Chapter 14 - Rag doll

"I didn't ask you to come here. You still have more running to do," the coach spoke sternly, watching Neaf approach with a different air about him, his face red and exhausted.

The coach's words seemed to fly over Neaf's head as he focused solely on the task at hand. He just wanted to get it over with, to stop overthinking and crushing everything under the weight of his thoughts.

"Neaf, the coach is talking to you," Joshua intervened, placing a hand on Neaf's chest, as if trying to stop a possessed man.

"Move," Neaf said emotionlessly, looking at Joshua.

Neaf wasn't sure if he could break any of the coach's joints, but considering Axtral's words about the coach being human, it didn't seem like such a daunting task to get into trouble.

So many thoughts crashed over Neaf, knowing he couldn't harm or injure anyone. But that was the old him. Now, inside an athlete's body, which was not only a robot but an AI robot, breaking the nose of someone as old as the coach shouldn't be out of the question.

"What's wrong with you, Neaf? Why are you acting like this?" Joshua asked in confusion, trying to confront Neaf.

"I said move. I need to talk to the coach," Neaf lied, staring straight into Joshua's eyes, feeling the weight of the other team members' gazes. He knew he was causing a scene.

It would have been so much better if he had just run here and accidentally collided with his coach, breaking his nose in the process.

"Leave him. If he wants to talk to me, the rest of you continue warming up. I'll have a word with Neaf," the coach said, walking toward Neaf and Joshua.

Joshua removed his hand from Neaf's chest and returned to the warming-up session, but all eyes were still on Neaf and the coach.

"Tell me what you need to say. If you're thinking of making excuses, you should know that after pulling this stunt of coming here without completing your punishment, you should be ready for more," the coach said.

Neaf looked at the coach's body, noticing how ripped he was, but also how old he was .

Maybe a little force could break a bone, which might not be too painful.

"As if you don't know how much it hurts when an injury hits the bones," his conscience chimed in.

Neaf knew it could be quite painful, but even the smallest bone could fulfil his task, and he could see his grandparents. It was worth a try.

But what about the punishment if he couldn't do it? That was something he didn't want to think about. His life had already been a failure; he couldn't bear another one.

"I'm sorry, sir," Neaf apologised as he with force collided with his coach, sending them both crashing to the ground.

Boom!

Neaf found himself on top of his coach, his head inadvertently colliding with the coach's nose, causing it to start bleeding. As he raised his head, he saw his coach lying unconscious.

"Damn it!" a loud curse filled the air as someone grabbed Neaf by the back of his shirt and pulled him away. Other students quickly rushed to help the coach.

Whispers filled Neaf's ears, but he felt numb, unable to process the rapid turn of events.

"This guy has lost his mind," someone cursed, while two more students came and held Neaf tightly, as if afraid he might try to escape.

Despite the commotion, Neaf stood motionless, unable to muster a response or break free from their hold.

"Run!" his mind screamed, but his body remained unresponsive.

"What the hell did you do?" one of the students holding Neaf grabbed his collar and demanded an explanation.

Neaf remained silent, his gaze fixed on the coach being taken away by the other students. He couldn't help but hope that the coach's nose was indeed broken.

He knew it was wrong to wish harm upon someone, but he had put himself in this situation for a reason, and he couldn't afford to hope for anything else.

"I asked you something! How dare you lay your hands on our coach, you bastard," the student exclaimed, delivering a stinging slap to Neaf's cheek, startling him. Memories of the beatings he endured from bullies at his previous school flooded his mind, a painful reminder of his past struggles with Steve and others who had tormented him for being weak.

But this was different. Here, he was being punished for harming someone.

The three imposing figures holding him looked at him with disdain, unable to comprehend how Neaf, the coach's favourite student, could commit such an act. They seemed ready to crush him for his transgression.

"We understand that you've lost your memories, and perhaps the coach's punishment is a bit harsh, but that doesn't give you the right to lay your hands on him," another student, who was holding Neaf from behind, calmly interjected, attempting to defuse the situation and prevent further violence, especially after one of them had already slapped Neaf, an action that was nothing to be proud of.

"Who are you talking to ? Let's take this guy to the principal. He'll decide what to do with this crazy piece of crap," the third student declared, and the others nodded in agreement.

One of the students grabbed Neaf's hands, another took hold of his feet, and the third supported his back as they began to drag Neaf away, leaving him feeling like a rag doll being carried around, his fear intensifying.

"Put me down," Neaf demanded in a heavy voice, his sense of dread growing with each passing moment.

"If you don't want to get punched, you better shut up. I don't know what the principal is going to do with you, but before that, I'm going to make you regret this," one of the students threatened.

Neaf froze at the mention of being harmed. There was no way he wanted this body to come to harm because of him. Axtral's first order was to protect this body, and if anything happened to it, the consequences would be suffered by him alone.