Back To School

Akira yawned and stared out his classroom window. The blue square of the sky and a jumble of grey buildings dominated the view. Akira spotted a flock of white birds gliding overhead. He continued to watch their movement until another yawn escaped his throat and forced him to briefly close his eyes.

"Oye. Oye. Someone needs more sleep here."

Akira turned and looked up at his classmate. "Oh, Good Morning, Yakeru."

"Good Morning," the tall boy said. "What happened? You skipped school."

"Oh, it's nothing," Akira said and waved his hand.

"I was worried," Yakeru said. "After all, you have never missed school. I always thought that the chance of you skipping school is lower than your chance of getting a girlfriend."

"Eh, why do you keep rubbing that into my face." Akira again turned to gaze at the bright morning sky outside. "Go away and annoy someone else. "

Yakeru laughed. "Sorry about that. But seriously, why did you skip? Was it because you were worried about Monoka's boyfriend beating the hell out of you?"

"Crap. I totally forgot about Haru," Akira muttered. Just when he said those words, a big buff guy stomped into the class.

Akira averted his face, hoping that Haru had forgotten about him. But sadly, that was not the case. The big boy marched toward Akira, shoved Yakeru aside, and placed his hand on Akira's shoulder.

"What the hell, dude? You got scared and ran away?" Haru bellowed.

"I didn't--" Akira started.

Haru clapped Akira's back hard. "I don't blame you. My acting was too good."

"Acting?" Akira muttered and rubbed his sore back.

"Yes. I really have no intentions of hitting you. You are a good guy. Always sharing your food, and you are such a good cook. I love your food."

Akira stared, eyes agape. "Thanks. I guess."

"Say sorry to Monoka when she comes, even though it's not your fault."

"But--" Akira started, but before he could go on, Haru grabbed his collar.

"Apologies to Monoka," Haru said, glaring.

The sudden switch in tone befuddled Akira. But when he saw Monoka entering the class, he realized that Haru was again acting.

Akira decided to play along since he was too tired from training. Who would have thought that sitting idle with a rock on your palm could be this taxing? "Aahhhh. Yes. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those words to her," he said as loudly as possible.

Haru's fake mad face melted away, and a knowing smile took its place. "Good. Good." He fixed Akira's collars. "That's my boy." He glanced back and shouted. "Oh, Monoka, didn't realize you were here... Came late today?"

Monoka angrily averted her gaze and went to her seat. Haru left Akira's side and rushed up to her. "What did I do now?" He asked her. Monoka started complaining about the things that were bothering her, and Haru started praising her and telling her that she should stop worrying because he was with her.

Akira sighed. He again turned his gaze outside. The sun continued to climb in the sky. The class continued to fill in around Akira, and the chatter of kids grew louder. A few minutes later, Akira felt a cold hand around his wrist, making him jerk his head away from the window.

"What the--" Akira's breath got caught in his throat when he saw it was Rin who had grabbed his hand. "Wh-what are you doing?" If he was right, Rin was supposed to be sitting at the other end of the room, not anywhere near Akira.

"Come with me," Rin said. The chatter had now totally died out. Everyone in the room was now staring at Akira and Rin, at the awkward old kid and the sulky new girl. Akira felt his face getting warmer as blood rushed to his cheeks. He didn't remember being this embarrased about something.

"N-no," Akira muttered and tried to resist. But Rin overpowered him by using cosmic energy, and soon Akira was dragged out of the room.

She took him across the empty corridor to a corner by a staircase.

"Seriously, what are you trying to do?" Akira asked again.

Rin had been quiet the whole time she had pulled Akira to the secluded spot. Now, she broke her silence and said, "How did you do it?"

"Do what?" Akira asked.

"Convinced them to take you in?" Rin asked with a scowl on her face. "They allowed you take the exam? How? Why?"

"Oh, that," Akira smirked. "Nothing. I did nothing. They probably just realized on their own that I was a useful guy."

"Useful guy?" Rin snorted. "Diet water is more useful than you."

"Hey! How can you... Wait a minute. What's diet water?"

"That's not important," Rin said with a pained look on her face. "What's important that you are a fraud, and I'll have to train a fraud."

"Fra... Hold up a minute!" Akira stepped back. "Pako was telling me that they had assigned him to teach me cosmic energy and someone else to teach me swordsmanship. That someone else is you?"

"Sadly, yes," Rin said. "Max asked me to do it. Of course, I refused. But then my father chimed in, and I had to say yes." She sighed. "I was pissed at first. But then the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was a perfect opportunity to teach you a lesson." She cracked her knuckles and smiled. "So, are you ready?"

"Uh, no," Akira muttered. "Also, I think I would like to change my teacher."