Chapter 97 Scholarship Student

Two hallways to the left and turning right, Ritsuka and Lee Seng found themselves trying to find their fourth period classroom. They slowly passed by the classrooms, peeking inside and noticing that students were getting ready to leave for their next period class.

"Should be on the right side." Ritsuka looked up from his phone. A bell rang, loudly, and doors opened. The loud noises of students moving and filling the hallways filled the space around them. Lee Seng kept his tail close and watched as students looked at him. Their looks turned to stares as they passed.

Ritsuka grabbed Lee Seng's shoulder which caught his attention. Lee Seng raised his eyebrows and Ritsuka nodded to the right and started to walk. Lee Seng followed closely behind Ritsuka. Students wore the same school outfits. The men wore a button-up t-shirt with their names on their left breast, shown in black writing. The button-up t-shirt were white with green accents. Some wore the gray blazer jackets with green and black accents and the Academy logo on it. Black pants and dress shoes.

The women all wore similar button-up t-shirts with a green-black-gray blouse and a plaid green, black and gray skirt. Black or white stockings and simple slip on shoes. The school uniforms reminded Lee Seng of Akio and Akali's stories of Japan schools. They had to wear school uniforms similar to the Academy and Lee Seng could always hear Akali complaining about the skirts.

Lee Seng continued to follow behind Ritsuka, dodging students and moving his tail to avoid smacking someone in the face on accident. Ritsuka came to a stop around the mid-point of the hall and nodded over at the door to the right.

"Fourth period class." Ritsuka said loudly. Lee Seng peeked in a saw some students were already inside, talking with other students and/or sitting.

"Okay. I guess we should go see our specialized class?" Lee Seng asked.

"Sure, let's just change the map so it doesn't take us back."

Lee Seng and Ritsuka fiddled with their maps and continued following the hallway past their fourth period classroom, to the end. Once they reached the end, seeing a set of doors they turned left and followed the long hallway.

"It looks like we take this hallway towards those gyms." Lee Seng observed.

"Mmm, these gyms are used for specialized training. Apparently all of the gyms are the same, but these one have more specific and harder materials in place so they don't blow up as easy." Ritsuka said, adding a factoid.

"Isn't the whole school like that?"

"Mmm, the whole school is made with very specific and rare materials that comes at a hefty price. These gymnasiums, in specific, are made in mind to use for specialized training. It can condense extra energy into the walls and ground, create millions of scenarios in seconds, run diagnostics, do tests and fit the gym to meet the needs of a specific student for training, etc. It really has it all. The gymnasiums we were in for the exam, was the specialized zones."

"So there's a lot more gymnasiums then?"

"Yup. We only used eight of the many gyms."

"Holy crap. The Academy is stacked."

The amount of creds began to rack huge zeros in his head. His tail began to sway fast. Lee Seng snapped out as his tail was about to swing at a random student. He moved his tail at the last second and stopped and turned around.

"Oh, sorry!" He apologized with a bow. The student and their friends gave him a weird look before they continued. Lee Seng turned around to see Ritsuka watching him.

"You get excited about something?" Ritsuka asked.

"The amount of money this place needs to be this high tech." Lee Seng said, almost drooling.

"Aren't you practically rich? Why would you need money?"

"That's the Creator's money," Lee Seng waved. Ritsuka turned and stared at him while they walked. He was perplexed by Lee Seng. He knew Lee Seng was the Creator's only child and son. Lee Seng seemed to use 'the Creator' a lot.

'Why does he call his dad the Creator?' Ritsuka wondered.

"I want to make lots of money on my own. I don't want to use the Creator's money to push myself forward when I don't have to." Lee Seng started to explain.

"But aren't you using some of his money to get yourself through this school?"

"Nope. I applied on a specific scholarship transfer."

"Oh, you did? I assume you got in just fine?"

"Mmmhm," Lee Seng nodded. "Full ride scholarship. I have to maintain a 3.5 GPA, regardless of what my dad says, and do well while I'm here."

"Ahh," Ritsuka nodded. The two popped out of the advanced general studies area and entered the specialized training area. The two took a left at the intersection. "I figured since you were the Creator's son, he would just put you through school."

"Nope," Lee Seng shook his head. "I would've refused it anyways."

"Why? Aren't you just throwing money at that point?" Ritsuka asked. Lee Seng came to a stop and Ritsuka turned, stopping.

"It's nothing new, but I don't like the Creator very much. He has his own agenda and plans for what he wants to do with me. The only reason why the Creator doesn't do anything is because of my Mom's last wishes." Lee Seng explained with a loud sigh.

"And what's that...?" Ritsuka asked. Students moved past the two in the middle of the hall. They stared at Lee Seng and Ritsuka as they passed. Lee Seng's fingers started to unintentionally lace together. He was clearly thinking if he should tell Ritsuka, who was practically a stranger to him, the reason why. Memories flooded Lee Seng and with a sigh he looked at Ritsuka.

"She wanted me to live as normal as possible. Far from the Creator's wishes for me to be his successor." Lee Seng said. He could hear his mom saying those words.

---

Lee Seng woke up to the sounds of metal clanging on the floor. He knew what the sounds meant.

"Mom and dad are fighting," he whispered to himself. He sat up in his bed and pulled the covers off of him. He crept over to the door and opened it. He could hear his parents were in the middle of an argument.

"Vang, you can't push our son's dreams and desires and push yours on him!" Chee shouted in Hmong. "Your son deserves to choose his life. If you push him to become a doctor just like you and take over after you're gone, will he ever be happy?"

"Why can't I want my son to take over my company? He'll be stable! He'll be fine! He's smart and makes good choices! He has never told me he doesn't want to do it. He says 'maybe'!" Dr. Chang shouted back in Hmong. Lee Seng sighed and sat besides the door, leaving it cracked open.

His parents had been arguing for the last week about him. Dad wanted Lee Seng to become a Biologist and take over the laboratory turned corporation. Lee Seng didn't want to tell his dad that he didn't have any interest in it. He had confided in his mom because his dad worked so much, that he didn't bother to tell his dad anything.

He remembered telling his mom that he wasn't interested in Biology like his dad. Sure, he liked to learn how the human body worked and was interested in Monster biology, but he didn't want to devote his life to it.

He always wondered why people overlooked his dad's cruelty to human life and the world just because of the serum's success. Lee Seng didn't want to feel like a kid. He was a teenager and wanted to go to a normal middle school and had gotten that.

"He wanted to go to a middle school. I allowed that after thinking about it, Chee!" Dr. Chang shouted. "I know I'm not the best father and I know my research has spun the world to be different. I pushed past those huge mountains so our son could have a better life! What's wrong with me wanting my son to follow his father's footsteps?"

"Lee Seng is smart! Lee Seng deserves to get the education he deserves because he's that smart. He's practically a genius, Vang!" Chee shouted, switching back to English. "Seng is a great kid. Homeschooling him with a teacher and pampering with maids in this small house is putting him in a box. He's being put into a box because we both can't accommodate for him! He's a teenager now, Vang. Give him space to grow and make decisions for himself."

"Decisions?" Vang scoffed. Lee Seng could hear his dad switching back to English too. He always thought Hmong sounded loud and harsh, but his dad's Hmong and English were different. He sounded rougher and meaner in English than his Hmong. "I want him to be successful just like us. I want him to be able to live a comfortable, no, a life where he doesn't even have to think about comfortable, ever!"

"Then let Lee Seng make that choice for himself! You acknowledge it, too! He's a genius! Had great marks ever since he was homeschooled. He picked up on subjects like nothing and his previous teachers told us that he was gifted. That we should put him into a good school. We should trust our child more!"

Silence filled the house. Lee Seng became uncomfortable. HE began to lace his fingers together, locking them in place and then pulling his fingers apart.

"Why doesn't he understand it?" Lee Seng whispered. "Why?"