That day, the terrorism incident at Seijo High School instantly became national news that shook the entire country, even immediately drawing the attention of the international community.
All this time, Japan had always prided itself on its extremely high level of security and claimed itself to be one of the safest countries in the world, very different from the countries in the Middle Eastern region which were constantly filled with armed conflict.
This time's bloody tragedy truly became an extremely hard and embarrassing slap for the Japanese Government.
As a result of the massive public pressure, many high-ranking officials in various sectors of government as well as the police force chose to resign en masse as a form of accountability for their negligence.
For the sake of restoring the situation, the management party of Seijo High School decided to dismiss all teaching and learning activities for one full week.
During that holiday period, students who experienced severe trauma were required to undergo psychological counseling sessions offered completely free of charge by the government.
However, there was a big difference in responding to this situation between the two The Chosen One.
Different from Mahiru who already knew clearly the entire background that resulted in the occurrence of this terrorism action, Amane did not know at all that the Mexican drug cartel group actually came to kill the two of them.
It had to be said, Elena indeed took an approach that was very different from Charlie.
Elena chose to protect Amane from behind the shadows without letting the young man realize that his life was being threatened, for the sake of maintaining the mental peace of the protagonist.
On the other side, Charlie preferred to be outspoken and establish a cooperation with Mahiru so that he could more easily monitor and protect the heroine.
Even though the two Saviors took completely opposite paths, their ultimate goal remained the same: ensuring the safety of the protagonist and heroine of this world.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
In the evening, inside the silence of the apartment.
Dinner, which was usually colored by light conversation, now took place in a cold silence.
Both Charlie and Mahiru only focused on their respective plates, lost in their own thoughts.
After finishing tidying up the kitchen and doing a little bit of her homework, Mahiru, who looked mentally exhausted, directly said her goodnights to sleep early in her room.
For the sake of maintaining peace and not wanting to disturb Mahiru who was resting, Charlie chose not to turn on the television in the living room. As a replacement, he sat casually on top of the sofa while reading several volumes of manga under the dim glow of the room's lamp.
Two hours passed slowly.
*CREETTTT—!*
The wall clock already showed a late hour when suddenly Mahiru's bedroom door opened slowly.
Mahiru stepped out hesitantly.
The girl wore her sleeping pajamas while tightly clutching a pillow to her chest. However, as soon as Charlie turned around to look at her, the view of his eyes suddenly felt strange—as if he had just fallen under the influence of Uchiha Itachi's Genjutsu.
In Charlie's eyes, the pillow inside Mahiru's embrace somehow turned pink in color, complete with a conspicuous writing that read "YES" on the front part and "NO" on the back part.
(What exactly am I thinking? Don't tell me, this is the effect of too long not having sexual intercourse with a woman?)
He shook his head gently to dispel that silly illusion before returning to focus on the figure of Mahiru.
Charlie closed his manga then asked with a gentle tone of voice, "What is the matter, Shiina-san? Are you unable to sleep?"
Mahiru walked closer with slow steps, then sat on the edge of the sofa opposite Charlie. She buried her face even deeper behind the pillow she was clutching.
"Uhm... I cannot sleep. No matter how hard I try to close my eyes, my mind still refuses to rest."
"That reaction of yours is very normal." Charlie chimed in with a tone full of understanding. "On the contrary, if you could instantly sleep very soundly after experiencing all that terrifying terror this afternoon, then that is what would be unusual."
"..."
Mahiru fell silent for a moment hearing that response. She stared straight toward the floor, before finally steeling herself to voice the heavy burden that had been torturing the depths of her heart since earlier.
"Charlie-kun... I keep thinking. My parents... they must have heard the news about the big terrorism incident that befell my school today, right?"
"It is impossible for them not to know, because this news was broadcast on all television stations. But... up to this exact second, be it my father or my mother... not a single one of them has come here, or simply telephoned to ask how I am doing."
Tears slowly welled up in the corners of her beautiful eyes.
"Are... are they really completely not caring about me anymore?"
Hearing that painful grievance, Charlie instantly understood what was actually disturbing and damaging the mind of the girl in front of him.
It was not trauma toward the firearms of the terrorists, but rather the feeling of being abandoned by her own parents.
In his heart, Charlie briefly had an urge to lie.
He wanted to say comforting cliché sentences; that Mahiru's parents must be very busy with their work, that everything was fine, and they definitely loved her.
However, Charlie knew he could not do that.
The truth was like fire.
A lie was merely paper.
Paper could not possibly hold back fire.
If he chose to deceive and give false hope to Mahiru now, that thing would instead only feel far more painful for the girl in days to come.
"Huuuh..."
Charlie let out a long breath, staring at her with a gaze that was honest without any phoniness.
"Regarding that matter... I do not know, Shiina-san."
Hearing the honest answer that came out of Charlie's mouth, a bitter smile laden with sadness was carved on Mahiru's face.
"Thank you, Charlie-kun... I... I instead feel glad because you did not try to comfort me with false words. At least, you did not pity me with a lie."
The fact was, deep down in the depths of her heart, Mahiru had always known that both her parents indeed never cared about her.
That cold relationship had even reached a peak not long ago. She had been involved in a huge fight with her mother, Shiina Sayo.
In that fight, Sayo openly and ruthlessly asserted that she had never expected Mahiru's presence in this world.
That cruel sentence coming directly out of the mouth of her own biological mother instantly destroyed all the remaining remnants of Mahiru's hope to obtain the warmth of parental affection.
Those words made her feel truly worthless as a human being, until she fell into a ravine of despair.
Hearing the absolute rejection from her own flesh and blood made Mahiru's soul go numb that afternoon.
In the midst of the overriding despair, she walked aimlessly until she arrived at a nearby park. She just sat silently on top of a park bench under a very heavy downpour of rain, letting her body become drenched without caring about her health anymore.
And right at that lowest point in her life, she was almost raped by two foreign men from Africa, before finally being saved by Charlie.
Remembering that flash of dark memory made Mahiru's body tremble subtly again. She stared at Charlie with a pleading look that was so fragile, as if the man in front of her was the only remaining anchor of sanity in her life.
"Charlie-kun... tonight, would you accompany and sleep beside me?" she asked with a very quiet voice, almost a whisper.
"..."
Charlie did not instantly say yes to the request. He stared at her with a serious gaze, then reminded her with a tone full of responsibility as an adult man.
"Shiina-san, you know right that a man and a woman must have clear boundaries? Sleeping in the same bed has already crossed the line."
Hearing that soft rejection, Mahiru spontaneously pouted her lips, sulking in annoyance with a face that suddenly blushed pink.
"Charlie-kun is not allowed to do lewd deeds or have strange thoughts!"
"If you dare to try anything or take an opportunity, I... I truly will be very angry with you and will not forgive you!"
Before Charlie had time to reply, Mahiru hurriedly added her reason with an adorable curt tone to cover up her embarrassment.
"Just consider it... tonight Charlie-kun plays the role of a human dakimakura (hug pillow) for me. Only for tonight alone, until I can calm down and fall asleep."
Seeing the behavior of the 'Angel' who very rarely showed a childish and stubborn side like this, Charlie could only sigh in resignation while forming a thin smile.
"Alright, alright. Only as a human hug pillow, okay?"
Then, he rose up standing from the sofa.
Mahiru nodded slowly, hiding a relieved smile behind the pillow she was clutching.
The two of them then stepped toward Mahiru's bedroom
Which had a tidy and fragrant nuance.
Our after Mahiru laid her body down on the inner side of the bed, Charlie followed and lay down on the outer side, letting there be a safe distance between their bodies as a form of respect for the boundaries he mentioned earlier.
Under the same blanket, the silence of the night again enveloped the room.
But this time, the silence no longer felt cold and tense, but rather warm and comforting.
Mahiru shifted her body slightly closer, smelling Charlie's masculine and soothing body aroma, which instantly banished all the black shadows about terrorists, bullets, as well as her mother's rejection.
Slowly but surely, the tension in her shoulders faded. The roar of her breath began to be heard regular and soft, indicating that she had finally plunged into a peaceful realm of dreams.
Staring at Mahiru's sleeping face which looked innocent without burden beside him, Charlie pulled the blanket to cover the girl's shoulders gently, before finally he himself closed his eyes, closing that day's chapter that was full of blood with the tranquility of a silent night.
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