When the class ended, I immediately ran as fast as I could away from the room to avoid my three bullies just like usual.

“I need to come up with my answer soon,” I thought to myself as I run while hugging the wooden board of chess we’ll use to play for the day. Then, when I reached the residential area, I saw five familiar guys entering an alley.

“Isn’t that...Van?” I muttered with a surprised look.

He got caught by his bullies again. I got to do something!

With that resolve, I ran towards the alley but instantly stopped on my tracks after realizing something.

What can I even do if I go there alone? We’re outnumbered! If I charged there without thinking, we will only lose for sure!

Then, I remembered Rosa and Neko.

That’s right. If it’s with them, I’m sure we can do anything!

Finally arriving at a conclusion, I threw my bag and chessboard on the ground and ran towards the playground.

Van is more important! As long as I get Rosa and Neko faster, I don’t care about my belongings!

Reaching the playground faster than I expected, I immediately called the two sitting on the swing while waiting.

“Rosa! Neko!...*pant*...*pant*...” I shouted, breathing heavily out of exhaustion. Seeing me like that, they immediately approached me.

“Prince? What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Rosa asked in a worried tone.

“Van...*pant*...got caught by Johnson’s group again...*pant*...”

“What?” Rosa reacted in surprise. Then, she made a serious face and continued, “Let’s go. Can you still lead the way?”

“Yeah. That’s why I’m here,” I said with my eyes, still full of vigor.

After that, I guided them to the alley and immediately found the gang.

“Van!” Rosa shouted with furrowed eyebrows. “You fine there?”

Seeing us, Van immediately made a relieved smile and answered, “I’m fine.”

“Hey,” Rosa said with an intimidating glare and stepped forward. “Van is a friend of us so don’t you f*cking lay a finger on him.”

“Huh?” Johnson reacted in irritation and started walking towards Rosa. “You think you can scare us with your cursing?”

What should we do? Even though we have Rosa and Neko now, our opponents are still guys. I have to think of something.

“Stay back!” Van suddenly shouted loudly, making everyone stop. He then faced Johnson and yelled, “I will be your opponent!”

Van...

“Oh~” Johnson muttered with an amused expression and went before Van with an intimidating glare. “Van the Fruitcake wants us to face him instead?”

“And I challenge you one on one. We’ll settle this with our fists,” Van followed, looking straight into Johnson’s eyes without flinching.

“Van!” Rosa called with a worried face but I stopped her from taking a step. Surprised from my sudden gesture of hand, Rosa muttered, “Prince?”

“This is Van’s answer. All we have to do is to watch him,” I said with serious eyes as I watch both Van and Johnson’s stare down.

The two of them doesn’t really have that much difference in height. Johnson is just a little taller than Van. They also roughly have the same body build. So in order to win the fight, Van has to beat Johnson in willpower too.

“To think that the day you’ll oppose me will come. I’m very touched, Van,” Johnson mocked with a laugh.

“You think you’re strong? I’m sure your punch can’t even make me fall on my knees,” Van countered, not showing any kinds of fear.

“Then, take this!” Johnson shouted with an evil smile and punched Van directly on the face.

“Van!” Rosa shouted in shock.

Van...you can do this...

“Is that...all you’ve got?” Van suddenly muttered, enduring the punch on his cheek. His legs were slightly shaking but he didn’t fall on his knees. He looked directly at Johnson’s eyes and the bully unconsciously stepped backward.

“You...withstood that?” Johnson reacted with widened eyes.

Then, Van stepped forward, twisted his hip and punched Johnson’s face, strong enough for the bully to hit the ground with a slam.

“Van...” Rosa whispered, clearly surprised from the strength of Van’s punch.

“He...he did it!” I happily reacted.

“You’re kidding me. Van knocked out Johnson?” one of Johnson’s friend reacted in fear.

“I...I didn’t get knocked out!” Johnson shouted and stood up furiously, his cheek swollen from Van’s punch.

“Huh?” Van muttered after falling on his knees all of a sudden. It looks like his legs gave in.

“I’ll teach you a lesson, you girly weakling!” Johnson yelled angrily and prepared to punch Van once again.

“Haaaaaah!” I screamed and ran toward Johnson. I then tackled him and continued, “I won’t let you!”

“Why you—” Johnson reacted, pulling out his arm because of my sudden charge.

“Prince!” Van called in a surprised yet worried expression.

“I won’t let you hurt Van!” I shouted as I clinched him as hard as I could.

“Get off!” Johnson yelled and elbowed me in the back.

“Gahaa!” I screamed out of pain form the sudden attack.

“Johnson!” Rosa suddenly shouted after closing the distance between us with a sprint. She stood up before us, looking at Johnson with a serious look.

“What are you gonna do? Just try to do something and I’ll punch this kid’s face,” Johnson threatened and grabbed me. With that, I was now the hostage, helpless to the situation.

“Rosa...don’t mind me!” I shouted, trying my best to remove Johnson’s arm.

Hearing that, Rosa gave me a swift wink. Then, she gave Johnson a serious smile and muttered, “Don’t worry. I won’t do a thing. I just want to say three words.”

“Three?” Johnson repeated, confused.

“Last year...party...and tomato,” Rosa continued and made an evil smile.

“That’s!” Johnson exclaimed in shock and let go of me. After that, he made a couple of steps backward with a pale face. “Where did you learn that?”

“Do you want ‘that’ to be brought to life? Not just your friends here. I can spread it throughout your school.”

What is she talking about? She knows a secret of Johnson?

“Hey, Johnson! What are you doing?” one of his friends called, confused about Johnson’s sudden strange behavior.

But Johnson only stood there like a statue.

“You b*tch!” one companion of Johnson said and stepped forward, preparing to punch Rosa. Then, Neko appeared and pushed his fist lightly with a palm, enough for it to lose force and be directed away.

“Wh...what did you do?” the guy reacted in confusion after nearly stumbling.

That movement.... Is that martial arts?

“Move!” another guy shouted and punched Neko. Doing the same thing earlier, Neko just deflected his punch with a push of her palm.

“This masked girl is crazy!” the second one commented in fear.

“You guys!” Johnson suddenly shouted, enough for his three friends to look at him.

“Johnson?” one of his friends muttered.

“This is just ridiculous. Let’s go!” he continued and started walking away.

“Johnson!” the three called and followed him.

Is it...over?

“It’s over,” Rosa said with a smile and placed her hands on her hips.

“Thank goodness...” I sighed out of relief and sat down on the ground. Then, I looked at Rosa as she stood with her back faced to me.

So she once again settled things without using violence. I wonder...if I can do it too.

“Thank you very much, everyone,” Van said with a smile while sitting on the ground too, his cheek swollen from Johnson’s punch.

“So that is your answer...” Rosa muttered with a warm smile while looking at Van.

Van nodded and placed a hand on his swollen cheek.

“Ouch!” he reacted and quickly removed it.

“Dont touch that! It might get infected. Hey, we need to treat Van first,” Rosa said with a sudden worried look.

I stood up and looked at Rosa.

“Let’s take him to my house. We have first aid there,” I suggested with a serious face.

“I see,” Rosa responded with a smile. “Then, let’s go.”

Suddenly, Neko went before me with my dirty bag and my wrecked chessboard.

“Sorry but can you carry that for me, Neko? I’ll help Van get up,” I said with a smile.

As a reply, she nodded.

After that, I helped Van walk by placing his arm on my shoulder while we both advanced. As the two girls lead the way towards my house, Van started talking to me.

“I showed my answer...Prince...” he muttered with a smile and looked at me.

I then looked at him with a slight surprised expression and gave him a smile too.

“You really did. You’re really cool back then.”

“So don’t be afraid no matter what your answer will be. I’m sure that if it’s you...you can do it...just like me. We’re similar after all,” he followed and smiled even brighter.

Van...

“Yeah,” I answered and looked at the orange sky.

I have to change.

The next day, Van didn’t show up in the playground.

“I wonder if Van is just fine...” I muttered in a worried look while the three of us were waiting for him in the seesaw.

“If he didn’t show up tomorrow again, let’s go to his school,” Rosa suggested and both Neko and I nodded.

▲Van’s Point-of-View▲

After the class ended, I immediately went looking for Johnson and the others. Soon enough, I found them at the rooftop of the cafeteria.

“I’m looking for you, Johnson,” I said with a serious look.

His friends became surprised from my arrival and stepped forward.

“What are you doing here, fruitcake? Don’t tell us you want to be beaten that badly?”

“Don’t be full of yourself because of that lucky punch.”

“Lucky punch? Want me to prove here if it’s for real?” I asked with a smirk.

“Why you—”

“Stop,” Johnson said with a glare and went before me. He looked straight into my eyes and continued, “Why are you here?”

I returned his look with a serious one and answered, “I want your help.”

My response made his eyebrow twitched for a second.

“Help?”

“I want to change this school. And I need comrades. So, will you listen to my request?”

Johnson then smirked and replied, “I will never listen to someone weaker than me.”

Just as I expected.

“Then, let’s settle this with a fist fight. This time, no one will interfere.”

Johnson gave me a grin and followed, “Bring it on, Van.”

♛ Prince’s Point-of-View ♛

The next day when Van didn’t show up at the playground, he showed up before us in a different appearance.

“You...cut your hair?” I reacted with widened eyes because of his new look. Instead of the bob cut, it became a faded haircut, waxed to point upward in style.

“It looks great on you though,” Rosa commented with a smile.

“Thanks,” Van replied shyly while smiling. Then he looked at the guys behind him. It was Johnson and his three friends. “Anyway, these guys are now my friends.”

“What?” both Rosa and I reacted in shock. As for Neko, her shoulders twitched out of surprise.

“They’re not forcing you to tell that, aren’t they?” Rosa asked and glared at Johnson. “You know I have your secret, right? Just try anything funny and I’ll spill that to everyone.”

“I know,” Johnson followed with a reflecting smile. “I followed Van because of his determination he showed us yesterday. This guy, he faced us alone and hit us with his ideals. After hearing those, we couldn’t help but to reflect on our actions and be inspired to follow him.”

So Van did that...

“That is why...sorry for the other day!” Johnson said and all four of them bowed down to us.

These guys...

Then, they lifted their heads and Johnson continued in a serious look.

“We’re now reflecting to our actions. We finally realized the cruelty of our actions. We want to change...that’s why we’re with Van now. And we’re serious.”

Then, the other guys nodded.

“That’s right,” Van continued with a serious smile. “I can guarantee that. We also agreed to join hands to stop the concept of bullying in our school.”

“Really?” I asked, still surprised.

“Yeah,” Van nodded. “That’s our cause now...so we can prevent the things similar to what happened to me. I don’t want others to experience that too after all.”

Van...

“That’s why...” he followed and looked down with a hint of sadness. Then, he looked at the three of us with a serious face and said, “I can’t come here as often as usual anymore.”

“That’s...” I reacted, surprised.

“This is the outcome of your answer after all,” Rosa muttered with a sad smile.

Hearing that, Van nodded, showing his conviction.

That’s right...this is Van’s answer. That’s why...I need to support him as a friend.

“But you’ll still...visit here sometimes...right?” I asked, trying my best to not show my worry.

“Of course,” Van answered with a smile. Then, he went before me and drew out his right fist.

Van...

As an answer, I bumped fist with him, both of us smiling at each other.

We don’t need any exchange of words. That alone was enough to convey our message to each other. After all, we’re similar. Or rather...I’ll catch up to him so we could be similar once again.