Pinned to the bathroom walls by Kenta, I already knew my fate. Struggling was useless as it would only piss them off more and ultimately make me miss the morning classes. Thus even with the giant bastard's hand on my collar, I didn't struggle much.
"Hero, look I don't wanna escalate the situation," shifting my attention to the one pulling the strings, I tried to talk some reason into him even if it had little chance of succeeding. "Why don't you just leave me alone after this?"
Hearing my request a confused frown took over his eyebrows. He seemed astounded by my casual tone despite being in a dire situation. Perhaps it even hit a nerve as his expression quickly went from confusion to anger.
"Who the hell do you think I am?" The moment he said those words with his fist clenched tight, I knew I had blown all chances of getting out unharmed.
'Good job you idiot…' It didn't take long for the first strike to land on my face. Once Hero had started the assault, both Kenta and Sato began punching and kicking as well. Hurdled up in a ball, I kept my head shielded until the trio was done with me for the moment.
Lying motionless on the floor, I watched them glared at me with smirks on their faces before leaving me behind in the restroom. Struggling to get up, I spent a few moments just getting used to the hurt. Once it all began to dissipate, I quickly washed my face off in the sink and headed off to attend my first class.
'Hero's mom, she's a teacher, right? Maybe I should…' Just thinking about complaining to his mom was enough to give me visions of what would happen once the news made it to Hero's ears. But I think it was time for the teacher to finally know what her son has been up to in school. 'Maybe tomorrow though, I have to work extra shifts at work this evening.'
Sliding the door open to my class, I was met with curious gazes and whispers. All conversing about the bruises and the rumors about my family's condition. Having a cheating mother didn't help the situation either, especially since I was ordered by the court to live with her after my parent's divorce. The rumors ranged anywhere from simple gossip to scandalous rumors about me and my mother living together after her affair.
Thankfully, however, there was someone waiting for me next to my desk whose presence alone helped me block off the gossip around me.
"Aye Aye," imitating a pirate, Satori put a finger on her left eyelid to make me conscious of my own dark eye. "I didn't know you were cosplaying a pirate today."
Referring to the darkened bruise, she tried to make a light-hearted joke despite knowing what must've happened. Patting her hands on my desk, she gestured for me to sit down. As I did, she reached into her bag and took out a small vanity box with a brush, a mirror, and some shades of concealer.
"Let me help you hide it," she offered, already applying the power on the brush.
"Satori, I already have enough people teasing me about stuff, I don't want makeup to be one of them," ignoring my complaint, she brought the brush closer to my eyes and began covering the darkened region.
Huffing a sigh of defeat, I let her do as she wanted until she finally pulled the brush away, contended. Showing me the mirror, she beamed a smile at how well she'd managed to hide the bruise.
"No wonder guys don't trust girls with loads of makeup," seeing how there was no trace of an injury left behind, I teased her Satori a little as her reward.
"Hmph! You want me to match your other eye with a bruise as well?" Puffing her cheeks while striking a serious pose with her hands on her hips, she shot right back.
Sharing a light chuckle over the pure idiocy of the topic, I began feeling much better after the incident in the bathroom. Even though things weren't perfect, there were plenty of people willing to help me. Satori and Akane both knew me well and despite the rumors, they didn't treat me any different than they treated others.
'Everything will get better with time, you just have to sail the storm first.' Reminding myself to brave my troubles, I decided to focus on the class. Soon enough as the teacher walked in, I made sure to absorb as much information as possible since this was the only time of the day I had reserved for studying.
Even so, having Hero's mom teach the first lecture of the day was quite distracting. If Satori hadn't covered the bruise with makeup then perhaps she would've brought it up herself, but now, I couldn't possibly tell her without being questioned about the hidden bruise first. For the rest of the lectures, I tried not to think about anything and just focused on making notes.
By the time school came to an end, I was already running late for my shift at the store. Thanks to Hero and his goons being jealous of me because I topped this term's tests again. Thankfully, however, Kimura, their leader, had something much more important to discuss with them so they left me without another beating for the day.
'Kimura, why is he still in our school anyway? He's much older than us all.' Being a small gang leader, his presence at school was already an enigma. The only reason that I could think of for his flunking so many times was so he could keep peddling drugs and cigarettes to high school students. 'Who knows why the principal doesn't do anything about him, even though everyone knows what happens in this school's after-hours?'
Lost in my thoughts, I was almost to the ground floor, but that's when I noticed something peculiar out the windows. Akane, dressed in her track and field outfit, was surrounded by a group of cheerleaders. Which in itself wouldn't have been strange, but the girls she was encircled by were the known female bullies on the campus.
"Doesn't seem like they're hurting her, but…" Taking out my phone, I quickly dialed her number.
As the call went through, Akane reached into her carry bag with a nervous expression. Saying something to the girls, she distanced herself from them and finally picked up the cell.
"You okay?" I asked, my eyes fixed on her through the windows.
"Y-yeah…Why do you ask?" Obviously having no clue that I could see her, she sounded quite confused.
"I saw you being accosted by Hero and his goon's girlfriends, I didn't know if you needed help so I called to get you out," the moment I revealed the information, Akane looked around everywhere and finally saw me staring at her through the first-floor window.
Keeping her calm still, she picked up a weak smile before whispering.
"Thanks, I needed that," with the girls still standing not far behind her, Akane was trying to keep her relief from showing. "But don't worry, I'll be fine heading home alone today."
"Alone? Why?" I asked, confused as to why she wasn't going to accompany me today.
"The nationals are coming, I need to prepare for them you know," her response seemed half-hearted, but I knew she wasn't lying.
"Okay, take care and if you need my help shoot me a text," exchanging a glance at each other through the window, we put away our phones and walked away.
I knew something was off that day. That I should've waited and talked some more with Akane. Maybe I should've even taken the day off to hang out with her and Satori. But alas, I was too blinded by hope. Hope that things will get better, that they always get better. I was too blinded by the light at the end of the dark tunnel to realize that sometimes, the light on the other end was a train charging in your direction.