Chapter 2:Kinetic Debt

  Rei was walking down the hallway when suddenly the school’s intercom came to life,”Reizen Koga,please report to the principal's office immediately now.”

  The principal’s office smelled of tea and old paper.Rei sat in a low chair,his leg still humming with excitement from the fight.Besides him,his parents were a wall of disappointment.They didn’t yell,they spoke in quiet disappointment who thought they had finally “fixed” their son.

  “We trusted you,Rei,” his father said,words heavier than any punch or kick Rei had ever thrown.”We thought you said you wanted to change”.

  The punishment was swift,grounded with an indefinite amount of time,a strict “home to school” routine.The only exception was his part-time job at the convenience store he worked at.

  Rei spent eight hours at the store in a trance. He scanned barcodes and bagged groceries with the same critical precision he used for fighting.Every customer he helped bag their groceries looked at him with fear in their eyes.Rei knew his face looked like a delinquent and he cannot deny it himself either.He was doing his part-time job to help out his parents financial problems,that's the whole reason he was working there.

  When his shift ended,his parents were waiting in the parking lot.The car ride was there for dinner.His mother was talking about his future,college,a life away from his school while his father navigated the heavy rain intersection.

  Rei watched the rain droplets race across the window.He was thinking about how he has to be careful with his strength otherwise,it would be easy to break things.

  Suddenly,a truck appeared in front of the car.A blinding flash of white light.

  For the first time in his life,Rei’s skills were useless.He couldn’t counter a tragedy like that.

  The world around him spun until it came to a stop.The only sound was the rhythmic thud of a windshield wiper that was trying to do its job unaware of the situation.Rei looked around,he saw both of his parents are lifeless before he collapsed.In the silence of the wreckage,he felt the world turned against him,like karma for what he has done.

  A blinding light shines through his eyelids. He opened his eyes,the ceiling of the hospital room was a flat,boring white.A doctor stood at the foot of his bed,holding a clipboard like a death warrant.

  The doctor was surprised when he woke up,Rei asked the doctor about his parents.The doctor with deep regrets in his eyes,delivered the news. He was the only survivor.The truck had hit the driver’s side at sixty kilometres per hour.Rei’s survival wasn’t a miracle,it was a statistical anomaly.He had survived due to his body’s strength and bone which shielded him from major injuries.

  Rei didn’t scream.He didn’t cry. He felt an empty space in him,he felt destroyed.He was the only survivor,the monster survived while the only people who believed in his humanity were gone.After the doctor left the room,Rei’s eyes filled with tiny tears but he held them back.

  Two days later,while Rei was resting in the hospital ward,a man in a sharp suit entered the room.Rei recognized the person,the person wasn’t a doctor but rather the school’s legal counsel.

  “Reizen Koga”,the man said,sliding an envelope onto the bedside table.”Following the incident in the hallway and a subsequent ... .review of the school safety and regulations,the board decided that the best course of action was for your immediate expulsion.”

  Rei stared at the envelope.”But my parents… They talked to the principal.They reached an agreement.” Said with nervousness.

  “The situation has changed,” the school’s legal counsel replied swiftly.

  Rei knew what it was.He could smell a paper money scent from the school’s legal counsel.He knew what happened.With his parents passed and unable to defend him,someone had likely bribed the school board or administration to remove Rei from the records. To the school,Rei was a nobody.

  Rei was now a fifteen-year old orphan with no home,no school and a reputation as a brutal delinquent.

  He sat on the edge of the hospital bed.He realized the world was not just about violence,but about power.The world doesn’t want a man,it wants a victim.

  The promise he made to his parents was no longer being a “good” human.It was about what a human does when they have nothing to lose.

Author's note:

✍️ Fun Fact:

The Switch-Cut and Spinning Hook Kick/Dwi Huryeo Chagi combination done in Chapter 1:Prologue by Reizen "Rei" Koga was actually a combination technique I used in real sparring!

Spinning Hook Kick/Dwi Huryeo Chagi is my favourite kick because of the sheer centripetal force involved and let's be honest,it looks really flashy when executed perfectly.