"Hello again."
"Holy shit, where did you come from!?" James allowed himself a feeling of pleasure as the group of girls he had snuck up on jumped out of their skin.
"Oh, you know, just your nightmares." James said evilly, making sure to look at the tall blonde who was obviously the head of the group. "You know, I wouldn't have known it was you four if you didn't have such a shocked look on your face when you saw Ahri again at school." The girls shivered at the dark look he fixed on them, his anger flowing off of him in waves.
"I don't know what your talking about." A short girl with her hair in a ponytail said in a snobby voice, trying to act confident. James walked right up to her personal space and leaned forward, glaring down on her.
"If you didn't, why did you flinch?" James hand shot up next to her ear and he snapped his fingers, the girl scrambling way from him. James straitened and casted a glazed look onto the rest of them, focusing on each of them as if they were a target he was shooting at. "Let's get back to the point. I know what you did, and I strain to tell you to never do it again. The only reason Ahri didn't burn you alive is because she was still confused over you being her so called friends. You wouldn't be the first to loose their lives to her."
"Th-That's a load of bull." The blonde stammered. "You think of her as a trophy, and your still alive." Her jaw snapped shut as James focused all his attention on her, her throat tightening with fear as a menacing vibe wafted off of him, his steps counting as if marking how long she had till the reaper himself came for her.
James stopped right outside of striking range of the girl, keeping his gaze on her eyes as if to stare into her soul. "Don't you dare insult me like that again. There is a reason Ahri listens to me, and that's because I care for her. But you went and made her cry. So I came to give you fair warning. Cross me again, and it will not end well." He paused to let it sink in the turned and left.
"You know, you can be awfully cruel when your mad." James wasn't surprised it find Ahri waiting for him around the corner. She must have been eavesdropping on James attempt to scare the shit out of her "friends".
"Only the best for you, dear." He said jokingly, flashing her a grin. They walked to class holding hands, fully aware of all the looks they were getting. Ahri's tails were waving in the air proudly again, no longer drooping in doubt and sadness. James never again wished to see such a sight like the one behind the dumpster again.
Apparently word had spread about James verbal abuse to the girls, fore people began to give him larger berth in the hallway and a few became skittish when he looked in their direction when they were talking with Ahri. They quickly realized he wasn't going to bite them, though, and went back to chatting loudly with the fox girl like they usually do. One good outcome was that less guys openly hit on her, and for that he had less of a reason to chase them away.
Halfway through the day James got a note telling him to come to the office. He left without a word, flashing the slip to the teacher on his way out. He walked down the hall and waited in the office lobby like a good little boy, obediently following the man who came and fetched him.
"Do you know why I called you here?" The councilor asked, taking a seat behind the desk. James sat silently, crossing his legs and nodding his head. The man was clearly annoyed by his silence but held it in well. "Why did you threaten this girls?"
"I wouldn't call it threatening them." James said coolly, putting his hands together in front of him. His actions put him a position that gave him power, raising the probability of his words having an impact. It also made him look like an asshole. "They made the unwise discussion of hurting my girlfriend, who happens to be the strongest warrior on the planet by my reckons. She did come from another dimension if you remember." The councilor's lips tightened and James figured he was well aware of Ahri. "Anyway, I warned them that there was only two reasons Ahri didn't kill them. One, I would have gotten mad and she respects me. The other was because she still thought of them as friends at the time."
"What makes you think you have the right to tell them something like that?" The councilor asked, leaning forward in his chair.
"The right of a decent human being." James replied, his timing perfect. "Or would you rather have a few corpses in your school? I saved their lives. I intimidated them to leave Ahri alone because I'm protective, maybe, but I still gave them a chance to live."
The councilor was silent for a moment, trying to come up with an argument. James didn't let him. "They came and reported me because they felt threatened. We both know this already. But you people at the top think that they meant physically, but those of us at the bottom know these girls have everything for their publicity. They are using you to make an example out of me. Remember the Salem witch hunt? We read the crucible earlier in the year so you will understand what I'm going to say. Women are vicious. They will use the weak of minded to fulfill their goals, manipulating those who have power to get their way. In this case, I got in the way of their high horse and they are trying to remove me."
The man behind the desk paused for a moment, then sighed and waved his hand. "I've noted your points. By what you have told me, it makes a lot of sense, but you have to understand no one else is going to listen through your whole argument. The only thing I can do is lessen your punishment."
James nodded. "I knew that ever since I left the classroom. I have to agree, since there will be more trouble if you don't." He let out a breath, stretching and cracking his back. "To be perfectly honest, all that intimidating stuff is awfully hard to pull off. It's just not what I do. That's video games."
"You would never have figured that from the camera footage." The councilor noted, pulling up the video on his computer.
"You think so? I thought it was pretty weak." James said, leaning forward to see the video. "Back in middle school, I was often picked on. I just tried to copy what my abusers did." Sure enough, James was rather intimidating on the video. "I guess I did it a little too well." He shuddered as he remembered when there was a group of people who did that to him. He was suddenly very grateful that he had gone through this painful growth spurts.
"For now, we'll say I gave you a stern warning." James snapped out of his thought and saw the councilor flash him a smile. "I believe you have learned from your actions." James didn't have a comeback, but a smile of his own formed on his lips as he realized he had made himself a powerful ally. "Just do me a favor and look after the fox for me, will you?"
"We protect each other." James replied, shaking hands with the man. "May I have your name?"
"Baker. William Baker." They shook hands ones more and James was sent back to class, briefly being informed that his parents would be called out of protocol.
James return to his seat next to Ahri, slinging his bag over his shoulder and waiting the last few minutes for the bell to ring and dismiss them for the last period. "What was that all about?" Ahri asked, looking him over.
"A disciplinary meeting." James said flatly, then giving her a wily grin. "I got in trouble keeping the people who masqueraded as your friend alive."
"It's not like I would actually kill them." Ahri wined playfully. "Maybe maim them, but not kill them."
"You truly are scary, you know that right?" James said, bumping her shoulder with his fist. "I had to put a lot of effort to put up intimidation, but you are a stone cold monster." He poked her in the nose, making sure she knew he was joking. She nipped him.
"Only the best for you, dear." Ahri quoted him, a sneaky smile on her face.
"Can we agree just to leave his whole fiasco behind us, please?" James asked, getting out of his chair as the bell rang.
"That's fine by me. I like the quite days we have." Ahri told him happily. "It's been so long since I had a vacation like this." James agreed with her, remembering that she was used to fighting at the institution. A school life was probably a refreshing break for her.
"Do you ever miss it though?" James asked as they rounded a corner, almost bumping into another guy.
"I guess. I had a friend or two on the other side." Ahri opened the door to her locker room. "I'll see you on the court." The door shut and James moved on.
When James walked into the guys locker room, there was a slight stir amongst those who where changing. A few shied away and he let out an exasperated sigh. "I know you heard the rumor of me being a big scary monster. You should know the girls that I was scaring made Ahri cry." The atmosphere of the room immediately changed from discomfort to rage, followed by the sound of fists on metal as the fox girls fans started to swear vengeance. And so rises my army. James thought to himself, already sensing the change in the battlefield. Do your worst, girls. Not many people in this school aren't fond of Ahri, and you just pissed off the wrong crowd. James supplied the details of the people who dared make Ahri cry to the rebellion, satisfied that he didn't have to lift a finger to clear his name. You know, maybe I am evil.
Apparently Ahri had been acting along the same line of thought in the locker room, cause when the girls joined them not a single one seemed to look at him distrustingly. James was almost disappointed that the girls who were the target of anger weren't in the class, but the last part of him hoped that they would be okay.
The dodge ball matches were coming to an end, James and Ahri dominating the top of the list as always. James got hit once, so they didn't have a perfect score, but they were tied when it came for who got the most hits. When they were making their way back to the locker rooms, Ahri over heard the teachers planing on having the whole class verses the two of them and informed James, at which they both shared a laugh and joked about it being their very first fair game.
James's mom came and picked them up after school, giving her son a dirty look as he entered the car. James sighed and resigned himself for his next match. The only difference was Ahri was his partner this time, and they never lost a game.