Hurried feet struck the road that led to Seihou High. There were two minutes left until Renji was officially late for school.

He couldn't allow that. He had to keep a perfect overall. It was important if he wanted to get into Nakamura Top Arts University.

He ran faster, hearing the warning chime clang across the courtyard like a fire alarm.

Right then, Renji burst through the front gates at a dead sprint, shoes skidding on loose gravel. His school bag banged against his hip, tie flapping loose over one shoulder.

He panted heavily; sweat already beaded on his forehead from the four-block run from the bus stop. Second-years and first-years scattered out of his way, staring at the disheveled third-year barreling past like his life depended on it.

He rounded the corner into the shoe-locker hallway at full speed.

But his left foot never came back down.

Someone had shot out a leg from the side, and even though Renji had seen it, he couldn't react on time.

It hooked his shin and Renji's center of gravity vanished. For one frozen millisecond he was airborne, arms windmilling, eyes wide behind cracked glasses, then the polished floor slammed into his palms, knees, and finally his forehead with a meaty thud that echoed down the corridor.

Thud!

Renji felt his head thunder as echoes reverberated through his skull and his body.

Laughter detonated instantly.

"Watch where you're going, trash!"

He managed to look up and see who it was. It was Kaito, planting one sneaker on Renji's scattered math notebook and grinding it like a cigarette butt.

Iroha doubled over, wheezing. "Holy shit, did you see his face? Like a fucking cartoon!"

Jiro filmed it on his phone, zooming on Renji's bleeding palm as he pushed himself up. "Ten out of ten landing. Olympic-level flop."

Renji tasted iron. Blood dripped from his lower lip where he'd bitten it.

"Ah. That gotta hurt."

"Hah! I hope it does."

Renji took deep breaths, steadying himself. He couldn't take on all four of them, he knew it. So he quietly gathered his books slowly, head low.

When he lifted his head, he saw Haru look back to glance at him. His eyes locked on Renji for three full seconds, unreadable, before he turned and disappeared into the homeroom without a word.

Renji wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, leaving a red smear on pale skin, and followed the crowd inside.

He couldn't fight them all, yes. But their punishment was coming soon. And it would be worse.

Inside the homeroom, Renji walked the gauntlet between desks, every eye tracking the blood on his uniform and the dirt on his cheek.

He ignored them and their stupid murmurs and pointing stares.

He dropped into his seat, his mind full of thougts of how he wanted to fuck Miyako right there, of how he should have just opened the door when Haru knocked, so he would have seen him fucking his mother.

He thought of how he could hav—

"Good morning, Renji" a voice drew him from his mind.

It was Hitomi. When he turned, she saw his nose and frowned. "You're bleeding."

She tried to help, but he said it was okay. Then his eyes narrowed.

Something was off.

Hitomi looked really different today.

Her usually severe ponytail was gone. This time, her brown hair fell in soft, glossy waves past her shoulders, framing her blushed face.

She also wasn't wearing a cardigan today, which meant her breasts swelled out of her uniform today. Her white blouse, normally buttoned to the throat, had the top two buttons undone, just enough to show the delicate white lace of her bra and the gentle curve where her breasts pressed together.

The navy skirt, which used to hit mid-knee, now stopped three centimeters higher, exposing smooth, pale thighs that shifted when she crossed her legs.

Renji's brain short-circuited.

What the hell was this?

Was this because of Saturday?

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Then managed to say, "Good morning by the way.

Hitomi smiled at him. Happy.

The door suddenly opened with a bang.

Principal Suzuki, her mom, strode in like a general entering a war room.

The room went dead silent as expected; chairs scraped as every student sat ramrod straight.

She placed a thick stack of graded mock exams on the teacher's podium with a sharp thwack.

"Good morning, third-years," she began, voice slicing through the air. "I have seen the results of your examination application results. Every single one of you achieved the minimum threshold required to submit applications to universities. Congratulations. It is good to know that you are not complete failures."

A nervous titter rippled and died instantly under her stare.

"Do not misunderstand. Passing the application screening is meaningless if you fail the actual entrance exams in February. Fail those, and you do not graduate. You repeat third year. You watch your friends move on to university while you sit in this exact classroom again next April, older, humiliated, and financially ruined."

She tapped the stack again. "Take your studies very seriously, students. Dismissed."

She gave all of them a long stare before leaving, but in her mind, she was worried.

I need to find who that boy is quick. My daughter can not fall to bad influences.

The second the door shut, the room detonated back into noise.

Instantly, Kaito and his goons surrounded Renji's desk.

Kaito slammed both palms down, leaning in until his face was inches away. Haru, Iroha and Jiro fanned out, blocking escape.

Renji sighed. "Do we still have to do this? You already gave me a bleeding nose."

"Hah! You think that's the end of it?" Kaito sneered, voice dripping venom. "I'm not done with you, loser. Not after what you pulled on Friday, making us look like idiots."

Iroha and Jiro flung the books on Renji's table on the floor.

"Stop it! Now!"

Hitomi's voice fell on deaf ears.

Kaito snatched Renji by the collar with both fists, hauling him halfway out of his seat.

"I fucking hate your smug little face," Kaito hissed, spit flecking Renji's cheek. "After school today, we're going to teach you a lesson for real this time. I'll fuck your face up so bad even plastic surgery won't fix it."

Renji stared up at him, expressionless, pulse steady.

'This dumb fucker is so predictable. So loud. He has no idea that I have the power to make him fail or pass classes in this school.'

He smirked in his mind. 'At least in History.'

The door slid open again.

"Take your seats, everyone," Miss Katsura said mildly, stepping in with her usual monotone gait.

Kaito released Renji with a shove that sent him back into his chair. "This is not over," he mumbled as he dragged one finger across his own throat in a kill gesture, then sauntered away.

Miss Katsura set her materials down. "Now take out the essay homework I gave you all. Let us discuss it."

Renji's eyes suddenly widened.

He had spent the entire weekend balls-deep in Haruka and Miyako that he'd forgotten about homework

For the first time ever in his life, Renji had failed to do his homework.

And it had to be in Miss Katsura's class.

Shit.

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A/N: Were nearing half of the goal. Keep going guys! Get Swordsman's Regression to 50 collections and get a 10 chapter mass release

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