Can It Get Any Worse?

Ever since the beginning of the school year, Akio Wada wondered if his life could get any worse. After all, he had a certain way with words. Of rather, a complete lack of it.

“Hey there, I’m Akio Wada. I’m an only child, so I’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to have a brother, or a sister. If I can find someone close enough to be like that, it’d make my day!”

Those were the words he had chosen on his first day at Shiomizu High. It was a pivotal moment to the start of a new life, one that he had moved all the way out to Yokohama for. He had a plan going in, something more normal, but the students ahead of him had more rizz in their introductions.

He fidgeted under the ensuing pressure, hastily splicing new ideas together. And what he got was this current monstrosity, sealed by a moment of awkward silence blanketing the room afterward.

It was Akio’s old habit of letting himself talk like a total dumbass rear itself again. And before he could correct himself…

“Ew, no way. This guy is a siscon.”

“Imagining the girls here as sisters. Couldn’t you have kept that fetish to yourself?”

“But he said brother too… you don’t suppose he swings both ways? Yuck, man.”

An explosion of twisted remarks bounced around the room, each stabbing Akio with more and more accusations. He was left paralyzed, unable to bat down the escalating flurry of the rumor mill. It had happened again – different year, different school, same cancer of the mouth.

By the time the homeroom teacher hushed the room, the unnecessary seed of self-destruction had been planted and left to germinate. It didn’t take long at all for it to bloom its ugly blossom before the entire student body.

“Get away from me, you creep! Who wants to be seen with you?”

“Wait, I’m just here to talk about after school clubs!” Akio exclaimed, “Why the hell won’t you even look at me!?”

He stared at the girl before him, head of the literature club. Laying low with his face in a book after that embarrassing introduction seemed like a good course of action. She seemed nice enough, the welcoming type that would be cordial to strangers. Yet, an utter gag of disgust thrown at him had betrayed the timid expression and hesitancy neatly folded into a French braid and behind prim glasses. The overblown reaction made it seem like he had requested to be flashed panties.

A strong grip spun him around by the shoulder, putting him face-to-face with a large guy looking pissed off. A meathead of sorts that intimidated with a frame suitable for competition sports.

“Get your sick ass hands off my girlfriend! The whole school fucking knows your intentions, Wada! Forget about hitting on chicks using clubs as an excuse.”

“That protein is going to the wrong place if you think I’m hitting on that face out of the blue.”

“You calling my girl ugly?”

“No, that’s apparently your job.”

With that spark, the first punch was thrown. Akio dodged to the left, seeing it coming. He got in a defensive position as the second swing came, wide enough for a sumo to pass through.

Akio wasn’t going to take back what he said. Submitting would just be another excuse to be taken advantage of. He dodged it easily, but what he hadn’t counted on was some asshole kicking him in the back and right into the path of the swing.

His face collided fully with it, and he was sent spinning to the ground. All the while, laughter at his antics surrounded him as he fought to keep his ears from ringing. No one cared about how unfair it was for someone to intrude on a fight. The rights went to the victor.

Group mentality was all too pleased to kick him down with its chants, now that words were coming back into Akio’s focus. They heralded their cheater of a champion while making a fool of the loser.

“Wada creep! Wada sick ass! Wada way to get beat down!”

It took less than a day for his name to become synonymous with a joke. And it stuck so hard that virtually the entire school joined in with the bullying.

Things never went his way. No matter where he went. No matter how many fresh chances he got. There was always some way he would blow it.

That was why he was now staring at a set of walls in an enclosed space. The scent of cleaning bleach and piss made it a bit difficult for him to choke down his lunch, but he had no choice. This was his safe spot, away from the jeers and accusations. It had been for the past two weeks.

It was only in silence that he didn’t get himself into further trouble, as the moment he tried to talk was yet another reason for him to be bullied. Even looking people in the eye made them pissed at him now. At this point, there was nothing to do but hide.

A sudden cold and the sound of splashing rained down on him. It was so abrupt that it took him several seconds to even register than he was drenched.

“Ha, Wada idiot! Did you think you could hide from us? We saw you creeping in here, all sus-like. Did the cold shower stop you from wanking off? Bet it’s all shriveled up now, haha!”

A set of high-fives could be heard outside the stall, followed by footsteps parading out like they had done an act of justice.

Akio looked down at the pool of water that had been his konbini bento, the hamburg steak now floating like a brown log on top. That killed any appetite he had left, so he flushed it all down the toilet.

Opening the stall door, he gnashed his teeth and kicked the emptied bucket into the corner, frustrated at how his words could snowball into something so terrible. People were so stupid for no reason. The loner was always in the wrong.

At this point, there was no way he could go back to class, sopping wet. Not like the teachers would care about the bullying anyway. They would probably be angrier with him getting the classroom wet and whatever ‘lame’ excuse that came out of his mouth.

As he popped out of the restroom, a swish of black hair crossed his vision, making him backpedal. It was fortunate that he did, as a towering figure turned to look over her shoulder with a death glare. Akio froze, not from the action itself, but how intimidating her presence was. For a moment, he hadn’t even noticed that a girl had literally stopped his heart.

The last thing he needed was to add yet another disaster that wasn’t his fault to begin with by bumping into her. Even worse, she could use the pretense of getting wet as evidence of assault. No matter how small of an ordeal, Akio was sure that the situation would get blown way out of proportion. ‘Wada rapist’ might as well be slapped onto the list of charges.

The girl stared for a moment, cracking her knuckles at him. She looked ready to wring him by the neck. His face heated up. A low whimper struggled to leak out his throat. It was not just fear that claimed him – the girl was actually quite pretty despite being angry. But before he could put his foot in his mouth, she dismissed him and continued walking.

Whew, glad I didn’t say any-

Akio’s feet clung to the ground as his knees tried to move. He tripped and fell forward, smacking the ground as the jolt finally put a name to the face.

That-that was Haibara-san, wasn’t it?

Long, black hair. A demonish aura. An eagerness to fight and overwhelming strength to crush her opponents. There were few girls in the school that fit the bill. Akio had pieced together the rumors scattered by students curious about the local legend that resided in Yokohama.

Misaki Haibara. His life would have ended if he had so much as touched her.

Mentions of her came as the token trouble student, but that grossly made light of her infamy. Just like how his shit reputation had spread across the school, Misaki became a walking omen of doom.

“Did you hear? She gutted the entire gang across the river in her middle school days.”

“I heard that she has the yakuza in the palm of her hand. The boss licking her boots for favors.”

“You know a teacher tried to get her arrested? She paid him a personal visit, and he left the country the very next day.”

With rumors like that, it was no wonder everyone left her alone. It didn’t matter how true they were, because no one dared to find out otherwise.

Akio’s heart pounded like a jet engine as he realized just how close his brush with death was. He doubted that the day could get any worse, but he hurried off campus before it could prove him wrong again.

v

The decision to head home had not improved his situation at all. The bus driver shooed him off to keep the seats dry. When he entered a convenience store to grab a drink, the cashier gave him the stink eye like he was a hobo stealing some sips before leaving it on the shelf.

“What are you looking at? Can’t a guy have a bad day without needing shit from you?”

Akio immediately got threatened with a call to the cops for truancy, forcing him to retreat thirsty.

He punched the side of a building several blocks down, once he caught his breath. Nothing ever seemed to go right with him. He had moved here in hopes of starting anew, but it had taken only two weeks for his life to become hell once again.

“Dammit, fucking bullshit! Buddha can take the ‘fairness’ of karma and shove it up his fat golden ass!”

He did a spin kick out of frustration, but unexpectedly, a motorcycle was parked right behind him.

That wasn’t there just now!

Too late to stop the momentum, the top of his foot smacked right into the side of the mirror. And with a metallic rip that might as well have been a gunshot right into his nerves, he watched the mirror fall to the ground.

“Oh… shit…”

“MY BIKE, YOU ASSHOLE!”

I knew it…

Akio looked to the side, seeing an angry looking thug pushing up his sleeves. Several of his friends were right behind him, somewhat amused. He couldn’t tell if they were laughing at their friend’s misfortune or if they now had an excuse to mess someone up for fun. He prayed it wasn’t the latter.

“MY STELLA! MY PERFECT PARTNER! I JUST PAID HER OFF. YOU ARE SO DEAD, BRAT!”

Akio sighed. He reached for his wallet and tossed him the lone Eiichi bill in it. He’d be going hungry for the next week, but it had been his fault to begin with.

“NO NO NO! 10k ain’t gonna cut it! Just look how you chipped off her beautiful frame. Even if she’s repaired, there’s e-mo-shun-al damage!” The thug pulled out a switchblade and brandished it before Akio. “You need to experience that same kind of pain. How’d that saying go? A thing for a thing.”

“An eye for an eye?” Akio squeaked out.

“Whatever. I’m chopping an ear off.”

Before he could reconsider not being deaf, Akio dodged to the side as the blade whizzed by his ear. Life choices be damned, he threw a right hook into the thug’s stomach. It connected solidly, causing him to double over.

Oh hell! I did it now…

Akio didn’t have to say anything this time for his luck to bottom out. He looked over to the thug’s friends, who were now pulling out all sorts of weapons. Several licked their lips, ready for the tasty excuse to go hard.

Akio racked his brain for something, anything to get him out of the situation. His most recent scare came to mind. He immediately pointed behind them.

“Oh shit! Is that Misaki Haibara? How you doing over here, fellow classmate?”

A weapon dropped from someone’s hand and made a heavy clang on the pavement. They all started looking around, spooked by the sudden outburst.

Akio immediately hopped onto the bike, started the engine and raced off before they could recover. With the wind ripping against his body, he shouted curses at it.

“Shit, shit, shit! Screw you, Stella! I don’t care that you’re just a bike! I am so dead for straddling another guy’s waifu!”

Akio’s head turned left and right looking for a place to hide. The sound of engines starting up only induced more panic in him. He quickly chose a side street and veered into it.

Please let it not be a dead end!

He didn’t have time to think about where he was, or where to go. The narrow residential streets crisscrossing the area was hopefully enough of a maze for his pursuers as it was for him. To cover the noise, he headed toward the sound of more traffic.

Somehow, the angry motorbikes behind him started to fade, and he scrounged up the nerve to look back. He was saved for the moment, but now, he needed a place to ditch the bike.

“Sorry, Stella. I have to dispose of the evidence.”

But as he looked forward again, he saw someone right in front of him, so close that they were about to collide.

“Watch-”

His voice went flat, and his eyes bulged out.