New Me

The same day after the fight, I came back home, and I sat there thinking. I couldn't believe I actually beat Kotaro up. But even crazier, some random Yakuza gangsters saw me fight him and asked me to join them. I was always picked on in school, but if I was a gang member, I would be feared, right?

My phone was ringing. It was Natsumi. She was calling me. We would normally text each other, but today she called me. I picked up the phone.

"Hello? Natsumi?"

"Hiro. Sorry for calling you this late, but we have to talk. You told those gangsters that you would think about joining them. Are you seriously going to abandon us and join some delinquents that you don't even know?"

She had a worried but serious tone to her voice. I responded.

"You saw how I beat Kotaro, right? I fought back. And those guys praised me. No one had ever done that for me. If I joined them, everyone would fear and respect me!"

"You don't get it, Hiro. They're going to use you. We've been friends for years. This is not the real you. Remember when we studied together and played games? That's the real you."

Natsumi started to irritate me.

"Ok, so what? I want to change my image. You and Ichiro are great friends, but I'm going to be cool now. Don't stop me."

Natsumi just sighed.

"I tried…"

Suddenly, the phone hung up. She had hanged up on me.

"Whatever, she doesn't get it."

I said to myself.

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The next day, I arrived at my classroom. Everyone was talking with each other. Normally, Natsumi and Ichiro would come to my desk and talk, but Ichiro was at Natsumi's desk, and they weren't even looking at my way.

They're ignoring me now. They don't want to be involved with me.

During a lunch break, I sat at my usual spot. I saw Natsumi and Ichiro eating together. In one instance, me and Natsumi met eyes, and she looked away quickly.

After school, I was walking home from school, when I suddenly encountered some familiar faces. It was Bleed and his associates. They had a menacing aura coming from them.

"Hey. Hiro, right? Come with us real quick."

Said Bleed.

I didn't want to resist, so I followed them. We walked into a quiet alleyway, with trash all over the floor. While we walked, Bleed ordered one of his associates to give me some kind of jacket.

"Wear this black leather jacket. It will make you look cooler and more menacing. No one is gonna fear some kid in his school uniform."

Said Bleed.

I didn't know what he meant by that, but I wore the jacket. It really did make me feel cooler. Like a gangster.

We suddenly stopped.

In front of us, stood a man who looked about 20 years old. He wore hip gang clothing, kind of like Bleed and the others.

"Yo Crack. We've come here to beat your ass. Your associates own us some "merchandise"."

I wonder what they meant by merchandise, but I was sure it was something illegal.

"Five on-one, huh? Never fight fair, do you, Bleed? My boss needs the merchandise more than y'all, so well be keeping it."

"By the way, who's this high school kid? Y'all holding him on ransom or something?"

Said Crack.

"He's gonna be the one beating your ass"

After Bleed stated that I was gonna fight him, I started feeling butterflies in my stomach. I was bewildered. I had to fight another gang member? Already? Beating Kotaro up was one thing, but fighting another gang member was different.

Crack started to laugh hysterically.

"Are you serious?! This kid?! Alright, ill get this done and over with."

Crack continued laughing at the circumstances.

"Let's see about that. Hiro, crack his head open and make him cry his ass off as you did to Kotaro. Show us your worth.

Bleed and his associates back off. It was just me and Crack. I was going to fight a man I had never seen in my life.

"Let's get this over with. Square up."

Crack lifted his fists in a fighting position. I did as well.

I knew that if I beat this guy up, I would be respected by the others.

Crack suddenly rushed over at me and uppercut me, trying to hit my face. I had my fists in front of me, so I was able to block it.

He fell back. I dashed to his right and hit him with a hook. It hit the side of his face. He was a little dazed.

"Damn man, this kid actually hit me"

Crack said as Bleed laughed at him.

As he talked, I hit a jab and crossed toward his face and he couldn't block it, as he was talking.

"Hey?! Wait?!"

I pushed my body into him and fell on top of him. I started punching him in the face over and over. He couldn't protect himself. I felt like I was releasing all my anger and stress on him.

As I punched him, he was reaching for something in his pocket. He started pulling something out of his pocket.

"Wait a sec! Hiro, he's playing dirty! He has a knife!"

Bleed screamed at me.

As he pulled the knife out, I stopped punching him and put my hands on his arm. He was resisting me, and we were wrestling for the knife. We both hit each other, as we fought for the knife.

"You little bitch! I'm going to kill you!"

Crack said as he pulled the knife away from me. I took the opportunity and turned the knife and twisted it, in an effort to get it away from him. Out of the blue, he lost strength, and I was able to get hold of the knife.

He tried to get it away from me with his hands, but I proceeded to stab his hand and his arm.

"OW! WTF?"

I threw the knife away and stood up and watched as he bled profusely from his arm and hand.

"Now that's what I like, Hiro! Look at him squirming! IM going to laugh!

Bleed and his associates said as they laughed at the bleeding Crack.

"Play dirty and that's what you get. Told you this high school kid wasn't a joke. Better get some stitches for that!"

Bleed put his arms around me and we started walking away from the scene.

"See? You got skills for this. You're a natural. Join us, and you'll make other losers like him squirm on the floor."

I thought about my response. I just stabbed someone, and they were praising me for it. My friends no longer wanted to be associated with me. This is my life now. I would be feared and respected. I was no longer the quiet kid who had barely any friends and was picked on for being skinny and "weak". I'm going to change my image. Just like I wanted. Right?