Academy of Misbehavours

Chapter 8

The Punishment

It was the day after the failed escape attempt. The would-be escapees were being lined up in front of one of the Academy's many fields. This one was sandy and had multiple exercise equipment such as tyres for running over, wooden plank walls for scaling and ropes fastened to the top of poles. It looked like a military training course. This field usually did not have many guests except for today. The whole Academy had gathered to see the five guys who tried to escape. Even the girls, who rarely mixed with the boys were allowed to come and witness the spectacle.

The five boys were lined up and stared at the field while the students of the Academy surrounded them, excitedly speaking and pointing at them. They heard girls giggle and other boys taunted them. Someone even attempted to throw a ball made of ice cream packets at them but was quickly reprimanded by a monitor. Hideki was standing at the end of the line and leaned forward to peek at Fa Jinn who was nearly on the other side of the line. Kadan was at the end of the line followed by Fa Jinn and then Saunt Sot and finally Hun Jin Yeng followed by Hideki.

Hideki looked around at the two monitors looking after them. Yes, they had placed them in the line but they never said they should stay in it and they seemed too busy with keeping the rest of the unruly students of the Academy in check to worry about them. He strolled to Fa Jinn who looked at him before quickly returning his sight straight forward.

"Hey, Fa Jinn," Hideki said. He had not seen his friend since last night and he had been worried about him. He neither knew if Fa Jinn had escaped or not... to be honest he knew there was no way that Fa Jinn had escaped.

Hideki waited for Fa Jinn to respond but he did not.

"Are you okay?" He said.

"Get back in line before you get us in more trouble!" Kanda whispered aggressively.

Hideki looked at Kadan, "The last time I checked you're name wasn't Fa Jinn." He turned back to his friend but Fa Jinn kept his eyes fixed straight ahead. Hideki stepped directly into his line of sight to force him to look at him. Fa Jinn simply looked to the side. "What's wrong, buddy. You angry?"

Fa Jinn finally looked at him. "Yes, I am and I'm not talking to you."

"I... I don't understand; what did I do?"

"You left me behind!" Fa Jinn squealed, which made Saun Sot and Hun Jin Yeng giggle.

Hideki shot them daggers with his eyes but they were undeterred. "I... I didn't mean to. They made me do it." Hideki said pointing at Saun and Hun.

"Don't blame us for your sins." Saun Sot said.

"We didn't drag you away from your precious fatso." Hun Jin Yeng said.

The last comment made Fa Jinn angry but he kept quiet and looked away from Hideki to hide his teary eyes.

Hideki clenched his fists while he glared at Saun Sot and Hun Jin Yeng. He looked back at Fa Jnn with softer eyes. "I..."

"Back in line, Kimoti!" Hideki heard Major Jiang say. He reluctantly returned back to his position in the line. Jiang looked at the boys and waited. The students around had calmed down with the Major's appearance. In his right hand he had his red taped stick named The Discipliner.

Hideki could not help gulping upon seeing the stick. Were they going to punish them with it?

The General joined them and everyone gathered fell silent. "You five were caught trying to escape." The General said in a booming voice. "Your failure is an embarrassment and in this Academy," he said before leaning closer to Saun Sot, "we do not tolerate failures." The General begins pacing up and down the length of the lined up boys. "That is why we have made a list of challenges to help you toughen up. So next time you try to escape, you actually succeed."

Hideki raised an eyebrow in confusion. He wanted them to escape?

"These are designed to help you succeed in the areas where you failed during the escape," the General continued. "First, it will be you Fa Jinn. You were caught attempting to run to the wall. We've measured the distance from the wall and deduced that it equivalent to running to the end of this field and back. We all agreed that if you had ran within the time of two minutes forty seconds then you would not have been caught. So you will run the field and back in that time. If you fail you will try again until you succeed."

"But... But my asthma..." Fa Jinn began softly but was shut by the General shouting.

"That excuse will not work on me!" He said shouting in his face before going behind him and kicking him into action.

Fa Jinn was propelled forward with a boot to his butt. He began awkwardly running forward. "Pick up those legs, Fa Jinn!" Major Jiang said making his red stick threateningly whoosh in the air.

Kadan could not help but smirk. He could easily run that distance in the time given, 2.40 minutes and since he was caught along with Fa Jinn he had no doubt that that would be his punishment. He thought it was fitting since he was not really suppose to be here. No one believed him when he said he was not trying to escape. At least he could take this punishment and spite their efforts to humiliate him in front of the gathered Academy.

"As for you, Kadan Motokuzi, you were also caught trying to run to the wall." The General said prompting Kadan to get ready to run. The General went away and dragged a dirty white bag in front of Kadan. The boy looked at the bag in confusion. "However, you were caught bearing extra weight."

At the words of 'extra weight', Kadan's hands went up to his stomach. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt his flat stomach. He had not gained any weight, he thought to himself in relief. "I wasn't carrying..." Kadan finally understood as he saw Fa Jinn's fat body fail to run the field in time. When they were caught, Kadan was helping Fa Jinn to the wall. He grumbled to himself. "But that's not fair."

The General swung the bag and placed it on Kadan's shoulder. He gritted his teeth as his legs bent under the sudden and unwelcomed burden.

"What's... in here... rocks?" Kadan asked.

"Sand, actually." The General said. "Now go!" The General shouted as he kicked Kadan forward in the butt. He walked over to the remaining boys. "Saunt Sot, Hun Jin Yeng and Hideki Kimoti, you were caught climbing a rope to get over the wall but the rope snapped before you could get to the top. We believe this was because the rope was too weak to handle three boys slowly climbing it. Now you all will climb those ropes," The General pointed to a tall structure that had two high wooden poles on each side and a plank connecting the poles. From the plank hung three thick ropes. "You will climb up those ropes in one minute as we believe that if you had all done that when you were escaping, you would have gotten to the top of the wall before the rope snapped. Begin."

The three boys went to the rope and began scrambling up it. Each boy had their own ropes for which they would scale. And with that the punishment for all three boys began.

/

Hideki tried to climb quickly up the rope. He got to the top a little behind Saun Sot and Hun.

"Two minutes, ten seconds!" The General shouted as he looked at his stopwatch. "Pathetic! Again!"

Hideki and the other boys were forced to climb down as quickly as possible and try to scale up again in the given time. Hideki was struggling to get up fast enough and he looked to the side to see if Fa Jinn or Kadan were having any better luck.

They were not. Fa Jinn was already exhausted, so was Kadan. Fa Jinn felt his chest begin to constrict and was forced to slow down. When he got to the end of the field and back, Major Jiang was waiting."Three minutes and fifty seconds. Not good enough. Again!" Major Jiang shouted, forcing Fa Jinn to run the distance again. When Kadan reached the end with the sand bag over his shoulder, Major Jiang called out his time, "Three minutes, thirteen seconds! Not good enough! Again!"

Up and down the boys went on the ropes. Back and forth, across the fields the others went. With each attempt their times only worsened. Hideki's palms began to redden and blister from climbing the thick, rough rope. His arms burned from having to hurl his body weight up and down. Kadan began slowing down as the pain in his shoulder, from carrying the sand bag, increased and his legs began to tire. Fa Jinn also slowed down considerably as his heart felt like it would burst out of his chest, the task of breathing was both difficult and painful for him and the only thing they heard for their effort was, "Again!"

"Again!" Major Jiang shouted.

"Again!" The General shouted.

Again they attempted their tasks and again they failed. Their times got bigger and bigger and so their punishment continued. The General would kick boys up the rope if he saw them straggling. Major Jiang began lightly tapping the Fa Jinn and Kadan on the back with The Discipliner, which still was painful.

Hideki was now at the bottom and his time had been read out. He did not attempt to climb again when the General told him to do so. The General had not noticed yet as he was reading out Hun Jin Yeng's time. He was in the middle rope and on either side of him was Hun Jin Yeng and Saun Sot. He looked around himself breathlessly, ignoring the kids who had gathered to watch the spectacle. He looked at Kadan and Fa Jinn, weakly running. He saw The General kick Hun Jin Yeng up, so that he could begin climbing again and the resultant laughter and cheering.

Why were they doing this to them? Were they making them an example? Don't try to escape or you'll end up like Hideki Kimoti. Hideki gritted his teeth; I refuse to be an example.

The General finally noticed that Hideki had not begun climbing up. He began walking to him, getting ready to kick him up the rope. "I did not give you permission to stop, Kimoti!"

Hideki looked at him with fire in his eyes. The General recognised that look and could not help but smile... but only for a moment, so quickly that no one would have seen it. Hideki looked up at his target. "One minute," he whispered to himself before he shot up the rope screaming, "AAAAHHHHHHHH!" He reached up and waited for his time to be called.

"Two minutes, ten seconds..." The General shouted up.

Hideki did not wait for the word 'again' before he slid down the rope. He ignored the pain as his hands burned as he slid down the rope. As soon as his feet touched the ground he shot up again screaming.

"One minute, Fifty three seconds..." The General called his time out.

Hideki lowered himself and shot up again and again he did not make it and again he climbed up. He even began ignoring his time. All he was aware of was getting to the top, all he was aware of was how good the burning pain in his arms was. The burning pain that reminded him to keep going, to keep climbing. His mouth began foaming from his effort, as if he was a rapid dog.

Saun Sot and Hun Jin Yeng looked at Hideki as he climbed up and down. They felt motivated by his efforts and their climbing speed also increased. Kadan was halfway, going back to where he had started running. He saw Fa Jinn coming up behind him. He looked at the screaming Hideki who was speeding up and down the rope. A fire lit in Kadan at seeing Hideki's effort. He clenched his teeth, adjusted the sand bag on his shoulder and began running faster with the weight. He reached the end of the field and began running out again without waiting to hear his time as he knew he had not made it so he did not waste time in waiting to be told he did not make it, he just went for it again. Fa Jinn saw all these guys working hard. He did not want to be left behind again, he did not want to be last. Fa Jinn ignored the pain in his chest, his tired limbs and began running as fast as he could.

The General and Major Jiang looked at each other as the boys picked up their efforts. Major Jiang nodded, exchanging some kind of secret message with the General. The General raised his hand, "

Enough!" he said.

The boys on the rope dropped onto the ground like dead birds falling from the sky. Kadan's legs instantly went numb and he fell forward, first on his knees then onto his his face before dropping the sand bag, which rolled away from him. Fa Jinn stopped in his tracks and fell on his back, while he desperately tried to regain his breathing and calm his drumming heart.

The General turned to the assembled students, "Alright, dismissed... all of you. Get back to your duties!"

The crowd began dissipating, thoroughly entertained and impressed by the five failed escapees. Surely if they tried to escape again they would stand a better chance.

/

The boys were in a line again as The General spoke to them. They struggled to get on their feet or even stay on them but upon a few threats from The General they pulled themselves up. Major Jiang had gone away with the other students, leaving the General with the boys on the field.

"Your escape attempt was futile," The General said. "...and not for the reasons you believe. Have either of you thought of why your parents dumped you on my doorstep? It is because you... most of you have exhausted every opportunity they have given you. If you were not the only living legacy of your parents, then they would have given up on you a long time ago. But do not think they don't have their limits because right now you have all reached their limits. This is the last opportunity you get; this academy is your last chance. If you escape, you fail. If you do not leave this Academy as a better person, you fail. There are no shortcuts and failure is no option. So think about that when next time you try to go home but when you have not earned a trip home." The General said before sighing. "I know for some of you this is not the first time you've hear this speech," The General said looking at some of them. "Let's hope this time it sinks in deeper." The General waited a while so that his words would cement in their young brains. "Dismissed! Except you Fa Jinn."

The boys thankfully left the field, except for Fa Jinn who still stood in place. He and the General stood there wordlessly. Fa Jinn was trying to look at anywhere except the Generals sunglasses hidden eyes. The silence was beginning to get uncomfortable for him but it seemed to not affect The General as he stood still with his arms behind his back, staring at the shorter boy.

After a few more minutes Major Jiang appeared without The Discipliner. Instead he carried a brown paper bag that he gave to The General.

"Fa Jinn!" The General said in a voice that frightened the boy. "Here is your medicine." He said thrusting the brown paper bag into Fa Jinn's chest.

Fa Jinn grabbed the paper bag with both hands and peered inside it. "This is for my asthma! Did my parents finally buy them? Were my mom and dad here?" Fa Jinn said eagerly.

The General just shook his head, no. Fa Jinn was not sure which question the General was answering. "Nonetheless, you have your medicine now and I don't want to ever hear you using your condition as an excuse to be weaker again."

Fa Jinn nodded.

"Dismissed!"

The Major and General watched as the boy walked off.

"I hope we got him the right medicine." Major Jiang said to The General.

"Don't worry, we did." The General confidently said.

/

Fa Jinn walked away holding the medicine close to his chest. As he walked he saw Hideki sitting down on a rock. Hideki jumped down from the rock when he saw Fa Jinn coming.

"Hideki? What are you doing here?" Fa Jinn asked when he reached him.

"I was waiting for you." Hideki said. "I made the mistake of leaving you once. I'm never going to do it again. And I hope you can forgive me for the last time."

Fa Jinn smiled at his friend. "I forgive you!" He said before lunging in for a hug.

Hideki was surprised by the hug and awkwardly patted the shorter boy on the back.