Alex didn't want to worry Ben and decided to not go to school for a few days. He thought Ben's temper would cause him to storm into Yoosun High School and hunt down Jimmy Bae. He tried to also convince Ashur to not go to school, but the purple haired boy was adamant about not letting his grades drop. So, Alex told Ashur to keep what happened at the pool hall a secret.
"Hey Ashur," Ben asked. "What happened to your face? Did someone attack you?"
"Uh...no?" Ashur shook his head. 'Alex said not to tell him,'
Ben could immediately tell that Ashur was lying. "Did something happen at the pool hall yesterday? Is that why Alex didn't come to class?"
"Nothing happened," Ashur lied. "You worry too much, Big Ben,"
'Alex probably told the boys to keep quiet about the incident,' Ben thought. 'Time to resort to bribery,' "One corndog,"
Ashur made eye contact with Ben.
"One corndog and a bag of chips," Ben continued.
Ashur's mouth began to water.
"One corndog, a bag of chips, and popcorn,"
Ashur bit his lip. 'Alex said to keep it a secret!'
"One corndog, a bag of chips, popcorn, and nachos,"
"Some guy attacked Alex for no reason!" Ashur blurted out.
"Ashur, shh!" Paul shushed. "Alex said not to say anything!"
"Who was it?" Ben's expression darkened.
"I don't know the meanie's name," Ashur shrugged as he took the snacks from Ben and began to happily eat. "But the meanie just attacked Alex for no reason. Alex didn't fight back so...I think I did?" The entire fight was bits and pieces of foggy memories.
"Alex didn't fight back?" Ben frowned. 'That's unlike him. If he knew he could win, he would beat them up. There are only a few people I know that Alex would stand down against. It's not Donald Na since there's no way he'd hang at a pool hall,' "Was it Jimmy Bae?"
"I don't know," Ashur answered honestly. "I don't know who Jimmy Bae is. Oh, but there was a Eunjang student who's friends with the meanie. It's the masked weirdo that wanted Gray and me to apologize,"
"So Phillip Kim was there too," Ben took out his phone and found Jimmy Bae's social media account. "Is this the guy who attacked you and Alex?"
"Uh-huh!" Ashur nodded.
"Ashur won the fight though," The students who were with them at the pool hall that day spoke up. "He actually beat Jimmy Bae,"
"Alex bought me food afterwards," Ashur added. "They were really yummy,"
"I'm sure they were," Ben patted Ashur's head. "The Union, or whatever the fuck it's called, I can't just keep looking over my shoulder for the next three years worrying about them. I would have preferred to just avoid them, but they drew their weapons first,"
"What gives?" Gerard spoke up, startling Ashur.
"Tree!?" Ashur exclaimed. "When did you get here!?" 'I didn't see him entering!'
"Just now," Gerard answered. "Last time we clashed, it looked like Yoosun was all bark, no bite. And Ashur apparently defeated Jimmy Bae,"
"Jimmy Bae has a grudge against me," Ben answered. "So he probably thinks his lost against Ashur was just a fluke and thought Ashur just got lucky. He'll come fight me himself after his wounds have healed,"
XXX
"So what I'm trying to say is, if you're dealt the same tragedies over and over again, hmm...how should I put it? Ah, yes! It breaks the human spirit," Phillip dangled Gray's bag in his hand and started to rummage through it. "It's the most childish of tactics, but also the most effective, you know? You go find it just to see something else is missing. You go find that, and it's gone again before you know it. Oh, his phone in here, too,"
"Heh, don't you think your anger would eventually devolve into hopelessness if that happened to you?" Phillip asked. "That fucker, Gray Yeon, he's probably fed up with having his bag messed with," 'There's no way I'm going to mess with Ashur Na after that fight at the pool hall. But today, if Jimmy Bae is still going to attack Eunjang, then he'll be coming here to fight Ben Park. I won't have to get my hands dirty!'
XXX
A few days later, the Eunjang students grew nervous when they saw Yoosun students near the front gate. "My man Jacky," Jimmy, who still had bandages from his fight with Ashur, asked. "By the way, where's Helmet? I don't see him,"
"Looks like he's been ignoring all our calls," Jack answered. "I did hear that the boys saw him near the Yeongdeungpo Roundabout," 'Jimmy, your wounds still haven't healed. But I know you won't back down against fighting Ben Park,'
"I'm telling you, that fool needs to be whooped on the regular to stay sharp, heh," Jimmy smirked. "I've gotta give it to Helmet. He makes for one hell of a punching bag, heh," He saw a lone Eunjang student passing by and called for him to come over to him. "Hey buddy, my name is Jimmy Bae, from Yoosun High. I was hoping you could grab Ben Park for me. Bring him to the incinerator over there. And also bring that purple haired brat that's always with him,"
Before he let the student go, he took the poor boy's bag and wallet. "It's not that I don't trust you, but there's always a chance you'll just run away, right? So I think I'll take care of your bag and wallet for now, to keep them safe. Now! My Eunjang friend, go! Go! Go!" He shoved him forward. "You're really doing me a solid, friend!" He grabbed a bunch of cash from the kid's wallet. "Damn, this kid's loaded!" He handed some cash to his underling. "Go get me some smokes with this,"
One of Jimmy Bae's underlings caught sight of Gerard and pointed accusingly at him. "That motherfucker! He's with Ben Park, too! Fucking Gerard Jin!"
"Wow, tree head, you're Gerard Jin?" Jimmy said. "I thought you'd accompany Ben when he makes his appearance," He walked over to him. "You are one lanky ass motherfucker, aren't you?" He grabbed Gerard's shirt and forced him to lean forward. "I sent Ben to come over, too. So shut up and follow me,"
XXX
The Eunjang student finally found Ben, Alex, and Ashur on the rooftop, sipping some banana milk. "Ben Park...Ashur Na...finally found you..." He was out of breath.
"Find us?" Ben asked. "For what?"
"A guy called Jimmy Bae, from Yoosun. He wants me to bring you...to the incinerator. Gerard Jin from Class Ten was taken away, too,"
"What!?"
"He took Tree!?"
Alex tried calling Gerard. "He won't pick up,"
"That son of a bitch Jimmy Bae!" The three started to head down the stairs. "Let's go, Alex, Ashur!"
While Ben and Alex ran down the stairs, Ashur jumped down from flight to flight, sometimes even skipping two or three flights in each jump. The cold, steel look was back in his eye.
XXX
Jimmy punched Gerard and sent him flying. "What did I tell you?" Jimmy flexed his wrist. "But still, these Eunjang fuckers have spirit, don't they? Just about every one of them will act tough," 'I'll beat that Ben Park fucker and that purple brat into a bloody pulp!' "In any case, as for our friend here, Hot Pot or Hot Sauce or whatever he's called, you better finish what you st—"
Jimmy was interrupted by a knee to his throat followed by an elbow to the back of his neck by none other than Ashur. Ashur then jumped away to create some distance between them.
"You alright, Gerard?" Ben patted Gerard's back. "Hey Jimmy Bae, you sure you can fight when you haven't completely recovered from the injuries Ashur gave you?"
"Ben Park...you son of a—" Jimmy coughed and put a hand to his throat.
"Ashur, I'll deal with Jimmy Bae this time," Ben ordered.
Ashur saw the bag one of the goons was holding and immediately recognized it at Gray's. "Aye, this bag's from the fucker who busted Helmet's skull, so take it and go block the exits," The goon passed it to another goon. Ashur lunged for the bag but the Yoosun students lifted it just out of reach. "What, you want this bag?"
Ashur made it look like he was jumping to try to reach the bag, but after three short jumps, he jumped higher, placed his hand around the guy's head, and slammed the guy's face down onto his knee.
The other goon grabbed Ashur by the collar of his shirt and threw him away from them. Ashur's back collided with a wall. He didn't stop there and began to kick Ashur in the stomach. "You damn brat, you're gonna die this time!"
"Ashur!" Ben called as he, Alex, and Gerard joined the fight.
Ashur gritted his teeth and tried to block the kicks with his arms. He managed to pull one of his assailant's shoe off and threw it at his head, allowing for an opening to escape. Ashur pulled his opponent's shirt over his face, blocking his sight. He didn't see the punch coming from the right and couldn't dodge it. He stumbled back but stayed standing.
"Not so tough now huh, ya brat!"
Ashur wiped the blood from his mouth and tilted his head a bit more to the right so he wasn't looking straight forward. This time, he dodged the punch thrown his way and like he did at the underpass, he bit the Yoosun student's arm. As the Yoosun student cried out, he grabbed him by the front of the shirt and headbutted him in the face. He threw the student at the other enemy that was heading his way.
Ashur took advantage of the fact that both of them were down. He started slamming his foot onto the nearest one's legs. His enemy cried out in pain with each yelp and screamed when he felt his bones crack. "S-Stop!"
But Ashur didn't stop. He didn't care about the boy's pleading. The only thing that mattered was that he had to protect himself and his friends. He had to get rid of the people that were a threat to his friends' safety. He continued stomping on the Yoosun student's leg until he was sure it was broken. The other student tried to crawl away but Ashur yanked him back by his hair. He repeated began to knee him in the guts and then bashed his face against the wall.
"Ashur!" Ben grabbed his shoulder. "Ashur, it's over!"
Ashur glanced around and saw that everyone else had defeated their opponents. 'When did the other meanies lose?' He caught sight of Gray. "Hi Gray! When did you get here?" He picked up Gray's bag, dusted it off, and handed it to him. "Who's your friend?" 'That's the glasses kid that sits next to Gray in class,'
"E-Eugene Gale!" Eugene stuttered, having witnessed Ashur's fight.
"It feels a little too iffy to indulge in today's victory," Ben said. "Ain't that right, Gogo?"
"All depends on how Jimmy Bae and the rest of Yoosun decide to react to this," Alex answered.
"The way I see it, I don't think Jimmy Bae will try to make the fight bigger than it already is. He not only lost to Ben, but also to Ashur, who isn't as known for being a strong fighter like Ben. Though, there's still a chance that he might try and attack again himself," Eugene spoke up. "He must have his own reason for attacking so suddenly today, but regardless of that...the general opinion of last year's fight between you, Ben, and Jimmy Bae was mostly that he was crushed in the end,"
"I'm gonna go buy some snacks," Ashur said. "The fighting made me hungry. Anyone want anything?" He proceeded to spit out some globs of saliva and blood. "Eww! There's yucky blood in my mouth again! Blergh!" He ran off to the bathroom to rinse his mouth with water. 'Why do I keep unconsciously biting people!? Fox taught me how to fight using my arm and legs! I mean, yeah, he said if needed I should use my teeth, but I have another person's blood in my mouth! So gross!'
XXX
"You fought again?" Donald asked.
"Those meanies came were bullying my friends," Ashur hissed as Kingsley disinfected his wounds. 'I don't like disinfectant. It stings!'
"Then let your friends fight instead of you," Donald ordered.
"No," Ashur refused, his tone switching to serious. "When we were children...before we met Kaia and Kingsley...our 'parents' always hurt us. I protected you. I tried to take most of the hits so you wouldn't suffer as much. I didn't have to do that, but I did because I care about you. I also care about my friends. I won't just stand there and watch them get hurt. I'll fight alongside them, even if I get hurt in the process,"
"Tell me who did this," Donald said. "I'll make sure they don't bother you anymore,"
"I don't need your help!" Ashur snapped. "I hate being compared to you! I know you're stronger, smarter, handsomer, and cooler than me! That's what everyone in Yeo-Il has been saying all this time, both the students and the teachers! I know I'm a disappointment compared to you! That's why I can handle my troubles on my own! I don't need your help!"
"Ashur," Donald told him. "You're not a disappointment,"
"Ignore anyone comparing you to Donald," Kingsley advised. "Don't listen to their stupid comments. Most of the students from Yeo-Il come from rich families and therefore had an earlier start on education than you two, yet Donald has surpassed them. They're just jealous and decided to take it out on you. You're not Donald, Ashur. Besides, you're a cute kid while Donald's a hot vampire,"
There was an awkward silence after Kingsley's last sentence. Ashur grinned and quickly sent a text to a group chat.
DonKi Fan Club
Rise from Ashes:
Guys, guys! You won't believe
what Kingsley just said!
Jake the Dog:
What? Tell us! Spill the tea!
Rise from Ashes:
King said I'm a cute kid while
Don's a hot vampire!
Kenny the Human:
Did he really say that?
Rise from Ashes:
Yeah!
Jake the Dog:
Oh my god...IT'S HAPPENING!
KINGSLEY FINALLY MADE A MOVE!
Kaia:
Fucking finally.
Took them long enough.
Alain:
So what happened next?
Rise from Ashes:
They're still at the awkward
silent phase. I'm gonna go grab
something to eat.
Kaia:
Food is always on your mind
Do you think of anything
besides food?
Rise from Ashes:
I think of doggies and kitties
and Don and King's future
wedding and video games
Ashur, Jake, Kenny, Kaia, and Alain are part of the DonKi Fan Club, which is a club that ships Donald and Kingsley together.