Back to School...?

"Huh? Why are you so unsure of it?" Imee frowned.

Even though Renir was not lying on the pavement anymore and that should be the only reason that they attracted attention, strangely, many eyes still fell upon them. But he dismissed it as he answered to Imee's question;

"I don't know. It was a mysterious man." while thinking, Renir touched his chin.

"Ah!" A shout suddenly reverberated through the street that shocked the bypassing students.

Renir was surprised by Imee's exclamation, "What is it?"

Imee trembled, her face was slightly purple and her eyes stuck to Renir's forearm as she pointed at it, "Yo-your arm, what happened to it?"

"Hm?" Renir slightly tilted his head and looked at his forearm. He expected it to bruise last night but what he saw shocked him.

It was as if his forearm was continuously and heavily hammered!

Dried blood covered the peeking flesh while the darkish skin covered the area. That's not a simple bruise, that's an injury that needed to be treated fast!

'Monster....!' while Imee 'danced' in worry, Renir stared at the wound and remembered how he was thrown in the air by just a single kick. His whole body shuddered when he recalled what happened last night.

He then felt slight pushes on his backpack and realized Imee was no longer in his front.

"Come on, let's go to a clinic. There's one near here." Imee dusted off the dirt on Renir's backpack before pushing him. She didn't want to pull his arm in fear of hurting him.

"O-okay..." Renir felt guilty again as he thought, 'Why is she helping me so much?' but he decided not to refuse any more offer, except if it was ridiculous, and promised that he would repay her in the future.

.....

In the Pentoran HIgh, the bell that signals the start of the class will ring in about half an hour. The surge of students coming into the entrance gate increased.

A boy ran and intentionally bumped into another. The other guy he just bumped into was taller than him by a head. Not to say that the first guy was just short, it was the second guy that was tall.

"Yo, did you know about the rumor just this morning?"

The tall one shook his head to the question, "No, I just got here, why would I know?"

"Ahaha, are you stupid? I only just got here too. I only heard this rumor from other's chatter on my way here." the first guy showed how proud he was just because of that reason, "It's because you're so tall you can't hear them."

"That's ridiculous." the tall one was accustomed to being called tall that he would just shrug it off.

"So what's the rumor about?" a third guy appeared beside the tall one as he asked with a huge smile.

"Cheerful as always huh, but it's too early for that before you hear about the rumor." the first guy replied.

The tall one seemed irritated and said, "Just say what's the rumors about." as they turn to climb the stairs.

"Okay, okay, hear this." the first guy mischievously laughed as he gained the other two's attention, "The Indestructible Wimp is back. And the strange thing about it is that the 'Leader' has her attention to him."

"You mean Renir?" smiles formed by the other two, "I was surprised when he disappeared after we beat him at the abandoned church. Good thing he didn't die, no, Marvic?."

The first guy, called Marvic, did not respond as he saw something at their back. When the other two noticed his stare to behind, Marvic whispered, "Guys, let's move aside, quickly."

"Hm? Why—K-ah!" the tall one was about to ask but was pushed from behind. He fell face-first onto the ground.

"Would you please make a way for us?" a youthful with a charismatic smile spoke with his leg lifted. It was obvious he kicked the tall guy.

The third guy turned around and stiffened, "Ah... Harvie... we didn't mean to block you..." in front of him was the ever-so-popular Harvie a.k.a The Alpha and behind him were his "friends"

"Harvie? Only my friends can call me that." Harvie walked towards the third guy and intimidated him face-to-face, "Are you a friend of mine?" at the same time, stepping on to the back of the tall guy. Harvie was smiling but it wasn't out of politeness or kindness.

For the third guy, it was like a lord, with the power to rule, loomed in front of him, as that lord decided his fate. What aura!

The tall guy had his face red as he was being stepped on in front of a crowd while he couldn't do anything about it. For a senior high school student, the image was very important, and right now, he was being ridiculed and stepped on. This humiliation is too much, he couldn't stand it, yet still couldn't do anything about it!

The third guy shrunk in response and barely answered, "...no... Alpha..."

"Ahahaha, that's right, that's right!" Harvie laughed and left the three there as he joked to his friends. It was as if he didn't harass somebody just now, their group's mood was light and happy.

"Ken, you alright?" Marvic crouched down and helped Ken, the tall one, get up. However, as Ken stood, he was too quiet. He was humiliated in front of a crowd while he endured it. If he cried there, it would become much worse.

Marvic didn't know how to respond to Ken's teary eyes which he seemed to hold. So Marvic pulled the third guy and said, "Don't freeze up like that, Sian." just to try and say something.

Although Marvic didn't intend to blame it to the third guy, Sian, it sounded different to Sian's ears. He glared at Marvic and muttered, "What? Did you do something? Didn't you freeze yourself too?"

Marvic didn't know how to respond to that either since that was the truth. Just seeing how domineering the Alpha was made him quiet.

Why is there such a difference between them and the Alpha? They all have the same age! The three of them thought in their head, frustrated at their weakness.

"Guys" Marvic took the attention of the two, his mood sour, "Don't worry, Renir is back to school."

When Ken and Sian heard that, their face began to clear of the shadows.

'Yes, there's still people who's weaker and coward than us!' the three of them thought.

'We're not that weak, the Alpha is just that strong.' Ken took a deep breath and completely held back his tears.

'Yes, we will show them that we fight too!' Sian's spirit lifted too.

"Guys, the bell is going to ring at any time soon." Marvic hurriedly said.

"Oh shit, you're right." Ken looked at his watch and made a run for it and followed Marvic.

Sian followed from behind, "W-wait!"

The three had their moods back as they thought, 'There's someone much weaker than us!'

.....

After wrapping the final bandage with sturdy sticks on both arms, Renir felt a little better.

"Here are some pain reliever for you take when the pain comes back after a while. If you already took one and it's still painful, endure it. Don't intake any more pills and wait for the one you took to take effect." a nurse at a small clinic advised him and continued, "Just from looking at the injury, you should have fractures on your ulna and radius bones on both arms. Here" the nurse just pointed on her forearm. The radius and ulna bones seemed to be the pair of bones there;

"Bones mend themselves so what you need right now is a lot of rest. Don't overexert yourself and used and those arms of yours. I don't know how you got that... mess... but be careful."

The nurse was a middle-aged lady and has a caring tone. Renir nodded and took mind on every word she said.

"Although your girlfriend said you shouldn't go to school but I think it's fine. She must be just worried for you." the nurse then continued to babble which left Renir speechless.

"Umm... she's not my-"

"Education is very important, you know. As long as you can, you should go to school and learn. Here, I'll write you an excuse so that the teachers would excuse you from any activities. Attendance itself is also important so you should complete it and never slack. Just being in class would give you opportunities to listen and learn. So....."

'Ah... she's talkative!' but Renir didn't interrupt. This clinic was empty when they got there so the nurse must be bored and wanted a company. Renir just bared with it, but it didn't take long before the nurse realized herself;

"Oh, haha, I'm sorry, dear. I got carried. It's just boring here in the clinic. Not much customer is coming in. Not that I wish for there to be customers since that would mean like I was wishing for someone to get sick, hahaha. Ay, ay, what am I doing? I'm babbling again." the nurse seemed to be enjoying the quiet Renir. It's like talking to a nodding rock but it was better than none to talk to.

"Now, I'm holding you. After saying that attendance is a must, here I am, making you late. Go ahead now, Renir. Thank you for enduring my monologue, ahaha."

"No, it's fine, nurse... and umm, about the fees, how much is it?" Renir got depressed just by asking it.

"Hmm? Don't worry about it, it's just first aid and the pain medications are super cheap, you know." the nurse shrugged it off.

Renir's eyes shone, "Ah, thank you, nurse!" relieving him from payment was the best help Renir could have right now.

He then took his backpack while carefully putting least pressure on his forearm but before he left the clinic, the nurse noticed something;

"Renir, are you going home to change and back to school carrying that heavy backpack?"

"Uhm" Renir stopped on his tracks. He hadn't even decided to go to school but now he felt guilty after all the nurse' talk, "Actually, nurse, I have my uniform on my back right now." he pointed at his bag.

'I don't really have a definite plan when I was packing so I brought my uniform just in case.' Renir remembered when he was back at their apartment.

"Oh. you can use our restroom here to change then." the nurse kindly smiled that Renir couldn't help but change.

Earlier, Imee left him in the clinic or else, she would be late. She also told him to rest at the clinic until she comes back at lunch break and talk to him again.

However, it seemed hard to stay at the clinic since the nurse was adamant to Renir going to back to school. So Renir thought, 'I guess I can meet her up in the school.'

Renir changed and left the clinic, thanking the nurse. He walked to his school and it was quiet. Classes were starting now and everyone is inside their respective classrooms. The field in front of the school looked so wide when it was empty.

For some reason, it seemed so nostalgic even though he was just away for a couple of weeks like when he saw the sun. Renir sighed and found an excuse, 'It's because that dream was so realistic.'

"Huh. Renir, is that you?"

Renir was in front of the school gate and when he heard a familiar voice, he knew who it was. It was the school guard, Old Rogers.

"You're back at school again, huh?" Old Rogers was just an old man sitting on a chair under the shed beside the school gate and had a job of a guard. Renir wasn't particularly close to this old man.

However, for the old man, seeing Renir's face and also hearing about him being called "The Indestructible Wimp", and most of all, disappearing from school for two weeks straight, Old Man Rogers, this gossip-loving guard very well knew who Renir was and was not surprised to see him because of the rumor earlier.

'This school is so hectic that it never bores me even though I just sit all day. Now, this wimp is back, it's going to be more frantic around here ahahha!'