From the bottom of my heart, thank you to my p4tr0ns: Morpheaus, and RTB <3 <3 <3
Become a p4tr0n too and read up to FOUR chapters ahead!:
h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / t r a s h w i t h g l a s s e s
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By that time, they should've been asleep already… Or so I hoped.
My hand reached for the door handle slowly, cautiously, and with utmost care. Just for, right when I was about to pull the bone-made door open, someone from the other side swing it in my direction.
I barely avoided being hit by the heavy bone door, but it was too late anyway.
"Strike?", a shirtless man with spiky red hair, and a wolf tattoo on his chest noticed me.
He was leading a group of about six people, men and women, and they all were carrying spare clothes and hygiene products, such as soap plants, and more. They were my roommates.
"Hey… Hawthorn", I forced a smile, feeling my stomach going freezing cold.
"We were waiting for you, man!"
"Well, we were… We had just given up. Sorry", another man added, scratching the back of his head.
"It's fine, it's fine! I was really busy, anyway", I tried to brush all of that aside, and sneak into my bedroom as quickly as possible, and hopefully without any more headaches. "Waah, I'm- I'm so tired…"
"That's just one more reason to come with us, man! Hahaha!", Hawthorn friendly threw his arm around my neck, and pulled me in with the rest of the group. "Come on, let's go take a bath!"
I tried to come up with excuses and to free myself from the socially (and physically) imprisoning situation, but nothing seemed to work with those happy, go-lucky, well-intentioned airheads who insisted that we should be bounding together more!
"Come on, man, since we grouped up, you haven't taken a bath with us a single time! I promise you, man, the bathing houses here are the best!"
It was the worst-case scenario!
*
"If you tell anyone about my little deal with you… you're dead", I left behind a very hurt Ursus, with many burnings in places no one would notice. His goons were still unconscious by this time.
Still, I recognized that It'd be too much suspicious if I "won" that test, and my bullies showed up that hurt, so I started to walk to the edge of the forest, arms raised in "defeat".
Soon after I reached the teacher, she shot out the fireball signal that ended the training session with the same irate expression of always.
While we waited for the "winners" to come out of the forest too, I felt a nudge on my side and noticed Spruce smiling at me.
"You did it, didn't you?"
"Did what?"
"Yeah, yeah, no need to pretend around me, Coyote, the strong would know, you would know. You beat the crap of those punks!"
"Yes, I did", I replied immediately, and directly. And that seemed to throw Spruce just a little bit off.
"A- A bit colder than I expected from you, but hell yeah! Good job!"
"Thanks?"
"But why didn't you wait to win this training session? I mean! I also didn't care about winning this or anything, otherwise I'd surely be between the top 10, but… why?"
"I would look to suspicions if I did so."
"Suspicious?"
Right when Spruce quoted me, Ursus and his group came out of the forest. And they all looked completely devasted, covered in bruises, dried blood, clothes torn apart, and empty defeated eyes that focused only on the ground beneath.
"H- Hell yeah, Coyote…!"
The mean-looking teacher didn't seem any happier seeing the conditions of the group, but she didn't call me up or anything. I guess Ursus was right in that she couldn't know everything that happened in that forest.
Either way, more annoyed than usual, the teacher sent the wounded students to the infirmary section of the School, and let the winners go straight to their bedrooms to sleep and rest. For the rest of us, however, had a special punishment awaiting…
*
"B- But I've just taken a bath!"
"Then let's take another one! And compare our muscles, and talk about our crushes!"
What are we, a group of preteen girls?! D- Do men normally do that?!
"I have some homework due for tomorrow!", I complained, uselessly trying to free myself from that friendly arm around my neck. We were already almost at the bathrooms!
"Should've done it sooner then. Ass your roommate, it's my duty to not incentivize such bad behaviors as letting your homework for the last minute!", Hawthorn replied, serious, tightening his free hand into a fist.
Gah! Stop being so nice and friendly!
What should I do? What should I do!?
Just around that corner laid the bathrooms, and then… and then our group would be dived by sex…
Behind that corner, however, there was also a surprise: "Ike?"
"Coyote? And… The rude little person from before?"
Sweaty, wearing tattered clothes, and carrying brooms, buckets, mops, soap, and a bag with trash, there he was, the only one that I dared to call a friend in that school. His hair was a bit whiter, but there was no way I'd miss him. The one who knew my secret, and hadn't talked about it to anyone.
And also that little guy who didn't pass a really good first impression.
"I'm not rude, I'm strong. And my name is Spruce, I believe Coyote has already introduced us, 'Ike'."
"Hum? Friends?" Hawthorn asked.
And then it hit me: that was a golden opportunity!
"Yes! We're super close friends, and actually, we had promised to do some things together this night!"
"No problems! The more the merrier! Come on, Coyote, Spruce, join us in a bath!"
What the f-!
Heck!
I turned to Coyote with desperate pleading eyes, hoping that he would understand my message: take me out of here!
"Ah, thank you, but I have to refuse…", Coyote said, looking tired. "I've just spent the last couple of hours cleaning the bathroom as a punishment, I really don't want to get back in there right now. I just want to sleep."
Yes!
This way, I'll be able to slip away from this!
"Punishment?" Hawthorn asked. "What, did you prank a teacher or something? Are you a bad influence for our Strike here?"
No!
He won't let me walk with perceived bad guys!
"No, I just did poorly on a test", Coyote shrugged.
"Oh, well, that's a shame. But I'm sure you'll go well next time", Hawthorn smiled and raised both his thumbs up for Coyote.
"Yes, and for that we need to practice together!", I dashed away from my roommates and to beside Coyote. "See? I'm teaching him", I grabbed Coyote's hand, and showed my own, displaying our marks.
"Oh, I see…", Hawthorn frowned. Approaching us, he rested a hand upon Coyote's shoulder and sighed: "I imagine you're going through a lot, but I know you can do it!", winking at me, he completed: "Take good care of him, Strike!"
"I will…!", I said with a long, deep, relieving sigh.
My roommates entered the male and female wards of the bathrooms as I waited outside with Coyote and Spruce. Once we were alone, I turned to Skyblue with a genuine smile:
"Thank you… You really helped me a lot here" Feeling obliged to help him in return, I suggested: "I know! I'll fetch you a new shirt."
"Oh", As if noticing only now, Coyote looked down, at his leather and fur clothes beneath the black cloak we all used with a slash on it.
And I paid more attention to it too… noticing that there wasn't just old leather and fur, but pulsating, red flesh inside the cut.
"What…?", I asked myself, following the seams of the clothe, and finding it connected to the very body of Coyote near his neck.
"WHAT THE FU- HECK?!", I screamed.
"WHAT THE FUCK!", screamed the little person.