Knock knock!
A beautiful girl in a neat high school uniform stood at the front of the building, knocking lightly on the door. She had black socks pulled up to her knees and a bag hanging from one hand.
Compared to how elegant she looked, this neighborhood was not somewhere anyone would have believed she belonged.
The street itself wasn't terrible, but when compared to the other buildings and alleyways surrounding it, the area looked like the kind of place where only trouble lived.
Unlike the rest, this particular building had no paint on its walls. It looked soulless, and it reeked of poverty.
A few seconds after the beautiful girl knocked, the door opened, and greeting her was an older woman wearing a red dress.
Her long black hair was packed into a ponytail, and just from looking at her, one could tell she was exhausted. The dark bags hanging under her eyes made that much obvious.
"Jade, you came by again this morning." The woman smiled, her face brightening up at the sight of her.
Jade, though pretty, had a bit of a bruise on her face. Her pink hair, which was usually glowing and well kept, had been stained with dirt, and there was a bandage taped to the side of her cheek.
Even if the woman didn't take notice of it immediately, she was quick to understand right after.
Which led to her smile vanishing at the realization.
"Good morning, Miss Cooper. I came to pick up Max for school," Jade uttered with a smile, acting as though nothing was wrong.
There was nothing much the woman could say, so she turned inside and yelled.
"Max, your friend Jade is here!"
Then she looked back at Jade, the worried look settling right back in.
"J--"
Before she could say anything, Max showed up, walking out of the house without so much as a smile on his face.
He was fat and had a huge stomach that could easily be mistaken for a pregnancy if the situation called for it. It didn't help that his hair was packed in a ponytail, and just like Jade, he too had bruises scattered all over his body.
"You didn't have to come again," Max uttered, his voice low and sad at the same time.
"Don't be silly. If we waste time now, we'll be late for school."
Jade didn't want to hear his complaints, so she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him along before he could say another word.
All while his mom watched from the side, her face not showing any hint of a smile.
Being the single mother that she was since her husband passed away, she had always had to take care of Max by herself. Which was never easy, especially with how poor they were.
Even the single room apartment they were currently living in, they were still behind on rent.
But even with all the issues piling up, as long as she knew her son was being loved by someone, it would be enough to make her happy.
Or at least, that was what she thought.
...
Lumberson College was not as big or as prestigious as the rest of the high schools in the state of Crestwood.
Still, whenever the ranking of the best high schools in the region of Korra came through, there was hardly ever a time Lumberson didn't make the list.
The reason for this was because their education system worked differently from the rest.
Not many people knew the details, and those who did barely ever tried to spread the secret, since they were sure it would give their child the edge to become the best of the best.
It was also affordable, but at a price that was never truly balanced to begin with.
"Oh look, he's here."
"Ugh, is that not the dude that keeps hanging around Jade?"
"Tsk, I don't even know him, but I hate his guts. That poor girl is getting dragged into his mess."
Max could feel their hateful gazes pierce his soul as he walked into the classroom, making his way to his usual spot at the left back of the room.
Getting to his seat, the first thing he noticed was the humiliating writing that had been drawn with a marker on his table and chair.
"Kill yourself fat boy."
That was the first thing that caught his attention.
Max sighed.
'It's fine. I can endure all of this for as long as I need to. In order to graduate from this academy, I need to be amongst the top ten, or my mother will pay for it. I refuse to let that happen. So this is something I can--'
"Hey bitch! You really came to school even after all the beating I gave you yesterday?"
Max froze mid-thought upon hearing the voice right behind him.
There was no mistaking it.
It was him.
Ryan Riano.
Max immediately turned around to see Ryan standing there, with two other boys flanking him and a girl not too far away from the group.
Ryan was known as the leader of the Black Tiger Gang. His long blonde hair was his trademark, making him famous not just on school grounds but even outside of it.
Gangs were something the school had never bothered to address, which made them something that was normalized very quickly.
But if there was one thing anyone knew, it was this: never get involved with a gang member unless you had one of your own.
Before Max could even move, Ryan grabbed him by the throat and shoved him closer.
"Where the hell do you think you're going, huh?"
Max's face was filled with fear, especially since he knew what was going to happen next.
The girl standing at the back was rumored to be Ryan's girlfriend. She had long black hair and wore the same uniform; only her jacket was tied around her waist rather than being worn over her shoulders.
She didn't utter a single word and was only interested in scrolling through her phone.
That said, it would have been a different case if Jade were here.
Which led to Max's question. The same question he had always been asking every single time.
"Why are you doing this to me? I don't want any trouble."
"Ohh, haha, he can speak now. I swear I thought you were mute." Ryan grinned, cracking his knuckles. "Now what was the question again? Right, how about I answer you now--"
Baam!
Ryan landed a punch directly on Max's face.
It was a weak punch, but it was enough to cause Max to stumble back a couple of steps. And then, before anyone knew it, he had slammed the back of his head against the edge of the table.
He was dead.
[A new host has been registered.]
[Required information acquired.]
[You have been revived.]