Jesús: "Hey there everyone, I'm back with another update and a couple extra news. but the news will wait until after the chapter. On another note, Remember the game I mentioned I was getting? Well I got it and have been playing it. Is really good and all but I have two things to say about it; 1) I wish it had single screen multi-player. and 2) That thing is very difficult from time to time. I like it when a game is hard enough it makes me rage from time to time so by my standards this is a good game. Now, back in track and on to the update shall we...?" [Disclaimer] "...I don't own the RF series nor any of the Anime/Manga/Videogames referenced in this story. All credit goes to their respective owners."
Chapter 35
Raguna POV
Early Morning at the moment and I gotta admit, I got used to Cinnamon "living" here. This place feels pretty empty since I don't have little brothers or sisters...
Sigh I can't help but sigh as I think that this place would be more fun with a little sibling running around or something.
"What's the matter son?" Dad asked
"hmm...Oh, nothing. just a weird thought." I replied to my Dad.
"What is it sweetie?" Mom asked this time "You never let out a sigh like that unless you're extremely tired.
"Well, if you two must know..." I start and then look at them as I look at them. "I know I'm too old for this, but I wish I had a little brother of sister..." I add and both my parents spit take at my words.
"S-son, what are you talking about?" Dad asked stuttering.
"No, I don't mean I want a little sibling I was just saying that without Cinnamon around this place became less lively. With her around for some reason I heard some more noise than usual." I explained my words and both my parents let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry son. Since you don't have any siblings you must feel lonely. I know how that feels." Mom said giving me a comforting hug.
"Is ok. at least with no little sibling around I can be a little selfish about my things and not hurt their feelings because of it." I said and we all laughed at my smart remark.
I looked over at the clock and saw it was about 20 minutes for school to start.
"Well, I gotta go." I said and picked up my stuff.
"Take care." My mom said as I walked out and then I started onward to school.
Mist instantly joined my walk and she asked me about Cinnamon, she hadn't been informed of her leave from my place last night.
"That's good for her. I guess this means she's all better right?" Mist asked
"I believe so." I replied and after about ten minutes we reached the school and Cinnamon was waiting at the main entrance she looked insecure and fidgety.
"Morning Cin!" Mist called and Cinnamon jumped
"What's the matter?" I asked noticing he made a terrifying expression.
Cinnamon didn't say anything, she just ran over to me and hugged me tightly.
"Did something happen?" I asked her really worried now.
"Some girls were calling me mean things. Sinking stone and such things. All of this even before stepping into the school grounds." Cinnamon said as she started sobbing.
"Come on Cin. If they're being mean it means they're jealous of you for something." Mist tried to cheer her up. "All you have to do is say something smart in return."
"Actually I don't think that's the best idea..." we heard a voice and we all turned to it. it was Erik.
"Morning Erik." I said
"Hey there, as I was saying. Bullies usually start these name callings in order to provoke the victim into attacking them back in any way. Once what they're expecting happens they rat on the victim saying they, the original victim, are the ones that started it." Erik said
"Wow, Erik you're so Smart..." Mist said sounding like a Love-struck...Scratch that she is Love-struck Girl.
"Thanks...Mist right?" Erik replied and gave Mist his trademark "Lady-killer" Smile
"I-I-I...He remembered it!" Mist said as she slowly turned red and bolted into the School building.
"She's a very energetic girl huh?" Erik said laughing.
"And fast too. I think she might have ran faster than the Club's captain." Erik's Cousin, Anette, said.
"I wouldn't say that fast. beside it wasn't her actual speed." I said and everyone started walking into the school. Erik and Anette went off to their classroom and Cinnamon and I to ours.
"Hey Cinnamon, Raguna...Say, What happened to Mist? I saw her from the window running like she was being chased by the devil himself." Uzuki greeted
"Long story, but she was certainly not feeling like the devil was behind her but as if she was chasing after Cupid." I replied Cinnamon and Uzuki both giggled and then a girl walked up to us
"Hey there Ms. Weiss." one of the many girls approached her.
Cinnamon immediately tried to cower behind me.
"I'm not going to say anything mean to you. Goodness no, Not even if I tried could I be mean to anyone." The girl added. "My Name is Lara Fontaine. I heard what happened last week and I wanted to say that if you need someone to talk to I can help you." the girl finished her introduction and bowed her head humbly.
"Thank you." Cinnamon replied calming down thanks to Lara's words.
Class started and soon enough the room was full of people. Some people approached Cinnamon to tell her they were happy she was both Ok and back to class. During Lunch time more girls approached Cinnamon and tried to bother her.
"Hey Cin come on or we won't have enough time to eat our lunches." Mist said and helped Cinnamon out of the tight spot.
Once in the roof top, now our official Hangout spot, Cinnamon started falling to the side as she was stepping.
"What happened?" I asked really worried she might have been hurt by someone in some way.
"No is just...My legs gave out. I don't know why." Cinnamon said trying to gain her footing again but she couldn't keep standing for longer than a step or two.
"If you don't mind me could I check something?" we heard a voice and then Lara walked in front of us.
"Not that we don't want you here, but why are you here?" I asked a little confused
"Sorry for showing up all of a sudden I was afraid this would happen so I followed Ms. Weiss." Lara said
"What do you mean?" Uzuki asked this time
"My parents run the City Hospital. I've seen the same expression Ms. Weiss was making before walking out of the classroom many times and they all collapse the same way." Lara said
We reached our exact destination next to the fence and set Cinnamon down on the floor so she could lean on the fence.
"Can I touch you?" Lara asked and Cinnamon nodded an ok.
Lara started feeling her legs and then her thighs and lastly the back of her neck.
"As I suspected, you are very stressed. You're legs gave out because you were trying to bottle all the insults from the girls." Lara said after she finished her examination.
"I'm sorry." Cinnamon said
"Is fine, you can talk to us about it." Uzuki said
"What do you all think I should do?" Cinnamon asked
"Well for one, you could start with the basics." Lara started
"And that would be?" I asked this time.
"One of the Main reasons a Bully does what it does is because it seeks attention. Weather it is from its parents, its mentors or its peers. Nobody has gotten completely to the bottom of the cause why Bullying happens, but so far the best thing that seems to work is Ignoring the Bully." Lara explained.
"But won't ignoring make things worse?" Uzuki asked
"That's right. depending on the Bully...You know what I think actually every bully would turn more Hostile if it start getting ignored." I said supporting Uzuki Cinnamon started trembling from fear so I hugged her to calm her down.
"That is true, but that's just a step in the process. While the Bully will become more Hostile, in this situation the girls in class resorting to calling meaner names or even hiding Ms. Weiss' things is just one step to make them stop at least for a while." Lara continued her explanation.
"But how long will Cin have to endure?" Mist asked
"It depends on how much patience and persistence the Bully has..." Lara started and this time closed her eyes as she faced down as if in defeat. "...but do know this. as long as your friends are with you, you can overcome anything. Just like Ms. Strife helped you out of the classroom earlier we should all try to get her out of any tight spot." Lara suggested.
"Do you really think it'll work?" Cinnamon asked
"I guarantee it." Lara said and smiled.
"Then...I guess we should try it." Cinnamon said after a moment's thought.
Lunch was over before long, we packed our things and started our way back to class. The rest of the day went on rather smoothly without any problems with the bullies...or at least we thought.
"What happened to my shoes?" Cinnamon said looking into her shoe locker to change back to her shoes and go home.
"What's the matter?" I asked hearing her comment.
"They're not in here." Cinnamon said and just closed her locker and looked on the surrounding area.
'Crap, this must be those girl's doing' I said to myself
"Well it can't be helped. How about this?" I said and noticed Mist was about to Leave. "Hey Mist come here for a bit."
"What's wrong Ragu?" She asked
"Can you switch back to your indoor shoes, I got a favor to ask you." I said and Mist did as asked
Once she switched shoes again the three of us went to the school's roof top.
"So the girls did that?" Mist asked
"That's my guess, though we have no proof I can almost bet on it." I said.
"So what was your plan?" Cinnamon asked
"Here's the thing. You can't just walk around town barefooted until you get home so...How about I take you there?" I asked
"We're in the school's roof top, how are you going to do that?" Cinnamon asked
"Well, you're going to need your school shoes tomorrow so Mist, I'd like to ask you to take them and put them in Cinnamon's shoe locker." I said
"Yeah that's fine with me." Mist said
"As for how, please hand your shoes over to Mist right now. I'll use the Return Spell to get to your place right away." I said
"I thought you could only use the return spell to get to your place or out of a dungeon." Cinnamon asked sounding really confused.
"I figured otherwise a while back." I said and grinned
"Alright then." Cinnamon said and removed her shoes and handed them to Mist.
"Have a safe trip you two." Mist said
"You too." Cinnamon said and held onto my arm.
I used the return spell and right away we were in Cinnamon's front door.
"Thanks for bringing me home. I have a spare pair of shoes so I'll be fine." Cinnamon said
"Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow." I said and she waved me off.
I just hope it doesn't get worse than this.
Jesús: "That's it for this one. This topic I decided to go with is a basic one when it comes to "School theme" stories but is always good to use them. All around the world there are people that need help with Bullying and if putting advice into this stories can help someone it would be much more than I could ever ask for. Anyway. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll be honest and say I thought I wouldn't have it ready in time. I just got myself a Job, hopefully a stable one, so I'll be more busy than usual. I don't know if I'll be able to update the way I have been and so I gotta inform you all that Updates will take longer than usual. I'm sorry to all of my Readers for having to do this but you all know what must be sacrificed to follow one's dreams. I hope you all come back whenever the next chapter goes up. So please leave a review telling me what you think on this story and I'll see you all next time. See Ya!"