Chapter 15 New Student

Sin meandered through the school, soaking up the atmosphere. The smells of science wafted from the booths, the sulfurous results of chemical reactions hanging in the air like an intense perfume.

I pushed into a crowd gathered by the field, the press of warm bodies a fleeting moment of me feeling their fears, anxiety, depression, and heartbeats.

I had this hunger for the taste of blood. Soft velvet and wool brushed my bare arms, the expensive fabric's touch exquisite compared to the rough sackcloth I was wearing.

I pushed into the crowd forcefully. Jiang and his buddies were beating up on the new kid; he is an Indian boy with thick glasses, timid and looking scared for his life, scared of these guys.

They slapped him in the face as he fell to the ground and pushed himself up. His glasses were hanging half to the side as he straightened them. Jiang took his size ten foot and pushed him over, leaving a shoe stain on his white shirt.

As he attempted to stand up, one of the guys grabbed him from behind, tossing his bag to the side. Jiang rubbed his fist, giving an arrogant smirk at the crowd who watched this coward.

They entertained it like a wrestling match.

Is no one going to step in? I felt anger as I clenched my fist. I was about to step forward when I saw Lei. There he was.

He was the only one standing up for the helpless boy terrified of school.

"Thats enough," he said sternly.

Jiang looked up with fury, looking into the crowd, "who said that?"

Lei stepped forward, "you will let that boy go."

Lei looked slightly older than Jiang by a year or two. Jiang stepped up to Lei face-to-face, staring at him, "do you know who I am, boy?"

Lei casually replied, "your someone who's of no importance.

Do you think these people are here to applaud you and praise you? No, they are laughing at how pathetic you are."

When he said -pathetic- he said it in an enraged tone.

Jiang attempted to grab Lei by the neck, Lei's reflexes were fast, and he caught his hand, squeezing it so hard that Jiang went down on his knees.

I noticed Lei's eyes darkened; he was enraged.

Jiang's cowardly friends moved closer, Lei glanced up at them, and something about his appearance made them take a step back.

The pain shot up his arm like fire, and he cringed. It exploded in his head with blinding whiteness. It made him dizzy, and it made him reel.

The pain was like needles dipped in alcohol had been jammed through his skin, like his arm had been replaced with ice and electricity wired straight into his spine.

Just when the pain was at its worst, it dissipated like fog off some terrible lake.

Not even the unimaginable thought of hell could be so painful.

Jiang felt himself choking. Lei was like this robot who showed no remorse, he tilted his head, staring at Jiang, and for a moment, Jiang saw something he had not seen in his life.

He saw what appeared to be a demon, a split-second switch of a demon with horns, sharp teeth, and only exposure of red flesh. The grip felt like hot boiling water being poured on your back.

"Stop, please," Jiang begged for his life. His friends were too scared to take a step closer. Maka walked into the crowd and touched Lei's shoulder, "enough," she whispered.

What? Is Maka here at my school? I thought for a moment. She had not even noticed me standing there, or maybe she did and just pretended not to notice me.

She thinks alot of herself in public. Lei turned to me, and when seeing me, he let go of Jiang. It was as if he knew who I was. His skin was like moonlight on a winter eve, cold, stark.

Lei then looked around; it was as if he was this whole time in a trance, 'possessed' by something sinister.

Jiang was lying on the ground. He had passed out, and his friends dragged him to the car. What had just happened? I've never seen someone with such great power, except my sister, who turns people into ashes.

The bell rang, and I walked back to class and saw Maka in the reception area. She was filling out paperwork. I felt angry at her for not telling me she had Lei, and to make matters worst, she has been attending the same school I have, and she never told me.

Arriving at class, everyone was talking about what had happened to Jiang. People speculated that Lei was a son of a high Mafia and that Jiang did the whole setup because no average human could react the way Jiang acted.

Hysterical unless, of course, it was an act to make people fear Lei. Others had their myths saying he was the devil in disguise. I am glad it was not more because everyone would say I am a dog who doesn't know his place.

Entering the class was Maka, and accompanying her was Lei. What? Are they now taking the same classes as I am? When Maka entered, people glanced at Lei entering after her.

The class went silent; not even the teachers could get the class this quiet. You could hear a pin drop on the floor.

Lei and Maka stood in the front. The maths teacher had entered, "class, and these are your new classmates, Lei and Maka.

Please make them feel welcome. Why are you all so quiet? This is the first time. Did something happen?"

No one answered, "you can grab a seat next to Kai," the teacher pointed at me.

She has just seated Lei next to me. Why on earth would she seat him next to me? Maka was seated opposite, "Kai, you are back," said the teacher, realizing I was away, not condolences for your loss.

Lei turned and looked at me, nodding his head. Why is he nodding at me? It's not like we are friends. I won't ever choose him as a friend his a backstabber who took my girl. Lei frowned, not saying anything, don't tell me he can read my thoughts; Lei smiled.

He can read my thoughts. Why would he be smiling when I am thinking that?

Maka turned around, handing Lei a textbook. He squeezed her hand. Maka turned to me and whispered, "hello, Kai."

I nodded, scared to think or talk. Throughout the class, everyone was silent.

I could hear them talking about the new guy being a half-brother to me since I'm an orphan, and stories had twisted into him being an orphan. Girls in the class looked at him with desire, yes, including Ming-Yui. She had not recognized me as she bit her pen, staring at Lei.

For a moment, she prepared her legs. What a cheap tart, I thought. Lei coughed as if he wanted to burst into laughter. Could he hear my thoughts? Ming-Yui couldn't take her eyes off him until Maka turned and gave her a look that sent shrills through her body.

Her legs closed, and she looked straight in front at the board. Was Maka jealous of Ming-Yui, or did I imagine things?

Ming-Yui glanced over at me and pulled up her nose. It's impressive how looks and power count in this world. Lei then turned to me. He was about to say something as I turned. He glanced down, noticing the glow of the yellow stone through my shirt.

His eyes grew wide, and as he suddenly placed his hands on the desk and gulped, his leg started shaking. Maka turned around as if she felt something was not right. She looked over at Lei, and his eyes were wide.

His heartbeat was faster. I could somehow sense fear and smell his fresh blood pumping through his veins with a rapid heartbeat.

The bell rang. He jumped up and stormed past the kids, practically running to the door as he ran through the hallway to the bathroom, "what have you done to him, Kai?"

"What do you mean what have I done? I sat here minding my own business."

"Kai," she looked at me. It's as if she remembered who we were, what we had.

She paused and turned around, walking out of the class. Gossips were that he now had an illness that gave him strength. After maths class, we went to history class. I am not sure why history classes were made.

It was never a beneficial subject unless you were stuck in the past or wanted to become an archaeologist.

With a bit of relief, the teacher was there, and there was no Lei or Maka.

I could breathe again. He greeted me and never said his condolences. Thankfully, I was received when a knock came on the door. It was Maka and Lei. Lei never looked at the teacher. He immediately looked around and saw me.

He glanced down, and he looked paler than before. I am not surprised, given the fact that I was blamed for him looking so ill.

In history class, we had single bunks, so I was happy not to be sharing with that weirdo. His eyes kept gaunt down at my chest.

When I looked at him, he looked away.

"Class, where is Jiang?"

Ming-Yui replied, "he had a family emergency, Sir."

"Yeah, right. If that is a family emergency, I should be booked off for a headache and call it a brain transplant."

Lei has seated two seats behind me. I felt, somehow, cold air. Could it be Maka's personality melting off on me?