It was a rainy day, people were walking through the streets of Japan holding umbrellas. Hiroto was no different, he was holding an umbrella himself, covering himself from the rain. He held the umbrella in his left hand and his phone in his right hand. Hiroto was on his phone texting the group chat with all of his friends in it, but no one replied to it, no one except Fuzumi. That was odd for him, usually, it was always Daizen who’d text first or even Alex but no, it was him and Fuzumi. Fuzumi texted “Meet at the gate.” like always but no one else did. He looked at his eye ring as he put his phone back into his pocket and continued to walk.

Hiroto continued to feel strange as he walked toward the school. He began to think about things. Now that the idea of Alex was in his mind, he noticed before he left his house that Alex’s house lights weren’t on. He continued to think, maybe even overthinking as he walked to school. He knew deep down there’d had to be a reasonable explanation for this. No way Alex and Daizen would miss school. After a few minutes, Hiroto would eventually make it to the school gate. He’d look around, looking for his friends like normally.

“Where are they?”

He thought as he continued to look around, holding his umbrella. Eventually, after a few minutes of scanning, he saw Fuzumi with her umbrella. He walked up to her, water splashing from under his shoes. Fuzumi was on her phone, but when she noticed Hiroto she put her phone away in her pocket. They began to speak, Hiroto starting the conversation,

“You haven’t seen Alex or Daizen anywhere?”

Fuzumi shook her head from left to right as she responded.

“Nope, I even tried calling them! Weirdly enough none of them answered!”

“What? No way.”

Hiroto said toward Fuzumi, he then began to think about this weird occurrence. This never happened, Alex and Daizen haven’t missed a school day in forever. It shocked him, was he going to be alone? He never liked having no friends at school, he was already an outcast. Suddenly, he began to think rationally. He shook his head and continued the conversation.

“That’s extremely weird, but there has to be an explainable reason for this-”

Hiroto was then swiftly interrupted by the bell, Fuzumi then turned around walking into the building, while saying one more thing to Hiroto.

“I’m sure they’re just doing something special, they’ll be here, those two never skip school. I’ll see you later. I have to get to class.”

Hiroto stayed quiet, nodding to himself. He sighed once more as he slowly entered the building. He then began to walk through the halls, people all around, walking to their classes or just standing and interacting with each other. Hiroto’s anxiety went through the roof, he always got nervous when he did stuff by himself. He walked through the halls passively looking at the ground while doing so. He heard kids laughing from all around him, in his mind he thought they were laughing at him, he was bullied as a kid and whenever he heard others’ laughter it brought him back to junior high. In reality, no one was focused on him, they could care less but in his mind, he thought differently. He stayed passive looking down at the floor and the eye ring on his right hand.

He felt less confident since Daizen and Alex weren’t here, he always had a good time with them and since middle school, they always have been together. So, it felt weird when he was alone in a big hallway. He continuously bumped into people out of nervousness even though he didn’t want to. The people he bumped into would give him a dirty look or push him away, usually, Hiroto would push back but he felt weak since Daizen wasn’t here to protect him so, he kept walking. He began to think to himself as he sighed.

“I’m such a fucking idiot. Can’t even walk straight or defend myself. Why did I have to depend on them so much? Damit Daizen and Alex, can you come any later?”

He said as he continued trying to get to class. He was trying to avoid bumping into people, but it was almost impossible he bumped into someone again but this time it was someone he knew. Hiroto’s blood went cold. It was Asurīto. Asurīto was a tall basketball player with red hair and a muscular figure. A more modernized American-Japanese student. A little backstory on Asurīto, he bullied Hiroto since middle school and would always bully him into giving him homework. This was before he was friends with Daizen or Alex so he had no one to protect him. Usually, when he was with Daizen, Asurīto would back off since Daizen was the most popular and respected kid in the entire school. Not only that but Daizen could most defeat anyone in the school. So Asurīto backed off.

Asurīto turned around and saw Hiroto and got scared, thinking he was with Daizen and Alex. So, he instantly apologized.

“S-sorry Hirot-”

Asurīto then noticed that Hiroto wasn’t with Daizen or Alex, he smiled thinking it was a lucky day. He could finally get his payback and bully Hiroto. His smile grew into one of evil, he instantly grabbed Hiroto by his collar as he spoke sadistically.

“Lucky me! The nerd is alone, no Daizen or Alex to protect you huh?”

“H-hey, I don’t want any problems.”

Hiroto said nervously, he felt as if he was in middle school again. Getting bullied like he used to, he hated being in a weak position like this. But he was so helpless, he always focused on the rational and not the emotional. This made it hard for him to dial situations down as well as how to read others. He was smart when it came to studies but wasn’t smart when it came to people. He thought these things as Asurīto continued to talk.

“Me either! That’s why you are going to do Mr.Aburaya’s history essay for me! So I won’t have any problems with leaving the team!”

Asurīto then moved his head closer to Hiroto’s ear as he continued threatening him.

“That won’t be a problem, right? Little smartass?”

Hiroto was scared, he was shaking. He was about to crack and give in to his fears. He wasn’t going to stand up for himself just like in old times. He would have, he was just about to say “ok.” But something stopped him. He remembered all of his friends, Alex, Daizen, and Fuzumi. He remembered what they taught him and how they brought up his self-confidence and self-esteem. Alex’s words appeared in his mind and began to repeat, “Hiroto! You are hella smart but weak! But use your smarts to your advantage, don’t let your smarts go waste”. Hiroto’s confidence instantly went up as he remembered Alex’s face. Alex helped him become a better person, he helped him with people as well as Daizen. He tightened his fist as he realized that he was going to back down this time. He thought about what Alex would do in this situation.

Asurīto looked at Hiroto as he sensed something, it was something different. Hiroto would usually always cave in and say yes to whatever he wanted instantly but now he was resisting. So, he questioned him about it.

“What’s the matter, nerd? Can’t hear me? That long hair covering up your ears?”

Hiroto's face then turned into one of confidence and anger. His body was shaking from nervousness, it was all because of what he was about to say. He mustered up the courage to stand up to Asurīto, using his past of being bullied as a way to push him forward.

“How about no you fucking jock!”

Hiroto said loudly as he had a nervous smile on his face.

Asurīto looked at Hiroto like he was crazy, the rage was filling up his body, and this had never happened to him before. He began to violently yell at Hiroto as his grip on Hiroto’s collar got tighter.

“What the fuck did you just say smart ass?!”

Hiroto hesitated to repeat his words for a minute but then he remembered Alex’s and Daizen’s words and said them again more confidently than the last time.

“I said no! You fucking jock bitch!”

Asurīto almost popped a blood vessel, his rage was through the roof. He had never had someone stand up to him. This was a shattering of his reality, he thought he could pick on the weak and get away with it. He had never realized this was possible, for a split second he felt confused but that confusion instantly turned into anger as he yelled at Hiroto.

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY, NERD! DID YOU GET A BACKBONE NOW HUH? WELL, I’ll BREAK IT FOR YOU!”

Asurīto said in hellish rage, as he cocked his fist back and went to throw a punch at Hiroto’s face.

Hiroto saw Asurīto cocking back his fist to punch, he took advantage of Asurīto’s rage and took advantage to get out of this situation. As Asurīto was throwing the punch, he quickly moved the hand that Asurīto had on his collar and stepped back dodging the punch.

This made Asurīto even more agitated, and in rage, he attempted to punch Hiroto again.

“YOU FUCKING NERD!”

Hiroto quickly looked for an opening. As Asurīto threw the punch, he thought quickly. He moved to the side, dodging another one of his punches. He thought about outrunning him to his homeroom but he knew that wasn’t an option. Mostly because Hiroto was a scrawny kid while Asurīto was an athletic jock with a trained body, so instead of outrunning him, he thought of taking him out. Not by killing but just so he could be left alone. So, as he dodged the other punch, he went for Asurīto’s most open spot. His balls. Hiroto quickly kicked Asurīto in the balls with his right leg.

Asurīto quickly gasped, falling onto the ground. He then yelled out loud, in pain. There were already students watching the situation but it wasn't a big deal because Asurīto did this every day to at least one person a day. The teachers also wouldn’t dare interfere in Asurīto's business, because he would bully the teachers and staff also. He had a huge reputation and no one would dare challenge him. Well, until now.

Hiroto then took the opportunity to run while Asurīto was “weakened” and quickly ran into his homeroom class, sitting in his seat. Once he made it into his class, he took a deep breath and sighed. The adrenaline was surging through his body still, the rush he felt standing up to his bully felt amazing. He smiled thinking of all the advice his friends gave to him.

He thanked them in his head, smiling. He was still anxious, thinking that Asurīto would pop in the classroom at any minute but the bell rang and he never did, surprisingly. The adrenaline was slowly fading away as he began to calm down. The teacher would quickly begin the lesson, usually, he’d hop right on and begin to pay attention but he was thinking about the situation he was just in. He had never felt that before. Standing up for himself, the adrenaline he felt, he finally felt like a man. He was pretty passive and he knew that. He hated himself for it, all this intelligence but he wasn’t using it to his full potential. His friends constantly told him that Alex, Daizen, and Fuzumi but today he felt useful. Finally, after all this time he stood up for himself, sure it wasn’t a big thing in retrospect.

But to Hiroto it was. Hiroto always saw himself as a smart loser. His friends would always call him out on his flaws, especially Alex but Alex was just as flawed as him. This is why out of all of the people in the group those two were the best of friends. Hiroto owed him a lot, they both always stood up for each other. It was because both of their fathers knew each other, they both worked for the government and they both left their kids at the same time. But before both of their fathers left, they both said.

“Look out for each other, stay with each other and take care of each other.”

Hiroto wouldn’t have known back then that he wouldn’t see his father for the next five years. So, he wouldn’t look out for Alex seriously. Hiroto remembered avoiding Alex in school, the first weeks of Alex transferring Alex was labeled as a weird kid and an outcast. He was a weirdo to others, he was constantly called that. So, at some point in his youth, he began to believe it. He was treated badly so he didn't want to talk to others. This formed his anti-social behaviors with people other than his friends.

“Holy fuck I’m a loser.”

Hiroto thought to himself. Maybe he needed to become cockier, he was always somewhat when he was around his friends but when it came to normal he wasn’t. His parents always taught him to be humble but he was tired of others undermining him. He knew at the moment he was overthinking but he couldn’t help himself. He was focusing on his emotions instead of his work but something snapped him out of overthinking. The male teacher in front of him as he was teaching called his name, alerting him. The teacher asked a question.

“Hiroto Kashikoi! What is the Pythagorean Theorem?”

Hiroto answered almost immediately, he was way too intelligent for this question.

“a^2 + b^2 = c^2.”

Hiroto said calmly but with underlying confidence.

The teacher nodded his head in happiness as he responded.

“Very good. Just like I expected from my best student.”

The teacher said as he looked around the room at all his students but he paused his eye movement on one student in particular. A sleeping student. He started to yell at the student in anger.

“Saite! Wake up!”

Saite woke up drowsy as he rubbed his eyes. His red hair moved from his eyes as he woke up.

“Sorry. What were we talking about?”

The teacher sighed as he put his hand on his forehead out of frustration.

“Stay awake or I’m calling your parents. Why can’t you all just be more like Hiroto.”

Hiroto looked down in embarrassment, even though this wasn’t the first time he heard this from one of his teachers. Every single one of his teachers has said it at least once.

Saite then made a snarky remark toward the teacher.

“Hey that’s not fair, Hiroto is a genius, not my fault genetics are inferior to his.”

The class laughed in agreement with Saite making Hiroto have his face in his book.

The teacher snarked and continued his lesson as he got back on topic.

“Anyways like I was saying.”

The class calmed down as their focus went back to their work.

Hiroto felt a sense of relief as he felt the eyes of his classmates stop looking at him. He then realized that no matter how much people complimented him on his smarts, he never let it get to his head. He knew he was just rattling on and on in his brain about himself. It was hard for him to break out of his self-pitting isolation mindset he thought logically about the entire class. The bell rang, and he stood up and began to walk out the door. He thought about his next class, gym, he then realized that Asurīto was in his next class. He let out a sigh of worry, as he walked through the halls to his next class, he worryingly began to think.

“Fuck that asshole is in my gym class. Alex and Daizen, you better hurry and get here.”