In the mountains of Northern California, a group of middle school children muscled their way through the dense forests in search of a truly once in a lifetime experience. Amongst this group of two girls and three boys, all but one showed signs of fear. Standing at the edge of a small clearing, the eleven year old leader smirked as he eyed a mountain lion feasting on a long dead carcass.
“Holy shit…” one of the boys named John whispered to him. “I’ve never been this close to one before.”
“Hurry up, take a picture!” One of the girls named Jessica said carefully monitoring her volume.
Beside her the second girl Bianca retrieved a camera from her backpack, which she promptly used to snap several pictures of the majestic beast. She then tucked the camera back inside her backpack before using her phone to record.
The other boy Lucas looked around at the surrounding trees and up at the sky which had turned amber from the setting sun. His gaze eventually landed on the boy in the clearing before he asked in a wary tone. “Okay we’ve finally found it… now what?”
The boy standing in the clearing looked back with a sly smile and a raised eyebrow, causing Lucas to feel stupid for even asking such a question.
Lucas gulped, he wasn’t particularly close with the boy, but knew of his reputation as did they all.
Okimoto, the leader of the group glanced back at the animal while saying. “When have I ever been someone to chicken out! If I say I’m going to do something then you’d best believe I’ll do it. I’ve killed seven already but I don’t expect you all to believe me since none of you were there to see it yourselves.”
“Listen dude we believe you okay.” Bianca said, her tone also full of unease. “Now that we’ve seen it let’s get out of here, it’s getting late and there’s a chance that the police will discover the dirt bikes that we borrowed to get all the way out here.”
“If you want to go then what’s stopping you?” Okimoto responded while casually stretching his arms and legs as he prepared himself for the fight of his life. “You are all free to leave and I’ll fight this thing with no one watching just like in the past.”
“Okimoto don’t be silly.” Jessica said placing her hand of his shoulder out of concern. “Did you think we made fun of you? Is that why you’re doing this?”
“No.” Okimodo replied shrugging off her hand. “I’m doing this because I do whatever the hell I want. You guys were the ones who chose to follow me into the forest remember? You were the ones who asked to tag along. Now, take a step back because I’m going in.”
With that being said, Okimoto ran out into the clearing before any of the others could stop him.
“Okimoto!” Jessica yelled out but didn’t dare take a step forward out of fear.
The two other boys were left speechless while Bianca looked on trapped in between fear and morbid curiosity.
Okimoto ran at full speed as he screamed like a wild man. His black hair danced crazily as he raced against the wind.
The mountain lion immediately raised its head before turning to growl at the rapidly approaching boy, it’s fangs drenched in blood with scraps of flesh wedged into it’s gums.
Okimoto slips his fingers into one of the pockets on his cargo pants before retrieving a kitchen knife.
The animal charged at him and the two collided before tumbling around the low vegetation in a grappling contest.
Okimoto allowed it to bite into his left arm while wielding the knife with his right. With frightening precision he stabs the animal relentlessly until its blood dies his clothes a deep shade of red.
All of the kids watch in total shock as the bloody fight unfolds.
The mountain lion’s self preservation instincts immediately kicked in when it felt Okimoto’s blade tear at its insides. It released his left arm before swiping at his right arm which was still stabbing the knife into its abdomen with its paws. Eventually it succeeded in removing Okimoto from itself but not before most of it’s intestines were dragging along the ground behind it.
Not giving the creature a chance to escape, Okimoto jumped on its back before slitting its throat when it tried to snap back at him.
Not too long after that the mountain lion was dead. Okimoto stood above its body as he tore his blood stained shirt off and used it as a bandage for his injured arm.
The other four looked at him with eyes wide and mouths agape.
Bianca was the first to regain her composure. Carefully, she walked over to the mountain lion’s corpse where she squatted and poked at it after Having recorded the entire fight.
“Dude you’re utterly insane.” John, the second to snap out of his daze said.
The Lucas and Jessica both looked at each other in total disbelief before Okimoto’s next words immediately grabbed their attention.
“When my arm heals, I’m going to kill the next one with my bare fists.” He said, holding up a peace sign as Bianca recorded him.
Those words echoed around the clearing. All four of the youths were left speechless by them.
From that day onward middle schoolers and high schoolers all over Los Angeles would learn the name: Okimoto D, Cheffei.
“A quite interesting trend throughout history is the tendency for certain individuals possessing exceptional qualities to achieve great feats.” Lecturing from his desk at the front of the 7th grade classroom, Mr. bornasake’s words flew in and out of most ears. “This undeniable pattern was observed by the Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle who would go on to popularise The Great man theory.”
Sitting at the very back of the classroom with his feet kicked up on the desk, Okimoto’s ears were drawn to the old man’s words that seemed to resonate with him. He had decided a long time ago that such was his fate. To achieve great things and go down in history as one of many legends.
The other kids all gossiped and laughed and joked around with one another, shooting many glances back at him. A week had passed since he killed the mountain lion, and the video of the fight had spread like wildfire.
Okimoto didn’t care much for his sudden rise in the hierarchy of his piers, in fact he found it to be very annoying.
Before he was free to go wherever he wanted, do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. This was because his reputation was largely negative and in the form of mere rumours and speculation. Now that there was evidence of his true character everyone suddenly wanted in on his exploits which he found to be very problematic. The more eyes there were on a person the more of an impact their actions would have and more expectations they would be burdened by.
Before when he stole tasers from the police and security staff he got away with it due to his obscurity. Before when he stole dirt bikes, skateboards and cigarettes no one knew who to point to and accuse. And even when he smuggled go carts away from the amusement parks he had only been able to do so because he acted alone. Now everyone wanted to tag along which meant that his paradise in the unknown had vanished.
Fortunately this wouldn’t last forever, that’s how popularity worked. Last month a girl named Tory was the most popular because her dad was found out to be a famous actor. The month before that saw none other than John become the most popular because his parents won ten thousand dollars in the lottery. The month before that an 8th grader girl whose name Okimodo had forgotten was the star of that month after her celebrity crush Christopher Marcus followed her back on instagram. No one cared who they were now of course, child of a famous actor turned out to be as boring any other person, the child of the lottery winners had no say in how is parents spent their money, and That one 8th grade girl never had any of her dms opened by mister teen idol.
Of course this didn’t stop them from always desperately bringing up these aspects of their lives in attempts to maintain their fleeting status. Tory would jump at any chance to bring up her father when no one asked, John would was always try his best to brag about being the rich kid that he wasn’t and the 8th grader was always fast to remind the other girls that they didn’t have celebrities following them. That was the world that most kids lived in. All that mattered was social validation and attention.
Okimoto didn’t care about such things at all, and he would make sure that no one ever tagged along to his exploits once his brief time in the spot light had ended.
“The question is what makes a person truly great?” Mr. Bornasake’s asked.
The classroom largely hushed on impulse despite not all of them hearing the full question.
Many gave half assed answers while others simply sat in silence. Okimoto himself didn’t answer either but pondered deeply over the question.
It was very much true that certain people were born better than others. Some were distinguished by being better at sports, others better at singing and acting, others were better leaders with more Charisma and others were more competent in their respective fields. But what was it that would distinguish him from Tory, John and the 8th grader? What would he do to go down in history to be remembered as a legend? A week from today he’d start taking kick boxing lessons. Perhaps that would be his path to greatness.
The question of his own purpose would linger on his mind for quite some time.
Even three years later as he sits on the corner of his bed staring at a text message that has yet to be responded to, he still wonders what it is that makes him so special. He wonders why it was that he just happened to befriend a former teen idol who was now trapped in a pocket dimension. He wonders why he witnessed the diaries abilities. He also wonders why his best friend hasn’t replied to him in a month. Okimoto… He wonders and wonders forgetting that he’s an hour late for school…
“Ahh shit it’s Schizomodo!”
“That psychopath actually turned up today!”
“Look man I don’t want any trouble.”
“He’s so hot!”
“I know right!”
“It’s a shame he’s a total nut job though…”
“He’s actually wearing most of the uniform this time.”
Arriving at what should have been his third lesson of the day, Okimoto overhears countless whispers as he enters into the classroom before sitting at the very back.
The teacher, Mr. Johnson stares at him in a daze before snapping back to his senses and continuing on from where he left off.
The rest of the lesson goes by with Okimoto staring out of the window at the ancient colonial courtyard. Several upperclassmen sit around the various benches with their heads bowed over multiple text books.
What pains him the most about Christopher’s silence is the fact that whatever he is doing was surely far more interesting than whatever future Okimoto had in store for himself. This was to be his future. he’d go to school and attend his kick boxing class. He’d be yelled at by teachers and annoyed by students. Occasionally he’d sleep with the principal to get himself out of trouble and stop his poor attendance from getting him expelled. When it’s all over he’ll probably just focus on fighting to earn a living, a life that completely lacks the greatness he yearns for.
As the day continues to go by in a blur, Okimoto finds himself sitting in the courtyard during the lunch break.
Lucas and his cronies have some poor runt pressed up against the wall again. Unsurprisingly the other kids all stare on without doing anything to stop this.
“Leave me alone!” The runt whimpers.
Lucas laughs at the top of his lungs, as if bullying a weak person with his friends by his side for protection is the funniest thing in the world.
He punches the poor thing in the stomach causing him to grimace in pain. Two of Lucas’s cronies tighten their grip as they continue to pin the boy to the wall.
A few of the surrounding kids laugh, it seems that all of the anti bullying lectures meant nothing to them. Among the crowd there are girls with communist bandanas tied around their wrists and raised fist symbols depicted across their designer bags. There are boys with Boy Scout badges slapped across their blazers. Even a few teachers pass in and out of the old building indifferently. All of these people who took pride in their upstanding morals did nothing to stop this injustice from happening right infront of them. Why? Lucas wasn’t the strongest of all of the kids, far from it. He wasn’t the most cunning or ruthless or even the most threatening. They all allow this to happen because of money, old money. Because his family practically owns half the school and his mother is one of the country’s most infamous and corrupt lawyers.
Okimoto scoffs as he retrieves a cigarette and lights it up. These kids and teachers weren’t good people. They weren’t bad either. They were average people doing what average people always did, looking out for their best interest. Why risk your future to protect some runt? Why put yourself in danger when it’s safer for you to just turn the other way? Were the countless doctors, nurses, teachers and staff who looked the other way when Jimmy Savile molested young girls wrong for what they did? Are the body guards and armies of a dictatorship wrong when they act out the oppressive regimes of their countries? Where the masses of people who supported the third reich in nineteen thirties Germany wrong? No they simply did what all ordinary and completely unexceptional people do, which is look out for their own asses at the expense of others who were expendable. In the face of a threat it is not the ordinary that stand up for what’s right, they only do it when they know it won’t put their comfort in danger. To Okimoto the ones who always stood up for what’s right against overwhelming odds were always the exceptional. Those great men and women throughout history who distinguished themselves by being born exceptions and not the rule.
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After half smoking his cigarette, Okimoto gets up from his bench and brushes past the common rabble. The burning bud dies as it’s crushed in the core of his clenched fist.
As soon as the other kids take notice of him barging through them they all scatter out of his way, clearing a path Lucas and his entourage.
The band of buffoons are so proud of their actions that they all fail to notice karma marching towards them from behind.
“Hey didn’t I tell you not to tense up!” Lucas says as he presses his hand on the boy’s tender stomach. “How about we loosen him up a bit?”
He looks back at his laughing cronies before his shit eating grin is replaced by horror at the sight of Okimoto looming behind them.
“You okay?” Goon number one asks before slowly turning back to look behind his shoulder, his eyes meeting with a half open dress shirt before trailing up to meet with Okimoto’s.
“Drop the runt.” Okimoto commands.
They obey, letting the kid go before shrinking back like a bunch of cowards.
The runt keeps his head down before quickly scurrying off into the campus building.
“You think it’s funny right?” Okimoto asks before turning around to repeat the same question to the other kids. “You all thought this shit was funny didn’t you?”
Lucas tries to slip away but is quickly stopped when Okimoto grabs ahold of his collar.
Remembering the plan he had in store for Lucas, Okimoto smirks before saying. “I’ll show you all something even funnier, Lucy here will slowly strip naked for you all to enjoy.”
“No fucking way.” Lucas immediately protests but quickly shrinks back when Okimoto holds up his fist.
“Knock it off Okimoto.” Goon number two says before going on to suddenly take the moral high ground. “Just because you’re good at beating people up for fame doesn’t mean you get to push everyone around.”
His words were met by a foot arcing through the air towards him. Unable to even see it coming, the goon is whipped across the jaw and stumbles back before falling to the ground in a state of delirium.
“You fucking psycho!” Lucas yells as Okimoto grabs his blazer and rips it open destroying all of its buttons.
With a single arm, Okimoto thrusts the rotund boy into the wall while yelling. “Shut up and strip down, or else I’ll break a leg and then an arm.”
“And then you’ll get expelled.” Goon number one shoots back as he knelt over the half conscious goon number two.
Okimoto rears back before blasting the mouthy teen with a kick to the chest that knocks the wind out of him.
Surprisingly he doesn’t fall to the ground but instead desperately gasps for air as he continues to kneel.
Okimoto takes a few steps towards Lucas who begins to shrink into the wall, his face plastered with sheer terror.
Okimoto grabs the boy by the throat while using his raised right foot to press his knee into the wall, gradually increasing the pressure.
“As I said, first I’ll break a leg.” Okimoto grins from ear to ear as he speaks.
“Shit!” Lucas immediately yelps out as agony starts to creep up on him.
“Stop it please.” A female voice calls out to Okimoto.
Feeling a hand touch his shoulder he looks back to see an upperclassman girl.
“His family can ruin you.” She says. “It’s not worth it.”
Okimoto scowls before asking. “Why didn’t you do anything to stop him?”
The girl withdraws her hand and remains silent, her brows tensing with frustration as she avoids eye contact.
“I thought so.” Okimoto sneers before looking at Lucas and saying. “Because of her I’m even more pissed than before. I’ll break both your legs now.”
“What!” Lucas’s eyes widen before shutting as his fat face scrunches up and turns red.
*Crack*
“Do you like it when I’m stressing the fuck out?” Principle Tanya Johnson runs her hands through her messy brown hair as she storms around her office.
Sitting on a chair by the window, Okimoto can’t look any more indifferent.
“Say something!” Tanya yells. “Lucus’s parents will be here any minute now. They’ll demand that you get expelled or even threaten to sue the school.”
“So that’s how things go when you put evil in its place?” Unable to restrain himself, Okimoto laughs out loud after speaking.
“You call what you did putting evil in its place?” Tanya raises an eyebrow before continuing to rant at him. “Do you think this is a game? Do you think you’re some kind of super hero. Wake up! You’re in the real world and things don’t work like that. I’ve pulled at every string to keep you in this school, bought you a motorcycle and given you weed whenever you asked for it. Why can’t you show a little gratitude and behave yourself when you’re here.”
Okimoto slowly unbuttons his dress shirt before giving the principal a suggestive look and asking. “Haven’t I shown you enough gratitude? I think I’ve rewarded you justly for your kindness.”
“I…” Tanya stumbles over her words and swallows. “That’s beside the point. You broke both of his legs Okimoto. He’s the captain of the wrestling team and now he can’t perform his role. He might not be able to wrestle on a competitive level for years.”
“Wasn’t any good at it anyway.” Okimoto says shaking his head. “I’ve seen five year olds at my kick boxing club that can grapple better than him. He had that position handed to him just like everything else in his life. It shows, just look at how he bullies any kid that’s smaller than him. Besides, don’t act as if you actually give a shit about him or being a principal in a proper way. You’re just afraid that his pathetic parents will sue the school for what happened to their precious little baby.”
“You know what, you’re right.” Tanya shoots back. “And what’s so bad about that? The world is a complicated mess and you know that very well don’t you?”
“I do.” Okimoto says. “I just want to believe that people can do better. What’s the point in whining about how messed up the world is if you do nothing about it. You might as well just shut up and let people have some peace and quiet at least. I won’t just complain I’ll do something about it, that’s why I stood up for that kid when no one else gave a shit. What’s so bad about that?”
“What’s bad about that is the consequences of those actions.”
Okimoto sighs, before glancing out at the window across the suburban hills and to the city of Los Angeles in the distance. He knows that he’s a hypocrite, even now he was also basking in the filth and corruption he hated so much. He was able to get away with all manner of things because he sold his body to this woman. He was fine with that if it meant that he could be free from it all. Even if only for a while. He just had to go and do it didn’t he… had he done nothing then he wouldn’t be in this mess. But at the same time Lucy would’ve gotten away with being a piece of human garbage again. If only Okimoto had no sense of justice, then he’d be truly free, free to enjoy life until the world nuked itself into oblivion, or until the ice caps melted and washed all the filth away including himself.
Before the argument can continue any further a knock on the door catches both of their attention.
“It’s them…” Tanya whimpers with a grimace before walking over to the door.
She opens and Okimoto sees two of the most inglorious people he has ever seen in his life. The man, presumably Lucy’s father is just as fat as his son. Sweat dribbles from his obvious toupee, running along the contours of his giant nose and dripping from his razor thin lips. His eyes were sunken in and his chest bobs up and down, clearly he couldn’t even handle the staircase up to the third floor. He wears the most generic business suit that appears extremely expensive but lacks the faintest hint of style and expression.
The woman, presumably Lucy’s mother is a cross between a gargoyle and a ghoul. Black eyeliner adds an even more demonic air to her already demonic pale and angular face. Her nose extends out so far that everyone in a room with her must instinctively duck whenever she turns her head to not get decapitated or impaled. She wore a business suit as well, the grey fabric stiff as if carved from stone.
She immediately glares at Okimoto and he recognises her.
He saw her on the news before, she had helped a business partner of hers, a Hollywood big shot named Jason Jackson beat a lawsuit for sexual misconduct. Quite the fitting accomplishment.
“So this is the boy Okimoto?” The father says, looking Okimoto up and down before asking. “You like breaking legs huh, you damn delinquent.”
“There will be consequences.” His wife adds, her raspy voice an assault on the ears.
“Principle Johnson we’d like to discuss a few things in private.” The father says.
With a gulp and nod Tanya looks at Okimoto before saying. “Go on.”
Okimoto waists no time and leaves the principal’s office before heading downstairs to the reception. When he arrives he sees none other than the runt sitting by the exit. The small and feeble freshman’s blue eyes met with Okimoto’s. He stumbles over his words and fidgets before saying. “Thanks for earlier.”
Okimoto smiles before replying. “You’re welcome. How are you feeling? They didn’t rough you up too badly did they.”
“No.” The boy says. “You actually stepped in before the worst of it started. They always do the same old act. Pin me to the wall and punch me over and over again until the lunch break ends.”
He clenches his fist as his bushy brows form into a knot. It’s clear to Okimoto that this boy has a lot of pent up anger. Anger that he couldn’t express or get rid of. Okimoto knew that feeling all too well.
“You’re angry aren’t you.” Okimoto says sitting down beside him. “I won’t be here for much longer, it’s obvious at this point.”
The boy sneers. “It’s not fair, why is it that you get in trouble when all you did was give that asshole what was coming to him.”
Okimoto eyes an art folder poking out from the boy’s bag and asks. “You’re an art student?”
The boy’s brown curls bob up and down as he nods affirmatively. “I am.”
He clutches on to his bag and quickly shoves the art folder deeper inside, clearly embarrassed.
“Hey you don’t have to hide that stuff.” Okimoto says with a chuckle. “It’s good to have a real talent unlike most of the kids here. Would you mind showing me some of your work?”
The boy nods again before retrieving a sketchbook from his art folder and opening it.
Okimoto’s eyes immediately light up when he sees what’s inside.
He sees a drawing of a young man wearing a straw hat. He wore a cartoonishly wide grin as his limbs extended out beyond the page in an impossible manner.
“You watch One piece!” Okimoto asks enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear.
The boy’s face lights up. “Yes! It’s my favourite! I read the entire manga three times.”
“Damn.” Okimoto folds his arms as he chuckles and says. “I’m embarrassed to admit this but I’m not caught all the way up. I stopped at some point after the time skip because the pacing of the anime fell off a cliff.”
“Just read it then!” The boy says urging him, springing to life with a level of animation that caught Okimoto off guard.
This kid was really into that show.
Okimoto looks up at the ceiling with a smile as he asks. “What’s your name?”
“Oh!” The boy jolts before recomposing himself. “My name is Anthony, Anthony Samson. I already know your name. You’re actually quite popular y’know, though it’s not exactly the good kind of popularity.”
“They call me Schizomoto.” Okimoto chuckles before running his hands through his dyed hair and smiling. “I honestly really like that name.”
“You shouldn’t. They’re basically calling you insane.”
“That’s completely fine by me.” Okimoto replies before looking back at the boy and continuing to say. “If standing up for you makes me insane then so be it. Sanity doesn’t mean anything if it makes you one of a thoughtless bunch. They were useless when you were being unfairly targeted and the one person who stands up for you is branded a schizo, funny how that works.”
“How what works?” Anthony asks raising an eyebrow.
Okimoto sighs before smirking. “How people work. They see someone acting in a way they can’t understand and brand that person insane. That’s how it’s always been throughout history, the truly great are always shunned and the world only realises that they were actually the ones in the right when they’re long dead.”
“And you’re saying you’re one of them?” Anthony chuckles before adding. “Sounds a little narcissistic if you ask me.”
Okimoto frowns.
Anthony quickly walks back his words. “S…sorry I shouldn’t have disrespected you like that.”
Okimoto scowls in a cartoonish manner before winding up a punch in an even more cartoonish gesture while yelling. “Gomu Gomu no… Gattling gun!”
Anthony immediately flinches expecting to get hit only to start laughing uncontrollably as Okimoto tickles his side.
“Knock it off.” He says swatting away Okimoto’s hands.
Okimoto rears back laughing. “Seriously? Do you really think I’m that sensitive? Or maybe you’re just used to people snapping on you because you’re an easy target?”
“That does happen quite often.” Anthony admits with a hint of shame.
Okimoto places his hand on his shoulder before asking. “Let me see the rest of your sketches.”
With a wide smile, Anthony flips through the various pages of his sketch book, revealing all manner of drawings. Cartoon characters, anime characters, buildings, landscapes and body anatomy all fly by in a flash.
Okimoto can’t help but be amazed. The drawings are like official art drawn by a professional using digital software. The line work is void of sketches or blemishes, the shading is immaculate and the details are astonishing. This wasn’t just some kid sketching guns, stick figures or cartoony drawings of their most hated teacher dying, but a real person with genuine talent. It was a shame honestly. He was targeted and harassed daily by people who were born rich with nothing of substance to offer the world. The truly mediocre who relied on money to bully their way ahead of much more deserving people. That was how the world worked. Because money held a monopoly on a person’s ability to survive, they would always bend to worse people with better means while talent fell to the wayside.
“My art teacher wants me to do architecture.” Anthony says frowning. “My mom says it’s a total waste of my talent. I agree, I want to make comic books y’know. I want to tell amazing stories about heroes that kick ass and smoking hot chicks.”
Okimoto chuckles. “But instead you’re told to go into architecture. So you can design offices where people go to sell their souls and apartments that no one can afford. So you can be a cog in the wheels of their limousines and SUV’s.”
“That’s exactly what they want.” Anthony laughs. “The school is partnered with several architecture colleges that themselves are partners with real estate developers. When I tell them that I have no interest in that stuff, all they say back is you’ll make a ton of money this, and you’ll make a ton of money that.”
“Of course it is.” Okimoto sighs before getting up and saying. “You should follow your dreams, do whatever you want to do.”
Anthony nods. “I will.”
“You should come to my kick boxing club, they let everyone do a free session so they can decide if mixed martial arts is for them.”
“Really!”
Okimoto smiles with a hint of sadness. “As I already said, I won’t be attending this school for much longer, this might even be my last day. When I’m gone the others won’t care if they see you being targeted again so you should learn how to defend yourself.”
“I’m pretty small so I doubt it will make a difference.” Anthony objects.
Okimoto scoffs before saying. “That’s bullshit. My trainer’s half my size and he still beats my ass almost everyday. It’s not about being big and strong, it’s about technique.”
“I guess I’ll give it a try.” Anthony says giving in. “What are they called and what’s the address?”
“Give me your number and I’ll send you the address.”
After exchanging numbers, two adults, a shaggy haired man wearing some dusty overalls and a curly haired woman in a nurse uniform enter into the reception and immediately run towards Anthony.
The woman lunges across the bench towards Anthony embracing him with immense love and eyes full of motherly warmth. The man marches over to the reception desk and starts uttering one demand after another. He looks over at Okimoto before storming towards him while yelling. “Are you one of the bullies or are you the one who stood up for him?”
“Dad it’s okay, he’s the one who broke Lucas's legs.” Anthony says.
“You are!” The father’s blue eyes light up as he gives Okimoto a firm handshake. “For legal reasons I’ll say I don’t condone your actions.”
The mother walks over to the father while rolling her eyes and saying. “This is an obvious failing of the school, it’s a shame it took an incident like this for them to finally inform us about how are son is being treated.”
She then smiles at Okimoto and says. “Thanks for helping my baby. I’ll personally vouch for you if they try to punish you unfairly.”
“You don’t need to do all of that.” Okimoto says with a light chuckle. “It probably won’t make much of a difference anyway. When I’m gone the bullying will just continue.”
Turning to look at Anthony Okimoto smiles and says. “Which is why he’s going to be attending kick boxing classes starting today.”
“I will.” Anthony says with a smile and a nod.
Okimoto nods back at him before nodding at his parents and exiting the building. As he steps down the steps leading to the street he takes a second to look up and admire the blue sky. The school day had ended a while ago, but he’s still pretty sure the principal wants him to return to her office after whatever dreadful conversation she is having with Lucy’s parents comes to an end. Okimoto doesn’t care as it’s already time for his time at this school to come to an end. It may have been one of the most prestigious schools in the state, but what good is that if this place does nothing for him. Even if he aces every class he’ll probably just end up slaving away at a university before working an office job that he hates. At least with fighting there was some thrill to it, so he might as well just focus on that.
He sighs as Christopher crosses his mind. He checks his phone again and can’t help but wonder what the hell his best friend is doing…
“It’s a beautiful day today isn’t it.” A voice calls out to him.
Looking across the steps, Okimoto sees a boy dressed in the school uniform sitting leisurely along the railing. He was larger than the runt but still a little on the scrawny side. He has medium brown hair that’s styled neatly and a mischievous smile across his rather plain looking face. His eyes weren’t plain looking though, they were amber with an almost snake like focus to them. For some reason Okimoto felt as if the boy was reading him like a book, analysing his every thought.
His eyes suddenly widen as he says in amazement. “I knew I wasn’t going insane!”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Okimoto asks in confusion, feeling uneasy due to the boy’s strange behaviour.
The boy jumps down from the railing before laughing maniacally as he walks along the road. He mutters to himself. “I have to tell my brother about this, he won’t believe his ears.”
“That’s a real schizo right there.” Okimoto mumbles to himself before sighing and continuing on towards his motorcycle.