The next day had arrived and it was now morning. However, Numba didn’t get much sleep. A few hours at most and even then he would toss and turn as his mind was so full. After the call ended with his father he sent him multiple messages updating him on the situation, after that Numba had one more call in the morning.
For the first time since he had been adopted by the family, he had heard his strong and unmovable father break down and started to cry over the phone. Hearing this, it tore Numba’s own heart.
Why wasn’t he born a few years earlier, maybe then he would be part of the business already, helping them sort out this mess. In fact, it was then that Numba even offered to come back. He was a lot stronger than before, and being part of the AFA already meant that he was a lot better than other Altereds out there.
“No!” Harry shouted back. “I… haven't given up yet, but you being here will make no difference. In fact, I am sorry that you might get involved in all of this because I was the one that brought you in. You have always been great, and the reward for never backing down, going above and beyond, is the academy and your powers.
“If anything ever happened to the company or me, then I want you to continue doing well in the AFA, and live a good life.”
His father had hung up the phone there, and immediately after, Numba hit the redial button attempting to call him.
“We sorry, the number you are trying to call is currently not -”
“No please! Please! Why are you doing this!” Numba said, his eyes swollen, too tired to even produce tears from his eyes, but his throat was all swollen up. After trying to call for the third time, Numba threw the phone onto the bed.
It bounced off the bed and almost hit the ceiling.
“Don’t you understand.” Numba said. “Everything I was doing in the AFA, was as a thanks to you… a thanks for getting me out of my sh*t life!” Numba continued to sob.
That morning Gary had woken up and was waiting outside his room. Him, Izzy, Ian and Numba would leave at the same time, so they could all walk to class together. Usually, Numba was always the first one to be out, but as Gary looked to his left and the others looked to their right, there was no Numba in sight.
The three of them walked to the door.
“Maybe we should knock, he might have forgotten to set his alarm.” Izzy suggested.
Just as she was about to knock, Gary grabbed her by the wrist, stopping her.
“We… should just let him rest and leave him be. I’m sure he will join us later.” Gary stated.
They agreed as they walked off. Turning his head, Gary was a little worried, because he could hear it. The sound of crying through the doors, and it sounded like Numba was in incredible pain.
——
Back at the Wolf’s Pool Club, Kai had also been following the situation quite closely. He had asked for Olivia and her gang to gather reports on the ongoing situation.
“As I expected, they didn’t just come to us, but came to all of the gangs in the areas surrounding Cardenez Electronics.” Kai smiled. “From the looks of it, three other gangs in the area had accepted the deal.
“Even if the group protecting the Cardenez company is strong, to deal with attacks from all three sides. If we had accepted as well they would have been done by now, and to top things off, they would have only had to hire us. Still, it was a good excuse to tell them that Gary was away, because the Scatterbugs seem to be quite the petty gang.
“The only thing I don’t understand is why hasn’t Harry accepted their offer yet. I was sure if they were pushed to this situation, he would have accepted unless…” Kai had to remind himself what Daimon was like, and how many people were like him who worked in this world. If that was the case he knew exactly what had happened between the two.
“Interesting… Now how can I take advantage of this situation?”
——
Back at the academy, Numba had missed the entire first lesson. Due to it being the weekend, they only had a half day compared to a full day. The second half allowed them free time, where students were allowed to study, practice or just rest. Rest was important, but being Altered, less rest was required compared to regular people. However, during the second lesson of the day, Numba had finally entered.
They all quickly realised that he wasn’t himself though, as he walked, he was dragging his feet slowly, he avoided eye contact with everyone, but when he reached where the others were sitting he looked up and forced himself to smile.
“Your face, it's so -”
Before Ian could finish his sentence, Izzy gave him a quick jab in the ribs with her elbow.
As Numba sat down, Izzy tried to make the atmosphere as comfortable and as normal as possible, but it was quite hard to, and the group was unable to talk the same way they had done before.
‘I wonder… should I ask what's going on. I heard some of the conversation that he had with his father, but if it's personal business, then it might not be my place to get involved.’ Gary thought.
Regardless of thinking this, Gary couldn’t stay silent. It just wasn’t his style, so right as the lesson ended and everyone was leaving their seats, he had some words.
“Numba!” Gary called out. “Remember, that we made that alliance. Well, it goes both ways right? So whatever you need help with. If there is anything bothering you, you can always talk to and count on us.”
Izzy thought they were the right words in this situation. It wasn’t prying into the other's life nor asking what happened, but just letting him know that they were there for him.
“Thanks Gary.” Numba . “You are a good friend.”
After saying those words, Numba just walked away as the rest of the day would be a free period.
‘Thank you for the offer Gary, but with what is happening with my family, I don’t even think you could help. This matter is big, it's practically a gang war, and I doubt you could do anything to help.’ Numba thought as he walked off.
Trailing a bit behind Numba, Gary had been called out.
“Gary, there you are!” A loud voice said.
Turning his head, waiting for him once again by the entrance was someone else. It seemed it was becoming a regular occurrence. As for who it was, it was the Debut Teacher, Eddy.
“I checked your schedule and you should be free right now, so come over with me for a second. I think I have a nice surprise that you might like.” Eddy smiled.
With nothing else to do, and since he was the only one being invited, Gary waved the others off. While Izzy made sure that she would look after Numba while he was away.
During the free period, some had decided to return to their rooms rather than train, like Numba had done. He wanted to get his anger out, and hit something. One of these people that had returned to their rooms was Sty, because he had received a message on his phone to call someone as soon as he could.
“Great, you got the message then.” A cheery voice said on the other side. “I’ll get straight to the point. I believe there is a student named Numba Cardenez in your school.”
Sty, of course knew who this was, in the pre assessments he had been doing everything he could to make his life hell.
“Yeah, I do.” Sty replied.
“Great, well I have a task for you. It should be relatively easy for yourself, but I want you to make his life hell, and make sure you get evidence of it as well. Can you do that?”
Hearing these words, Sty's heart started to beat faster. The eyes of Gary entered his mind once again. If he was to touch Numba then… on top of that, the last time he and Numba fought it had ended in a draw.
“Hey, this is important!” The voice shouted on the other end of the phone. “A son of mine should easily be able to take out a no name form a tier-3 city. Are you really saying the task is this difficult!”
“No!” Sty replied back. “I can take care of it. I definitely can. I won’t let you down father.”
*****
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