Learned Your Lesson?

The school was big, it could hold at least 5,000 students there.

The chatter was loud, students were saying:

"You're waiting on Shin and his guild too?"

"Yes!"

"Yesterday, he stopped two robberies, and saved a bunch of kids from quick sand monsters, AND he fed a bunch of hungry people!"

"He's so generous!"

Shin bumped into one of those students, saying with a straight face, "I did not perform that last task."

"Shin!"

The students in the front of the school turned their attention to Shin, exclaiming, "Shin!!!!"

"Shin's here!"

"Shin! I'm over here! I wanna see your eyes!"

"He's with some people in his guild!"

"Ohhh!!!"

Standing to the left and right sides of Shin, were three of the 8 highest ranked heroes from his guild. Even though Shin's guild has 5,000 people in it. And they all were hand chosen by Shin and the other higher ranked.

Tengen - [Male, black wavy hair wearing an orange headband, orange eyes, semi-muscular, wears gold circle earrings. 1st year in high school.]

Tengen said, "Heh?! The hell are you bozo's lookin' at? Ya wanna die?!"

Kirin - [Female, dark green hair in a small ponytail with two bands on the side of her head. Thin green eyebrows, yellow eyes, and a scar on her cheek. First year in high school.]

Some dudes walked up to Kirin, "Kirin! Hey! Hey! Kirin! I know you hate talking to these other lames, but I'm different. Talk to me!"

Kirin ignored them, not saying a word. Like always.

Red - [Male, first year in high school. Reddish orange hair in a ponytail, dark orange eyes, always wore a black cape (even with his black school uniform.) He always wore a black nose/mouth mask as well.]

Red saw a couple of pretty girls around his grade, and he zipped over there to them, leaning against the wall.

Red said with a grin, "Ladies.."

One of the girls responded, "It's Red! He's talking to us! Wait, we can't see your smile, or your grin under that mask you know."

"Shhh, shh, it's fine. Just go with it. So..I'm like..a highly ranked hero as you know…wanna do something after school…?"

Red saw a small lizard run under his feet, and he jumped back screaming like a girl.

He ran behind Shin, holding onto him, shaking.

"I-I-I saw a d-d-dr-dragon! It came for me!"

Shin responded, "Unhand me."

"But-!"

Akira was watching all of this, and he was excited now, thinking with a smile, 'Those three are talented enough to be in Shin's guild, so it's no surprise. They're so strong! Tengen, doesn't take crap from anyone, and once defeated an evil spirit haunting a nursery home with his astral projection abilities! Kirin doesn't like talking to anyone, the same age as me, and she once caught a hail of bullets with her teeth and spit them back out at the enemy. And she's super pretty! And Red, ladies man but scared of anything slimy or reptiles or flying insects. But he fought over a hundred samurai zombies with his flaming sword ability, and during the fight, he was as deadly and cold as ever with his eyes going blank! I wonder where the other 5 highest ranked heroes are. I know they go to this school! I-I gotta go up and meet them all! Now?! Yeah, now! Wait..what's the first thing I'll say?! Screw it! I'm not going! No, I have to! I'm such a big fan of all of them!'

Akira took deep breaths, and he clenched his fists, "Okay. O-One step at a time.."

Akira took one step forward, and he bumped into a delinquent boy. The boy was wearing his black school uniform in a loose and sloppy way, and he had a black earring in his right ear, dark brown eyes, and brown and light brown hair.

His name was Ichiro.

Akira stuttered, "I-I'm sorry! That was an accident?!"

Ichiro answered, "You stepped on my brand new shoes...fucking nerd. These shoes cost more than your own soul! How are you gonna fix this issue?! Huh?!"

All the students started looking over at them, and that included Shin and his guild members.

Shin asked his guild, "Who is that?"

Tengen answered, "Some idiot named Ichiro who they call the freshman slayer."

"Freshman slayer?"

"The bastard challenges freshman's to make himself look like a badass or something to be feared, and also tries to hurt them in the process, thus doing it in a dumbass way."

"What way?"

"Asking way too many questions! Let my brain process real quick!"

"Answer them."

"Sigh. He challenges them to a punch-off. They'll punch fists with each other one time with all their might, and whoever falls or is knocked away loses."

"That boy is looking to make a bigger name for himself too. Wanting to be feared and respected. Knowing the dangers and trouble he'll see if he fights at an educational building."

"That stupid brat isn't worried about getting in trouble. His father is a notorious hit man who has connections inside and out. Ichiro has been in a lot of these kinds of duels or whatever, and he always got lucked out because of his father and his fathers connections. His father once sampled all the screams of his targets and put them in a song and he started singing to it, and his song went viral fast."

"How stupid."

"I bet that bastard screams when he shits too! Haha!"

"Find God."

Shin saw Ichiro pressing Akira, and he thought, 'Akira.'

Everyone surrounded Akira and Ichiro, saying:

"Ichiro is at it again?!"

"I know that nerd facing him, he's Akira! Yep. Akira's gonna die."

"He's Shin's younger brother isn't he?"

"Yeah, he's a no-name. Has only wrap power."

"Heh? How lame. Yeah, he's toast."

Ichiro said to Akira, "You had the NERVE TO BUMP INTO ME, SCUM?! Do you know who I am?! Do you know who my dad is?! If you don't, you're about to know! Idiot!"

Akira replied, "I-I know who you are. You're the freshman slayer. Your dad is k-kinda famous too..he's a bad person."

"Hehhh?! WANNA SAY DAT LOUDER?!"

"You enjoy..belittling others to make yourself feel g-good..why?"

"You don't know A THING about me! Bratty shitty shit nerd!"

"I..I-I know about your challenges..I accept it!"

The crowd of students said:

"Oooh! Nerdy Akira accepted it!"

"Doesn't matter. Akira's gonna get flattened."

"Ichiro never lost these!"

"Ichiro may be a wanna-be thug, but he's pretty strong. Especially when he gets serious."

The crowd of students continued to chatter it up with one another about what was happening.

Shin, Kirin, Tengen, and Red were watching as well.

Red said, "Hehhh..your little brother is about to get squashed isn't he?"

Shin answered, "…"

Kirin didn't say a word either. She just looked.

Tengen says, "Is your brother gonna be fine? I mean..he's pretty damn frail."

Shin answered again, "…"

But he thought, 'Ichiro is in danger.'

Ichiro exclaimed to Akira, "I'm surprised you're accepting the challenge without me even explaining it! Haha! That means my name is out there! Okay then!"

Akira was breathing heavily, with sweat running down his skin.

'I never had this many eyes on me before..it's nerve-wracking. I guess this is the first part of becoming popular. I'm really really nervous, I mean..I know I got insane speed and strength, so..I have to go all out. But what if I hurt him? What if I kill him?'

Ichiro yelled to Akira, "You ready, nerd?! Such a damn loser, give this your all!"

Akira looked over at Shin, and saw him and his guild looking at him. And then Akira looked at Kirin.

'Shin's guild is looking at me!'

Akira took off his glasses, and wraps began to cover his fist and wrist. And one part of his hair turned white, and his right eye went a little dark red.

Akira said, "I'm ready!"

Ichiro's fist was glowing blue, and there were glowing yellow thin lines in his fist.

Ichiro said, "Huh? I don't like that look on your face. Here I go!"

Kirin thought, 'Akira's appearance is different. It looks familiar.'

Ichiro dashed forward first with his fist pulled back with a grin, "Gotcha!"

In the blink of an eye, Akira zipped forward, and he threw a punch at Ichiro's fist.

Ichiro thought, 'This speed! No way he's this fast!'

Akira thought, 'Everyone's gonna watch me win. I got lucky today with a chance to build my rep!'

Their fists almost collided, but Shin came in fast, and he caught the wrists of both Akira and Ichiro, with a strong hail of wind flying around for a few seconds, then it stopped.

Students said:

"Shin stopped it?!"

"But why?!"

Ichiro asked, "W-What the hell, Shin?! You see me doing something here! What's your deal? You don't want me taking over yer' popularity?! Huh?!"

Akira exclaimed, "S-Shin!"

Shin thinks, 'I was only able to stop Akira by grabbing his wrist instead of his fist. If I would've grabbed his entire hand, it would have been possible trouble.'

Shin let go of Akira and Ichiro, and Akira was putting his glasses on, with the wraps going away and his going back to fully brown.

Ichiro continued, "Explain yourself, Shin! I know you're not a freshman, but I challenge you to this duel!"

Shin smiled, "Actually, I have something else I mind."

Tengen said from a distance, "He's smiling?!!!"

Red and Tengen held each other while panicking, "He's smiling! Everyone run!"

Tengen and Red looked at each other, and they pushed off of each other.

Tengen said, "Get off me weirdo!"

Red replied, "Heh?! You grabbed me first! Creep!"

Kirin looked at Tengen and Red with an annoyed look, then shook her head.

Tengen and Red got in Kirin's face.

Tengen said, "Got sum' you wanna say, brat..?"

Red added, "Seems like she does!"

Kirin replied, "Lizard. Behind you. Coming close."

Red's face went dull, as he instantly jumped behind Kirin, saying, "Get it off me! Get it off me! Get it off me!"

Tengen said, "There's not even a lizard behind you! Fool!"

"I-I felt something!"

…

Akira asked Shin, "Why..?"

"Akira. Go to the auditorium. The freshmen are going to be having a first day assembly."

"Shin!"

Shin put his hand on Ichiro's shoulder, and smiled again, "Let's take a walk. I wanna talk to you."

Ichiro responds, "What?! No way!"

Black crows made out of darkness surrounded the both of them, and Shin looked at Akira the whole time as Shin and Ichiro vanished.

Akira called out, "Shin?"

It was quiet for a few seconds, and then the chatter started back up again.

"Did you see that?!"

"Shin stopped Ichiro's punch!"

"Shin is so strong! Ichiro's punches are insane!"

"No wonder Shin is ranked so highly!"

Akira listened to all of this, and he thought, 'Crap..I almost had it. Why did Shin stop us? What am I gonna do now? I can't just flash my strength around here, I'll destroy something. Shin's guild is walking away, probably headed to class. Dammit.'

Akira walked forward to head back into the school, and he was looking at all the groups of people hanging out together.

He saw the atheistic sports kids hanging out in the yard, he saw the nerds standing in circles talking with one another while they talked about video games and mythical beast card game stuff.

More chatter was discussed as Akira walked by, students said:

"I hear a lot of people are trying to join Shin's Valhalla guild!"

"I'm one of them. The Hero Syndicate also helped him construct his guild base, where all 5,000 of his guild members could live inside dorms of their own there! That's if they choose to, but everyone accepts because their parents are there to tell them what to do."

"Really? The Hero Syndicate helped him with it? They're generous sometimes."

*The Hero Syndicate. The organization that sometimes tasks all registered heroes missions, and gives them rewards for completed ones. They don't own heroes, but they are kind of their bosses. People who want to register as a hero would have to apply at the Hero Syndicate headquarters to do so.*

Akria came across a group of goths

He saw posters on the hallways, posters of different school clubs, clubs that were accepting people, and would start interviews to join at around lunch time.

Akira said to himself quietly, "Gotta start small I guess. Making friends is the number one step to getting popular. I'll attend the club interviews during lunch!"

A group of boys bumped into Akira from behind, "Don't block the hallway, punk ass freshman!"

Akira answered, "S-Sorry!"

Akira secretly made a white wrap cone out of his wrist, and it slithered all the way to that same boy, wrapped around his ankles, and it yanked back, slamming that boy to the floor.

He yelled, "Ow!!! Who did that?!"

Akira was already walking away with a grin.

'Hmph. If we fought, he stands no chance against me. Oh god! Why am I thinking like this?!

[Abandoned training city]

[20 miles away]

The training city was pretty spacey, with abandoned and vacant buildings around.

Shin and Ichiro were standing in an alleyway of that area, and Ichiro was walking around with his hands in his pockets.

"So, what the hell are we doing here? Why did you bring me all the way out here?!"

Ichiro turned around to Shin, and Shin grabbed Ichiro by the face, and smashed the back of his head into the wall, blasting a large hole into the wall.

Ichiro spit out blood, and yelled, "Agh! Ack! What the-?!"

Shin said with a menacing stare, "I tolerate a lot of things. But one thing I don't tolerate is someone…wanting to fight Akira for the sake of wanting to embarrass him..just so you can be seen as superior."

"Hahaha! You're afraid I was gonna beat him, weren't you?! Hahaha!"

"No..Akira would've killed you."

"I-Impossible! Do you know who I am?"

"I don't care who you are. Don't ever attempt to embarrass my little brother. If you talk to him or even look at him ever again, I'll send you to hell. And you don't wanna go there. I've been."

"D-Don't underestimate me!"

Ichiro's entire body skin glowed blue, and glowing thin yellow lines were all over his body.

Shin said, "I'm not impressed."

Shin let Ichiro go, and Ichiro jumped back down the alley with a large jump, facing Shin.

Ichiro yelled, "I'm Ichiro! A real threat! I'm feared by many! You may be a little popular, but people actually fear me! You're seen as a beacon of hope, where I'm seen as a nightmare! Kids shit their little pants when they see me in the hallway! I got what I wanted: respect!"

"I don't care. Shut up. You're spitting."

Ichiro gritted his teeth, and he pointed all of his fingers at Shin, and he screamed as thin yellow beams came from his fingers, and they were destroying the nearby abandoned buildings and the ground in front of Shin, almost reaching him.

Shin slowly vanished while giving Ichiro a daring glare, and Ichiro said, "Running away?! Such a pussy move!"

From Ichiro's shadow, Shin started to arise from it slowly, and he touched Ichiro's forehead with his finger, holding it there.

Shin said, "It's useless."

Ichiro gasped, and a massive wind struck out, he went crashing through multiple walls, and he was inside of the tall buildings.

'Shit! What was that move?!'

Ichiro flipped around, and he started to slide on his feet while his glowing body vibrated a few seconds.

Ichiro's eyes started spinning, and he sensed Shin.

'He has the power of darkness. Meaning he can manipulate darkness to his liking, and travel within darkness. There!'

Ichiro jumped backwards, and his eyes blasted out large yellow beams, and they started to rip the entire building apart, causing massive rubble to blow up everywhere, crumbling everything.

'I'll just destroy everything around me while constantly moving! I gotta check under me from time to time too!'

Ichiro ran to the left fast, as he kept blasting yellow beams from his fingers and his eyes, still causing more explosions and rubble to bounce around like basketballs on a court.

The light from the sun was reaching into the building, and from a shadow from the middle of the rubble hitting each other, Shin emerged from it, and grabbed Ichiro in the back of the head, and slammed his face into the ground, making all of the rubble from the building blow away from them in a massive expansion.

Ichiro thought, 'But I was careful! This guy..!'

Ichiro got up, but when he did, Shin put his finger on the middle of his forehead again, and Ichiro couldn't escape.

'I can't get free?! It's just a finger!'

Shin said, "Have you learned your lesson?"

Ichiro spit blood out, "Hell no! *Coughs*, never! I'll destroy you! I'm Ichiro!"

"I wasn't gonna let you off the hook anyway."

Shin still had his finger on Ichiro's head, and Shin and him started flying around, with Ichiro's body being slammed all over the place just by Shin's finger.

Shin was traveling through dark shadows with Ichiro, bashing him all over the buildings, creating more exploding rubble.

Shin pushed his finger harder on Ichiro's forehead, and they started to smash inside of a tall building. They both started to fly upward inside of it, with the cieldings being caved in and destroyed, and fire followed behind him.

Ichiro thought, 'Even if I'm still trapped by his finger, I can still use my power!'

Ichiro made more yellow beams shoot from his body, and Shin wasn't affected by them as he got hit in the chest, face, and stomach. Shin was constantly looking Ichiro dead in the eyes.

The other loose beams destroyed more parts of the building they were flying up in, and it scattered everywhere in destruction and smoke.

They both were in the sky now, with Shin's finger still on Ichiro's head.

Ichiro yelled, "Let me go!"

Shin answered, "Akira is my responsibility when mother and father aren't around. You will not embarrass him."

"F-Fuck you!"

Ichiro spit at Shin, but the spit was stopped in mid air covered by darkness, and it flung back and smacked Ichiro in the eye.

"Agh!"

Shin squinted his eyes slightly, and darkness began to flow out of Ichiro's eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

Ichiro started screaming, and Shin started to punch Ichiro in the stomach and face as hard as he could, with his left finger still touching his head, holding him still against it.

The punches let out loud thunder claps, as Ichiro was coughing up more blood.

Shin punched him in the stomach and face a few more times, and then he started to fly down back to the ground, and bashed Ichiro's head into the ground, as the tall abandoned buildings around him collapse from the impact.

Shin sighed, and he stood up, saying, "You're lucky I didn't end you here. I only used half of my power. *Gasps*, Oi.. I got dirt on my face, wipe it off."

Ichiro was turning back to his normal figure, and he was twitching, trying to speak.

"Shin!"

Shin turned around, recognizing the voice.

It was a woman and a man standing side by side, they were the two bosses of the Hero Syndicate. Kaede and Toshin.

Kaede - [Female, 37 years old, long brown hair with a high ponytail, black and white eye patch with gray eyes.]

Toshin - [Male, 28 years old, Bowl cut black hair covering his eyes, and a red lion tattoo on the right side of his face.]

Kaede smirked, "Well, well, well, I can't imagine the great Shin out here street brawling with Ichiro the freshman slayer during school hours."

Shin asked, "Didn't I block you?"

Kaede's eye twitched, "Damn you, kid!"

"You kept blowing up my phone. So I had to."

"Well, u-unblock me! Right now!"

"Alright. But what are you doing here?"

Toshin responded, "We're looking for you, since you blocked me too."

"Remind me why I blocked you again?"

"DAMN YOU!"

"Do you have a mission for me and my guild?"

"Not really. But the higher ups like us in the Syndicate have a question."

"Which is?"

"Your parents…have they still not given Akira the go ahead to become a registered hero?"

"…How do you know about that?"

"Akira has been coming by the Hero Syndicate headquarters, luring villains near there and defeating them in front of us like it was nothing, then runs off."

"You're lying!"

Kaede pulled out a tablet, and handed it to Shin.

Shin watched the video, and the video showed Akira body slamming a giant dragon fly man hybrid into the ground near the headquarters, destroying him easily.

And then Akira would tap his foot, saying nonchalantly, "Ohhh, look! I just DEFEATED A DRAGON FLY MAN HYBRID THING ON MY OWN! IF ONLY SOMEONE WOULD NOTICE!"

Shin said, "He's making it completely obvious. That brat, Akira has told me he wouldn't fight villains for three months, that he would focus on training. He lied to me.."

Kaede answered, "He's just a kid. A 14 year old overpowered ass kid. You know he couldn't help himself."

Toshin added, "We've talked to him after that day, and he tells us that he wishes to be a registered hero and join your guild, Shin. So he could become popular and be accepted so he doesn't get bullied anymore. He told us his parents, the ex-mercs Yuu and Yamato would always tell him no when he goes to ask them to be a registered hero. Do you know why? Do you know why he's so strong in the first place?"

"No. I don't."

"Hmmmm. Hrrmmmm. Alright, you don't know? That's fine. You don't wanna tell us, that's fine."

"No, I seriously don't know. Akira is constantly getting stronger and more skilled as he trains. At a rapidly fast pace."

Kaede adds, "But he lacks common sense at times, and his childish ways could overrule the thought of him making smart decisions. He causes a mess whenever he fights, and sometimes it injures nearby pedestrians. I'd say he needs a little bit more work, before he gets serious about being a hero. That's probably what Yuu and Yamato are thinking."

"I'm going back to school now. Don't blow up my phone or I'll block you two lovebirds again.

Toshin exclaimed, "Lovebirds?! No! Ew! Ew! No! AND YOU BETTER NOT BLOCK US! Wait! How are Yuu and Yamato?! We haven't seen them in a while, so.."

"They're fine. A loving couple as always."

[Akira's house]

Yamato and Yuu were wrestling in the living room, with Yamato yelling, "How ya like these moves?! Huhhh?!"

Yuu flipped around and slammed Yamato on his back, "Don't get cocky! Darrrrrling! I'm far better!"

Yamato flipped around and slammed Yuu on her stomach, pulling her arm, "Duuuumbass! Look who's in control now!"

"Ow! That fucking hurts! I'm gonna kill you!"

"WELL MY BAD! SYKE! I feel like a villain again!"

"Ew. Find God."

[Abandoned Training city]

Ichiro was limping down another alley, holding his bleeding stomach, and he was on the phone.

"Pick up..pick up..pick up..dad!"

A man with a deep deep voice answered the phone, replying, "Son?"

"I have an issue."

"I heard about it already. It's all over social media. "

"What did it say on there? Am I..a laughing stock?! Because I was stopped by Shin?! I was embarrassed!"

"That you got taken away after the duel with a nerd brat. And yeah, the internet is not holding back on you with the insults. You want me to deal with the nerd brat?"

"No…"

"Ahh…the older one then. Shin."

"Y-yeah.."

"I'll be there in three days. You know I'm on a job far away from there. Just stay put where you are."

"Should I send people to-."

"That won't be necessary. Don't do anything, and don't send any of my connections. I'll deal with this myself. And only me. I won't deal with the Shin boy head on, I'll target his little brother..Akira. Akira, the nerd kid who dueled you. That'll lure Shin to me, instead of me finding him. Since Shin is always out doing hero work, I don't have time to be chasing him. Anyone that defiles my son..must answer to me."

"T-Thanks da-."

The phone hung up, and Ichiro looked confused, then shrugged his shoulders.

Far away in another country, Ichiro's dad, Ukine, was sitting in a coffee shop, waiting for his next target.

Ukine was tall and muscular, with a red Mohawk, pure white eyes, a red king beard, and stitches on his forehead.

'Don't worry, son. I'll be there soon. In a few days actually. I won't waste time.'

[Hajimari High School]

[Auditorium]

Akira was sitting in the large auditorium with over 4,000 seats filled with chattering students. Akira was writing in his notepad, saying, "I-I gotta learn to make more objects with my wraps. Yeah, yeah, I'm getting so many ideas.."

Sitting beside him was Kirin.

Kirin was staring at Akira, and then she looked away.

Sitting on the other side of Akira, was Tengen and Red.

Tengen and Red were arguing over a pop idol, while Kirin was just staring straight ahead not saying a word.

Akira noticed them, and his heart dropped in nervousness.

'This is bad! Why are they right beside me?! Act natural! Act natural!'

Red said to Tengen, "Fool! Haruka is way prettier than Izumi! And she sings better!"

Tengen answered, "Haruko personally knows every basketball player in the world! Where Izumi is pure!"

"How..dare you!"

"Hahaha! Look at your face!"

"You're lying! She's not like that!"

"Izumi is pure, fool!"

"No! Haruka is an Angel! Once I get popular enough and climb the ranks higher, she'll be sure to notice me!"

"What if she's into reptiles? Dumbass..hahaha!"

"Stop!"