Chapter 22

                                    

                                          
Well rested, Kaede stood at her locker to change her shoes and take out the necessary books. She glanced briefly at the timetable she had stuck inside and then closed the door again.
Kaede shouldered her rucksack so that she wouldn't get the same idea as on her first day at school and hit someone with it. She often wondered if something had happened with Chika, since she had never mentioned anything. Maybe she was like Kazumi in this matter, who more or less kept it to herself.
"Give it back...to me..." Megumi asked, shyly holding out her arm. "Why? Are you going to turn into a girl?" someone asked with a laugh. "I..."
"Hm, or rather a boy?" asked the person who had two of his friends with him. They laughed and held the glasses in their hands, which they had held up so that Megumi wouldn't be able to reach them.
Her head was tilted slightly downwards to hide her pretty face. Kaede could see that she wanted to retreat to the art room. Her name made it really hard for her to make any friends.
Taking a deep breath, Kaede walked towards them. How she would love to throw her backpack in the faces of these three boys. They would put up with it anyway. Not like the girls, who had to fix everything on the same day.

"Is there a problem?" asked Kaede, who had stood next to Megumi and was relieved to see her. Even at that moment, Megumi felt incredibly comfortable and protected. Almost like a child, Megumi clung to her emotionally. But to really do it would just be a tease. Besides, she didn't want to do it to Kaede that she would also be beaten up.
"You're that backpack thrower, aren't you?" said the boy, who had been looking down at the brown-haired girl. "What is it this time? A shoe?"
"If that's what you want." Kaede replied back and glanced towards the left door with her eyes. Class 1-2 was present here, which was why Kaede nodded slightly. She herself belonged to 1-3, but was still a little higher. 
"You shouldn't interfere here." warned the boy. "Megumi belongs to our class. So you have no business here."
"You think just because I'm from a different class that I'm not allowed to interfere?" asked Kaede, who tried to take it all in stride. Well, it wasn't relaxed for Megumi. But Kaede wasn't really in the mood for another ten-page apology herself.
"I'll interfere when I want to." , Kaede answered her own question and held out her hand without further ado. "Give me the glasses." , she demanded immediately and received an amused look from his friends.
"Why? Do you want to give her the glasses so she looks more like a girl?" asked one of them, amused. They really had it in for her name.
"Could it be that you failed your school enrolment test?" asked Kaede, causing Megumi to gulp. "Huuhh?" came snidely from her counterpart, who had leaned down slightly.
"First-year students like you have no idea what different names could mean. Since you must have failed Japanese, I guess you don't even know the Kaji script properly and that's why you ended up in the 1-2." Kaede explained and simply said what she had in mind.
"You've got quite a big mouth. Do you know that?" asked her counterpart, who had slowly become angry. "And a lot of stupid words come out of yours."
"Kaede...leave it...", Megumi asked quietly, her fingers now clutched in her blouse. "It's...fine."
The brown-green eyes now turned to the black-haired girl, who simply wanted to ignore this topic. Her insecurity stood out clearly. "Yes, listen to this boy." One laughed.
Kaede's mouth opened again, but there was no sound from her. "Are you doing something stupid again?" asked Atsumu, who had appeared and had his hands relatively relaxed in his trouser pockets.