The day after Sam's funeral, Sunday, Max realized he needed to start preparing for the worst when school started again.
He had given in to his anger and attacked Mo earlier than he had planned. There was a decent chance he'd done enough to keep Mo from telling anyone else, but there was still a possibility that word had spread. If the entire school knew what happened, that would be a serious problem, for a lot of reasons.
Originally, his goal had been simple: to figure out why the real Max Stern never touched the money. With that kind of wealth, he could've easily put a stop to the bullying, hired someone, paid the others off, maybe even transferred to a new school altogether. But he hadn't done any of those things.
And Max was still nowhere closer to figuring out why.
On top of that, he'd only uncovered two names from the list so far. The first was Ko, the self-declared leader of their classroom and the one responsible for most of the torment aimed at both Max and Sam. The second was Dipter, apparently the top delinquent in the entire school. He was the one giving orders, the one even Ko answered to.
The real problem was, this school wasn't just any regular public school, it was crawling with more scum than most.
That explained why no one ever stepped in during the chaos that unfolded in the classroom. Nearly all the boys in class were delinquents.
They listened to Ko. Some greeted him like a friend, others just followed his lead. Sure, it was the main trio that acted like they ran the place, but the rest weren't exactly innocent. They went along with it, and that was just as bad.
A lot of this, I found out through texts with Joe, Max thought, confirming what he had already suspected.
Basically, if Max ever made a public move against Dipter or Ko, it'd be like declaring war on the entire school.
Even if, in the past, he could've taken on a hundred students at once, that wasn't true anymore, not in this body.
Things would be so much easier if I still had the White Tiger backing me like I used to… Max thought. Then again, there's always the option of handling things outside of school. On weekends, Aron is around to protect me.
That could be a way to get him involved without directly asking for help. If random students started attacking me, Aron would have no choice but to step in, right? That's literally his job.
The problem was… tomorrow was school, and everything could change in the blink of an eye.
Max could feel the tension crawling in his fingers, like they were itching for something to do. He'd already made up his mind, he needed to stay sharp for whatever was coming. That's why he texted Steven and asked him to open up the gym.
He'd rested yesterday. Today, he needed to move.
As he walked, his thoughts kept spinning.
How do I isolate Ko? Take him out without Dipter ever knowing? Max wondered. Could I bring him to my side… like I did with Joe?
But then, that thought twisted in his stomach. He remembered everything Ko had done to Sam.
According to Joe, nearly all of it had been Ko's idea. Luring someone in, rewarding them with money… it made Max feel sick just thinking about it.
"Sir… are you sure this is the right place?" Aron asked, standing at the front of the gym. The metal shutter was still pulled down, leaving nothing but the cold exterior in view.
"Yes," Max replied plainly. "And you said you wouldn't bother me with questions if I brought you along."
It was Sunday, after all. Which meant Aron had to stay by his side, no exceptions. And that's exactly why he was there now.
When Steven showed up in his signature red tracksuit, he was more than a little surprised to see someone else standing next to the kid.
"Oh… you brought someone with you?" Steven asked, raising an eyebrow. "He doesn't look like your dad… or your brother. Is he a new customer?"
"Calm down," Max replied, brushing past. "He's just here to keep an eye on me."
Steven quickly unlocked the metal shutter, and once the two of them stepped inside, it slammed closed behind them.
Max didn't waste any time. He headed straight to his usual spot, already moving through his routine like muscle memory. He didn't say another word.
That left Steven and Aron standing awkwardly near the front desk together.
Well this is weird, Steven thought, glancing sideways. Why am I the one getting all shy? This is my gym.
The silence hung for a bit, but both men eventually turned their attention to Max. Aron's eyes narrowed with interest, focused entirely on the boy.
He watched as Max wrapped up his hands, approached one of the heavy bags, and started throwing punches, clean, sharp strikes followed by solid combinations.
From the look of it, Aron could tell. Max wasn't new to this. Either he'd been training for a while… or he'd done this kind of thing before.
"Hey, so um… are you like his guardian or something?" Steven eventually found the nerve to ask, rubbing the back of his neck. "Or maybe, judging by the way you're standing there… you're some kind of bodyguard?"
"I am not at liberty to say," Aron replied smoothly, his arms crossed behind his back. "But for now, you can consider me his guardian."
Steven curled his lip slightly.
What kind of answer is that? he thought. If you say something like that, you're basically yelling 'I'm a bodyguard.'
He glanced at Max again, watching him land another solid punch on the bag. A rich kid like that, makes sense he'd have someone with him. Guess this guy's the reason Max knows how to throw a punch.
Oddly enough, at that very moment, Aron was having similar thoughts, just in reverse.
His eyes scanned the photos that lined the wall behind the front desk. Medals, trophies, shots of Steven in the ring. The man clearly had a history in professional fighting.
I wonder how long Max has been coming here… Aron thought, arms still folded tightly. He's probably the one teaching Max how to fight.
Both of them were completely off the mark, but equally convinced they had it figured out.
In the middle of his training, Max wiped some sweat from his forehead and walked over to the two men.
It felt a little early for Max to be wrapping up his training, so both men glanced at each other, wondering what he was coming over for.
What came next, though, completely caught them off guard.
"Do you think," Max said, stopping in front of them and wiping the sweat from his brow, "you two would be up for fighting each other?"