Chapter 38

Work My Magic

"Wh-what have you done!?" Ranmaru cries as she drops to her knees, her eyes looking down at the now burnt Kumapooh, lying on the ground in front of her. Two older girls stand there laughing while the orange haired girl picks up the bear tenderly. His face was burnt to a crisp, mostly along with the other parts, but not torn.

"You should stop carrying that around, little kid," one girl says, crossing her arms.

"We warned you," her friend agrees.

The orange haired girl grits her teeth, glaring at them. She doesn't know those girls, but she DOES know they belong to the same academy as her. They probably have been watching her for quite some time now and waited for the right time to strike when Ranmaru wasn't looking and stole the bear from her and carried him to this dark ally. Fortunately, using her ninja speed and instincts, she found those girls, but was too late when they already destroyed him.

"You girls…are gonna pay for this!" Ranmaru growls.

"Ha! That's a laugh!" the first girl scoffs. "You have nothing to defend yourself."

"You don't have any friends, either." the second girl sneers toward her. "So you're pretty much done for~"

"Wrong," a familiar quiet voice says from behind Ranmaru.

The orange haired girl gasps and is surprised to see not one, but two people here. Murasaki and Kasumi. All she can do is take her bear and plunge herself into Murasaki's arms, shutting her eyes tightly.

"Who are you?" the first girl asks, putting a hand on her hip.

"Your worst nightmare," Kasumi replies, typing something on the computer in front of her. There pops up a demon behind her, who growls and sneers toward the two now scared girls.

"Wh-wh-wh-what is that!?" the second girl stutters, pointing a shaky finger at the demon.

Kasumi grins evilly. "You better run before it devours your soul," she says softly.

The two girls were so scared that they just nod and run for their lives without looking back. Kasumi types again and the demon disappears, but not before the white lavender haired girl pets it as reward for its good work. She then turns back to see Ranmaru sobbing into Murasaki's chest, clutching her Hebijo shirt.

"What's wrong…Ran-chan?" the violet haired girl asks and then looks over at her burnt bear. "Oh…no! What have they done?"

"They….they….*sniff*…they told me I should give it up!" Ranamaru sobs. "They didn't like the fact that I carry him around every single day! When they clearly don't know the real reason I do this!"

"Those girls are just garbage," Kasumi frowns. "They are just judging you by what they see."

"It happened to me a couple times," Murasaki says. "People just don't know a thing about either of us, actually." She looks up at Kasumi. "Especially you…Kasumi-chan. You love to go on your computer, but you only talk to those who you feel very comfortable with. I totally…understand that."

Ranmaru lifts her head from the violet haired girl's chest. "And?"

"And you, Ran-chan," Murasaki gives a small smile and pets her like a puppy. "You and I…have a lot in common as well. We both have….teddy bears as best friends. We talk to them, play with them, sleep with them and take them everywhere with us. Overall….all of us…are lonely people."

"It's sad…but true…" Kasumi hangs her head down in sadness.

"Anyways…let's go to my home," the shut in says as she gently takes the bear. "I think…I have the materials to fix him, Ran-chan."

"Y-you do?" the orange haired girl asks.

"Of course. My Onee-chan has a sewing kit in her room. I'm sure she'll let me borrow it for a minute."

"B-but…Kumapooh's burnt!" Ranamaru says as she shows the violet haired girl the damaged bear. "There's no way you can replace something like this!"

The shut in's smile never leaves her as she gently lowers the bear in order to look at her in the eyes. "Trust me, Ran-chan. My Onee-chan has everything we need."

The orange haired girl looks at the violet haired one for just a minute, wondering if this is really going to work. She then turns to the computer wiz, who just smiles and nods.

"Believe in Murasaki-san…" Kasumi speaks softly.

Ranmaru turns back towards the shut in who smiles at her in reassurance. She glances at her bear in her hand and then back at the violet haired girl.

"O-okay…" the orange haired girl says.

Murasaki smiles and the three of them go to the dorms. Fortunately, when the shut-in knocks on the door, Imu is in there and lets her little sister borrow her sewing kit and other supplies she might have. Then, Murasaki leads them to her own room. Kasumi pulls out the curtains to let out a little sunlight to get a better view. Murasaki takes Ranmaru's bear and sets it down on the table. Grabbing a sewing needle and some fabric, Murasaki gets right to work. She takes apart the burnt parts of the bear and finds some new fabric to replace it with. Ranmaru and Kasumi watch in awe on how amazing Murasaki is sewing the bear back together. Her skillful fingers find the right spots and never miss one of them. The arms, legs, chest and face are successfully replaced by new fabric, plus some new buttons to sew on as well. Ranmaru gasps happily as she sees the new and improved Kumapooh as soon as Murasaki does the finishing touches. She holds it up to check a few things and then nods in satisfaction. She then hands her friend the bear.

"There we go," Murasaki says. "Good…as new."

Ranmaru is nearly in tears of happiness as she takes the bear and hugs it close to her chest. "Wooooow! Murasaki…you did it! You're amazingly good at this!"

"I didn't know you were into sewing," Kasumi adds.

"My…my Onee-chan…taught me," Murasaki speaks truthfully. "It was a while ago, but…I got the hang of it…"

Ranmaru turns toward the shut-in and immediately hugs her. "Thank you! You were amazing! I'm so glad you fixed him…all by yourself!"

Kasumi nods in agreement. "Mm-hmm. You were very helpful, Murasaki-san."

Murasaki smiles as she returns the embrace towards Ranmaru. "I'm glad…I could be of help…Ran-chan. You're my friend. And friends do help and support each other."

Kasumi hugs the orange haired girl from the other side with a smile. "I just wanted to join in. That's all~"

Ranmaru doesn't move a muscle. She likes the feeling of being sandwiched between her two friends, so she rests her head on Murasaki's chest, closing her eyes with a small, cute smile on her face.

Next Pairing: (Crossover) Murasaki x Rinko (Taimanin Yukikaze)