Chapter 22: Chapter 22 : I Hate Homework
Duri had Kain pinned up against the wall, and Duri was punching Kain over and over across the face, splattering blood all over the place.
"Haha! You like how it feels to be laughed at?! Man, I thought you'd be stronger than this!"
Duri jumped and spun at the same time, and kicked Kain in the face. Kain slid across the ground, coughing up blood.
Duri was walking towards him with blood dripping from his fists.
Duri said, "I could kill you right now, you know that right?"
Kain stood up, "And I could kill you too. Why hesitate?"
"I'm not a murderer. Well…kinda. But like, only if they deserve it or if I can't control myself from how hard they fight. I'm a loose cannon."
"Sounds like a murderer to me-."
Interrupting him, Duri sped at Kain and punched him in the stomach, jumped up above him, and slammed his fist against the back of Kain's head.
More blood came out of Kain's nose, and he became furious. Kain sat up and punched Duri on the stomach, hit him in the face, shifted to the left and tried to break Duri's arm.
Kain said, "Cocky little bastard aren't ya?!"
Duri responded, "Nah, not really!"
Duri kicked Kain away from him, and the hand-to -hand combat began. Both of them were throwing a few flashy punches and super kicks, along with some dodging movement, quick feet, and balanced breathing techniques.
Kain jumped and flung a swinging kick near Duri's head, Duri leaned back and dodged it, punched Kain in the stomach, and then the face.
Kain took the pain, spun before hitting the ground, and elbowed Duri in the nose.
Duri and Kain jumped back away from each other, and Kain said, "Come on. Bring it."
Duri squinted his eyes, saying, "...Ha! You still think I'm stupid? Duuuuumbass!"
"Hoh?? Whatever are you talking about?" Kain replied in a sarcastic tone.
Duri thought, 'He set traps. But I don't know exactly where. I can't see them, but I can sense them. I get goosebumps every time I get close to them. Marshy taught me how to manipulate the energy around a trap, using the electricity off my body to feel the trap's power energy. All I gotta do is close my eyes.
Duri closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
Kain thinks, 'He can't dodge these this time. I laid them out in the middle of our fight; he thinks he has the upper hand with that arrogant and toxic attitude, but I'll show him that I'm the one in control.'
Kain grinned, "Come on! What are you waiting for?!"
Duri didn't respond, he still had his eyes closed, breathing peacefully, as a black and clear shadow wind slowly circulated his body, making his hair flow.
Kain looked confused, and he continued, "What the hell are you doing-?!"
Duri got down in a dog-like position, and sped across the area. He was jumping and hopping from one spot to another, and purple needles with poison in them were shooting out of the ground.
Kain backed up, "Impossible! You can't detect them!"
Duri replied, "Shut the hell up. I'm trying to concentrate."
Kain kept backing up, while Duri was dodging and jumping over the exploding traps that shot out poison needles.
Kain thought again, 'Shit! I can't use my other powers on him because he'll just bond and merge with them, making him stronger! I thought the traps would get him for sure! This is expected from the son of Marshy. If this is how it's gonna be, then I'll put a trap on myself!'
Kain slapped himself in the chest, and felt a great pain on him that lasted a good 3 seconds.
Kain smiled once again, and he ran over to Duri.
'I got him now! As soon as he touches me, he'll be damaged!'
Kain got close, and he was gonna let Duri touch him.
Duri threw a punch, but he vanished before it could land.
Kain thinks, 'Hm?!'
Duri appeared behind Kain with a piece of the school wall, and smacked him with it.
Kain coughed on impact, the wall exploded on impact too because of the trap, and Kain flew back and crashed through the wall.
Kain fell out on the other side, back to where the friends and the gang were fighting. Kain sat up, and saw Duri walking towards him.
'This Duri kid! What the hell is he really?!'
Duri was cracking his knuckles as he walked forward, giving Kain a malicious grin.
Duri said, "I'm gonna enjoy beating the shit out of you some more!"
Tek and Jain fell over to where the big scale fighting was, and they pursued each other again.
Jain was striking with some kicks and punches, Tek was dodging them, using chains to come out of his body and block the hits.
Tek hit Jain in the stomach, Jain slid back, smacked his fists together, and a large wind blasted out, knocking Tek into the sky. The wind was so strong that blood came out of Tek's nose.
Tek thought, 'He's warming up to me. He's using his true strength. Fool. He should know I can't lose to him. Why try to fight me? He's no match for me. No one is a match for me. This doesn't even hurt.'
Jain kept clapping his fists over and over, and his fists were bleeding because of it. But the wind coming from the fist clapping was still knocking Tek into the air, battering his body.
Tek said, "This hurts."
Tek raised his hand up, and more chains came from underground. Jain gasped silently, and moved around them, jumping over them to avoid getting caught.
Jain laughed, "Haha! Using the same old trick again?! It's not gonna work this time!"
As soon as Jain said that, Tek had a flashback..
[FLASHBACK]
[8 YEARS AGO]
8 year old Tek was sitting in a dark room, in the middle of the floor. He was bruised and beaten, and he had tears in his eyes.
In front of him was his uncle, hidden in the shadows, smoking a cigar with two men in suits standing and guarding the main door.
The uncle said, "I told you it wasn't going to work this time. But you did it anyway. You proved me wrong, taking out the target in a corrupt and risky way…but still got it done. I'm proud of you Tek. Always getting everything done. Your potential is outstanding. Remember: You have no competition, you are the strongest, and no one can stand in your way."
Tek stood up, replying, "Ye-yes. I am strong. I am the best…I have no competition..no one can stop me..and no one can stand in my way…"
[FLASHBACK END]
[PRESENT DAY]
As Jain jumped again, a chain caught onto his leg, and he could feel something inside.
'What the hell…what is that feeling?'
Tek noticed the confused look on Jain's face, and said, "My chains have the power to borrow a portion of the strength and power energy of the one it connects to. But only for a little bit of time. It's enough time to take you down."
Tek yanked Jain towards him, making the chain retract back to his position.
Jain was getting closer, until he stuck his hands out, and let wind gather above it. Jain slammed his arms down and grabbed the chain attached to him.
Jain ripped the chains apart, spun them around his head and back, and slapped Tek across the face.
Tek spit blood out, and he flew backwards in the air.
Tek and Jain then collided, both of them punching and kicking each other ferociously. They were hitting each other hard, and then they fell and slid on the ground again.
Jain said, "You think you're perfect? I'm more perfect!"
Jain socked Tek across the cheek, making him slide back some.
Jain kicked Tek across the face, saying, "I'm stronger! I'm the best! You're nothing compared to me! Mother said I will become the best..I've already surpassed that!"
Before Jain could attack again, Tek commented, "Hail mary."
"Huh?!"
Tek whacked Jain across the chin with his fist, and Jain went flying backwards, and crashed into the abandoned school wall.
Tek slashed more chains towards Jain, and Jain caught them in mid air.
Jain slung the chains to the right hard, and Tek crashed into a wall too.
Jain laughed, "How ya like that?!"
The chain rattled, and spikes stuck out of them fast, and some of the spikes stuck through Jain's hands.
"Ah! Dammit!"
Tek was inside of the lunchroom of the abandoned school, and he yanked the chains to the left, and made Jain crash against an empty old and rusty school bus outside.
Tek then slammed the chains to the right, and made Jain crash through the school window.
Then finally, Tek ran forward, and leaped 12 feet into the air, pulling Jain towards him. Jain came flying at him, and Tek said, "Fool."
Tek performed a downward roundhouse kick, hitting Jain on the top of the head.
Jain hit the ground beside his brother Kain, and they looked at each other.
They looked forward, and saw Duri and Tek walking towards them.
Kain thought, 'Duri…a boy who can merge and bond with people's power..making him a million times stronger than the ability he's borrowed by itself..'
Jain thought, 'Tek..a punk who can borrow people's power energy with his chains to make himself stronger…or on par with his opponent.."
Kain and Jain said together, "Who really ARE these two?!"
Duri said to Tek, "They're asking who we are."
Tek responded, "They know us. But not of our lineage. What fools. The fighting stops here."
Duri looked over, and saw that Tek's friends and the gang members were still fighting.
Duri said to them in a very loud voice, "Oi!!!!"
The voice cracked some pieces of the ground, making the ground rumble, and knocked some people over.
Tek thought, 'His voice caused all of that to happen..'
Kain and Jain's goons started to back up, while Tek's friends were backing up too.
Tek said to Kain and Jain, "Go. Now."
Duri added, "Or we'll kill you."
Kain and Jain smirked, and helped each other up.
Kain said to Duri, "Hehe..kill? You're still a young fighter…killing isn't within your best interest."
"Wrong. I have the right to do it. Since your dumbass was fighting me. It doesn't bother me one bit. I grew up around killing. I've seen people get killed, and I've partaken in some of the slaughters, even when I was a kid. It's not something I'm proud of, but I do what I can to survive, just like everyone else."
Tek said to Kain and Jain, "I only wanted to join your crew so I could get closer to the man who used me and manipulated me to do his dirty work. After you wouldn't let me in, I had no use for you anymore. I was actually gonna dispose of you. Especially after learning the shit you all do. You all deserve to die."
Jain commented, "...Screw this shit. Kain, let's go. We'll fight another day."
Kain replied, "Tsk. Fine.."
Kain and Jain started to leave and the gang followed them.
Duri asked Tek, "So we're just gonna let them leave like that?"
"They're not leaving."
"Heh?"
Immediately, a bunch of chains started to come out from the buildings, walls, cars and buses, and underground. The chains wrapped around Kain and Jain, and then wrapped their goons, and covered their mouths with the chains.
They struggled to break out, even using their power, but it was no use.
Duri said, "What the.."
Tek uttered, "The cops and Hosts will be here soon enough. We made quick work of Kain and Jain. I can see through all of my chains, and I'll know when someone has arrived, then, I will free them."
Duri was already walking away, he didn't hear half of the stuff he said.
Duri said, "Yeah yeah, whatever."
Tek replied, "Duri.."
Duri turned around to Tek, replying, "What do you want?"
"I don't like you. But you have my respect. Still, stay out of my way."
"Is that so? Congratulations."
Duri turned back around and kept walking away, picking up his school bag on the way out.
As Duri walked, he thought, 'Tek is pretty strong. Still a silent and arrogant douche , but he's gained a little bit of respect from me. That's the first.
[Back at Duri's school]
[A couple of minutes later]
Duri and Tek walked back into Sensei Haruto's classroom, and when they opened the door, the whole class looked at them.
Some of them gasped, looking at the blood and bruises on their faces and school outfits.
Haruto stood up out of his chair, saying, "What's the meaning of this?"
Seven, Nine, Kazuma, Ren-Ren, and Jiyu were watching too.
Seven commented, "What the hell.."
Nine added, "Yooo oh shit! Did you two dogs brawl?! And didn't invite me?!"
Kazuma exclaimed, "Duri and Tek fought?! Unreallllll! So awesome! Aww, I wish I was there!"
Jiyu said with her soft and nervous voice, "Are you two okay? I have band aids.."
Ren-Ren said, "Oh? What's this? Duri and Tek gaining more attention than me?! I'm more interesting!"
Haruto asked Duri and Tek, "Did you two fight? Tell the truth."
Tek said, "No."
"Then what happened?"
Tek lied, "We fought one of those rampaging people. That's it."
"Really? Duri, is that true?"
Duri answered without hesitation, "Yes."
"...Alright. I'm just glad you two are safe. School is about to be over. It's a good thing you've shown up now to get the homework."
Everyone in the class said together in a frustrated tone, "HOMEWORK?!"
Haruto smiled, "Hehe…yep! It'll be on mathematics. It's just something to warm you up for the real semester that's coming up."
Seven asked Haruto, "Oi, what happens if we don't do the homework?"
"Are you planning on doing the homework, Seven?"
"Hell no."
"Then you won't be able to go to the tournament exams."
Everyone gasped, and then kept complaining, besides Duri and Tek, who just stood there quiet.
Nine said, "Definitely not fair. Mean teacher."
Haruto heard the complaints, and he said, "It ain't ALL bad. I mean, well…you have to get a good grade on the homework. Your score depends on the classes you get after the tournament exams."
Duri asked Haruto, "Why does the school sponsor the tournament exams?"
"Good question. We sponsor them so it could be official and have righteous clearance, because the exams used to just be like, 'Come on and sign up.' It's more organized this way. Plus the Hosts own a portion of this school, and the Titans built it. And for the older people that want to take the exams, they have to go on an island and try to kill each other. Younger people like all of you and older people take different types of exams. It's better like that."
"Cool.."
"Well that's not really COOL. I'm lying. They don't kill each other, but beat the lights out of each other."
The class laughed, besides Duri, Tek, Seven, and Nine.
There was a knock on the classroom door, and Haruto looked at it.
It was the school's temporary headmaster, Raijin.
Raijin nodded, and Haruto nodded back. He said to the class, "Start packing up, I'm gonna have Momo pass out the homework, I'm gonna step outside right quick."
Haruto walked outside, and started walking down the hall with Raijin.
They stopped in the middle of the hallway, and Haruto asked, "So..what's the news?"
Raijin responded, "The old headmaster, Zeriah…and his wife were found dead."
Haruto gasped silently, "..What?"
"Hosts Marshy, Sith, Tetsuya, and Kedarah found their bodies inside of an abandoned church, and there were other bodies."
"An abandoned church..why..how did they end up there?"
Behind them, appeared Host Tetsuya.
He said, "Haruto backed up in fear, holding his heart.
"Dammit, man. Stop doing that."
Tetsuya continued, "Apologies. I can relive the memories of a dead person if I touch their blood. I am similar to Mifu, but his memory abilities are stronger than mine. What I saw was Zeriah's wife kidnapped by a bunch of priest dressed people. We ran into them by the way. They called themselves Prophets of Harvest. Anyway, Zeriah tracked his wife down by fighting a mythical dog beast and having it be loyal to him. The dog almost killed him, but he didn't give up. They found his wife at the church with some other women, and he and the dog fought the prophets, and they easily were killed."
Haruto said, "Shit…what will we tell the students?"
Raijin replied, "We tell them nothing."
"But they're going to be wondering.."
"Maybe we can wait to tell them something. We can come up with a lie. He was loved by everyone, we don't wanna let these kids down with bad news right before the exams."
"...But..okay. I guess you're right."
Tetsuya added, "Also..we'll be starting the tournament exams tomorrow morning."
Haruto and Zeriah looked at Tetsuya in a shocked gesture and stance.
Zeriah asked, "Tomorrow?!"
Haruto asked, "That's really soon.."
Tetsuya answered, "I know you're surprised. Plans are changing. But with the way these people are rampaging with the mythic beast blood, and with Harvest on the rise, we gotta do what we have to do. Who knows? Harvest might try and send their rampaging men to invade the school. We can't have that."
Haruto sighed, "I get it…I get it..I understand. How would you want us to tell the students?"
"You're pretty smart, Haruto. I want you to send an email to all of them and their parents and let them know tonight. Telling them now will arouse a whole bunch of questions and curiosity, and plus, we don't have enough time to explain everything."
"Okay, good. Thank you, Tetsuya. And the rest of the Hosts for what you've been doing."
"It's no problem. Good luck to you two."
Tetsuya vanished, leaving Haruto and Zeriah there.
Back in the classroom, everyone was crowding Duri and Tek, asking them:
"What was it like?!"
"Yeah! What was it like fighting the rampage people?!"
"How strong were they?!"
"Did you kill them or what?!"
"What did their blood and brains look like?!" Ren-Ren asked that with a malicious grin and small chuckle.
Duri and Tek were ignoring them, looking at their homework sheets.
Duri thought, 'I've always had trouble with algebra. Marshy hates that shit. I hate it too. I don't wanna ask for Marshy's help…she's definitely gonna get mad.'
Duri looked at Seven, Nine, Tek, Kazuma, Ren-Ren, and Jiyu.
Duri shook his head, thinking again, 'Nah I don't want their help. Nope. Not any of them. I'll just wing it.'
[15 minutes later]
School was over, and all the students were leaving the school.
Duri, Tek, Seven, Nine, Kazuma, Jiyu, and Ren-Ren were walking together on the sidewalk, heading to their own houses.
Tek wasn't intentionally walking with them, he just got caught up in it.
Seven asked Duri, "So you want OUR help with the homework?"
Duri's face was red, "Yes! How many times do I have to say it?"
"You're not gonna get any help with THAT type of attitude, idiot."
"Tsk."
Kazuma said, "This will be fun! I mean, hopefully we get done early enough so we can go to the tournament tonight! A strong fighter named Katai will be in it! I can't wait to see his skills in action again!"
[Katai: Son of Ferrow. Ferrow: One of the leaders of the Harvest group. Mentioned in chapter 15.]
Duri asked Kazuma, "I thought the fights were in the afternoon?"
"Yeah, but they rescheduled it for tonight."
Jiyu agreed, "Yeah, a lot of things are being rescheduled I hear.."
Ren-Ren asked in curiosity, "What happens if the exams get rescheduled to a later date? I'm gonna be soooo pissed!"
Nine asked Ren-Ren, "And then you're gonna go psycho mode like always, right? Damn psycho nerd."
"Hehe…hehehe…I'll kill you."
"See, look. Already showing your true colors. Psychoooo."
"Shut up."
Duri said to everyone, "Look. You guys can come over to help me. Don't think we're friends because I'm doing this too."
Seven implied, "Sounds like some friend shit to me, Duri."
"And you…I don't like you."
"Are you nervous?"
"Nervous? Of what?"
"You're about to have a girl in your room: ME. Is that why you're acting like that?"
"N-no. I'm not soft like the rest of the world."
"Aww it's so cute."
Nine and Seven then said together, "Awwww."
Duri asked, "Why do you torment me?"
Jiyu said with a nervous and soft voice like always, "I get to be in the house of Marshy and Duri…I'm so so so honored..haha."
Kazuma said, "Yes! Bro's hanging out with the bro's!"
Duri asked Kazuma, "You've never had friends before, have you?"
"Nope! Haha, only two!"
"Interesting."
Nine looked over at Tek, and asked him, "Oi, Tekeshi, you need help too?"
Tek answered, "No."
"You sure look like you need help."
"I don't."
"You do. You and Duri."
"No."
Duri said to Tek, "If you wanna show up, show the hell up if you need help."
"I thought I told you to stay outta my way?"
"Trust me, I wanna beat you to a pulp as badly as I want to eat right now. But this is school related. I'm not forcing your ass to come, but it seems like you're a loser with no friends to help you with anything."
"Excuse me?"
"I can't help that I'm brutally honest sometimes."
Tek replied, "...Whatever. If I show up, then I show up. Don't count on it."
"Trust me, I won't."
"Why are you invested in helping my academics?"
"...I was always taught to help those that need help. No matter how much I hate their dumbasses. It will help me in the long run."
"...Tch. I was taught the complete opposite."
Kazuma stepped in between Duri and Tek, putting his elbows on both of their shoulders.
"Haha! Duri helping his rival Tek out!"
Tek replied, "Duri is not worthy enough to be my rival. I have no rival. No competition."
Duri said, "Tek is not powerful enough to rival me. Marshy is my only rival, I don't care if she's my mother or not."
Nine said with a grin, "Bro, you both are acting like rivals. Like, all the time. The two most talked about boys in the whole school for their skill and strength…it's obvious."
Seven added, "Totally seems like it dude."
Tek and Duri responded together, "He's not my rival!"
"Heheheheheeee. Sureeee."
Duri pulled out his phone, and called Marshy, and put the phone to his ear.
It rang for a few seconds, then Marshy picked up the phone.
"Duri? Are you okay?" Marshy answered and asked.
"I-I'm fine, Marshy. Look, I have people coming over, some kids from my class to help each other with school shit."
"OOOOO! REALLY?! DURI FINALLY HAS FRIENDS?"
"..No. It's just a school thing."
"OOOO I CAN'T WAIT! I'll call some pizza over right now! I'm so so happy!"
"Marshy, it kinda isn't that serious-."
"YES IT IS. I'm calling the pizza guy RIGHT NOW!"
"Ugh. Okay."
"And also, Duri..we need to talk when you get here."
"About what?"
"Be patient. No need to rush it. Let's just take this in that you actually have friends coming over! Hahahahaha!"
"They're not…my friends."
"Sure sure. Hurry home!"
"Yokai."
Duri hung up the phone, and put his phone back in his pocket.
'Am I actually going to call them my friends one day..?'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone