Chapter 21: Pushed To The Edge

It's Tuesday at 7:51 am. 3 days left before the weekends.

Roy is heading to school using the same direction he has been using since the first day of school. Every time he goes here, he couldn't help but remember Yua being chased by a street dog. He chuckles at the thought of it. Then he hears an upcoming scream, a scream that sounds very familiar. Roy turns around to see Yua running towards him. Yua then launches herself towards Roy.

Yua uses tackle. It's not very effective… Roy doesn't even move an inch. It's like he's a brick wall.

"Good morning, Himar-"

"THEDOGSARECHASINGMEAGAIN!!!", Yua interrupted Roy.

Yua then gets behind Roy. What Roy sees is the same dog that ran after Yua the day they first met...with a surplus of other street dogs. Then behind the pack is Sara who is pursuing the wild mutts with much better stamina than they first met. Roy's proud of the progress that Sara is making.

The familiar street dog stops and freezes upon seeing Roy. Seems like they learned their lesson. The rest, however, starts barking and growling at Roy. Roy sighs seeing this.

Soon after, all of the stray dogs start running away from Roy. Sara stops and is sort of surprised by this, not knowing how can Roy scare off wild animals. Yua is happy to see that Roy saves her again and hugs Roy tightly. Roy groans and gets off Yua's arms. The only dog left is the one who first trailed Yua.

They're scared of Roy but too afraid to move or run away. Their ears are flattened, their tail is tucked between their hind legs, and they're avoiding eye contact with Roy.

Roy suddenly has a change of mood. Seeing how scared the dog is, Roy sighs and tries to be more calm and gentle. Roy slowly approaches the dog. In response to this, the dog starts growling at Roy. However, instead of seeing the same scary eyes, which they saw before, they see gentler ones. Seeing and feeling how non-threatening Roy's aura is putting, the dog suddenly stops growling. They then put their head on the ground, showing that they yield to Roy. Roy slowly puts his hand on their head and starts petting the dog. They seem to like it. After petting the dog, they start licking his hand. Roy smiles at this.

"Why are you doing that?!", Yua asked scaredly.

Yua's behind Sara. Roy gives her a confused look.

"She's afraid of dogs...", Sara answered.

"So that's why she was running from them… As well as having unnecessary fear.", Roy muttered.

"If I'm not mistaken, I think that's a Shiba Inu? I don't know...the color of their fur seems like it is a Shiba Inu.", Sara added.

Roy nods to this information. Roy then notices that the dog has some bald spots on its body. Especially on the left side of the neck, a huge chunk of fur is missing there. Roy emphasizes the dog after seeing that. Roy looks around, making sure nobody is watching. Surely enough, nobody is. Sara and Yua are curious about Roy's next move is. A small portal then appears beside Roy and he sticks his hand in it and pulls out a piece of raw meat. The girls are surprised by this. The dog sees this and starts drooling. Roy notices this and gives the raw meat to the dog, which the dog eats happily. It seems that they haven't eaten like this in a very long time.

"Woah! How did you do that?", Yua asked eagerly.

"Is that meat expired or what?", Sara questioned suspiciously.

"First, I made a dimension where I can put my stuff in it. Second, it isn't. I made sure whatever inside of that world can never expire.", Roy explained clearly.

"So... Your personal pocket dimensions?", Sara replied.

"Yes. Sort of...", Roy muttered.

Yua is amazed by this but she suddenly gets confused. Sara seems to understand it though. All too well. Roy will remember this. After that, Roy looks at the dog who seems to finish eating the uncooked meat. Roy puts his hand on the concrete ground and a bowl suddenly forms. Then Roy extends his index finger and water comes out of it and into the stone bowl. The dog then starts drinking and licking from it. They finish it in a few minutes. The stray dog has now grown attached to Roy and starts licking his face.

"Maybe you shouldn't let them lick you.", Sara is concerned.

"Yeah! It might be dirty!", Yua agreed with Sara down to the bone.

Roy ignores them and continues to let it happen. Then they stop. Roy pets them for the last time.

"Come on. We might be late for school at this rate.", Sara said.

Roy sighs. After taking a moment to breathe, Roy stands up and begins walking to school. Yua and Sara follow Roy. Yua walks beside Roy and Sara is on her right.

"So, considering the fact that you're still here, safe, does that mean all things well last night?", Yua asked.

"More or less...", Roy responded.

"Why is that?", Yua asked again.

"Let's just say, I have to prove that they aren't a match to me.", Roy replied.

"By doing wh-AAA!!", Yua screamed.

After screaming, Yua immediately goes behind Sara. Both Yua and Sara look down. Roy follows their look to see the same dog, earlier, following them. Roy specifically.

"Huh, I didn't sense you there. Your power must have been that weak for me not to notice you.", Roy said as he pets them again.

"Why?! Why is it following us?!", Yua cried out to the gods above asking a redundant question.

"It's because of Roy-san. He made the dog attached to him.", Sara answered.

"Yeah, this might be a problem. Our school won't allow animals inside it.", Roy pointed out.

"Well, how do you think we should solve this?", Sara sarcastically asked.

Roy doesn't want to leave the dog behind. Roy empathizes with them. The feeling of abandonment and suffering from loneliness...is something Roy is all too familiar with. So, Roy decides to do a dangerous way of solving this problem.

"This is going to be tiring...", Roy whispered to himself.

Roy stands up. Then a small portal appears beside Roy. Roy puts his hand on the rim of the portal and stretches it. Roy stretches it to the point that almost a child can enter it or...a small animal could. Roy carries the dog. It flinches a bit but soon enough they calm down. After a few seconds of silence, Roy throws it in the portal. On the other side of the dimension. Both Sara and Yua's mouths open wide instantly. shocked to see what Roy do to the stray dog.

"Roy, what did you do?!", Yua asked.

"Don't worry about them. As long as they're in there, they won't starve nor thirst.", Roy replied.

"Are there any drawbacks to doing that?", Sara was concerned for Roy.

Roy nods, slowly.

"The longer they're in there, the more it will drain my mana. I need to put a constant barrier to protect and keep them safe in there.", Roy explained.

"You know, when I asked for a solution for this problem, this isn't what I had in mind.", Sara responded.

"I know...but it's mine to make.", Roy was committed to this decision.

"That was a poor decision you made...", Sara replied.

"I know I know... Let's just go now...", Roy wanted to move on from this topic.

The portal disappears and the 3 of them start walking towards their school. Sara looks at Roy with a worried look while holding her silver necklace.

A few minutes passed by…

They are at the entrances of their school. When they see a crowd gathering in the middle of it all. Roy sighs. Sara puts her hand on her face, groaning in annoyance. Yua smiles and calls her out.

"Kage-senpai! We're here!", Yua waved her hand.

Out of the crowd appears Varari and Alvin. Alvin is being pulled by Varari out of the crowd. Yua then charges in with a hug at her senpai. Varari accepts this and reciprocates the feeling. Alvin raised his fist in Roy's direction. Roy looks at Alvin's fist in confusion. Alvin notices.

"Huh. You don't know how to do a fist bump, right?", Alvin asked.

Roy nods. Then Alvin teaches Roy how to do it. Alvin grabs Roy's right hand.

"So! The first step to do a fist bump is to, obviously, turn your hand into a fist.", Alvin instructed.

Roy looks at his hand. Then Roy does what he is instructed to do. Alvin smiles at this.

"That's it! Now, what you're going to do next is to bump my fist using yours.", Alvin raised his fist again.

"Come on, don't be shy. I won't bite. I mean my hand doesn't mouth.", Alvin encourages Roy.

Roy sighs. Then Roy does it. Bumping his fist with Alvin's

"Boooshhhh!", Alvin suddenly pulls his hand back and opens it quickly.

"Balalalala....", Roy did the same thing except with less energy.

Roy looks away in embarrassment. Alvin puts his hand on Roy's shoulders.

"Hey, don't sweat it. The first time I did it was also terrible.", Alvin added.

"Not to interrupt this touching moment but shouldn't we go inside now?

There's a crowd forming around us.", Sara whispered.

Roy then notices the people around them. Then Roy looks at Varari.

"Way to go, Varari...", Roy said.

"Don't blame me, my dear Roy. These boys know a treasure when they see one.", Varari replied.

"Well then, lez head inside.", Yua leads the way.

The rest follows Yua inside the school.

Hours later...

It's Science time. The second to the last subject. After this and another subject, they can finally go home. Sara is called by a teacher since she's the President of the whole school. The teacher isn't here yet though. The whole is waiting for their Science Teacher. Roy is sweating and breathing heavily. Something that their classmates notice. However, whenever they ask Roy if he's fine or alright, he always replies with a thumbs up and a weary smile.

Roy can't handle the noise in the classroom and decides to go to the bathroom. Roy goes inside one of the stalls and breath. Roy exhales and inhales. Rinse and repeat. After calming down a bit, Roy chooses to open the portal and see the stray dog. Roy sees the dog enjoying the zero-gravity feeling there. The dog then sees Roy. They immediately head towards Roy and lick his sweaty face. Roy appreciates the gesture by petting the dog again. Roy does this for a couple of minutes. The dog suddenly barks at Roy to which Roy quickly grabs the dog's mouth and shuts it. Roy then places his fingers on his mouth, signaling the dog to stay quiet. After a few minutes of silence, Roy lets go of their mouth. The dog soon starts licking Roy's sweaty face again. Having enough of this, Roy pushes the dog back into the dimension.

"I'll be back. I promise.", Roy whispered.

Then Roy closes the portal. Roy takes a moment to breathe. Then he heads out toward one of the sinks. A couple of students gives Roy a weird glance but they soon leave. Roy sighs and looks at the mirror for a second, seeing his sticky self in his reflection. Roy removes his watch then washes his hand first and cleans both of it. Afterward, Roy wipes his face. He stares at himself for another time then tiredly leaves the bathroom. What Roy doesn't know is that he left his watch there in the sink.

Roy walks backs into his class. His teacher still isn't there. Seeing this, Roy sits down on his chair and puts his head on his desk, waiting for this day to be over. Yua then goes to him and talks.

"Heeyyy, Roy. I heard that you play Superb Crash Siblings Ultra. I also play that game as well.", Yua happily said.

Roy groans, he isn't in the mood to talk to her. Yua, however, doesn't notice this. Yua continues to ask some questions to the annoyed Roy.

"What's your main?", Yua asked.

"Stephen and a gunner...", Roy answered quickly.

"Well, mine is Nessy! The little girl from Bound To Earth.", Yua replied.

"Gee...that's...great..", Roy tiredly commented.

"Maybe we should play together from time to time?", Yua suggested.

Roy is doing his best to tolerate Yua but he has limits. Yua notices that he is breathing heavily. Breathing heavier than usual.

"Is something wrong? Are you ok?", Yua asked.

"Or do you want water? I could get you water if you want. Hello? Do you want wa-", Yua was interrupted.

"Shut up!", Roy yelled.

The class is then filled with silence. Everyone is looking at both Roy and Yua. Roy then stands up.

"The problem with you Yua is that you don't know when to shut your huge mouth! I'm sick of hearing your unnatural volume! Your obnoxious voice! Get. A. Clue! Of when to shut up....", Roy lastly said.

Then Roy falls to the ground. Roy is now unconscious. Roy's body is reaching higher temperatures and Roy's breathing becomes erratic. Alvin runs toward his friend. Alvin then puts his hand on Roy's neck.

"Guys! I need help! I think he's above the normal temperature. Roy needs to go to the clinic.", Alvin yelled.

A couple of his male classmates, including Alvin, carries Roy towards the school clinic. Yua's left behind, still shocked at what Roy said to her.

"Way to go, Himara! You manage to stress someone till' they're knocked out!", one of her classmates said.

"No...I-", Yua uttered.

"I knew you were an annoying person."

"Stop it...", Yua tried to hold back her tears.

"Stop what? That's the truth, Himara. Look at what you have done to Abellona. You didn't even take notice of this. Yet you continue to ramble on!"

"Yeah! Like Abellona said, "Get a clue!". Do what he advises you and shut up!"

Yua is soon in tears, and she runs out of the room. Not looking where she's going, Yua eventually bumps into someone. Both of them fall to the ground. Yua quickly stands and apologies.

"I'm sorry I wasn't loooookiiiinnnggg....", Yua's brain then stopped.

Yua finds out who she bumps into. Someone that Yua has had a crush on for a long time.

"No, it was my fault. I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking.", Prince Graysen said.

Prince Graysen stands and fixes himself. The prince looks at Yua and sees that she's crying.

"Come now... It isn't proper for a fair maiden to cry. Here, wipe your tears, darling...", the prince charmingly said as he handed her a handkerchief.

Yua's blushing uncontrollably. The girls surrounding them are jealous of Yua. Yua reluctantly takes it and begins wiping those tears away.

"Thank you...", Yua said shyly in a high tone and gave it back.

"You're welcome.", Prince Graysen replied.

Yua curtsied to him and starts walking away, blushing that she wipes herself using the handkerchief of her crush.

"Wait!", the prince called out to her.

Prince Graysen stops Yua. It seems that the prince has something for her. Yua stops and looks at him. The prince then approaches Yua.

"Abellona Roy is your friend, right?", Prince Graysen asked.

Yua looks away momentarily. The prince ignores this and he pulls out something from his pocket. Prince Graysen shows it to Yua. Yua gasps upon seeing it.

"That's...that's Roy's watch. I think...", Yua commented.

"Well, it sure is.", Prince Graysen replied.

The prince turns the watch around, showing its backside and revealing a masking tape with Roy's last and first name on it. Prince Graysen puts his hand above hers and drops the watch.

"Say hi for me, will you? Sayonara!", Prince Graysen said before leaving.

NOTE: Sayonara means Goodbye.

Yua looks at Roy's watch again. Remembering what Roy said to her. What her classmate said to her. Tears began rolling but Yua wipes them off this time.

Meanwhile…

"Do you think he will be okay?", a distant voice can be heard.

"I'm sure he will! I believe in my bro!", another distant but different voice can also be heard.

Roy starts to wake up. Roy opens his eyes to see his friends there...except Yua. Everybody smiles upon seeing him wake up. Roy then immediately senses something abnormally high magic beside him. Roy looks to his right to see Sara holding his arm and her own necklace. Sara suddenly lets go of it and moves as far away as she can. The weird feeling disappeared as well.

"Roy...", Varari said.

Varari suddenly came in with a hug. Roy reluctantly wraps his right arm around her.

"We heard what you did earlier. Sara explained to us.", Alvin said.

After hearing that, Roy sits right up. Varari pulls herself and sits on her chair. Roy looks at Sara. After that, Roy looks around.

"The nurse is on a bathroom break if that's what you're asking.", Varari informed.

"Probably shouldn't have eaten that Spicy Chicken Burger from Dr. Donald.

That would definitely make you poop af.", Alvin cracked a joke.

"How long was I asleep?", Roy asked.

"Bro, the end of class was an hour ago. So...probably 2-3 hours, I think.", Alvin responded.

"In which case though, you said there was a drawback of doing...that but you never explained it clearly.", Sara reminded.

"The reason why I was so drained was to prevent the dog from...something unexplainable. Putting up a barrier to protect it from…the dangerous reality in there.", Roy explained.

"What do you mean by that?", Sara asked.

"The laws of physics and everything scientific is different in there. It's both random and dangerous. In short, I'm trying to protect the dog from that randomness. That was the first time I put an actual life in there and tried to protect it.

My brothers and I sometimes put insects, rats, and other things in that portal. They all died differently. Body limbs including the head separate from each other. Sometimes they died because they couldn't breathe and rarely, they explode.", Roy explained.

"I see...but if I'm correct, you have some of your things there, right?", Sara asked again.

"Yeah, isn't that where you put the Demonic Saber?", Varari is curious as well.

"Objects that aren't alive or don't have both magic and energy are something that I can manage but adding a live being to the equation makes it...difficult. As you can see to what happened to me.", Roy answered.

"You know, that was a dumb idea for someone who's in the top 10 in your class.", Varari was disappointed in Roy.

"I'm a risk-taker as well...", Roy said.

"Of course, you are...", Varari facepalmed

"Why do you have to do this for a dog?", Varari questioned his motive.

"Because I wanted to.", Roy replied.

"Well, why do you want to?!", Varari firmly interrogated him.

"I don't know...", Roy said in response.

"What?... What do you mean you don't know?", Varari was confused by this.

Roy looks with serious and intimidating eyes. He has enough of the questions. Tired of what happened today and tired because of Yua. Roy has so little patience left and all of it is thrown out of the window because of this. Varari flinches a little by his scary gaze.

"It means, I don't know. I really don't. And can you please stop interrogating me? It's frustrating. Don't try to make me feel stupid. Maybe focus on yourself. How about you grow your brain more instead of your breasts.", Roy harshly said.

Everyone in the room is now uncomfortable and afraid of Roy. Roy realizes what he has done. Then he sighs and looks away. Nobody talks to each other for a few moments. Understanding the situation he's in, Roy gets to the side of the bed and sits there.

"I'm sorry... I just... I'm going to go home... There would be no training today....", Roy lastly said before leaving.

Roy then stands up, grabs his bag, and walks away. Exiting the room quickly. The moment Roy closes the door, he leans against a wall and massages the side of his forehead.

"Control yourself, Roy. Control your anger...", Roy muttered to himself.

Roy sighs. A part of himself dies when he remembers what he said to Yua, practically embarrassing her in front of the class. Roy then hits himself on the forehead when he recalls how he acted in front of Varari, Alvin, and Sara.

Roy knows that this would eventually happen. Suppressing your anger will only build up, and build up it does. Like a volcano that is about to explode but is blocked by an object. The more the object tries to prevent it, the more the pressure it builds up. Resulting in the volcano exploding much stronger than what is supposed to be like.

Roy takes a couple of breaths. Roy then stands up properly upon seeing people in the hall. Roy sighs… Then he starts walking home.

"I'm sorry...", Roy said.

Nobody hears what Roy said…but himself.