Prologue

In a room nearly devoid of any furniture, a teen was occupying one of the two chairs with his hands on top of a steel table that made his fingers twitch here and there. The teen stared at his blood-covered hands and the dark metal cuffs on his wrists. “They could’ve given me a towel At least,” he lifts his hands, causing the chains to rattle slightly.

He looked at the mirror on his left and saw his reflection; the teen had messy brown hair that had some blood on it. white tan-ish skin tone, with light green jade eyes, but what he focused on was a gash on his right cheek that was already healing. He then glanced at the rest of his body, at his small athletic build, and his attire, which was a black turtleneck shirt with the emblem WHS on the left of his chest pocket and with a matching pair of slacks. Like his hands, they also had some blood on them, more on his shirt than on the pants.

He exhaled, glancing back at his hands for a while longer until the door opened. “Apologies for the wait,” came a voice, making the teen look at the source.

It belonged to a man. He stood almost 6’3 if the teen were to guess. The man had short, silver combed-back hair, and a clear white skin tone. He had grey eyes that were behind a pair of square glasses. He had a thin frame, and he wore a formal black suit and a white undershirt.

The man sat on the chair opposite the teen and placed a sizable stack of folders on the table. He cleared his throat and fixed his eyes on the teen, who stared back at him with a neutral look.

“First, allow me to introduce myself,” the man broke the silence. “I’m Mathis Pereira, and as you can guess, I’m not the usual police officer,” he introduced himself with a light French accent that the teen noticed.

“That’s an understatement. So, what are you? A private investigator?”

“You can say that, but I’m a mix of that and an attorney.”

“Were you hired by my parents?”

“I wasn’t. In reality, I’m just very interested in your case, that’s all,” he said, reaching for the large folders, pulling one, and opening it. The first page was of the teen with a few differences, mainly that he was smiling in the picture and had his hair perfectly combed. “Well Benjamin Oliver Minogashita, 16 years old and a student of Washington Hero Studies, top of your class and most recently the fifth winner of WHS student of the year,” he read, causing Ben to lower his head and tighten his fists.

He closed the binder and looked back at the brunette. “Can you tell me what transpired that brought you here?”

“Why are you asking me that?” he muttered. “You have the folder with every detail you need for a case.”

Mathis shook his head. “Almost. This binder goes as far as the police allowed me to know. I want to know the details of what happened before the accident or, more exactly, what was the buildup to it from you.”

“I doubt you have the time to hear the full story,” the teen replied, getting a shook of the head from Mathis.

“Trust me, I have enough time to hear everything.” he gave Ben a soft smile. “Especially if it means making the events clear to defend you.”

Ben stayed still for a few minutes. “I’m not believing it,” he raised his head to face the man. “This sounds all too convenient that you showed up at this moment, and being the only person wanting to know what fully happened and not being hired, but interested in my case that only was published a few hours ago? Yeah, go off somewhere else.”

Mathis listened to the teen and kept his calm demeanor. “I won’t lie. It sounds suspicious when you phrase it like that. But I’m really on your side, and I want to give you a chance to defend yourself.”

The teen took a deep breath and exhaled. “Show me your badge or something that confirms who you are, or better yet. Mind getting a few officers to confirm your identity?”

“No need for that.” he took a card and showed it to the teen. Ben focused on the id that confirmed the man’s identity, and then on the weird stamp on the bottom of the card being of a shield with four swords crossing each other. “Is this enough?”

“Where have I seen that before?” Ben questioned himself, as he focused back on Mathis. “Why do you even care about my case?”

“It’s simple, your case is a national scandal by now, and they caught you red-handed.” he glanced at Ben’s blood-covered hands. “Literally in this case,” he commented, making Ben groan at it.

“Sorry, as I was saying, everyone will make different stories or accusations about what happened, trying to catch a bit of the fame. So, I’m here to be the voice of the correct version of what happened,” he explained. “So, can we start now?”

Ben took a few seconds, weighing his options. “Yeah, it’s enough,” the teen answered, leaning into his seat and exhaling heavily. “What exactly do you want to know?”

Mathis pulled out four folders and placed them in front of the teen. He opened all four of them, showing the picture of the folder owners. “I want to know who are they. And how are they involved in what happened?”

Ben looked at the folders. Three of them belonged to teens who were the same age him and were wearing the same uniform as him. It caused Ben to glare with pure hate at the three. While one of them was of a girl with indigo hair, which caused Ben’s hateful gaze to weaken and change into one of regret, something Mathis took a mental note of.

“Seems that girl is more important than I thought?” he reaoned to himself, as Ben stared at the folders for a bit before he changed his gaze to Mathis, with a blank stare.

“How did you get these folders?” Ben asked.

“With my job and position, I’m allowed to request information about the involved entities in the case. And by your reaction, I didn’t waste my time requesting them?”

“Yeah, right in the bullseyes,” he said, glaring at the middle folder, causing Mathis to pull it.

The picture belonged to a teen. He had short, dark hair and ocean-blue eyes. He had a white tan-ish skin tone and donned the same school uniform as Ben. “Magnus Ozzein, the same age as you and the top of his class, and almost became the student of the year. Well, if it wasn’t for you,”

Ben tightened his fist even harder to the point his fingers popped. “And if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Mathis lowered the folder. “Then we should get to the start of it?”

“Yeah… When should I start back when I was 6 or something?” Ben questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Since it’s when I met him.”

“No, start with what you believe was the boiling point that led to this,” Mathis explained. “Maybe a few weeks before the attempt on your life?”

Ben went pale as a shiver went through his spine. He took a few minutes before speaking. “Do I…” he started taking a few more moments, before speaking once again. “Do I have to go back to that?” he asked voice shaky.

“As I said, I want to have all the details from the moment you consider the beginning to what led to this.”

Closing his eyes, he took another deep breath. “Alright… I guess I’ll start on a Friday 6 months ago…”

In a large classroom more akin to an auditorium, two teens stood on a stage, with each of them facing a dark green board while a crowd of students behind them, and a teacher sat on a desk on the right of both boards. One of the students was Ben and the other on his right was Magnus, both focused on the board.

“Are both of you ready?” the teacher asked, as both teens could hear some muttering from the crowd.

Ben rubbed his eyes a bit forcefully. “I’m ready,”

“Ready,” Magnus replied.

“Alright, this is the final stage of the math contest.”

Ben took a few breaths, trying to calm his racing heart. “The problems will be on your left next to your marker and erasers.”

Magnus glanced at the objects brought to him by a classmate, as the same was done for Ben. “As soon the timer starts, you can start solving.”

Both teens nodded slightly. The teacher took a few seconds and then started the timer, causing both teens to turn in their papers.

“Use Sinusoidal Functions to Solve the following Applications

A mass attached to a spring is pulled toward the floor so that its height above the floor is 10 mm. The mass is then released and starts moving up and down, reaching maximum and minimum heights of 20 and 10 mm, respectively, with a cycle of 0.8 seconds.

1. a) Assume that the height h (t) of the mass is a sinusoidal function, where t is the time in seconds, sketch a graph of h from t = 0 to t = 0.8 seconds. t = 0 is the time at which the mass is released.

2. b) Find a sinusoidal function for the height h (t).

3. c) For how many seconds is the height of the mass above 17 mm over one cycle?”

Ben grabbed his marker and started solving the problem, focusing completely on it while Magnus did the same, but was trailing behind the brunet, something that made him pick up speed.

After a few minutes, the board almost got completely covered. “Done!” Magnus announced and lowered his marker while Ben finished just a minute later.

The teacher stopped the timer. He got up and went to Magnus’s board first while said teen looked calm and smirked smugly at Ben. “Ozzein, you got the first and second right, but the last one. You used the wrong method,” he said, pointing at the mistake, causing the smug smirk to disappear as the teen clenched his fists.

The teacher then went to Ben’s board, causing the teen’s finger to twitch as the teacher focused on the board for a few minutes. “Minogashita,” he started, causing the boy’s heart to increase its pace. “You answered all questions correctly.” Ben sighed in relief as his schoolmates clapped.

“What? no way!?” Magnus yelled, getting closer and looking at Ben’s board. “There’s only a slight difference,” he argued. “The only difference from the fre-Minogashita’s result is that he rounded the number.” He added while sending a glare at the brunette.

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The teacher shook his head. “He also switched the signals, getting a completely different result,” he said, turning towards the crowd of students. “And with that, we have our winner for WHS 30th Young Math Genius,” he announced, putting a stop to any further argument from Magnus.

The crowd at least those interested in the contest applauded the two students on stage as camera flashes went off.

“One less subject to worry about,” Ben muttered under his breath, as the teacher went to his desk and returned with three cases, one being bronze, one silver, and one gold.

The teacher first gave Ben his golden case, making the teen smile a bit as he opened it to see a gold medal with. “Young Math Genius,” written on the medal.

Moving on to Magnus, the teacher gave him the silver case. He looked at the case for a bit before taking it and pocketing it, not bothered in opening it.

After giving the last case, to the student in third. The crowd clapped once again to the three who reached the top three.

After applauses, Ben yawned and rubbed his eyes once again as he made his way out of the stage. “Smile kid genius!” he heard a voice he recognized, followed by a flash of light, making him groan and cover his eyes.

“The hell Caroline!” he grunted, rubbing his eyes and then blinking as his vision returned to see a teen with a big smile.

Standing around his height; she had short golden blonde hair more akin to a pixie cut with matching eyes, and star-shaped pupils. A light pale skin tone and a thin build with a nearly flat chest; she was wearing the same uniform as Ben but she also had a camera in her hands and a purple side bag around her waist.

“Sorry! I’m just so excited about your win!” she exclaimed, giving him a tight hug, which made him grunt, as the hug got tighter, and tighter as if she wanted to crush him. “You just won the award for the fourth time in a row!”

“I know, but can you stop hugging me like that?” he choked out, as the blonde quickly let go of him.

“Sorry,” she said once again, as Ben coughed a few times, regaining some air.

“You’ve done that more than once. What are you trying to do? stop me from participating tomorrow or something?”

“Very funny, Benjamin,” she pulled out a voice recorder and pressed the large button. “So, Mr. Genius, what do you have to say about your victory?” she asked, shoving the recorder at Ben’s face.

“Well, I’m happy that I won my fourth medal.”

“Indeed, and with that, you are only 30 points way from being the student of the year?”

“Yeah.”

“And tomorrow’s the school fighting tournament where the winner gets 200 points. Are you worried? Since, according to your record, fighting isn’t your strongest field?”

Ben was silent for a moment and then sighed. “Of course, I am, because of my other achievements. I have a target on my back, and I’m sure anyone fighting tomorrow doesn’t want me to even pass the opening fights.”

“And who do you say is your biggest threat? According to the board and memory, Magnus is currently behind you with 50 points.”

“Yeah, he is my biggest threat… but I’m confident this time, I have a better chance.”

“Are you certain? He is a two-time winner and one of the students with the most physical and combat awards in the school,” she said. “And I’m certain you haven’t faced him in a stipulated match before. What would be your strategy to defeat someone like him?”

“Did you have to dig at me like that?” Ben muttered, getting a shrug from her.

“I’m just being fair,” she said, making Ben sigh, but before he could even answer. He heard Magnus yelling.

“Hey, Minogafreak!”

“Ah, what does he want now?” the brunette muttered under his breath as Magnus approached him with a glare and grabbed Ben by the shirt.

“You cheated,” he accused, while his blue eyes clashed with Ben’s green.

“I didn’t cheat, and even if I did, how would I do it? We were in front of everyone. It would be impossible for me to do so,” he countered, only causing the glare to intensify.

“You paid the teacher or some bullshit your kind does,” he growled, making Ben glare back at him.

“Look, dude, we are both stressed. How about-” he started, but Magnus cut him off.

“Don’t even try your bullshit freak!” Magnus yelled at his face, making Ben clench his fists and glare just as hard.

“Magnus, I’m going to say this once. Let go of me now,” he threatened to get a snort from the teen.

“Or what? You’ll go cry at your friends?” he asked. “I dare you to do something shrimp.”

“No, I will tell the vice-principal that you are being a prick again or,” Caroline started, getting Magnus’s attention, and when he glanced at her. She had a ball of plasma in hand and aimed at him. “Or I can blast you through the wall again, pick your poisoned,” Caroline said her smile still present but this time with some dark glee behind it.

making the dark hair teen roll his eyes and let go of the brunette.

Magnus rolled his eyes and let go of Ben. “Whatever,” he said, as Ben sent him another glare which was returned with a grin. “Aren’t you supposed to interview me too?” he asked, turning to Caroline, who cursed under her breath.

“Yeah,” she muttered lowering her hand as the ball of plasma disappeared, and looked at Ben. “I’ll call later,” she said, getting a nod from the brunet.

“It’s alright, talk to you later,” he said as he finally made his way out of the auditorium.

Caroline took a deep breath and composed herself, having her smile once again. “Magnus, can I know what are your thoughts about tomorrow’s tournament,” she requested her. “You know, since you are a two-time winner, and this year, might be your third.”

“What are your expectations for tomorrow?” Caroline asked, still with a big smile, while Magnus snorted.

“It’s not a might, I’m going to win, and like always, I’ll win with the highest knockout rate,” he said, crossing his arms.

“I see, and also I believe, you are after the title of student of the year, right?” she asked, getting a nod from the teen. “Well, with you ending in second in the math contest, and winning the tournament, you’ll probably surpass the points needed.”

“Of course, I will. And I’ll make sure that no one even gets half of it.”

“Interesting. And who do you think is going to be your toughest opponent?”

Magnus chuckled slightly. “Like if in this school there is someone who can match me. I doubt I’ll have any actual competition.”

“Oh, really, aren’t you worried about Martin, Jack, or even Ben?” she asked, making the teen raise an eyebrow.

“If you think I would worry about someone whose power throwing blue blasts and someone who can make some sparks, you are badly mistaken,” he said, getting closer and glancing down at her. “And if you think I consider Minogafreak as an actual opponent. I would recommend you drop the journalism course. Because you already sound biased to that weakling’s side.”

Caroline’s upper lip twitched slightly but kept her smile. “It’s a club Magnus. I’m in the same course as you,” she said. “Interesting, so you don’t consider neither Ben, Jack, or Martin as threats even though last year Ben reached the quarter-final? Martin last year almost reached the 3300 marks, and Jack, who was last year’s most well-rounded athletic student and reached the finals?”

“And what happened next? I knocked Martin out in the semi-finals and then Jack at the finals. Oh, and before I forget, didn’t the freak lose to Jack in the shortest match in the tournament history?” Magnus asked, as he chuckled once again. “If you are trying to get under my skin. You failed miserably,” he said, leaning closer to her. “You should quit while you still have time. I don’t think anyone would listen to a biased hack like you.”

Caroline’s expression didn’t change during the comments. “I’m unbiased. I’m just mentioning the facts, you know. That’s my job as a school journalist to bring the facts with the correct context,” she said, making Magnus roll his eyes.

“Whatever you say Sunshine,” he said, heading towards the door.

“Freaking prick,” she muttered under her breath, heading to interview the student that came in third.

“I should’ve hit him with something,” Ben contemplated as he finished fixing his collar and tie. “That would’ve shut him up,” he thought as he walked through the nearly empty hallway of the school, so deep in thought, he didn’t notice that he was walking into a yellow hexagon shape barrier that was, until he hit it making him mutter under his breath.

“You know, you could’ve done anything to get my attention,” he said, turning around to look at a girl his age.

The teen had long indigo hair that reaches her lower back with a bang covering her right eye. While her exposed eye was a dark blue. She had a light brown skin tone and a rather athletic build. Her attire was the same uniform as Ben, but she also had a dark blue lace glove covering her right hand to her elbow.

“Well, I have been calling you, and you didn’t reply,” she stated, walking closer as the barrier disappeared.

“Sorry Maya, I was just deep in thought,” he said as he started walking with her beside him.

“Let me guess. Magnus threw another hissy fit for losing?”

“Yup, with the whole tirade too.”

“And who stepped in this time to take him off you?”

“Caroline, but I was considering punching him, though.”

“I wouldn’t be against you doing that if I’m being honest,” she commented. “Well guess, you owe her one this time.”

“Wish I could, but it would probably just backfire,” he said with a slight mutter, but a slight chuckle followed it. “Nope, she owed me one. So now we are even.”

“I doubt it would be as bad as you think, but either way. Don’t let him dampen your mood,” she said with a smile. “Come on, let me see your newest medal,” she said.

“It’s the same, since the first year,” he said, taking out the case, to show her the medal.

“Oh, I thought, they would’ve given you something special since you won every single one of them,” she complained.

“Yeah, but look at the bright side. I don’t have to worry about math or physics anymore,” he said pocketing the case.

“That would be the case, even if you…” she stopped, looking at the brunet who was a tad confused with her silence. “Ben, when was the last time you slept?” she asked

“Oh, well, at like 4 am,” Ben answered.

“Today, right?” she asked, causing the teen to go quiet. “Right?”

“Ah, it was yesterday, but I’m alright,” Ben quickly answered. “Anyways what have you been up to?”

“Don’t even try it, Benji. I should take you home before you pass out.”

“And aren’t you overreacting?”

She used the camera on her phone to show him his face. He had heavy bags under his eyes, giving his face a bit of a pale look, and slightly bloodshot eyes. “I’m overreacting? I’m not gonna carry you home if you pass out.”

“Fine… at least, I was waiting for my congratulations.”

“Why would I do that, when I already knew, you were going to win?”

“Wish I was that confident for tomorrow,” he chuckled slightly.

Maya rolled her eyes, and point at a large colorful flyer glued to the wall. It was a flyer for the Iron Will Tournament with pictures of all the participants at the bottom.

“Well, you should at least be ready. Tomorrow is the big day.”

“I know, and I’m anxious,” he said, arriving at his locker to take his backpack. “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to sleep easily.”

“You should, with the amount of lack of sleep you have, or you could try reading a geography book,” she said. “And besides, you’ve been training for it since last year.”

“And also have the others… especially Jack and Martin,” Ben retorted.

“And you’ve matched Martin before, and Jack is only a few levels stronger than him. I know for sure you are at Magnus’s level.”

Ben sighed as they left the school, getting hit by sunlight, making the teen cover his eyes with a slight groan. “Maybe, but with the rules being laxer this year. I can lose as soon as I enter the ring.”

“True, but I doubt that will happen,” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. Even if I don’t like to admit it, your stubbornness is kinda admirable, even if it’s for the wrong reason.”

Ben groaned heavily. “Let’s not talk about that. I need a cool head for tomorrow?” he asked, getting an incredulous nod from his friend. “Thank you.”

They walked together, heading toward their neighborhood, which was close to the school. Ben, even though walking a bit sluggishly, kept aware of his surroundings but being the middle of the day, there weren’t too many people walking or cars driving, making their walk easier or more exactly keeping him away from walking into a street sign.

They walked for longer until they arrived in a high-end neighborhood. Most of the houses they passed looked to be on the costly side. They continue walking until they reached what looked to be the biggest house compared to the neighbors. It looked more like a mini mansion with a large garden protected by a golden gate.

Maya looked at him. “We arrived at our destination. Please be careful at the moment of exiting, and thank you for traveling with Reyna airlines.” She said in an air-attended voice, making Ben chuckle a bit.

“Thank you for your services,” he said, heading to the gates. “And I promise, I’m going straight to bed.”

“Sounds good, and don’t get too stressed about tomorrow,” she said, getting a nod from Ben. “See you tomorrow, then.”

“Yeah, tomorrow,” he said as they heard a loud meow next to Maya.

The girl looked next to her to see a black cat with green eyes and a red collar with a golden name tag. “Oh, Miss Poppy, you came to get me?” she asked with a smile, reaching out and picking up the cat.

“Oh, hey demon cat,” Ben said, getting a loud hiss from the cat. “Yup, I still hate you, too.”

Maya pouted and rubbed Poppy’s head and the cat quickly leaned into the touch. “We’ll talk about this after the tournament,” she said. “Talk to you tomorrow.” She said with a wave while making her way to a house three houses before Ben’s. It wasn’t as big as Ben’s, but it was still of decent size compared to the houses around the area.

“Oh, of course, we’ll talk about how your cat hates me,” he thought as he walked on the stone pathway to the main double door of the mansion.

He entered the mansion to see the mostly white, orange, and blue interior décor, with paintings of the family and various things.

“Good afternoon, Master Benjamin,” said a butler, approaching the teen. “Lunch is prepared; would you prefer I serve now or later?”

“Later, I’m going to rest first,” Ben said, getting a nod from the butler.

“As you wish, and also your parents have informed me that they will be staying at NEU for a while longer,” he said.

“Thanks,” he muttered as he started walking upstairs, getting even more sluggish as he walked, and his eyes were getting heavier. “I’m too tired,” he thought a bit annoyed as he continues his way to his bedroom and once, he finally arrived. He collapsed on the bed and fell asleep in an instant.