. . .
"If you've seen a shadow and haven't been able to find its owner, or if you've seen a person but haven't been able to find his shadow, then you have good reason to be afraid!"
―Mehmet Murat Ildan
. . .
"EIIIJIIII-KUUUNNN!"
His head snapped up, hurriedly wiping away the thin layer of drool on the side of his face before his consciousness could even properly return to him at Haru's aggravating screech of his name.
"What the hell is it now?" Eiji grumbled.
His best friend since grade school was charging straight towards him, his dark eyes sparkling behind his oversized eyeglasses with some sort of unholy glee, looking quite excited for some reason Eiji couldn't really find himself caring for at the moment.
Eiji resisted the urge to breath out a sigh.
Nothing good comes from that expression.
They just had a particularly gruesome math test not even an hour ago. He just wanted to rest his brain and take a nap in peace for a moment before lunch break ends.
Was that too much to ask?
Apparently, for Haru Watanabe, it was.
When the other boy got close enough, he seemed to loom over Eiji despite being actually a head shorter than him. Haru immediately grabbed Eiji by the arm and began tugging and pulling him along until he was forced to stand up.
"C'mon!" he yelled, "Hurry! LET'S GO! GO! GO!"
"Eh...? EHHH?! H-Haru, what–?"
Despite his initial confusion, Eiji offered no resistance (having long since learned that it was a losing battle once Haru sets his mind on something) as his best friend dragged him along, not exactly a rare sight for their classmates... but much to his annoyance, Eiji still caught some of the other students laughing when they caught sight of the two almost tripping at each other's feet, especially at the precarious speed Haru was going for.
"Slow down, you idiot!" Eiji snapped.
"You're the only one slowing us down!"
"Excuse you, I'm a member of the track and field!"
Haru huffed out a laugh, "EXACTLY!"
Now, that he was more awake compared to earlier, Eiji's a bit curious what's with the excitement going on, "Alright, I'll bite. What the hell is happening?"
"A fight, that's what!" Haru answered, the cheerful tone of his voice completely at odds with the vicious smile plastered on his face, "It's, you know—that jerk Saito, from Class C? Guess what?! From what I heard some transfer student is beating his ass! Man, we so got to see that!"
Eiji felt himself frowning at the name.
Akio Saito.
One of the very few problems that tarnished the good name of AST's International Academy. Saito was an infamous bully ever since middle school.
This year, Saito is currently in one of the Twelfth-Grade classes who took sadistic delight in bullying both his fellow classmates... especially those in the lower years. He mostly got away with it too because of his father being some sort of big shot in the corporate world and his mother a major shareholder in the academy. Or so the rumors claim.
With Saito's small but scattered group of 'friends'—or lackeys, for a lack of a better word—across the year levels under his beck and call, they acted like some sort of gang who would attack anyone unfortunate enough who so much as look as them the wrong way... even the teachers had no choice but to look the other cheek in fear of the boy's connections.
