Chapter Text
The sound of yelling became normal to him at a young age, he sometimes listened in on what they were yelling about but most of the time he blocked the noise out. His father always yells about how mom kept inviting some of her friends into their bedroom at night when he was out of the house. Mom always yells about how dad was always angry and always was out drinking at the bar.
Laying in his bed waiting for sleep to wash over him he once again heard the sound of yelling.
“-are you kidding me, you're going to bring him there again!”
“Yes!,he has amazing strength and it would be a waste for us to not put it to good use!”
“What,so you want to use our son to earn some extra cash for yourself.”
“The ‘’extra cash’’ as you call it will help pay our bills so we don’t starve to death, with you spending so much money on alcohol it's a wonder we even have enough as it is!”
“Oh ya like your one to talk with your-”
He turned his head into the pillow to try to block out the noise as it escalated further.He knew what his mother was talking about when she brought up his strength.The town they lived in had a tournament every week where people could compete to win money,it was similar to those battling games in the much bigger server of Hypixel. The money that was given to the winner was a collection of what the people paid in order to see the tournament,by paying to watch you were adding to the prize money. This is why the more people who watched the bigger the prize was. There was no age limit or requirements so anyone could compete no matter where they came from or what their status was, rich or poor, short or tall, fat or skinny, it was all fair game.
The reason she wanted him to compete was because 1: they needed the money,2:neither her or dad could do it for reasons they never told him about, and 3: because despite being seven he was incredibly strong for his age.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
The tournament was pretty simple as it had four parts:1, “the simple testing.”The simple testing tested the basics such as strength,speed, and stamina(etc). The 2nd part was “all against all”,where the contestants that managed to keep up with everyone else passed on to this part where everyone fights or evades each other until half of them are left. The 3rd test is called “Teams”, and as it simply states in the name this part you have to work with a team to move on to the next part. If you don't find anyone to team up with then you are immediately disqualified from the tournament. The team can be of any size it can be a group of 2,5, or 8 as long as it is a team. The fourth and final part is “One against One”, each person that manages to pass the team portion gets to participate in this,as before though in order to get to the final stage another half of the contestants get disqualified, leaving only ¼ of the initial competitors. The final stage is considered to be the hardest not only because you have to go up against other people who were capable to last to the end but also because there is a high likelihood that you will have to fight against someone who in the previous round you teamed up with. Another factor that makes the fourth part the hardest is that you have all your injuries from the previous rounds unless you have brought your own health potions or bandages then it will be much harder to fight injured then unharmed.
Whenever he was signed up for these tournaments he knew he would be fighting against other capable people who were much bigger than himself as not a lot of other parents were willing to(or desperate enough) put their child into a tournament where they would most definitely get injured if they made it past the first stage.
His parents never paid the fee to watch him participate, though why would they? The whole reason he was participating in the first place was to get them money, they would not spend money on something so dumb as to watch their child fight in a tournament he might not even win in.
The first part was always the easiest in his opinion though he guessed that was kinda of the whole point as it is to say “If you can't make it past this part forfeit because you want if last a second in the other parts.” That was another thing about this tournament at any time you could forfeit as there would be no point in injuring yourself more if you figured you wouldn't make it to the end. Although no deaths have ever happened because of the tournament he has heard around that someone did get a permanent injury from it. The mile run was always the first thing that happened during the tournament. Next was to see how many push-ups,sit-ups,pull-ups you could do before your body gave out. He usually was always able to do more than 40 before his body decided it needed to rest and that is what would happen. If you've made it in the half that passed then you got a fifteen minute break so your body could breath although he knew that was mainly for the spectators in the bleachers that have been sitting there for around 30 minutes instead of the actual competitors. When the break was up it was time for part 2, “All against All.”
In part 2 everyone was bare handed left only to fight and defend themselves with only their body. He steadied his feet on the ground beneath him trying to brace himself so when the time came he would be ready for action. When he heard the horn he sprint of in action avoiding people as he ran. Most people when they hear that horn they panic and dive into the mob of people and just start swinging their arms uselessly without any real plan and then that's when they get out of the tournament, but he knew better having done this tons of times before that if you did that you'd get out very quickly as that is what happened to him the first couple of times he was in the tournament. The strategy he found most useful was to run around avoiding people while occasionally blocking punches and kicks from people who actually knew what they were doing until the area cleared enough so he could see what he was actually doing. He spotted a man in a white hoodie looking around as if expecting something. Sneaking up on him was more difficult than expecting but certainly not impossible. When he was close enough he kicked the man behind his knee then grabbed the guy's right wrist with his left hand then twisted while his other hand moved to the man's neck pressing down while his foot came up to try and kick the man's face. The man managed to grab his foot with his other hand stopping the kick, the man then used his foot to push the others leg causing him to collapse due to being imbalance as the man prepared a follow through attack they both heard the sound of the horn signaling that this part was over.
The man let out a relieved sigh and stuck out a hand to the boy on the ground he took the hand that was offered and pulled himself up.The boy looked around and then started walking out of the arena.Finally in the shade away from the burning sun he let himself relax against the wall, hopefully everything would continue to go smoothly-.
“Haha-pft”
He lifted his head up at the sudden sound and found the man from before sitting across from him. “What is it?”He asked “why are you laughing?”
“Ah, it's nothing just-,Well I was surprised a kid was able to catch me so off guard.”
He narrowed his eyes at the man and frowned “y'know, you're still a kid,what are you 13?”
“No,im 15 actually”
“15?, you look a little too small to be 15.”
“Ya, i've heard that before but what about you?How old are you?”
“Im 7”
“7?!What are you doing here?Where are your parents?”
“I could be ask’in you the same thing y'know.”
“Ah touche kid touche.”
“Don't call me that”
“What? Kid?”
“Yes, I don't like being called that.” He murmured softly
“Well what's your name then since i can't call you that.”
“I'm not going to give you my name,I just met you.”
“Ah,ok, how about…code names like..I can be,L”
“L?”
“Yep,L.”
“Uhh, alright then i guess i can be called..umm,Bee.”He has always liked bees after all he even has a plush of one that he managed to convince father into getting him.
“Well Bee it looks like the 3rd part is going to start soon so how'd you feel about teaming up with me huh?” He said with a huffed out laugh.
“Sure, that sounds good.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………
In part 3, each competitor was able to pick one to assist them in battle L picked the bow-in-arrow so to balance he picked the axe that way they would have both a long and short distance weapon to use and he was honestly better with short distance weapons. Most of the other people had a similar idea as he looked around at the other groups. One team had a group of 4 while another had a group of six.
“So I think we should stay close together but not too close but close enough that we can watch over each other so then you can take head on and I'll back you up does that sound good to you?” L whispered.
“Ya sounds good to me”
“Ah,good luck right.”
The horn sounded signaling the start.
“Yea good luck.”
Working together they made a good team as they were able to take down the team of 4 they both saw earlier.L shot an arrow into a girl that was distracted because she was trying to help her teammate that was on the ground bleeding from the nose.
“Ah shit”, she said as the arrow hit her shoulder.
It was a dirty move but if that is what it takes to win then they must do what they must.A sword grazed his arm while him was busy fighting someone else and he hissed in pain as he brought down the ax to cut the person he was fighting before turning around only to see L had already taken care of the guy.
“Sorry about not getting here in time to prevent that” he gestured to the gash on his arm.
“Ah, don't worry about it, I've had it worse,” he managed to spout out before the horn blew signaling the end of “Teams”.
“Look, we managed to make it to the final round. Bee lets get some water i think i'm gonna die of dehydration” He put his arms above his head and stretched them while walking to get some water for himself.
“Hey wait up, I'm thirsty to y’know! Don't drink all the water!”
“I don't think that's possible” spoke L as they sat on the ground drinking water so they were hydrated for the one on one battle.Watching L his head brought a thought to his mind so he decided to voice his thoughts.
“Hey L?” L hummed to indicate he was listening as he was currently drinking water.
“w-Why did you decide to join the tournament?” He was a bit curious as to why L would join as his fighting skill was much more impressive than any won around here was and as he's never seen L around he must be from out of town so what reason would L have to join the tournament?
“Ah, do you really want to know?”
He nodded then quickly added,” You d-don't have to tell me if you d-don't want to i'm not going to tell you why i joined so i d-don't mind if you d-don't want to tell me!” Dammit he was stuttering because he spoke too fast,how annoying! He took a moment then realized what he said.
“Ah no offense L.”
“Pfft-, I-I, don't worry about, you see the reason i joined the tournament is because i wanted the money but i mean i guess that's what everyone is commenting for so that's not a good answer”He paused and huffed out a laugh.”I joined the tournament because i have a younger brother that i need to take care of because hi-i mean our parents aren't around anymore so i need to take care of him y’know and now that i think about it he's around your age maybe just one year older.”L finished his reasoning with a smile.
Maybe? He thought you don't know his exact age but decided to keep that thought to himself.
“That's sweet that you're willing to care for your brother like that,i don't think i would be able to care for someone like that”he decided to say instead of what was going through his mind.
L stared at him for a moment. It almost felt as if he was being analyzed and he sighed and said “Hmm, if you ever find someone that you care deeply about I'm sure you'll understand.”
The horn blared signaling the start of “One against One”
“Good luck L”
“Good Luck to you to Bee”
As he watched L walk away he thought that if he were to ever care about someone like that then it should be his parents right? So why? Why does he feel if he wasn't forced to go to the tournament and had an option instead that he wouldn't join the tournament? Is something wrong with me to the point I can't care about my parents?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
He watched as the other people battled each other one against one, no tricks or teamwork,you only had yourself to rely on. He continued to watch as the rounds went on and on. How the people fighting each other we're doing one wrong move would mean failure.One wrong move would mean defeat.One wrong move and you would lose. He continued to watch until it was his turn. Then stood up and headed towards the arena with his choice of weapon, an axe.
He heard the horn blaring signaling that it was his time to fight his opponent.He walked out into the arena while the crowd cheered. He peered across from him to see who he was fighting and when he saw who it was he inhaled a sharp breath,the person he was fighting was L.
He took a fighting stance and when the horned blared again signaling to fight they both lunged forward mirroring each other. While he was fighting L he let his thoughts wander while he blocked a swing of L’s sword with his axe.
L wanted to win because of his brother right? Why did he want to win?Because of his parents?His parents that ignored him.His parents that neglected him.His parents that made him fight when he did not want to. Was he fighting for them? Why would he when every time he won this tournament his parents would spend the money right away and then it would go back to where it started,an endless cycle that he could not escape.But? Could he try what if he lost on purpose.What if he acted as if he tried his best but couldn't defeat L.It wouldn't even be that hard to fake L was a good fighter and he has already put up a good enough fight that his parents would be convinced that he tried his best but wasn't able to win. He made up his mind and when L swung his sword he purposely let it knock him down without making it too obvious. L had won the tournament and along with it the money for him and his brother.
Toby, known as Bee to L couldn't help but smile faintly, barely visible if you weren't paying attention,but L was and he saw the smile on his opponents face when the horned blared signaling that he won.