Weeks passed like how the eagle flies, fast enough to garner whiplash from all that occurred. The ragtag group expanded to include three more to the ranks. Sam, Daniel, and the occasional visit from Sophie caused strife amongst their group surprising no one other than Kage.
Jacob and Isaiah began to hide away on the days when Sophie would arrive, in part due to the ever-growing friction between her and Claire. Such friction was the result of none other than Kage who spared a glimpse in lust at Claire's revealing outfit on a cold afternoon in which rationality had been sapped along with their comfort. Although Kage had known Sophie for her quiet nature, she soon eradicated that perception with her constant taunts at Claire whenever their gaze so much as touched.
It had started with the way she dressed, causing a bit of red to Claire's face but devolved into a slur of insults on either side with neither backing down. Now they simply hailed to stay apart from each other. All the while, Gan would attempt to soothe the bewildered and nerve-wracked Claire. A purpose in which Kage felt little compulsion to take part in. He could not deny his momentary gaze at Claire. It was a second but he never felt such an emotion like that before.
There was an arousal that stuck with him as fantasies soon devolved to the flesh that could be melded between his fingertips. An imagination of such touch that could never occur.
Even more so was the sight he caught of her thigh. It flaunted about with a mole just below the hem to her skirt and the skin was undoubtedly supple and soft but toned all the while demonstrating the determination in her health. The makeup he detested could be ignored as long as he gazed elsewhere. He knew of the implication that lay farther beyond; it was meant for Gan and not him, nevertheless the thought was enticing to imagine. An imagination that slathered sweat and other garish substances on her thighs.
Not only were these thoughts just short parades but at night they came up on him like the Devil intending a delicious scare. Even so were the difficulties in hiding the excess from Lisa in the mornings.
Yet, he could not understand why these "thoughts" could not be found when he pictured a shot of Sophie. He was inclined to speak with her more and even evolve it to another step, however, these "thoughts" kept him at bay from pursuing that level. A debate within that discovered less to interest him in the confines of Sophie's being.
'What had I seen?'
Then this debate subsided once he gazed into the pearly abyss of her irises once more.
While Kage dealt with the turmoil of his innards, the children of poverty had acquainted themselves with Gan and Isaiah. Absently missing Jacob due to his courteous denial accompanied by a look from beyond those darkened aviators. A swivel to his step brought about a muttered, "What shit" directed center mass at their new arrival. Daniel's expression fell flat to the earth as a darkening pronounced his features. Sam took a more confrontational stance by grabbing onto Jacob's shoulder.
Without even showing her his face he questioned this treasonous act, "You really wanna cause a scene here, don't ya?"
"The fuck's your deal, is this entire group just like this? Nothing but a bunch of guys jerking themselves- A blast of wind threw back Sam's hair billowing her unzippered coat. The eyes in those aviators were blazing with a flame.
"Take that fucking hand off my shoulder or I'm going to show you what comes next. Understood?" Sam snarled, unrelenting in her grip.
However, the two were forced apart by Gan's enhanced cherry colored arms. "Now, I think that's enough with all the joking. How about we go to that retro arcade after school and beat Isaiah's high score?" He winked at Sam pulling a finger to his lips silencing any retort from her.
Jacob kept the arm on his shoulder violently releasing a saved up breath. "Whatever, just make sure Kage is there without these pests!"
"Will do, brother." Gan gave Jacob a slap on the back walking off with them. Gan had also taken a look at Daniel and concluded the same as Jacob.
The boy was nothing more than a lost pup useful for an experiment. Kage had become an owner and whatever plot their friend was undertaking would be best left to him and him alone. Despite the reasoning, Gan felt some bonded sense to Daniel. He couldn't help but notice the cuts on the boy's palms from constant labor fighting only to be outdone by swollen blisters, worrying Gan that Kage had returned to light vigilantism.
Isaiah stayed behind due to a cloud of familiarity he saw in Daniel. "You're in the Engineering club, aren't you?"
Perking up with a smile, Daniel wanted to get at least one of Kage's friends to approve of him before the day's end. "Y-Yeah, I am!"
"Few freshmen are able to attend that class, not even Kage could, never understood the point in engineering and the creation of things. You're also too quiet in class hence why you're behind on the motorized catapult project."
"Wait, how do you know that I'm behi-
"I make it a point to keep the rest of the class under my purview in case there is help needed. Best to ask for the manuals or… me. If you don't have enough hands to contribute." Isaiah interjected, narrowing his eyes to razors slicing away at Daniel's barriers.
Daniel shook his head, "I get it, just it's hard talking to people you don't really kn-
"Think nothing of it," Isaiah once more interposed, "When you are wrapped in the emotions of someone else it's hard to make headway with your own goals. That's why it's difficult for Jacob to accept you. His boisterous attitude is unable to understand why you were picked to be beside Kage." He removed his glasses carefully, wiping them with an alcoholic wipe which appeared from the depths of his left breast pocket. "He's always wanted to go with Kage on one of those brawls; however only Gan was allowed before. Now that you have appeared from seemingly nowhere it stings to know you, with your serviceable ability and physique. It's adequate but that's all."
Daniel opened his mouth wide but was closed by the raise of a hand from Isaiah. "Then, Kage was harmed… I don't trust you to hold his back and the same must go for the others. Yet, there's definitely something to you." Again Daniel opened his mouth and Isaiah continued anyway, "Whatever that is, know that you mean something to him. Kage doesn't even ask for help when bleeding on the street near death so you have to keep those ears open at all times, got it?"
This time Daniel was permitted a single word, "Yes, an-
"Then, goodbye." Isaiah managed a few feet before returning his attention to the boy, "We'll be taking our mid-year tests in two weeks. Don't go on any of those brawls." Isaia slipped the glasses on, perching them at the end of his nose in a librarian type style. He took his leave hearing the subtlest of arguments brewing with Sam questioning what type of brawls Daniel had committed. He turned the corner only to be greeted by the light grin of Gan towering above him.
"Good to see our stoic warrior is taking another interest under his belt." He snickered while chewing on some black gum offering an identical pack to Isaiah. He quickly snatched some from the cardboard packet, throwing two pieces along with the dissolving wrapper into his mouth.
"This stuff is too addicting. Weren't you going with Jacob?" Isaiah pointed with a finger nearly touching Gan between the eyes.
"Bah! He was all flustered from being told off by a chick so decided on skipping our Research class. Really should've seen his face! It got all red and crap. Woo Wee, it's gonna be interesting."
Stopping his chew Isaiah asked, "What? That kid?"
Cocking his head down, Gan blew a bubble. "Of course, can't wait to see how Kage whips him into shape."
"Aren't you worried at all about him?" The two entered their next class and sat in their four desk orientation waiting for the other two members to arrive, completing the square for their mid-term paper. "He's always hanging out with that boy, Daniel. Yet all they talk about is hero crap." Isaiah stared deep into Gan's eyes, noticing an underlying hilt to them. Some sharp edge ready to pierce his words. Therefore, he was stopped in his tracks from speaking.
"There's no point in worrying. Kage has always done things on his own and will continue to do so, this Daniel person is just a toy to him." Gan chewed ever louder on the sickening gum, swishing the fluid from it along his teeth as if it was mouthwash. "The toy will eventually be tossed away and Kage will return to his usual self."
Isaiah wrinkled his brow questioning Gan's words, "And you want him to return to his "usual self"? When he met us he seemed half dead; barely speaking to anyone and when he did it was short winded." The description brought forth that day clearly to the both of them. It was the beginning of this whole mess they found themselves in. "You've noticed the difference. Daniel's not just a toy." The removal of materials from Gan's pack ended abruptly with his right stuffed deep inside and the other clenched, bulging outward with a vicious heat on the plaster table. A couple of girls were giggling obnoxiously loud from behind Gan. The window had been opened letting in a chilly breeze that would make a snowman gasp yet it had not bothered him.
Or so it seemed.
"He's the happiest I've seen him since we met."
Sticking the chair the other direction and straddling the end, Gan stuffed both hands through the space between the back and the seat. "Then, why do you care? He seems to be fine and laughing so why is it a problem?"
Isaiah shared a glare, "You know why… They're relationship is in no way normal. They don't do anything but train and talk."
"You must be a busy bee seeing all of this. What are you? Their mom?"
"Shut up! It's not a friendship. The two of them keep appealing to the other… it's almost like-
"Worship." Gan leaned back both hands gripping to the chair's back, rocking it. "Guess I did notice that as well." Isaiah never could understand Gan's train of thought. One moment his expression would be identical to that of a philosopher contemplating the inner workings of the universe while a second from then it would contort to a cocky delinquent, boasting crude jokes to the majority. Despite this ability to guide them all and garner both like and dislike from others, none among the five of them saw him as the leader nor a pillar. That responsibility was unwittingly put on Kage's shoulders. It was subconsciously decided the moment they heard the first words come from his mouth.
Gan's err was mysterious to them all garnering a level of doubt by Isaiah and Jacob. Whereas Kage's straightforward manner of speaking accompanied by a clear set of ambitions was admired, piecing them together as a whole. He had an identity and never strayed from that path truly being the slab of stone in their center.
Yet, despite that uncharacteristically strong code that he adhered to, faults and a stricken past tested it. That was where they finally found a post to rely on. Without either knowing, this band of misfits each had an untold unceremonious past. An almost planned meeting between these children that could have only been left up to fate. Due to that recognized emotion, they were able to find a reliable foundation.
"It certainly seems like they are constantly praying to each other. Holding back to back in their guidance to the other. Yet neither know of it or possibly understand in the first place." A clamminess crept up Isaiah's legs, even the neck to an extent. Goosebumps followed by a cool sweat gleaned if possible by these dim lights making it abundantly clear to his friend of how terrified the boy had grown by his expression. To any of the others it was his usual smile demonstrating a bit of his medically enhanced pearly white teeth. But, Isaiah had the prior knowledge of where it originated from.
On a dusk night paraded by sickly clouds, the scent of mildew in the ruins of a once child plagued set of monkey bars and slides but now covered by moss and ivy was where it had leapt from. It was the only time Isaiah joined Kage and Gan on one of their vigilante trysts. Around them was an excess of bodies with snapped bone and pooling blood soon to be washed away, sucked up by the soil. In the moment, Isaiah knew not whether to cry for their immense pain or wail on his own from the bruises and broken nose he suffered that day.
In the end it kept him awake all throughout the coming week.
A smile of deep thought and maniacal sanity. Gan had also found a new toy, a toy that was encroaching on his own idol.
"It's quite interesting, isn't it?"
"What is?" asked Isaiah with a shortness of breath.
"Before, Kage let Daniel hang onto him. They touched the other's body.
Kage never allowed me to do that. Doesn't that sound awfully wrong and weird?" His fingers were dug deep into the chair denting the surface.
"Hey!" Called a girl from the table beside theirs, "Don't go messing with the chairs, or you're gonna be paying for them." Gan dug daggers into the girl depositing her high cheekbones, long droopy nose, and square jawline into his database of people.
Whipping his hair back the expression from before was gone and in its place was the classic slyness that accompanied most of his endeavors. "Oops…" He let go of the chair spinning it back around the correct way. "Looks like I was too deep in thought. Thank you for reminding me, you're a very kind person for doing so."
The girl blushed at the compliment. "It's ok. I didn't really say anything special."
"Oh but you did. Many people wouldn't be so observant and helpful to someone they don't even know." Gan said while coaxing for something more.
She twirled her hair playing right into the palm of his hand. "Well, everyone knows you. You're Gan Treader, you're quite famous here."
Inducing his own blush he brushed off the comment, "Oh, please don't refer to that, it's quite embarrassing for me. You understand, don't you?"
"Yes!"
"Well, then. Since you know an embarrassing aspect of mine. What about you?" Noticing her slight hesitation Gan attempted to assuage the condition. "How about your dad? What does he do?"
She contemplated it for half a second, almost like she paid no thought and was only acting coy. "He owns a mechanic shop, he's always so filthy."
"Ha! That does indeed sound embarrassing but it just shows how good and useful of a parent he is, don't you think so uh~ sorry but what's your name? I'm not too good with faces so I apologize if I don't remember."
The redness had grown down to her chin. "Don't worry about that, it's Oxana… Oxana Friedwell." She held out her hand which was also stained by her redness. Gan and her exchanged greetings continuing their conversation.
Isaiah experienced this sight every now and again. At one point, Kage had joined in a sort of game to get the most information out of someone; however, it was clear that Gan would be the victor in their battle. Afterall, a pretty face gets most people complacent.
Soon, Gan would enact a form of revenge on this poor girl. He never physically harmed them nor anyone they were close with but it would just be a sudden fright to get them back on the right track to where they belonged.
Over the years, Isaiah was able to come to terms with Gan's view of those outside of their group. Everyone was an ant, some bug that could be squashed beneath his heel if he so cared to.
"What a great pretender," Isaiah thought to himself.
Isaiah sat there having unloaded his items, ruminating in his mind's space. Closing his eyes he rode along the strands connecting the information from his eyes to his brain. His many many eyes. Taking a stop at each one peering for what may seem less than a nanosecond he moved onward analyzing not only the classroom but all of his classrooms, the hallways, the roof in which Kage was left alone having Sophie and Claire walk off some time before.
Notorious for never missing a class when at school, seeing him laid back not even bothering to come down was shocking. There he saw something crawling in Kage's hand. A spider. Then, it stopped moving as Kage squeezed it between his index and thumb.
A silent squeal rose to Isaiah's ear. Expecting Kage to crush it any moment Isaiah was stunned when Kage relinquished. Before, he had caught him torturing the likes of bugs. Isaiah never knew why he did such things but felt some deeper meaning residing just beneath the surface to the mask Kage comfortably wore.
Kage then whispered to himself in such a low tone of voice that only Isaiah would be able to hear through his eyes. "Keep watching… watch over me like you've always done." His fingertips were touching a golden necklace never before seen by Isaiah. From the angle he couldn't discern what it was, but it was certainly a precious item to Kage. Isaiah then cut away realizing he was in the midst of something that should be left well alone.