Hero Academies

Chapter 1: How It All Began

It’s most likely Liam will never forget the day it all began. It was less than a week prior when Liam was cutting school that he accidentally stumbled upon a fight. The brunette was minding his own business walking by himself in one of the shadier parts of town where no one would question a teenager walking around the streets during school hours when he heard the sounds of cursing and yelling. Quickening his pace, Liam turned to see four people in an alleyway, slightly hidden away from the rest of the street. From what he saw, it was three against one.

Three large, stocky men that Liam recognized as some local thugs were crowding around a dark-haired boy that looked his age. The brunette noted the boy’s good looks as he continued to observe the scene.  His tan skin and facial features suggested that he was of foreign descent, although he couldn’t tell exactly what. They boy put out his cigarette with his shoe when Liam heard him say “What the Hell do you want from me?”

               “We want you and your kind to stay the god damn hell away from this place you fucking freak,” one of the thugs snarled in distaste. Ah, of course, racial harassment. Liam was no stranger to the prejudice on this side of town. It was a well-known fact around the entire area that no matter the fact how close they lived to each other, it seems every ethnicity hated the other and fighting would never cease in this neighborhood. Liam silently wondered why he had to come here today of all places.

               This elicited a look of pure anger across the good looking boy’s face, and he retaliated by yelling at the thugs “You fucking bastards!” before punching the one closest to him in the nose. It soon became clear that the dark haired boy was stronger than he looked as the thug had fallen on his back and grabbed onto his nose, which was bleeding and most likely broken from the sound of it.

               The other two thugs helped their fallen friend off the floor, whose face looked like he was ready to murder. It was then that Liam knew that the boy would be in some serious danger. The other three were probably experienced street brawlers, and all were equipped with rings on their fingers and probably worse hidden in their baggy clothes. Even if the boy was equipped with a weapon, it would be unlikely he would be able to come out of the scrape unharmed.

               As the four began to fight, Liam cursed his conscience and the morals instilled upon him as he ran into the fight to help boy. Maybe it was sympathy for him. Maybe it was the fact he was the same age as him. Either way, he found himself risking his life for some guy he didn’t even know. The police wouldn’t be able to help him in this situation, since they all but gave up on controlling the people. He saw a look of confusion from the other boy as he joined in the fight, but quickly got back to fighting off the other thugs when he saw that Liam was on his side.

               Thankfully, Liam had taken boxing before to protect himself against bullies from prior years in school, so he knew how to fight. He must’ve been stronger than he expected too, because soon enough the three thugs ran off cursing and yelling insults at the two teens as they nursed their injuries.

               Both panting and out of breath, it took a minute for the two to finally interchange some words. “The name’s Zayn. Yours?” the dark haired boy said, still crouching in pain.

“Liam.” He managed to breathe out.

“Thanks for helping me back there. I might have gone out of control if it weren’t for you. They sure as hell were overwhelming me.”

“It’s no problem. Three against one just isn’t fair. Besides, I’d have liked for someone to do the same for me.”

Liam hears the dark haired boy chuckle a bit before he replies, “I’ll make sure to remember to help you in a fight one day. So tell me, Liam, why are you in this side of town at this time of day? You sure as hell look like you don’t belong here.”