9. Degenerate Creep (6)
The 'Not really?' awaited day,
the school teacher brought everyone out to the designated place in the field. With everyone gathered here means— "Lu!" Lucian saw a blonde girl run toward him. It was Kate.
Lucian waved back while her smile bloomed even further.
"Oh, Claudia, good morning." Once she got close, she realized Dia was standing behind Lucian. Kate stopped and corrected her posture,
then gave a slight bow with both hands at her sides, as if pitching a nonexistent long dress; it was just like some Victorian-era movie greeting.
For your information, Kate was wearing pants and a shirt that were easy to move in, like everyone else.
'Just what the hell was Layla teaching her?' Lucian was imagining what kind of strange things the neighbor's beautiful auntie was doing.
Dia came out and greeted me. "Umm, Lu," Kate called, which was a weird expression.
"Yes?"
"What happened to Alice?" Kate, unable to hold her curiosity, asked. Alice looked like she had just been bullied, bawling her eyes out. With the clear sniffing sound she made, it was obvious she had been crying until now.
"Just something," Lucian replied, unsure how to explain while continuing to stroke and softly tap Alice's back to calm her down.
"Um, I don't understand, but good luck." Kate gave Lucian a thumbs-up, wearing a complicated expression she often saw on her father's face.
***
As the festival began, the four mostly stuck together, and then slowly their turns to participate came one by one.
Lucian stood in his place at the start line for the 100 m dash race, standing on the line with the other seven contestants.
"Lu! Fighting!"
"Good luck!" Kate, Alice, and the rest slowly cheered as Lucian was representing the class's score. Dia also said something, but her voice was too small for Lucian to hear.
"Ready… Set… Go!"
Pop!
The sound of the toy gun firing rang out as the competition began. If Lucian were just a normal person, he might have had a hard time, because unlike normal kids who spent every day running around playing, Lucian played it smart by not wasting his stamina unnecessarily. Because of that, he was unused to using his body to the max, and there was a possibility he would lose the competition.
But Lucian was not. The days he spent jogging to test his uniqueness weren't wasted, and as expected, he won easily. It was the same for Kate and Alice.
Alice, who already loved to move around, was able to win easily. Kate was no different; she was used to moving her body along with him.
'haha, there's no way for Kate to lose' he was satisfied with the result.
And so the three of them won, while Dia alone lost her competition — she wasn't the athletic type.
FYI, when Lucian competed, he stayed in second place the whole time and boosted himself just enough to take first place at the end. Truly a devilish move.
***
The next day, Lucian woke up at 4 again, and just like yesterday, he went sprinting around the neighborhood, punishing his own body while avoiding Bentley's sentry. It wouldn't be funny if they found out about it.
It was the same route as before; by hiding near the Bentleys' enormous mansion, there wasn't much space where he could run.
And once again, today too, he saw a silhouette in the park and… he went past it. He had learned his lesson — once is curiosity, twice is confirmation, and the third time is stupidity.
"Haa… haa…" Lucian once again felt the sense of enjoyment while running at full speed. The shortness of breath hurt a bit, but running still felt satisfying.
On his way home, just like a magnet—or maybe because he had already done it a few times—he unconsciously turned his attention toward the park.
And there she was. The girl was still there despite it being almost sunrise.
'How long does she usually sit there?' Another flower of curiosity bloomed in his head.
'At this time, at that age, alone… ugh, I really am stupid,' Lucian thought as he finally decided to approach the girl again.
"What are you doing?" Lucian had expected something more or less the same as before, but—
"Nothing," she replied normally.
'So, you still have some sanity left,' he thought rudely.
"What's your name?" Lucian had learned this during his office days — a way to break the ice between new people. A name or introduction was a must.
"Why should I tell you?" The girl lifted her head to look at Lucian this time.
"...You're right," Lucian agreed after questioning himself. There really wasn't any necessity for her to answer.
"What are you doing?" the girl asked back. It seemed it wasn't just Lucian who was curious about the other party's conduct.
"Nothing," Lucian replied with a smug face.
The girl's face crumbled; Lucian's words struck her wrong. 'Taste your own medicine.'
"Well, it doesn't matter," the girl tried to play it cool.
"Oh, by the way, I'm Lucian," Lucian decided to introduce himself first, then left.
"..." He answered with silence.
"Goodbye then." Lucian had expected something like that and quickly shifted gears.
'I have to go back fast, Aunt Layla is scary,' he thought, planning to sprint again until he reached his house.
"Wait!" the girl suddenly called out. Albeit confused, Lucian still responded, "What?"
"Uhm, ehm, that…" The girl herself didn't understand why she did that. Lucian waited for a bit, but yeah—still nothing.
He didn't have time anymore. "If you don't have anything to say, I'm going now." Saying that, Lucian tried to walk away again.
"Liselotte!" The girl spoke with a loud but reserved voice. "My name is Liselotte," she repeated, introducing herself more properly.
"Nice to meet you, Liselotte," Lucian replied. "And see you later." He sprinted back, as he didn't have any more time.