After yelling for Bastion, Mayr felt a sharp burn in his throat that caused him to flinch and grip his neck. The doctor and concerned couple ran over to the bed.
"Calm down, son," The doctor said in a friendly tone, "No need to move around too much."
"Do you know where my driver is?" Mayr asked in a low voice, so as to not feel the pain of the sore throat, "He was with me when the crash happened."
A look of confusion came on the faces of the doctor and the couple.
"Soju, is everything ok?" The woman spoke in a gentle voice with a concerned look on her face.
Mayr gave a blank stare to the woman. "Soju?" he thought to himself confusedly. He began to look around and try to understand the situation.
"That's weird," Mayr thought to himself, "That was a serious crash, yet I'm practically uninjured."
He took a look at his hands and didn't recognize them. They were far too pale, small and hairless for them to be his.
"I'm sorry, could you please tell me where we are?" Mayr asked.
"We're in Youngsville City Hospital." The doctor responded.
"Youngsville?" a shocked Mayr thought to himself, "That's on the other side of the country!"
"Do you remember what year it is?" The doctor asked.
"2016?" Mayr responded in a confused tone.
"That's right!" The doctor rejoiced, but the look of concern grew immensely on the faces of the couple.
"Do you mind if I use the bathroom?" Mayr asked.
"Of Course! It's the first door down the hall on the left.
"Thank you.". Mayr got off of the bed and started walking towards the bathroom. He felt weaker than he used to. Once we got into the bathroom, he saw himself in the mirror and was caught by surprise. He was shocked to see the reflection of a malnourished boy staring back at him. So many thoughts raced through his mind.
He sat down at the toilet and calmed himself down. Usually, he would think things out logically, but the situation he found himself in was in itself illogical.
"Why am I in this kid's body? Is it punishment for something I've done? Is it for some other purpose?" Thoughts such as these entered Mayr's mind.
He sat in the bathroom for roughly 45 minutes, contemplating the reason for why he is in this predicament. After being unable to think of a logical reason, he gave up on understanding the situation.
Mayr came to the conclusion that the best course of action would be to play the role of this kid until he has a better understanding of his situation. Dealing with all of the extra issues that would arise from him explaining his situation to someone else would not be worth it. What's more is that if other criminal organizations caught wind of this, they would likely try to take over everything he had.
He started walking back towards the hospital room. When he was right outside the room, he heard weeping.
"Amnesia can be a by-product of trauma," Mayr heard the doctor's voice say, "Luckily, it doesn't mean that it's permanent. Also, his only physical issue is his sore throat, which should be better in a few hours. Your son will be fine."
Mayr was saddened by what he had heard. A mother was weeping for her child. It brought back memories of his mother. He felt a sense of duty to make sure he brought as much happiness into their life as he could while he inhabited their child's body. That's the least he could do to ease the mind of the mother whose child's body he had inhabited.
Mayr put a smile on his face and walked into the room. When his parents saw this smile, they were a little shocked. It had been so long since they had seen a happy expression on their child's face.
"Do you know who I am?" The mother asked sheepishly.
"Of course!" Mayr replied in an enthusiastic tone, "you're my mother, obviously. And that's my father." He added while pointing at the man that was accompanying the woman.
His mother was concerned. She quickly realized that the cadence with which he was speaking was not that of his son. Regardless, she put on a happy face to acknowledge his answers.
"Okay, Son," the doctor addressed Mayr, "Luckily there are no serious issues, so I will let you go home. I suggest you take a week off from any obligations, such as school, and eat as much as you can. You look like you haven't eaten a proper meal in ages."
"I understand." Mayr replied. With this, the parents and Mayr thanked the doctor and they made their way home.
-
The parents were walking towards their home and Mayr simply followed them. As they were walking his mom looked at him with a concerned look that she tried to hide with a fake smile.
"Hey, Soju," She said in a concerned voice, "You know, If you don't want to go to school anymore, that's fine. Your father has picked up a second job. We can move next year and you can finish school then. People take a year off all the time, so it's nothing to be ashamed of. You can just focus on sketching. I know how much you like doing that."
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Mayr looked at the ground and began to think.
"I've never had the chance to go to high school. Might be a fun experience. Besides, being out may help me understand this situation I'm in."
After rationalizing the situation, he looked at the mother with a smile and explained that he would like to continue going to school.
"Are you sure?" she questioned in a troubled manner, "I know school has been rough on you. I wouldn't want you to go through something like this again."
"What did this kid do?" Mayr thought to himself. He looked at the mother reassuringly. "I promise there won't be any issues."
Her son had just uttered a desire. It had been so long since he had done so, she did not want to fight against him. "Ok, I understand." She said with a smile on her face.
-
Once they had arrived home, Mayr got to see their living arrangement. He hadn't seen such a humble lifestyle in so long. Not since he was a child. It actually brought him some comfort. He inspected the house. He saw the two rooms and 1 bathroom. "I suppose the smaller room is the kids." he thought to himself.
"I prepared a big bowl of ramen for you." Said the dad. He was a man of around the same age as the mother. He had a strong build and humble mannerisms. He went to the kitchen area and presented the bowl of ramen to Mayr.
"Thank you!" Mayr replied, "I was actually quite hungry.". Mayr grabbed the large bowl, sat infront of the small table, and finished the entire bowl in a few minutes. The parents were astonished. Seeing their son eat like this was like a dream.
"I'm a bit tired," Said Mayr after finishing the Ramen, "I'm gonna go to sleep."
"Okay," replied the parents, "See you in the morning."
Mayr made his way into the tiny room with nothing but a futon inside. Once he went in, he closed the sliding door and laid down. He stared at the ceiling and thought about how bizarre everything was.
"Ugh, no use stressing over it," He thought to himself, "for now, I just need some rest."
Mayr went to sleep. The next morning, at around 6am, Mayr woke up. He heard the old wood floors creaking from movement and pots and pans clanking. He got up, opened his door and walked to the middle room. He saw the mother washing dishes. She noticed that he was awake.
"Why are you up so early?" She asked, "You don't have school for a week, you can sleep in if you want."
"I think I got proper sleep," Mayr replied, "I don't feel tired at all."
"Alright, do you want some breakfast?" She further inquired.
"Sure, I'd love some." He replied.
The mother began cooking and made him a humble breakfast. A piece of toast, some eggs and fish. As he began to eat, he saw that only one plate of food was on the table.
"Are you not going to eat?" Mayr asked the mother, "what about dad?"
"Me and your father already ate a few hours ago," The mother replied, "He had his first job early in the morning so I had to make him breakfast then."
"So she's been up for that long?" Mayr thought to himself. He understood how hard she and the kid's father were working, and he hadn't heard them complain even once. In their interactions, it always seemed like their main priority was the kid's happiness.
Again, he was reminded of his own mother. Memories of how she gave up on all of her desires to raise him the best way she could. Mayr had developed a strong liking for the mother and the father of the kid whose body he had inhabited. Their happiness started becoming a big priority for him.
-
Over the next week, since Mayr didn't have much to do, he spent most of his time exercising and contemplating his situation. He was having a hard time figuring out the purpose for which he was put in this situation, but unlike his contemplation, his exercise showed considerable results. His skin had taken on colour and he began to fill out his shirts.
At 5:30am on his first day of school, Mayr woke up. He walked out of his room before his mom had a chance to wake him and got cleaned up.
"Wow, up super early today." His mom said cheerfully.
"Yeah, I was kind of nervous for my first day back." He replied back with a smile.
"Well, here's your breakfast." She said as she placed the plate with a small portion of eggs, fish, and a piece of toast. He thanked her and ate the entirety of the food almost instantly.
"It's still surprising to see you finish your food." The mother said jokingly.
"This kid must've had some sort of anti-food condition." Mayr thought to himself.
"By the way," Mayr added, "My hair has been coming infront of my eyes and it's been quite troublesome. Do you have any extra hairbands by chance?"
"Ofcourse!" His mother replied as she ran to her room and returned with a black hairband.
"Thank you!" Mayr said as he tied his hair back in a ponytail. "Just one more favour," he added, "would you mind walking me to school today?"
His mom's expression changed. She became a little nervous. She was anxious about the idea that kids might bully her son if they saw that his mother wears rugged clothing. "Are you sure you want me to go with you? I'm not looking too presentable."
Mayr sensed the insecurity in the mother's voice and was saddened by it. "Ofcourse I would like you to go. There's absolutely nothing more I would like than to walk with you to school."
This brought a smile to her face. The two got ready and made their way towards Soju's school.
-
Once they arrived at the entrance of the school, The mother gave Mayr a hug. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
Once Mayr entered the school, he realized that he had absolutely no idea which class to go to or which direction that class would be in. Because of this, he decided to go to the main office and ask them. It would be awkward, but it was the best course of action. The problem was that he didn't even know where the office was.
Mayr began to walk aimlessly in the halls hoping to find the main office. He got to school early, so he had time to spare. As he was walking through the halls, he noticed that he was getting a lot of stares from other students. He disregarded these stares and kept walking.
As he was walking around in the halls, he wandered into a less crowded area of the school. Mayr was approaching a right turn. As he got closer to the right turn he began to hear sounds from within the hallway.
-
In the cubby, the group of 3 boys and 2 girls had surrounded Nesh.
"So you've been hiding money from us all this time, huh?" Said the boy with the buzzcut aggressively followed by a punch to the gut. Nesh grunted in pain. "You have some balls, you know that?" Another one of the boys said as he was about to punch him. Before he could connect with the punch, the group heard a footstep behind them.
Nesh raised his head to look at the person and was shocked. "Soju?" Nesh whispered in confusion.
"Look's like you didn't wanna wait for your little friend in the hall today, did you." The boy with the brown hair remarked.
"You guys feel tough, ganging up on a kid half your size?" Mayr asked in a cold tone.
"You wanna try your luck, huh? You fucking loser!" The boy with black hair responded with a mean look on his face.
"I actually saw him hugging his mom today," one of the girls with brunette hair added with a chuckle, "She had some raggedy clothes on. I guess it only makes sense that the mother of a loser is also a loser."
This comment infuriated Mayr. A look of complete rage came upon his face and he looked directly at the girl who made the comment. This scared her a bit.
"Hey, who are you looking at like that!?" The boy with the buzzcut said aggressively while walking towards Mayr. He reached for Mayr's collar, "Let's see you keep that same ener-'' WHAM! Mayr smacked him with a backhand to the jaw that knocked him unconscious.
He looked at the rest of the group with the same intensity that he had looked at the girl who made the comment.
"You wanted to try your luck, huh? You lousy brats!"