The Ripple Effect | Volume II

Chapter 14 – Tables Flip


(Nansei Junior High School – Late Morning)

Drawsah was leant up against the wall besides the Administration Office door, looking as stoic as ever. He took his phone out of his pocket and brought it up to his face to read the time. Now it was 11:19 in the morning. Only one more minute before third period ended.

He sighed. Drawsah stood up straight after pocketing his phone and started walking down the hallway. I missed three classes today… Now I'll have to make up whatever work they gave us. Hopefully they didn't assign anything since it's the first week and all.

Then in the middle of his thought, the school bell rings throughout the school. It didn't even take two seconds for children Drawsah's age and older to start flowing out of the classrooms and fill the main hallway up like rushing river water. Eventually, the hallway would be packed to the brim as if it was never empty.

The loud chatter from everyone walking around and about drowned out his thoughts. It was only a matter of time before Drawsah's face grew irritated. He started walking towards his locker at a faster pace. Bulma's entourage, fan-group, posse, or whatever her group of obsessed followers would be called would eventually stalk the area by his locker. They could either be waiting for his sister to arrive there or they could have already found her and were causing a larger crowd than there needed to be.

Either way, he just wanted to get there before both parties and go about his business. But out of the corner of his eye, Drawsah noticed other people eyeing him down with distained expressions. He was used to that look and expected them, but this time they were different. Those students looked nervous. They seemed to be weary of them and they didn't do a great job masking that. Well, that was certainly different from the day before. Yesterday, those people didn't even know who he was from the face alone.

But right now, that wasn't important.


(Secondary Hallway)

Around the corner, Kitsutsuki and Cheri are found walking down the busy hallway together in light conversation. Kitsutsuki had her arms crossed over her chest without a care in the world—but the main thing that was off-putting was her mood. She looked defeated and lethargic, still wearing a gauze path on her cheek from the wound she took yesterday.

"You want me to come home with you after school?" Cheri asked. "Maybe I can—"

"—You won't be able to change her mind, Cheri." Kitsutsuki cut her off as if it were nothing. Cheri looked mildly offended but decided to keep that to herself. "Whenever she makes a decision, she rarely goes back on it."

Cheri frowned.

"It's whatever," Kitsutsuki casually dismissed, fanning her hand. "I'll just take my loss and maybe we'll be back to normal by the end of the week."

"Well, that stinks…" Cheri commented before her face brightened up in revelation. "Hey, maybe if you join an after-school club, she'll have to give you your phone back!" She looked back at her friend with her eyes gleaming. I'm a genius…!

Kitsutsuki turned her nose up at the thought. And stay in this devil's paradise willingly…? You've got to have a screw loose if you think I'm doing that, Cheri…

"You've gotta give me credit for that one, Tori!" Cheri puffed up her chest in triumph.

"No thanks," Kitsutsuki bluntly stated, cracking her friend's spirit. "There's nothing here worth staying after school for."

Cheri groaned irritatingly and rolled her eyes. "You are not making this easy at all…"

"Relax," Kitsutsuki responded, "I didn't say I ruled it out." She glanced down at the ground and sighed. "It's not something I wanna do though. But I'll do it if it means I get some sort of freedom back."

They turn into the main hallway and start walking down from the middle of the school. Realistically enough, they were almost completely unbothered by the amount of traffic there was in the hallway. Kitsutsuki turned her head around and caught Drawsah in the corner of her eye which surprised her. He looked irritated.

Cheri seemed to notice him pretty quickly as well. "There's Drawsah!" she exclaimed, squeezing her way through the fast-moving crowd. Kitsutsuki begrudgingly followed her friend closely behind.

Most people who see Kitsutsuki had the tendency to move out of her way, as if they were constantly aware of her presence. Kitsutsuki herself on the other hand had gotten used to their attitude towards her so this became almost unnoticeable.

"Hey, Drawsah!" Cheri beamed. She stood right next to him. "Where have you been? You weren't at first and third period." They looked at him curiously, awaiting an answer.

Drawsah barely spared them a sideways glance before continuing on with his business, keeping them in limbo. Which threw them off substantially. "I skipped," he said finally, before picking up two books and closing his locker.

"Skipped…?" they both replied in unison.

Drawsah coldly brushed them off as he walked around them towards his next class, leaving the two of them to stare at his back as he departed. Kitsutsuki and Cheri watched him leave before he turned the corner with contrasting levels of confusion.

"Something's off with him," Kitsutsuki offhandedly commented.

Cheri whipped her head at her blunt friend. "You said you went to his house and beat him up, right?" she accusingly asked. "Why'd you have to go and do that? I thought you and Drawsah were cool now!"

"I didn't beat him up…" Kitsutsuki despondently responded.

"Those were your own words." Cheri looked at her friend disbelievingly, narrowing her eyes with an unimpressed expression.

Kitsutsuki brought her arm down to her hip and the other arm over her head. "Fine then. He won, I lost," she begrudgingly admitted, rolling her eyes.

"You lost?!" Cheri repeated with astonishment.

"It isn't that big of a deal…!" Kitsutsuki barked back. "He's got super— … A super good set of skills." Cheri tilted her head in confusion. "… I just dove in with a big head and ego and I was caught off guard. That's all." Kitsutsuki finished her point with a nod. "Anyway, I don't think that's the issue. He was perfectly fine when I left, and everything seemed normal. Maybe something happened to him between then and this morning."

Cheri's face grew skeptical. Why's Tori acting so funny…?


(10 Minutes Later – Math Class)

It was the start of fourth period, where the troubles from the day before all began. The classroom was practically filled to the same level as it was yesterday. Drawsah also sat in the same seat as the day before as these seats had officially become their "unofficial assigned seats". As it was natural for students to sit in the same place every day.

Drawsah seemed to be as cool as a cucumber. He sat extremely comfortably and laid back in his seat. His arms were behind his head as he laid his head back on them with the end of a pencil in his mouth.

The same Hiromi Nakamura sat at the same desk right next to him. She couldn't move to any other place instead because she assumed she'd be asked to move from someone else's seat. Only today, Hiromi was feeling the complete opposite of how she felt in class before, which was loose and delighted. Now she looked tense and gloomy. Hiromi was frowning, with her chin buried into her folded arms on the desk. She looked off to the right slightly so Drawsah could be completely out of her view.

He glanced over in Hiromi's direction and immediately noticed her complete change in demeanor. And he thought that was to be expected. Based on her last impression of him, it wasn't strange to act cautiously of him. She bit off more than she could chew, and it almost ended up messing up her image. It was in her best interest of which she fully intended on keeping was to just stay away and out of way. Drawsah tilted his head up and closed his eyes. This is the peace in school he was longing for.

A few minutes after the bell, around three kids came into the room at the same time, and they would be reprimanded by the teacher after they walked in. Then once those students took their seats, she started the class.

"Good morning everyone!" the woman announced to the class. But only a few half-heartedly greeted her back, making her hum in thought at the reaction. "… You should be awake by now. It's almost lunch time… Anyways," she began, "I hope you guys are ready to get into math! We'll be starting with the curriculum as soon as possible. So, get your pencils out as I hand out these worksheets."

The entire class groaned. Except for Drawsah.

Nobody wants to do math and they were sure they wouldn't have to start doing that until next week if not later in the week entirely. But most math classes aren't designed like that. In order to make sure students are ready for the class, teachers need to evaluate their knowledge on the subject. Especially on a subject as intensive as math, algebra, geometry, and the other things. The same things most of us simply don't like.

It took a few minutes for the teacher to pass out worksheets around the room to every student. Drawsah's sheet of paper almost looked untouched. We take a closer look at the worksheet and realize that Drawsah had already jotted down answers without any shown work. He was laying back with his arms behind his head.

It was simple math work. Finding the area of irregular shapes, factoring, and simplifying, all at a beginner's level. Most things we've all gone through when learning algebra for the first time. There were only five questions on the worksheet as well. These were mainly things this class should have learned last year and only had to answer to show that they were up to speed with the level of the class.

"Make sure you know everything on this sheet of paper by the end of the week so we can move onto this year's material, okay?" the flamboyant woman announced from the front of the classroom.

Hiromi stared at the worksheet, scratching her head. She held a pencil in the other hand as it rested on the desk. She looked stressed. What the hell is this…?! I didn't learn all this last year… She sighed and buried her cheek into her free hand as she gripped the pencil with the other, rubbing the eraser on the worksheet and erasing her pencil strokes.

She slowly glanced over in Drawsah's direction to see how her neighbor was handling the work but instead, found him laying back in his chair with his eyes closed. Hiromi narrowed her eyes and then glanced at his worksheet which had all the answers she needed.

Guess I can't be surprised this guy's brain works like a calculator. At least I got the first one right…

After taking a peek at the answers he wrote down, she started copying down the second answer. Then she looked back at Drawsah's worksheet and paused. Drawsah held the worksheet in his hand and decided to place it back on the desk face down. And after doing that, he slowly regressed back to his laidback position.

Hiromi turned her nose up, scowling at him. Jerk…! She violently snatched the worksheet from her peer's side of the desk and started jotting down the answers she saw on the page. "You don't need it right now," she expressed in a nasty tone.

Drawsah opened his eyes and sideways glanced at Hiromi wearily. He slowly sat up from his comfortable position in the chair and stood up from his seat. Hiromi whipped her head at him and watched timidly as he walked around her and up to the front of the classroom where the teacher's desk stood.

Shoot…! I didn't think he'd turn out to be a snitch…

Hiromi clumsily slid Drawsah's completed worksheet on his side of the desk as she anxiously stared at him from her seat. Drawsah stood in front of the edge of the desk and took another sheet of paper from a small stack. He then turned around and casually walked back to his seat and sat back down. Hiromi looked perplexed.

Without a word to be said, Drawsah slid aside his first sheet and started jotting down the answers he wrote from before quickly. They were five different questions from the same selection of problems but regardless, he wrote down the answers after reading the question.

Hiromi's brow raised in astonishment. "How are you doing that?" she blurted out.

Drawsah glanced at Hiromi with a tired face without saying a word, causing her to stammer. I…shouldn't have said anything…

He sighed. Drawsah looked back at his worksheet and went back to jotting down the last two answers. "I've been doing math my whole life," he finally spoke up. "This is natural for me."

"Ah… I see," Hiromi responded. She turned her head towards his other worksheet. "So…can I copy your answers down?"

"No," Drawsah flatly responded.

"Oh c'mon!" Hiromi spat back in frustration. She buried her face in her arms. "I'm never gonna pass this class… I'm screwed." Her vent came out muffled.

Drawsah studied her situation, which was obvious. Math was definitely not her strongest subject, and unless she got help now or tutoring, she'd fall behind immediately. Helping her out wasn't in his best interest, simply because he couldn't be bothered to. And she didn't ask either. Hiromi was just selfish and unless things benefited her, she'd have no issue doing the same thing. I could leave her to rot and fail. But this opens up an opportunity.

"Hey." Hiromi slightly turned her head to the side and looked at him with pitiful eyes. "I could show you how to do these," Drawsah pointed out to her.

Hiromi sat up in delight. "Really?!" she exclaimed. "Than—!"

"—But on one condition," Drawsah cut her off with a stern tone.

"… Huh?" Hiromi's gleeful expression quickly melted away.

"That photo," Drawsah stated. Hiromi started to look nervous. "Even though your phone is in pieces, you still have that photo circling around the internet. And with that hanging over my head, there's no doubt that someone, or you…would turn to that device and abuse it whenever they wanted to." He reached into his pocket.

Hiromi reeled back in slight fear. "I—I won't use that photo!" she stammered. Or else he'll kill me and my entire family…!

Drawsah handed her his phone which had Swiftgram's open login page on the screen. She timidly took it. "Then delete the photo if you're so sure," Drawsah pointed out. He crossed his arms and leaned them on the table. "And I'll make sure you pass this class on your own."

She looked down at the phone. "S—Sure," she slowly said. Hiromi quickly tapped on the phone screen for several dozen seconds and eventually her anxious expression started to fade. "There, it's done." She handed the phone back to Drawsah.

He took it, sighing in relief. "Alright then," Drawsah started, his tense façade completely faded away. He took the phone and put it back into this pocket. "Pull your chair up. I'll break it down for you."

"Okay," Hiromi replied. She slowly scooted her chair up towards her sheet of paper with a pencil in hand.


(One Hour Later – Main Hallway)

Fourth period quickly came and went. Now it was lunchtime, meaning that everyone would be flowing out of their classrooms and heading over to the Ogesana Food Court.

Kitsutsuki and Cheri were standing next to Drawsah's locker, supposedly waiting for him to arrive as he eventually would. Kitsutsuki leaned back on the lockers next to Drawsah's with her arms crossed, wearing an irritated expression. She scoffed.

I can't believe she's making me do this. I swear this isn't my fault…

Cheri stood in front of Drawsah's locker and eagerly surveyed everyone who walked by, looking for Drawsah himself. "I wonder what's keeping him held up for this long," she eventually admitted. "He doesn't seem like the type of guy to slack off."

"He didn't show up until fourth period," Kitsutsuki candidly pointed out.

Her friend turned around, frowning. "And that's your fault," Cheri quickly quipped.

Kitsutsuki glared back at her friend. "I'm not gonna apologize for something that stupid."

"So, you're not even gonna try to make him feel better?" Cheri asked.

"If you wanna make him feel better, do it yourself!" Kitsutsuki snapped. "Jeez, you support him so much. Wouldn't even be surprised if you said you had a crush on him or something." She relaxed her tone and turned her head to face Cheri. And then she immediately noticed her friend's blushing face.

"I—It's…not like that…!" Cheri profusely stammered, defensively fondling her ponytail.

Kitsutsuki's eyes widened in realization. "Oh. My. God." She pointed at Cheri accusingly. "You actually like the squirt, don't you?!" Kitsutsuki blurted out.

"Shut up!" Cheri squealed. Her face didn't get any less red. "I don't have a crush on him! You were the one obsessed with him at first anyways!" Cheri pointed at her critically as well.

"Oh please," Kitsutsuki put her hands on her hips, smirking at her embarrassed friend's expense. "Now you're just making up things."

Cheri pouted as her eyes started to water a little bit. Kitsutsuki noticed that and sighed. "I'll apologize…" she finally admitted with a faint smile. This helped Cheri relax. "And if you need a wingwoman, you can always count on me." Kitsutsuki winked. It looked like Cheri's entire body erupted in a tomato red hue.

Further down the hallway, Drawsah and Hiromi walked and talked in light conversation. Kitsutsuki looked up from Cheri and noticed them together and the reaction she gave at the sight caused Cheri to share her gaze. She looked confused, while Kitsutsuki seemed like she was taking this much more negatively.

"Sure." Drawsah faintly smiled at Hiromi and waved at her. "Just make sure you stick with that." He started to walk towards his locker.

"Thanks again!" Hiromi expressed with a bright smile. She quickly turned down the next hallway and departed from the conversation. And as soon as she did, Drawsah's façade broke apart.

His smile turned into a frown and that blank expression we're all too familiar with appeared on his face. Drawsah looked tired. He sighed and turned to face his locker and was met with an angry Kitsutsuki and offput Cheri instead. "… Hello?"

"What the hell are you doing being buddy-buddy with the enemy?!" Kitsutsuki barked. "You've been acting off today and now you're switching up on us?! What did she do? Does she have even more dirt on you? Is that why you've been acting so funny?!"

Drawsah's face grew weary, and he slowly put his hands up in a surrender. "I was just helping her with math…"

"Drawsah…" Cheri slowly uttered. Kitsutsuki and Drawsah looked in her direction. "I'm sorry we couldn't do anything to prevent what happened yesterday. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be getting taken advantage of…"

"Huh…?" both Drawsah and Kitsutsuki said in unison. They looked at her with puzzled faces.

Drawsah tilted his head to the side. "What are you talking about?"

"Cheri, he isn't being taken advantage of anymore…" Kitsutsuki spoke up. She turned her head towards Drawsah as her nose turned up in disgust. "Which is why I'm pissed off that he's even talking to her. Especially when he doesn't need to." Kitsutsuki placed her fists on her hips and leaned into his personal space.

But Drawsah didn't fret. "I said I was helping her with her math," he emphasized. "But I did get something in return."

"And what was that?" Kitsutsuki asked, standing up straight, and crossing her arms.

He faintly smiled. "Many things."

"Yo, Drawsah!" A voice is heard from one direction and the group turns towards it. Taiyo walked up to the group as if he was familiar with everyone. "Ahh~! Well would you look at that," he exclaimed. "Drawsah's already getting to know everyone, eh?" He wrapped his arm around Drawsah's neck.

"Taiyo." Drawsah barely turned his head around to see his face and the tension between himself and Kitsutsuki seemed to fade away.

Kitsutsuki rolled her eyes. "It's you," she commented, sighing in annoyance.

"Hey, Taiyo!" Cheri beamed. They seemed to be a whole lot more familiar with the boy than at first thought.

"Oh, hey! It's Zakuro's sister," Taiyo responded, noticing Cheri's presence and uncanny resemblance to her twin brother. "Nice to see ya' again!" He wore a bright smile akin to Cheri's own.

"We're in the same class, y'know," Cheri stated with a slightly irritated frown.

Drawsah watched the conversation go on seemingly without him. Huh… So, they know Taiyo and vice versa.

"Oh!" Taiyo sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I didn't notice."

"Idiot," Kitsutsuki bluntly commented.

Drawsah stepped to the side to face Taiyo. "So, what's up? You need something?" he asked.

"Nah, dude. I was just checking in on ya'," Taiyo responded. "Y'know you weren't here this morning, right? Anyways, you guys heading to lunch? Mind if I tag along?"

"Nope," Drawsah stated.

"Of course not!" Cheri replied with a gleeful tone.

Unlike her group, she groaned in annoyance. But all that did was draw attention from the group instead, who stared at her with uneven eyes. Kitsutsuki noticed their looks and gave in. "… Why not."

Taiyo chuckled at her expense. "Alrighty then," Cheri began, "to the food court!"


End of Chapter Fourteen.

A/N:

Sorry for not updating in over a week. I decided to give myself a bit of a break. But I'll be back on it for the next four weeks and by then, we should be done with this volume. Hope everyone's doing well this week though! Also hope you've enjoyed this chapter and that you'll be back with me for the next one!

Shalom.