The next day at school, I looked absentmindedly through the window at the gray sky throughout the whole classes until we were about to leave, when Alice came to me and asked concerned,
“Leon? You’ve been staring at the sky the entire day. Did something happen? Yesterday you left without saying a word, you know?”
“Hm? Ah, nothing. I just remembered something and I left in a hurry.”
I answered without turning her way as I continued to stare outside as if in a daze,
“Hmm… Are you sure? Your arrogant and indifferent air is no longer today.”
“And what does that-…”
I glanced at her irritated but then a slight red shade to her right cheek made me turn and look better. A slight frown appeared on my face as I reached out and gently touched her cheek.
“Just what the heck happened? Who did this?”
“Ah, uhm…”
She froze in place at my touch and I retracted my hand seeing that I troubled her, but still stared intently. She blushed for a moment but then she smiled naughtily,
“Hm~? Are you worried about me? That’s new. Especially when I already have other more severe injuries to worry about.”
She showed her bandaged fingers and looked smug at me. Although she was already fine by now, she must be wearing them just to tease me now and then. But this mostly backfired as I looked at her plainly and waved my hand,
“Nope, that’s your own fault. And whoever did that to you, now must have back-pain from being thrown, am I right?”
“Err~ not quite. I can’t really throw people inside the building. The ground is too hard and I might injure them severely, especially the girls.”
“So it was a girl, huh? Another one of Simon’s fiery fans?”
“How did you know?”
She looked surprised at me and I was rather surprised that she really had to ask that,
“You’re ignoring Simon when he’s chasing you around all day. Meanwhile, all the girls that chase Simon are now furious at you for making their little prince feel so miserable. Well, it is quite funny to watch, not gonna lie.”
“Oh, you’re actually quite the mischievous one, having fun from others’ sufferings. What if one day I’ll seriously end up injured? Will you also laugh like that?”
Seeing my amused grin, Alice pouted then asked jokingly. At her question, my smile faded as the idea didn’t seem all that strange to happen. Rather, it was but a matter of time, and that made me feel annoyed for some reason.
It seems I’ll need to have a chat with Simon.
Immediately after we finished classes I left towards Simon’s class, waiting for him by the door.
“Oh~? What’re you waitin’ for, Leon? Got another customer?”
One of the punks I crafted a knife for came to me and asked with a grin but I simply greeted him then dismissed his idea.
“Hey, nothing like that. Just wishing to have a chat with one of my buddies.”
“Former buddies, you mean. The Hell you need?”
As we talked, Simon appeared and stepped right in front of me, a sharp glare in his eyes. The other punk felt like laughing and simply left while taunting both of us,
“Imma let ya ladies finish yo business, don’t mind me~.”
As he left in a hurry, we both looked his way irritated but then I ignored him and turned back to Simon.
“… Simon, let’s go talk in some other place.”
“And why should I do that?”
I turned to leave as well but Simon crossed his arms at his chest, looking at me defiantly. I stopped then glanced his way, glaring at Simon intently and making him flinch for a moment,
“Are you scared now, p****?”
“W-what…?”
“Then come and shut up. Don’t ask stupid questions.”
I went forward and Simon was momentarily stunned by my sudden outburst.
Ever since we stopped being friends, I can say this is the first time I’m seeing Leon so mad. What’s more, the pressure he releases now it’s incomparable to what it was before…
I went down the stairs and as I did so, I met the class representative, instantly blocking my path the moment she saw me.
“Hold up, Leon Roil. Where are you going?”
“Home. Is there a problem?”
“Isn’t your turn to clean the table today?”
“Already did.”
“I don’t believe you.”
She stood firmly in front of me and Simon was rather surprised to see her so headstrong. I felt irritated by her stubbornness then simply walked past her as she was simply unable to stop me with such skinny arms.
“If you don’t believe me then that’s not my problem. I’m out.”
“You’re not going anywhere-“
She then tried to grab my wrist but I easily dodged her, going down the stairs while smiling mockingly at her,
“And who’s gonna stop me? You? Good luck, girly.”
“Leon why must you be so terrible?!”
She exclaimed at me while her face turned red from anger. I simply signaled to Simon to come already while I answered back as I went down the stairs,
“You’ll get treated the way you treat others, girly~! Try to understand that!”
She followed my silhouette down the stairs while biting her lip from anger, but she then simply sighed and turned around to go back to class. The moment she entered, she felt a vein bulge on her forehead after seeing the dirty blackboard, stamping her foot annoyed.
“Ah. Class rep, you’re still here?”
“Alice… why are you still in class?”
Alice entered the class with a little red bucket filled with clean water and a sponge. The class rep turned at her confused and frowned after seeing the bucket,
“To clean the blackboard, of course?”
“Why would you do that when is Leon’s turn to do that?”
“He asked me to do it in his place today. He said he’ll do my part when it will be my turn.”
“And why would you trust his words? Are you sure he won’t simply ditch everything on you and forget about it later?”
Alice went down to work and the class rep crossed her arms to her chest, snorting in disbelief and looking at Alice like at some idiot. Hearing her words, Alice stopped for a moment then simply went back to work,
“If it’s really like that, then I must’ve got the wrong impression about him.”
“You already did-“
“However.”
She then turned to the class rep and asked with a serious look in her eyes,
“If I was right about him, then that would make you the one in the wrong, am I right?”
“Wrong? Wrong about what?”
She chuckled mockingly then Alice answered,
“About how you perceive Leon. You think of him as worse than a punk and as a dangerous individual, am I right?”
“I’m sorry to break it to you Alice, but everyone thinks like this about him. He’s nothing more than a delinquent whose only destiny is to work as a Trash Collector-“
“And what’s wrong about that?”
“W- what?”
The class rep looked baffled at Alice’s clean eyes and couldn’t understand what she was thinking,
“I asked, what is so wrong about that? You all think like this about him because you’re unable to understand his hardships. And he already decided to work as a blacksmith, so his future is set. But even then, what is so wrong with Trash Collectors? Is it his fault that his family is a broken one? Or better said; no more? Is it his fault that he struggles with money and has to work day in and out for everything he has?”
“He’s not even taking his studies seriously! He deserves to end up like this-!“
“Are you even hearing yourself?!”
This time it was Alice’s turn to snap, making the class rep take a few steps back as Alice stepped hard in front, a deep frown on her face,
“Were you not listening to a word I was saying?! He works all day the moment he gets back from school! To survive! Do you think his grades are his priority right now?! He strives and fights for himself! He lost everything and now he strives to get back at least a bit of what he had! You all are just negating his effort and are unable to see the bigger picture, just like frogs in a wheel…”
“What did you-“
“Now I understand his words… You truly are just another fish in a fishing pool, unaware of the real-life…”
She shook her head then finished cleaning the blackboard. Afterward, she placed the bucket down then wanted to leave to wash her hands,
“He struggles for his every day, while we take those days for granted. From the two, I guess we have more to learn from him than he from us.”
“…I have nothing to learn from a delinquent like him.”
“Then have a fun time swimming in the pool.”
“Alice, you’re becoming more like him now!”
She shouted at her back and Alice simply waved her hand, not caring about her anymore. Suddenly the class rep asked out from behind,
“Are you so much in love with him? So blindly going after someone with no future?”
Hearing this, Alice turned at first feeling embarrassed, only to calm down then think for a bit. After reaching a conclusion, her eyes lit up as she said absentmindedly,
“In love…? Ah, maybe I am.”
“You didn’t even know that?!”
“Hm~ maybe you’re right. Maybe he’s not the right person to fall for.”
“Then-“
“But I do wish he’s the right person for me to fall for.”
“W-what…?”
Her clear eyes made the class rep be unable to choose between laughing at Alice or getting angry, finding her words extremely idiotic and illogical. However, Alice simply chuckled amused and shook her head as she herself was surprised by her own feelings. She then left the class after taking her backpack, washed her hands then went home with a blissful smile, waiting for the next day.
.
Simon followed behind and as we walked we didn’t say a word to one another. We reached all the way to a back alley beside the school where normally thugs gather to smoke, drink, or do some shady businesses, a few being around right now but I ignored them completely. I would normally come here whenever I had business with someone from school or near it, but this time my business wasn’t meant to be profitable in the slightest. Stopping here, Simon started to feel agitated and asked again,
“So? For what reason you brought me here? You decided to gang up on me or something?”
I ignored him then took off my jacket that was filled with blades and also took off the blades around the shirt’s collar.
“Bring those fists up, Simon. We’ll end this dumb farce today.”
“W-wait, what entered you out of a sudden?”
Seeing my sharp and serious eyes, Simon was momentarily taken aback by the sudden reaction. He looked around and saw the other delinquents glancing amused at us, expecting some action. I looked calmly yet sharply at him and explained,
“Because of you and your dumb fan club, Alice is being harassed in school. If it was before, I wouldn’t have given a f*** about it, but I’d rather not turn a blind eye to the first person who showed me a smile after a whole f****** year, you get me?”
“Y-you’re like this for Alice?! So you do love her!”
“Love or not, she is slowly turning into someone I’d rather not have harassed where I can see, understood?”
“And what do you want to do?”
“Let’s make a bet. We fight here and now, with no gloves or anything dumb like that. We’ll use the rules from our Karate Dojo: Full-body contact with the head being off-limits, we’d rather not have our teacher question us. The first to land a knock-out or make the other surrender, wins.”
“… And what are we betting for?”
“The loser will have to keep their distance from Alice from now on. Because you followed Alice like an idiot all day, your little fan club started harassing her. Now was a slap, later I’d see something worse, and I don’t wish to see her go through the same s*** I did.”
“W-what do you mean… Alice is being harassed?!”
I scoffed amused at his baffled expression then took a combat-ready stance,
“I see you’re the same, not even aware of the ones around you. Good luck surviving in this world with such a narrow mentality and point of view, dumbass.”
“Hmph! Stop talking like you’re all that! Come!”
He took his jacket off as well then threw his bag aside. We were standing one in front of the other, then Simon quickly rushed forward, landing a high kick to my guard.
“I just said not to the head…”
“Oh my~, my bad.”
I said with an annoyed smile and Simon faked an apology while smiling with superiority.
No rules? Fine then.
I then kicked high as well, but Simon simply stepped back. Even so, what I kicked was also a bit of dust from the ground, making for a bit of sand to enter his eyes. He quickly retreated and I followed suit, rushing a fist to his face.
“Guh!”
He managed to block, but the weight of my punch alone made him retreat another five meters, looking baffled at me and then at his trembling hand.
W-what was that power?! I remember I was the stronger one, now how come he’s stronger?
“Did you not eat, Simon? Since when were you so light?”
I smiled mockingly and he became more enraged. My eyes were sharp while my cynical smile made him understand that I was just toying with him.
If you seriously think I was fighting for real all those times, then you’re severely mistaken, Simon. This time someone else it’s going through some s*** because of you, and I won’t hold back, idiot.
The pressure he felt was incomparable to when we were sparring at the dojo, making him take another step back instinctively, only to look at me furiously. He rushed back for exchanging more strikes, trying to get the advantage of speed rather than strength.
“Don’t even think you’ll best me, f*****! I always won against you!”
He then struck my leg with a kick, punched my guard, and wanted to break through it. Struck my stomach multiple times, going at me with everything he could, the delinquents around making for a loud crowd as we continued on fighting against one another.
“I just don’t get it! Why is a bastard like you winning her attention?! You only sleep or scribble something all day in class, you barely pass your exams and all the teachers find you as a liability! Just what the F*** do you have and I don’t?!”
“Pfft, you actually have spies in my class? More fans I guess.”
He shot out strike after strike, forcing me to either take them on or barely block them. His fists and kicks became fiercer and fiercer until I got tired of his bitchering,
“Alright, enough.”
“Agh!”
Between his strikes I suddenly found an opening, reaching out and grabbing him by the jaw. I stared at him sharply and slowly raised him, his body trembling at the sight of my burning glare.
“I don’t know, nor do I care why that girly is after my tail. But, what I have and you don’t? Let me answer you now.”
I pulled him then tripped his leg and pushed him head-first to the floor with a fierce glare that made him pale in the face,
“That’s willpower! You f*****!”
-POW!-
“Gah!”
-WOAH~!-
After I slammed him to the ground, he completely lost consciousness and I got up while breathing heavily, spitting some saliva with blood from the cuts I had in my mouth. The crowd exclaimed excitedly after watching the show, both boys and girls grinning from ear to ear. However, nobody dared to come and congratulate me, everyone knowing about the danger of getting closer to me. Although it was just a rumor, they knew better than most others how fearsome gangsters can be.
“Unlike your p****-ass, I was hardened by the misfortunes and crap I went through. There’s no f****** way I would lose to some punk who trained all safe and sound with someone to supervise him all day long, you little s***.”
After that I went and equipped my jacket, took my bag, then left the area for a bit, the other delinquents leaving Simon there as they knew who he is, not daring to take his stuff either.
.
“Ugh!”
Simon then woke up and quickly got up, only to feel nauseous, throbbing pain from the back of his head forcing him to move slowly. After he verified his injury at the back of his head, he felt something wet, only to see that blood was sweeping out, his face turning white at the sight of blood.
“Morning, sleeping beauty.”
“?!”
Looking in the direction from where the voice resounded, he saw me sitting down while drinking from a can of soda with the usual indifferent eyes on.
“You crazy bastard! You broke my head! Were you trying to kill me?!”
“Oh come on, you grazed the skin of your head and you call it being broken. Grow a pair, would you? Do you want to see some serious injuries? Lookie here.”
I then raised my hair from the side where a long scar that spammed around 4cm horizontally appeared between the hairs, making Simon shut his mouth in shock.
“Quite a beauty, don’t you say? I got it after I trained with a broken sharpened sword. My uncle screwed around with more crafting methods for swords and he detached the blade to one of my training swords when I wasn’t around. After I started training, the blade detached right above my head and struck me in full. Had it stitched up for a while, but the blood was falling like from a faucet. I think it was the first time I felt anemic in my life.”
“W-what…“
“After I told him, that m*********** just picked at his nose and said oops as if it had nothing to do with him… I swear, sometimes he’s just so…”
A vein pulsated on my forehead as I reminisced annoyed, massaging my temples while Simon looked at me frozen, wondering just what kind of uncle should one have to be so indifferent and… dangerous.
Not wanting to get angry for no reason, I simply sighed then threw to him his favorite can of soda and pointed at him while raising my eyebrows,
“Don’t forget. You lost, now you and your mob of fans should leave her alone from now on.”
“… Alright. And I don’t need this.”
“Stop being such a sore loser, would you? No refunds. Now grow up and just accept it as a defeat.”
“…”
Simon looked at his favorite soda and at me who was drinking without a care, then just sighed as he started drinking as well. He sat opposite to me beside the wall and we continued to drink in silence, until,
“Oy, Leon.”
“Hm?”
“Just when did you grow so much?”
“Grow? In what way?”
“Every way…”
“Hmm… When yall have been turning your backs on me and I became ignored, I guess.”
“… You know we did that because we were afraid for our lives, right?”
“I know, that’s why I’m not blaming anyone.”
“Y-you’re not?”
Simon looked surprised at me but I continued without care,
“Nah. After a while, I simply didn’t care if I was alone anymore. Being able to create something I like was more than enough for me. And still is.”
“… Sigh, you’ve become so… mature? Leon… will you forgive me, maybe?”
“I forgave-“
“Then-“
“-but did not forget.”
“…”
“Did not forget any of you. Not out of spite, but out of awareness. To not make a second mistake of befriending someone who would just leave me again.”
After our eyes met his hopeful eyes paled once again, in my eyes reading distrust and coldness, as if staring with no feelings at a stranger.
I got up and left the place after finishing my soda, throwing just a few words behind to Simon,
“I forgive you all, so I wish you all happiness. But I did not forget, so I don’t want to have anything to do with none of your happy times. We can be acquaintances, but never friends.”
Afterward, I just left home, work waiting for me like every other day. On the other hand, Simon remained behind, looking absentmindedly at the spot I was seating before, then at his soda, taking another sip.
“It tastes bitter… I don’t think I’ll drink this ever again.”
He sighed with a feeling of defeat then looked at the cloudy sky, his mind in turmoil.
