"An ally?" Leon said, confused.

"Yes, an ally. It comes to me that you have been going through a lot." Natria said as he frisked Leon's diary.

"There are a lot of things, it seems you at one time tried to approach for help but was denied." Natria continued.

"How do you know all this?" Leon asked.

"How you say? Well, you are like an open book. I can tell at a glance what you are thinking, even right now." Natria replied with a confident smug.

Leon backed a little.

"Oh, there is no need to be afraid. Sure, I was a little rough on you, buddy, but I also need to do my job." Natria said.

"Job?" Leon asked in a puzzled voice.

"Yeah, seems you weren't present at the beginning of the session. I'm the Discipline Head of the Student Council." Natria explained.

"I'm tasked with dealing with delinquents and thugs to make the school environment fit for learning." Natria continued.

"And you do that by picking on me." Leon said with a sigh.

"Well, I had to. You need to be disciplined for your actions. I was gonna go with detention or something like that, but then you attacked me. What I did was self defence." Natria said as he narrowed his eyes.

"So, even after knowing all about me, you decided to punish ME. Heh, and you call yourself an ally of mine. Hypocrite!" Leon said, the frustration fairly visible on your face.

"There, there. You should go for meditation, it is important to have patience in life." Natria suggested.

Natria moved his head a little closer to Leon's face, he softly whispered in his ears, "You see Leon, no one is ever going to mess with you again."

A chill ran down Leon's spine.

Natria stood up, giving Leon a hand, he helped him stand up.

"Now there's a few things I want you to do. First, you go to class, attend them as usual. Second, if anyone threatens you, just tell them my name." Natria said with a smile.

"Ye-Yes." Leon stammered.

"Buckle up bucko. All my work would yield none if you acted like a coward." Natria said.

"Work?" Leon asked, out of curiosity.

"Don't you remember? I'm the Discipline Head. It's my job to make sure no-one gets bullied." Natria said with a proud look in his eyes.

"You mean? What did you do to those two?" Leon asked hurriedly.

"I wonder." Natria said with a smug look, bidding Leon a farewell.

Fifteen minutes later, Leon was sitting in his class attending the lesson when there was a knock on the door. It was the vice-principal. The teacher greeted her as she entered the room.

"Leon Valishkapov?" she announced.

"Yes, ma'am." Leon replied, standing up in his seat.

"Yes, there you are. I request you to please leave this classroom for a couple of minutes. Don't worry, I just have something to address to your classmates. I hope you don't mind it." the Vice principal requested.

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It was the first time he had ever seen her throwing her pride away and requesting to a fellow student. Leon obliged. As he walked out classroom, the door behind him closed. Through the small glass pane he could see the Vice Principal addressing his classmates about something. He tried to hear, but the thick wood of the door blocked all the sound.

A couple of minutes later, the door opened, the Vice Principal exited. She gave him a smile and softly said, "I'm sorry for all the trouble we have caused. We will definitely try our best to make up."

As Leon entered his class again, he felt he was in a different land. People looked at him in an apologetic expression. Those harsh stares he had been suffering through for years were gone now. As he sat at his desk, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Leon right? I'm so sorry for forcing you to do my tasks. I promise I'll try my best to make up for it. I know I'll do your tasks if you are okay with it. By the way, my name is Jasper. I know I'm asking for too much, but would you consider being my friend?" the kid from the back said in an apologetic tone. Soon after, many people came apologising for their harsh attitude towards Leon, offering to be his friend. For the first time, he felt accepted by his class.

As the final bell of the day rang, he left the classroom, not alone but for the very first time wit 'friends'. The group chit-chatted about all sorts of things, their interests, their life when Leon caught something in the corner of his eyes. It was 'him'!

"Hey guy, I think I have to go for now. I have to meet with someone. I'll catch up with you all tomorrow." Leon said, as he walked towards the main gate where 'he' stood.

"Man, this suck. And we were planning to go to Ghillby's today." one of the guys called out.

"I'm sorry. See you tomorrow." Leon shouted back.

As Leon reached the gate, he spoke, "Nate?"

"The name's Natria Av' Hamil. At least remember my name, for Roh's sake! It's been like four hours since we met." Natria replied.

"Yes, I'm sorry. Natria, I wanted to thank you." Leon said.

"Seems like you know the truth. Good, now enjoy your school." Natria replied as he walked out of the campus.

"Why though?" Leon asked.

Natria stopped in his track.

"I-I told you, I'm just doing my job." Natria replied with a chuckle.

"Liar." Leon called out.

"What makes you say so?" Natria asked, raising his eyebrows.

"You don't stutter. From what I have seen, you barely stutter with you words and yet you just did. You are lying, aren't you? Or maybe you don't consider me high enough to understand your reasons?" Leon said.

"I must say I'm amused. You are right. I don't consider you high enough to understand me. You are just a foolish kid, nothing compared to the ones of my rank." Natria said.

"Oh, so that's what you think about me." Leon said in a low voice.

"Yeah, scram away! I don't have time to waste on guys like you." Natria said as he walked away.

Suddenly, there was the sound of running, as Natria turned around, he felt a punch straight on his lower jaw causing him to unbalance and fall.

"The heck are you doing? You want to fight me? Alright, I'll show you!" Natria raged in anger.

But as he tried to get up, he felt his hand latching on to that of Leon's. As he lifted his head to look, he saw Leon; smiling. A smile of pure kindness.

"See? I can punch you now. That's a lot of improvement, I guess. I'm one step closer to your ranks and one day I'll be equal to yours and then you could explain to me 'why'." Leon said with a smile.

Natria looked at him in silence.

"Let's start by being friends and maybe on day I'll be equal to you. Till then, I'm sticking with you; that's my word to you." Leon said.

[3rd August, 1934, Shidan, Karsen, Avenriot]

"..maybe one day I'll be equal to you. Till then, I'm sticking with you; that's my word to you." Leon said.

"So have you fulfilled your promise yet?" Natria asked in a play tone.

"No." Leon softly replied.

"So we two ain't diverging anytime soon. So don't get so low, thinking about all that stuff." Natria said with a pleasant smile.

"Oh, Natria I-" Leon said; he was on the verge of crying.

"Nope, I just got my shirt ironed yesterday. I can let you cover it with your snot." Natria said as he stopped Leon.

"You jackass! I really hope I could kill you right now." Leon said as he burst into laughing.

"A million years from now would be enough, I guess." Natria said as he joined Leon in his laugh.

As the boys laughed, they notice the lights around them get dimmer. The Entrance Ceremony had begun!