Driving down the forest path, the leaves falling, covering the car window.

The color of them seems to vary from red, orange, yellow, and sometimes their natural color. Green. Fall must already be here.

My father was driving the car. I couldn’t see his face, however. A thick white fog seemed to have traveled inside the car, blocking the appearance of his face from me.

On the opposite side, my mother sat. I could see her face fine. With short but beautiful chestnut hair, she had tanned skin, with the only strange thing about her being her emerald eyes. It just didn’t fit with her whole appearance.

I didn’t pay too much attention to them or think about why I could only see my mother’s face instead of my father’s. Instead, I looked out the window, pretending a guy was running up and over the trees alongside us.

It was a strange thing to do, but it was a good way for me to pass the time?

Watching the man run alongside us, seeing him run over the trees and rock, everything around me seemed to have disappeared. The leaves the tires would instantly crush, the bags moving around in the back, hell, I couldn’t even hear my dad scream.

The view flipped. The trees that once reached towards the skies were now facing the ground. It was as if the world outside was turning upside down.

I looked over my shoulder, and time seemed to have slowed down within the car. The bags within the car floating in midair, the chips that fell to the ground now hovering above my head. I could even feel my own body becoming much lighter as gravity shifted.

And that shift in gravity would continue as my body was violently thrown around the back seat of the car. My head banging against the front seat my dad was sitting in. But, in the end, I felt nothing. No pain at all.

And like that of a play, the scene went to black, soon changing to that of rocks, leaves, and branches laying all around the back seat.

The strange thing was though, I wasn’t panicking. Maybe it was because I couldn’t comprehend what was happening, or maybe it was something else. Like I thought it wasn’t real.

But my parents were real.

It was the thought of my parents that awoke me from my delirious state, only to bring me to another, more scared state.

My body wouldn’t listen to me. Flailing my arms within the limited space I had, trying to remove a seat belt I never remembered putting on. My breath fast and rapid, I could feel myself passing out, but as I randomly shook my head, my eyes fell upon the sight of my mother.

My body stopped flailing, but I didn’t become tense. My breath went back to its original rhythm, and yet I could feel portions of the air getting stuck in my throat.

In front of me, my mother sat dead. With a large wooden pike lodging itself in her left eye.

I didn’t know what to think at this point. I just sat there, observing the small details of the branch.

Its brown texture mixed with the redness of my mother’s blood. Her brain matter sticking to its surface. Pieces of her eyes dangling from the branch, and the thick blood continuing to drop down into the pile of leaves that laid below. Dyeing them with its own sick repulsing color.

I observed all that, and yet. Never once, did I look at my mother’s face.

I wasn’t scared, nervous, or sad about what I was looking at. But I wouldn’t look her in the only remaining eye she had left. Why?

Without giving me a moment to think about it, her hands suddenly flashed back to life.

Still cold and tense, her hands grasp my neck, strangling all the air out of my lungs.

For the first time since finding myself in this car, I felt something.

Feeling her nails dig into my neck. Small ragged gasps were escaping my throat and yet each one felt like a hammer was forcing itself out of me.

It felt like my eyes were popping out of my skulls, I saw my tears blind my vision. And behind the wall of tears, my dead mother who came back to life was trying to force my head to look her in the face.

I tried lifting my hands, but for some strange reason, my body wouldn’t listen to me. Maybe all the air in my body was sucked out in an instance and now I got nothing left for my arms.

I continued to try, but all attempts ended in failure. As I did this, she continued to squeeze the life out of my body as she not only broke my windpipe but also sank her sharp claws she calls nails into my neck. And by the time my eyes were leveled with hers, the wall of fog that once blocked my fathers, was once again here. This time, blocking the view of my mother's punctured face.

I didn’t know whether I should have been happy or sad knowing that I would never again lay my eyes upon my own mother.

All of a sudden, my body began to lose function. My struggling hands no longer struggled, my tearful eyes began to lose to gravity as they slowly closed. Revealing my being to the darkness.

I still felt the air scraping against the inner walls of my throat, trying to either leave my body or to enter it. It was very painful, no other word could describe it.

Without a moment to lose, the spell that once confined my arms to be nothing more than sticks finally released them.

By instincts alone, my arms ran in a circle as they found a small pair of hands around my neck.

Opening my eyes, my entire view was nothing more than the same wall of tears as I had in that strange dream, plus also a close up of Sofia’s face.

How is that scarier than the image of my dead mother dying with a branch in her eye?

There was almost no light in the room. Her whole body blocked the one light source that came from that basement window. And the only reason I know it’s her because after getting choked, slapped or Indian burned for years, I became very familiar with the feeling of her gross hands.

Strangely enough, her hands felt very familiar to the ones my mother had in my dream. Must mean that she was the reason I had that terrible dream just now.

But that isn’t the important part since this bitch is literally choking me to death!

Trying to pry her hands away from my neck, her sharp nails slowly inch across my neck. Every centimeter they made allowed another bit of oxygen to enter and leave my body. But the process was so slow that I feared I would die of suffocation before I could escape. My eardrums already burst from the air inside me trying to find another exit from my body.

It didn’t help either that her breath was worse than Kyle’s spicy farts on a tuesday morning, which I have been on the receiving end multiple times.

Seems like she’s been drinking as her breath is mixed with alcohol and whatever drug she’s been taking.

I just woke up, meaning my energy levels are at a minimum right now.

Her hands still pinching at the side of my neck, an all too familiar noise came from the woman hanging over me.

Again I couldn’t see anything, and Sofia’s entire body was coated in darkness, but the area that should be her mouth started to become swollen. And that sound I just heard is the one I make when someone punches me in the stomach hard enough to make me spill all the fluid I had in my body.

Knowing what was about to happen, I ignored the intense pinching of my broken neck. All to try and push Sofia’s face so it would face a different direction.

As my body was around 80% away from the splash zone, her bloated face popped like a pimple. Spraying all its contents over the concrete floor and some of it over my right arm.

The worst part was that I fell asleep with my jacket on. Meaning it was going to absorb some of the liquid.

As the last pieces of dark thick liquid drop down into the puddle of vomit, again there’s no light, the silhouette of her body begins moving side to side. Soon, falling in slow motion, my shoulder breaking her entire fall. I think I heard my shoulder crack.

I was speechless at this point. First I had a dream about my dead parents and the next thing I knew I was fighting for my life.

I took a few moments to collect my thoughts. In the end, only one statement came to mind, “Well that’s one way to wake up.”

Feeling Sofia shuffle in my shoulder gave me the worst feeling ever. I don’t know what happened to my brain, maybe the lack of oxygen caused it, but I completely forgot that the woman that just tried to kill me passed out on my shoulders.

Obviously I shouldn’t wake her up.

After regaining some of my strength, I grab hold of her sweaty shoulder. Lifting her a few centimeters above me so I could sneak away from her.

The problem is letting her down.

Like I’m trying to set down some weights, I slowly and carefully bring her down to the floor. Wondering if she’s always been this heavy or if I’m just weak.

Just because I have a six-pack doesn't mean I’m strong. I got this thing from not eating much and running away or getting beaten up. But hey, all those punches really tempered my body, like in one of those xianxia or wuxia stuff.

Letting Sofia sleep in her own vomit, I tiptoe my way out of the basement and did my whole morning routine. This involved moving a couch so I could grab my phone.

I wonder when I had time to plug my phone back in. I remember going to sleep with it. Hm?

After that, I ran over to the back door where I would climb the wall and just wander around for a bit until school starts.

So, doing just that. I left the house, climbed the wall, and began to walk down the street to god knows where. With the only source of light being the moon itself. Plus a couple of street lamps.

Usually I would go over to my stash, as I keep all my money and school supplies there. But because I met those homeless children yesterday, I forgot to return my things there.

Actually, did I grab my backpack before leaving?

Looking over my shoulder and feeling my back, I find out that I forgot my bag inside my room, “Fuck”

Well I’m not going back. I’m used to leaving the orphanage, but not entering. The thought of going back there scared me. I much rather live with someone like Kyle. Or...her.

Besides, I don’t even do my homework, Kyle just steals it all the time. Plus, my backpack is stolen all the time.

As I was checking whether I had my backpack with me, I realized how bloody my clothes were.

I fell into a pile of shards yesterday, plus I got stabbed in the shoulder, lucky not very deep, but while I did patch it up, it was poorly done.

My skills in sewing a wound up is still mediocre. And knowing that, the stitches and the bandages I got on me aren’t going to last very long. They’re stopping the bleeding, but for how long.

“Hah! I guess I’m going to have to meet up with Sheep.” Sheep’s this guy I know that, while being very shady, is probably the most skilled surgeon in this city. Well, the best I know, which isn’t much.

I don’t actually know his real name. He just goes by Sheep, which is kinda stupid if you ask me, but hey, he gets real defense whenever you make fun of his name, so maybe the name has some importance.

I still remember when I met him, it was almost like a scene out of a movie.

It was during the time when Sofia forced me to live out on the streets, and the place I was staying in was infamous for being the local hangout for some gang members.

Which, while I never joined them, mainly because they saw me as weak and not worth having, I realize how boring a gang life could be. They just sat around talking and sometimes got into fights with other gangs. But maybe it’s just them.

Anyways, while they were incredibly boring and usually never interacted with me, they still forced me to pay them rent for staying there. I would call that bullshit, but they made the other homeless people pay, so hey, at least they're fair.

But because Sofia was a bitch and never gave me any money, I usually had to steal things from others. It’s actually the reason why I can steal stuff from my fellow classmates so easily. But, one day, while I was off getting some money to pay rent, I accidentally failed at stealing the wallet of some random guy. But later I found out that he was a member of a rival gang. Not the best person to steal from huh.

So, after running away from him, I went back to my little dark corner I called home during those times.

I didn’t tell them anything about what I did, but when everyone had to pay up, obviously I couldn’t do anything but fess-up.

After that whole mess, they beat the crap out of me, saying it was because I failed to pay them rent and because I may have started a war. I don’t even understand how a nonmember such as myself, could have started a war between two gangs by failing to steal a wallet.

But apparently I could. The guy showed up like two minutes later. He saw me and then called over his buddies.

The two sides met, knives came out, a few steel pipes and one guy brought a gun. It wasn't real though, just meant to intimidate people.

I don’t want to remember those times, so overall I got caught between the two sides, got cut a few times, and was bleeding fast. I could actually see my small intestine poking out.

What I’m trying to say is, I got cut real good and was bleeding to death.

And, like that of a movie, I was in an alley near a street, dying. And when I thought everything was over, Sheep came.

He saw me, and after picking me up, brought me to his clinic. Fixed me up, and said that the first time was free, but if I ever wanted him to fix me up again I would need to pay.

Problem is, I don’t have money and even small things like stitching up a few small wounds cost a fortune from this guy.

So, every time I get cut up, I usually go to him. And for payment, I do a few jobs for him.

It’s tough, but I do enjoy our little meets. I see him as being the only guy willing to be my friend. Even if he keeps calling us nothing more than work acquaintances. But I like to see us as more than just acquaintances.

Hell, the guy was more of a father to me than my real dad. But I can’t blame father for that, I don’t even remember what he looks like, I did lose him when I was three.

“But he’s probably asleep. Should I really wake him up and risk having some medical knife shoved into my eye?” Fuck no. I don’t have much to live for, but I still want to live. "After all it’s only…" grabbing my phone, I turned it on to check the time.

Only to find that it was currently 11:42. And it was Monday.

The Fuck! This means that fucking Sofia woke me up at most, two hours after I went to bed. It wasn’t even midnight. Couldn’t you have tried killing me the next day, not wake me up on the exact same day you tried stabbing me?

I can handle a lot of things. Like getting stabbed, punched, shot, or even having a rusty nail stabbed into my side then having it kicked even deeper into me. But this is just wrong, I need time between each of these near-death events.

Welp, seems like I have plenty of time before school starts. And obviously Sheep won’t be awake at this time. Who would?

I’ll just meet up with him after school.

Putting my phone away I caught a glimpse of my clothes that were currently dried with blood. Also, when I pushed Sofia’s face away from mine, some of her vomit landed on my jacket.

Pieces of rice littered my arm. It was gross.

I’ll definitely pick out those rice pieces, mainly because I’m afraid I might eat them from desperation, or Kyle will make me eat it. Whichever comes first.

Now, for the rest of me, I don’t really know what to do.

I should clean it, walking around with dried blood on your shirt doesn't look that appealing. Especially when it’s almost December.

“Hmm? What the hell, not like anyone would care that I have blood on me.” Despite me being a complete loser and nobody at school, or even in this city likes me, I’m actually pretty popular. Or, at least well known.

While going to school with blood and vomit all over my clothes would be strange, for some like me, it’s very normal. I would get strange looks from others, but during my time on the streets, I got strange looks all the time. Even now people look at me weird.

And if a cop tries to question me, I’ll just run. My parkour skills are, kinda shit. But I’m great at leading people to dangerous places where you’ll probably die.

Just because I’ve never directly killed someone doesn’t mean I’ve never had a hand in doing it.

Though I will have to rid myself of the vomit. I guess I could use a hose or something.

Not wanting to use Sofia’s hose, for obvious reasons, I just grabbed a hose from some random house.

With a hose in hand, I held the nozzle over my arm.

My left hand was already over the wheel that released the water, but a feeling of dread held me back.

“God Dammit. I thought after leaving the streets and living with Sofia again I wouldn’t have to bother myself with this crap.” The crap I’m talking about is the shit about pouring ice-cold water over my clothes.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

It may not seem like a big deal, but pouring water over yourself and your clothes while the stars are out and it’s winter, it becomes a little chilly.

Also I just really, really hate the cold. No tragic backstory, I just hate the cold.

Alright, I need to think of something that’ll get my mind off of how cold my arm is about to be.

Okay, what am I going to think about? Anime? Have there been any good one lately?

Yeah, I don’t want to answer that.

Movies, I love movies. Well, I bet I would if I could afford them, and not get a hundred viruses on my phone when I try to watch them without paying.

Maybe food. I don’t usually eat anything that’s not in a trash can but if I could. I would love to eat a fat juicy chicken. Not a turkey, a chicken.

Yeah… I want a chicken that has so much fat in it that when I take a bite from it, a puddle will be created underneath me. Maybe slather its surface with something. Something that’ll really make it pop.

Maybe some garlic. I don’t know how it would taste on chicken but I have had garlic bread before, and it was amazing. Plenty of cooking shows that I’ve watched outside of people’s homes would say to put stuff like special sauce or something. Even put some leaves on it, don’t really know how that would increase its flavor, but when you’ve had to eat dog food in a can that’s been a home to rats for some time and is covered in their shit, you’ll eat anything and think it’s some burger from one of those fast-food restaurants.

When it comes to food I don’t really have that many references.

All while thinking of how good it would be to taste food that hasn’t been in the trash or had Sofia or Kyle pour something disgusting like pickles or zucchini in them, I slowly scrubbed the vomit and rice from my arm.

Just thinking about how good chicken would be right now has stopped me from punching the wall to feel something other than my frostbitten arm.

Turning the hose off, I violently shook my entire arm like a whip. Shooting the water in all directions, one landing on my nose.

This whole shaking thing was to dry my arm faster, but it's main purpose was to move the blood in my arm. Which in turn, helps my body heat spread faster. I don’t think the water was cold enough for me to get actual frostbite but I’m not taking the chance.

After shaking my arm for a full minute, I took off my jacket and began wringing it to remove all the water.

It was tough, mainly because even though I shook my arm violently to move the blood, my hands were still burning because of how cold it was. How does that even work?

But the burning cold hands were nothing when compared to my damaged mental state.

Because it was at this moment that I realized that I could have just taken my jacket off from the very beginning. The only parts of me that would get cold are my finger. And that’s only if they caught any water on them.

Fuck I’m an idiot.

* * *

Entering the classroom my entire figure was investigated by the eyes of my classmates.

This was normal for me as I would normally come to class completely beaten and purple. And apparently, some of the students and even some teachers would place bets on which part of me would be the most injured at the end of the day. I feel like that’s not legal.

But today was special as not only did Kyle not beat the shit out of me this morning. The second thing is that when compared to normal, people outside of school and inside have been staring at me way more than usual.

Maybe it’s the dried blood on my clothes, my right arm being very dark when compared to the rest of my jacket. It could also be the fact that I’m covered in dirt because I fell while running to school today.

Or, just taking a guess here, it could be the giant ass, blood-red because it’s currently bleeding, circle that’s currently embedded in my forehead. Or it could just be because of how ugly I am.

But I think I’ll take the first option since the second one hurts the pride I think I still have.

I got this circle because after realizing how stupid I was with wahing my jacket, I began banging my head against a tree to rid myself of stupidity. I think I made it worse.

Pretending not to notice the stars of everyone in the school, I walk over to my seat all while trying to listen to other people’s conversation. Most of which were about me.

“So do I win? His forehead looks pretty beaten up.”

“No way, I win. Look at how bloody his clothes are. Clearly under his clothes he has hundreds of cuts. I win.”

“It doesn’t make sense though. Kyle said he wouldn’t target Leon during the morning. Didn’t he say something about preparing something special for lunch?” That was a passing teacher by the way. You can tell how my popularity has affected the minds of others. A kid comes into class looking like me and even the teachers don’t care.

But the comment on Kyle does worry me a little. He’s preparing something special. What could that mean?

He did say yesterday that he’s planning on forcing me to eat something he himself doesn’t know is edible or not. But to avoid my morning beating. That hasn’t happened since I was in middle school.

This is very concerning. I’ll need to prepare myself.

I don’t know what he wants me to eat, but if there’s even the slightest chance I could die, I need to avoid it.

Creating a rough map of the school within my head, I try to make a reliable escape route.

I already have a route set, but seeing how Kyle and his band of idiots already found my little hidey hole, it’s safe to assume he knows about this.

During the passing period I should check my original escape path to see whether something strange is happening. Even if nothing is out of place, I think it’s best to take this secondary route.

With that being considered, I think I found an exit.

It’s a simple window, similar to the one I have in my basement room. It’s small, but I can fit in it.

Once I go through, the others may follow, but seeing how there would be multiple people after me, it may take some time for them to go through the window. Especially if they are uncoordinated.

After I go through the window there's a backdoor that not many know about. I grab some rocks, break the handle and I’m home free.

The only problem I see with this plan is I don’t really know a good route. The exit is clear, but the path to getting there is a major problem. It’s lunch afterall and people will be flooding the hallways.

“Hah… Whatever.” I don’t want to fry my brian this early in school. I’ll flesh everything out during the 2nd period. Afterall, it's the 1st period and there’s someone I really want to see.

“Did you hear that? Leon just spoke.”

“Yeah I did! Something grand must be happening today.” I can’t tell if they're being serious or if they're just making fun of me.

Putting my head down, wanting nothing more than to forget about these idiots, my mind wanders back to that dream I had.

The one about my parent’s death. I have to say, that dream sucked. It barely got anything right.

A beautiful forest with different colored leaves falling from the sky? My parents died on a muddy highway while it was raining buckets outside.

I’ll give you points for the manner of death, as something did piece her in the eye. But it wasn’t a branch, it was a metal pole.

I am glad I didn’t have to look her in her face during the dream. Because in real life, I gotta see her entire expression. It was scary.

I can’t say anything about my father as I really don’t know what he looks like. I blacked out during the car crash, so I did see my mother’s dead body, but not my father’s.

I once heard Sofia laughing at his picture, saying how he died by three poles that pierced his body. Making him even uglier than before. So I guess he died with three poles instead of one.

All I’m proving right now is that dreams are hardly truthful and should be taken with a grain of salt. If my dream really wanted me to feel something, then it should have made it more accurate instead of that bullshit.

“S-S-Satou? T-T-Than-th-thank you for what you did for me.” Hearing a girl stuttered as much as I do, caught my attention.

There’s only one guy in this school that can make this much noise this early. Satou Pendragon, the king of my school.

Satou Pendragon. When compared to me, he could be considered the perfect man. Good looks, athletic, smart, and a good personality. He had silky brown hair and gentle eyes. His body was toned and slender with a height of about 5’10, same as me.

Satou is nice to everyone and has a very strong sense of justice. Since his father was some kind of martial art master, he was trained from a young age, making him a national level athlete.

There’s always a girl blushing or screeching whenever he’s around. Even the ones with boyfriends.

This has caused a rift between the men. There’s the guy’s that hate him, but he’s so perfect and nice to them that they can’t find a reason to beat him up, which I may add they take their anger out on me, and either become gay for him or become his followers. The second half of the school is where they do try to kill him but instead get their shit kicked in.

Remember that national level athlete thing. There’s nobody in this school that’s better at fighting than him.

Even I with my mastery of avoiding danger, could only survive around five minutes against him.

Satou, sensing someone was staring at him with an attitude other than that of a dick sucking one, tried to find its origin.

It took him some time but soon he locked eyes with me.

I think he was trying to tell me something with his mind, but I couldn’t think of anything he would want to tell me. After a few seconds of constant staring, he gave me a friendly smile and a wave.

...Fuck this guy. Fuck you and your petty wave.

The problem with him being perfect, is that he also wants everyone else to be as perfect as him, but he seems to mainly focus on me for some reason. Like dude, just give up on me like everybody else.

And the worst part is, that I've been stuck with this asshole for years. Ever since I was in my freshman year, this guy has been in every single one of my class.

I once chose choir, even though I can’t talk in front of people, just to get away from him. But guess what, this guy followed me and joined the same class. Leave me alone!

It wouldn’t be that bad if he would just ignore me like everyone else. But instead this guy thinks it’s a great idea to not only talk to me, but also force me to participate in every school event. After which it becomes really awkward and I have to come up with some lame excuse to leave.

And the only one that can save me is, “Hey Satou! Stop chatting with the ladies and come talk with your best bud.”

That was John Davis, one of Satou’s closest friends. He’s a muscle brain that does not care about the finer details in things. He looks like a bear from afar and he stands tall at around 6’3. There’s not much else to say. He’s like me, a background character, but if you really want to know what he looks like, just imagine a bear with a human face.

“Hey John! Didn’t see you there.” That is a complete lie, this dude is a giant.

Satou runs over to John And starts chatting with him.

I didn’t care much for their boring conversation, so I didn’t get the beginning part. But I did get some pieces from the end, “I just don’t get how you do it Satou. Training with your father, cooking breakfast lunch and dinner for your family, working a part time job, and getting the grades you get. I do only one of those things, and look how I’m doing.” Really, that’s it. Why don’t you try asking me how I handle my life.

“Well, it’s hard but I can’t complain. Training with my father is the only time I can spend time with him. So while it’s painful I do enjoy my time with him. Working a part time job allows me to spoil my siblings, and cooking for them is the best moment in my life. Seeing their happy faces when I hand them their meal is a moment I will cherish forever. Also, about the grades, I know you can do good.” He places his hands onto his shoulders and lowers his body so his eyes would level with his, “It may seem tough, but you're smarter and stronger than you believe. I know you can do it, because you're my friend. And if you ever need my help, just ask. I really care for you.”

Satou gave him a smile that could make any girl fall for him. And he gave it to a guy, “T-Thank you. I-I care for you to.”

Well clearly one of them wants more from their relationship. The dude is blushing like a ripe tomato.

But still, is that all it takes to get someone to like you. Just say you care about them and talk about how hard your life is but you won’t complain because you're happy. Because that sounds a little like my life, minus the happy part.

...Is this really what I want to do with my life. Watch people from the background and comment about it. Is that all I’m meant for, because it seems like it.

I’ve done terrible things, many of which have resulted in the death of real people. But here I am, sitting in class as that loser kid everyone picks on.

Out there in the streets, people knew who I was. I wasn’t much, but they feared me because they thought of me as a taboo. A cursed child. Someone that if you got involved with, you would then die in a terrible manner.

I used to be someone. It may have been just a homeless child, but at least people knew me. They may not have respected me, but at least when they looked at me I got the sense that I was human. I was human, and not just their toy.

And I had friends. Real friends, ones that I could talk to and have a quick laugh with.

It wasn’t a good life, but at least I was something out there. At least people knew who I was. At least I lived an honest life.

Now look at me. Just a kid who sits in class all day, doing nothing but take the abuse of everyone.

I’m no one to these people. I’m like a doll to them, something they can play around with whenever they get bored. And at the end of the day, I go home to Sofia. A person who has more freedom and courage to do things to me that no one else would.

I would come up with hundreds of plans to get my revenge against these people. But in the end, I never use any of them.

I would learn everything I could about them. Their favorite place to eat and at which time they would go there, their home, their family and other things. It sounds wrong, but on the street, I needed these skills when almost everybody was after me. When everybody wanted to kill me.

So what was the fucking point! Why did I spend a quarter of my life out there slaving away to stay alive, making a name for myself and for what. Just to come back and be beaten up and laughed at everyday. Forced to do their homework that their too stupid to figure out, forced to be the punching bag for the boxing club ebcause their too lazy to buy a new bag, run away from the track and field kids because they needed some motivation.

Nothing I’ve done since coming back to society has been my choice. Everything I’ve done was controlled by someone else. I haven’t been living an honest life. It’s the complete opposite.

Living an honest life is living the way you want to, being real with yourself. At what time have I been honest with myself? When was the last time, I had a little fun?

Maybe…

Maybe I should stop holding back these thoughts of mine? Should I go back, back to those days?

Maybe I should start having some fun and-

BANG!!!

“What was that?”

“It sounded like someone banged their head against their desk.” Your close, but wrong body part.

Punching the back of my left hand with the side of my fist, I was successfully able to stop myself from having thoughts that I will later regret.

It’s a good thing I did stop myself. If I had finished that thought, there would have been no going back.

And that's a fact. No matter what happens, I won’t go back to those times, and I won’t complain about it.

I’ve seen plenty of people with far worse lives than I. Besides, I chose this life, so I have to live with it.

While everyone else was still trying to find the source of the noise, I was just there holding my face up with my hand. One of my fingers was covering my left eye, leaving my right to stare off at the whiteboard. It almost looked like a face was staring back at me.

I think I need some time to cool off.

I can’t leave class now, but once Kyle tries to do whatever he wants with me during lunch. I’ll escape and then take a bus over to a certain lake I like to go to.

“Alright kids! Get back to your seats and Leon!” I look up towards the teacher, her eyes filled with fire, “If you sleep during class again, I’ll force you to speak in front of everyone.” Well shit.

Did I forget to mention how similar her and Satou are? Yeah, this teacher of mine, that I don’t even know the name of is like Satou. They both haven’t given up on me and are still trying to push me to be the best I can be.

What an idiot.

It didn’t help that this girl was shorter than me. Not by much, just a few inches, but it’s still annoying.

But as she walked through the doorway, over to her lectern to begin teachings, the woman who stole my heart and was the one who crushed it, elegantly walked into the classroom.

Her name was Anna Spades, and I’ve been in love with her for some time now. Could you blame me, with her long walnut brown hair flowing behind her as she walked. Her gorgeous green eyes shine like that of a nebula. Her eyes are sharp, and her entire personality would normally be off as cold, there’s this feeling of softness that radiates from her.

And that’s the thing about her. She, out of everyone in this world, she’s the only one that’s ever been nice to me. The only one that has ever treated me like a human when I returned back to society.

I’ve been with her since elementary, and all the while she has never treated me less than anyone else.

It has been hard knowing that she has no romantic feelings for me, but I can’t blame her. It’s me after all. But I’m okay with that. I see her as being a goddess I can never touch, and she sees me as human. I can’t ask for anything else.

She’s the only one that’s keeping me away from those dark places. And if there’s ever a reason for me to go back to those times on the street, it be if anyone hurts her. And if anyone dares hurt her, they won’t even live long enough to see the night, much less the day.

So after stating all of these facts and proving my devotions to her, I think it’s completely fine that I drool every morning and everyday whenever I see her. It’s totally not creepy. Right?

Though I need to ask. Why does she have this giant white but also kinda bluish circle around her.

The size is just large enough to wrap around her entire body. And while I can’t see much from this angle, the little I saw just showed a circle with thousands of lines and scribbles all over it.

The more you stared at it, the weirder it gets. It had this pattern on it, but every second you stare at it, it changes and yet, not by much.

It hurts my head.

Could it be that she has lights around her waist that’s beaming down that circle. But it has volume to it, and I don’t think light has that.

As I finished my analysis, the circle began to engulf Anna, creating a pillar of light that disappeared just as fast as it came.

When the light vanished so did Anna.

This better be some cool magic trick, otherwise I’m going to lose my shit. Someone just kidnapped Anna.

As soon as Anna disappeared, around thirty lights appeared, one for each person in my class.

I could also hear screams of confusion from our neighboring classes. It seems like they are having the same situation as us.

Within mere seconds, the same pillar of light started to engulf every student and teacher within the school. After around ten seconds, only about a quarter of the staff and students remained. I included.

People tried to run, others were too shocked to move.

Satou tried to lead everyone out of the school, but he was soon taken like the rest. John followed soon after.

I would usually know what to do as I’ve experienced much, but nothing like this. I just stood there like when my friend died. I stood there staring into the distance, wondering when my turn would come.

But as I waited for my fate, I heard a group of people squealing, practically begging to be engulfed next, “Dude! When will it be my turn!”

“Maybe the sigil mesures our power and then picks the strongest to go first. We may be one of the last ones.” Sigil? Aren’t those supposed to be symbols that are meant to hold some magical power? Why are you talking about it now?

Well, I guess this can’t be explained by normal means. So could it be…

“NOOOO! That means we may not even be picked?”

“No, it just means we’ll be one of the weakest. But it doesn’t matter. Remember our training.” Training? What fucking training did you people partake in to prepare youself for some supernatural shit.

“Of course I remember. Afterall, we have been training for years for this moment.” What moment?

When I asked inside my head, they all instantly answered me. All at once, in perfect unison, “Our training. For the day we, the nerds of this school. Go to another World!”

...Another World? You mean like in an isekai?

Thinking about the crazy idea, it actually makes some sense. It’s dumb, but when your classmates and everybody in the school start dissapearing within beams of light. And there are no ash, no signs of burning or disintegration, it really seems possible.

Or, maybe it’s just my mind wanting it to be possible. The chance at a new start.

In a world where magic exists. I could fly in the sky like a plane, shoot fire out of my hands. And maybe, be different from the loser I am now.

But I’m a background character. All those things I just said are for people who are special. People like Satou, the main character.

I’m a background character, and in these types of situations, what usually happens to a character with a dark personality, a background filled with death, some which may have been caused by the character, and has a face that doesn’t stand out.

While most isekai are the same thing, I do love to read them. So, through my years of knowledge, I can say with confidence that these types of character will die. In an embarrassing, honestly just an awful death.

Admitting I don’t want to die seemed to have turned something on in my brain. I started to think about every possible bad thing that could happen to me on the other side.

If my intuition is correct, then when we all get teleported, we’re going to be in front of a large crowd.

These people will consist of the idiot king, the princess who summoned us, and the pope who will later be revealed to be evil. They will tell us to go kill the demon king. The hero does what he’s told and, while adventuring out in the land, finds a band of hot women to join him on his quest.

The hero is given some op skill that really shows how lazy the author is, because then the hero just mows down every villain that comes around. But after very little effort, the hero kills the demon king, marries the princess and maybe the rest of his party who think they actually did something other than be sexual partners or being fanfic for the reader.

Great huh, fun right. Totally original right.

Well the funny thing is that, that’s for the main character and, I’m guessing that if this other world needs the help of some random teenagers from another world. Then things must be bad on the other side.

For all we know, we could teleport over there and they got giant mutated zombie chickens that could shoot lava out of their eyes.

Do I really want to fight that? Do I really want to use a sword and try to kill one of those things, only to be either cannon fodder or killed by the hero himself? Because that usually happens to people with a personality or background like mine. It never ends well for people like me.

Besides, I may not have much in this world, but I still have more here then wherever that place is.

I sorta have a name for myself in the streets, so I could go back there and live like I used to. Maybe even use my skills and try to become a mob boss and rule this city.

But if that doesn’t happen, I still can’t just leave the other children in the orphanage.

I don’t spend a lot of time with them, and they usually snitch on me to Sofia, but I still care for them. I understand why they do it, and I was once in their situation. Living without parents and not knowing what’s going to happen, and all of sudden your thrust into this house filled with strangers. It’s scary, just that I had to deal with Sofia.

If I’m gone, who will she take her anger out on? I can’t just leave those kids to Sofia.

Just then, the selfish part of my brain began to function alone. Forcefully turning off all the other parts of my brain, giving my selfishness full power.

It began to dissect the sentence I just thought up. Removing all words that it deemed unimportant, leaving only the best.

...Leave...Sofia…

…

“TAKE ME NOW MAGIC SIGIL!!!”

Instantly the circle, I mean sigil under me started to glow fiercely. And soon, I was engulfed in this large pillar of light.

The last thing I heard from my original world before everything turned black was,

“Wait! We can activate it by saying that!”