"Stop! Go away, please!" A pink-haired girl of fourteen cried out. She sank to her knees, with her thin and trembling body pressed against the wall behind her.
"Tamamura Tamao, second grade." A long-haired boy snorted as his dark eyes narrowed down on her. "Hmph! Merely a wimp."
Tamao buried her face in her arms, her whole body shaking so much that she could hardly control herself.
Suddenly, the boy grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up onto her feet. With his left hand, he slapped her teary cheek and slammed her hard onto the wall with his other hand.
"This," he spat, "is what you get for embarrassing my girlfriend in class."
Turning, he said with a malicious smile, "I leave the rest up to you, guys." With that, he left, with his long brown hair swirling in the air.
"No problem at all, Hao-sama!" A fat but muscular guy wearing round sunglasses walked towards Tamao.
"Be quick about it. There's no point in wasting time on a wimp like her." Another of Hao's guys growled.
"You are right." The fat guy smirked as he readied his fist and prepared to hit her.
Tamao continued to sob. She wanted to scream for help, but her throat was dry and she could hardly produce a sound from it. Her limp body remained on the ground as she raised her thin arms to brace herself for the punch.
But it never came.
Surprised, she looked up to see a brown-haired boy standing before her. He had blocked the punch for her and for the first time in her life, someone had actually stood up for her.
"Don't hurt her, or you will regret it." The boy's tone was full of anger.
Despite her relief, Tamao could not help but notice that his voice sounded like Hao's.
The other guys must have felt the same way as they quickly retreated.
"Wasn't that Hao-sama? But why?" Tamao distinctly heard one of the guys cry out as he scrambled away.
Turning, her saviour grinned at her. "Are you alright?" he asked, his tone cheerful and pleasant.
Through her tears, Tamao let out a smile.
"Thank you..." she whispered. Even though his voice resembled that of the school's biggest bully, she could feel his warmth and that comforted her more than anything else.
The boy seated himself down beside her.
"So, what happened? Why were they beating you up?" He asked, his voice full of concern.
Tamao turned to study him properly. He had shoulder length brown hair and a bright orange headphone on his head. With warm
eyes and a friendly smile, he seemed to be a nice person. However, his features bore a striking resemblance to Hao.
The pink-haired girl decided to answer his question first.
"It was like this... Hao, the biggest bully in Funbari High, has a girlfriend who is in my class. She is very smart and attractive and she is always top in everything. Only..."
Tamao paused. "I beat her in yesterday's History test and so she lost her pride as History was always her favourite subject. And when Hao found out about it..." Tamao stopped, not wanting to continue.
"I see." The boy replied calmly. "Who is this Hao anyway?"
"His full name is Asakura Hao, and he is about my age. But he is a genius, so he is currently studying two years ahead of me. And he..." Tamao paused again.
The boy was looking away and seemed to be deep in thought.
Tamao hesitated.
"What's wrong?" The boy finally asked, as though he had suddenly awoken from a trance.
"He... he looks exactly like you." Tamao finally mumbled out the statement that had been in her mind from the first moment that she saw him.
The boys eyes widened. His expression, which was normally cheerful, had darkened considerably as he looked away.
"So it was really him." He whispered.
"Who are you anyway?" Tamao asked, not hearing his comment.
"Me? My name is Yoh, and I am new here. I will be studying at Funbari High from tomorrow onwards, and I would be in the second grade. What about you?" Yoh had quickly regained his cheerful tone.
Tamao blushed slightly. "Sorry if I was rude just now, Yoh. I was afraid because you looked like him. Anyway, my name is Tamamura Tamao. I am pleased to meet you and thank you for saving me!"
Yoh laughed, her cheerful voice brightening the atmosphere. "There's really no need to be so formal, Tamao. I just don't like it when stronger people bully others. Besides, we are friends now, aren't we?" He grinned at her.
Tamao blushed again, this time with a darker shade of red. "Friends?" She stuttered. "Thank you, Yoh, thank you!"
Yoh laughed again as he got up. "Let's go, it is getting late."
As she walked along with him down the street, Tamao felt happy and relaxed for the first time in a long while.
He is so kind and cheerful, I feel so happy when I am with him. He helped me so readily; it was the first time anyone did something like this for me. And he actually called me a "friend" too! Maybe this is what having a true friend is really like...
Note: Not being a Japanese, I am unfamiliar about the school or education system in Japan. In my country students normally study for four years in a secondary school after completing six years of the primary level. Thus, by "second grade", I was referring to the second year of the secondary school. I hope that no misunderstandings would develop as a result of this.
Thank you for having read through this chapter. Should you have any comments, please drop a review and I would read it. If this chapter is well received, then I would continue with the story.