The kids at school whispered about him. It was unexpected, he didn't know that they will assumed the dice was his doing. He was just touching it, but they thought wrong. One thing they were right though, he was a Stray. That was fact.
But, as life would have it, he grew tired and irritated at the insensitive gossiping like he was a disease. At least, Nadya wasn't here. Toru too, he was glad the latter didn't go to his school, dealing with them would made him anxious as he's practically a social outcast. Not to mention, he lived alone, taking online class and a Stray. Well, not a great combination to be friends with, seeing the scene unfolded in front of him. He was not great socializing but he's had friends too but I guess, it didn't matter now.
The kids had a sudden burst of courage as they became more daring to come up to Liam.
"Hey is it true you're a Stray?"
"We heard you beat him up with your ability."
"I heard from my dad that you haven't registered. Isn't that against the law?"
He ignored them and remained quiet, it wasn't met with acceptance but rather stony looks from them.
"Hey, Liam."
Despite it's not the best day for Liam, he could say he was enjoying his time with his friend at school. Orion. A warm and friendly fellow unlike those who shunned him because he was only friends with the smartest student in school to get good grades. Not to mention, he was a Stray too. Bad combination to be in social groups around his class. Or better yet the whole school.
•
•
A week had passed and they both lived together instead of Liam and Nadya going back to their own house. The pair decided to spend their weekend relaxing on the couch. But, Toru had no intention to relax. He tried to prepare himself for an exam which barely hard to do as he had to study harder so as not to fail, losing his chance to finish his syllabus this year. Apparently, his preparation was prone to fall apart.
"Hey, Toru. What would you choose? Knowing when to die or how you die?" Liam suddenly asked, earning a shrug from the blonde haired boy.
"I don't know. It was unrealistic to think about it."
"Come on, Toru! Think about it!" Toru sighed. He decided to entertain him so it will ended quickly and he can go back to his books.
"I will choose when I die. At least, it will give me the benefit of knowing when to spend time with someone, provided the fixed time will stay on its course." Toru had his head dangling from the couch. He talked with his arms over his head and Nadya looking at Liam with calculating look.
"What about you?"
"Neither." Toru gave him a blank look before shrugging and returned to his book.
"Eh? Don't you wanna know?" The blonde haired boy shook his head. "O-oh. Okay."
"Leave him alone, Liam. Can't you see he had to study? His exam are a week faster than us."
"R-really? Sorry, I thought..."
"It's fine, Liam."
Toru lifted his head from the book, showing his round cheeks and a teasing smile to the older boy.
"Don't worry, Nadya. I'm sure Liam is glad that he can spend more time playing with me than studying together."
"Hey!"
"Obviously." Nadya muttered under her breath.
"Traitor!" Liam cried out, earning himself a snicker from Toru.
"Fine. I am bored, happy?" He said begrudgingly. Liam was already out of his chair and leave the two of them inside cackling their hearts out together. It warmed him inside, he felt like a family again.
•
•
Without Liam noticing, the exam was today. He walked inside the gate while fixing his tie to look proper with his uniform as he was finally entering the school after a week's holiday or so his classmates called it.
The neat-looking boy walked through the halls cautiously, making his way to his classroom as to avoid any unwanted confrontation. He paused at the doorway, taking in the large frame of a door before opening it.
Inside the classroom were twenty desks placed in neat rows with random test numbers on it. Actually it wasn't that random, seeing it was a shuffle of student ID number only between his class and not with the other.
Minus himself, there were only four students there. Liam felt his face twitched when his eyes met with Orion's grey ones, looking at him with his usual friendly smile.
"Liam, morning!" A cheery voice called out to him, bringing his attention to him.
"Morning, Orion. Someone excited for a test."
"W-What? There's no way I—" He stuttered, not expecting such a question coming up to him. "Anyway, why are you here so early?"
Of course, Orion wouldn't admit that he was excited because he liked doing test as he prepared the day before so he avoided to answer the topic. Liam chuckled and answered.
"A student can wake up early for school right? Unlike someone."
"Tch." Orion turned away before admitted sheepishly. "You got me."
"Well well, it is nice to find a stray hanging out with normal people."
A boy with glasses stated, walking up to them alone as if he owned the class.
Liam watched with Orion as the boy walked over to the duo, obnoxiously smirking which irked Liam the most as he's the one who always got that often,
"Nice to see you too, Brad."
He laughed. "A funny one as well."
"..."
"No need to get cold feet, Liam. I'm sure you will ace the exam just like last time. Or if you don't, you can kill the teacher with your dice."
Dice. The word he hated the most because of a video recording him near the item that Toru conjured during their first time meeting. Spreading among his classmates and possibly the whole world letting them know that he's a stray.
Although they weren't wrong, it's still annoying how they assume it's his power. Well, at least Toru won't face this kind of treatment for the moment.
If the situation was reversed, Liam was certain that Toru would have had teared-up eyes in them and it was a sacrifice he was willing to make for the little kid.
Liam growled, turning towards him. "Really? I think it would've been so much nicer to do it to you than listening to your useless whining."
Brad gasped. "Did you all hear that? He wants to kill me."
Liam rolled his eyes and Orion dragged him away before things get worse for the other boy, seeing Liam had a bad temper and already trembled from what he assumed was from holding back his anger.
At least, that's what Orion hoped.
Before either of them notice, the classroom door slid open for the last time and their gaze went over to it before falling to the floor, where a grouchy looking man standing with papers in his arms and slithering up to the podium.
After a few silent moments of gazing at the now fully filled classroom with a blank expression, he finally said.
"If you're here to fight, you can go ahead and leave right now. Test is about to begin."
The three students flinched at his cold tone, hurrying to an empty seat not bothering to wait for his scolding again.
Beneath the surface where Liam was standing, a world had another side of an unknown evil lurking, waiting to strike as it rises from the ground.
A teenager leaned closer and whispered softly.
"You will not remember what happen here."
The soft voice whisked through the air, flowing into his ear as the guard felt fuzzy and slightly nodded.
"What are you... ah, there's nothing happen."
He tried to disobey the voice but his minds couldn't recall as he was pulled back and forth to forget the recent event.
That single sentence finished its job in a short time as the guard finally moved to his post outside the gate.
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