POV: Arthur Kojiro
It's strange.
"Are you sure he's the one who defeated Jordan? He doesn't look like much to me." Jacob questioned, his tone unclear as Oscar began scrolling through his phone while April obnoxiously chewed on her bubble gum.
"Jordan said the boy was a new student with messy black hair and unique blue eyes." Oscar stated as April popped a large bubble with her gum.
"Well, I have to admit that his eyes are quite unique. They remind me of a clear blue sky." April mentioned as Jacob sighed irritably.
"I'm glad you like his eyes, April, but that doesn't answer my damn question! There's several students with black hair and blue eyes, so how in the hell do I know if he's the one or not?! How much more useless can Jordan be?!" Jacob chastised.
He defeated a fairly strong mid-ranker without an Aspect and despite the three of them standing before him, he's unusually calm for someone who is ranked two hundredth.
Jacob then sharpened his eyes at Rai in an attempt to intimidate him once more and yet, Rai remained unfazed as he even began to yawn, agitating Jacob even further as he clenched his jaw.
"Who gave you the right to yawn before me?!" Jacob demanded as Rai's poised demeanor provoked Jacob's ego, prompting Jacob to slam Rai's head into the desk while the rest of the class gradually began to quiet down.
"All I need you to do is answer my question and then you can enjoy the rest of your day for all I care. I'm not interested in picking on somebody as weak as yourself." Jacob added as he released his hand from Rai's head.
"You slam my head into a desk and expect me to answer your question? Are you a moron?" Rai questioned with genuine concern as his mockery stifled a laugh from me, but as for Jacob, he was unable to maintain his composure as fell for Rai's provocation, gritting his teeth as he began seething with rage.
"You think I'm some joke?!" Jacob bellowed as he activated his Aspect and released his Aspectual Force, startling a few students and several were anxious, but as for Rai, he remained unfazed as Jacob then threw Rai's desk aside and kicked him in his chest, sending Rai's body sliding backwards across the floor until he landed against the back wall of the classroom.
Many students began whispering frantically among themselves as someone like Jacob was quite high in the rankings compared to themselves, but I was amused as despite the threat of Jacob, who was standing before him, Rai's hands remained inside his pockets as his composure didn't even falter.
"I'm not soft like Jordan! I don't care who you are, you WILL show me RESPECT!" Jacob bellowed as he approached Rai, who bursted out into laughter as his blatant disrespect sent Jacob over the edge.
"I'm sorry! I can't take you seriously when you're having a temper tantrum because someone won't acknowledge you!" Rai mocked, wiping his tears from his eyes as I noticed Aria stifle a giggle while Jacob was absolutely livid, sinking his teeth into his bottom lip as he coated his fist with gray aura, which was the standard color for an Aspector that possessed a normal-type Aspect.
With the state of his body, I can understand how Jordan was defeated as it's impossible to gain that kind of body unless you sacrifice your sweat, blood and tears for it, which begs the question…
Jacob then picked up Rai by the collar of his shirt and began thrashing his fist into Rai's face in a relentless manner, gradually bruising Rai's nose as his blood splattered across the wall, but despite Jacob pummeling his fist into Rai's face, his composure didn't even falter once, let alone his expression as he continued to smile despite his face being a canvas for Jacob's temperament.
Why is Rai allowing himself to be beaten?
Was he just lucky in his fight against Jordan?
No, that's not it.
The feat he achieved today isn't possible with sheer luck.
The classroom remained silent, watching Jacob pummel Rai into the wall, but his anger was unable to be resolved as not only did Rai endure Jacob's thrashing for over a minute, but he even had a smile on his face, which completely shattered Jacob's ego as with a loud cry of frustration, Jacob released his grasp of Rai's collar and stomped Rai's head into the wall, creating a small crater from the impact as Rai wiped the blood flowing from his nose.
I don't know what Rai's reasoning is, but I think it's time for Jacob to go back to his class.
Placing my hand on the handle of my black sword, I prepared myself to step in to end Jacob's assault, but in the moment that I was about to take a step, I felt a spine-chilling sensation as I locked eyes with Rai, who glanced at me coldly as within a split-second, I understood the message he wanted to convey.
I see.
"WHAT DO YOU FIND SO FUNNY?!" Jacob roared, relishing in his dominance as channeled his aura into his leg with the intention of knocking Rai unconscious, but he wouldn't get that opportunity as Aria activated her Aspect and released her Aspectual Force towards him, causing him to hesitate with fear as cold sweat beaded across his forehead.
"That's enough, Jacob! If you continue this, I'll have to step in myself." Aria warned sternly as Jacob clenched his fist in frustration.
Eventually, Jacob succumbed to Aria's overwhelming power as he shot a glare at Rai for a final time, but despite all of his attempts of intimidation towards him, Rai's expression remained firm as he gave Jacob a condescending smile.
"For your own sake, you better pray that we don't cross paths ever again." Jacob threatened as he turned around and headed towards the exit, kicking down a trash can along the way out as he deactivated his Aspect while Oscar and April followed behind him.
Even in the end, you refused to fight back and allowed yourself to be humiliated among an entire class.
What an interesting guy!
After the three of them left, there was a moment of silence within the classroom until chatter began to take place once more as Aria approached Rai with an offer to heal him, but to her surprise, he declined as he stood from the ground and began stretching his arms before wiping off the excess blood from his nose with his thumb.
"Thanks for your offer, but I'd rather have an excuse to skip class." Rai said as he headed towards the exit of the classroom with many eyes glued to him, varying from curiosity to contempt as his act of helplessness did not go unnoticed.
"Mind if I tag along?" I asked with a grin as Rai's eyebrows furrowed in surprise.
"Sure." Rai replied with a smile as we left the classroom and headed towards the infirmary, which was also located on the first floor of the academy.
"You could have defeated Jacob if you wanted to, so why did you choose to take the beating instead?" I asked curiously.
"You're wrong. Jacob's Aspect and raw power far surpasses my own. There's no way I could have won against someone like that." Rai answered, but despite his truthful tone, I found myself chuckling as I knew it was an obvious lie.
"I would have definitely believed you if you weren't able to move around so freely after being pummeled by a mid-ranker who is ranked sixty-first in the academy." I said as Rai smiled at my deduction while we approached the infirmary.
"You're overestimating me, Arthur." Rai replied, heading inside of the infirmary as the two of us parted ways.
I could really go for an apple right now.
POV: Aria Akari
Once Rai left the classroom along with Arthur, many students began discussing the aftermath of Jacob's intrusion as I overheard several students traduce Rai's name, which irked me as I couldn't understand how someone could resort to bad-mouthing another behind their back when they know nothing about them.
"He's pretty weak, isn't he?"
"Someone showed me his fight against Jordan and from what I saw, he looked like he was just really lucky."
"He was laughing to hide his fear from Jacob as otherwise, he would have fought back, right?"
"If he were laughing at me like that, I would have personally done worse to him than what Jacob did.
As Jacob's recent intrusion became the main topic among the classroom, I recalled the moment before Jacob approached Rai as I felt guilt flooding my consciousness for not stepping in sooner to help Rai.
~
"Hey." Rai called out, grabbing my attention away from Sarah as I noticed three students from Class-1C approaching us.
Why are the three of them here?
"Those three are here to get revenge for what I did to their friends, so can I ask you for a favor?" Rai asked as despite the current situation brewing before us, he spoke casually as if nothing serious was going to happen, despite the situation brewing before us as I gave him a mindless nod, wondering if he understood the words that came from out of his mouth.
I don't know why he's so calm about this, but I'm sure he's going to ask me for help-
"I don't want you to intervene at all." Rai said as his favor left me bewildered, struggling to utter a single word as the three students stood before him.
What?
~
No matter how many times I think it over, his actions don't make any sense.
Why would he tell me to not intervene?
He doesn't seem like a pacifist as he continued to provoke Jacob, but I don't want to believe he's a masochist either, so what was his reason for allowing Jacob to beat him senseless?!
I witnessed him defeat Jordan and his friends with relative ease and regardless of what everyone believes, Rai is stronger than they think as if he truly desired, he could have defeated Jacob or at the very least, held his own against him and his friends, so why did he choose to remain passive?!
Not to mention that he even refused my offer to heal him!
Even if he has a high pain tolerance, he must have been experiencing some kind of pain at the very least, so even if he wanted to use the infirmary as an excuse to skip class, why would anyone want to be in pain?!
Maybe he is a masochist-
"Aria, is that boy on your mind?" Sarah asked amidst scrolling on her phone as the wording of her sentence flustered me for a second.
"What-"
"I'm glad Jacob taught that boy a lesson. Not only was his disrespectful, but who in their right mind would refuse to be healed by you? That ungrateful bastard deserved that beating." Jacqueline, a friend that I made at the beginning of the year rebuked as Sarah agreed with a few nods.
"I'm sure he had his reasons, so there's no need to be harsh towards him." I mentioned as Sarah sighed while Jacqueline clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Aria, you're too kind for your own good!" Jacqueline remarked as Sarah agreed with a nod.
He saved Everett today, so hearing everyone talk badly about him doesn't sit right with me.
He's not a bad person, at least from my perspective.
POV: Rylie Fuchai
I've been a teacher at this academy for a few years now and being that it is a prestigious hero academy that fosters the greatest talents of our continent, there was always a bad habit of mine that I've had ever since my first day of teaching here.
Not being able to wake up on time.
Everyday for years, I've never made it on time, but today was a once in a lifetime kind of day as I miraculously woke up early.
Passionate, I began humming on the way to class until I noticed two students talking among each other within the hallway as one of the students was none other than Arthur Kojiro.
Arthur was one of my problem students.
He doesn't listen to anything I have to say and one day, I lost my patience with him, but what I assumed was going to be the start of a heated argument was instead a blessing in disguise as despite his egotistical attitude, he showed that he was a genius nonetheless and because of his rank, Ryan allows him to skip my class with the exception of exams, which was absolutely perfect for me as if Arthur is roaming the hallways instead of sitting in my classroom, that means that I won't have to deal with him today.
Not only did I finally wake up early today, but I don't have to deal with that problem child either!
What a wonderful day it is!
Amidst relishing in my own happiness, I noticed the student beside Arthur was injured with a bloodied nose and minor scratches across his face, but as I observed him, I was unable to recognize the student as I eventually shrugged it off and continued humming to myself as I approached my classroom.
I feel bad for what happened to that boy, but he's none of my concern anyways.
As I entered inside my classroom with a bright smile, it was immediately replaced with a frown as I noticed a small head-sized crater on the back wall of my classroom while the empty desk and chair beside Aria was flipped over.
"I'm surprised you're here this early, Ms. Rylie." Isen, one of my students mentioned as my mouth was agape from examining the havoc wreaked upon my classroom.
No, this can't be.
I've already suffered too many pay cuts because of my attendance and now you're telling me I have to pay for vandalism?!
"Why is my life like this?!" I cried out, collapsing onto my knees as tears began to flow from my eyes while a few students came to comfort my distress.