Dumb rarely did anything without Fat and Angry.
From the moment she stepped foot in school to the second she was ushered to her family’s car by the chauffeur, she was accompanied by the two other girls. They flanked to her sides, each standing next to one of her pigtails.
She was the prettiest of the three, embodying every aspect of the Japanese beauty standard. Genetically blessed, she had flawless skin and a slender figure which she showed off through subtle makeup and designer clothes. Even though makeup and clothing beyond the mandatory uniform violated the student handbook, the teachers of the school made an exception for her.
Everyone whispered that it was because her family made a sizable donation to the school, but I believe the truth was far more simple. I think no one wanted to see her cry.
Out of the three, she was the least cruel, blindly following the actions of her friends. That didn’t make her innocent, but everyone seemed to agree that she was the baby of the school. She was a sensitive, delicate creature who not only struggled with every exam and lesson but balked at any difficult task. During classroom cleanup, she was the one who organized the supplies, a job that kept her hands away from dirt.
She was the one I targeted first. Hurting her wasn’t going to be difficult. It was getting her alone that was the tricky part.
I didn’t entertain any illusion that I was doing the right thing. My goal was to send a message, not enact justice. I knew better than to take on all three of them at once, unless I wanted to subject myself to their violence.
My moment came when she excused herself to the bathroom during lunch. I crept out of the classroom, silently tailing her. With a well-placed foot and quick reflexes, I tripped her and locked us inside.
She collapsed on the tiled floor, landing with a squeak. I pulled out a small knife I stole from the kitchen cabinet at home and placed it between her eyes. Dumb froze, hardly breathing. If she moved, she would risk a cut on her pretty face.
“Stop bothering Airi.”
I prayed that my voice sounded threatening enough. It unintentionally dropped an octave lower when I tightened my grip on the knife.
“You can’t tell me what to do. Take that knife away from my face or I’ll scream loud enough for the teachers to hear.”
I lowered the blade, my face heating up. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Before I could come up with another way to threaten her, Dumb’s leg lashed out.
I snatched her ankle, thwarting her attempt to knock me over.
“If you scream, I’ll cut you,” I warned.
“You wouldn’t dare. I know what kind of girls you and your sister are. Airi deserves everything we do to her.”
I slashed the skin of her thigh without thinking, moving so fast that she didn’t know whether or not to make a noise of pain. Her lips froze in an o-shape.
“I also know what kind of girl you are. It’s not enough to hide behind your friends while they hurt other people. You’re an ugly, disgusting thing no matter what anyone says about you.”
She whimpered as I brought the knife down for another shallow cut, tears building in her eyes.
“Stop, please.”
“Promise that you’ll stop hurting Airi.” The knife hovered above her skin, poised for a third cut.
“I promise I won’t hurt her anymore,” she said, echoing my words.
Dumb left school early, giving the teachers the excuse that she was sick. Fat and Angry whispered amongst themselves, occasionally glancing at me. I should have warned Dumb not to tell them what I did to her, but she wouldn’t have listened. Those three were as thick as thieves.
Consequently, Fat and Angry were harder to track down. Not that I would have seen them since they were underclassmen, but they took care to avoid me.
Nonetheless, they were still creatures of habit. For example, Fat always grabbed snacks at the conbini two blocks away after clubs before taking the train to cram school. That was where I found her hauling two large plastic bags of goodies while snacking on a sweet bun.
It wasn’t the sight of me that scared her. The baseball bat between my hands stopped her in her tracks. She set down her snacks and pushed the rest of the bun into her mouth.
“Are you going to hurt me?”
“That depends.” I lightly whacked the ground. “Will you stop bullying Airi?”
“If you do the wrong thing, I’ll make sure that no school worth going to will ever take her. Being violent to me isn’t worth ruining her future unless you don’t truly care for her.”
I bit the inside of my mouth in frustration. I expected her to hide behind her mother’s influence, but not so soon.
“What are you going to say to her? That Airi was the one bullying you? If I beat you up, she might believe you.”
I lightly grazed her cheek with the end of the bat, picturing the damage I could do. Bruises and cuts would paint the pale expanse of her skin. She’d look no different than an apple that had been dropped too many times.
Fat narrowed her eyes, unfazed by my scare tactics. “I could ruin your future too. You wouldn’t be able to get a job for as long as you lived, whether you stayed in Japan or moved back to America.”
I doubled over in laughter. Beyond Tokyo, her mother had no influence. Her father was a banker at a little known financial institution who had less sway than she did. If that threat was made by Angry, who stood to inherit a multinational corporation, it would’ve had more weight.
Fat’s face reddened. “I’ll call my mom right now. When you become a homeless beggar, we’ll see if you’re still laughing.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” I held up my phone, playing a video of her harassing Airi. “If you keep bullying my sister, I’ll release this video showing evidence that you were the one intimidating Airi. It wouldn’t be good for your mother’s reputation if everyone knew that her daughter was a bully, right?”
“How–”
“I’ve been watching you. Airi hasn’t been your only victim. You have a habit of finding people to torment. No matter which school you go to, something always happens. If more videos surface after I post this, you might have trouble finding a job in the future.”
She lowered her eyes in defeat. “What do you want? I’m going to be late for cram school.”
“Stop bullying Airi.”
Fat nodded thoughtfully. It was a fair trade to protect the reputation of her family. But my job wasn’t done yet.
“I don’t have anything against her. Neither does Dumb. Angry is the one that hates her,” she told me before heading for the metro.
I figured as much. Before confronting the three girls, I made sure to do my research. Angry had a history with Airi, but my stepsister wouldn’t say what happened between them. There were rumors yet they led to nowhere since everyone I spoke to couldn’t remember the exact details.
The baseball bat was actually for her. She was a star athlete at the school and gifted in martial arts. I needed to catch her by surprise if I wanted to have any sway over her.
Like Airi, she had a weakness for games, so much so that she often skipped cram school to frequent her favorite arcade. I found her playing a 1v1 fighting game in the back, moving her fighter across the screen with practiced speed.
Sufficiently distracted, I saw my chance to swing the bat at her head and knock her unconscious. She collapsed on the floor, the fighter on the screen succumbing to a fatal katana swing at the same time. I took the opportunity to drag her out of the arcade, lying to the workers by saying that I was going to find medical help.
She regained consciousness when I found a dark alley for us to hide in. Her body twitched on the trash bags I propped her against before she jerked forward and nearly knocked the bat out of my hands.
“Sit,” I commanded, pushing her against the trash. When she tried to shove me in retaliation, I hit her knees and forced her back down.
“I want you to stop bullying Airi. I’m not letting you leave until you promise me that you’ll stop hurting her.”
“No,” she replied immediately, standing up. “I can’t do that.”
I swung the bat again. “Yes, you can. It’s easy. Bother someone else for all I care. You don’t need to make her miserable.”
“She deserves it. Don’t you want to know what she’s done to me? Your sister isn’t innocent.”
I paused, considering what she said for a minute. Then I saw Airi cowering in the sun and swung the bat at her abdomen.
“My sister can’t even go outside like most people. Whatever she did, it can’t be as bad as purposely picking on someone who’s already weaker than the average person.”
“She’s a terrible person,” Angry seethed. “No one should be defending her. That bitch–”
I cut her off mid sentence, knocking her unconscious again. Then, I grabbed her hair, yanking at the roots until she woke up.
“If you keep hurting her, I will find you and do unspeakable things to you. Do you understand?”
She nodded, bruised and tired. I released her, letting her run from the alley. I left the bat with the trash, suddenly feeling disgusted with myself.
When I got back to the manor, I stared in the mirror, barely recognizing the person who looked back. Since when did I become capable of these things? The Nana that lived in California and loved her girlfriend would never lift a finger to harm someone, no matter the reason.
Then again, I didn’t have a girlfriend anymore. You were missing and apparently, so was my heart.
I closed my eyes, unable to sleep. Whispers tickled my ears, saying things that I could barely understand. When I drifted to dreamland, I saw Evan. For once, you weren’t there.
He was a welcome sight, but obsidian tears dripped from his onyx eyes, flooding the room. He held a bloody knife and tried to grab my arms. I moved away, certain that he was going to stab me.
“Nana,” he begged, cuts appearing on his face. “Save me.”
I woke up before I could reach him, tasting the salt of his tears on my tongue.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRge1CKAkC
