Fist Is The Answer

His sidekicks spluttered different varieties of "What the fuck?!" "Did she fucking do that?!" "The nerve of this bitch!" in an incredulous manner.

Once they finished processing what I dared to do, they all started comically folding their sleeves and glaring at me with menacing glints in their eyes.

Instead of feeling worried for the younger me's safety, Death tried his best to stifle his laughter but failed miserably.

"Don't get me wrong," Death managed to say mid-snort, "I'm not laughing at you even though what you did was utterly hilarious. I'm laughing at how his goons took their roles so seriously, which was stupid!"

I nodded, understanding his point.

"It seemed like they attended a workshop on 'How to Act Like a Gangster' but still failed the assignment."

The laugh that Death was withholding was finally free from its confines. Death fell on the warm asphalt of the parking lot, literally rolling on the floor and laughing.

I think his reactions were a bit exaggerated, but it made me happy that I was the one who made him laugh. When I was still alive, I was told that my jokes were stupid and I shouldn't even attempt to make them.

'I wonder what Dante would say when I tell him I made the incarnation of death laugh so much he was rolling on the parking lot?'

I shook my head, realizing the futility of that thought.

I'm dead. I won't be able to tell Dante in the first place.

"Dante?" Death repeated, patting his clothes clean. "The same Dante when you were—"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence. We both got distracted because the goons suddenly advanced toward the younger me, about to take revenge for defiling Boss's honor.

Just as they were about to beat the fuck out of me, Boss held them back with his arm. He singlehandedly held back all six men with his thick, muscular arm.

Death whistled, genuinely impressed.

The gang members gave him a hesitant look but ultimately backed away. For some reason, this made the younger me feel anger instead of relief.

"Should I be thanking you for that?" I said sarcastically, rolling my stormy gray at Boss.

"You actually should," Death muttered under his breath.

The gang members could watch in horror as I walked toward Boss and gave him the strongest punch a person of my stature, who was only 5'3 in height, could muster.

Boss staggered back, causing the onlookers to gasp. How did a well-built gang leader fall a step back because of a punch from a girl of 5'3? But as Death said earlier, I wasn't just any girl.

I was Evangeline Vermillion.

"The delinquent-honor student that will fuck you up!" Death spoke proudly as if I were his child.

Boss turned to the side and spat blood, wiping his face wet with my saliva and swollen because of my hit.

"First, you wanna invite me to your stupid thug club, but you won't even speak directly to me?" I scoffed. "Don't disrespect me like that, asshole!"

"It sounds so weird hearing you curse," Death chuckled, shaking his head.

"Second," I said.

"Oh, you're not done yet?" Death tilted his head to the side.

"I did say 'first,' so of course, there's going to be a 'second.'" I pointed it out.

"I don't need to be under anyone's tutelage to do whatever the fuck I want!" I continued. "You wanna fight me for being on the same 'turf' as you? Come and get me, bitches!"

I took a fighting stance and waited for the gang's unison attack. But, surprisingly, none of them did. All of them were too dumbstruck to do so.

So were the both of us in the In-Between.

"I don't know if you're brave or just plain stupid," Death said on the sidelines with me, his crimson eyes shining with amusement.

"Probably both," I suggested.

"Probably both," He agreed.

Returning to the memory, I was acting arrogant and taunting them to attack me. The goons would if they could, but Boss still held them back.

"Boss," The sidekick that served as Boss's spokesperson a while ago gave him a weary side glance. "Should we beat her to a bloody pulp?"

Instead of answering, Boss made an odd sound.

I glared harder, lowering my balled fists down.

Now, the sound that Boss was making grew louder and more pronounced. I realized that this humongous man was chuckling.

Chuckling at me.

This should have offended me, judging from how my high school self's personality seemed. But it didn't. This only made my arms slowly fall to my sides, a pinking blush coloring my cheeks.

"Don't tell me…!" Death gasped, finally connecting the dots. "He's the second love interest?!"

But like what he told me to do, I didn't.

"Fine," Boss said, though his tone was an impressed one. "I'll let you do whatever you want. I'll protect you from the adults and order my people not to pick fights with you."

His gang members murmured. Apparently, they were as dumbstruck as I was.

I briefly heard one of them whisper that this was the first time he saw Boss being 'gracious.'

"But… why?" I said slowly, not understanding what was going on.

He didn't bother answering me. Boss just turned his heels and began walking. His cronies followed him helplessly, unable to say anything or even ask what the fuck just happened.

"Hey!" I called angrily. "I'm still talking to you!"

Boss stopped.

He slightly turned his head around, revealing a slight curve on the end of his lips.

"You amused me."

That was the last thing he said before walking away. Soon, he turned into a speck in my vision, and later on, he and his gang were completely gone from view.

"Just like what Boss promised," I said as the In-Between turned black again. "No teacher reprimanded me or even dared inform my guardian that I was an honor student living a double life as a delinquent."

"That was unexpected." Was all Death could say. "Though it would explain how you didn't get expelled or even remained as an honoree in the first place.

I shrugged, staring at my hand. It still had scars from all the fighting I did as a high school student. It was a hand that didn't fit my personality as a middle schooler. But gone was that timid girl. The rebel in me was born and had no plans of dying at any time in this memory.

"I guess, sometimes, your fist is the answer."