And now for something random.

Disclaimer: Still don't own Gakkou Gurashi.

"Here! Happy Birthday, Rii-san!" Kurumi proudly displayed the small mascot keychain to her friend. Yuuri's mouth dropped in surprise.

"It's supposed to be hard to get! How did you do it?!" Yuuri asked, taking it carefully from Kurumi's outstretched hand. The little squirrel figurine attached to the keychain was extremely adorable and she stared at it, transfixed.
"I wrote lots of postcards." Kurumi boasted. "No big deal." Though her hand had ached for nearly an hour after she finished filling them out, she felt it was worth it to see Yuuri's bright smile. "So...do you like it?"
"Yeah! Thanks a lot, Kurumi-chan!" Yuuri hugged Kurumi, causing the latter to blush slightly. "I'll hang it on my backpack so everyone at school can see it too!"
Yuuri had classroom duty at school the next morning, so Kurumi walked to school alone. She didn't like waking up early, though she would have if Yuuri wanted her to come since she missed not walking next to her best friend more. "Maybe I should have walked with her anyway...What if Rii-san got hurt? No, it's been months since her last attack. She should be fine just walking to school…" It made her incredibly anxious, not being with Yuuri. She was sure Yuuri wouldn't appreciate knowing that Kurumi didn't believe in her ability to handle herself. Still, Kurumi couldn't shake off the feeling of anxiety until she walked into her classroom and greeted Yuuri, who was reading at her desk.
Yet, something seemed off about her friend's behavior. She kept glancing at her backpack and at Kurumi, even in the middle of the lesson. Kurumi thought it was strange that Yuuri was not paying attention, since her friend always put so much emphasis onto their studying. Yuuri glanced at her again, then faced forward as if she hadn't been looking around at all. Kurumi doodled absent-mindedly in her notebook, more concerned about Yuuri's weird actions than about paying attention in class.
"I have duty still so you can go home ahead of me, Kurumi-chan." Yuuri told her.

"It's fine. I can wait." Kurumi said. She was still a bit perplexed over Yuuri's behavior, plus she didn't want to go home alone. "By the way...where's the charm I got you?" It wasn't hanging on her backpack, which was weird since Yuuri had told her that she would hang it there.

"I-I left it at home...because I didn't want your present to get scratched or anything…" Yuuri said slowly.

"You don't need to worry about something like that! It's meant to be on your backpack! That's why I gave it to you!" So that's what Yuuri had been worried about. Kurumi felt proud that she had figured out her friend's worry. It was a very Yuuri-like thing to worry about, but she didn't need to keep a charm inside her room to protect it.

"I know that." Yuuri said, turning away from Kurumi. Her grip tightened on the broom and her shoulders shook, though Kurumi didn't understand why

"Rii-san? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I just remembered, I have to go to the teacher's lounge after I clean up. Sorry, Kurumi-chan, but can you go home first and tell my parents?" Yuuri wasn't the type to get in trouble and chewed out by the teacher. It happened more often to Kurumi, and Yuuri always stuck around until she was finished. But Yuuri seemed to really want her to go home first, so Kurumi reluctantly obliged.

"Okay, but if you're not at your house in an hour, I'm coming right back here to get you!" She grinned at Yuuri's shocked expression, then headed out the classroom door and shut it behind her."Still...I should probably wait for her. She'd get mad if I stayed near where she was, but if I wait by the gate, then she won't see me until she gets out here!" Satisfied, Kurumi walked to the gate. On the way, she passed by a group of students from the other sixth grade classroom. She glanced in their direction, not particularly interested in what they were doing, then stopped dead in her tracks. Slowly, she looked again. The two tallest were tossing a small object back and forth between the two of them.

"Hey, how did you get that? I tried really hard for the contest, but I wasn't able to get it!" Playing cute was probably the hardest thing she had ever done, but she needed to keep her calm just in case they had gotten it the same way she had. Highly unlikely, since they were reputed bullies, but she couldn't just start fighting for no reason."There's an easier way of getting these things if you want one." Kurumi could barely stop herself from slapping the girl who answered her. She was a condescending suck-up, and she constantly talked down to Yuuri, even though Yuuri was obviously better than her in anyway.

"This thing? We took it off that Wakasa girl." The boy sneered. So that was it. Yuuri had been acting weird because she didn't want Kurumi to know it had been stolen from her. Kurumi laughed dryly.

"I see...So if I just take it from someone weaker than me, then I'd have it for myself. Is that right?" She was beginning to unnerve them with her laughter, that much she could tell.

"That's right. Tell you what, I'll give you this if you can get some money off a lower grade." He dangled the charm before her eyes. "Since you want it that much."

"No thanks." Kurumi snatched it before he could pull it away from her. "Who'd want to sink to your level?" To add oil to the fire, she stuck out her tongue and shoved the charm into her pocket. They were surrounding her, and the odds were definitely not in her favor. But she was pretty sure that these bullies were just the same as all the other ones she had fought and won against.

"Kurumi-chan! I told you to go-What happened to you?!" Kurumi struggled to focus on her friend; she couldn't see out of her left eye. "A black eye, scrapes all over your legs, bruises on your arms! Kurumi-chan!"

"Don't cry, Rii-san…" Kurumi said slowly. Her arm ached as she reached down into her pocket and pulled out the charm. "Look at what I got for you…" She grinned, but even that hurt. Yuuri looked, and hugged Kurumi tightly, sobbing

"Don't do that anymore! You could get in trouble, or injured, and I don't know which is worse!" Yuuri shouted, making Kurumi wince.

"You shoulda seen the other guys. I think one's in the hospital now." Kurumi said. "Besides, they were in the wrong for taking your stuff." She wrapped her arms around Yuuri and attached the charm to her backpack with a bit of difficulty. "Totally worth it."

Yuuri proceeded to not let Kurumi do anything more strenuous than lifting her backpack for the next couple days until her bruises healed and vanished, despite the protests and complaints Kurumi issued at the 'punishment'.

I totally believe Kurumi could beat up a group of bullies by herself. Yep.