KOF School

Checkmate

It was Sports Club meeting again and Kay went over to the chess meeting place. It so wasn't a sport but it didn't seem like he cared. Adel teamed them up again, and he sat with Najd to play just like the last time.
"You better win at least once this time," Najd smirked as she moved her white pawn forward.
Kay only grunted in reply as he moved his pawn to the front two steps. Najd chuckled and continued to play.
"So, I heard there's this new vigilante in town?" Najd decided to strike a conversation since Kay was silent throughout the game. "It's like some book I read, the only difference being our vigilante not having superpowers like the book character."
"Is this book called Superhero? Because it sounds a lot like the one I read once," Kay said monotonously. "I feel like I'm being stalked, and not for a good reason."
"Why's that?" Najd asked, placing her pawn on the spot Kay's once stood as she took it away.
"Because I feel like I'm being watched, and it only started once this vigilante person appeared," Kay shrugged and casually took one of Najd's pawns away with his. "First it was just around my apartment building, then I began seeing them everywhere else. It was my sister's birthday yesterday and my father took us out to dinner. I spotted them there too, and realised that they stalked us until the apartment parking lot."
"And you're saying that this stalker is the new vigilante?"
Kay shrugged. "Seems like it. My brother chased them once too and managed to tear off a piece of their scarf. Their appearance matches the pictures taken of the new vigilante."
"Then why are you scared?" Najd nonchalantly asked as her finger hovered over her knight and bishop. "The vigilante is known to protect people, right?"
"Yes, but why stalk me and my family?" Kay moved his Queen back when he realised that Najd's bishop stood within distance. "My family's already been through enough, lost my mother, ended up in crappy foster homes when my dad was unwell. I don't wanna go back to the same life of fear."
"That sounds harsh, I'm sorry," Najd apologised as she moved her bishop back into its original place. "But what if the vigilante is stalking you for a reason? Maybe a good reason?"
"Then just tell me, darn it," Kay spat, contemplating on his next move. He eventually took his eyes off the board and met Najd's gaze. "Why follow me around like that instead of just telling me the reason?"
Najd looked a little uncomfortable and averted her gaze back to the board to move her knight forward. "Maybe they aren't sure about the reason themselves?"
"Then why stalk us like that?"
"I don't know, you should ask them, not me."
"I tried but they got away."
"Then you have to be faster to catch up."
"This is just making me feel worse, more frustrated than I already am... it's easy for you to say, you're not the one being stalked by an unknown figure in black. For all I know, it may not even be the vigilante but a crazy stalker instead."
Najd didn't say anything as Kay easily took down her Queen with his rook and had the white king checked. She looked up at him rather fearfully as she moved her king back while speaking.
"Do you have any enemies?"
Kay let out an unamused snort. "I'm seeing one every day in Maths class, what more do I need?"
"Your Maths teacher...?" Najd rolled her eyes, looking a little relieved. "That's everyone's enemy."
"Well, he's a little extra for me," Kay gave her a knowing look. "Just found out yesterday that he's out to get me on a personal vendetta."
"Personal vendetta? Why do you say that? Just admit that you're a bad student, I'm sure that's why he's picking on you."
"What does me being a bad student have anything to do with him ruining my family way back before I even enrolled in this school?"
Najd was speechless as she stared at the board, her king cornered on all directions. Kay had just beat her, the first time since they first played. She looked up at him and saw that he was looking at her intently.
"So tell me, do you still think he hates me just because I'm a bad student?" Kay calmly asked, resting his chin against his overlapped fingers.
"No..." Najd shook her head. "I don't think it has anything to do with your performance in class at all."
Kay relaxed a little and motioned towards the board. "Looks like I beat you at the game this time. How's that?"
"It's incredible," Najd nodded. "You've improved."
"Well, I practice with the best," Kay shrugged, finally giving her a smile. "Wanna play again?"
Najd smiled too. "Sure."

Iori still avoided Chris at all costs, though he didn't do it as obviously as Zayn did. The guy literally squirmed away from him in disgust, much to the younger boy's dismay.
"Zayn, seriously..." Iori tried really hard to not laugh at his reaction. "You're acting as if he hit you and not me."
"Well, hitting a friend is the same as hitting me," Zayn said as he indefinitely bounced a ball as they watched the other two teams have a turn against each other. "You literally did nothing to get hit like that the other day."
"Come on, he still apologised, didn't he?" Iori reasoned, taking the ball off his hands and tossing it to the side. "Besides, I'm actually flattered that you're angrier at him than I am."
Zayn smiled slightly. "Because I know you've been through enough trouble as it is to be bothered by people like this. If you don't, then who will?"
"I never thought about it that way but thanks, I guess," Iori chuckled. "Come on, let's go sit at the bench. This game just started."
Zayn nodded and followed along. They spotted Rock sitting at one of the benches with a book and decided to join him.
Iori tried to peek at the book he was reading. "Whatcha reading?"
"Some manga I found at the library..." Rock said. "I need to practice reading complicating Japanese words, I'm still a little rusty."
"Why don't you stay back?" Zayn piped up. "We do that every day after school to study, Iori joins in too."
"That actually sounds like a good idea, but it seems like a big crowd," Rock admitted. "But I might join in sometime since Terry and Andy sometimes stay back for meetings with the administrators."
"Sure, you can always join us," Iori smirked. "You can get help from us sometime too."
"I'm actually okay, I just need to read up more," Rock said, closing his manga. "Maybe I'll stay back for the books."
"Yeah, reading Japanese books is actually a really good idea," Zayn nodded. "That's how I learned when we first came here."
"Yeah, and this manga is actually good too," Rock agreed. "But maybe I'll get a novel to read. You guys have any suggestions?"
Iori had plenty. Zayn had only read three books so far, and they were all in English, so he decided to just keep out of their conversation and look at his phone instead.