17th April, 220 A.B.
Wednesday evening,
After returning from school, Alvish directly went to Flame for her training. This time Reada hadn't joined her, nor had she invited him. The day was still quite stressful for her that she might have forgotten. Though yet, he was taking a walk outside today, in his alley, in his casual manner, repeatingly left to right in front of his home while looking down at his phone.
Noticeably, he has been walking out quite frequently now, these days. Allowing possible speculation to prompt over his, these, sudden outings. Like: may there be a special reason behind them or a connection with a special someone that he has been chatting with. Perhaps this behaviour's a characteristic of him all along, that Alvish and others simply haven't paid attention to, until now?? Who knows?...
Suddenly he sensed a strange presence pass by, and as he quickly looked up he saw Glem pushing to open the iron gate of his home. He hadn't seen him, but Reada surely had.
"WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!!!" Reada instantly shouted, seeing him.
Glem got startled and stopped as his ears heard that.
"Oh! You're here. Don't worry, I'm not here to pick a fight with you today." He said after he turned to him. His voice wasn't pugnacious this time but was for some reason a bit anxious.
Though without caring about it Reada walked furiously, up to him and grabbed his collar, pulling him up on his toes, and said, "And You're Saying It Like I Should Be Grateful For That?!!"
"No no no no no!! I didn't mean it that way!" He instantly clarified with his hands up, giving up and after that hesitatingly tried continuing with a smile. "I just wanted to tell you that I want to talk to you about something, somewhere else."
Reada definitely felt like there was something fishy about his behaviour today. He could, without a doubt, see that in his fake smile easily.
"Why sum'ere else, not here?"
"NO! Pleaseee!! It has to be somewhere else!!" His commitment to it was now confirming it too.
But against His confidence, there was nothing dangerous to him!
He smiled egotistically and said,"Fine!"
They both then discussed and agreed upon going to the park where they had encountered each other for the first time.
"So, what is it about?" Reada asked lazily now, while comfortably sitting on the same bench, next to him.
Even at that time, Glem was looking stressed and was looking down, but he tried to explain, "Do you remember that day when you had taken my sister that lord for the first time?"
Reada turned his head up, on his right side, after hearing him and while trying to remember what he said, he said, "That day… let's see…!"
.
.
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7th April, 220 A.B,
Around 8 o'clock,
Even though he didn't want to, after coming out of his home Reada finally agreed to show Alvish the way. He can never win against his mother, so according to him she had again sent him to suffer. But as they placed their first step on the road, after seeing her home, Alvish stopped and asked Reada to wait for her for a moment.
"What?? Why?" Reada, who was already annoyed, said in confusion.
She turned to him and said, "I'm actually going to get my shoes."
"Seriously Alvish, you're really going to wear shoes in this summer?? You already have your sandals on." He said while pointing at her feet.
"Hey, sandals are different. And yeah, maybe I should go, get my sandals instead." She reasoned and walked away.
Her tantrums were now getting him even more annoyed. It's the same as how he was acting that day, on their first day of walking to school together. Though, from her side. But like it's said: Humans can not see their own flaws with their own eyes, that's why they live in society.
"FUCK!!"
Suddenly his eyes drove to Glem, who walked out of his home as Alvish entered. He had a bright smile on and was marching straight.
"You look quite happy today!" The injustice of the situation made him speak first.
But Glem, completely ignoring him like a bad omen, continued marching forward. And as he walked past him, Reada realised he was aiming for his home.
"Where The Fuck Do You Think You're Going!!" His face turned stern and he immediately pulled Glem back by grabbing the back of his collar.
"JUST WHAT THE FUCK'S YOUR PROBLEM, BASTERED!!" Glem also shouted as he got pulled back, wratthaling to free himself.
"Guess, Alvish going to get her shoes wasn't that bad at all! Else, obviously I would've missed you!!" Reada vengefully said.
"What??- You were with my sister?!!" Glem's expressions changed as he heard him, too, and freed himself.
"Not were. Are!"
"Huh? Sickhead. You Better Get Away From Her or I'm gonna bury you, DEEP DOWN THE EARTH!!"
"I won't mind if your sister is called that!"
"BASTARD!!" Glem ran furiously towards him with his fist pulled up. But Reada dodged it with a smile at the very last moment and he got flown away to the wall behind him, causing him to accidentally hit his forehead.
"AAOO!!"
He turned around while pressing on his forehead, pleading in pain. And then he turned and started looking at the ground on his left. Though he hadn't got any wound, his back sticking to the wall, helplessness had started becoming visible in his eyes, that he was trying to hide from him. He'd completely understood his situation there. Even though he was in rage, he had realised that he could never win against him, no matter how sharp he acts, as he's very good at using his anger.
"SHEEEH! I should not waste my time on a filthy like you." Glem sighed, "Besides I know sis won't listen to my advice no matter what and also I have other important stuff to do."
After saying those words, Glem continued walking his way towards Reada's home. And Reada was dumbstruck, seeing him ignore his words this easily again. He straight away grabbed his shoulder this time too and asked, "What's so important in the hell, are you gonna do??"
A broad smile appeared on Glem's face as his face towards him, "I'm going to eat your mother—"
**SLAMMM!!!!**
…
"NOOOO!!!" Glem suddenly intervened, "Not that one!"
"Then?" Reada asked as he, straight away, looked at him.
"That same day but later, when we'd met that girl, remember."
"Oh…!" He nodded twice with his mouth open and then again started looking up at his right side.
.
.
.
Sometimes later on 7th April, 220 (AB),
"Let Go! Let Me Go! LEMME GOOOOO!!!" Glem, who's being held by Alvish on his left side and Reada on his right, by his arms, wailed, resisting at his best, trying not to go where he was being dragged to. "—'s Cooking! Aunty's Cooking, she had said she was cooking something new. She had invited me to taste it! You two can't do this to me! Lemme go!!"
"Quiet Down Already, Glem! Don't act like we're kidnapping you!! At least don't make a scene that would make people suspect that!!"
"Shut up, sis! I don't want to hear anything from you!! Just how could you take the side of my arch nemesis and not me!!"
"Come on, didn't you hear how he was saying you have to come along or else he won't be taking me to that academy? How he was threatening me?? I had no other choice– Wait! Should I call it threatening???"
"I don't give a damn whatever it's called! Just to let you know, I wouldn't have done that if I was in your place!! I hate you!!!"
A sudden shock struck Alvish. Even though, in her head, according to her, she always hated him too and thought of him as 'annoying', this time it truly hurt her in the heart. This time she truly felt bad after hearing that. It's a thing about being the oldest sibling that no matter what you say or they say, you'll always have at least a bit of care for your kid brothers and sisters.
Reada, however, was quite entertained by seeing this quarrel between them and was smiling while walking quietly.
"You're Quite Enjoying It, Aren't You?! After creating a conflict between us kins!" Alvish shrieked while glaring at him. "I'm literally feeling like I'm sinning!!"
"Aye! Dare you blame me for that!! I had given you choices, take responsibility for what you choose to do!!" Reada deflected.
And she realised what Reada was saying was also correct. She, for real, found herself to be too selfish.
Trying not to think about the war in her head, she pulled out her smartphone and after checking the time said, "Seriously, just how far is that place? We have been walking for around half an hou—"
"Whatt?? Half an hour!! She must have already given up on waiting for me by now! I really hate you, sis!!" Glem suddenly intervened as his eyes started getting watery. "You two can let go of me now, I won't run away. Besides, there's no helping."
"Aa- I also think the same. I'm also getting tired of it. What do you think, Reada??" Alvish suggested.
"Just some more moments of walk. You can let go of him if you're tired, I'll keep an eye on him."
By then they had already reached the deeper parts of the town. And while walking on the footpath beside the main road, Alvish's eyes caught an ice cream stall some feet in front of her.
"I think we should take a little break too while we are at it." She said while she let go of her grip on Glem and then went straight ahead, leaving those two behind.
Meanwhile Reada also let go of his hand and he crouched down in sorrow with his eyes dripping teardrops, on that same spot. Seconds later he rose with a stooped posture and loosely threw a punch at him as a last act of his revenge, with his 'eyes red after crying' face, hoping that he would let it land on himself by feeling pity on him and he would be able to satisfy his self-esteem. But Reada dodged it too. After that he also tried to run away, unlike what he had said, but Reada again caught him with his grip.
Alvish returned after a while with 3 vanilla ice cream bars in her hands. That, one of which she gave to Glem and patted his head; and another to Reada, telling him to think of it as a thank you and a sorry for ruining his day. But Reada refused to take it, saying that he would really feel guilty if he'd accept it today and he also passed it to him.
Glem's mood brightened after he finished eating two of his favourite flavoured ice creams. Even though the words he used, or the way he acted, guess at the end he was just a kid after all.
They were ready to go after that.
And then her figure caught his attention…
Across the street, there stood a cute young girl, looking to be the same age & height as him. She was wearing a long dark blue gown-like skirt with ruffles and frills everywhere, along with flower-like bows around its edge. Her deep greyish-brown hair was adorned with a delicate lace headband. Which was shaded under the umbrella she was holding in her hands with lace gloves, that also had the same design as her dress. Despite the busy cityscape surrounding her, her attire was making her stand out easily. Seeming to exist in a world of her own, a Lolita she was, garnering acknowledgement not only from him but everyone, including Alvish.
That girl's eyes also caught him staring and she started crossing the road, walking towards them, after checking left and right for vehicles and the signals turning green. The stepping sounds of her low heels became louder as she came closer, and after stopping in front of them while looking at him she called his name with a smile, "Glem?"
Her voice was sweet and tuned.
"A– yes! Julia." Glem answered, looking down and caressing the back of his own head himself softly, hesitatingly, nervously, with his face a bit bright red.
"What are you doing here?" She then looked up at the person next to him, before Glem could say something and said strictly, "Also, Reada—"
"Juliee!" Suddenly Reada said in the middle avidly with a sarcastic smirk as he heard his name.
"Stop making fun of my name!!" Instantly that girl, Julia, took a step forward and landed a punch on his diaphragm, scolding him. But he stayed unmoved like a stone-body.
"You know him?!" Glem asked surprisingly.
"Actually my hermana has a crush on him. But it's unfair, Glem! I asked you first! So, you should be answering me first, don't ask me a question in return!" Julia turned to Glem and said.
Alvish and Glem, both were shocked after finding out that he knew her. To them, Reada was seeming more like a socialized person now, tho– for his looks which's hard to believe. Certainly Alvish was more surprised, since she had never seen that girl before and so it was her second time, first with Glem and now, seconds later, Reada. Plus, she was also questioning to herself that how could a person fall in love with this mess??
After taking 2 or 3 guesses, She re-noticed her lolita fashion and came to the conclusion that Julia's hermana (sister) might also be a weeb like him and, it must be one of his weeb feats that would have made her fall for him. Haah… weebs are weird, she always thought.
"Oh! You had asked me that question? Sorry, I failed to realise before."
For the third time in that moment Alvish felt surprised after hearing her brother apologize.
"Actually my sister was heading somewhere with him." Glem looked at Reada with wide open eyes before mentioning, "And so I just also decided to stick along cuz I wanted to look around the town."
Reada appeared to be impressed by how easily he just made that up and Alvish also seemed to have caught that. But neither were interested enough to interfere.
"Aa, sis! Meet Julia. She sits behind me in my class. And Julia, she's my older sister, Alvish." He introduced after turning to his sister. And then he also turned to Reada and said, "It seems you two already know each other. By the way he is our neighbour."
His voice and accent was very polite this time, unlike often, and everybody knew the reason.
"You live there?? Wow! By the way, nice to meet you, hermana. I also have an older sister who's just as cute as you are."
"Aa… Yes, you had mentioned her before. And thank you and same to you!!" She decided to not say much.
"Well! It's wonderful that you're out to look around." She then turned to Glem again, "I'm also here just to visit a art gallery near by!"
"What?? There's a gallery in this town??" Glem asked in surprise.
"Yes! Why are you so surprised?? Do you also like art like me?"
Glem had always only seen Julia in the classroom, in her casual school uniform. She was not anyone specifically special to him before. Even though she was still that sweet, charming girl that anyone might have in their batch. But today after seeing her in that dress… a dress that is meant to appear doll-like and expressionless. He found her to be having more expressions. And so he wanted to know more.
"Yes!" Although he was just surprised because he hadn't expected such a small town to have an art gallery, he lied as smoothly as he breathed to match her interest.
"Really??" She said excitedly. "You can come along with me then, if you want to."
"Aaa…" After hearing that offer Glem really wanted to go. But before saying anything he turned around to her sister and then looked at Reada.
"My blood also boils while seeing you, so just go away!" Reada said and pushed him away.
…
"Yeah yeah, that one!" Back in the current timeline, Glem confirmed.
"So??"
"She said she won't talk to me and is mad at me after I told her you're my arch nemesis. And so…" He turned his head the other way, "Just apologize to me and I'll forgive you. And then we'll be settled. You see, I don't want to continue having this fight either."
"The Fuck Should I Apologise For?!!" Reada, in surprise, turned to him and said in his temper.
"Why Shouldn't You?" Glem also turned and said in that same manner, convincing him, "You had commented on my sister!! That is where it all started!!"
"But You Had Commented About My Mother First!!"
"What So Offensive Had I Even Said?? I just said she was hot. I didn't mean it with any ulterior motive! It Was Like A Compliment. Come On! She's Also Like My Own Aunt To Me! That's Just What I Thought!"
"Oh Really?? Your Name Sounding Gayish Was Also Just My Thoughts Then, Why Did You Have To Bring My Girlfriend Into It?!!"
Glem realised that he didn't have any more words to defend himself against that. And his eyes slowly started dribbling.
"I'm Sorry, For Real!! I Won't Do That Ever Again! She Won't Talk To Me Otherwise!! Pleaseeee!!!!"