A Flicker of a Flame.
Chapter 1. Wayward Son.
I promised her not to get into any fights anymore. This one's for her though. My body jolts under me and my eyes snap open. I scramble back onto my butt. My lip is bleeding from the punch I took. My shaky hands dart up and shield me from slamming into the hard and unforgiving blacktop. Heat leaves my lip and blood drips down on my uniform.
My bully hovers over me. "Get on your feet and take it like a man Kaenshita!" He growls. I just barely get to my feet and all the sudden my hands are holding back the incoming blow. My jaw sets hard and I rise fully.
"There…! I took it!" I snarl, "Now leave me alone!" I try to shove him off but my bully always lets me block one blow. He reverses and I just barely dodge an incoming elbow. I lash back out and my fist is shaky and it glances off his smooth marble jaw.
My bully is a tall kid and his quirk makes him have patches of marble on his body. Natural body armor. He's got at least seven inches on me height wise. His marble knuckles blitz across my face, getting me in the eye. I skid back but fall to one knee. My eye can only open a little. But I still got one good one! This is the chance to turn things around!
My bully laughs as I rise once more "What? You gonna flail at me again?"
I clench my hands into fists. Words are cheap and dumb. All I want is for him to leave me alone! I shoot low and go for the legs. Trying to bring him down but of course the teachers decide now is the right time to break it up. I don't resist. I'm sure he learned something from this. I'm dragging my feet before the principal's office. Mostly because I know what's coming. Another reprimand and another punishment not for the guy who bullies others but for the victims.
The feeling in my chest is warbling and scared. My heart beats like a constant drum as I open the door. Sitting there isn't my bully at all. The feeling turns from fear to shame. My mother sits in the chair across from the principal. Her flaming hair shines way brighter than mine. She looks over her shoulder at me with her bright red-orange eyes. She turns back to face the principal. I scuttle over to the other chair next to her and sit down.
The principal is a tubby guy with a bad toupee. He wrings his hands and dabs at his brow with a handkerchief. The heat in the room is from her. Normally when Mom is this heated up it's bad.
"Uhm… thank you for coming at such short notice, Mrs. Kaenshita." He mumbles "I trust you know what occurred earlier with your son? This is the third time in a row and as such we have to remove him from the school."
Mom sighs and I sink lower in my seat. I know she's mad at me. She looks the man in the eye and then looks at me. Her sharp eyes piercing me.
"Tell me what happened, Renaru." She says. I gulp down my fear and Mom gently grabs my shoulder to steady me. "I'm not mad." Mom's voice is calm and deep. I guess it was just the way her hair was in general.
I take a deep breath. "It's not my fault Mom. I didn't want to take it anymore." I confess, "Of course I had to fight back! He said something horrible about you!"
Mom nods. "What did they say about me?" she asks.
"Well… he called… he called you…" I mumble the next bit. "A whore."
Mom blinks "Pfft! Hahahaha! Really! That's the best they could think of?! I mean- uh… It's understandable you fought back baby but Mama can handle her own battles!" She ruffles my hair and I sigh heavily.
"Violence is never the right answer Kaenshita." The principal chimes in.
"Yeah. I know. This time he talked shit about my mom! I can't let that slide!" I exclaim. The principal raises his hands with sweat raining off him and almost drowning his side of the room with it. Mom and I get really hot so I don't really blame him.
"I-I get it. Just uh… !" he squeaks as he wipes his face clean of sweat.
I get to my feet "Just look at me sir! My eye! My lip! Oh and don't even get me started on the other two times! Get him in here!" I demand. The principal's toupee quivers and he gets on the intercom. Mom calmly crosses her arms and clears her throat.
"Renaru. I'll handle things from here. You sit down and watch". Mom demands and I sit down. Her tone is serious and flat. Uncompromising. I shiver and wait for him to come in. Even with Mom here my body is in flight mode.
My foot taps rapidly on the floor and notice that Mom has something in the crook of her arm. That's when I really want to just take the punishment and go on my merry way with crushed dreams.
See. Mom has this book. A big book. Kinda like an album full of pictures and charts and written things like how I like certain things or if any bad things occurred with school or my disability. Stuff like that.
What she took to doing was documenting every fight I got into at this school. The other two were more like shakedowns. She sets the book down and smiles. The door slides open behind us and I tear my eyes away from my marble covered bully.
"Uhh… you wanted to see me sir?" he asks the principal. He shuffles in and sits in the chair close to the edge of the wide desk that almost looks wavy in the hot room. Mom just opens the book and flicks over to the first fight.
"March 15th." She reads, "My son came home with a black eye and a bloody nose. His cheek was bruised for three or so weeks after. Also he suffered scrapes to his hands from the concrete outside. Not only that but it seems he pulled his muscles in his legs quite severely trying to and I quote, 'Run and get a teacher.' Anything you wanna say about that?" her gaze locks onto my bully's cobalt blue eyes and her hair slightly heats up even more.
He smirks and says, "Well… maybe I should get a- Eek!"
Suddenly Mom is looming over him with the book poised over his head. "Answer. Now." she growls.
"I didn't do anything! He yells, "All that happened was that Renaru fell!"
"Oh really?" Mom asks, "Then how do you explain that the blow to the nose was clearly from your fist Even if my son was woozy, he was conscious enough to remember the sound of the thwack!"
My bully begins to sweat as Mom does her best Ace Prosecutor impression. She pints at him with a vengeful smile on her face.
She flicks to the second fight. Or rather beatdown. "On the last day of school!" She declares, "My son arrived home with a terrible bruise on his side! Not only that but he was wedgied! Even worse was the smell of urine on him!"
My bully takes a deep breath and I gotta give him this… his resolve and fearlessness in front of my mother acting like a video game character is stunning. I have to remind myself that Mom can be kinda goofy. But then it shatters like glass and the boy I became scared of is a total quivering mess.
He immediately gets on his hands and knees. "OKAY! OKAY! I did it! I beat him up! Just…"
Mom smirks. "I rest my case sir!" She exclaims "But if I hear one more thing about my baby boy getting bullied or see him come home with another bruise or pulled muscle, I swear to you I will make this school a glass floor." she's glaring at the principal and I can't believe what I witnessed. His hairpiece fluttered to the floor with his shiny bald head slick with sweat.
"Uhhh… y-yes! S-see you tomorrow, Kaenshita!" the principal yells as he bows. Mom smiles and grabs my hand.
"Let's go home Renaru." She says as she takes the book with her.
Mom starts the car and we pull out. The thrumming of the heavy metal through the speakers isn't far from ordinary. She glances at me and my bruises.
"Renaru-"
"Before you start, I understood the risks."
Mom chuckles, "No. No. I didn't mean that. I meant about high school! You sure you wanna be in the hero course? It's really tough." the traffic picks up and she speeds forward.
I nod, "I do! Mostly because I wanna prove that a guy like me can make it! I declare A hero that understands what rock bottom feels like! A hero that came from nothing! A hero that overcame so many obstacles!"
She sighs, "Baby, there's more than being a hero out there. You know you COULD become a policeman or a psychologist." Mom reaches over and squeezes my arm. "Besides… it wouldn't give me a heart attack everytime my phone goes off."
I look down at myself, "Is it because my quirk doesn't work right Mom?" I ask. My hands shivering a little and my knees knocking against the glove box.
"What? No! There's nothing stopping you from anything else! Just… just don't be a hero okay?" her voice sounds heavy and full of pain. I know why.
"It's about Dad right?" I wonder. Mom flinches a little and nods. "Well! That's why I wanna be a hero! Or part of it anyway! That way, Dad can come back and we can all be a family again!"
Mom chuckles and lightly ruffles my dormant hair, "Haha… your dad would be saying that kinda stuff all the time. A real dreamer…" she swerves out of the way of a guy about to cut us off.
"HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE DRIVING YOU GODDAMN MANIAC!" She screeches out the window, "IF I CRASH YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR IT WITH YOUR FUCKING SOUL!"
I huff and cross my arms, "Fucking maniacs don't know who the hell we are!" I snarl and Mom and I both yell, "WE'RE THE MOST BADASS FAMILY THIS SIDE OF MUSTAFU! THE KAENSHITAS!"
We both hoot and holler our way back to the house and I get out with Mom making sure everything was steady at the front stoop. Making sure everything was in order. She guides me to the front stoop and I soldier my way up.
"How about we getcha patched up?" She guides me over to the counter and hoists me up. I sit there and flinch a little as she bandages the scrapes and puts a cold compress on my eye. Mom seems really tense.
"You got lucky. Mostly cause your mama keeps track of all this shit they do to you." she says "Just promise me you'll keep your head down."
"Okay!" I agree, "Mostly because I'm sure they won't bother me anymore after that kooky thing you did!"
Mom wilts a little "Awww… I thought it'd be cool…" I giggle and she just wryly smirks at me.
"You little dork!" She laughs and hoists me into her arms swinging me around and landing me right on the couch.
"So… What's next kiddo?" she asks. "I know you're gonna be all over the hero game but if it gets too much for you just know there's other things." Mom gently pulls me against her chest and I lay there listening to her heartbeat and her breathing.
"Are you scared Mom?" I wonder.
"Mm-hm. I am. I'm always a little scared." She calmly runs her hand through my hair. "You're all I got Ren." I feel a little conflicted deep in my gut. Mom always seemed like the strong one. She always was. Always had the answers to all my questions.
But hearing her be so vulnerable feels weird. She normally just takes everything on the chin and doesn't give up on anything. So the way her voice sounds is strange.
"Mom. If you don't want me to become a hero-"
"No. No. You should give it a shot. You never know until you try." She says.
I get to my feet, "I should get started then!" I say and Mom grabs my hand.
"Hold it! Wait till you heal up first!" She exclaims pulling me back onto the couch. I let her and she turns on the TV. The news is on and they're talking about what heroes did today and she changes the channel to something else. A drama.
I slowly get to my feet and go to my room just outside of the living room and to the right hallway. Mom's room is to the left and near the end. Both of us have a bathroom. Mom had to really work hard for it too.
I push open my room door and almost get assaulted by the mess I got in there. Dirty clothes all over and maybe some manga I forgot to store in the shelves lining my front wall by the door. I sigh and laugh a little to myself.
"I guess I forgot to clean!" I say to myself, "Seriously… what's gotten into me lately?" I bend over and toss the clothes in the hamper and organize my manga. I've been flaky lately when it comes to general care.
Mostly because I find it hard to care when I have other things to deal with. Now that Mom handled the bully and now I got- wait a minute…
One of Dad's old mangas he let me read when I was little had fluttered to the floor. It's about a young man trying to become a boxer. I always loved it and Dad would read it to me before the flaming guy came to arrest him.
"That's it! I could learn boxing! That's perfect training! The only issue is…" I look toward my door. "Mom…" I huff a little and try to think of how I could sneak out without her noticing tomorrow since she wouldn't enjoy the idea of me getting hurt.
Then it hits me. Mom is at work late sometimes and maybe I could go when she's running late and get back just in time for her to not miss me! There's my window! I take the manga and place it right back where it should be on my side table.
I take off my shirt and pants and tackle my bed. Sliding off my bands and chucking them to the floor. I'll figure it all out tomorrow. All I can do for now is rest.