4 The Everyday School Life (2/2)

Saying goodbye to Abest, I went into a spare barracks and logged out.

Blinking a couple of times to get myself adjusted to the dark capsule I pushed the lid up and got out. Realizing that my two brothers were still in the game I tiptoed into my room and fell onto the bed, going over my day in my head.

Today wasn't so bad huh. I'm pretty sure that I'm doing well in the game, and I even have some cool titles I could show off. Master Abest is scary...but I still have school tomorrow, I don't have time to think about these things.

Changing into my pajamas I got ready to sleep and then slipped into my bed.

I wish I didn't have to go to school...I hate it there.

”Yuri! Good morning, you head out to school already?” Kai asked while walking into the kitchen with toothbrush still stuck in his mouth.

”Good morning Kai. I'm going to job there so I'm heading out a little earlier.”

”I understand but, isn't going out an hour before a little too early since it's so close…?”

”I'm a slow runner.”

”Oh, okay! Take care then!

After putting on my shoes and shouldering my bag, I checked that my uniform was in place and I headed out the door.

With my brother out of sight my fake smile instantly disappeared from my face. School absolutely sucked. It's not like I like lying to my family, I just didn't want to cause trouble.

Unwilling to think about it any longer, I steadied my ragged breathing.

Turning my steady walk into a sprint, I dashed to school, leaving my thoughts behind as I focused on the ground below me.

Before I knew it I had arrived at school, slowly walking to my class to catch my breath I settled my disgruntled look and patted down my long hair. Looking down at my desk in the empty classroom, I took a rag and started wiping off the cruel remarks and jokes that were written on it in black ink.

After half an hour I had finally cleaned off my desk, throwing the rag away I sat down and started reading over the things we had learned last week to catch up on material that I couldn't memorize.

Slowly students started trickling into the class, once the first bell rang I put down the book and faced the teacher that had walked in, ignoring the gazes of hatred that I felt on my back.

”Has everyone heard of the new game Sapphire?” The teacher asked everyone once the class had settled down.

Everyone immediately nodded in response. Who didn't know of the game that had practically taken over the world? Almost everyone in the class who could afford it had played yesterday, the teacher included.

”Good, I know that you guys love experiencing such a realistic new world, but make sure you don't forget your real life priorities. Sometimes it can be hard to tell reality from virtual, but I have faith in my students.” He warned us with a stern tone, looking us all in the eyes before moving onto the lesson.

My first class went by peacefully, but by the time lunch came along that peace was ruthlessly shattered. I had just handed in some papers to the student office and stepped back into the classroom once trouble appeared.

”Hey, some trash just walked into the room, sorry, the garbage can is full today!” A boy mockingly howled while strutting towards me, pointing at my desk which was littered with waste and leftovers. ”But since I'm such a nice guy, I'll escort you to the dump myself!” He provoked while earning the jeering and laughter of his group of followers.

Sadly, I had nothing to say to people like him, retorting just caused more trouble.

Seeing that I was not responding, he furiously grabbed my shoulder and pushed me into the empty hallway.

”You bitch. You better not be ignoring me!” He sneered darkly while slamming me into a wall.

”Nnnh!?”

A sharp pain shot through my spine, leaving me groaning in pain.

I couldn't stifle the shock and crouched onto the ground as he punched a sharp jab into my ribcage.

”I'm the king of this school, and commoners like you should be honored to even have the chance to lick my shoes!”

The sound of cheers and shouts could be heard from the class, encouraging him to go further on his harassment. The hallway was still devoid of people because rarely anyone left their classes during lunch since our school didn't have a cafeteria. Ryuu continued to punch and shout at me, the intense pain threatening to knock me out.

Even so, I bit my lip and didn't move.

There was no need to cause trouble over bullying, my dad's too busy with work and my brothers shouldn't have to take responsibility for my actions.

Don't make trouble. As long as he doesn't hit my face no one can do anything about it, right?

Repeating to myself to stay calm in my mind, I kept my face expressionless and took all the abuse without resistance.

Ryuu's acts of abuse and harassment were just a routine part of my life, it happened almost every day when we came across each other. Almost no one did anything about it since his father was an influential figure in the country's government and was not to be provoked. I didn't mind, people had the right to mind their own business. To be honest it made it easier for me to attract less attention.

Yuri wasn't always bullied at school. After her mother had passed away, her family had decided to move to Japan, where her father started up a company with Kai.

At school, she used to be admired and loved as an honor student by many students and teachers. Her outstanding foreign beauty and her friendly personality caught the attention of many boys and girls alike.

But many people were jealous of her talents and caught wind of her past that she tried so hard to hide.

They used that to spread a nasty rumor over the summer behind her back and slowly her friends all trickled away.

”Hey, hey. You better be listening to me, you prick!” He shouted while once again kicking me in the ribcage.

My sides throbbed with pain and I could barely move my right arm.

Ah, once I get home I would have to wear long pants and clothes again...what a pain. It got really hot these days since it was still summer not long ago, so wearing warm clothing was annoying.

”Oi oi oi, what did I just say!”

”Hey! What do you think you're doing to Yuri!” A girl's voice sounded out in the empty hallway. She took one glance at me and then sternly peered at Ryuu with a questioning glare.

”O-oh, hello Akane, I was just teaching this girl a small lesson, that's all.” He stuttered politely while backing away, a fake smile spread across his face.

”That's a teacher's job. You shouldn't be the one judging another student!” She snapped while helping me back to my feet. ”Class is gonna start soon, let's go, Yuri!”

”Ah, okay.” I responded in a flat tone, dusting myself off and ignoring the piercing pain I felt in my arm.

Reluctantly following us back into the room, Ryuu rejoined his group of followers and ignored me for the rest of the day. Akane's parents were the descendants of the founders of this school, and even Ryuu's father couldn't do much against them.

She was a very cheerful girl who looked at everything from a positive view, I don't remember her ever joining in on the bullying. Ryuu also secretly liked the girl and didn't want her opinion on him to drop.

Yet, even though he did not disturb her, many others still did. While getting ready for classes she was tripped, her desk was drawn on, her supplies often disappeared and even abuse was not uncommon.

However, even with constant bullying, she didn't react to anything. If her lunch was spilled she would simply skip the meal, she would laboriously erase all ink markings on her desk and even memorize the lessons if she couldn't take notes.

As long as the abuse did not show and stayed under her clothes she would pay no heed to what happened.

This was her everyday school life.

Teachers could not do anything if she didn't as for help, so they treated her normally every day while turning a blind eye to her obvious suffering.

But even with the harassment her grades never dropped and her athletic ability was top notch. The daily bullying had forced her to become stronger both mentally and physically, and her natural intellect was pushed every day to the limits from memorizing class materials.

She took all of it in stride and just focused on successfully making it through the day.