“Hey, idiots, leave him alone. He was just kidding!”

Nori’s heart dropped at the words. How did he not realize that he and his fellow classmate just made the situation very tense, putting Keigo on the spot. He heard Gruffydd mutter; Nori did not understand a thing he was saying but recognized the language to be the Welshman’s native tongue. He then continued aloud in Japanese. It stunned Nori to hear such words from his classmate, especially after his tone only moments ago. But he agreed; the two of them should have seen from the start that it had all been a mere joke.

Until now, Nori had remained silent, but the thud in his side awoke him from his trance.
“I... I apologize for my behavior. It was indeed a joke and I should have reacted accordingly,” he said while looking down, and paused for a moment. “I most certainly didn’t mean to turn it in such a grim situation,” he looked Keigo in the eyes. “I’m very sorry,” he stated in a solemn manner, bowing as he spoke these words.

Having said this, Nori slowly backed off, trying to slip out of the classroom unnoticed. Although he had created the conditions himself, he really felt the need to get out of there. Luckily for him, the hallways had cleared up as most students had either gone to their clubs or gone elsewhere, so he could exit the building without too much hold-up.

Feeling the breeze through his ash blonde hair, Nori let out a sigh, both of relief and regret. “Man... I really screwed up, didn’t I?” he murmured. This had not been a good way to start off the year. “I should have acted more mature, more according to my year.”
He wondered whether he should linger around the school any longer today; he definitely didn’t feel much like it. Maybe going for a jog would put his mind off the subject.