Max returned home to his friend's house with Vino, who had been warned by Harris not to scare Max like before.
Vino dropped Mori off right in the front yard.
"Thank you…" Before Max could finish his sentence, Vino had disappeared by flying at the speed of sound.
Max started walking to the side of his friend's house while muttering. "It's fine if he doesn't want to hear my thanks. Just don't let him say that I don't know how to thank him when we meet again."
Arriving at the backyard, all five of his friends were fast asleep. Max smiled at the sight of his two girl friends sleeping together under a blanket, while his three boy friends slept haphazardly on top of each other.
As calmly as if nothing had happened, Max lay down beside his three friends facing the campfire and began to close his eyes.
***
Monday.
As usual at school Max was always cheerful because he has an active character and likes to joke with his friends.
That morning before the first lesson started, as usual Max joked with his friend until he laughed out loud.
BRAKKK!!! Suddenly Max, who was sitting on a chair, was pushed by a classmate who had just arrived. Max held on to the table so he didn't fall so easily.
"Noisy!" exclaimed a student with cropped hair and a tall body who had just pushed Max. The student looked like he had just arrived because he was still carrying his bag.
"David! Can't you talk before you do that?!" Alya exclaimed, standing up immediately because Max was her best friend.
"Hump! Taking cover behind a girl. Embarrassing!" the student called David said casually.
Max looked at his classmate. He and David had been enemies in one way or another since elementary school.
Max stood up, gently pulling Alya's hand towards him as he said. "Alya, he's either deaf or dumb, so he's been using violence all along. Let's sit down again."
Hearing Max's words, David pulled Max's arm that was pulling Alya's hand. He gripped it tightly as if he wanted to break Max's arm. "You're always loud! You never listen even though you've been told every day!"
Max looked at his arm that David had grabbed, it didn't hurt, it was just that Max seemed to feel something else and unusual from David.
"Look, you committed an act of violence and it can be called bullying." Max said calmly as his friends had recorded what was happening.
David was just about to reply to Max when the class teacher finally came in and broke up what was happening in the classroom.
"Come on, let's sit down everyone, why are you holding hands? Is there a love triangle or an illicit relationship?"
The teacher's last question immediately drew laughter because if you pay attention, you can see Max in the middle being fought over by Alya and David.
David rudely released his grip on Max, as he was suddenly the laughing stock of the class.
David was soon seated in the second row from the window, directly opposite Max and Alya who were sitting together by the window.
As he sat in his seat and put down his bag and took out his notebooks and textbooks for the first lesson of the day, Max took another look at his hand that David had gripped. It did leave a slight red mark but it didn't hurt.
"Does it hurt?" asked Alya when she saw Max noticing his reddened hand from David's grip.
"No."
"So why did you see that?"
"Just wondering, because it turns out he has energy too. Hehehe..." Max said casually, not caring that the teacher had entered and the person being talked about was right across from him.
Fortunately, Alya was there to prevent a fight from breaking out.
BRAK!!! There was a loud crash on Max's desk. A bag containing futsal shoes and a ball was now right on Max's desk.
"What is it Max? How noisy are you in the back!" exclaimed Mrs. Cindy who was teaching history that morning.
Max, who happened to be sitting by the third floor window, casually threw the bag through the window as if it was just trash. "Didn't know this miss, someone was littering..."
"HEY!!!" exclaimed David as he stood up quickly to see Max throw the bag away.
"What did you throw away? It doesn't look like trash!" said Mrs. Cindy.
"This kid is looking for trouble!" David exclaimed as he threw his history textbook with all his might, but Max dodged it easily. The book was also thrown away because the window was wide open.
"GOOOLL!!!" Max cheered by raising both hands to see David's book also coming out of the window smoothly. Especially since their class was on the third floor and Max sat near the window facing the side courtyard.
This meant that Max was cheering because David was throwing his own book directly through the third floor window.
Alya, who was sitting with Max, tried to stop Max from cheering.
Max's friends who saw this laughed uncontrollably. It made Mrs. Cindy sigh every time she entered the class.
David chuckled with anger. With an annoyed step David was forced to go out to get his books and bag of equipment for futsal.
When David came out, Alya immediately whispered to Max. "I have something to discuss during break time. This is serious!"
Max nodded, understanding that Alya had asked for a serious talk.
***
Break time. On the park bench next to the classroom building, Max now sat with Alya facing each other.
"What were you talking about in class?" Max asked as they sat down.
Alya was taking a sip of her orange juice when Max immediately let go of her straw. "I know that you've been fighting with David since you were in elementary school?"
Max nodded. "Yes."
"You've been in the same school and class since elementary school, and even in junior high school! Right now, you should be friends, but instead you're enemies! Like dogs and cats or cats and mice who are always fighting! Can't you just give in once in a while so you don't keep fighting?!"
Max sighed after hearing Alya's words.
"Don't just sigh. Answer Max!" said Alya.
"Today. Just this morning, when David grabbed my hand, I felt that he had something against me."
Alya's forehead wrinkled. "What do you mean?!"
Max glanced left and right around them before starting to speak. "You know I can see and talk to spirits!?"
Alya nodded.
"Well... that's what I felt! There was something about David that made me and him enemies for a long time!"
"What do you know about that something else?" Alya whispered.
Max shrugged his shoulders as he sipped his orange juice. Then he said. "All this time I felt normal, nothing strange! It was only today that I felt something strange from David."
"You're not lying, are you Max?"
"I'm not going to lie about this Alya!"
Alya was silent, unable to make any comment on what Max had just said.