There wasn’t much Gary could do for now in general with his powers. He was only a level 2 after all. Although he may have the power to become superhuman at certain moments, he still wasn’t the best when it came to fighting on top of other things. Not to mention it was a secret in the first place, so it was best he stayed out of trouble.
The classes continued as normal, with a few people staying away from Gary. They were a little worried about his red sickness from earlier, but it looked like it had been cleaned while they had been at the nurse. Xin was also in the classroom, but she was unable to concentrate properly due to Tiffany staring daggers at her.
When the day had finally come to an end, it was time for everyone to head to their club activities. The members of the club were to appear on the rugby field for training and when they arrived they could see both Barry and Gil staring at the two of them.
“Damn those guys, it looks like they didn’t quite get the message, huh?” Gil said provocatively.
However, Barry stayed quiet. He looked down at his covered wrist which had been bruised and was slightly red. His better judgement was telling him that it might be better not to get involved with Gary after all.
The rugby team had been together for a long time now, and it had been a while since anyone new had joined them. That was also the reason why the duo had wanted to scare Gary away. Even if he were to tattle on them, Gary knew they wouldn’t back down, so it was pointless.
The training had continued like usual, at least at the start it did. It was clear that during the practices the regular members were doing everything they could to target Gary. Covering him even when he didn’t have the ball, even tackling him when he didn’t have the ball, and lastly, hitting him in the gut when they were in the middle of a scrum.
Each time, Tom had to be there to calm him down, but he could tell it was getting worse. Thankfully they had made it through the whole training session without Gary retaliating. At the end of the class Mr Root had an announcement to make.
“Alright everyone, our first match is going to be in around a week’s time and we will be going up against Eton High, so you better be on top of your game! As for you Gary, remember you’re part of the team now, so watch yourself!” Mr Root shouted at them.
Among the club members and the actual rugby members they all started to mumble and share odd looks on their faces as they talked about the upcoming team. Although a newbie, Gary knew why. Eton High’s rugby team wasn’t exactly the strongest, but that also wasn’t Mr Root’s main worry.
Eton High had a reputation for being one of the roughest schools in the entire town. A place where gangs frequently recruited their next members upon graduation. There were even a few students that already belonged to different small time gangs, some even from a different city.
There were rumours going around how often times, certain members of the opposing teams would end up in accidents right before big games. This was why Mr Root had cautioned him to be safe.
Living in this city, everyone knew that the ones actually in charge were the gangs, so the students of Eton High were certainly special.
“If Mr Root is even telling us to be careful, then it has to be true.” One of the members said.
When the game was over, a certain member had decided to approach Gary and it was one he wasn’t expecting.
“Hey there Gary, I see your nose is all better sorry about that again.” Blake said, as he smiled showing his beautiful teeth.
‘Damn it, I can’t stay around this guy. If Xin sees me next to him it’s going to make me look like a frog and him a prince.’
“Yeah don’t worry about it, it wasn’t as bad as I thought.” Gary replied to cut the conversation short.
“Do you mind if the two of us walk home, there was something I wanted to talk to you about, and I think it might be better for you.” Blake offered, as his eyes moved to the corner, and the other members including Gil and Barry were looking towards their direction.
Tom, seeing this, and living in the complete other direction decided to head home.
“Hey, Gary you go ahead, take your time to think about the stuff we talked about earlier. Just remember to give me a call tonight, okay.” Tom said and ran off.
Tom was still hoping that Gary would quit the rugby team like he had asked. It was the best choice in the end. Gary didn’t really want to walk with Blake, but it was obvious that the athlete was offering to shield him from the others. Out of all the members who were on the rugby team Blake was the most reasonable and easiest to talk to.
“Sure we can walk for a bit.” Gary answered as he put on a fake smile, and the two of them headed off. As Gary and Blake started to walk off, they passed by the front gate where Kai was standing with his eyes half closed. When Gary walked past he opened them, and gave him a little wink, before continuing onward.
‘Who could he be waiting for? A girlfriend perhaps?’ Gary wondered.
Seeing him and Blake walk off, Kai continued to wait at the gate, until a student in a dark blue uniform, different to theirs, had arrived. A boy who had his hands banged up all the way to his knuckles.
“You wear those things, even in school? That must be uncomfortable.” Kai commented with a smirk.
“You never know when you’re going to need to fight. Not in this day and age. Anyway, I believe you still owe me the promised sum of money.” Innu reminded Kai. As soon as he said it, a bundle of cash flew right towards him.
“Here you go. I always keep my word.” Kai said as Innu happily counted the money.
“I did a little bit of research on you. Turns out you went to Eton High last year? Since you agreed to join our little gang, mind telling me what exactly happened that forced you to transfer to another school?” Kai questioned, as the two of them began to walk off.
From the look on Innu’s face it wasn’t a pretty story at all, and it was clear that they were bad news.
*****
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