Chapter 0-1 (Test)
The crowd was noisy, but Renji stood among them as if he were behind a thick pane of glass.Voices passed by laughter, fragments of conversations, other people's emotions, none of which had anything to do with him. He stood there, eyes downcast, fingers clenched so tightly that his nails bit into his skin. Pain was necessary it proved he was still here.Why me?He hadn't asked this question for the first time. And he wouldn't ask it for the last.The schoolyard pulsed with its usual life. Some talked about the test, some whispered rumors, some were playing a new game. Around Renji, the space seemed distorted: glances lingered a little too long, whispers softened, then sharpened again. He felt it on his skin.
Hey, isn't that him? Seriously? He's here again?He didn't turn around. He already knew what he'd see.Renji wasn't a victim because he was weak.He was a victim because he didn't resist.He didn't scream.He didn't complain.He didn't look them in the eye.When they shoved him he stepped back.When they laughed he stayed silent.When they humiliated him he remembered.That's what pissed them off the most.
Images he could never erase flickered through his mind: the dirty floor in the locker room, shoe marks on his uniform, the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. Every time, he told himself it would be the last. Every time, he was wrong.
Renji.The voice sounded too close.He slowly lifted his head. Familiar faces stood before himsmiles identical, eyes empty. The circle around him tightened as if the world had decided, for a moment, to cease existing beyond its boundaries.But Renji wasn't thinking about them.He was thinking about something else.That day.That thought that had taken root in his mind and would never leave.That if the pain wouldn't stop... maybe it was time to redirect it.The corner of his lips twitched into a barely noticeable shadow of a smile.They didn't notice.Too bad.
And so the day passed. Renji, entering the school toilet, saw a crowd of bullies. They were clearly unhappy and were whispering something to themselves about Renji's strange steps, his behavior, and insulting him in every possible way.
At the corner, right next to the toilet stall, he was met by a guy with a beard, and as if the man at school was not a student, not by his appearance, not by his clothes, and his height and weight exceeded his dimensions.
-(Renji) Huh? Who is this here? Who are you?
-(Man) Renji, they told me you haven't been hit on the head in a long time, especially from Kaoru, so she sent me so that you don't relax here, otherwise, look, you've become too free, you have to obey the school system.
-(Renji) Next time I can overcome the barrier and take revenge, I swear on all that is holy I will destroy.
The man swung his leg, testing Renji's reaction. Renji flinched in fear just from the swing of his leg. Was he scared by such a trifle? The man just chuckled and didn't touch the boy, grinning at his pitiful appearance. So Renji left the school toilet in frustration and went as far away from that place as possible to breathe a sigh of relief that he finally didn't get beat up.