152 ????

He could not remember what he was doing and where he was as his mind and body still felt extremely hazy... All that he could recall was that he was in a soothing, deep sleep that felt serious yet almost heavenly at the same time.

"It seems like you are finally back with us Mr, Kane, not only did you miss half the class by sleeping, you also yawned so loud to distract every other student in the class! Keep your head out of the clouds and pay attention! Kids like you make me sick!" The familiar voice of an angry old man entered his ears, making him look up to see who it was only for him to be hit by a pen that blasted straight to his face like a torpedo, hitting him directly in the forehead right above his nose which really hurt, rocking his head leaving a red spot on impact before dropping on the ground, making him wake right up. 

When he gazed up with his now crystal vision, looking past all of the laughing students sitting in front of him, he noticed exactly who it was that had thrown the pen, making him feel extremely bad for what he had done.

It was none other than his one and only homeroom teacher, Rolf Hemmingwood. A man of average height, towering over all the young children sitting beneath with an ugly scowl on his pale, old, wrinkly face. His green eyes were like fiery slits, daggers aimed straight at Moby's face. His hair seemed slightly greasy yet fairly maintained, tied into a bun at the back of his head making him look like a person's grandmother. For his attire, he wore a standard yet elegant white button up shirt with his sleeves rolled up revealing his skinny, twig-like arms, an expensive-looking golden watch wrapped around his right wrist. The bottom half of his body that was covered by the metal podium where he rested his utensils on sported suave black denim pants that were tight yet not tight enough to outline what laid underneath, well matching his black dress shoes.

With a swift wave of his hand, the marker that had hit Moby and once laid on the ground suddenly floated up before being quickly returned to his hand once more as he used his telekinesis ability to retrieve it. 

Moby then immediately and suddenly shot out of his seat, standing up with his hands to his hips, straighter than an arrow which did not come as a surprise to anyone in the class as they were fully expecting it. 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever kid, just don't do it again!" The teacher said in a clearly annoyed voice, turning around before writing on the virtual board with his pen, continuing where he left the lesson off.

"Y-yes sir! Thank you so much for your forgiveness and kind words! I promise that it won't ever happen again!" Moby said, his expression drastically changing, sitting back in his seat with a polished smile that shined brighter than the sun, making various students try their best to control themselves from dying of laughter that Moby saw as them simply having fun during the class which could not have been farther from the truth.

"This kid keeps pissing me off more and more every day, my job is already hard enough without him…" Rolf mumbled under his breath, not loud enough for anyone else to hear as he continued writing his math lesson on the board. 

Moby immediately opened up his old notebook and brought out his pen, one of the only people in the class not using an electronic device for note-taking and began taking notes about everything his teacher said and wrote with clear diligence and interest in his eyes. 

Then, as he finished his first note, he looked around his entire class, admiring it with a calm yet cheerful expression and a deep breath, taking in the fresh air from the open window beside him that was blowing wind through his pure, deep black hair that went down to his eyes. He wished that times like these could last an eternity...

Moby's desk was situated at the bottom left corner of the class, right behind the window that looked down on the schoolyard and displayed the gray, cloudy weather outside. Various drawings, diagrams and motivational posters hung from the side of the metal walls with other decorations and bookcases on the bottom. 

The class had a total of 28 young-looking students around 12 or 13 years of age, 16 male and 12 female.

The students wore the standard white and blue coloured uniforms of Krory Elementary School, a button-up shirt and long yet tight pants of the guys and a shirt and skirt for the girls. 

The quiet yet diligent students of the class sat at the front, taking notes, asking questions, trying their best to get the highest grades while the louder, more carefree, less intelligent students sat at the back, mostly either on their phones or socializing amongst each other as they could not care less about elementary school as it was only military school that truly counted for their future. Of course, there were a few exceptions to that rule which included Moby who also sat at the back of the class with most of the delinquents.

After 30 minutes had passed, the school bell sounded, marking the end of the school day, making many students celebrate and become excited, packing their belongings before bolting out of the class like a rocket as it was their last day of school before their week-long spring break. 

"Hey! Everyone! Come back here! The bell doesn't dismiss you, I do!" Rolf roared in annoyance, pulling every runaway student back to the class by force using his telekinesis ability, making the entire class sigh with vivid irritation as they sat back in their seat impatiently waiting to be dismissed by their teacher.

"Okay class, now that I have everyone's attention, make sure to study hard during the break as I will be assigning a test on the Pythagorean theorem and properties of a triangle as soon as you get back, I will also be assigning a short, 1000 word essay about the benefits of being a country Z citizen, just to keep you company during the break and keep your minds fresh. And, yes, before you ask, it will definitely be graded. You are now all dismissed, have a good spring break class," Rolf said with a devilish smirk and a serious voice, making the entire class grumble in annoyance, completely changing their once faces cheerful that were excited for the break, no one daring to voice their complaints as they knew it would not end too well for them. 

It was almost like he found joy in the misfortune of others.

The only person that seemed unphased was Moby who thought that the teacher truly did care about them and their future, assigning them extra homework to better prepare them for military school in the future.

As Moby was packing his belongings, putting them all in his backpack, he was approached by a very familiar face, slamming down his hand on Moby's desk with a smirk on his face.

A slightly tanned, skinny, average height kid with blue hair, black eyes and a few handsome features.

It was of course, none other than one of his bestest, dearest and closest friends, Eric Quinn. 

"Hey! Moby old buddy! That was quite some show you put on during class, it was hilarious! You never seem to disappoint!" Eric said with a laugh, remembering what had happened with Moby and Rolf 30 minutes ago.

"Thanks… but I was only being honest and trying my best to apologize for my disrespect," Moby nervously replied, not even looking Eric in the eyes as he continued to pack up his belongings.

"Eh, whatever you say bro, it was still funny as hell either way. But that was not the reason I came here right now. I was thinking, since I will be going on a road trip with my family during the break, why don't we have another one of our training sessions? It would be a good way to spend our last time seeing each other before the break! I even brought a few friends with me! After I told them all about you, they said they couldn't wait to meet you and become your friends. Trust me, it will be more fun with more people! You know what they say, the more the merrier! So, are you in?" Eric said with a bright friendly smile to Moby. 

"R-really! They want to be friends with me!? I am so happy! I can't wait! Thank you so much for all of this! I always wanted more friends! I will gladly accept your invitation," Moby said with nervous excitement, smiling back to Eric with tears of joy running down his face, making Eric inwardly laugh and cringe even though he knew exactly what he should have expected from Moby Kane, the school's biggest anomaly, the boy so happy and positive at all times no matter the circumstance that nobody had a noteworthy explanation other than he was crazy or mentally ill. 

"Are you okay with doing it now? Same place as always, the yard right behind the school. I would like to ideally do it before it starts raining, I hate walking home in the rain. So, what do you say?" Eric asked, already knowing the answer before he even spoke.

"Of course! I have no problems at all! Like, you know My Katana is always on me, hung around my backpack so I am ready as I'll ever be!" Moby responded nervously yet with no hesitation. 

"Great! My friends will meet us there, they should probably get there before we do. So, follow me and let us walk there together, it is always safer that way," Eric said, just as Moby finished packing his belongings, standing up before nodding firmly in agreement. 

"Good," Eric replied, walking towards the exit of the classroom, Moby walking behind seemingly unaware of all the amused and disgusted glares coming his way. 

As Moby walked through the classroom door, right behind Eric, he pulled out his family's golden necklace from his pocket, looking at it with a deep smile.

'Mom, dad, are you seeing this? I am finally going to be making even more friends now! Aren't you proud of me!' Moby thought, trying to hold back his tears of joy.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, as he continued staring at the necklace in his hand, his heart rate suddenly skyrocketed, giving him an intense feeling in the chest unlike anything he had ever felt before in his life, it was like his heart was about to explode right out of it, creating boiling blood instead of the regular blood he was all so used to. Then, that feeling of intense pain was followed up with more pain in the form of a massive headache, making him bend down on one knee holding his chest in anguish as fuzzy familiar yet unfamiliar voices and images constantly popped in and out his head, making his entire body, sweat, shudder and tremble.

'Who are these people? What are those voices? Do I know them? What is going on? Where is all of this pain coming from and when will it end?' Those were the only thoughts running through Moby's mind as his entire body and soul was ravaged with unimaginable pain and suffering, not being able to differentiate was fake or real, dream or reality. 

Then… as quickly as it started, it suddenly ended, almost like nothing had happened... all the pain… All of the voices and images��� they all suddenly going away like a snap of the fingers.

When Moby opened his eyes, he found that he was on his knees, staring at the marble ground of the school with his necklace still tightly in his right hand, sweating buckets and hyperventilating from what had just happened to him. 

When he checked and felt his body, he felt like there were no injuries on it despite all of the unimaginable pain he felt, it was too surreal…

When he looked around, he saw all the worried faces of his classmates who surrounded him in a circle. This also included Eric who looked the most worried out of all of them, which made Moby smile before standing up, putting his necklace back in his pocket, trying his best to forget about what had just happened and look at the bright future ahead of him. He was not going to let such a thing get between him and making new friends. 

However, like usual, Moby got it all wrong. What he mistook as looks of worry were actually looks of pure shock and surprise. It was the first-ever time anyone had ever seen Moby in actual pain, anguish or despair… even through the cruellest, and most brutal beatings and tortures he did not at all crack. But now, there he was, exhibiting all those emotions they previously thought to be impossible for him to feel, all right in front of their eyes which shocked them beyond belief with only one thought running through their minds…

'What the fuck just happened?'