he ate, he had experienced what a body weight means when you're older and besides, it's not like there's anything better for him to do.
"...and because of work, we can't come home this week," an unexpected news suddenly came from Clive.
"Dad and Mom apologize we can't attend your sports festival," Mom added, looking even more hurt than Lucian.
Meanwhile, Lucian himself—
What should I do...
He was thinking of a way to make his parents not feel guilty. How old is he? Six years old. He doesn't mind even a tiny bit about not having them attend his sports festival. Even he himself doesn't care about it.
But he knew, sometimes, a child's consideration can hurt more than crying and making a havoc. That's why he turned on his brain to avoid that ending.
"...." Nevertheless, his silence still made his parents think he was sad.
"How about this, we will give you a new tablet, and also promise we will come next year," Clive said, trying to cheer his son up.
"Really?!"
I don't really need it, but it's a perfect opportunity.
"Promise?" Lucian took out his pinky finger.
"Promise." Clive tangled Lucian's pinky finger.
With this, they won't feel that guilty.
The chance was like a godsend for Lucian. Recently, he had realized something new about his physical abilities.
With the help of his routine, he knew his body was much stronger than his peers, but that growth also felt slower recently. Running longer might be able to cope with that, but it's dangerous to increase his usual distance. Who knows what kind of stranger might tempt him with a candy.
That's why...
I just need to increase my speed.
But another problem showed up—what would happen if you saw a 6-year-old kid sprinting around the neighborhood? Once or twice might look like he was playing, but doing that routinely would make others take a second or even third glance at you.
So..., Lucian chose late at night or dawn. But another solution just brought another problem.
How could he do that when he's living with his family?
That's why his parents going away for business was the perfect opportunity.
The next day, Lucian was awake even before 4 in the morning. He came out in his usual running outfit, which was just a normal shirt, long flexible pants, and shoes.
After a little bit of warming up, feeling the chilly morning air—the temperature was around 23 degrees, not too cold but also not too hot.
Dash… he ran at full speed.
"Haha," Lucian let out a chuckle, his body overflowing with spirit, passing the buildings one by one. Feeling the air resistance was a great feeling.
In his past life, running for a few tens of seconds made him feel like his body was bursting, but in the child's body, he once again reawakened the feeling of running as a child that has never-ending stamina. In adults' eyes, Lucian wasn't that fast with his short legs, but it was undeniably fast for a kid of his age.
After around 30 minutes of running at full speed with many intermittent breaks in between, Lucian stopped for a moment in front of his house.
"Haa, haa," he took his time to stabilize his breathing and reinvigorate himself with a drink he had prepared beforehand.
After a few minutes of rest, he was ready for another rep.
Sprinting felt good!!
He voiced it in his heart.
'??'
Lucian suddenly stopped when a silhouette accidentally entered his vision.
With the sun still not showing any sign, in the middle of the sunless sky, with streets only lightened up by small street lamps…
It was something that you shouldn't take a second look at.
Lucian turned back slowly, walked toward, and entered the dark playground. It was the typical move of a horror movie where the main character started the curse because of curiosity.
creak...
creak...
The sound of rusted metal moving. The small swing in the park could be seen moving slowly as if someone was playing with it.
The street lamp was just too perfect, only barely lighting up the top of the swing, which made Lucian able to see the rope moving, but its seat was covered by shadow.
Lucian slowly approached the slowly moving swing until he could finally see the identity of the silhouette.
....
It wasn't a ghost after all.
There was a small silhouette sitting on the swing. The closer he got, the more he was able to see its identity.
'A child?' Lucian thought, slowly recognizing the silhouette.
It was a child with short black hair.
'Somehow he looks familiar,' Lucian was unable to see his face, so he wasn't able to make sure of it.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Lucian called out from some distance. To be honest, he wasn't really that good with ghost stories, but after experiencing death, he did have some more resistance—but just resistance, not immunity.
"?!!" The child stiffened in shock; he didn't expect the existence of another party at this hour.
'What are you surprised about? I made quite a few footsteps coming toward you.'
"Sorry," Lucian apologized even when it wasn't his fault. "I didn't mean to surprise you. Are you alright?"
"It's fine," the child curtly replied, just like how sulky children are.
"So, what are you doing here?"
"Nothing." Lucian's question was replied to curtly again.
"...."
As an adult, Lucian had to be patient. "It's dangerous to be here," he added. It seemed his comment irked the child even further.
Tch
The child clicked his tongue. He finally turned his gaze toward Lucian. "You're also a chil–you!" he stopped midway.
"??" Lucian tilted his head slightly, not recognizing the child. "Do I know you?"
"Annoying! Leave me alone!!" The child suddenly pointed at him and screamed.
"..., why are you suddenly shouting—oh, it's you." Lucian realized the child's identity. The scream made him recall it perfectly.
"Why are you shouting again?" Lucian realized it was the child who made him unable to believe in the gospel called visual novel.
"To make you remember, of course. What else?" she replied as if it was a matter of fact. Meanwhile, Lucian also had his own conclusion.
'...yeah, this kid has some screw loose in her head.'
"Think about the neighborhood, what time do you think it is?" Lucian replied with another tangent. It's the best way to converse with someone with a screw loose.
"Huh? That's their problem. Why do I need to mind them?"
'...she's hopeless.'
"Sigh... well then, sorry for bothering you. Take care on your way home." Lucian quickly left the site.
"Ah, wait—" she called, but Lucian was already too far to hear her small mutter.