April 13th

I listened to a couple of guys as I walked to school.

"How annoying, why are you pitting us against the teacher team? Kamoshida's gonna crush us."

"We get to see his technique live and in persona, though. We should totally get spiked on!"

"Yeah, okay. You're gonna get your face smashed in. Just look at how banged up the volleyball team is. What the hell goes on during their practices?"

I went to class.

"Okay, listen up everyone," said Kawakami. "As you know, today is the volleyball rally. Head to the gymnasium once you've changed. Got it?"

The rally was a strange thing. It was just a clearly one sided game where Kamoshida and a few out of shape teachers pelted students with volleyballs. Is this supposed to boost morale?

Kamoshida hit that blue haired boy who's name turned out to be Mishima with the ball.

"Nice toss!"

"Man, you've still got it, coach!"

"Thanks," said Kamoshida. "Let's go for one more!"

I sat on the floor at the gym's edge with Ryuji slumped along side me, looking just as bored. It didn't help that the girls on the right side of the gym were practically swooning over the Olympic medalist. That was except for Takamaki who was sitting at the end of the line of chairs, playing with her hair.

"Still sticks out. Hasn't changed a bit." Ryuji muttered as he stared at the girl, dully before stretching his arms out and giving fake yawn. "Pretty boring. Right?"

"You can say that again," I agreed.

The only halt occurred when Kamoshida landed a powerful spike towards the other side of the net right into Mishima's face, causing him to fall to the ground in a heap. Everyone straightened and panicked until Kamoshida ducked under the net and ran to his fallen pupil with an apologetic expression while the very volleyball that smacked the poor student in the face rolled to his side.

"Sorry! Hey, are you alright!?" the gym teacher questioned as he checked the dark haired boy, who didn't seem to be responding at the moment. "Someone! Take him to the nurse's office!"

"He'll pay soon enough," Ryuji muttered.

Two students helped the boy up and took him to the nurse's office.

"Alright, let's resume the match!" Kamoshida announced with a smile, as if he hadn't just nearly hospitalised a student via a volleyball to the face, calming there fretting students down, sans me and Ryuji, who simply stared at the man in contempt.

Ten minutes later, we were at the courtyard. Ryuji was looking a bit more irriated than his typical demeanour.

"That asshole's acting like a king over here too." the blonde muttered darkly. "Get to know each know better, my ass. It's just a one-man show for him to stroke his ego. And how he acted like he worried about Mishima? What an abusive d-bag!"

"He was trying to be subtle about it too. Too bad it's kinda obvious he didn't really regret what he did if you pay attention to how he moved and spoke. Way too many tells about his complete lack of comparison for his team." I stated while pushing my glasses up.

"No kidding. Guy can land a spike like it was nothing but can't act to save his life." Ryuji before turning to me with a serious expression. "Well, anyways. Now's our chance to go look for the guys we saw were slaves yesterday. Let's look for the faces we saw at the castle. All the members of the team should be here today. I'll be sure to find someone to spill about Kamoshida's physical ****. Just you wait, asshole."

"Where are you searching?" I nodded firmly.

"The first one that popped out was a guy from class D, so let's start from there." Ryuji stated. "That's your class. Hopefully, you can get him to talk without any issues. People have been avoiding me lately, so... Oh, but you're kinda in the same boat, huh."

We walked to our destination, hoping to get some answers regarding the corrupt instructor we're hoping to find. We went to my class and talked with the volleyball player there.

"What?" he asked.

"Hey, that's the guy who was over at that castle." said Ryuji.

"You too, Sakamoto!? What do you guys want?"

"How did you get injured?" I asked.

"It's from practice! What does that have to do with anything?"

"Kamoshida did it to you, right?" asked Ryuji. "Look, I ain't gonna tell anyone you squealed. Just tell us how Kamoshida's abusing you."

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"You're a coward." I said.

"I'm not! You guys are talking complete nonsense!"

"Don't try n' hide it!" said Ryuji. "We already know!"

"You know? You have proof?"

"Well, uh... I..."

"This is ridiculous. Please, leave me alone. You're really bothering me!"

"Alright, that's enough. C'mon, let's go."

Ryuji and I left the classroom.

"That injury ain't normal!" said Ryuji. "And he still won't fess up. Crap. If we keep going at this pace, the ball game's gonna end."

"Let's split up." I said.

"Guess, that's be faster. I'll check the practice building for people before clubs start. You handle the classroom building. There's a third year on the volleyball team that I remember. I think he's in... 3-C? He was getting beat pretty badly at the castle. He might have some injuries here too. Anyways, I'll hit you up if I find anything. See ya!"

I went down to the first floor.

"Man, cleaning up after the volleyball rally is gonna be such a goddamn pain," said the injured volleyball player before noticing me. "Eh? Whaddya want? You got something to say?"

"How did you get hurt?" I asked.

"It's from practice."

"Hey, I know who this guy is," said his friend. "He's that transfer student who's been hanging out with Sakamoto."

"Oh, I get it. You're trying to snoop on Mr. Kamoshida, right? Look, our volleyball team performs at a national level. Of course our practices are gonna be tough. Mr. Kamoshida's just dedicated to training us. Don't believe everything Sakamoto says."

"You sure it's not ****?" I asked.

"As if!"

"Hey, we should stop talking to him," said his friend. "What if he loses it and starts attacking us? I heard he even carries a knife around. Who knows what he's capable of."

[Ryuji: How's it going?]

[John: He refused.]

[Ryuji: Him too? Man, everyone's too freaked out about Kamoshida.]

[Ryuji: But I still got a lead. A transfer like you, new member.]

[Ryuji: He just joined, so he might not be all wrapped up in Kamoshida's web of bullshit yet.]

[Ryuji: See if you can find him!]

I went to the third floor to find the other transfer.

"Huh?" he said. "Yeah, I'm on the volleyball team. Whaddya want?"

"Is Kamoshida abusing you?' I asked.

"What? Why would you say something like that? I mean, sure Mr. Kamoshida's strict, but it's like this for all the other sports teams, right? Though, the special coaching he gave Mishima was prolly too far. Oh, uh... I seriously don't know anything! Sorry!"

"Mishima?"

"Please, just stop talking to me. Ask someone else if you wanna know anything more."

The school board cast went off, "Attention, attention. All matches have concluded. Please get ready to go home for today."

"Alright, I'll leave you alone. Sorry for bothering you," I said gently to the transfer student, who simply nodded nervously before scurrying away from me, making me sigh in irritation at another failed attempt at getting information.

I doubted Ryuji had gotten any info either, knowing our crappy our luck's been.

[Ryuji: Dammit, we're outta time. How'd it go?]

[John: Take a wild guess.]

[Ryuji: So you didn't have any luck either.]

[Ryuji: Mkay, let's regroup for now. See you in the courtyard?]

With a tired sigh, I began walked down the stairs and heading towards the courtyard, hoping to secure a vending machine soda, at least.

Drink retrieved, I turned and found myself face to face with Takamaki, the real one.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" she asked.

"What is it?" I asked, curious as to why she wanted to speak to me.

"I'll be quick," Takamaki assured. "Anyway, what's with you? Like, how you were late the other day was a lie and all. There's that weird rumour about you too."

"Whaddya want with him?" Ryuji's annoyed voice called out to Takamaki.

"Right back at you. You're not even in our class," Takamaki countered with a glare.

"We just happened to get to know each other," Ryuji said.

"What're planning on doing to Mr. Kamoshida?" Takamaki suddenly said bluntly, much to our surprise.

"Huh!?" Ryuji responded in kind while I was not sure what to say to that in such a short amount of time, before Ryuji suddenly became irritated once more. "I see. I get ya. You're all buddy-buddy with Kamoshida after all."

"This has nothing to do with you, Sakamoto!" Takamaki stated defensively.

"What's he doing to you?" I asked.

Ann's eyebrows rise. "Huh?"

"What's he doing toyou?"

"That's not..." Ann started but didn't finish. Instead she shouted. "Just drop it, okay? You guys can't do anything."

"That's what you think. If you found what he's been doing behind your back, you'd dump him right away." Ryuji stated, making girl backpedal a little in surprise.

Ann blinked.

"Behind my back? What's that supposed to mean?" she responded.

"You wouldn't get it." Ryuji scoffed.

"Anyway, everyone's already talking about you two." Ann sighed bluntly before shaking her head. "I don't know what you're trying to pull but no one's gonna help you. I'm warning you, just in case. That's all."

"Thanks for the warning," I said politely while pocketing my hands, watching as the girl gave me a brief nod as began to depart. "You should stay away from him. He's a bad guy."

"Why's she gotta be so aggressive all the time?" asked Ryuji.

I asked curiously, "You know her?"

"We just went to the same middle school," Ryuji explained. "Anyways, that's not what we're here to talk about. I had no luck on my end. What about you? Did anything like someone's name turn up?"

"Mishima." I explained.

"Huh?"

"The one Kamoshida hit in the face. The transfer said he's been giving him special "coaching"."

"Special "coaching", huh? True. I always see the guy covered in bruises. Let's go back to him before he leaves then."

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go," I said, getting a nod of agreement in response before we both made a beeline for the school's entrance just in time to find the boy, bag slung one his shoulder, a thick bandage, heading out the exit.

"Hey, got a second?" Ryuji called aggressively much to my annoyance.

"Dude, be subtle," I hissed as Mishima turned to us in surprise.

When he saw us, his eyes widened. "Sakamoto? And you too!?"

"C'mon, we just wanna chat," Ryuji assured before leaning in on the teen. "Kamoshida's been "coaching" you, huh? You sure it's not just physical ****?"

"Certainly not!" Mishima exclaimed with wide eyes and fearful expression.

"Calm down, no need to be so formal around us. We just want to ask you a few things about Kamoshida, is all," I assured, stepping forward and whispering, "We already know about it."

"You do?"

A grin cracked Ryuji's face. "Alright! Confirmation! Anyways, we saw him spike you today. Right in the face."

"That was just because I'm not good at the sport." Mishima stated in a depressed tone.

"Still, that doesn't explain all the other bruises you got."

Mishima paled beneath Ryuji's words.

"They're from practice!" he exclaimed, becoming defensive once more as I decided to step in.

"Injuries that don't come from practicing sports, Mishima," I said in a soft tone. "We want to help. We want him to stop hurting people."

"Is he forcing you to keep quiet?" asked Ryuji.

"That's..." Mishima began.

"What's going on here?" a familiar voice called out and the three of us turned to see Kamoshida approaching with a curious expression before turning to the injured teen with a stern expression. "Mishima, isn't it time for practice?"

"I'm not feeling well today." the nervous teen stated.

"What? Maybe you're better off quitting then," Kamoshida admitted with his hands on his hips. "You're never going to improve that crappy form unless you show up to practice."

"Didn't you hear? He ain't feeling well!" Ryuji to the instructor with a heated glare.

"Well, Mishima? Are you coming to practice or not?"

"I'll go," Mishima said reluctantly, much to our shock.

Kamoshida turned to Ryuji with a glare. "As for you, any more trouble from you'll be gone form this school for sure."

"Bastard." Ryuji muttered as the instructor turned his attention to me.

"Same goes for you. Didn't the principal tell you to keep in line?" Kamoshida questioned, apparently the look in my eyes irritated him.

"You have an amazing spike." I said.

"Hmph, just don't get in the way of my practice. All this unsettling rumours are making the students anxious, after all." Kamoshida scoffed while Ryuji glard and speak what was on both our minds.

"That's you own goddamn fault." he growled, causing Kamoshida to scoff and shake his head in response.

"This won't get us anywhere. Let's go, Mishima." the man instructed to his students he turned away, pulsing his stride to make one last statement towards us. "Shujin Academy is a place where those with aspirations come to learn. Unworthy students like yourselves don't have any right to be here. Get with the program!"

"Yes, sir," Mishima responded in a dead tone as Kamoshida departed from the group with an air of satisfaction around him which only served to further irate us.

"That asshole. He's gonna pay for this!" Ryuji growled while clenching a fist in frustration.

I asked, "Can't you at least let your parents or the principal?"

"There's no point." said Mishima.

"Huh?"

"Proving that he's physically abusing us is meaningless," Mishima stated in a defeated tone, making us freeze in place as he explained what was going on. "Everybody knows, the principal, our parents, they all know and they all keep quiet about it."

"He's done so much harm to his students and everyone is just okay with it? So much damage has been done and they're being ignored just like that?" I growled, my temper flaring and my fist tighten as I tried to reign in my anger.

"This has gotta be a joke." Ryuji muttered, his eyes wide as he tried to process what he had just heard.

Mishima glared at us, finding his courage, misplaced though it may be, at last. "Don't be a pain. You don't understand what I'm going through. Shouldn't you of all people know that nothing's going to help!?"

Ryuji had no response for that remark. The battered teen ran after Kamoshida.

"Dammit." said Ryuji.

"What now?" I muttered, now completely lost as to how we could accomplish our task.

"I'll try more time to persuade the other guys. That's all I can do." Ryuji muttered, sounding completely defeated.

"I guess we'll just need to sleep on it. Hopefully one of us will be able to figure something out by tomorrow." I suggested weakly.

"Yeah, guess you're right. Let's just go change and get out of here. I'm tired of staying in this place," Ryuji suggested.

I nodded in agreement.

Once I got home, I was worn out from all the stuff that happened today. I figured I should probably head to sleep soon. As I was about to do so, I got a message from Ryuji.

[Ryuji: Hey, this don't make any sense.]

[Ryuji: The principal and even the parents know about the ****.]

[Ryuji: Why ain't anyone speaking up!?]

[John: They're afraid of Kamoshida.]

[Ryuji: That can't be the only thing keeping both the principal and the parents quiet though.]

[Ryuji: It's basically because Kamoshida made the volleyball team famous, yeah?]

[Ryuji: Even so, that don't give him the right to do whatever he wants!]

[Ryuji: They're beating them up and all they're allowed to do is endure.]

[Ryuji: And that follower of his doesn't give one single shit.]

[John: Who are you talking about?]

[Ryuji: Ann Takamaki. You met her in the courtyard, remember?]

[Ryuji: You should know her. I mean, she's in your class, dude.]

[Ryuji: Ugh! What a load of bull!]

[Ryuji: I can't let it end like this.]

[Ryuji: I'm gonna try and find someone who knows about what's going on with Kamoshida during break tomorrow.]

[Ryuji: Just you watch. I ain't giving up!]

I was beat from running around all day.