Leaving the basement, I didn't see a single person around me. The same empty courtyard, surrounded by buildings with a few parked cars.

I started slowly trotting away from this place. I felt all the tension and stress coming back with a greater force with each step.

Soon my eyes started flickering, and I felt a rush of vertigo.

I dashed to the closest trash bin that I could find and started vomiting. "Blleeergh."

"GoooOoOOod damn, Buuergh." I kept vomiting as my arms trembled, my whole body covered in a cold sweat. My throat and insides of my mouth were burnt by the stomach acid.

After five minutes, I left the trash bin alone and took a used towel out of my bag, wiping my mouth. I felt the disgusting smell of vomit. Luckily there were still no people around. If there was anyone from the 'red' gang, my act would be exposed.

I felt immense fatigue as I leaned against the wall of the closest building. Catching my breath while spitting the vomit remaining in my mouth, I took a look at my phone.

Looking at my screen, a lot of notifications popped out. Missed calls as well as lots of missed asking where I was. All of them came from Mara. I decided to call her.

"WHERE ARE YOU!? ARE YOU SAFE!?" Was the first thing she yelled.

"I'm near my home," I looked around to ascertain where I was, "I don't know the exact location yet. I will be back soon; can you wait for me somewhere near my home?"

"Huu...huu..." I heard her rough breathing. "Fine! But you should keep the call on."

"Okay, I guess I can do this."

Like that, I was slowly maneuvering through the narrow alleyways with my phone pressed onto my ear.

All the fights I've been through didn't strain my body as much as this talk. As I walked silently, I couldn't stop myself from making certain noises, “Hick…"

"What was that?" Of course, Mara didn't miss my hiccup.

"Nothing serious, I'm not feeling well right now, that's all, hick."

"Can't you tell me what the hell happened to you?" I heard her irritated voice from my phone.

"Can't you give me a second to take a breather!?" I snapped back at her and stifled my hiccups.

Making my way back through the backyards and side alleys, I almost made it out. After my outburst, Mara fell silent and didn't speak even for a second more. All I could hear from her was the same rough breathing.

At last, I saw the familiar main street that led to the front door of my home entry hall, and I saw a black SUV. My whole body jerked towards it, but I stopped myself the very next second. The back of my head started pulsating hard as if to alarm me of something I forgot.

Straining my mind, I tried to remember that thing.

"Ptooey," Spitting the saliva that filled my mouth, I had a sudden epiphany.

She shouldn't show herself before this gang.

I grabbed the phone more comfortably as I broke the silence, "Mara, your car is tinted, right?"

"Eh?"

"It's tinted, right? The windows of your car?" I sounded somewhat disturbed.

"Yes, yes, they are tinted. What for…"

"And you haven't left your own car, right?" I interrupted her after hearing a much-coveted answer.

"No, I haven't, what are…"

"No one saw you around here, right?" I felt the blood rushing to my head.

"No! Listen…"

"I will board your car now. Don't go anywhere, I'm cutting the call."

"Wait…"

Beeep. A long beep is all I heard after moving my thumb.

Moving towards Mara's car, I felt my legs losing strength. I tried to straighten myself up but ended up stumbling a few times.

Finally arriving at her car, I knocked on the window a few times.

"What are you doing? Get inside!" I heard Mara's muffled voice, but when she tried to open the door, I propped it up with my leg.

After looking around and not seeing anyone who would stand out, I finally opened the door and quickly got into the car.

"What's with this acting!?" I heard Mara's voice bursting out the second my butt landed onto the leather-covered seat of her SUV.

"Huuuf…" I simply exhaled as I looked forward. I couldn't think about her non-stop arguing, her continuous rambling. I sat down and leaned backward. "Huuuf..."

I tried to gather myself together while my body felt like it went through the wringer. That's when I felt a sudden tug on my clothes and additional weight over my body.

"Don't worry." I felt Mara's arms tightening around me.

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"Ugh."

"Everything is going to be okay, now." She whispered in my ear.

"Hey, stop this." I felt my insides dropping down.

"Shhh, you are safe now, don't worry."

"Hey, get off me," I tried to struggle free from her embrace.

"What…hey…stop struggling!"

In contrast to these words, one girl and one boy struggled fiercely.

I tried to grab her hands, but it was harder than catching eels with bare hands. "Fuck, let me go already! I fucking stink of vomit."

"So what if you stink! You are afraid, and you need help now!" Her face moved closer to mine.

"I'm not afraid!" I almost screamed.

"Hah!?"

I seized the opportunity while she was still confused with my answer and made some distance.

As I rubbed my throbbing temples, I tried to steady my breathing.

“I need time, I need a bit of time, and I will tell you everything after sorting everything. Can’t you trust me?”

Her eyebrows furrowed as she obviously sulked at my answer. “Fine!” Leaning against her seat, she used more force than was necessary as she stared at the car’s ceiling while hugging herself.

As soon as I started controlling my breathing, I regained my composure and started pondering over a plan. Right now, everything was mere guesses as I still didn’t know a lot of info, but in case I was right.

But after thinking a bit more, I groaned inaudibly, as there was still barely a thing that I could do alone.

It didn't matter if my guesses were right or not. There was one thing I knew for sure. Mara was a crucial person on whom I depended right now. I had no other pieces in my hand right now.

Sneakily glancing at her, I tried to keep a straight face, “Mara, I’m sorry, It’s all my nerves. I know that you care, I really do, but let me deal with this, okay? I will tell you whatever you want to know once everything settles.” I turned to look at her, but she was still sulking. “I wanted to ask you a couple of favors. Can’t you speed up the organization of my next fights?”

“It’s fighting again,” she snapped back yet refused to make eye contact.

I smirked, “Yes, I want to learn more about fighting, and I want to learn more about you. You will keep me company every night, right?” I emphasized the word night.

This time she spared me a glance.

“I also wanted to have a few dates if it’s okay with you,” I deliberately slowed down as I talked, faking my indecisiveness, “You went to such lengths for me, and the last time we were interrupted… But seeing how I insulted you.”

She smacked my shoulder and finally looked straight into my eyes. With bated breath, I waited for her answer.

Finally, she rolled her eyes, “Stop it already. I know that you don’t think like that deep down.” She fixed her posture to sit more comfortably, I tried to interrupt her, but she stopped me with a wave of her hand. “I’m willing to entertain you.”

She looked me over, and her eyes glinted as a crafty smile started playing on the corners of her lips, “You know, you are the most interesting of the guys I pursued.”

“Oh, really?” I feigned indifference, but my profusely sweating forehead probably gave me away.

“Haha,” she chuckled melodiously, “Yes really, so don’t be so tense. I have a feeling that if I stay with you, a lot more interesting things would happen.” She leaned forward and peered straight into my eyes. “You’ve got the guts to follow your dream, right?”

Her gray eyes mesmerized me but hearing her question, I answered without hesitation, “Of course!”

“Then you will probably bring in a lot of changes to this town. And who knows, if luck is on your side, you might even rock the whole country,” Her hand moved and lay on top of my own, “And you know I’m a part of both, right? So, won’t you make me change as well? I'm curious to see how I will change.”

Mara left after saying this. She didn’t let me talk this out, and I believe she wanted to have the last word with this small banter we had.

Being on the street, I glanced left and right, but I didn't notice any people from the gang. Exhaling in relief, I moved on.

With an unsteady gait, I got back home, but it was hard to explain what exactly happened to me. When someone you know returns, smelling like vomit with dirty clothes, you would probably think that something terrible happened.

I managed to bullshit my way out of this, saying I had a terrible cramp on my leg, and I fell over. I spent the evening tending to house chores helping Annie in repentance.

The next day arrived, and I took everything I needed to attend lectures. But before the start of the lectures, I had to do something else at Birchland High.

The road was well known to me as I made my way towards Violetta’s office. Entering it without knocking, I walked to her table silently.

“Hm? What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you started another fight?”

After getting around the table, I looked at her amusedly. Even while sitting, her curves were easily visible as she had yet another sensual outfit. Expensive-looking knee-high leather boots hugged her calves tightly. This emphasized the area above that was covered by stockings. Her short pencil skirt allowed me to see more of her supple legs, while her crossed legs didn't let anyone take a peek at her panties.

I knew that I shouldn't let my gaze rest on her body for too long, so I moved it upwards. Her frilly blouse should've been loose, but with a certain part of her body being overly developed, it stretched to the top. Nonetheless, after remembering why I got here, I couldn't look more even if I wanted to.

I gave her one last look-over, and my eyes stopped on her face, “How come you know it’s me?”

“Who else would not show an ounce of respect to the official?” She leaned back on her chair, her bountiful chest swaying up and down.

“Yeah, right, whatever. You probably know why I’m here.”

She threw her hands up, “Of course no, how could I?” She didn’t even try to deny it with her lazy acting, she barely held herself from smiling from ear to ear.

How come all the women that are the closest to me are freaks like that?

My eyelid twitched, “How did you find them? Why do you even know what happened?”

“This?” she feigned surprise, “This is what you want to know? Oh, I guess I can tell you,” She nodded understandingly, “You know, with how you act, you start to forget who I am.”

What did she mean? Looking at her, she was clearly enjoying it and savoring this moment. Why would she mean that I forget… Ahh!

“Yes, I’m a student's guidance counselor, and whenever something happens with my dear students outside, I will get notified.”

How could I forget about this?

I looked at her bewildered, “But everything was settled?”

She shrugged, “Turns out there are still good cops out there.”

I nodded, “And then you leaked the info, huh. But why did you wait for so long?”

She stood up, her chest swaying along with her hips as she took a few steps towards me. “Well, you know how this is done, it takes time, and after all, I needed a perfect opportunity,” She looked at my uniform and started smoothening it as if she was a girlfriend looking after her loved one, “Look at you, you managed to escape them scot-free.” She let go of me and smiled sweetly.

Does she actually want to kill me? And now she acted as nothing had happened? A lot of conflicting emotions rendered me useless.

“We had a deal, didn’t we?” She fluttered her eyelashes, “Didn’t you say that you would survive?”

“You… …You really are!” I couldn’t find a word to describe her.

Looking at her smiling playfully, as if everything she did was small mischief, I couldn’t find a word to rebut her. That’s why I acted in the only way I knew to punish her.

Grabbing her waist, I moved her body in for a forceful kiss when she put her long finger onto my lips.

“Not so fast,” She slipped out of my embrace, “I would absolutely, LOVE, to entertain you, but what a pity, I had been called by higher-ups.”

Really?

“Hahaha, don’t look like that. I obviously prefer you. You said it yourself, right? But what a pity,” She pouted, “You won’t force me to do something I wouldn’t want, right? And I don’t want to lose my job, you see, as you said, I must rely on selling my body.”

The last words she said made me involuntarily clench my fists.

“If you want to entertain yourself here, go ahead, but I heard you had lectures today? Might as well attend them.” She fixed her skirt by pulling it down, “Take care, and don’t wait for me, mwah.” Sending me an air kiss, she went away without looking back.

Her hips kept swaying to the end.