Kai was walking up the stairs, looking at the black face of his golden rim watch. He could see that he still had a few hours until the match. All Westbridge students had been invited to watch their school’s Rugby team compete against Eton High’s and for certain reasons the high schooler wanted to make it back before it would start.

The reason why Kai had to worry about time was because at this very moment, even though it was a school day, he was at a different school. What’s more, he had just opened the door leading to the rooftop, where he found a lone figure.

“I was told you would be here.” Kai spoke up. “A smoker, eh? If you treasure your body you should drop it. In a couple of years, you’ll start to feel the difference. It’s up to you, the gangs sure as hell will enjoy squeezing the money off of you.”

The student took another puff from his cigarette, before throwing it on the floor stepping on it. He then turned around, looking directly at Kai while making sure his hair was still kept up in the perfect shape.

“People from other schools usually only come here because they want a fight.” Austin stated. “However, the last person I hit saved my arse, so I’ve decided to take it easy from now on. Since you haven’t outright attacked me or challenged me in a flashy manner, I’ll take it, you want something else from me?”

Hearing this Kai smiled and threw out a business card. It cut through the air easily, and Austin was able to catch it.

“A green little birdy told me about your fight against a certain school invader. Apparently, you actually managed to hurt that oversized pig monster, which means you're strong.” Kai said. “Let me ask you something. What do you plan to do once you graduate?”

“You might feel on top of the world right now, being in charge of all these kids, but that will change once you get out. I looked into you and judging from your current grades they’re barely enough to let you pass, meaning you’ll struggle to find a good job, and your so-called ‘friends’ that might stick with you these days, well, they’ll have no reason to stay by your side.”

“Your fighting skills are good… for the average teenager. If you plan to join a gang, you will quickly find out that out there on the streets, where people fight every single day, best case scenario your skills might allow you to be a team leader. You might not be at the bottom of the barrel, but you’ll be far from the top.”

“However, if you want a better future, come to the place on that card in a couple of days. If nothing else, I can at least guarantee that you will end up seeing something very interesting.”

Austin looked at the card and could see an address written on it. When he looked up he could see Kai was already about to leave.

“That’s it? You’ve come here to give me a lecture and a salesman pitch?!” Austin shouted.

“Yup, but the lecture was on the house. Now if you’ll excuse me, I got a game to watch.” Kai replied without turning around, shutting the door behind him.

——

It was about time for the match to start.

All the players that would be fielded today were currently in the locker room, yet Blake, Gary and Gil were the only regulars. The rest were those who had usually done nothing but warmed the bench. All of the benchwarmers were nervous since this was a last minute change due to unforeseen circumstances.

“My bones are too fragile for this crap! If any of those guys tackle me, I'm going to be killed.” Tom whined, his legs actually shaking. “Shit, I was just in the hospital. If I go there again, my parents will probably make me drop out and start homeschooling me!”

“Just pass the ball to me every time you get it, alright? You can let me handle all that stuff.” Gary tried to encourage his best friend.

Mr Root looked at the players at his disposal and couldn't stop shaking his head. Today would possibly be his last day as Westbdridge’s coach. Knowing this he placed his hands on the shoulders of his most promising players.

“Blake, Gary, I’ll be counting on the both of you. Get out there and win this for our school! If you manage to do that, I’ll treat you to an all-you-can-eat buffet!” Mr Root promised earnestly.

“You mean it, Coach? You’ll pay for all of us?” A large but unathletic student asked with large eyes, suddenly having found some motivation to give it his best.

‘I actually meant just these two, but I guess that would be seen as favoritism. … Oh what the hell. These kids need some encouragement and if it saves my job, it’s a cheap price to pay!’

“Sure!” Mr Root answered after a slight moment of hesitation, giving them all a thumbs up.

“NOW GET OUT THERE, AND SCORE SOME POINTS TO EARN YOUR MEAL!” Mr Root reverted to his usual tone.

——

Outside, the stands were filling up. It was a home match for Westbridge so Eton High was the one coming to their school. Their buses had arrived and the supporters as well as the members started to come out and walked towards the field and stands.

Nearly all of the supporters were students and the Westbridge students noticed that they all looked a bit rough around the edges. Glances from the other side caused the students to quickly look away.

“Kill them! Make sure you break their legs!” Innu screamed from the stands, standing up at the very back. Everyone turned around, yet for some reason, Innu’s words gave them confidence to shout and cheer for their team.

“Hey, do you mind if I sit here?” A voice asked him suddenly. When Innu turned to look at the person, he noticed that a beauty had approached him, someone he recognised from his class.

“You're… Xin, right? You sure you wouldn’t rather sit with the girls from our class?” He asked, getting all red faced. Xin looked at the girls, who were surrounding and praising Tiffany.

“I’ve actually only transferred here myself, so I’m still a bit of a loner. If it’s a problem or you’re reserving that seat for someone else, I can just look for another.”

Innu quickly shook his head and patted the seat next to him, clearing off the dust and then gestured for the girl to take the seat.

——

Not far off in the stands, some of the parents had also come to watch the match. Today the seats were emptier than usual, after all most of the regulars weren’t going to be playing today. Nevertheless, several mothers had turned up because there was a rumour that a certain someone would arrive.

As it turned out, that rumour was true. A tall muscular handsome man who looked to be in his early thirties had appeared. He had a clean shaved beard and short hair giving him the appearance of a top class actor.

Of course, this person wasn’t oblivious to the stares and gave his fans a friendly wave back to them.

“He is so dreamy!” Tiffany squealed a little bit.

“It looks like Blake gets his good looks from his dad.” One of her drones added.

——

Finally, it was time for the teams to face each other. The ones walking at the front were Blake and Gil as they were the most senior members. The captain of the Rugby club walked confidently, yet his partner seemed to be somewhat lost.

Facing them was the team from Eton High, led by the twins Sren and Leng. As they saw who they would be facing, everyone on their side broke out in laughter.

Although most of the Westbridge team looked scared, there were two members who were more determined than ever. Getting into the centre of the field, the group started to practice a little, and soon the game would start.

“Gary.” Tom whispered to his best friend. “Don’t try... too hard, ok.”

Gary, looked back, and gave a thumbs up, he looked into the crowd and could suddenly see Xin and Innu sitting next to each other and the next moment he could feel something burn inside of him.

‘Sorry, Tom….I might have to try a little hard.’ Gary thought to himself.

——

What Gary didn’t know was that not too far away looking at the field from behind some trees, was a single large teenage boy.

‘We don’t have long.... I’ll be waiting for you...’ Billy thought, licking his lips.

*****

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