Middle school was a nightmare.
Every day, Renjiro endured the taunts. The insults. The whispers behind his back.
Yet he never faltered. No matter how many times he was knocked down, he always stood back up.
Until the day they broke him.
Mr. Takeda, their homeroom teacher, walked in with a smug expression, holding a stack of papers.
"Today, we'll discuss your future ambitions!" he announced, tossing the papers onto his desk.
Students sat up in excitement.
"Let's see... Most of you are aiming to be heroes. Not surprising!" he mused as he scanned through the names.
Then he stopped.
A smirk crept onto his face.
"Oh? This one is interesting."
Silence spread throughout the room as he glanced at Renjiro.
"Renjiro Kurogane... wants to attend Tensho Academy?"
The classroom went silent for a moment.
Then-laughter.
Loud. Unrelenting. Cruel.
"Wait... Renjiro? The same Renjiro we know?" Haruto Minami, his former best friend, chuckled.
"Come on," Aoi Tachibana, his ex-girlfriend, scoffed. "You? A hero?"
Renjiro's fingers clenched around his desk. He wanted to speak, but his throat felt tight.
"A hero?" Ryuji grinned. "You can't even defend yourself."
"You're an embarrassment to the Kurogane name," Reina added.
Mr. Takeda didn't stop them.
He just smirked, watching as Renjiro sat there, drowning in their mockery.
But the worst was yet to come.
Because after school, they were waiting for him.