<div class="floatleft">(http://oi67.tinypic.com/30rp8i0.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Shizuma Nori (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=257738.msg12729551#msg12729551)<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Cafeteria<br/><strong>Time:</strong>Flashback - a few days before school starts, a little after 7am<br/><strong>With:</strong>Taro + Open<br/><hr/><br/>As Taro looked at her through his fingers, Shizuma got a little flustered, but didn't tell him to stop. He had just let him turn his hair into a fine mess, no? Refusing him this would be wrong, right? She nodded and said, "no forgiveness is necessary. My hair wasn't this color back then," she added as an explanation. "It was a mousy brown and half as long," she admitted to him with a rueful smile. "It's yet another reason why fading into the background is harder these days." There was no way for her to hide the bit of nervousness she felt as she spoke so candidly to Taro. She fiddled with her napkin as he thanked her for again sharing some of her orange then nodded when he spoke of dessert. She missed the thoughtful air that came over him as his mind went back into the past as he put some pieces together as she shared her memories of him.<br/><br/>A bit of alarm registered in Shizuma's eyes as Taro took in that deep breath. He had her rapt attention as he succinctly set the record straight. As she listened to all he said she couldn't help but look shocked as she absorbed the information he shared and filtered it into her recollections. Yes, his admission of responsibility for his past actions destroyed the image of the poor, picked upon little boy she remembered, but had never really existed. Still, she felt no shame for the kindness she showed him, instead, she found herself even more impressed by the young man sitting across the table from her.<br/><br/>"As I said earlier... few would have done what you did, Taro," Shizuma sid in a compassionate as he turned to look out the window. She could have been talking about starting the fights, so to clarify she goes on to say, "you took an opportunity to assess who you were and who you wanted to be and chose to be better today then you were yesterday. But I'll tell you, when I saw you back then I didn't see a bully... I saw a boy who was alone and hurting. I'm sorry I wasn't brave enough then to have really been there for you. " Her apology is earnestly given from the bottom of her heart. Her eyes water a bit at remembering the pain she saw on him back then and the guilt at her own cowardice. Then, smiling wanely she said, "I guess I saw a bit of this you, even back then." Her words were a bit of a compliment and her voicing her faith in him, though they held something almost affectionate and infinitely forgiving.