I cracked a rare smile at my foster father and jested at him. "Are you sure you want me? With the blood in my veins, a change in ownership will be inevitable."

Simon's smile grew as he messed up my hair with his fist. "I was planning to hand the company down to you anyway. All you're saying is that my retirement and paid vacations will come sooner."

Simon Caddel owns a successful underwear business catering to all ranks of people. His business peaked a few years ago when an S-ranker who was also a celebrity shouted out the company on her Rankable page, the ranker social media site that got popular a long while back. I don't know how much money he makes with this business. Regardless, I want to pay back for the things my foster parents did for me. I plan to earn a million dollars and give them as an anniversary present. Almost ten years ago, I first walked through those front doors and joined this family.

"Are you messing up his hair right before his first day?" A woman's voice I fondly know speaks from behind my foster father. I didn't notice her approach.

My foster mother, Lydia, pushed Simon away. Knowing what she would ask, I preemptively bent my body down so she could reach the top of my head. She starts to fix my hair.

"Ellis did a good job with his hair, and now look at it, all scraggly like my husband." My mother quips.

"Hey! You didn't even see him until just now. He could have walked down like that." My foster father replies.

"My Ellis has had the same hairstyle for five years, so I know you are full of baloney." That retort silenced my foster father.

Lydia Caddel is the shortest member of the Caddels. She has red hair that reaches her lower back, maybe that's where Val gets her pink hair, but I don't believe that's the case. Bluntly, her face and figure are too good for Simon if you compare their appearances. I don't know how he managed to marry someone like Lydia. My money is that Simon's surprisingly high skill in making underwear was a factor.

She dusts my uniform and pins a dull bronze D on the front of my jacket. I planned not to go with that embarrassing emblem and hoped none of the school faculty singled me out for it.

"Now, don't touch that pin, Mister. I put it in the perfect spot."

"I won't let anything happen to it, Mom."

My plans to ditch the pin went out the window with that request. Since Lydia requested it, I have to listen to her. No, I am not influenced by Saint Sigmund Freud. For all intents and purposes, Lydia is not my actual mother. She was the first "motherly" figure I had since my biological mother died before I was self-aware. And grandfather never talked about Grandma. Val runs down the stairs and straight out the door, wearing the same uniform as I am.

"I'll race you to the train station, slow ass!" She yells out, her voice trailing out the door.

"Go get your sister. You know how easily she gets lost."

I almost make a horrifying mistake before leaving after her. I race to my room and grab the most important thing. I quickly leave the house to fetch my sister.

~

"How was I supposed to know that a bus would take us to Bluefield Institute and not the train instead." She pouts.

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"You could have read the pamphlet that came with your uniform."

"Why would I read it if I knew you would read it, Ellis?" She said that like there was nothing wrong with that statement.

I look at her weirdly, taking this time to look at her uniform. It is the same as mine. It's similar to a suit and a little too fancy for my tastes. The dress shirt is white, while the jacket is a mixture of purple and white. I don't understand why they didn't pick blue, but purple is my favorite color, so I'm not complaining. The only thing we can customize with our uniform is the color of the tie, not the pattern or the material, just the color. I picked purple, but Val went for a bright shade of pink to match her hair. Both men and women have to wear long pants all year round. Again, I'm not complaining.

The last thing I focus on is her pin which will dictate what class rank she got. She is in a higher class than me. Rank-A.

The grade our school gave us starts the same as our class rank. A main selling point of the institute is its inclusive grading scale, meaning those who achieve things of higher caliber will have promotions accordingly. However, that implies the same for the opposite.

Your grade is a different measurement than "rank" and rarely comes up. It's basically the GPA of a Ranker. If I stay in the same class the entire time and never exceed expectations, I will earn the GPA of a D-rank human. That doesn't mean I'd necessarily have D-rank Class.

I didn't realize the bus had stopped until Val hit me on the shoulder. We get off a short walk away from the school. Val doesn't run off and walks with me, a rare occasion. She clears her throat like she is about to start a conversation.

"So… why are you holding-."

"His name is Flash Gordon."

"I know what you named… him…, but couldn't you carry him in a school bag?"

"He is claustrophobic, plus Flash Gordon is technically joining Bluefield Institute as well."

"Wait. Don't tell me that you actually registered him as your tamed beast, right?"

"Why wouldn't I? Flash Gordon and I have been together for many years now."

"What do you mean 'why wouldn't I.' Isn't a tame beast supposed to be, you know, a beast?"

At this point, we were in front of the school. Someone must have overheard our conversation since they rudely spoke up.

"WTF! Did I hear that right? That's your tamed creature?" he says, pointing an accusatory finger at Flash Gordon.

A heavy-set man wearing the school uniform, more muscle than fat, but it all blends together to give a general sense of a giant person. He has black hair and eyes, and his chin is hard to look at since the uneven texture. His pin shows that he is a B-class student. I know this guy. He was in the same class as me in the 12th grade. He tried harassing me into being his errand boy, but the high school had a no-bullying policy. After one too many anonymous reports (I reported him), he got warned that if he harassed students again, he would get held back a year. Since he's here, I guess he learned his lesson and changed for the better.

"Your whole family is fucked in the head, pretty boy, not just you. I knew something was off about you, but I couldn't imagine you had that as a pet."

I held Flash Gordon a little tighter. I will admit when I am wrong. I was wrong.

"I wouldn't expect anything else from the son of some pervert who spends his whole day sniffing women's underwear."

This guy is seriously pissing me off.

"Your sister's hair isn't the only thing that's fake." He looks at my sister in a way that makes me pissed off. He doesn't have eyes filled with lust, but like an alligator, waiting for its prey to come to the water to drink.

Val is about to step up to him, but I block her with my arm. I give her a look that tells her it's not worth it, and I walk past him with Val staring daggers.

"Ignoring me now, are you? I'm not upset. I get all the attention I need from your whore mother, attention right on my di-"

I won't let him finish the sentence. I use Flash Gordon, still clutched in my hands, to smash this fucker in the face.

*CRACK*

Even Val is surprised that I lashed out like that, but I won't let anyone fucking talk shit about my mother. Not to mention he also ridiculed my entire family in front of me. People turn to look as the sudden loud cracking sound rings out. I think Flash Gordon broke his nose.

Arlug falls to the ground. I honestly didn't think he would pass out from that. Whispers spread among the bystanders, who only saw a part of what was going on.

A voice with authority speaks up, "You, student, drop the rock."

I look down at the now bloody stone in my hand.

"His name is Flash Gordon."