Reclaiming what is mine

After the talk with the principal, I made my way back to the old apartment building. Walking up the gangly stair made me remember all the time I spent at the academy. From waking up in this old, trashy apartment, meeting the hero's party for the first time, and going on my first dungeon dive.

Even though not even half a year had passed a lot had already happened, and I knew that a lot more would happen in the future.

Opening the door to my home I was met by the familiar sight of a tiny little hallway that was directly connected to the small living quarters I had taken my first steps of manipulating mana.

"I'm home."

****

As usual, I woke up early in the morning before the sun had fully risen.

While I was stretching my body after the night I was thinking about how I would spend the first day back, which would also be my only free day before the semester started tomorrow.

There wasn't anyone in particular that I wanted to meet, I had already met with the principal who could be said to be my only confidante at the academy, with the exception of the gorilla.

In the end, I figured I should just spend the day training, it had been a long time since I moved my body.

*-Yo, can I still use your room?*

I sent a message to Mike to see if I could still use his personal training room, not sure what his answer would be.

To my surprise, I got the answer almost immediately.

*-Why haven't you come to see me yet you little rascal! Meet me in the room in 10 minutes!*

It appeared that I would get to use the room after all.

But first things first, I needed to fill my stomach before anything else.

*-I'll be there after I get something to eat.*

Putting on my normal training wear and sneakers I started to walk towards the cafeteria.

It was quite uncomfortable walking through the academy grounds. Seeing the different facilities reminded me of what I would have to overcome to live in relative peace here.

I couldn't show weakness. As there was already a target on my back, I couldn't afford to lose. That would just create more challengers who would find the courage to fight me.

When the automatic doors to the cafeteria opened I could smell the delicious food they were serving. Unlike last time I was here in the early morning, there were a lot of students already dining.

Fortunately, there were not enough for there to be a queue so I could walk right up to the meal lady and get my food.

The lady who served me the food was someone I had never seen before, and she looked like she didn't give a damn about me either way. So I just got my share of breakfast sausages and potatoes without having to converse with her.

After I got my food I saw something that made my stomach turn, something so inherently cruel that it should not have been possible in the first place. Some students had occupied my table in the corner by the window. Two guys and two girls were sitting at my spot.

I kind of recognized them as freshmen who were part of the B-class, but I had no idea what their names were. But to me, it didn't matter. That was my table, and no one would come between us in this lifetime. So I quickly made my way to the table to claim what was mine.

When I arrived they all looked at me like I was a lost kid or something and one of the guys took the lead, "Hey kid, what are you doing here? Do you need something?"

I pointed to the table and clearly spoke my mind, "I want my table back. Please leave."

They were completely flabbergasted at my sudden demand unable to comprehend why this random kid was here in the first place.

"I want my table back. Please leave."

Instead of waiting for their brains to understand what I was saying I just repeated myself, and this time there was an immediate reaction. Both of the guys stood up while the girls just looked at me with pity.

"Yo kid, stop this. You can sit with us if you want but didn't your parents teach you manners?"

At this point, I had gotten fed up with the situation as I didn't want my food to get cold.

"My name is Miren Porter, ranked 1st of all the freshmen at Kirkegaard academy. I want my table back, please leave."

All of a sudden the guys broke out in laughter.

"What's so funny?"

One of the guys managed to hold his laughter and give me an answer, "A kid like you are claiming you are the highest ranked student. This in itself would be bizarre, but what makes it even weirder is that everyone knows that James is the highest-ranked freshman. He is the strongest by far."

As they continued laughing at my expense suddenly one of the girls stopped them.

"Guys... I think you should stop..."

They both turned around to her, "Why? It is just some innocent laughter, even if he is a kid he should learn that if you say crazy shit people will laugh!"

She shook her head and continued, "That's not the point. Do you guys remember the student who got kidnapped at the ranking party? That's him... The one who almost killed Arthur..."

The laughter stopped. In fact, all of their sounds stopped as the guys turned to me once more. The girls already started to leave the table, as well as their male friends, as they already knew this was a bad idea.

They started getting cold sweats when they looked down at the little kid in front of them, who by now had gotten introduced as the mad killer from the ranking matches.

With a cold voice, I made my case clear for the last time,

"I want my table back. Please leave."

They hurriedly took their trays from the table and left me with my beloved table.

Although this could be said to be a bit dramatic of me, I felt like I had to claim my place at the academy now. I needed to get used to being adamant in my convictions and be ready to fight for it.

I sat down and got ready for the challenge that is my meals, but, to my surprise, I had just gotten the normal amount of food. Unconsciously I had already prepared myself for the mountain of calories that I always had gotten when I was eating here before. It almost seemed like too little now. Even at the base of Basilisk, I had stuffed myself as much as humanly possible, as to make sure my body gets the calories it needs to become stronger.

The food disappeared in the blink of an eye, but it was still enough for me to feel it was not worth the hassle to ask for more from the meal lady. Instead, I got myself a cup of coffee and sat down again.

As I waited for my coffee to cool down a bit to a drinkable temperature the doors to the cafeteria opened once again and I was met by two familiar faces. A tall young boy with shining blonde hair and a perfect body, accompanied by an incredibly voluptuous young lady with long golden hair.

The golden boy and the succubus had also arrived to eat.

A plethora of feelings started to arise in me. Happiness and sadness were both part of the feelings, but the most dominant one, by far, was anger. Anger at the one who had betrayed not only my expectations but also my trust. The one who was supposed to be a hero but was in reality just a kid with a minority complex.

James raised his head as he felt my eyes locked onto him and he nudged Sarah who also started to look at me.

The face of Sarah was incredibly complex, most likely she also had a lot of different conflicting feelings about the situation. I couldn't tell if she was happy, sad, or angry.

In contrast, James's face was easy to read. Resolute and focused.

'Seems like he hasn't given up on challenging me after all...'

Even though it was kind of expected, a small part of me still hoped that he would move on from the past and just let it go. But of course, this couldn't be the case. He wouldn't be a future hero if he didn't fulfill his convictions.

Instead of getting their food, they walked up to my table. I just kept watching them as I enjoyed my cup of coffee. For every second that passed, I could feel myself getting colder. Right at this moment, I knew I had moved on.