Chereads / Zion Rippers / Chapter 17 - At school

Chapter 17 - At school

The school began to pack with students flooding in from all directions, a common occurrence. Some were up to the usual, their lifeless eyes glued to their smart devices while the extroverts were busy bragging about their stereotypical lives. The remaining were on their own, observing their peers' repetitive actions. Miyuki belonged to that category. Although different, it did not make her any better as she also drifted along the bland line known as life. While contemplating the mass of students, Miyuki's eyes caught on to a certain delinquent with his long colourful hair sticking out. Usually she would look away after taking a quick glance as always but this time Takeru looked much more depressed than before.

(Miyuki to herself) "Waaw… he looks like one of those emo anime boys"

Miyuki, curious, unconsciously starts tailing the boy.

Somewhere, on another side of the school, two boys were strolling along the asphalt pathways of the school while checking off a list. They both had stern looks on their faces as they glanced around the area.

"Patrol is almost over. Last on the list is the school backyard" - Seiichi

"Indeed" - Unknown

The two patrollers make their way behind the school and witness an ugly scene.

"Get back. It's the Huyongs" - Unknown

"Them again? They've been at it a lot lately" - Seiichi

(Seiichi to himself) "I suppose Takeru isn't there to intercept them anymore"

The Huyongs comprised some 5 humans led by a Felilot, a creature closely resembling ocelots only with curvier ears and less fur.

"Heyy where's my daily compensation?" - unknown

"I-I'm sorry Denver, i-it seems that I forgot my pocket money today" - unknown

"Liiistennn. I don't have time to deal with this bullshit. Find me some money NOW or you get sacked. Is that simple enough for ya?" - Denver

"P-Please I-I really don't have anything" - unknown

"C'mon Jorn, we gotta move" - Seiichi

"Gotcha" - Jorn

Seiichi and Jorn come out of their hiding spot, ready to face the hooligans. Seiichi crossed his arms and readied his voice.

"HEY DENVER" - Seiichi

"Huh? Ahh the warriors of justice, just in the nick of time as always, ey? - Denver

"We sure are and you are to stop tormenting Nico over there, you don't want to face the repercussions" - Seiichi

"Do I now?' - Denver

Denvor puts his fists up, readying for a fight. A large grin crept up on his face as he thought who he would go after first.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" - Jorn

"I sure do" - Denver

"H-Hey boss, maybe we should back off. He said to not cause a scene yet, remember?" - Underling

"Tch… fine let's get outta here" - Denver

Seiichi and Jorn find it surprising how the group backed off so easily especially with their superior numbers.

"Well, that was easy" - Seiichi

"You're telling me!?" - Jorn

"Hey, Nico you alright there?" - Jorn

Jorn gives a hand to Nico, who glady reaches for it. Getting up, he brushes off the dirt on his clothes and face.

"Y-Yeah I'm alright. They didn't start bashing me and luckily you guys appeared! You're the one that always saves my ass" - Nico, slowing stroking his left arm

*Nico sighs*

"...I'm really sorry for the trouble. I wish I could defend myself but I-I'm just too weak…" - Nico

"Hey man, don't worry so much about it. It's our job after all" - Jorn

"Yep" - Seiichi

Nico disappeared into the school while Seiichi and Jorn made their way back to the student council room.

"What is going on man, like those guys are getting worse and worse!" - Jorn

"No kidding about that. It looks like their numbers are slowly going up too. They were just 3 last week!" - Seiichi

"Maybe we should talk to Haji about this" - Jorn

"Ugh, do we really? I mean we're good enough to handle it on our own right?" - Seiichi

"I don't think so" - Jorn

"..." - Seiichi

"You said it yourself. Their numbers are growing and… well… Haji is the president this time we have to inform him" - Jorn

"God damn it" - Seiichi

Finally arriving at the doorsteps of the student council room, Jorn and Seiichi promptly walk into the room and are happily greeted by their president.

"Ahh yes my two faithful protectors of the land!" - Haji

"I have to lot to announce today" - Haji

"We have something too" - Jorn

"Ohh… well that can wait. Listen, I'm planning something big for cultural day this time. We're gonna increase our budget and blow everyone's minds away!" - Haji

"YEAAHH!!" - Student council

"Since when were we the events team? Aren't we supposed to use that money for security purposes instead. You do realise that… just a few moments earlier we ran into Denver's little group terrorising Nico, again." - Seiichi

"Seiichi, don't be such a mood killer, can't you see the others want to have some fun?" - Haji

"Bu-" - Seiichi

Seiichi is quickly cut off by another response from Haji, who seemed completely unenthusiastic and aloof to the tall boy's opinion.

"Hey Seiichi, do you know the concept of equilibrium? Everything must be balanced? A counterpart to good? A necessary evil, you might say" - Haji explained like it was the most righteous concept to ever have existed

"Well, this applies to this school as well. The Huyongs are that necessary evil to us, the good of this place. The destabilizing one has been taken care of right? Y'know that little dog you've been keeping around, what was his name again?" - Haji

".... It's Takeru Hayano" - Seiichi, gritting his teeth slightly

"Ahh yes Hayano. Well, he was a real problem. Causing fights over such petty things like taunting or innocent pranks" - Haji

"I'm happy you took care of that but you can calm down now, we can allow those runts to have some fun, can't we?" - Haji

"..." - Seiichi

The bell ringing interrupts the two, giving Seiichi a chance to avoid exploding in a furious rage.

"Well, that's that. Go to your classes now" - Haji

The students quickly scatter away from the room, leaving Haji behind. On the outside, Seiichi slams the wall, anger filling his eyes as Haji's words replay in his mind.

"Damn it! Did that asshole just Thanos me with that balance bullshit!?" - Seiichi

"Yes. Yes. He did" - Jorn

"So, what happens now?" - Jorn

"He wants a necessary evil? Well, that's exactly what he's gonna get!" - Seiichi

Miyuki was quite lucky she had the same classes as Takeru, otherwise she would've unknowingly walked into any class Takeru would be having on any other day.

(Miyuki to herself) "Huh? I'm in class?"

Miyuki proceeded to act as if nothing happened and sat in her usual seat, trying her best to follow the teacher's explanation.

"So, today we're going to talk about fun coincidences throughout history" - Teacher

"Does anyone know what happened in vienna in 1913?" - Teacher

"..." - students

"No? Alright, so Josip broz. You might not know him, he was a communist and the former president of Yugoslavia. Well, when he was around the age of 21, he, Joseph stalin and Adolf Hitler all lived in vienna at that time" - Teacher

The students start chattering about the new random fact that they have just learned about.

"The fun thing is, during that period, they didn't know about each other at all" - Teacher

"So they could walk past each other and do nothing?" - student

"Exactly" - Teacher

Soon, Miyuki's mind drifted away, losing sense of where she was and stopped paying attention to her surroundings. The teacher quickly caught on and decided to play a clever prank on her.

"Miyuki?" - Teacher

"Hey, Miyuki you still here?" - Teacher

Miyuki snaps back to reality, her head shook slightly as she looked back at who called her name.

"Huh? I-I mean yes, Mr. Tensai" - Miyuki

"Can you tell me about Lao Ai, any of… his peculiar features?" - Tensai, as he let out a malicious grin.

"Uhmm uhhh… he had a... large penis?" - Miyuki

All the students start laughing, Mr. Tensai is a bit surprised by Miyuki's answer.

"That's... actually correct. I don't know if you're cultured or just a pervert" - Tensai

The students instantly quiet down, looking quite shocked at the teacher's response.

"Lao Ai was a servant in Qin during the warring states period. During that time, he had an affair with Dowager Zhao, the queen and Qin Shi Huang's mother. It was said that his genitalia was comparable to the size of a carriage axle, the complete opposite of our students here" - Tensai, with smugness.

The teacher moves on from the topic and Miyuki is left alone. She kept giving glances to Takeru until the bell rang.

"Ok guys, I'll see you next time, be sure to do my homework" - Tensai

Takeru managed to get under the teacher's radar this time. His mind, still very conflicted about the recent events, felt as if it was about to explode. Unable to handle the pressure Takeru gave up and stopped thinking. He quickly ran up the stairs and to the roof's edge

(Takeru to himself) "Yes this is much simpler than fighting those maniacs… I can just… let go..."

Just when he was about to jump a sole voice echoed to him, this time it wasn't internal but behind him.

"HEEEEEYY" - Miyuki

"Huh?" - Takeru

Takeru suddenly felt the fear of where he was standing and instinctively jumped back.

"Woah!!" - Takeru

He then turns towards Miyuki with an angry look an his face.

"Why did you have to say something? I was so close to ending it all! My suffering, my PAIN…" - Takeru

"Eh? That's EXACTLY why I said something. I can't just watch someone die!" - Miyuki

"..." - Takeru

Miyuki suddenly realised that she was talking to someone other than Haru, triggering her anxiety and forcing her to act irrationally.

"Uhm uhh I-I'm sorry p-please continue doing whatever you were doing h-haha" - Miyuki

(Miyuki to herself) "Wtf am I saying?!"

Takeru was intrigued by this weird girl, urging him to tease her a bit.

"...Y'know I saw you looking at me back in class. Mr. Tensai was right, you really are a pervert" - Takeru, with smugness

"Wha- umm uhh I-" - Miyuki

"Why are you stuttering now? Is it because everything I just said was true?" - Takeru

*Miyuki blushed*

"... AHH YOU CAN GO DIE FOR ALL I CARE" - Miyuki

Miyuki runs away quickly without looking back, she disappears for a moment but then comes right back up, grabbing Takeru's hands and pulling him down stairs. Once down she stops, facing towards Takeru, blushing heavily.

"L-Look I'm not really used to talking to someone other than my friends" - Miyuki

"Hmm… someone like you… shouldn't you be afraid of me? I mean I did cause a lot of chaos before…" - Takeru

"I-I couldn't just… watch someone do that a-and I know the pain too!" - Miyuki

"No you don't, you've never faced the same things I did" - Takeru, in an edgy mood

"..." - Miyuki

"... I'm sorry for saying that you should've just died…" - Miyuki

"And I… am sorry for teasing you back there" - Takeru, with smugness

"Y-YOU WERE WHAT!!" - Miyuki

*Miyuki blushes even more*

"Heh" - Takeru

Miyuki stomps away from the scene. She thought how different Takeru seemed from the image the school folks had given him.

Takeru heads off too, surprised by how effectively she put his mind off suicide by doing almost nothing. He regained a bit of composure and moved to class.

Unbeknownst to the two, Seiichi had heard everything. He made a quick judgement and went after Miyuki to get some answers.

"Hey wait!" - Seiichi

"Huh?" - Miyuki

"What do you want vice-president" - Miyuki

"I just need to talk to you about what happened back there?" - Seiichi

"Y-Y-YOU SAWW??!!" - Miyuki

*Miyuki blushes again*

"Look I don't care about your love quarrels or whatever I just need to know what happened to Takeru" - Seiichi

"IT WASN'T- ahh forget it. I give up" - Miyuki

Miyuki drops on the floor and leans against the wall, Seiichi does the same.

"To be honest… I have no clue. He was just there and I just stopped him…" - Miyuki

"How'd you know he'd be there?" - Seiichi

"Umm uhh that's not really important right now haha" - Miyuki

"B-" - Seiichi

"SO anyways, I think I successfully stopped him, at least for now. He seemed more stable after I talked to him…" - Miyuki

"... Can you leave me alone now?" - Miyuki

"Fine…" - Seiichi

Seiichi gets up and walks away.

(Seiichi to himself) "I guess he's off the table… tch"

(Miyuki to herself) "AHHH WHY AM I TALKING TO SO MANY PEOPLE TODAY!!"

"But no! I can't leave it here. Knowing us teenagers he will definitely try again. I say it's time to get help!" - Miyuki

"Pff what a weirdo" - passerby

(Miyuki to herself) "I really shouldn't have said that out loud"