“Transferred?” Ryoku exclaimed in shock.
“Yes, transferred,” the principal said sternly. “This is the third time you’ve been a fight that sent someone to the nurse’s office.”
Actually, Ryoku thought to himself, it was three someones, and they deserved it. Three against one is never a fair fight, especially against a smaller, younger one. The fact that the one was one of my friends was unimportant. I would’ve done the same for anyone else, whether I liked it or not, whether they deserved it or not. Not that you would listen to me anyway.…
The principal continued. “I’ve warned you about this twice before, but you seem to refuse to listen. Since you started this whole thing, I’m going to have to transfer you.”
“I see,” he said flatly. “So, where am I going?”
“You are going to be transferred to…,” the principal looked down at the paper on his desk, “…Juuban Junior High. A public school.”
He was becoming more despondent by the minute. Transferring to a public school meant that he wasn’t going to see his friends again. That didn’t bother him very much, since he was a bit of a loner; but the fact that he wasn’t going to see his younger sister, Makoto, for a long time really depressed him. Ever since their parents died years ago in that plane crash, they grew very close; each being the only family the other had left.
On the other hand, knowing her, she’d probably end up getting transferred for fighting as well. Hopefully, she’d be transferred to the same school he would be attending. Maybe after a few months, she’d probably even try to start a fight just to get transferred. No, that would be foolish and Mako-chan is definitely not a fool.
“You start classes next Tuesday. Hopefully, you can avoid fighting in your next school, but I doubt it,” the principal said sarcastically.
“Yes, sir,” he said dejectedly. Oh, yeah. He doesn’t like me at all.
“That is all. You’d best begin preparations for your moving. You have until the end of the day,” the principal said and waved his hand in dismissal. Ryoku bit back a scathing retort and left.
Waiting outside for him was Makoto and his friend, Mark Shugei. He was five years younger than him and much shorter. He was the reason, indirectly, that Ryoku was being transferred.
They gave him a questioning look. “Transferred to a public school,” was all he said. Mark’s expression turned apologetic, while Makoto’s turned indignant.
“This is all my fault,” Mark said. “You got transferred just because to saved me from that bully, Patrick, and his friends.” A small grin grew on his face, despite himself. “You sure beat them up good, though.”
Ryoku wasn’t smiling. He didn’t like fighting. Fighting was a last resort. Usually, he let his reputation as a tough fighter persuade bullies to back off. Most of the time it worked. In fact, he had only been in three fights since coming to Borderland. The first gave him his reputation; the second reinforced it. Both times, he had caused the other guy to be sent to the nurse’s office. He wasn’t sorry; they were bullies and got what they deserved. This time, it was different.
This time, Patrick – the same guy he fought in his second fight – brought two of his friends along with him; one being the first guy he fought and apparently wanting payback. They all thought to gang up on him. He decided to show them that they thought wrong. Two made a return trip to the nurse’s office, while the third went for the first time.
Mark saw that he wasn’t smiling and wiped the smile off his face. “You knew that you would get in trouble when you stopped them from picking on me. You know that they started it. Why did you say it was your fault? I would’ve said it wasn’t. Makoto-san would’ve, too.”
“She wasn’t there,” he said flatly. “You were the one being picked on, so of course you would’ve said they started it. The fact is that instead of getting a teacher or some other adult to stop it, I stopped it myself. By force.
“I knew they were picking on you to get to me,” he continued before Mark could protest. “If I got someone else to stop it, then they would’ve picked on someone else. They wanted me to stop them. Now that I have, if I said that they started it, then all three would deny it and blame me. Three against one aren’t good odds. So, instead of trying to fight a losing battle, I took the blame and at the same time made sure that it was known that they were picking on you.” He made a small half-smile. “They’ll be watched carefully so they won’t make any more trouble. One last good deed for the road.”
“I still feel like it’s my fault,” Mark said, though not as hotly as before.
“Don’t,” he insisted. “If it’s anybody’s fault, then it’s mine.” He sighed. “My reputation has finally caught up with me.”
“Don’t worry, Ryo-chan,” Makoto said consolingly. “We all know whose fault this really is.” Her expression then turned sad. “We’re all gonna miss you, you know.”
“Yeah, me too,” he replied. “Keep an eye out for the little guys for me, would you, Mako-chan?”
“Sure thing,” she replied. “By the way, what is the name of the school you’re going to now?”
“Some junior high called Juuban,” he said, shrugging. Another half-smile slowly grew across his face. “Who knows? You might just get transferred there, too, soon,” he said jokingly. She also had a reputation for fighting, though not as bad as his. She never sent three people to the nurse’s office at once.
“Maybe, Ryo-chan,” she said, laughing. “If so, I’ll see you soon.”
He turned to go to his room to pack. I never really liked going to boarding school, but now I’m going to miss it.
“I’ll be waiting for you, Mako-chan,” he said over his shoulder as he walked away.
To Chapter 9: Mistaken Identity