It was in my second year in high school when it happened.
I'm just a normal kid, a normal high school student studying at a normal school. I'm possibly the most normal kid ever, well, not completely, but I have a presence of a ghost. I'm scrawny, not all that good looking, I'm also short and all, basically, I'm someone so normal, no one would take notice of me in a crowd.
But that was fine with me, normal is fine.
Well, if someone asked me if what was my unique trait was… I was dumb. Not dumb that I can't spell math, no, dumb as in, I don't know how to back off from a fight.
Even though I'm scrawny and all, I always get into a fight.
Arriving just in time, about thirty minutes in before the school bell rang. My face was plastered with a gauze. I got into a fight again yesterday with some delinquent.
Result? My ass getting beaten to a pulp.
The moment I opened the door to my classroom, I found myself on the receiving end of a multitude of scornful glares and annoyed tongue clicks from a majority of the male students. Did I mentioned that everyone hated me?
None of my female classmates seemed all too pleased to see me either. It would've been fine if they were simply ignoring me, no, they too gave me stares of contempt.
I always tried my best to ignore my classmates as I went to my seat. But of course, there are few students that simply couldn't resist to needle me.
"Sup, you, gross otaku! Did you managed to get into a fight again? No, I bet you were just playing porn games and hit your face on a desk"
"Wow what a creep. What kind of disgusting pervert plays porn games all night?"
The boys all laughed, as if they found that statement hilarious. No, it's not funny. I don't stay all night to play porn games… at least on weekdays that is.
The students who called out was Hayama Daichi, the ringleader of the bullies in the classroom. he never tired of teasing me, as he actually went up on me in a daily basis. The ones that were laughing wickedly next to him were Yoshi Saitou, Renji Kondou and Shido Nakano. It those four who'd always made my life miserable as it gets.
As the moron Daichi said, I'm an otaku. But I'm not a particularly ugly or obnoxious, so the moniker gross otaku hardly did me justice. My hair was cropped short and kept tidy. Plus, it wasn't that I had communication problem either, I'm just not the most talkative. I'm just a quiet person overall, but not to the point where it's considered gloomy. I just happened to have an interest in a very specific set of media – namely manga, novels, video games and movies.
The public opinion of otakus hadn't been very positive as of late, at most being an otaku usually earned you a few looks, not that kind of targeted bullying. So why do they hate me so much?
The answer is simple.
"Good morning, Guren-kun! Your quite early today. Ah! Did you get into a fight again? You should be careful you know"
One of the girls smiled softly as she walked up to me. She was one of the few people in the whole school who treated me kindly, and also the reason everyone hated me.
Kaede Nishimiya, one of the most popular girls in school, and beautiful enough to be considered a goddess by many. She had sleek, black hair that went all the way down to her waist, and large alluring eyes filled with kindness. Her small nose sat perfectly upon her face, and her pink lips were the epitome of perfection.
She always seemed to have a smile on her face, and her knack for looking after others combined with her strong sense of responsibility made her one of the most respected students at my school. Moreover, she was tolerant and understanding to a fault, to the point where no one even seen her look unhappy before.
And, for whatever reason, Nishimiya had taken interest in me. Most people assumed I was a terrible student because I always sleep in class, mind you, I have absolute good grades, I also know a bunch of useless stuff which I pretty much probably would never use in my lifetime. And, since Nishimiya was always looking after other students, they believed that was the reason they talked to me. And I hope that was the reason too.
Had her overtures convinced me to become a better student, or I was naturally been a better-looking guy, the other kids might not have minded Nishimiya's interest in me as much. As it was, though, I'm as average as one could get, and my favorite motto is "Hobbies over Real life," so obviously my attitude towards school had shown no signs of improvement, but I don't neglect it, think of it as a process in life, or experiencing youth or some other bullshit like that.
The class hated me because, even with Nishimiya's kindness, I'm showing no signs of improvement, as if there was anything to improve.
"A-ah, good morning, Nishimiya-san" I returned the greeting, but I wasn't thick skinned not to feeling the bloodthirsty glares of my fellow students.
In contrast, she was smiling happily as she looked at me. Why do you always look at me like that!? I despaired inwardly as the gazes burned through me.
Honestly was bewildered. I don't understand why the most beautiful girl in school cared about a guy like me. To me, it seemed like there had to have been something more than just her natural disposition to help others.
Of course, I'm not so conceited as to believe she might possibly have any romantic interest in me. I'm just a normal Tokyo kid, there were a whole host of guys better than me who are far more suited to be this maiden's partner, even just among her acquaintances. Which was why I find her behavior so puzzling.
Honestly, I just wish she realize that she's the reason everyone hates me right now!
The moment I finished my conversation with Nishimiya, three new people walked up to us. Among the new group was of course, the "better guys" who I mentioned previously.
"Good Morning, Guren-kun. You got into a fight again? You should know when to stay away from those"
"Looking after him again, Kaede? You're really too nice for your own good"
"Seriously. Talking to a failure like him is a total waste of time"
The only person who'd greeted me out of the three was Mei Murasame, Nishimiya's best friend. Murasame's black hair was tied back in her trademark ponytail. Her almond shape eyes give her a rather sharp look, but deep within her gaze dwelled a kindness that made her seem rather cool than cold.
Standing 172 centimeters tall, she was a good deal taller than most of the other girls in my class. That, combined with her well-built body, made her seem like a dignified samurai. And a samurai made for a rather apt analogy as her family actually ran a dojo that taught some sword style, I don't know the name, ask her yourself. She herself was a peerless swordswoman, I saw her once in a practice match, she's really good. Many of the younger female students had started calling her onee-sama in an almost worshiping manner. But she carried an air of coolness, but if she tried and wear some frilly clothes it would still look good on her.
The other one who greeted me in a cliched like about Nishimiya's kindness was Hayato Atsushi, he was perfect in almost every way. Great at sports, handsome, and had outstanding grades to boot. He's exactly my opposite, and by opposite meaning that I really want to punch him in his perfect little teeth, in short, I really hate the guy.
He had flowing brown hair, soft features, stood 180 centimeters tall, and despite his slender frame still had noticeable muscles. He was kind to everyone he me, and had a strong sense of justice, but that he was blind to it.
Like Murasame, he attended the dojo the girl's family runs. Did I mention that the bastard and the other two were childhood friends? Yeah, that moron was a protagonist straight out of a manga. They guy had dozens of girls falling for him, but he always hanged around with Nishimiya and Murasame, very few worked up the courage to confess. I hear he even receives confessions from girls not from school. Ahhh! I really want to slit his throat!!
The last guy, he was another hateful bastard, just seeing him makes my blood boil. Ryu Kirishima, Atsushi's best friend. He had a large build standing at 190 centimeters tall, he was bear-like, correction, he was a smurfed hulk with no delicacy.
Because of his love for hard work and hot-blood actions, we are at odds with each other.
"Good morning Murasame-san…" I returned the greeting, it's bad enough that everyone hates me, then the two moronic assholes glared at me as if saying "What gives you the right to talk to Murasame-san so casually like that, huh?" well, Murasame was as popular at Nishimiya after all.
Just as Atsushi tried to reprimand me for some actions that I can completely justify, but the other party is too dumb to understand that, I just paid him no mind and pretend to listen.
On the other hand, Daichi really knew how to make me tick, instead of a direct contact at me, he and his lackeys switched targets to the girl sitting two seats behind me.
"Oh! Shibuya, what's this?" he grabbed the notebook Shibuya was scribbling on. the girl tried to take it back, but of course, the lackeys stopped her.
"My grimoire!" Shibuya cried.
I took a glance at Atsushi and the others, their chatting hadn't ended so, they haven't noticed what's taking place.
"What grimoire?" Daichi said as he scanned through the pages "Oh! This is some drawings! Look at this, it's hilarious!"
He showed it to the class, the others wanted to protect Shibuya, but wasn't brave enough to step up. What's with the difference in treatment? If I'm the one getting bullied, they'd turn a blind eye, but when it's others, they'd want to step up.
Shibuya was about to cry, but as always, this was one thing that makes me dumb. The tugging feeling in my stomach kept going.
"Hey, cut it out!" I snatched the notebook from Daichi's hands and glared at him. A disgusting smirk plastered at his face, he had me in a trap, he knew I wouldn't turn a blind eye on it.
I gave the notebook back to Shibuya; she took it and hugged the notebook. Just before they could grab me and drag me out of the classroom, the school bell rang, at the same time the door opened and the last one.
"Good morning" he said, seeing the tense atmosphere, he must've got the idea and walked towards me.
"Asher, what'd you do this time?" he asked.
"My fault!?"
Guy was my only friend, well, my best friend, Tetsurou Akagi, he was one of the decent delinquents and my childhood friend.
Before we could continue our conversation, the teacher began the morning announcements, we walked back to our seats as the classes started.
After a while, lunch break had happened, Daichi and his lackeys dragged me to the back to the school.
Do I have to tell what happened? Well, they beat me up to a pulp.
"Hah! Trying to be the hero huh?"
"Come on then fight!"
I lunged at them with my pathetic punch, Daichi caught it and delivered at right hook to my face.
Their punches were all directed to my body, it was to prevent notice of the teachers, see how experienced they were at this.
They knocked me down couple of times, and every time, I got back up ready to fight raising my fist.
"You don't know when to give up do you?"
Trying to steady my breathing, my nose was bleeding, I think. the taste of blood in my mouth, I raised my fist at them.
"…I can do this all day"
Another punch from me, but a punch came from Kondo that knocked me down.
"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" Tetsurou yelled
I struggled to get back up, by the time I was on my feet, Tetsurou already drove away the moronic four.
"Sometimes, I think you like getting punched"
Tetsu walked to me and helped me steady, I leaned on the wall as I looked at him.
He had a short trimmed hair, sharp eyes and a well-built body, he was a member of the basketball club, unlike others, this guy stuck me with ever since we were kids, I was dumb enough to pick a fight on the bullies, he's gonna wrapped them up in a bow for me, and I end up to a bloody pulp.
It was common occurrence for us.
"I had them in the ropes"
"By ropes you mean getting knocked on the ground?"
"Jerk"
"Bitch… come on, let's get you back to the room, wipe that blood on your nose"
He took my arm over his shoulder and escort me back to the classroom.
The moment we stepped into the classroom; a bright light exploded. The next thing we knew, we were in another place.
"Welcome to Terria, brave heroes. It is our pleasure to welcome you here."
We opened our eyes and found ourselves in another world.