Chapter Five: A Different Person

James awoke the next morning feeling completely refreshed. In fact he couldn't remember the last time he had ever felt this good. He sprung his legs out of bed with a bounce put his clothes on and brushed his hair. He skipped down the stairs with a spring in his step that he hadn't had in a very long while. He strolled into the kitchen whistling a cheerful tune as he plugged the kettle into the wall socket. His mother, who was sitting at the kitchen table with his father, looked up from her morning cup of tea. She watched her son as he moved around the kitchen area taking special notice of his change in his usual behaviour.

"You seem to be in a good mood today," She said with a warm smile. His dad lowered the newspaper he was reading to look at him as well. He didn't say anything but his facial expression showed that he seconded his wife's observation.

"I really am! I can't explain it but I just woke up this morning and felt really great. I must have had a really great sleep last night!" James proudly exclaimed as he pulled out the box of oatmeal from one of the cabinets.

"I would say so," She said as she took another sip of her tea. He could tell by her voice that she was very happy for her son's sudden good mood after being so worried about him for so long.

James' morning walk to school was also a change from the usual. His body posture as he moved was considerably different. He held his head high and his hands were out of his pockets, gently swinging back and forth as he strolled down the street. His walking stride was also noticeably unlike what was considered typical for him. Before today he would be taking timid little steps and almost be shuffling along the sidewalk.

Now he was moving in almost what could be described as a strut. When he arrived at the school, he pulled open the doors and confidently walked inside. After he changed into his indoor shoes he looked around at the other students and even took notice of some the posters on the walls that caught his attention as he headed towards his locker.

As he neared his destination he saw Atsuo and his cronies standing near his locker but it didn't faze him at all. He continued walking not breaking his stride or lowering his head as he might have done before today. When he arrived at his locker he opened it up and began to casually prepare his books and supplies for his first class.

One of the boys with Atsuo tapped him on the shoulder and pointed behind him. Atsuo looked back and smiled widely when he saw James. He had been hoping that he would show up to school today. He had been thinking for a good part of last night of what he could do to him as a follow-up to the glorious events from yesterday. He had come up with some very interesting ideas and was eager to try some of them out.

Atsuo turned on his heel and started walking towards James his friends following close behind him. Makoto appeared from around a corner and stepped directly in front of him. Her arms were firmly crossed over her chest and she wore an intense and cold scowl on her face. Behind her Usagi, Minako and Ami stood together in a straight line giving the appearance of a human wall. Minako had borrowed one of Usagi's extra school uniforms so she could blend in with the other students and thus assist in keeping Atsuo from further tormenting James today. Each of the girls wore the same ultra-serious look on their faces letting Atsuo know that they met business.

"Oh no you don't! You leave him alone!" Makoto said the grave tone in her voice was unmistakable.

Atsuo looked at Makoto and then tilted his head to the side so he could glance at the small groups of girls behind her. Just like Makoto they were standing in place with their arms crossed and their eyes narrowed into tiny slits.

He carefully weighed his options in his head. It was public knowledge that Makoto was highly skilled in judo and it was also rumoured that she was also trained in several other forms of martial arts. If that was indeed true she could easily take him down very quickly and without much effort. A physical confrontation of any sort with her could result in him sustaining a serious injury that could keep him off the baseball team for the upcoming season.

He was also very much aware that if he did get into any sort of altercation with her it would be bad for him in the long term. Seeing a man fighting with a woman was something that stuck with people and would follow him around for years. It would almost definitely hurt his chances for receiving a high school or college baseball scholarship. That was something that he couldn't risk as he needed that achievement so he could get into a respected school and become a successful lawyer like his father. He decided it would ultimately be better for him to go for the graceful exit. He knew there would be another opportunity at a later time for him to have his fun since he knew that Makoto and her friends couldn't protect James all the time.

"Ok. You win! We will leave him alone but you can't be around him all the time." He stated cockily as he slowly backed up with his hands held up in front of him.

"It's ok Makoto."

Everyone turned around to see James standing there. He had moved up behind Usagi and the others while they had been distracted by the standoff between Makoto and Atsuo. He was looking directly at Atsuo and didn`t break eye contact with him even when Makoto turned completely around to look at him. She walked up to him as her physical demeanour changed from cold and focused to warm and compassionate.

"It's ok James. He's not going to bother you again." Makoto said trying to sound as comforting as she could.

"No, he will." James said as he brushed past Makoto and moved towards where Atsuo was standing.

"Maybe not today or tomorrow but he will at some point." He continued to move forward until he stood face to face with Atsuo.

"James, what are you doing?" Makoto asked with a mixture of surprise and concern in her voice.

James turned his head looking at Makoto over his shoulder. When he spoke, it was with a vocal tone that Makoto would never have imagined would ever come from James' mouth.

"I am doing what you told me to do!"

His head snapped back around to look at Atsuo, not waiting for her give any sort of facial expression or verbal response to his comment.

"I am standing up for myself. I am showing him that I am not afraid of him anymore!" James said coldly as he stared in Atsuo's brown eyes.

Behind him Minako's eyes narrowed as she observed James' reaction to Makoto's concerned comment. Her extra sensory perception was picking up on something but it wasn't like anything she had ever felt before. This was the first time she had seen James and Makoto in close proximity to each other. As the Sailor Warrior of the planet Venus she was gifted with the powers of the Roman god Venus as well. One of those powers was the ability to perceive the emotion of love between two people. Right now at this very moment she was picking up on some very strong energy readings coming from James but they felt different, like they were being corrupted somehow.

As James continued to stare him down Atsuo was starting to get very nervous. James' expression was radically different than anything he had ever seen in the past. He usually saw fear in James' eyes but now, they seemed like they were devoid of all signs of life. They reminded him of a doll or shark's eyes. He felt a lump begin to grow inside his throat making it hard for him to swallow or even breathe properly.

Even in the country of Japan the news of the rapid increase in school violence and shootings across the world was well known. He was beginning to think that he may have gone too far with James with his latest stunt and may have just signed his own death warrant if James took any physical action against him. It was taking everything he had to maintain the appearance of being calm and confident when in reality his nervousness and panic were quickly turning into overwhelmingly fear and terror.

"You hear that Atsuo? I am not afraid of you anymore. You have lost," James said quietly but with more than a hint of malice in it. At the end of his statement the pupils in his eyes flashed a bright crimson red.

Atsuo jerked back stumbling as he did so which caused him to fall backwards. His face losing color and turning a shade of white as a look of pure terror spread across it. Everyone stared at him completely surprised at the sudden turn of events. No one else had seen what Atsuo had seen so they all thought that he was just reacting to the intense face to face stare-down with James. Atsuo quickly and clumsily picked himself up and took off running down the hallway. His friends proceeded to follow after him shocked looks plastered on their faces as the confusion as to what exactly was going on consumed them.

Makoto and the other girls exchanged looks among themselves. They all were sensing that something really negative was going on here. It was clear to them that it had something to do with James. Makoto turned and slowly walked up behind him, placing her hand on his shoulder as she began to speak.

"James, what is going on? You seem like a totally different person today!"

Almost at the same moment that she touched him he twisted his body away from her, putting about two feet of open space between them. He looked at her with a facial expression that Makoto had only seen from the monsters she had previously encountered during her career as a Sailor Soldier. It was a look of complete rage and utter darkness.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled.

"James! What is wrong with you?"

"Wrong! I did exactly what you told me to do! Now you are acting like I did something horrible! Can't you make up your mind?" He angrily shouted at her.

Minako's eyes widened as her senses again reacted to James' verbal outburst. Her eyes then narrowed as she focused her mind and tried to make sense of what exactly she was feeling. It wasn't pure love that she was sensing from James as she would instantly recognize that. There was definitely something inside him that was causing her senses to react.

"Is there a problem here?" a teacher inquired as they approached from down the hall.

James and Makoto turned to face the approaching teacher. James was physically breathing heavy from his verbal outbursts. His body swayed from side to side and his fists were tightly clenched and hanging down by his sides. He was clearly agitated and looked like he was going to explode if he was provoked any further. He looked at the teacher as they drew closer to them.

"No. No, problem here," James said. His vocal tone was noticeably softer as he attempted to sound calm and collected. He then abruptly turned around and walked away.

The teacher didn't try to stop him content with the fact that the crowd of students that had been watching the event was beginning to break up and normal school functions were resuming. Makoto and her friends watched James as he walked down the hallway towards his home room-A group of students standing around James who had witnessed the incident moved out of his way as he passed. Some of them had nervous looks on their face as they were not sure of what to make of what had just occurred.

"He's probably just still angry about what happened to him yesterday and doesn't know how to channel his anger." Ami quietly suggested.

"Maybe Ami is right but you shouldn't take it personally Makoto," added Minako showing her support for her friend. Usagi could only nod as the scene she had just witnessed had unnerved her a little.

"Something is wrong with him! I am sure of it. I am going to keep a closer eye on him today," Makoto said as she walked away from her friends. Her mind was now focused on finding out what exactly had caused this strange and sudden display of uncharacteristic behaviour in James.

End of Chapter 5…

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