Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"I really hate doing this every morning," Ben thought, looking at his reflection on the mirror as he combed his hair with slight sleepy eyes, he yawned as he contined for a few more minutes, to get his hair perfectly combed. He returned the comb to a container containing many types of combs.

He reached out, almost hitting some of the various action figurines that adorned his desk to grab a translucid bottle.

He looked at them for a few seconds. "I think I don't need them today," he returned the bottle nearby the mirror.

"Benjamin," heard a gentle voice on the other side of the door. "Miss Reyna is waiting for you outside."

"I'll be there in a minute," he said, being quick to grab his backpack and open the door to look at an older woman dressed as a maid. "Thanks for the heads up," he said, getting a nod from her as he walked past the older women.

Ben yawned slightly once again as he walked through the hall of the mini-mansion, avoiding impeding the maids and butlers walking from place to place in a hurry or cleaning the many vases and the many portraits of the family.

He kept walking until he stopped in front of a portrait of him and an older girl.

She had a similar build to Ben's current one, darker brown hair compared to him, that was tied up into a bun, jade green eyes, light tan-ish skin complex and her attire was of the same school uniform as him.

Ben stared at the frame for a few seconds. "I finally did something you couldn't," he thought, looking at the smiling frame of his sister. He started walking once again, heading straight to the door, walking past a few more portraits and antics.

Once outside, he saw Maya leaning against a black car while a purple guitar case was beside her. When he reached the gate, he saw her frowning.

"Why did you comb it? I prefer your look with messy hair," she asked.

"And I prefer when you don't cover your eye," he replied, making her snort.

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, planning on arriving early with style?" she asked, making Ben roll his eyes. "Don't you think this is going too much?"

"That's the least expensive they gave me," he answered as he walked past the gates and closed them. "And besides, aren't you opening for the ceremony?"

"Oh, you are such a dear," she said, pinching his cheek slightly, causing Ben to brush her hand away. "You knew I would need to arrive earlier than usual."

"Yeah, even though you are the one who usually tells me to chill about getting to school early?"

"I do, but this time, I'm part of something that I actually enjoy taking part in."

"I know that's why I brought my earplugs when you play," he said, making Maya punch his shoulder.

"Glad to see that you got some confidence, and also screw you," she said. "Guess you aren't nervous about today?"

"Not really. I just have to get my awards and avoid tripping on my own feet."

She wiped a fake tear and sniffled. "I'm so proud of you, you aren't even thinking of multiple scenarios of how things might go wrong."

"Oh, who said I haven't? I'm just mentioning the one that is most likely to happen," he said. "Shouldn't we get going?"

"We should," she said, opening the door for him. "Prize students first," she said with a smile, making Ben groan slightly as he got in.

"You know you are one too, right?" he asked once, she was in.

"Yeah, but compared to you. I'm just an average student," she said innocently, making her friend snort.

"Yeah, one with over 100 awards."

"And? You, Martin, Jack, and even Caroline are overachievers. You four combined almost have 2000 awards," she said. "I, meanwhile, just want to relax and finish my course without getting involved in the race to the top, that nearly every one got dragged in."

"Sometimes, I honestly forget we are in the same course," she said, making her smile. "But you have a point. That was tiring and soul-draining," he muttered.

"I know I'm right. When have I been wrong?" she asked with a cheeky smile. "Besides the times with Poppy," she added, making Ben grumble slightly.

"At least next year, I can relax and spend most of my time gaming," Ben said, leaning on his seat.

"Oh yes, the fifth year or for us, our gap year. Where we don't even have to show up to graduate."

"True, but where are you going after it?"

Maya perked up and hummed slightly. "Honestly, I haven't thought about it. So far, I have gotten some recommendation letters but none have gotten my attention," she shrugged. "I'll probably work at my parent's agency," she said. "And how about you?"

"I doubt that any hero agency will send me a recommendation letter, heck I even doubt that my dad will let me work at his agency… So possibly I'll work at my mom's lab," Ben said.

"Well, you could make support items to help you out if you decide to be an independent hero."

"Already ahead of you," Ben said, taking out a few notebooks from his backpack and giving them to Maya. "I've been thinking about it since Sunday."

Maya looked through the notebooks, seeing a few crude designs of support items, but what caught her attention were two shock sticks that could be combined into a bow staff. "Escrima sticks? Do you even know how to fight with those?"

"I already know 3 fighting styles. I can surely learn another one, especially with the time I'll have," Ben justified as he stopped when he heard something from the radio.

"Thanks to the effort of the hero team led by Biotonic, they stopped a possible civil war between the major nations in the NEU," the reporter said, making Maya look at Ben.

"Explains why I haven't seen them in a while," Maya commented. "So, I guess they'll be back soon?"

"Today actually, so by the time I get home, they'll already be there," Ben said as the car stopped as they've arrived at their destination. "Thanks for driving us," he said, exiting the car getting a nod from the driver.

"Should I also come pick you up Today?" he asked, making the teen nodded.

"Yes, please," Ben said as he and Maya entered the school.

Being so early, the halls were nearly empty, with very few people walking through the halls.

"So, we are heading over to the auditorium first?" Ben asked as they walked through the halls, making Maya shrug slightly.

"Exactly. I need to make sure that everything is ready," she said with a smile. "And have a tryout, you know, just to test the equipment."

"And by that, you mean blow out my eardrums?" he asked, getting a tsk from her.

"That was one time, and besides, that speaker was faulty."

"It was that, or you just wanted to blow people's eardrum."

"Let's agree to disagree," she said with a shrug as they headed to the auditorium.

Magnus walked through the halls of the school with a scowl and clenched fists that slowly got tighter as he walked past a few schoolmates, and he could feel their eyes on him. He knew why, and the reason only made his blood boil as he increased the volume of his headphone.

"If any of these pests try to provoke me, I'll break their freaking jaws," he thought as he entered his classroom, and saw his classmates doing their own thing none paying him attention.

For once Magnus was glad, and went to his desk and sat down. He lowered the volume of his headphone, but before he could lose himself on his songs, he glanced at the board for a second, and then quickly looked back with a scowl.

"OH, hahaha, so fucking hilarious! Who's the dipshit who wrote that!?" he shouted, pointing at the board where. "Magnus got his ass whipped by a weak breed," written in large bold letters.

They were silent, either not knowing who did it or just hiding who did it. Magnus didn't care which. He hastily got up, turning to face his classmates with murderous intent.

"Don't make me fucking repeat myself!" he yelled, causing some to flinch just at the volume, but it also caused some schoolmates passing through the halls to peek in the classroom and watch the outburst.

A few started taking pictures of the writing, while others recorded Magnus's outburst.

"You fucking cowards. If you had guts, you would tell this shit to my face!" he yelled and finally noticed the others recording him. "Stop that right the fuck now!" he yelled at them.

"Or what? You'll beat us up?" someone in the crowd of students recording him replied. "Do we have to call Minogashita?" they added, making some chuckle at that, making Magnus tighten his fists.

"You can call that freak; all you want! He can't beat me!" he snapped. "The fuck only won because he cheated!" he yelled, only making some laugh.

"And if you would win, it would be fair? Admit it, you had your ass handed to you by the school's publicity stunt," someone else said making Magnus scream in anger as he grabbed his desk and looked ready to throw at the crowd but before he could. He took a deep breath and let go of his desk.

"You all can go fuck off! You pathetic excuses for wannabe heroes," Magnus grunted, grabbing his stuff and putting his headphones on max to draw out everyone while his mind wondered specifically to the source of his anger.

"Didn't expect this year to be so full," Ben thought around as he looked around the auditorium that, for once, was filled with many schoolmates and school staff. "At least, I won't have to do much today," he thought with slight relief.

"Getting anxious?" he heard on his right, turning to see Jack.

"Not really, just surprised since most of the time this place doesn't get packed like this," Ben asked, getting a shrug from his friend as he occupied the seat next to Ben.

"True, but what could you expect? This year there were records broken, so makes sense people want to watch it," Jack said, sitting down. "Any signs of the others?"

"Well, Maya is getting ready to make everyone deaf, Martin is somewhere around here and Caroline is probably at the front row getting the cameras ready to stream this," Ben said, counting on his fingers.

"I don't know why she does that. The only people who are gonna watch it are already here, maybe some parents, but no one else."

"School rule or something like that." Ben shrugged slightly. "Still upset about what happened last year?"

"Not me, my nan. She wanted to wreck the school because I didn't win last time," he said with a slight sigh. "And she'll be watching this year, too."

"So does that mean that I should be worried when I get my award?"

"I can't be 100% sure that she won't curse the school or you, because in her words. My fight was the best match the tournament has ever had," he said.

"Well, I have to agree with her. The way the arena looked after your fight looked like it was a fight between two powerhouses," Ben said with a slight sigh. "Can't really wrap my mind how I beat him while you couldn't."

"Maybe that's your secret power, getting stronger while fighting against the odds or something like that," Jack said, making Ben chuckle slightly.

"I wish it would be cool, honestly," he said. "Fighting against the odds and getting a boost during the fight," he looked at his hand, imagining if that was the case. "… Somehow that's more fictional than any power I have seen."

"Then the only other reasonable conclusion is that you are just a good fighter," Jack said, patting his shoulder. "You don't need to overthink things. Just accept it for once."

"Yeah, I probably should," Ben replied as their attention was brought to the stage as Maya and her band started playing.

The two teens groaned and put on their earplugs as Maya and her band played the school's anthem. Most presents were actually enjoying the band playing the song. And After a few minutes of playing, the crowd applauded their performance.

Ben and Jack took off the earplugs and looked around as the rest started clapping at the performance. "Guess she actually played something, and not deafen people," Ben said as he clapped like the rest.

"Yeah, so she's probably going to be mad with you," Jack commented, making Ben roll his eyes as they saw another of their teacher walk to the stage as Maya's band left.

The man had slick back black hair, dark red eyes, an average body build, a light tan skin tone, and dressed in a black formal suit with the school's emblem on his right chest pocket. But would caught anyone's attention was the large scar that went across the man's face in a vertical line.

He walked to a podium, making the clapping stop, and everyone was silent. "Afternoon to all students, staff members, and those watching. I'm Washington Hero Studies vice-principal, William Hayes. And I'll be conducting the ceremony to award this year pre-finalists," he explained as a large screen appeared behind him.

"The award system will be the same as always, the most common awards to the rarest," he said as the screen showed the many awards to be given. "But before we start, something I wish to tell all the students. These awards, yes, are important, but they won't define your career in the future."

"Specifically, to the hero course, this promotion I have seen talent that I thought it would take another 20 years to appear," he said. "Each one of you has the potential to become amazing heroes who can change our society for the better," he added. "As students of WHS, you should always overdrive your abilities and overreach your goals with or without awards!" he yelled, getting many applauses from the students and staff.

Will waited a few minutes before clearing his throat. "Now, to start what we came here for. The first award is for perfect attendance," he said as the screen changed to show all the students who won the award being nearly 600 students.

The ceremony continued without a hitch, giving many awards to the deserving students. They went through the common awards pretty quickly and now they were at the last three remaining awards of the ceremony, with only three awards left to be given.

Will had beside him two golden trophies and one plate that had a few jewels attached to it. "As we have been through, the majority. Now for the final three," he said, turning to the largest trophy. "First, the award for this promotion's best athlete."

"It was a hard choice to pick between the two front runners for this award," he said as the screen changed to show both Jack and Magnus. "But weighing with the points and dedication showed from both of them. Magnus Ozzein is the winner of the athlete of his promotion award."

Magnus smirked as he got up, heading towards the stage, while a good part booed at the decision, but he only laugh at them.

He reached the stage as William gave him the large trophy. He looked at the crowd focusing on Jack, giving him a large smug grin. "Thank you for the award," Magnus said, looking back at the vice-principal.

Jack sighed, leaning his head down as he felt a pat on his shoulder. "Well, my nan is for sure planning to burn the school," he joked.

"Look at the bright side. We would graduate sooner," Ben said, making Jack laugh a bit. "And also, less weight for you to carry," he added.

"You earn it, Ozzein," William said as he grabbed the other golden trophy. "And the second last award is the Most awarded student prize," he said. "Ozzein, from your first year to now, you have earned 531 awards. This makes you the student with the most awards in your promotion," he said, causing the boos to get even louder and comments of how he sucks. "Silence!" William ordered but it did close to nothing, making the man send a stern stare looking at the crowd and signaled the teacher to calm down the students.

"Don't bother Sir, they are just jealous they'll never reach this level," Magnus said smugly as he looked at the crowd. He was enjoying hearing the people who were jealous of him, the people who would never match or even compare to him booing like powerless nobodies.

It took a few minutes for the crowd to calm down, as Will cleared his throat, once again looking at the crowd with a slight scowl. "I'm disappointed at this kind of behavior as much, you disagree with it. You could at least stay silent or just clap at your schoolmate's achievements," he chastised the crowd, who stayed silent.

"To finish the ceremony, for the first time in 15 years we have another winner for the WHS Student of the year award," he started. "As the years passed, there were many students who fought to reach this rarest of awards in the school," he said as the screen changed to show the front runners for the award, being Ben, Magnus, Jack, Martin, and a few others.

"With the added points of these awards, the board hasn't changed. And with the highest points gained by a student this year. The winner of the award is Benjamin Minogashita!" he announced, making Magnus's smirk falter slightly when the crowd erupted in cheers and claps.

"Congratulation," Jack said, patting Ben's shoulder as he looked to be stuck in place. "Earth to Ben?" he questioned.

Ben looked around him at his schoolmates applauding him, applauding his win. He pushed down a slight sob as his eyes felt watery. "I can't believe they are actually clapping," he thought, getting up and walking to the stage.

William walks past Magnus, who seemed to hold his trophies tightly. The man grabbed the last trophy and give it to Ben.

Ben slowly reached out to grab the golden plate that made him buckle slightly when he grabbed it. "Heavier than I expected," he muttered to himself as he looked at the plate that had his name, and the title he wanted for so long. He sniffled slightly, rubbing his eyes.

"You should be proud Benjamin, this isn't something that happens frequently," William said, getting a slight nod from Ben who looked at the crowd and showed it to the cameras getting another round of applause.

Magnus turned to look at Ben with narrowed eyes. He grunted and was about to walk away from the stage, but that stopped when he noticed the other students started laughing and pointing behind him.

He turned around and his blood boiled as the screen showed the last moments in the tournament where he lost. "You had your ass handed to you by a weak breed!" the video kept repeating, making others laugh even more.

"Shut that down! Whoever is at the control, stop it, this instant!" William shouted as he looked at Caroline. "Stop the stream!" he ordered, and the blonde turned off the cameras.

"Simon, turn off the screen!" he ordered the teacher, who followed the orders, leaving the room.

William looked at the crowd. "Stop laughing! There's nothing funny about this!" he yelled, but it only caused them to laugh even more.

"I have a feeling this will end badly," Ben thought, glancing over to Magnus, who had a glare aimed at the screen and then at him. "Damn it."

"You did this," he growled, dropping his trophies. "You had something to do with this?! What?! Do you think just because you beat me once, you are better than me!?" he yelled, clenching his fists. "You are nothing more than a weak breed freak!" he yelled, dashing at Ben but before he could get close. He felt stuck, unable to move, no matter how much he tried.

William had a hard scowl aimed at Magnus, who was covered in a blue-ish aura that kept him in place. "Ozzein, attacking your schoolmate because of this is something that I won't accept!" he yelled and then looked at the crowd as the screen finally turned off. "The ceremony is over; all students are dismissed for the day," he said as in a few minutes the auditorium was empty, only leaving a few teachers and staff.

"This was a disaster," William muttered under his breath. "If that overgrown pig hears about this, I won't hear the end of this." he passed a hand through his hair as he looked at Magnus. "Ozzein, that's not the way how you should act with a schoolmate," he said making Magnus grunt slightly. "Simon has requested for your parents to be informed about your behavior," he said, walking closer to the teen and making the aura disappear, allowing Magnus to move once again.

"But Minogashita had something to do with this. I'm certain of it," Magnus complained. "He's always been jealous of me and now he tried to humiliate me in front of the entire school."

William pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you have any proof?"

"Ahh, I don't, but I'm…" Magnus tried to say, but William didn't allow it.

"Ozzein! I'm aware of your comments about Minogashita's condition and I hoped you would stop," he said sighing slightly. "Until your graduate, you are to attend the school's councilor every day after school. If you miss a single day, I will have to inform your parents. Do I make myself clear?"

Magnus clenched his fist, to the point his bones popped, but he begrudgingly nodded. "Yes, sir," he muttered slightly, with his head down in defeat.

"Direct yourself to Nathan's office at once," he said, making Magnus nod once again.

"Yes, sir," he repeated, grabbing his two trophies, and walked out of the stage passing Simon, who he sent him a side glare.

Once he left the auditorium, Simon walked up to the stage. "You went too soft on him," he said, making William tsk and look at him.

"And what did you want me to do? To hit him? Expel him?" William asked, making Simon snort.

"I know I wouldn't be the first, but like I suggested calling his parents," he crossed his arms. "I can tell you that kid is showing signs he will do something bad."

"Oh yes, because you are such an expert judge of character?"

"No, because many students have complained about his behavior and I know when I see trouble."

"A few complaints about his behavior aren't proof enough, Simon."

"A few? Many students have complained and that's not enough for you? Do you remember the list to kick Minogashita out of the school that circulated last year? I'm surprised why hasn't Minogashita told his parents about the discrimination he suffers."

William growled slightly. "Unlike you, Minogashita knows how to keep things in the school and not wanting the entire world to know."

"That or you keep telling him you will do something, but in reality, you do nothing," Simon said. "I really hope nothing too serious makes you regret it."

"If you keep talking like that, I would think, you have some personal bad blood with the kid," William said, making Simon chuckle and even laugh loudly.

"Thanks for the joke, I needed one," he said clearing his throat. "I'm not that kind of person to have bad blood with a student, and besides if that was the case Ozzein would probably report about it a long while ago."

"Fine, and what did you find in the projector room?"

"I didn't find anyone in the booth, whoever did it. Was in and out, only found this," he said, taking out a flash drive and passing it to him. "No fingerprints or name of the user, so it's probably a burner one."

"Great with this and with the incident earlier today at Ozzein's class. I think it is someone who has it against him."

"Gee, who would of thought?" Simon asked. "Good luck in finding them. I'm going to finish my work," he said as he started walking away, getting another tsk from William.

"Keep this up, and I will fire you, Simon."

"You can try and then. You'll have the entire media swarm the school to ask questions," Simon said, walking away.

Outside of the school, Ben, Martin, and Jack were leaning against Ben's car as they waited for the others. "Someone from General study?"

Ben shrugged slightly. "That's a pretty long list, so I would say anyone really," he said as he hummed a bit. "I'm leaning more into someone in our course, though?"

"Possible. that means William is going to have security investigate us before the end of the year," Jack said with a sigh.

"I'm surprised that he hasn't started it already. That prick cares about the school's public image so much, he could even suggest the IT department to tap our phones to see who planned it," Martin said.

"Another of his so-called method to protect the school's image," Ben muttered, sighing. "Don't know why the principal doesn't take him out of the school board."

"Easy, the dude is the last guy who won Student of the year, and also, he is the biggest donor to the school," Martin said, making Ben groan loudly.

"Don't remind me of that, well at least only one more month before going on break," Ben said. "Actually, what will you two do after graduating?"

"After graduating? I would probably work at my dad's agency for a bit and then work as an independent hero," Martin said with a shrug. "Honestly, I wish we could have an agency of our own."

Jack chuckled slightly, patting his shoulder. "I know you would, and I would deny that. I have to continue with the family tradition," he said, making Martin groan slightly.

"So, working your parent's agency until you take over?" Ben asked, getting a nod.

"Yeah, and then the cycle starts a new," he joked. "And how about you Ben? What is WHS prize student going to do?"

Ben sighed heavily. "Well, probably work at my mom's lab to get some know-how to make my own items and possibly become an independent hero further down the line."

"Well then, how about we work with Jack then? We'll probably be in our late 20s when we have enough experience to be independent and we can work together," Martin suggested, making Jack think about that idea.

"For once, I actually like that idea," Jack muttered, and he nodded. "Alright then, I guess that's a deal."

"Well, I'm with that idea," Ben said, making Martin laugh.

"Finally, you guys agree on my idea!" he yelled, pumping his fists in the air.

"Agreeing Martin's idea? What the hell are you thinking?" Maya asked as she walked towards the group with Caroline beside her.

"Martin suggested we should eventually work on Jack's agency when he takes over, so we can work together," Ben explained, making Caroline's eyes shine.

"I'm aboard, sounds like a great idea," Caroline said, looking then at Maya. "Come on Maya, this sounds like a good idea."

Maya hummed slightly. "Working with you four in the future? Sure, why shouldn't we? Since we already know how to work with each other… To a level at least," she said.

"Well then, it's agreed that later on, we are going to work together and be the strongest hero team ever," Martin said, getting a slight groan from Jack.

"I'm slowly regretting this choice," Jack said, looking at the two girls. "So where were you, too?"

"Interrogation," Maya said bluntly. "William made us wait, and he asked everyone if we knew anything about the video."

"Yeah, he even confiscated my recording supplies and my computer to make sure that nothing, damming, would spread," Caroline complained. "Now, I'll have to bring my extra computer," she said with a heavy sigh as Maya placed a hand on her head.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll give them back by tomorrow or so."

"But then my articles will take longer to come out," Caroline said with a slight sob and having her eyes watery, making her friends groan.

"We won't help you with your work, Caroline," the four said in unison, making Caroline huff slightly.

"You guys are jerks," she complained.

"We are just immune to your tricks now," Ben said. "So, do you want a ride home?" he asked as Maya and Caroline put their own bags on the trunk.

"Yup, with how things went. I just want to get home and watch some movies," Caroline said, getting a nod from Maya.

"I can't agree more," she said as the five entered the car and went off.