PROLOGUE- 2003
The Chinese teen rounded the corner to see a tall blonde picking up his younger Korean cousin by the collar. The Chinese stopped, and pretended to accidentally run into the Frenchman, who turned around, dropped the Korean and pinned the Chinese to the wall. The Korean ran down the halls, with no words and no hesitation.
CHAPTER 1- 2010
Ivan Braginski stepped into the halls of the school he'd transferred to to finish his senior year. He headed to his first hour, not wanting to be late. He took a seat near the back and waited patiently for class to start. Soon he was joined at the table by a small teen with long dark hair tied back in a low ponytail. He turned to his left toward the kid.
The Asian jumped and shrank back, making eye contact with just his hands. Ivan saw that he had a very scarred face, especially for someone seeming so young…
"Hi~! I'm Ivan Braginski, nice to meet you!" he tried, holding a hand out to him.
The smaller student looked up at him, wide-eyed, then down at the hand, which he shakily reached out and took. Ivan himself almost jumped at how fragile the handshake was.
"I…I'm Wang Yao, aru…"
"So what grade are you in?"
Yao made a pained expression. "I'm a senior."
"Me too! Are you excited to be at the top of the food chain this year?"
"N-Not reall—"
"'Kid's a senior, alright—for the third year in a row!" a kid behind him crowed.
Yao looked down, sort of ashamed.
Ivan reached out to pat Yao on the back. "It's alright, da?"
Near the end of first hour, Yao was assigned to show Ivan around the school.
"Yao, you're going to give Ivan a tour of the school, help him find his classes. You should know it well enough," the teacher scoffed.
Yao nodded, stood up, bowed slightly, and turned to Ivan, who began walking out of the classroom.
As soon as they were out the door, Yao stopped Ivan in his tracks, peeked around the corner, and saw there was no one there.
"We're safe, aru."
Ivan wasn't quite sure what Yao meant by that, but followed the Chinese teen down the halls.
"Do you have your schedule with you?" Yao asked.
Ivan nodded.
"What's your second hour, aru?"
"Let's see…Oh, da! Creative Writing II!"
"Ai ya! Shh!" Yao hissed, wide eyes shifting.
"Ah…I'm sorry…" Ivan replied, following Yao's gazed, still confused.
Yao padded quietly around the next corner, his small feet soundless on the tile.
He just looks so scared—
Suddenly a yelp sounded and Ivan bolted around the corner.
Yao was being pinned against the wall by his neck, a fairly tall albino student standing over him, but he wasn't really struggling. He was red-faced and his eyes were streaming but his arms hung limp.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Ivan yelled, slamming a large hand on the bully's shoulder and shoving him backwards, and ran to catch Yao before he hit the floor.
Ivan rand down the hall, into the nearest bathroom, and sat Yao on the sink so he could catch his breath.
"Are you okay? What—Who was that?"
"…He's…Gilbert Bielschmidt…aru…"
Yao quickly wiped his eyes with his extra long sleeve. He looked down, almost guiltily. Ivan thought for a moment.
"Okay…Something's going on here. What's wrong?"
Yao looked up. He seemed puzzled, then sighed a bit of defeat.
It's best just to tell him. He could really…hurt me, aru.
But maybe he wouldn't.
"U-Um…well…When I was a freshman I got…bothered… a lot, aru...and I've had many brothers and sisters that went here…and I didn't want them to go through what I did…so I stayed behind. I don't have any other siblings so I…I have to try to graduate this year, aru."
"So…you…acted as the target instead of letting your siblings be bullied…wow… You're a very kind person, da…How are your siblings now?"
". . . I …don't know. They never spoke to me after they all graduated, aru," Yao replied, a sorrowful expression on his face.
Ivan was in a silent rage for his classmate. How could someone be so ungrateful for someone who literally took the hits for them?
He smiled, turned around, and crouched down in front of Yao, facing away from him.
"Get on."
"What?"
"Get on. I'm giving you a piggyback ride."