A Troublemaker

As usual, Chris had woken up bright and early in the morning to the sound of shouting. He was in nothing but his underwear, as his pillow, as well as his back, were covered in sweat due to the heat, leaving wet marks on his thin mattress on the floor.

Since he lived in a small room, it would often get hot quickly and the village seemed to get more sunlight compared to the city. and his one and only small fan had broken. He wanted to ask for money to get a new fan but….

"You need to get rid of those people!" A female voice could be heard, which was definitely from his auntie. Chris was able to recognise that high pitch screech from a mile away.

"You know why they are here everyday, what are we meant to do, huh?" His uncle shouted back at her. "They want what we can't give them! Why don't you start selling some of that jewelery of yours?!"

It was almost the same argument they had everyday, but it was more intense than usual. Inside his room, on a small ledge in the corner, was a small letter sized box window. Chris placed his hands on the ledge and pulled himself up with ease and his bulging developed muscles from his back could be seen contracting.

'I knew it.' Chris thought, as he could see that the same men dressed in black suits were outside.

"Just get rid of them, whatever it takes! They are starting to come here more frequently and it's only a question of time that people in the village are going to start asking questions!" His auntie shouted once again.

It was time for Chris to get ready for school anyway, so he decided to put on his usual school uniform, and when closing the door to head into the main room, he made sure he did so loudly. This way his aunt and uncle could hear him coming into the main room.

This was always the cue for them to stop arguing.

"Good morning, Chris. My, you are up early again. Have a good day at school!" His auntie put on a fake smile and waved him goodbye.

'Do they really think that the walls do anything when they are shouting that loudly?' Chris wondered.

Either way, it was impossible for them to hide their problems from him, with him living here, he had seen the men dressed in black on several occasions.

"Hey, it's nice to see you again." The man greeted him as he leaned up against his car and started to light a cigarette. He then pulled out another one and offered it towards Chris.

"Thanks, but I'm alright. I need to get to school now." Chris replied, but soon the other two men stood in his way, blocking his path.

"Maybe I'm just being a bit nosy here, but do you know just how much trouble those people are in, Chris?" The man asked, making sure to say his name loud and clear.

Chris had never given his name to the man. He was unsure if this was a threat or not, but he knew that he didn't like being dragged into the mess by a stranger. He clenched his fist, ready to fight his way out if they attempted to do something.

After all, these guys looked like gangsters, so he wouldn't be surprised if they were to get physical. Perhaps they wanted to kidnap him in an attempt to force his uncle and aunt to pay up whatever they owed them. Either that or they might want to slice him up and sell his insides.

"Easy there, kid. We aren't here for you. At least not yet. I just wanted to ask you whether you thought about my offer or not, do you still have my card?" The man threw the cigarette on the floor and stomped on it a few times, he then pulled his suit a little straightening it out and walked forward.

Chris patted the side of his trousers, and the card seemed to still be in there.

"Like it or not, but I'm afraid you might be seeing me a lot around here, so might as well get acquainted. Since you don't seem to have checked my card, the name's Kiren. Just call me K for short." K introduced himself, offering Chris his hand. However, since the highschool student didn't take it, he retracted it after a while. "This family… It's the same story time and time again. Since it's gotten this far, there's no way out for them, but what about you?

"Do you really want to be dragged down with them? You still have your whole life ahead of you, don't you? Hence why I'm willing to give you an opportunity. Let me ask you, do you like your family?" K questioned Chris, searching his pockets for the box of cigarettes.

"I'm not particularly close with them, but they took me in when no one else would, so I owe them that at least." Chris replied. The two people were still blocking his way, but at least it didn't seem like they wanted to fight. He hoped that after K was done with his whole spiel they would let him go.

K noticing Chris staring at his subordinates gave the two men a signal and the next moment they made way. Chris didn't hesitate to move past them before they changed his mind, but that didn't stop K from continuing to talk to him. "Are you sure they only took you in because they cared about you? I bet you don't need me to tell you what sort of problems they have, now do you? Given their situation, would they just bring in another mouth to feed without any ulterior motive?"

"I like you, kid, so here's another warning. For now we're the only people coming over, but soon enough there will be others and then there's going to be big trouble. If you feel like you could use our protection, give me a call!"

Chris of course continued walking, not looking back once. He tried not to think about K's words but of course he couldn't help it. His aunt and uncle had always been strange. Still, he just paced forward and was looking forward to school more than ever.

On his way to school, Chris would pass the main centre for the village, and here he could see a group of highschool students who were hanging out outside. Three boys who wore baggy clothing over their uniform and had hoods over their heads. These were the type of kids who would often skip school, but Chris had never really paid them any attention.

One of the boys with bright orange hair started to search his pockets only to be faced with the reality that he didn't have enough money to buy anything to entertain himself while he and his buddies were playing hookie.

"Hey Bill, isn't that the rich kid that lives in that huge house? Why don't you just ask to 'borrow' some money from him." One of his friends suggested it after noticing the problem.

Bill grinned, and pulled his hood down, revealing his orange hair. He had quite the notorious reputation in school, so he thought his appearance would do the job if he just asked for a bit of change. When Chris was walking on the pavement in front of them, Bill quickly hopped out.

"Hey, don't the two of us go to the same school-" Before Bill could finish his sentence, Chris had barged into him and knocked him onto the ground.

"What the…I'm sorry, my mind was somewhere else." Chris rubbed his head after running into something solid. Realising what had just happened he quickly went over to offer Bill his hand, but the other slapped it away.

"Watch where you're walking! Do you think just because you come from a rich family you can walk over everyone in this village? Look at my clothes, my new hoodie is completely ruined because of you!" Bill shouted, and soon took out his hand. "Hand it over! You got to pay for it and extra for injuring me."

Chris looked at his clothing that didn't seem to be in a bad state at all. It took him a moment to understand what they were trying to do, as the other two came forward to add pressure.

"I'm sorry but I can't help you. Unlike what you think, I don't really have much money." Chris apologised and tried to walk around the trio, but Bill wouldn't let him get away. He grabbed him by his shoulder and gripped down. However, he hadn't expected for Chris to instantly turn around and twist Bill's wrist.

"Aargh, my arm!" Bill shouted, as he attempted to kick Chris, but the other shoved him away and his body hit the side of the wall.

"I'm not in the mood for this crap!" Chris sighed, but his actions said something else.

———

A few moments later, Chris continued to walk to school, his knuckles bloody, and a few specks of blood on his white shirt, while the three boys were too injured to even move.

'Did I just see that right, did Chris do all of that?!" Shirley, having seen everything, had trouble believing her eyes. 'Mai, I don't think Chris is the person you think he is.'