Chapter 774 - 120 - Delusional Woman (2)
Was she really planning to give me one of her sandwiches?
From the way her fingers lingered by the lunchbox and how hesitant her eyes were, it definitely looked like it. The lunchbox was packed generously—more than enough for just one person to finish. Honestly, anyone could tell it was meant for sharing.
"H-Here..." she murmured, almost in a whisper, her voice barely cutting through the quiet of the corridor.
Her hands trembled slightly as she extended one sandwich toward me.
"I-I just... made an extra today, so I wondered... maybe you could have it," she said, her eyes darting away, trying not to meet mine, cheeks tinged with a soft flush.
"You don’t have any other friends to share it with?" I asked, my voice calm, but tinged with genuine curiosity.
"I-I really don’t..." Zeruel answered, her voice dropping to a fragile murmur. "W-Well, I think I tried to get along with the others back in our first year, but... as the year dragged on, and even now in the second year... the situation with my mother just took so much of my time. I couldn’t really make friends."
Right... her mother.
She was afflicted with Eternal Slumber, a rare, incurable illness that left her trapped in a coma-like state, which she have been cured now.
Given how much that must have weighed on her, it was no wonder she didn’t have the energy or freedom to build friendships. It made perfect sense. A heavy, understandable loneliness.
In that case... maybe I was the closest thing she had to a friend right now.
I reached forward, gently took the sandwich from her, and settled myself onto the stair beside her.