Kasuki Lu: Rise of a Warrior - Part Three

Also by shadowcristal

No, he reminded himself. Must remember diet. Trying to avoid trouble, Kasuki stepped backwards. The Lupe growled and advanced, while the Chia backed.

     "Chicken!" the crowd that had been gathering shouted. "Fat chicken!"

     Fearing for his health, Kasuki trodded backwards. Instantly he lost his balance and fell to the ground with a yell.

     "Perfect," the Lupe said as he jumped down into the arena. "Now, let's fight!"

     Darien cracked his knuckles with such a noise that made Kasuki Lu tremble a bit. The Chia bit his lip nervously and willed himself not to drop to his knees begging for mercy.

     "Fight! Fight! Fight!" was all they could hear from their other classmates. They had gathered around to see the battle. The Lupe's pack was whooping and yelling, and every now and then, one of them would stop rooting for Darien to hiss and jeer at his opponent.

     "Ready, you big lump?" said the Lupe, grinning in such a way that all his sharp teeth showed. Then, without warning, he grabbed Kasuki by the neck and shoved him down hard onto the arena ground. The Chia tried to dodge the blows coming from Darien's paws, but he was too slow, and had no energy, thus getting up already seemed like torture.

     Unfortunately, Kasuki Lu's opponent had the extra advantages of having eaten and a horde of supporters screaming for him. The Lupe punched him in the face, causing him to stagger backward against the wall. Before he could even recover, he felt Darien give him a shove onto the floor again. Feeling hungry, tired and listless, the Chia couldn't get up anymore, and would rather lie on the arena, even if it meant withstanding everyone's insults.

     "Aww, did the poor ickle fatty lose to the big scary Lupe?"

     "Maybe he's in this class because he has to repeat!"

     "That was the easiest fight I've ever done!" roared Darien, placing his paws on his hips and smiling triumphantly. "You sure took the fun out of battling."

     "He's not just a fat lump, he's a fat lumpy wimp!" added one of his cronies, laughing stupidly.

     As the cruel words rained over him, the Chia's vision blurred. He soon found himself staring into a white ceiling in a room that was quite familiar to him.

     Kasuki noticed that he was back in the dormitory room. Something white was lying in on his stomach. The Chia grasped the paper and read the note.

     When he had finished, he let out a deep sigh and tried to wriggle in the bed. The result of numerous scratches and punches pained him too much, so he just lay still.

     He was off for the day, but Kasuki doubted that he would be able to do anything anyway. Suddenly the hurtful comments of the spectators echoed in his mind, and again the Chia was reminded of how weak he was.

     His large body quivered and trembled as the fight re-played in his mind. How that hateful Lupe had pounced him! After his mind had been settled, Kasuki found that big, crystal tears were rolling down and slowly disappearing.

     It was hopeless. How could he ever expect anyone to be his friend? Those gloating faces, their smug grins... Never!

     The Chia closed his eyes and sniffled as he buried himself in bed. As he tried to fall asleep, his stomach protested and Kasuki was reminded of the things he hadn't done.

     He hadn't even had a meal! Kasuki jumped up wearily, and saw the notes he had taken in Miss Alana's class. Anger rushing through his veins, he took them up and tore them apart. Then, as the remains of the notes whirled around in the air, the Chia realized what he had done.

     The last words of the speckled Acara teacher rang in his head. There was a quiz! Now that his notes were nothing but scraps and pieces, he had just about no source of information to pass the test. Sure, Miss Alana seemed quite kind, but that didn't mean she may let him off the test quickly instead of giving him another.

     Kasuki's eyes travelled to the clock in the dormitory. Both hands were pointing up at the 12. Lunchtime. The word rang in his ears like a pair of cymbals clasped together behind him.

     Brushing bits of paper off his front, the Chia jumped off the bed, tore out the door and headed for the cafeteria nearby, looking for an empty table. There was one all right - at the far end, beside the trash cans. He could easily see why nobody wanted to sit there.

     Unfortunately, he had no choice. Grabbing a tray, he began loading up his plate with everything on the menu, piling them up so it resembled a great mountain of food. Some heads turned to stare, including one teacher whose eyes grew to the size of plates.

     Paying no attention, Kasuki Lu walked through the tables, trying not to catch a glimpse of Darien and his pack, or any of his classmates in general. Whispers and horrible mutterings permeated the surroundings, and it was hard for the Chia to block them all from his mind.

     Finally, he sat down at the table, as far away as he could from the garbage bins. Feeling thoroughly sorry for himself, he began shovelling spoonful after spoonful of food into his mouth, barely chewing any of it due to his great hunger. He paid no attention even to the smaller, thinner pets whose eyes were transfixed on the large student at the very end of the cafeteria. At least they're not insulting me, thought Kasuki to himself.

     After a while the Chia started to slow down, as most of the hunger had been satiated. Still not feeling satisfied, he kept eating and eating. If Kasuki had looked up, he would've noticed that all the pets in the room were staring at him.

     But he did not do so, and just kept eating. When he felt that his stomach was full, he stopped. Kasuki had some trouble getting off the chair, but he felt much more energetic than he had done in the morning.

     Eating was perhaps not a bad thing. When he looked at the clock, the Chia realized that Miss Alana's lesson was next. He returned to his room and retrieved his school-bag, feeling rather apprehensive.

     What was he going to do for the quiz? The Chia racked his brain for answers, until he noticed that the hallway was completely quiet. Instead of looking at him with mean, squinty eyes, the pets were staring at him.

     Feeling rather nervous, Kasuki tried to act normal. He walked on and tried to ignore the stares that he attracted while growing curious. Why in the world were they staring at him?

     As he sat down at his chair, he felt something uncomfortable poke him in the stomach. He looked down and saw his table pressing hard into it. The Chia tried to get up and adjust to this strange phenomenon, but it seemed as though he was stuck. He tried to wriggle out of it, only to have his classmates nearby laugh at him while waiting for Miss Alana.

     "Too big for your high chair, fat lump?" sneered Darien, glaring at Kasuki Lu malevolently. "Hey guys, someone's had a growth spurt! IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!" He and his pack guffawed even louder, and some of their classmates joined in. The two Meercas nearest to the Chia banged their fists on the table in mirth. A nearby female Zafara fell off her chair in such a fit of giggles. In fact, as the Acara walked into her class, she was greeted by peals of laughter.

     "What seems to be so funny?" asked Miss Alana in a concerned tone.

     "Nothing, Miss Alana," replied Darien the Lupe in a singsong voice. "We were sharing a good clean joke just like the wonderful students in your class." These words made the Chia sick to his pressured stomach.

     At last, the speckled Acara finally set aside her papers on the table, arranging them neatly, as usual. "Okay, everyone, does anyone recall what I've told you before? You will all have a test on your general knowledge of proper diet and nutrition of a budding warrior."

     Everyone grumbled and hurriedly looked over their notes, watching Miss Alana as she got her quiz notebook ready. None of them noticed Kasuki panic internally as he realized what he had done to her notes before.

     "There," Miss Alana said when they all put away their papers and took out a bunch of her own. The Chia felt sick, and not just because of the large lunch he had eaten. He took the paper the delicate Acara was handing out and looked at it.

     "Ready?" she asked upon returning to her desk. "Don't forget, only pencils and erasers!"

     Kasuki stared at the questions, his mind going blank. He shook his pencil and tried again, and to his surprise he realized that he knew the first answer to the question.

     The Chia quickly begun to scribble, afraid of failing the test just after he had arrived at this new school. Even if everyone wasn't nice, maybe the teachers would be if he got good grades...

     As he kept reading and answering, some of the answers returned to his mind. When he finished it and handed it in, Kasuki was rather confident that he would at least pass, if not anything else.

     He exited the classroom before everybody else, once again trying to avoid trouble.

     Having been too absorbed in answering the questions of the quiz, the Chia hadn't noticed another empty chair. When he looked back into the classroom, he noticed that a certain Lupe was missing.

     "Looking for someone," a familiar voice asked behind him.

     "Darien..." Kasuki muttered, slowly backing away. His large stomach was still digesting the lunch, and he did not want the humiliation to be repeated.

     "I told you, weakling, I would get you..." he growled, advancing on the poor Chia who backed away quickly with a frightened look in his orange face.

     As he backed away, he hit something hard behind him - the wall. Darien had cornered him, and many of his friends gathered around to watch.

     The Lupe made his right paw into a fist and let it fly towards Kasuki Lu's face. Unfortunately, at this time, the Chia could barely move, thanks to the heavy load still being processed in his stomach. All he could do was turn away slightly, so Darien ended up punching the wall, the hit a mere half inch away from Kasuki's head.

     "So, you want to play games, eh?" The Chia's opponent tried to hit him again, but he missed. After another lucky dodge, Kasuki felt a little dizzy, and slid onto the ground - and onto the Lupe's foot.

     "OUCH!" Darien pulled his foot away, hopping on the other one. "Why you big lump! I'll teach you to turn my paws into mashed potatoes!" He attempted a headlock on Kasuki Lu, but his neck was so wide that his paws couldn't get a firm hold. As the two struggled, the Chia lost his balance, and staggered backwards - right on top of his rival.

     The onlookers gasped as they saw the leader of the pack fall.

     Kasuki himself was rather surprised as he heard the Lupe's breath diminish below him. It occurred to the Chia that he was suffocating his opponent, and he jumped up in horror, his fat body wagging.

     Darien lay there, out of breath. His eyes were black slits, burning with contempt as he glared at Kasuki. Slowly the Lupe also got up and rammed into the Chia, with no visible effect.

     Kasuki felt his stomach give a weird gurgle as more food was digested, and he collapsed on his opponent again. The Chia felt kind of funny, so he giggled.

     That just seemed to make Darien angrier. Stuck beneath the Chia, the Lupe tried his hardest to get up without success as the crowd started to roar with laughter.

     For the first time in his life, everyone was with Kasuki. He felt the peers' amusement adding onto his own as he looked at the Lupe below him.

     It was obvious that all the food had helped. Now the crowd was no longer laughing at Kasuki because of his fatness, but because he had used it in such a creative way. Now they were laughing with him, at the pathetic Lupe that had claimed his fatness to be bad.

     It wasn't, the Chia realized. He grinned as he grolled around, making the Lupe below him groan. The audience started to chant and clap, but all that was interrupted when a crisp, clear voice rang through the hall.

     "Stop this immediately! What is the meaning of this?" Miss Alana had arrived, and guilty Kasuki turned around to face her.

     Everyone watched as the speckled Acara took the Chia's chubby paw in her own. Some of the students were awed, the others gave thumbs-up signs, and even Darien's friends were grinning at him - and this time, they weren't mean, arrogant ones. Nobody paid attention to the Lupe who was trying to get back onto his feet.

     Kasuki Lu had a slightly terrible feeling in his stomach as the teacher opened the door to her office, which was just down the hallway. But it subsided when he stepped inside.

     He found himself standing in a cozy little room that looked more like a lounge than an office. There were a few soft armchairs for visitors, and a nice big one for Miss Alana herself, behind a polished table. There were many bookshelves, filled with books of not only about nutrition and diet, but also on various subjects. Violet wallpaper, a small chandelier and a few potted flowers completed the surroundings.

     She gestured towards a particularly lovely chair for her student to sit in. Kasuki obliged, and sank into the velvet, even more anxious now as he watched his teacher cross the room and sit down regally at her table that had a nameplate embossed with, "ASHLEY NATALIE ALANA".

     "Please explain what has happened, Kasuki Lu," she asked, seemingly more pleading than demanding.

     * * *

     Miss Alana listened as he narrated everything - from the moment Darien had taken an instant dislike to him and every student followed his lead...to the humiliation...to the vow to diet and its backfire...to more humiliation. The Chia felt hot tears pouring down his face as he let out all his feelings towards the Acara, whose brows were furrowed with pity.

     She gently reached out a paw to pat him on the shoulder. "Oh, you poor thing. Well, why didn't you tell any of your teachers earlier?"

     He said nothing, and stared at the carpeted floor. Apparently he was too scared to speak up in the first place. Sighing, Miss Alana stroked her chin in thought. "Well, I cannot think of a way to undo the past, but I can help you change the future."

     "How?" Kasuki Lu couldn't help asking.

     "Well, I hate to be quite blunt here, but I see you've gained a tad too much weight right now. If slimming down will boost your confidence and put an end to this fiasco, then I'm more than willing to help."

     He stared at the speckled Acara in disbelief and confusion.

     Miss Alana smiled again, her eyes and teeth glittering. "Ever hear of a diet plan before, Kasuki?"

     ***

           Dear Mother and Father,

     How are you? I'm in my dorm, celebrating the win our team had in the school tournament today. Thanks to me, we won the final deciding battle.

     I know, it's been a long time since we have talked to each other. Mother, you promised to keep in touch, but I guess we've all been busy.

     Here at school I'm doing great, just as you have said. At first it was hard, though, because everybody bullied me for my fatness. But now, through a chain of events, I have learned to like it and use it to my advantage. I can win a lot of fights now, thanks to a strength-gaining diet plan that my health teacher, Miss Alana, made for me.

     I would like to thank you for your support, for being wonderful parents that helped me along even when I wasn't the most desirable child. You encouraged me, told me to shine and ignore those who frown upon the weak. I just want to say thank you, for without you my confidence would not have been what it was today, and perhaps I wouldn't have dared to battle that Lupe and win my first fight like I did that day. And another good thing about the battle was that, after some time, Darien and I became great friends, and he made me an honorary member of his pack.

     Anyway, it's a long story, and I shall tell you that some other day. Right now my friends are tugging at me to join them in crushing funny-looking chips, so I will do that.

     Don't worry about me, I have lots of good friends and I exercise regularly. I just wanted to thank you, for being the wonderful parents that you are.

     With love,

     Kasuki Lu

The End