章 31: William Harrington [Part 5]
"B-but... I think it's better if we just stop this. If we keep doing this, everyone at school will hate you," Maria said, looking sad.
"I know."
"Let's just stop it, okay?"
"Then what about the bullying? Do you want to make my efforts worthless?"
"T-they've changed! Maybe..."
"People don't change without a reason, and neither did those six idiots. And if that reason is removed, what do you think will happen?"
"That... I don't know," Maria started to doubt.
"You're the one who benefits, it's clear you'll be seen as a liar. You'll be seen as a Little sister who forces her brother to act badly to get what she wants."
"But they were wrong too. They definitely won't bully me anymore."
"No, it will be worse than before. They bullied you before, but they hid it, right? That's because they knew their actions were wrong. But if their victim is someone known as someone who doing bad thing, what do you think will happen?"
Looking down, defeated, Maria continued, "They'll find reasons to bully me and even do it in front of everyone?"
"That's right, and also if that happens, other bullies, even those in other classes, will join in to get attention. They'll become 'saviors' in front of everyone. Normalizing bullying and not even seeing it as wrong thing to do anymore. The teachers might help you, but your school life will still be over, because the teachers won't be with you 24/7."
"But...," Maria tried to hold back tears.
"Just give up."
"But if this happens, you're the one who'll suffer!"
"I knew that from the beginning."
Unable to hold back her tears, Maria cried loudly.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Maria kept repeating the same words.
William, seeing his sister's tears, could only hug her and let her soak his chest with tears. Maria could only accept without giving anything back, making her frustrated and feeling guilty, but also happy.
Instead of trying to stop his sister's tears, William chose to stay silent and do nothing.
Crying is a form of sadness, stopping it will only make her stress build up and accumulate over time.
Rather than that happening and bothering her constantly, it's better for her to keep crying and release all her emotions physically by crying.
William smiled because he knew this was the best thing for Maria.
"I-I'm sorry, b-because me, you have to s-sacrifice yourself... Hic... Hic...," Maria said, even though she was choking back sobs.
"I'm not sacrificing myself, but I'm creating a good environment for my cute little sister at school," William replied.
"B-but you're still the victim!"
"There's nothing wrong in this case, neither you, me, or even those six people who bullied you."
"No! It's their fault!"
"If you want to blame someone, why don't you blame their parents who raised them like that?"
"T-that..."
"They're just kids who haven't grown up yet. They might do it to get attention from their classmates, they might want to be seen as special, or they do it as a way to escape from a painful real life."
"That's just your delusion! How do you know their situation? It's impossible! You're just lying to me!" Maria shouted.
"I never said I knew, I also said that it's just a 'possibility'."
"But just a 'possibility' doesn't prove anything!"
"Then do you know why they bullied you?"
"It's because they're envious of my beauty!"
"Are you really sure? I got information that you're popular among boys because you're beautiful. Are you sure they didn't do it for another reason?"
"Another reason?"
"Yeah, one effective way to get the attention of someone you like is by destroying the thing they love the most at that time and becoming the new thing they love the most."
"Are you sure they did it because of that?"
"No, I'm just talking about possibilities."
"What have you been trying to explain to me? I don't understand! I don't know what you want to explain!" Slowly, she forgot her sadness and her guilt.
"That's what I want to explain to you, the point is you don't know, do you?"
"Huh?"
"In this world, there are more than one possibility for every human action. Seeing it once and immediately believing what you see is a very arrogant act. You're not God who knows everything. All humans in the world are humans, including you and me."
Maria slowly wiped away her tears after crying her heart out before, then not long after that she replied, "Do you want to tell me that there's a possibility that they're not actually bad people?"
"You're right," William replied.
"But that possibility is very small."
"I know, but don't you like to gamble?"
"Huh? gamble?"
"Yeah, just like what you did to me, why don't you do it to them too?"
"...," Maria fell silent for a moment, pondering that.
"There's no harm in hoping for unlimited possibilities. Because hope is a symbol of someone who doesn't give up on anything in this world. You should be proud that you can still hope for something."
"What if we just tell the truth to your classmates? At least maybe you can still get protection from them."
William smiled at the suggestion, but he replied, "thank you, but I'll decline that suggestion."
"Why?"
"If they end up protecting me from the whole school who's curious about me, the question about me being known as a 'bad guy' will become weaker and doubts will arise. After that, it will definitely affect you and everyone in your class in the future. Remember that you'll be attending that school for another 4 years before you go to middle high school."
"But if this keeps going on, you'll be beaten up every day for the next 3 years!"
"Oh, if that's the problem, you don't need to worry. Besides, those punches don't hurt me at all. If you're still worried, I can just run away and hide during break time. The teachers can help me and are willing to do it from the start, facing kids isn't as difficult as you think."
"But are you okay with that? You won't be able to make friends at school. What about changing schools?"
Instead of answering Maria's suggestion, William asked back, "Why do you think I kept this a secret from Mom?"
"Huh? Because you don't want Mom to worry?"
"That's only half of the real answer."
"What's the other half?"
"I don't want to give our parents more trouble than this, it's enough that just my father knows, he's even willing to come to school on his precious day off. That's why I do it as best as I can, from the start this was my fault."
"No! It's not your fault!"
"I've explained it to you, there's nothing wrong in this matter. But for everyone involved, they must think it's their own fault. Those six people must feel guilty towards you. You must feel guilty towards me, right? And me too, I broke my promise and even vented my anger physically. From my perspective, the one who's wrong is me because I didn't think clearly to solve the problem."
"No! That's not-"
"It's true, it's not my fault, I know. But even though I know that, I can't fool my own feelings."
"Brother...," Maria murmured, feeling sympathy but unable to do anything.
"You know? This is actually the first time I've been able to understand my own feelings after the past few years. How long have I been living like a robot who lives only to do what I have to do without doing what I want. The passion of the world has long disappeared from me, but it seems that I am finally just a child who can get angry if I see my family being hurt by others."
After hearing that, Maria replied, "I think... That's an amazing thing about you, brother. It shows that you love me so much, right?"
Hearing his little sister's reply made William unconsciously smile and stroke his little sister's head. But unlike before, this time Maria didn't try to stop her brother from doing it.
"You're right...," William replied before a very long silence fell between them.
Just staring in a meaningless direction without any reason and letting this moment enter their memories to make it a memory they will never forget forever.
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