Modern Monster

Sen was pretty distracted throughout the school day. He kept thinking about the encounter with the victim's mother. The best choice was just to keep his mouth shut. Sen wasn't the best person to consult if they wanted to commit suicide. There were plenty of hotlines and disclaimers all around social media in his day and age.

Meh, I can't go back on what I said now. Besides, Sen was there when it happened. It would be unnerving to know someone committed suicide, and he could have prevented it.

Mrs. Aoiko had wished him a happy birthday along with a few of his classmates, and even though he seemed to be a target for bullying, that didn't stop people from being decent human beings and wishing him a happy birthday.

In this day and age, many minority groups would garner a quick following that sympathizes with them. And unfortunately, Sen was one of them. Which was very annoying at times, Sen would rather take death threats than someone who sympathized with him.

"Alright, class, that's it for today," one of the teachers announced after the bell rang. "Pack your tablet, and don't forget to complete the form on the school's online app."

Complete a form. This was the first time Sen had heard of this. After the class dispersed and students exited, Sen decided to put his question at ease.

"What about this form? What's it for?"

"Oh, it's just for the Knight exam," the teacher swiftly replied.

"Knight exam?" he repeated cautiously. He knew the Knight exams were coming up in a week, but he didn't know what that had to do with students.

"Yes, we are keeping track of everyone who's joining the Knight Exams this year," she told him, then added uneasily, "It's not mandatory or anything, hahaha…"

The teacher was obviously flustered, knowing he didn't have a Super Sense. She didn't want him to feel left out or uncomfortable. Which wasn't bad, but again, Sen was against the thought of forceful sympathy. Giving her a quick nod for the information, he headed out of the class.

He needed to go to the library. Someone happened to be waiting for him there. Leaving the school building, he started jogging to the exit.

But of course, just as Sen was, someone, or multiple people, he should say, stopped him. Some kids his age, some might be a tad older—looked at him with disgusted faces, not allowing him to exit the school's campus. Oh great, he wanted to sigh out.

He recognized these kids. They would often bully him verbally, along with many others. Physical bullying was prohibited, and it's not like Sen cared too much to begin with, but it truly was getting old. Maybe this was karma for disliking sympathy. He did say death threats were more preferred.

"Well, well, isn't it, little Senju? Where are you off to so suddenly? You're going to cry home to your dad? Oh, yeah that’s right…” one of the bullies taunted. "My bad, sorry if I hurt your feelings,” It didn't take long before the other bullies who were present started cackling their asses off.

But sadly, this didn't make Sen change his blunt expression. In fact, Sen barely felt any anger whatsoever, which was somewhat unfortunate. I wish I could get mad at mundane stuff like this. Sen, sadly, didn't give a shit. The best option was probably to ignore them and walk away–

"Did I tell you to leave, little shit?"

Man, Sen still wasn't mad, but he sure was annoyed at this point. There was a very important meeting to attend.

"Listen, Kagari," Sen muttered, "I don't have time to listen to your mindless insults right now. Since I'm on your mind daily, I promise I'll make it up to you some other day."

"Huh? What the hell did you say, shithead? You're not on my mind daily; who do you think I am?" Kagari was pissed. Sen couldn't help but find that amusing. Maybe this didn't need to be a whole waste of his time after all.

"Oh, my bad. I thought you had a crush on me or something. I didn't know how to let you down easy," Sen responded politely. Seeing Kagari's puzzled expression truly was entertaining after all. A forehead vein popped on his head as a few of his goons murmured to each other.

"You fucking piece of–” Kagari grabbed Sen's shirt by the collar and suddenly lifted him up, staring dead into his eyes. Kagari was, in fact, quite bigger than Sen, but that didn't even bother him in the slightest. "I'm going to beat you up, break your nose, and spit on you…" he threatened Sen, eyeing him down menacingly.

That wouldn't really happen. Sen was good at martial arts, so he had quite the advantage. Not to mention, Kagari didn't have an offensive Sense like Touch. Not like Kagari would even be able to use it on me; that's against the law.

"Now, now, Kagari, don't be so rash. If you do such things, you'll get thrown out of school."

"Do you think I care about this school? I don't care if I get thrown out. It'll be completely worth it-"

"Incorrect…" Sen cut him off. He really didn't want to bring up Kagari's past, but he had no choice.

"Incorrect my as-"

"Listen carefully and actually use your brain for once. Do you know the repercussions if you decide to harm me? I'll give you an example of how different we are from each other. I'm a strictly 'A' student, and do you know what you are? A 'D' student. You can't afford to be thrown out of school. Not to mention, you were held back two years while all your friends kept on moving up. Now me, on the other hand, I can practically do whatever and act however I want, without any severe repercussions. Unlike you, I could apply to another school. Something you simply cannot. But it's not just about your grades, is it?"

Kagari turned pale.

"Looks like you know what I'm about to bring up next. That's right–"

"Don't you dare say it-" Kagari's panicked grunt was cut off.

"Your family filed for bankruptcy a little over a year ago. They spent all their hard-earned money to give you a good education. So, I doubt you don't care about getting expelled. Of course, correct me if I'm wrong. You can say it for yourself. Do you not care about your family's sacrifice?" Sen asked, giving a brief fake smile. "That would be quite low, even for you. Right, guys?" Sen gave a sideways glance at the other bullies. As he hoped, the other students started murmuring in agreement.

"T-that's kinda messed up, Kagari. I didn't know about that; I thought we were picking on the kid for some jokes. If what he says is true, that's kinda low."

"I mean, even I wouldn't do that, bro."

And just like that, a seed of doubt was planted in the group. Hmph, pathetic.

Sen was quite surprised at how easy it was to turn people against someone. It almost felt… good…

Seeing the panicked expression on Kagari— his fear in his eyes— the drop of sweat falling from his chin— his head looking at his very own friends who were questioning him…

It felt exhilarating...

Something within him felt whole. For the first time in his entire life, he felt satisfied. A small glimpse of Kagari's fearful expression gave him everything he had ever wanted.

Sen's eerie grin across his face was genuine!

...

Sen suddenly snapped his eyes open. Vigorously shaking his head in an attempt to exit the weird train of thought. Sen's heart pounded uncontrollably in his chest. His vision was blurry, with flickering lights dazzling across his retinas, and it felt like he was lost. Was that a dream? No, that couldn't be it.

Soon, Sen started getting adjusted to the light until he realized—

"W-w-who the hell…." A frightened whimper came out of Kagari's mouth. The bully, who had seemed eager and superior to him moments before, was now on the floor, eyeing him as if he had seen a ghost.

And Kagari wasn't the only one who stared shockingly at him. The other classmates who accompanied Kagari were stunned, too.

Sen felt the overwhelming fear radiating from their eyes.

"G-G…." Kagari stuttered, turning pale as a radish. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

From an unknown cause, his bully, frightened to death, scrabbled on his feet and frantically scampered away from his presence, giving out moans of foreboding in the process. It didn't take long before the others followed Kagari in a panicked frenzy.

"I-I'm sorry! W-we won't bother you again!" they screamed in terror.

It didn't take long before Sen was all alone in front of his school's campus. All the bullies who were picking on him just moments ago ran away from a mysterious source.

Huh…?

Sen blinked in confusion, utterly jumbled about what the actual hell just happened. To say it was weird would be an understatement. Sen didn't know what he did to scare them off.

Was he that embarrassed? No, that can't be it. Why did the others look just as terrified as him? Moments before, Sen remembered feeling a weird sensation. What was it? It didn't even feel like himself at all. And to make things worse—I don't remember what that feeling was.

It almost felt like Sen blacked out for a few moments and regained consciousness. Except he didn't fall over or was lying limp on the floor. It felt eerily similar to the time he spared with this sensei and what occurred over dinner last night.

Either way, good riddance to them, he supposed, thinking on the bright side. He had already made it clear he didn't care about getting bullied. They were only words, after all. But at least this saved him some valuable time. Speaking of time. Looking at the watch—it showed 4:04 pm. Good, he still had time to make his meeting at the library. Deciding to leave the 'odd' encounter behind him, Sen made his way to the critical meeting.

I need to make this quick; I don't want to miss my own birthday… (He truly wanted to.)