Making Friends

“I said, WHAT the HELL is your problem?” My head’s still ringing from the impact with the ground, I definitely have a concussion. Could I accurately diagno-

“Are you gonna LISTEN TO ME?” A pair of rugged hands and strong arms lift me from the ground and pin me to the window. It’s a girl, a relatively tall clearly athletic girl, threatening to crack the window with my body.

“I am, I am!”

“I am what?” She snaps back at me immediately. I can tell she’s the queen bee by a glance. She has creases in the side of her mouth from spending the whole day forcing smiles. Her makeup is flawless and her hair tied back in an athlete’s ponytail. I can’t tell if she gets what she wants from seduction or physical coercion, probably a healthy mix of both.

“If you space out ONE MORE TIME, I’m slamming you into the window until it breaks!”

“Sorry! Sorry I-”

“Rikiyo, put him down.” Another girl calls out from behind.

“I wasn’t talking to you darkie.” The girl steps forward. She does have darker skin, but it’s rather nice, and highlights the rest of her complexion.

“Would you rather talk to Principal Kurobuchi?” Rikiyo pauses and stares into my soul.

“I heard you’re already on thin ice. You’ve also got a race next week, I wonder what he would do…” Rikiyo slowly lets go of my collar, I sink to the ground and breathe.

“You say one word about this to Kurobuchi, I’ll rip out your femur and use it like a baton.”

Rikiyo scolds the girl before turning back and glaring more daggers at me.

“And you.”

“Did you ask me?”

“YES YOU.” Rikiyo calms her own frustration with a powerful breath. “Watch where you’re going.”

The dark girl helps you up and you immediately hear comments.

“Wash your hands.” “Saved by the gorilla, I can’t imagine.” “That’s gotta be rough.”

“All of you can shove it!” I yelled into the crowd, where did that come from?

She grabs your hand and quickly walks you to a quieter part of the school.

“That was great, I really appreciate it, but you didn’t have to do that.”

“You didn’t have to save my life.”

“You would have been fine.”

The situation dawns on me as the adrenaline wears off and I realize what I’ve just done.

“Oh my God! I could have actually died in there! She was definitely strong enough to throw me through the window.”

My breathing gets heavier, why did I do that? I’m so done. The girl puts a hand on my shoulder.

“You’re not done, she’s not strong enough to do that, and the day is only getting started. Calm down.” Her words cut through the noise of my mind and feel good to hear.

“I appreciate you.” The girl looks puzzled.

“Sorry I- I don’t know to say.”

“How about thanks?”

“Thank you.” My body unwinds from the tension I’ve put it under.

The girl leaned against the wall, “What’s your name?”

“I am Kenji.” I smiled; I think smiling was the right play here.

“Well… my name is Maya. Nice to meet you.” I smiled again.

“You don’t talk much, do you Kenji?” She looked concerned.

“Nice to meet you too.”

“Do you wanna get lunch now Kenji?”

Maya walked me to the cafeteria. The food was mediocre but worth the price at least. Something about the fear from earlier had me starving, and I was wolfing down food.

“So *Chomp* Rhere are you from?” Maya lets out a little chuckle and motions for me to slow down.

“My dad works in the area, he’s a flame engineer for Ligatio.” The name freezes me solid. I’ve had such an interesting time since coming here I almost forgot why. I’ve got 363 days left before they take me and what have I done? I can’t even use my magic.

“Kenji? I’m sorry did I say something wrong?”

“I-I’ve never heard of a flame engineer.”

“Oh, that’s alright. It’s kind of a niche profession anyways.”

“What does he do?”

“He designs and engineers household artifacts and the method of enchantment. He only has a regular affinity for fire, but he has a degree in mystical engineering.”

“That’s really cool.” I can see Maya blush just a little.

“Lunch is almost up Kenji, what class do you have?”

“Chemistry.” Maya stands up and extends her hand again.

“Perfect. I don’t have chemistry but I’m in that building, let’s go.”

I walk with Maya across campus until we reach my chemistry class, she leaves me by the door and heads off. I walk inside to find solid stone tables and students sitting in pairs behind each one. I walk around looking for a seat, but everyone’s taken by now.

“Hey!” I turn and see another lad sitting alone at his table. He’s a shorter pudgy fellow with a brilliant smile and a very neat haircut. It was only when I approached that I found out why he sat alone.

“You smell funny.” Once again the words escaped my mouth before my brain even knew.

“It’s the stench of discovery!” He laughed in a jolly manner before pulling his shirt to his nose.

“Wait a minute, you might be right. I think you’ve just saved me a lot of future hassle. What’s your name? “I extend my hand cautiously, but it looks like he washes his.

“I’m Kenji.”

“Ikuma Kurakake, at your service.” I shake hands with Ikuma and sit down next to him. The lesson is drab and slow, but nothing I didn’t know. I guess my last school was a little bit ahead. The class ends and everyone starts to head home.

“So what are you doing after class Kenji?”

“I don’t know, I guess nothing.”

“There’s a really cool arcade you should see if you’re new here.” I turn surprised to Ikuma.

“How did you know I was new?”

“You’re wearing a woman’s shirt.” Come to think of it, it does fit rather well. Years of swimming have tapered my waist, I don’t mind.

“Oh, I like the arcade though.”

“Cool! Let’s go.” I walked with Ikuma to the train station, then the arcade, and especially from game to game. We talked for hours about school, what classes we had together, what manga we liked, and how we both enjoyed the snow. Hours passed and plenty of laughs were shared. We walked out of the arcade as the sun was setting and a new blanket of snow came down.

“Kenji you have to try Ghernip’s Gate 3.”

“You know I don’t like being told what to do.”

“Then do it as a favor Kenji… come onn.”

“Oh… Okay! I’ll get it on sale though.”

“Of course, of course.”

We head for the train station as the roads get slicker, and I notice something strange. A woman, jogging, in this temperature. She must be mad, she turns down an alleyway and disappears.

“That woman just disappeared down that alley Ikuma.”

“That’s not an alley Kenji, it’s just a small outlet to the next street over, but that street’s awfully small and full of bad characters.” Ikuma speaks casually, but I just saw a woman take that turn. Is she alright?

“Ikuma, I’m gonna go check something out. If I don’t see you at school tomorrow, call my dad, here’s his number.” I give Ikuma my phone number and head for the outlet.

“Kenji that’s a really bad idea.” I turn back to Ikuma.

“I don’t know why Ikuma, but I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t go.”

I cross the street and head through the outlet. Ikuma was right, it’s a dirty side-street full of shady characters and suspicious activities. You could get any drug known to man here. I search around the street and see a van jostling ever so slightly in the distance. I run over and listen closely through the back door. The van shakes subtly as a muffled scream comes through the door, I pull on the handle and find the door unlocked.

A woman laid there, gagged and bound, with a bag over her head.

“Hello? Are you alright?”

The woman responds through muffled screams. I lean over her in an attempt to loosen her binds and notice the driver has returned.

*SMACK* Everything went black.