“Ugh… what a headache…”

This pain is going to kill me! It was monday. Meaning the day after sunday. Meaning the day after encountering those bastards. I don’t feel like getting out of bed…

‘Oh wait! It’s monday! Today is the training lesson I should get at that dojo. Can’t miss that, right?’

That wasn’t my reason and I knew it. My bad habit of being too early is just making me go… why was I cursed with an extreme way of a good trait?

While preparing myself for school, the event of yesterday went through my mind. That boss, these lines and the slowed down time… this was definitely not normal. And I’m a hundred percent sure that wasn’t made up. Even if the lines and the slowed down time was, the strength couldn’t be fake. One punch and I was already flying towards the wall? Is this a movie set? Because if so, I’d like to speak with the director!

“Damn! Every part of my body is aching…”

I pushed myself to get to school. Why does my body hurt so much? Oh yeah! I pushed myself against an inhuman man! I should remind myself to not repeat this unless necessary. Putting some sports wear along with my stuff, I left the apartment and made my way to my school.

Now that I’m walking through the streets again, seeing more details in them was very satisfying! Haah! Being alive sure is awesome! And this enjoyment went on until I arrived at 7.40 AM. Perfect!

I took out my phone to play a gacha game while waiting for my best friend to arrive. I play this usually just for fun and I still have to finish my daily missions. And right on time, after ten minutes did I spot a blonde tall boy out of the corner of my eye. When he saw me, he had a kind of worried look on his face. But only for a moment, making me miss this detail totally.

“Good morning, Game addict. How is the new character?”

“She is as fine as your stupid ass after I beat it in a one vs one battle!”

“Chill your salty ass, dude…”

I turned off my phone and looked at Felix who had a wry smile on his face while he went towards his seat. But that feeling and his eyes… Something doesn’t seem right. I grabbed the wrist of Felix , who looked at me surprised now, and looked into his eyes.

“...dude I don’t swing that wa…”

"You good?"

“Huh?”

“I said if you are okay? You look very worried to me.”

“...I’m not”

Felix shook his head while denying my statement. But I know my best friend very well. And his eyes screamed of worry.

“Don’t lie to me. I can tell something is worrying you. So tell this grandmaster about it! Who knows? Maybe I can be of help?”

Felix looked at me stunned. His face was already screaming ‘Can you read me that much?’ and yes, I can. I could do this since last year but never said it. It’s not easy to be able to understand Felix with just his face because he is very good at lying or deceiving. He could tell you he had his heart broken while crying when this wasn’t true at all. Even I struggle to understand if he is hiding his feelings or not.

But this time, it was like an open book when compared to the other times. Like his worry was so much that he couldn’t hide it. It was like trying to hide yourself behind a road sign.you may think you hid behind it but I can see your outline clearly.

Felix sat down after I let go of his wrist. He sighed visibly before looking towards me. I rested my head on my head , ignoring the pain I felt from my fight, giving Felix a slight smirk. Seeing this Felix sighed even louder before opening up his mind to me.

“... you see… since the national high school league is starting next month, my coach said that we all have to train extra time from now on. Even going to the mountains for altitude training before the matches… and I feel like I would have even less time now.”

"Is that why you have a worried face?"

"I just thought that I didn't want to make my best friend cry me a river here."

"Screw yourself!"

"Hahahahaha!"

Our usual type of conversation went on for ten minutes. Our conversations were usually half normal talk and half dissing the other one. But this was good. We were already used to diss each other since 7th grade. And continuing like this now felt like a tradition that shall never be broken. Never!

School started like usual but one thing I noticed that wasn't normal was that Gina looked at my table from time to time. No one noticed that the school's most beautiful girl was looking towards the desk where the school's most hated person sat. This is truly a mystery to me now. Since these guys in the classroom always love to gossip. And no gossip is better than the most loved and most hated person to interact with.

Oh how amazing those exaggerated stories would be! ‘ I heard that someone saw them arguing because of Felix. Our goddess always fights for a good cause. ’, ‘ I heard that someone saw that leech begging our goddess to let him lick her feet. Disgusting! ‘ and ‘ I heard that she beat that leech up because he dared to go through her bag searching for panties. What a creep! ‘ are my top three of stories I’d expect to hear.

But jokes on you! I rescued your goddess and even got thanked! Now kneel in front of me, you lowly mortals and dare say leech one more time! I shall show you what it means to have the highest authority here!

My own world swallowed me while everyone else was focusing on the Lesson that went by fast. Although most would despair at the thought of studying so much, I was relatively chilled. I mean I already know this stuff. And after that torture session from my father, I’d rather have a break from math and physics. Really… gives me the chills everytime I have to think about it.

Last lesson! And it's P.E.!... yeah… you can tell I’m not that into P.E. like others. And it was obvious. I mean look at me! I’m like a stick! If it wasn’t for my height, I’m pretty sure I’d be bullied even more! Looks are never an excuse to bully but having an extra excuse makes them only feel better about themselves. Hypocrites!

But to be honest, I should start to train my body as well. I mean yesterday was the perfect wake up call and seeing how sprinting for 15 minutes made me more tired and deflecting knife attacks, I knew that I had to start now.

I’d be happy to ditch it now but be sure that the run around the track field was mandatory! But since we didn’t have that much of a P.E. in our last year, the teacher let us do what we wanted. And the boys’ go to activity was football. Kicking the ball with your feet so hard that the goal net may break was their ultimate goal and nothing could stop them. Even the girls wanted to join and no one refused since there were some girls that could play better than some boys as well. Everyone gathered to form teams to play football.

Everyone except me of course. I was sitting on a bench on the side of the field. With a notebook and a pen , I started to read a book. Taking out my phone to play games was not allowed. So… books.

Felix went up to me and offered to play a bit even if as a defence where they had enough people but I still rejected him saying that with my 0 stamina I'd be able to do literally nothing. And I also had to finish this book. It was very interesting. It was about a boy trying to fight for his country after the first world war, participating in the independence war of his country. Great book! I could only recommend it.

"Hehe… Can't even move that big body of his that well."

"I feel slightly sorry for Felix. His best buddy never does stuff with him."

" I don't even think that Laith sees him as a best friend but more of a convenient tool. I mean he’d be know throughout the school with a good reputation if it wasn’t for ‘that’."

I could hear the gossip of the others as I went to sit on the bench reading the book in my hand. My body was aching so don’t say jack shit about me! And the feeling of paper across your fingertips is kinda addicting. Try it out! Maybe it will help with your loose mouth.

But do I care about their hurtful words and their mean behaviour towards me? Maybe? But I shouldn’t care right now. That’s right! I’ll change from now on! And now that I think about it, this was all thanks to a shitty dream. So thanks, youshit of a dream!

I stood up and went to my bag, my back showing towards the field. The game was as exciting as it could get but I don’t understand that much about football so I could only hear the excitement from the others as they played.

“Pass! Pass over here!”

One guy was around my area , shouting to get the ball. The ball flew through the air towards the boy. He moved quickly with his feet. Bypassing the first and the second defender. But when the third arrived , he had a lot of problems. He looked towards my direction and smirked for a moment. The defender understood what he ment and they played along. The attacker hits the ball.

And it flew. With a heck lot of speed at that! And it’s aim was towards my head. But now how do I know he aimed for my head? Well…

‘WHAT!? Why had time … and these lines… don’t tell me’

Without even thinking about it, I moved my head to the side, dodging this ball sized bullet. Grazing my cheeks slightly , I was relieved. This almost hit me! And who is that Motherfu…

“HEY JAMES! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?”

But before I ,the victim, could get even the a of anger out of me, someone already jumped towards the ‘offender’. When I heard that voice, I turned around immediately , dropping the water bottle in my hand. If I knew one thing, then that is that I’ll save another life today.

“Hey! Stop pushing me Felix! Who do you think you are?”

“Who do you think you are? Huh? Why do you gotta shoot directly towards him?”

“That was an accident, couldn’t you see? Got a problem with that?”

“An accident my ass! Why don’t you say your problem towards someone’s face instead of trying to sneak attack them!”

A fight was about to break out and I could already smell the result. And this wasn’t good… where the fuck is the teache… oh right… smoke break… gotta handle this myself then.

I rushed towards them; hoping that neither Felix nor James were going to start fighting with more than just words. We can’t have a fist fight here now. My reputation was already shit but I don’t want my best friend getting dragged down here. I may be his best friend but not his only friend. And it should stay like that.

I was now only one step away when james pulled his fist back and threw it forward. Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!

POW

“Laith!”

Shit… that punch hit right on my jaw. But thank god I made it… I staggered back a bit when I received the punch, making everyone’s eyes widen. They all now understood that the situation was escalating and now everyone was coming here. Felix was supporting me while glaring at James, who didn’t understand that he hit the wrong person. He aimed for Felix who should be able to take a punch like that yet the weakling came to tank it.

“You okay?”

“Haaa…. Never been better… But that bitchslap nearly killed me!”

“Stay out of this, lee…”

“Shut it, fucker! This was something between you and me apparently so if you are going to hit someone, then that’s me.”

“Laith, stop it! I can handle this myse…”

“You shut up too! I said this to him and to you too. It’s something between me and him. Now… I know you fuckers hate my guts already and I don’t give a shit about that to be honest. But don’t try to fight me.”

“Uh Huh… so it seems that the little fucker finally started to walk by himself? Where you get that confidence from? Sucked enough from Felix no- ARGH!”

I hit him right at the same place I got hit, interrupting him while he was talking. Mildly rude but I shouldn’t wait and pay the debt now.

“That‘s payback for the hit earlier. Know your limits, dumbass. Or you will regret it.”

I don’t care anymore about these fuckers. I had better things to do. So when the final bell rang, I packed my stuff immediately and made my way towards the sports centre, ignoring everyone’s look of shock towards me. What are you glaring at? First time seeing someone hit someone’s face?

I never thought at that moment that their look of shock came from the fact that I should be physically weak as heck. How can someone with so thin arms hit a well built boy that hard?

On my way I noticed that I wasn’t the only one going there as students from my school were going there as well. But that didn’t piqued my interest that much. My mood was already bad because of James' hit.

‘...’

Fucker.

Upon arriving, I had to find the instructor first to talk with him about the lesson. I found a man built like a bodybuilder in his late 30s right before the entrance. He wore clothes that looked like those you’d wear in a dojo with a black belt that had golden embroidery on it. He let out this dangerous feeling about himself. But to be honest, I'd rather take on him than these shitty beasts.

"Excuse me but are you mr. Frank, the Martial arts instructor? I'm here because I applied online for martial arts courses."

"Oh are you Laith by any chance? Sorry to break it to you but there is one more applicant that wants to join and because this group is limited and is aiming for tournaments we need to decide which one of you we need to take in."

I had a quite distressed look on my face after hearing this. This was caused not only by the news but by the look the instructor gave me. He was roughly a bit taller than me and looked at me like I was a piece of garbage found commonly on the streets. His tone of voice was rather cold. So a VVIP of a student came? Bastards dare to get through the back door, eh?

"So what am I supposed to do?"

At this point Frank had a smirk on his face while answering my question. This can only end bad.

"Easy. You two will spar and depending on who has more talent or is better for us will be chosen. I’m sorry but our interest lies in tournaments."

You don’t look sorry in the slightest!

The instructor obviously knew who would win as the other applicant is someone with a red belt meaning they were far superior than someone like me who looks like he never trained in his life which was true. The other guy was also from a family that owned many companies, making having connections with him more profitable.

When the instructor let me in the room after I went to change my clothes, I was first amazed by how big the room actually is. It was a rather big room that had tatami mats in red and black colour. On one side of the walls were mirrors that were as clean as they could be reflecting the light perfectly. On the other side, a holder for weapons which held multiple wooden weapons such as wooden staffs, knives and swords.

In the centre of the room sat one boy who looked the same age as me. He sat in a rather carefree manner with his dark orange undercut hairstyle. He wore the same kind of clothing as Mr. Frank with a red belt around his waist. On the sides of the room in front of the walls sat other people in the same clothing with different coloured belts.

Among those students sat a girl with dirty blonde hair and shining blue eyes with an indifferent expression. Gina was surprised when she saw me with my normal sportswear. She thought that this boy wouldn't move at all outside his home from the rumours she heard about him which never created a good picture.

'Gina! Alright I can’t embarrass myself here! But… that boy is a red belt which should be just before black belt… maybe it is not that early to give up? ”

When I was about to turn around and ask mr. Frank, if I could maybe pass this time, I saw a massive grin on his face that made me hesitate. What’s that smile on your face! No… calm down. I shouldn’t wait but act. Getting into an unnecessary losing fight is stupid. I went to mr. Frank so I could ask my question but the answer I heard was not the one I wished for but the one I expected.

"No no no no. We don't know if you are going to get chosen or if Mr. Peltro over there will. We need to see you both in action. Since I will choose depending on talent and not current ability." Said Mr. Frank with a wide grin. Obviously , he already knew who he would pick.

‘Haha! Losers like you will only be stepped on! So be a good boy and let mr. Paltro beat you up.’

I call this BULLSHIT!! What ‘need to see you both in action’ when you have this massive grin! I’m fucked… well let’s just hope for the best and embarrass myself not that fast…

I looked at everyone around me who were gossiping. Taking off my shoes and stepping on the mat, I walked towards the centre with heavy steps. Please let there be lines! I beg of you!

"Ah, finally! We’re gonna see a good show!"

"Isn't it mean to make someone fight an experienced fighter for the first time?"

"It's Walter Peltro who is gonna fight the leech there so a show is definitely about to happen. Oh I just can't wait"

“Leech?”

“Oh! At our school, that boy is very infamous. He apparently…”

Gugh! Veins bulge on my forehead visibly , hearing them gossiping about me. Even hearing the word ‘leech’ was making me remember a certain fucker from before.

I looked around myself for the moment. Everyone besides Gina looked like hungry hyenas wanting to see me beat up. Only Gina had the look of indifference but I could tell that she knit her brows slightly which made me happy honestly. Not because I’m an extreme simp for her and yes, I accept that. But because she is the only one here who doesn’t want to see my body flattened to the ground.

"Are you some kind of masochist that likes to get beat up or why are you smiling like an idiot?"

Oh… did I smile unconsciously again? I should stop that! But… hehehe… Gina, please be kind to me here as well. Ah! No not now! I looked at the boy with dark orange hair who just spoke now. His voice vibrated through the room. Shutting up everyone that was still gossiping about me.

"No, I'm not a masochist. And I believe there has been a mistake here.See, I didn't want to get beat up here. I just wanted to learn how to fi…"

"Hey Frank! State the rules already while you can! I want this to be over as soon as possible. I have better things to do than to fight a stickman." Said Walter as he winked towards a beautiful girl with dirty blonde hair. The girl who was obviously Gina gave an indifferent look back at him but that made Walter not fall back in the slightest.

"Yes of course Mr. Peltro." Said Mr. Frank while bowing slightly.

"The rules are simple. You are not allowed to kill , heavily injure the other person to get intensive care and admitting defeat won't be allowed. We don't want crybabies here. We want people that fight till the end. Anything else is allowed."

‘Uuuhhh ‘killing is not allowed’ my ass. Why is that even a rule! That was illegal from the beginning.’

My thoughts were stirred up because of the idiocy of mr. Frank’s so-called rules. But then I calmed down. Thinking about his last statement woke me up again.

'People that fight till the end , huh… that’s right. If I want to beat these monsters then I have to be able to beat some 18 year old punk. I won't be able to gain power over night but with progression. No pain no gain!'

The moment my thoughts stopped there I calmed myself down. Almost instinctively. Only when my eyes opened again did my mind go wild, thinking of beating my opponent there. Provocation can backfire and anything else to make him careless doesn’t come to my mind. My only help would be the golden threads but can I put my all on them?

"If you want, you can use any weapon. Not like you're gonna beat me who is of the great Peltro family."

Ah! Of course! A weapon. I need to keep my range if he won’t take a weapon. A long wooden staff is what I choose from the weapon holder. I had to think about how I would take him down. But before a true plan could even form itself, mr. Frank started to talk again.

"Alright! Seems to me like you two are ready so begin!"

The moment mr. Frank said that, Walter dashed towards me like he wanted to shred me apart.

I took the staff which was 1.5 metres long. I held it with both hands in a stand that felt the most natural to me. It was a basic staff form. Holding this staff made me feel weird. Like the thought that this staff wasn’t finished and only half done. Why do I feel like that? But not now! This asshole is coming at me!

Walter was about to crash into me when he stopped right in his run. It was impressive how someone could stop from that speed without losing balance. Lifting his left leg high aiming for the side of my head, he swung his leg for a kick. I lifted the stick up to block the kick but that was a feint as Walter lowered his left kick to hit me in the stomach.

‘Shit! No lines! No time slowing down! I’m really screwed!’

I fell back while holding my stomach with a pained expression. His kick felt like a 10kg heavy object crashed right at my stomach with the speed of a flying football. This made me remember todays prior event. Getting angry out of nowhere, my eyes stared at this boy in front of me with pure hate. I didn’t know why but I hated his guts already!

‘No… now is not the time! Get yourself together.'

But before I could even lift myself up properly, the left side of my head met the spinning right kick of Walter which threw me to the ground.

I lost the grip on the staff as it felt like my brain was spinning round and around. My balance was broken, my mind was spinning and my head and stomach hurt like shit. Wait… where is the protective gear to begin with! Was this planned as well? You motherfucker!

I jumped back up and took the staff again. This time I held the end of it with my right hand with a very tight grip. The other end was pointing towards my sides, laying on the ground. Lowering my centre of gravity with the slight bent of my knees, I looked towards Walter who now was annoyed that such a pest was coming back! Garbage should stay in the trash can if they were already put there!

‘I'll hit you at least once hard enough! That’s enough for me!'

When Walter came again and threw a punch with his right, I dodged backwards. Walter followed up with a forward kick but the next thing shocked everyone.

My instincts kicked in. I turned sideways and didn't stop as I spun around once with the end of the stick in my hand. Lowering my waist and positioning myself after the spin so well that my last swing of the arms made the hit with the staff on Walters side especially satisfying.

“HA!”

BAM

“URGH!”

‘Yes! I hit him hard! What do you say about that!’

I made a pretty good hit on Walter as the latter got pushed to the side a bit. But this wasn't enough to knock him out. This made only Walter angrier.

Walter pulled the stick pulling me along with it. He used his free arm to hit me in the stomach again. This made me lose all the air in my lungs. Shit! I can’t breathe! But Walter wasn't finished as he put his hand on my face and threw me to the ground. He pulled my face up and down again and again, smashing it to the ground. Hey instructor! What was that about no heavy injuries?

"I think that's enough. If you do any more he'd need intensive care which makes you disqualified."

Gina stood besides Walter holding the hand that was gripping my face as intense as it could get. I could almost feel my skull breaking! Please stop! Only when he released his grip could I open my eyes and see Gina with an uninterested expression. This didn't escape my eyes as I first thought that she came to help me out of concern but…

'So she lost interest in me already? Or did she even have any interest in me to begin with?'

It's funny how my priority was Gina's actions and reactions rather than me almost getting a concussion.

"Hehem! The winner of this fight is Walter Paltro!" Announced Mr. Frank while the rest of the group went to congratulate him. No one else wants to help the injured.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes… I’m… fine…”

I could only lie to Gina now. I didn’t even feel like admiring her at the moment. Today was a very bad day for me all together.

I slowly walked back to the door with small , heavy steps. Mr. Frank did not even look at me when he went to the group that was celebrating Walter’s win. I got to the reception to ask for some bandages with the excuse of falling down the stairs and put them on my slight wound on the side of my head. Shit… I left the sports centre almost crying. With a bandage on my head and pain in my stomach area, I made my way back home.

This group of psycho martial arts students not only knocked out a teenager who knew nothing about fighting but also made him almost cry out loud. And to top this all off they were happy with it. Like they were celebrating a birthday.

This was just unfair to begin with.