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crackheadintheclouds · 1 year

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KAZAMA REN X READER

[Part -I]

Sunlight peered through the glass windows, the smell of delicious food lingered in the air. It was lunch time and all the students were busy chattering, joking, eating and goofing around. Except you , who was rather focused on the tiny piece of paper in front of you with pen twirling between your fingers.

Mathematics, geometry.

You had nearly spent fifteen minutes trying to figure out the same problem. It wasn't some simple maths question, it was the chocolate problem of the week, the toughest question on the practice sheet. Whoever solved it or even figured out the initial steps were considered to be a genius in the classroom. And after getting inspired by a few classmates, you were trying your best to figure it out. Not for the chocolate's sake, but because of Akadou University. Although you were still in middle school, your father's friend's son had been successfully admitted to a prestigious university. It was a proud moment for their family. And the happiness it brought on their faces was euphoric with the feeling of pride swirling in the air. You wanted to be there too, someday, in the same position watching the gleeful faces of your loved ones. Being the reason for their smile.

“Yes! ” you exclaimed out loud in excitement when all of a sudden something clicked in your mind. You opened the cap of your pen and started writing the solution on the white paper. Before you could reach the end, someone snatched away the parchment beneath your hand making you raise your e/c coloured eyes, only to meet the magenta coloured eyes of a green haired boy.

Kazama Ren, the school basketball player and bully. You inhaled sharply as he gave it a look of malice before crumbling the paper in front of you, making your fingers curl in temper. You rose from your seat, making the chair under you squeak and giving him a hard glare which he returned with an equally vicious smirk plastered on his face making your blood boil with rage.

“Don't you dare to act all Einstein. You clearly aren't worth such things”he mocked tilting his head.

“That's right, I'm worth more”you growled squinting at him , a look furrowing your eyebrows.“Now give it back,”you demanded in a stern voice.

“Fine” he said, changing his expressions , surprisingly making your face cool down. He unfurled the paper and offered it to you giving a genuine smile. You raised your hand forward in order to take it only for him to back away, making you stop dead at your position. You were too naive to know his intentions. He held the paper right in front of your face, before bringing another hand up.

Krrrrr

He turned the paper, placing the torn ones one upon another.

Krrrrr

He turned the paper one upon another again.

Krrrr

By now the whole class was looking at the farce happening in front of them.

He continued looking at you smirking as he tore the paper slowly bit by bit and threw them on you making them fly in the air, a few pieces landing on your h/c coloured hair. The class watched as the green haired mocked you , not even a single person willing to stand up for you. You stood there dumbfold staring at him, as you felt your chest heavy with the insult you received.

“Happy now?” He mocked before laughing with his goons who latched around him like a leech because of his influencing attitude and money.

“A geek should know their place, you know where it is?”

You deadpanned at him not speaking a word.

“Its the trash bin”

You averted your eyes to the ground trying to hold back tears pricking your eyes as he spat those words like poison darts.

Contented with his victory, he snickered, bumping your shoulder and walking away. You bit back your cry, lowering down on the ground staring at the ink written on the bits of paper that now layed on the ground. You clenched your fist as you cursed yourself to be so vulnerable to a bullies words when it didn't matter at all. You knew it was just a little push for you to break out from your shell ....so that you could improve but it was just so brutal .You stood up after pulling your strands of emotions together, lighting up something else inside instead of rage. The thirst to prove yourself.

“We'll see what we're worth in the end ” you muttered before sitting back on your seat as the bell rang.

The sound of ball and shoes squeaking against the floor echoed through the gymnasium as the crowd watched the players cheering, chattering and squealing at their every basket. It was the final basketball match of middle school , so there was a lot of enthusiasm and excitement filled within the players as well as the student crowd.

The match had been tougher than usual which was obviously because it was the final match. But Kazama was already on cloud number nine with the attention and appreciation he was receiving from the cheer leaders and students.

He was a bit more confident than usual , as he played his chest filled to the brim with pride and ego. There was no doubt he was the best player in the field , he knew he was the centre of attention for his looks,money and popularity. And that just added more into his ego,the more he thought about it. He was so engrossed within himself he was almost sure he would be the one to win. No scratch that. He was going to win, he was the elite , the ace of his team. There was no doubt someone would surpass him. He was so indulged within his narcissistic thoughts he ignored the pleas of his fellow teammates to play carefully.

The referee whistled as making everyone come to halt, signalling everyone it was the last few minutes of the match. There was a lot of tension among the teammates and surrounding. Even the crowd kept on biting their lips anxiously, unable to guess who would win.

Kazama looked at the scoreboard only to find both the teams had tied. The trophy would belong to the one who baskets the ball. He smirked , this trophy was definitely going to him. He could do it with the back of his hand. It felt like a piece of cake to him!

Underestimating his opponents, he grabbed the ball to himself the second the shrill sound of whistle entered his ears. Dribbling and saving the ball from the opponents, he made his way through. He could almost see it, the basket and the ball, only a few feet away. Few feet away from the final victory.

He was so lost in his lust of victory he could almost imagine himself holding the golden shiny trophy gleaming in his hands, the students cheering his name . He made his way through lightning fast and jumped, throwing the ball with his pale lean hand and before he knew it , the ball landed in the basket, circling around the ring and finally falling through the net.

“Yeah!!!! ” he screamed his throat out giddy excitedly, finally taking a breath of relief .

He was the winner. No one else. Nobody else was as best as him. He was the king of basketball.

His victorious smile dimmed down when he noticed instead squealing and cheering of the crowd, all he heard was dead silence. No one was screaming his name, not even a single person. All just stared at him dumbstruck as if he did something gravely wrong.His eyes darted around as he scanned the faces of his teammates who wore a disgusted expression and shot him grimace looks.

He furrowed his eyes in confusion, not understanding what he did wrong. They won didn't they? He scored the point, then why the gross looks?

He snapped his head in the opposite direction to check on the other team, only to find the faces of his opponents smiling, smirking, giving lopsided grins.

They lost, didn't they? Then why are they smiling?

Before he could process what was going on, the referee whistled and pointed out towards the opponent team as the winners of the match and half the crowd started squealing over the victory while half the crowd started booing.

Suddenly reality hit him. His smile disappeared and his heart bursted out in guilt.

He scored on the wrong side of the court. The wrong side of the fucking court. Overconfidence and pride had dumped him down in the drains.

How could he make such a silly mistake?

Guilt tripped, he looked over his teammates for support, for consolation but all he received was grunts and grimances. They were surely cursing him under their breaths. He tried to take a step forward towards them but his heart ached when he realised they were leaving the court without waiting for him. Without waiting for their ace who had been alongside him in all their long journey.

He should've listened to them. If he weren't blinded by his ego and narcissism none of this farce would have occurred. He was too drowned within his own ego to even realise his wrong doings.

He scanned the vast gymnasium where people booed him, cursed him. This chest started feeling heavy as cold sweats covered the back of his neck. He had official made a fool of himself in front of every student, in front of his teachers and fans, in front of the whole fucking school. And now even his teammates were shooing him away.

He pressed his lips together trying to control his feelings of embarrassment, regret and guilt at the same time.

Obviously he was the one and only to blame and there was no doubt it was his fault. He signed, averting his head down.

For the first time in years he was accepting his mistake.

And it was hard.

He numbed away his feelings during the trophy announcement, clapping away pretending to be happy for the other team who had won because of him. Because of his ridiculous mistake. They would probably make fun of him after everything is done and he wouldn't be left to show his face to anyone.

After shaking hands with the opposite team, he silently made his way to the locker room to change as the crowd started leaving the gymnasium.

Right before opening the door, he hesitated. He didn't want to go there . He just wasn't ready to face them yet. They were probably waiting to scold him in there and he thought it was best to let them cool down. He decided to ditch the plan and wander around instead, to keep away from people's judgemental eyes.

“You suck Kazama! ” a voice yelled at him. He turned only to meet eyes with his teammates who were fuming with rage, crossing their hands in disapproval and disappointment.

“Why the heck did you have to act so extra smart you fucking piece of shit?!”

“We lost because of you! We lost because of your fucking mistakes! ”

“You dumbass bitch why didn't you listen to us? ”

His teammates removed all their frustration, scolding him right on the spot. No matter how many times he apologised, no matter how many times he said sorry, nobody listened to him. Nobody. He doubted if they even considered him as a friend after noticing their behaviour towards him. They treated him like a prick, a dumb asshole. He knew he deserved it but what hurt him more was when they said “You don't deserve to be in the team if you think you could win all by yourself. Yes, we are kicking you out and don't come crying because we fucking won't accept you back for your shitty behavior.”

With that, they just left. There was no sympathy or mercy in their tone. They all blamed him , gave him the burden of all their mistakes, broke away their friendships for a silly game. For a fucking game.

Disappointed, he ran out of the gymnasium holding back his emotions. There was nobody to support him. Who would? He had been a bully all his life in middle school, it was obvious everyone disliked him, hated him, including his friends. He had no one to go for comfort or consolation, nobody to correct him and make him realise his mistakes. And that just broke him even more, so he ran. He ran until the gymnasium was out of view, until he was exhausted

He finally stopped to hold his breath after he was sufficiently away from the building, panting heavily resting his palms on his knees. He sat on the nearby bench as his eyes finally opened about himself and about others.

He curled his fingers in anger and hurt recalling his friends.

How could he call those bastards as friends when they just left him in the moment of need? How could they hang out with him only for the sake of popularity and money?

He was busy blaming himself for being so naive and selfish, trying to cope up with the insult and hate he received when a shadow fell over him, blocking the bright rays of the sun. He looked up to see a silhouette of a girl standing beside him. He couldn't exactly figure out who it was until his eyes adjusted to the light.

It was a h/c haired, e/c eyed girl standing in front of him. Recalling from his memories,he had bullied you a few months back and he definitely knew you were there to rub salt in his wounds. A perfect timing to take your sweet revenge. He ignored you and just stared at the blank space.

“Just say whatever you want to say and leave, even bicker if you want but just leave me alone,” he spat, not making eye contact.

It wasn't that you had followed him there. In fact, it was a coincidence! You didn't guess he would be inside the park after the felicitation ceremony, especially after what had happened today. You definitely sensed hurt in his voice as his face showed expressions of internally breaking apart. He was having a hard time, he was in a rough spot. Despite him being your bully, you wanted to help him.

Without a thought you sat down next to him “That's not the reason I'm here for” you replied suavely.

“Then why are you here?” he ranted , still refusing to make eye contact.

“I saw the match and... ” you trailed off. “I also saw what your friends did.”

“So are you here to add more to my pain? Do the same thing my friends did?” his lips quivered as he still tried to hold back his intimidating composure.

“I already said I'm not here to do any of that” you said soothingly “And what you called friends, I don't even think you should consider them that..., ”

“What do you mean?”he questioned, curious to know what you wanted to say.

“I mean how could you be so blind? After noticing their persona in my perspective, they were only taking advantage of you... ”

An awkward silence bloomed between you two as you stared at the blank road.

“Sorry I shouldn't have said that–”

“Actually , you're right”he cutted you off.

He knew it! He fucking knew it all along! But he didn't confront them about it, thinking he would be left friendless and without support... Thinking he would turn into a loser. Thinking it would add a strain to his image.

But right now, when he thought about it... What tree did the seed bore? At the end he still became the joker he thought he'd become, didn't he?

Accepting the reality seemed hard to him and your words overwhelmed him even more.

He finally looked at you, tears welling in his eyes.“They never considered me as their friends, they only fucking used me for my money, for my fame” he confessed.

His chest moved up and down as he finally broke down and before you knew it he latched himself on your shoulders in a hug and started wailing.

“Those fucking... Bastards... They were only using... Me... They never cared about me...” he sniffed “Everyone hates... Me... I'm stupid idiot... Who believed they were my friends... I lost the match... I was so lost in my pride and ego.... ” Being a sensitive soul yourself, you consoled him by patting on his back, something which your grandma used to do while you cried during childhood. It was odd for you to do such a thing , especially after he had bullied you before , but you patiently listened to him. People tend to make mistakes and maybe if you help him, maybe if you're there for him when he needs it the most , he'll become a better person. You were sure sooner or later he'll give up on his antiques and do the right thing. He was already redeeming his actions anyway.

“It's okay” you soothingly said flashing back to the memories of your grandma and her sayings“Just let it all out, it will be alright. Everything happens for a reason you know....We lose people so that sooner or later we realise we need to depend on ourselves...Good things fall apart so better things can come together and whatever happens we can always learn from it”

He broke away from you sniffing, wiping away his tears as his face came pink. “But it hurts.... A lot” he sobbed, taking large breaths.

“It sure does” you gave him a soft smile offering him your handkerchief “But eventually things will turn out better”

Somehow those words got through him as he accepted your handkerchief and he finally calmed down wiping away his tears. You placed your palm on his back , comforting him as if like a child and it did turn out fruitful. After spending a good time with him to ensure he doesn't cry again, finally you decided to leave. You stood up from the bench, preparing to depart . It was time for you to go home.

Kazama didn't seem fazed about you leaving at first, giving you hints that he was okay now. So, being self satisfied with your given time, you started walking away.

“Thank you” The words fell over your ears making you halt on your spot. You turned your head in his direction somehow baffled by his changed behaviour. He never thanked anyone as far as you knew.

“What?”

“Thank you... For being there for me.” he mumbled, grinning sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. His face was a mess but he looked quite adorable now that he was emotionally stable however you couldn't overlook the fact his behaviour was quite ....strange.

“You're welcome.” you returned the smile showing your satisfaction with his behaviour. However, awkwardness did not waver a bit. Not knowing what to respond any further ,you continued walking your way when once again his words made you stop.

“Would you like to hang out for lunch tomorrow?” he called out from a distance , his words sounding genuine and wishful.

You turned your head only to find him staring straight at you, frantically waiting for your answer. His expressions seemed stern and desperate.

You chuckled before answering him back with a wide grin “Sure.”

_________

Yes and yes I'm going to continue this later but do let me know if you want a part 2 posted here ! 👀 but I'm curious regarding how you feel about the backstory. Let me know in the comments, if you wish,feel free to ask about the questions of the character . Last but not the least don't forget to like and share ;)

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