One Violent Idiot Tells A Tale

As everyone patiently sat around Juzo waiting for his story, Juzo himself seemed to be completely disinterested. After waiting a few moments to collect his thoughts, he shuffled comfortably into his chair and crossed his arms.

"I come from a big family who all live in the same house. There's me, my younger sister, my three younger cousins (all boys), my parents, my mom's two sisters, their husbands, and my mom's parents. That's a lot of people. Living with so many people puts a lot of responsibility on everyone to contribute what they can to the family, so I helped out everyone with whatever they needed, like work, the younger kids, or just chores. A problem with that is that a lot of kids and teens want to spend as much time with their friends as possible, but I had always had something I needed to do. Any friends I made in class would quickly find someone else to hang out with after school, and I would fall out of favour with them. I had no good friends for my entire life, and that was the case when I got into high school."

"Like many other years, I befriended some people in my class, only to slowly be pushed away as I failed to spend time with them out of school. This time, it was a group of boys who seemed to be friends with each other for a while. I already knew it wouldn't last, but I thought it would be nice to at least believe in the illusion for a bit. They kept me company in class for the first few months, but the inevitable distance grew between us. Summer break split us up, as I assume they spent it together while I hung out with my family. By the time school started back up again, I was practically a stranger to those guys. I was used to it, and I anticipated I would spend the rest of the year minding my own business while my classmates ignored me."

"That was the case for a little while, but eventually another group started interacting with me. It wasn't exactly in a friendly manner. This group was made up of three boys and a girl, and I don't know what their relationship was with each other. I think the girl was cousins with one of the boys, but I don't know for sure. Anyways, these guys saw me as an easy target, since I was always alone, and thought it would be fun to mess with me. For the first few times, it was minor stuff, like pushing my stuff off my desk, or calling me a name when they walked by. I was used to people doing stupid stuff like that, but then it started to get worse. I would get garbage thrown at me constantly, which was just disgusting. I would nearly cry each time that would happen. One time they even set me up, with one of them stealing a book from a teacher and planting it in my bag, then when the teacher realized something was missing, they accused me. My bag was searched, and the book was found. Of course the teacher didn't believe me when I pleaded innocence, and I was forced to clean the classroom after school for a month. Another time, they skipped gym class and snuck into the changing room. When class finished and I went to get changed, I found my bag in the shower, completely drenched in water. My clothes were soaked, so I had to keep on my gym clothes, and all my notes were ruined. I was lucky I left my laptop in the classroom, otherwise they probably would've wrecked it. Their pranks were becoming more reckless and destructive, and I started to fear for my safety.

"Then one day, they took it too far. After school, I was walking down a hallway after using the bathroom. I knew people were behind me, but I thought it was just someone random. Out of nowhere, someone from behind me grabbed my backpack and swung me toward the wall. It caught me by surprise and I fell down after smacking against the wall. Before I could figure out what was happening, someone reached into my pocket and ripped out my wallet. I jumped to my feet and saw those four mocking me, dangling my wallet in front of me. I decided that I'd had enough. I slugged a right hook at the one standing in front of me with my wallet, hitting him square in the jaw. He collapsed immediately. I don't really remember what happened with the other two boys, though I remember punching them a lot of times. The girl ran away and called the police, or ambulance, doesn't really matter. I stumbled back to the bathroom to wash my hands. My knuckles were pretty bloody and scraped up, but I couldn't feel anything. I was still standing over the sink when the police arrived. The next few hours are blurred, but I remember having a paramedic patch up my hands, then going to the police station. An officer gave me back my wallet there, so everything was fine. But they made me tell them what happened, so I told them the backstory of my problems with those guys. I asked one of the officers if the others had given their stories yet, and that's when I learned that the three boys were in the hospital. I was told their injuries were a broken jaw on one, a broken nose and several facial fractures on another, and a concussion on the last. I didn't feel bad at all; I was standing up for myself, and none of them died. I know that sounds really bad, but I hated those guys, and I would do the same thing again if I had to."

"They let me go home after, and my family were very supportive. They didn't know I was being bullied, but felt that I did what I had to do. Shortly after, we got a call from the school, saying that I would be suspended for a week. When I went back to class, I could feel the fear in my classmates as I walked past them. The girl and one of the boys were there that first day, and I could see them shaking as I glanced at them. I knew that from that day, my reputation would be one of a dangerous thug. The rest of the year was similar to most others, where classmates stayed away from me, but one notable difference was how nice people tried to act towards me. Of course, it was all fake, as they were just scared that I might make them my next victim. I didn't care, as long as no one bothered me. The year flew by, and the next started with a brand new class. This time was different, though, as my reputation had followed me to my new class. I couldn't befriend anyone, as they were all scared of me. But for the first time, someone came up to me and wanted to be friends. That idiot was Nikko, and he did the same thing with Reina. That's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me in my life. I've been able to have so much fun and make amazing memories with them, and not a day goes by where I'm thankful that Nikko took the time to invite me to eat with him that day."

Nikko slapped Juzo on the back.

"No problem! I'm just that amazing."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say."

Toshiharu gave his review.

"It seems that all of you have become much more expressive and fun people since you've met each other. All your stories were enlightening, thank you for sharing."

Shinobu nodded along.

"Yeah, I finally think that I understand you now."

Juzo waved them off.

"Don't think about it too much. You're our friends, so you deserve to know our past. Now, let's wrap everything up and hit the city. We only have so much time here, can't let it go to waste."