Luna (2)
"Ha... Who did this? Who the hell did this?"
Luna, who had just returned to school after a long trip to watch the Europa League final, let out a deep sigh as she looked at her desk. It was covered in a chaotic mess of graffiti—words like traitor and "Go back to your own country." She scanned the classroom, but not a single person met her eyes.
'This is so annoying. Because of Luka, I have to...'
It had been like this for about three months now. And the root of it all was her pathetic older brother, Luka, posting that ridiculous rant on social media. Ever since Luka made those posts trash-talking Japan, these underhanded, petty pranks had begun. It had already been three long months.
It was a subtle form of bullying—scribbling on her desk, or throwing erasers at her while she walked down the hallway. One day, she had spent the entire morning completely unaware of a sticky note slapped on her back that read traitor.
Returning to Japan after spending quality time with her family in Europe, only to be immediately greeted by this bullying, made tears well up in her eyes. But Luna blinked them back. She knew that if she showed any weakness, this passive-aggressive harassment would escalate into outright, relentless torment.
"I don't know which of you bastards did this, but if I catch you, you're dead."
Luna muttered the warning quietly, glaring at her classmates who studiously avoided her gaze, before sitting down and crossing her arms. It wasn't like she had no idea who was behind this. The ringleaders were almost certainly the underclassmen of Luka's ex-girlfriend, Mai.
Although Mai had already graduated to high school, she had been highly popular and left behind a large circle of loyal underclassmen. Among them were some real delinquents who loved picking on others, regardless of whether they were boys or girls.
And Luna's hunch was spot on. While Mai hadn't directly ordered them to do this, every single one of her underclassmen knew how devastated she had been after the breakup with Luka. Those who genuinely adored Mai despised Luka for hurting her, and by extension, they viewed his younger sister, Luna, as an absolute eyesore.
To make matters worse, a group of boys who wanted to get in those girls' good graces had started joining in on the harassment. That was the reality of the bullying Luna was currently enduring.
If not for Luka's traitorous outburst, they would have just glared at her with distaste without ever acting on it. But his online rant had handed them the perfect excuse on a silver platter. Luna couldn't help but feel that this was entirely her brother's fault.
Yet, even though their family had never been particularly close, she and Luka had actually gotten along quite well over the past few months before he left for England. Blaming him now made her feel a bit pathetic.
'If only I hadn't been separated from my friends this year...'
If she still had the friends she'd spent her first and second years with, she wouldn't be wallowing in these pathetic thoughts, blaming her own family. Before Luka's scandal, Luna had been popular enough to have several people she called friends in her class.
But they weren't close enough to risk standing up for her against a mob with a "righteous" cause. Luna deeply missed her friends in the other classes, and she couldn't wait for lunchtime when she could finally see them.
'Sigh...'
Letting out a silent sigh so no one would notice, Luna pulled an eraser from her pencil case and began rubbing away the graffiti. As she vigorously scrubbed the desk, her self-pitying thoughts slowly faded.
'Luka, you absolute idiot...!'
She knew it was wrong to blame her family, but she couldn't help the anger bubbling up inside her. If only Luka had held his tongue, none of this would have happened.
She wouldn't have to deal with this frustration every single day she came to school, and their mother wouldn't have had to quit her broadcasting career. No matter how hard she tried not to blame him, she couldn't help but resent Luka for losing his temper and posting those words.
If he were still the cold, arrogant jerk he had been a few years ago, she could have hated him with a clear conscience. But the memory of how kind and warm he had been to her over the last few months kept getting in the way. The fact that she couldn't even hate him in peace made her even angrier.
'Why is he like this? It's so frustrating...'
Having finally erased the graffiti, Luna reached into her school bag to prepare for class, only to realize something crucial.
'Oh, right. My bento!'
She had been in Europe for a few days and had completely forgotten to pack her lunch. Checking her phone, she saw a text message from her mother that had already arrived.
A cold sweat broke out on her neck the moment she read that Luka was bringing her lunch. Luna was well aware of how the Japanese public felt about Luka. Since this middle school was also Luka's alma mater, she couldn't help but worry that everyone would recognize him.
'...Surely nothing will happen, right? I'll just meet him outside the school gates.'
She couldn't exactly go home, so grabbing it quickly outside the gates seemed like the best plan. Though she didn't utter a single word during class, she was able to slip away to other classrooms during the breaks to meet her friends, which helped soothe her irritated mind.
"Oh, right. I forgot my lunch, so I have to go grab it at lunchtime. Can you guys wait for me?"
"Of course, Luna-chan!"
It was the last break before lunch. After letting her friends know, Luna eagerly waited for the bell. Dozing off here and there, time flew by, and before she knew it, the lunch bell rang.
With that, Luna headed out toward the school gates to get her lunch. Still half-asleep from her dozing, she remained completely oblivious to the sticky note slapped on her back that read traitor.
"Hey, you need to remember to bring your own lunch. Do I really have to come all the way here for this?"
Luna was a very lucky younger sister. If Real Madrid had won yesterday's match, I would have just slept all day at home.
But because Munich won, I spent my entire morning roaming the internet, exposing the ugly truth about "that bastard" until lunchtime, which was the only reason I was awake to personally deliver her lunch.
'I mean, surely he won't win the Ballon d'Or with zero trophies, even if he was the top scorer in both the league and the Champions League, right?'
"Whatever. Just give me the bento."
"Here."
Seriously, what a scatterbrain, forgetting her own lunch. Luna glared at me as she held out her hand. I thought about teasing her a bit, but she looked exhausted, probably from just waking up, so I simply handed it over. Besides, I needed to get back home quickly to finish manipulating public opinion online.
"Study hard. You were sleeping the whole time, weren't you?"
"...I was not!"
"Wipe the sleep from your eyes before you lie to me."
"...There's nothing there."
"Then why are you rubbing your eyes?"
"...Go away."
"Huh?"
"Go home! You're just annoying me."
Snapping at me, Luna grabbed the bento and turned around, clearly done talking. I was debating whether to throw one last jab at her when I noticed something yellow stuck to her back. It was a sticky note.
"Hey, you..."
'...why are you walking around with that on your back?'
The moment the words were about to leave my mouth, the writing on the sticky note caught my eye. Written clearly in hiragana was the word traitor. In Japan, that word carried the heavy weight of being labeled a national traitor, a turncoat...
Instantly, my blood boiled.
"Huh? Did you say something?"
But seeing Luna's completely oblivious expression, my head instantly cooled down. Not that my anger had subsided—far from it.
I wanted nothing more than to storm into that school right now and rip the throat out of whoever did this. But if I lost my temper in front of Luna, just knowing that I had found out might hurt her even more. I forced my rage down.
"...Luka?"
"Nothing. I'm leaving."
"Yeah, see ya."
As Luna turned back around, I swiftly reached out and peeled the sticky note off her back before she could notice. Still completely unaware of what had been stuck to her, she walked away, clutching her bento.
"Fuck. It doesn't look like Dad knows either. She's been enduring this all on her own?"
I didn't even need to think about why Luna was being targeted. The word traitor was the exact same insult that flooded my DMs every single day.
I was fine with being hated. It was a daily occurrence for me. But back in Korea, no matter how recklessly I acted, the hate stopped with me; my family was never dragged into it.
The realization that my hot temper had caused Luna to suffer, the sheer cowardice of this fucking country targeting a family member, and the fact that Luna hadn't said a single word to me despite being bullied—all of it made me furious.
'She could have at least screamed at me...'
Who was the bastard who stuck this on her? Honestly, I wanted to beat the shit out of every single student who had watched her walk all the way to the school gates without telling her. But I couldn't do that. I pulled my cap down low, shadowing my face.
"Excuse me, who are you? You can't just walk in here..."
"Ah, I'm Tachibana. I have an appointment with the soccer club."
"Oh... Tachibana-kun! Wow, it's been a while."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Right. I heard you went to England... I, uh, saw the articles too."
"Haha. Yeah..."
"Well... alright. Go on in."
"Thanks."
The school security guard, who was walking toward the guardhouse, had tried to stop me as I entered, but since I had attended this school for three years, getting past him was a breeze.
'I should go find the underclassmen first.'
To find the culprit behind this garbage, I needed to do some investigating. I headed toward the third-year classrooms to look for the soccer club juniors.
Because my cap was pulled down so low, students glanced at me suspiciously, but acting timid would only make me look more out of place. I walked down the hallway with absolute confidence.
My first stop was Class D, Luna's homeroom. Luna wasn't there. Well, that was obvious. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't want to eat lunch in the classroom either. Though, if it were me, I would have thrown hands first.
Stepping into Luna's classroom, I saw a few boys standing around. 'No familiar faces. Is there no soccer club member in this class?' Just as I was about to turn around and check another room, a voice drifted over and grated on my ears.
"How about we call her 'Boob Girl'? I mean, that bitch's tits are fucking huge."
"Whoa, isn't that a bit much? What if she actually snaps and flips out?"
"Please, what's a traitor like her gonna do? Besides, isn't her dad in England anyway?"
I told myself to hold back. My short temper had already made Luna's life miserable, and there was a chance these guys weren't the culprits. I walked over to them slowly.
Glancing at the desk, I saw it was covered in the word traitor along with all kinds of other profanities. They were laughing as they scribbled on it. There was no doubt about it. It was these bastards.
"What's so fucking funny?"
"Huh? Who are you?"
"Who do you think, asshole."
The moment the guy turned his head, I drove my fist straight into his face. I felt the solid impact of his jaw against my knuckles.
"Gack..."
He crumpled to the floor instantly.
"Kyaaaaah!"
A girl eating her lunch in the classroom shrieked at the sudden violence. Knowing they might call the cops, I tilted my cap up slightly. The moment they saw my face, their eyes widened in recognition.
"Ta-Tachibana...!"
"It's Luka!"
"That's 'Senpai' to you, juniors."
There were three of them left surrounding Luna's desk. I didn't hesitate. I launched a kick straight at the guy in front of me.
The front kick—a Taekwondo move that had protected me from countless racist encounters in Europe—slammed directly into his solar plexus. He clutched his stomach and dropped to his knees.
"H-How are you here?"
"Hey, should I come to you, or are you coming to me?"
"You bastard...!"
One brave idiot tried to rush me, but I kicked a chair into his path. It slammed into his shins, sending him face-planting forward. I met his falling face with a solid punch.
"Gurgle..."
Only one left. But that coward was already sprinting out of the classroom.
"Tsk, fucking nobodies."
I pulled out my phone and took a photo of Luna's desk. Now that things had escalated to this point, there was no way I was leaving Luna in this uncivilized island nation. There wouldn't be any better evidence than this to convince our parents.
"But the more I think about it, the madder I get."
I looked down at the guy who had made the "Boob Girl" comment, currently groaning on the floor, and kicked him square in the ribs. My soccer kick, which boasted power that could rival any professional power shooter, slammed into his abdomen. He let out a wheezing, deflating gasp and struggled to breathe.
"L-Luka!"
Just as I was about to wind up for another kick, Luna, who had appeared out of nowhere, grabbed me from behind to hold me back. She must have run over after hearing the commotion.
"Luka, what are you doing?! What is wrong with you?!"
"What, you think they're gonna throw me in prison? I just roughed them up a bit."
Going to the police station over a school scuffle like this was laughable. It wasn't like I beat them to death; at worst, it would just be a settlement fee. Sure, Dad would chew me out, but wouldn't he be even angrier if I didn't beat up the punks who did this to his daughter?
To be honest, I did feel a slight pang of fear that this might mess up my career before it even properly started. While I wouldn't go to jail for this, going through a trial could delay my move abroad by a year or two. But for Luna, who had been suffering because of me, that was a price I was more than willing to pay.
'Since I'm already screwed, I should have just beaten up everyone in this classroom...'
Every single person who knew she was being bullied and did nothing was an accomplice. It was a shame Luna had shown up so early, stopping me from giving them a proper beating.
"Hey. Let's go home."
I couldn't leave Luna in a place like this for another second. But just as I reached out to grab her wrist—
"Tachibana!"
A gruff, mature voice cut through the air, completely unlike the cracking voices of the middle schoolers. I turned around to see a familiar face. '...I think he was a teacher?' I couldn't remember his name, though.
"Tachibana! What do you think you're doing?! C-Call your parents immediately!"
I guess a teacher is always a teacher. Even after seeing four kids knocked flat on the floor, his first instinct was to call the parents rather than the police. That was actually quite fortunate for me.
"Sigh... Luka, what is the meaning of this?"
It didn't take long for my father to arrive at the school after the teacher contacted him. I had been slightly nervous that he would lose his temper at me, but as I explained the situation, his furious glare shifted entirely toward the other kids' parents. That, too, was a massive relief.