Between Truths and Lies

by ErisLuna35

Shizuke Midorikawa was just an average boy who lives in an apartment above a flower shop with his grandmother. Blair Crawford was a fairly famous girl who models part time with her brother but dreams to be something else. They had nothing in common… Until a monster attacked their school and they received magical jewelry that allows them to transform into superheroes.

8. 2-1 Bully Hunter

CHAPTER 8: WHEN WINTER MET SPRING

Notes:

So Trigger warnings, this chapter contains scenes depicting a toxic friendship. Nothing too graphic or detailed, especially since it's from an outsider's POV, but it's still there so just wanna warn readers. Oh! And curse words! This fic finally earned its T rating.

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Fiona

It was around this time of the year when we became friends – the time when winter turns to spring. It's been seven whole years.

0-0-0-0-0

Seven years ago…

Summer vacation just ended and I already miss the biting cold of Russia: my grampa's cheerful old voice, the hot chocolate he never seems to run out of, the obstacle course he set up in his backyard that served as my playground… His place may not be as comfy as my home here in Helios, but at least nobody there treated me like I'm made of porcelain.

Everyone says I'm adorable. Big sapphire blue eyes, long rosy pink hair bunched into two pigtails, pearly white skin, delicate petite stature… With the cute frilly dresses and the sparkly jewelry Papa decorates me with, I'm like the world's most life-like doll – the little princess of the king of gems. That's all they ever saw me as, nothing more.

And I hated it.

The mayor's son may be annoying, but at least he doesn't act like I'm a pushover. He's the only person at school worth talking to. Too bad this year, his father decided to have him home-schooled. Killjoy.

So now I'm sitting in school, all alone. Life sucks.

"Class, we have a new student today," said the homeroom teacher, Mr. Warren. He ushered in a boy who was nervously shaking in front of the class.

He has short bluish-black hair, tawny beige skin, and warm chocolate brown eyes hidden behind a pair of thick square glasses. He was wearing an oversized apple green sweater that's faded in some areas and a ratty old backpack covered in markings that I don't understand. Clearly, he's not from around here.

The boy bowed to us like we're royalty, and said in a voice that's louder than necessary: "MAI NEIMU ISU MIDORIKAWA SHIZUKE!!! NAISU TO MIT YUUUU!!!"

I didn't understand a word he said. Everyone laughed at his terrible language skills. I'd be laughing too if I didn't know how it feels like to be in a place where everyone speaks differently from me. The boy's face turned redder than a tomato in embarrassment as the laughter got louder.

"Settle down children!" Mr. Warren said, knocking on his desk to get the class's attention. Once the class quieted down, he placed a comforting hand on the red faced boy and continued his introduction for him, "His name is Shizuke Midorikawa. He came from Kyoto, Japan and he'll be studying here with us from now on. He has a good understanding of English, but please be considerate and speak to him slowly."

"But he can't even speak right! Why do we have to speak to him at all?" one of the boys sneered, causing the class to erupt with laughter.

The boy is now hiding behind the teacher, who glanced down at him sympathetically. The orange haired assistant teacher, Mr Ross, slammed a book into the desk so loud that the class abruptly stopped laughing to stare.

"Children, I will not tolerate you making fun of our new student like that. This boy came from a different place where everyone speaks differently from us. If any of you were to go there, would you like to be laughed at for not knowing how to say their words properly?"

None of the kids said anything. Nobody would like to be made fun of over that. Mr Ross, content with their reaction, smiled at the class. This is the first time I ever thought of Keagan's uncle-to-be as anything but an awkward dork. The new kid was looking at Mr Ross with awe.

"So please, don't make fun of him for that. Instead, why don't you kids help him out? I'm sure you can learn a lot from him as he will learn a lot from you."

"Yes, Mr. Ross," the class chorused.

"Thanks man, you're a lifesaver," Mr. Warren said to the assistant teacher before kneeling down to the boy's eye level. "Now go along. You can sit next to, uhm…"

Mr. Warren scanned the room looking for an empty seat before his eyes settled on me. Or more likely, the empty seat next to me- Keagan's seat.

"How about you go sit next to Fiona over there?"

Oh no, you don't! I dumped my bag onto the empty seat, claiming it as mine.

"Fiona, don't be rude. Let your new classmate sit there," Mr. Warren chided.

I glared at him and shook my head. "No! The idiot sits here!"

Mr. Ross looked at me with sympathetic aquamarine eyes. "I understand how you feel, but Keagan is being home-schooled now. I'm sure he wouldn't mind-"

"No."

"How about you let the new kid sit next to me?"

Oh no. Anyone but him. He's the absolute worst!

"Thank you, Damien," Mr. Warren smiled at him with relief and turned back to the new kid. "You can sit in the back with the huge boy in a black shirt."

The new kid nodded, his hands clutched onto his backpack straps and he wordlessly made his way to the empty seat next to a huge dark skinned boy with spiky black hair and dark brown eyes. He passed by my desk, stared at Keagan's empty seat until one of Damien's underlings jeered, "Hurry up, nerd!" causing him to scramble to the back.

I can already tell that life is gonna suck for the new kid.

0-0-0-0-0

"Calm down, Hon," Mama said as she rubbed Papa's back.

"You're in the same class as the eldest son of Guerrero Real Estates?!" Papa shrieked, as soon as he recovered from choking on his drink when I told him how my first day in class went over dinner.

"Yup."

I continued to shove my vegetables to the side of my plate. Ick.

Gavril, my older brother by five years, slid his vegetables onto my plate. Jerk.

"Gav, don't think I didn't see that," Mama scolded as she took my plate and returned Gavril's share of his vegetables, making Gav glare at her. "Don't give me that look. If I have to suffer eating my vegetables, you should too."

Gavril grumbled about how gross vegetables are. Mama sighed and ate her share to prove her point. Defeated, Gavril started eating his vegetables too.

"That goes for you too, Fiona. You may not like the taste, but you need to eat them," Mama chided as she plopped more buttery mashed potatoes down my plate. "Just cut them up into tiny pieces and swallow them in between eating your mashed potatoes. Don't chew. It should help make the taste more tolerable."

I groaned but did as she said. At least she never lied about vegetables tasting good like Keagan's parents tend to do. Mama can be trusted.

"Bel, this is HUGE! Think of all the connections we could get if little Fiona befriends him!"

"Feodor, honey, no discussing business at the dinner table."

One would've thought Mama – who dresses like a punk 24/7, has twelve piercings, tattoos on every inch of skin from the neck down and does that for other people for a living – would be the wild parent while Papa – who likes wearing stuffy suits, spends an hour in the bathroom every day just to make himself pretty and works for an international brand as their new top jewelry designer – would be the one trying to keep order in this family. More often than not, it's the other way around.

"Damien's a jerk. I don't wanna be friends with him," I huffed and swallowed a huge helping of mashed potato to get rid of the vegetable's icky taste.

Gavril snorted. "You're just chicken."

"Am not!" I slammed my fork and spoon down on the table.

"You so are! That's why you only befriend wimps like Fire McGoldenAsh!"

"Damien is a big bully who scares everyone into doing what he wants! I don't want to be friends with someone like that!"

"So you ARE scared!"

"I. Am. NOT!"

"Are too!"

"AM NOT!"

"But he's not like that around you, is he?" Papa asked. There's a protective edge in his voice. The seriousness in his tone was enough to quiet down my annoying brother – and the fact that Mama put a hand over his mouth.

"No, but that doesn't make it okay," I growled.

And that kind of behavior disgusts me. I used to be one of those people Damien would step on. He'd still be doing that if my family weren't so rich now.

Papa narrowed his steel grey eyes at me to look for any signs if I'm lying. Seeing none, Papa nodded in understanding. "Just don't get on his bad side, okay? The Guerreros are not the sort of people we'd want to mess with."

I wanted to argue, that what Damien's doing is wrong. I looked to Mama, hoping she'd talk some sense into Papa like she always would… But instead, she's agreeing with Papa.

"Listen to Papa, Fiona. This isn't a fight you'd want to get into. You don't have to be friends with him as long as you're not his enemy," Mama patted my hair comfortingly. "We just want you to be safe."

I nodded reluctantly. It's hard to argue if even Mama thinks it's what I should do.

"And don't slouch. It's not lady-like," Papa chided.

I slouched down even more. The last thing I wanted was to be more lady-like. Papa huffed but before he can say anything about it, Gav got his attention.

"Hey, what's the big deal? Aren't we technically richer than those guys now that you've been promoted to Hera's top designer?"

"We are. But they're a powerful family from old money with a reputation in this city, while we've only recently climbed up the social ladder. Even with Hera's international influence, I'm just their employee. And…"

And so my parents and Gav started talking about boring stuff that I zoned out. All I really understood was that while Damien's family is rich, ours is richer, and Keagan's is the richest. Makes sense. Keagan's the one who lives in a castle after all. But just because we're richer than Damien, doesn't mean it's okay to get on his bad side- the Guerreros are still a powerful family and no one wants to mess with them.

One thing's for sure, Keagan and I are lucky enough to stand above Damien. We're not his targets. I pity everyone else.

The new kid is going to learn that the hard way.

0-0-0-0-0

"B? Is that the best you can do?" Damien said, looking at his worksheet with disgust. "Damn, Shizuke, I thought you'd be good at math! Are those glasses just for show or are you just that one dumbass from Japan?"

"I-I'm sorry," Shizuke ducked his head low in what I'm starting to understand as a gesture of apology. "Math is currently my best subject. They use the same symbols from back home, but I'm no super geniu-"

"Bullshit!" Damien cut in. He crumpled his worksheet into a ball and threw it at Shizuke's bowed down head. "Am I not your friend? Is this how you repay me after all the kindness I've given you?"

By kindness, he meant letting him have a seat. Just sitting next to Damien prevents others from mocking him, which I wouldn't count as Damien protecting him. And there's allegedly improving Shizuke's English, but I get the feeling the new kid could've done that on his own with enough practice talking to other people.

"No. I'll do better next time. I promise."

"You better," Damien spat. "Now back to your seat. You can help me get better grades in Science while I get us lunch."

"Yes, Damien-kun. Thank you for being my friend."

This pattern went on for a few more weeks, progressively getting worse. The paper balls he throws at Shizuke soon became pencils. Other days, he threw notebooks. On very bad days, he threw shoes.

I'm sure the kid will realize that Damien is a bad friend sooner or later. Nobody lasted more than a month. It's only a matter of time now. There's no need to interfere. No need to make myself a target.

0-0-0-0-0

I was grumpily shoving my latest art failure – stupid Gav, taking all the art genes – into the garbage can when I heard my other classmates whispering among themselves.

"He sure has it rough."

When I took a peek down the hall at what they were talking about, I saw Shizuke running towards our classroom with a huge paper bag overflowing with art supplies.

"Shouldn't we help him or something?"

"No, stupid! Do you want to get on Damien's bad side?"

"I heard the last kid who annoyed him got expelled."

"Talk about overkill."

"That's why we should never mess with a Guerrero."

Damien just loves to rub his money in their faces, and no one dares to tell on him. The faculty wouldn't dare out of fear of his family. It's why he gets away with so much. Only Mr Ross dared to help Shizuke but he's only an assistant teacher for a couple of months. As soon as he was gone, Damien got worse.

But day after day, looking at Shizuke's pitiful form slumped over his desk surrounded by his and Damien's schoolwork or scurrying around our huge school to run errands for Damien, it's getting harder and harder to standby and do nothing… But is he worth the trouble?

0-0-0-0-0

Weekends are the only days the Ashworth Castle is ever open to the public anymore. Even during winter break, they stayed closed on the weekdays save for Christmas and New Year's. For an amusement park with a fairy tale castle as the biggest attraction, it sure doesn't feel like a fantasy land lately.

"That's because father's too busy with his campaign to manage an amusement park," Keagan said, as he stirred some sugar into his tea.

We were having snacks in one of the castle's many courtyards. The courtyard had a small fountain in the middle, surrounded by a lush garden decorated with fairy lights and lightly dusted with snow. We were in a gazebo having a kid-sized two person outdoor tea party. Even with the heaters on in the castle around us, Keagan's all bundled up in a thick jacket and a duvet. I prefer to use mine as extra cushion.

"And your mother?"

"Managing press, to boost my father's publicity," Keagan took a nice long sip of his Earl Grey.

I grabbed a few more marshmallows to melt into my hot chocolate. I was gonna ask about his uncle when I remembered…

"Uncle Augusto would've been more than happy to take over but he's…" Keagan choked on his words, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. It's been months since his uncle died, but Keagan's still not over it.

The less said about his uncle's wife and kid who left, the better.

"There, there," I said, reaching over the table to pat his head.

"I'm not crying!" he whined, looking even more like a kicked puppy. "It's not like I'm always alone!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "But you're still usually alone. You don't like being alone."

Keagan grumpily huffed about how nothing gets past me before going on to reassure, "Octavia makes time to play with me in between her lessons. Aunt Vera visits me whenever she can, and I can always count on Uncle Ross to come if she couldn't make it."

"You know he's not officially your uncle yet, right?"

Keagan grinned, cheerful now that we're talking about him gaining an uncle instead of losing one.

"It's only a matter of time before he asks Aunt Vera to marry him, hehehe…" he twiddled his fingers as he cackled like a maniac.

"Please. They're not even dating yet."

"Don't underestimate Uncle Ross! I'm sure they'd get married soon!"

"Mr Ross is cool and all, but he's a chicken when it comes to your Aunt Vera."

I sipped down half of my hot chocolate in one go. This is definitely a step up from the hot chocolates I used to drink. One of the few things I love about being rich is being able to afford better versions of the sweets I love. It wasn't until after I was done wiping off my chocolate mustache with my sleeve that I noticed Keagan was gaping at me.

"Is there something on my face?"

"What did Uncle Ross do to get your words of approval?"

"Huh?"

Keagan scooted closer, his eyes wide with curiosity. "You said he's cool."

"So?"

"You're not the sort to give out compliments easily. When you do, that person must've done something you genuinely think is awesome to earn it, and I doubt it's about his new haircut – I'll never understand why he had a long hair phase but I'm glad he's over it."

It's times like these that remind me why I hang out with this ditzy prince. He gets me, unlike most people.

"So, did Uncle Ross do something awesome at school recently?"

I told Keagan about how Mr Ross didn't take the class's crud and stopped them from making fun of the new kid on the first day of school. Not only that, Ross kept doing that whenever he's within earshot so no one picked on the new kid whenever he's around, not even Damien. Then Keagan got curious about the new kid. He's Japanese, and with Keagan's recent obsession with anime, of course he was interested. I told him everything I knew- which wasn't much, but it was enough to paint an ugly picture of what that kid has gotten into. It made me sick that nothing's changed even after months.

"Poor kid, he doesn't deserve to be treated that way! I wish there was something I can do…"

"But you're stuck here and you can't just leave-"

"I know!" Keagan cuts me off. Keagan doesn't get angry often, but when he does, it always catches me off guard. In a blink of an eye, he seemed to calm down. "I know. But what's happening with him is still wrong! If only …"

If only he could be there, he would've done something to change it.

Talking about it with Keagan settled it for me. It's nice to know there's at least one other person who thinks that what is happening is wrong – that I'm not the only one who wants things to change. And change isn't going to happen just by wishing for it, it happens when someone makes it happen. Shizuke clearly won't make that change, but he needs to get away from Damien sooner rather than later.

I don't care if I get on Damien's bad side or what Mama and Papa will say, I'm gonna do what's right! As soon as school starts again, I'll make that happen.

0-0-0-0-0

"You know he's just using you," I told Shizuke.

We were alone in the locker room. Everyone else was out for lunch. Shizuke was always the last to leave, as he was not only packing his own things, but also Damien's.

Shizuke shook his head and held the P.E. shirts – one of them had Damien's name on it – closer to his chest.

"No. This is the least I can do after all he's done for me. I owe him."

"You don't owe him anything."

"He gave me a place to sit on the first day of school!"

"And since then he's been making you do all his schoolwork for him."

"He gives me free lunch!"

"He took them from other kids and you just let him."

Which is probably why no one was willing to help Shizuke. The other kids would've probably hated Shizuke had it not been clear that Shizuke gets bullied just as badly as they are. He's probably worse off than most of us. While everyone else only has to deal with Damien if they're unlucky enough to run into him, Shizuke has to deal with Damien all day, every day.

Shizuke shifted uncomfortably and looked away, guilt evident in his face.

"He-he said they deserve it for being saying mean things about me!"

"Damien also says mean things about you. What makes him any better than them?"

Shizuke didn't reply. I'm right and he knows it.

"Shizuke, Damien's not being a friend to you, he's a bully. Leave him and make actual friends."

"No one else would want to be friends with someone like me," he said quietly.

Oh. So that's why he doesn't leave Damien. He's desperate for friends and thinks he doesn't have any other choice. Then I'll give him one.

"Not if you don't let them," I offered my hand out in a handshake. Shizuke just stared at my hand, confused. "I for one, want to be your friend. Will you let me?"

Honestly, I'm mostly doing this out of pity. The rest of the class also pities him. They just don't do anything to help Shizuke because none of them wants to get on Damien's bad side. Cowards.

"Uh-uhm…" Shizuke's face was turning redder and redder as he stared at my hand, then at my face, then back at my hand.

What? Are handshakes not a thing from where he came from? I decided to just go for it and grabbed his hand and shook it. The boy made a squeaky sound and nearly dropped his – and Damien's – P.E. uniform.

"There. FRIENDS. Got it?"

As soon as I let go of his hand, he snatched it back like it was burnt and hid his face behind the shirts he was carrying. He started muttering something in rapid-fire Japanese, with the names 'Damien-kun' and 'Kuznetsov-san' thrown around from time to time. I didn't need subtitles to tell from his tone that something is bothering him. He's scared out of his wits. What's with him? Before I can ask him that, he seemed to remember he wasn't alone and snapped out of his external monologue.

"Uh-uhm… I better go," he finally said in English. "See you next period, Kuznetsov-san!"

He bowed before he fled the classroom.

0-0-0-0-0

I didn't give up. I tried talking to him whenever I can catch him away from Damien. It was more difficult than I expected. Damien was making full use of his 'best friend'.

This isn't the first time Damien got himself a 'best friend' and made them do everything for him. This is just the first time anyone's lasted this long. All Damien's past 'best friends' crack within the first month, and one way or another, they'd transfer out.

Shizuke never once complained. He seems more afraid that Damien will stop being his friend than Damien himself. It became clear that he's not going to leave on his own.

I have to save him.

0-0-0-0-0

It wasn't a surprise for me to see Damien cornering Shizuke at the playground's stone elephant slide. One of his goons told on Shizuke in hopes of getting into his good graces. Butt kisser.

From what I can hear, Damien's pissed off that I wanted to befriend Shizuke and not him when he's the rich kid and Shizuke's just a poor immigrant. So he blames Shizuke. How stupid can he be? This is why Keagan's my only friend in rich people land. Everyone else is too full of hot air to be worth hanging out with.

"You're nowhere near the same fucking level! You're lucky to even look at her! Just who do you think you are to talk to the Jewelry Princess?!"

Shizuke was prostrating down on the cold snowy ground. I approached from behind Damien. A quick glare at his three goons made them shut up about spotting me.

"Well?! What the fuck do you have to say for yourself?!"

"GOMENASAI!!! I MEAN-I'M SORRY!!! I WON'T TALK TO KUZNETSOV-SAN EVER AGAIN!!!"

From the way his voice sounded nasally, he must be crying. I'm definitely gonna tear Damien a new one.

"That's not enough! You'll never be good enough! You'll always be a worthless little shit!"

Damien was about to slam his meaty fist down Shizuke's head when I grabbed his wrist, making him stop and turn towards me.

"What do you think you're doing to my friend?"

Shizuke looked up from his prostrating position. His glasses were skewed, and for once, I can see his eyes. They looked red and puffy from crying. That made me grip Damien's wrist tighter, my nails digging into his flesh made him wince in pain.

"I was just putting him in place," Damien said, his bronze eyes glaring at me. "He's not worth your time, princess."

My eye twitched at the nickname. I always hated being called that.

"And who are you to decide that?"

Soon, our argument devolved into a fight, which – to everyone's surprise – I won, even with the numbers stacked against me. I had the field advantage; I'm used to navigating around ice and snow. And it helped that they underestimated me. I'm a lot stronger than I look.

I picked off Damien and his goons one by one in the playground. They all either got hit in the gut by the swings, slipped on ice by the seesaw, or had piles of snow dropped on them when we got to the monkey bars. All they could do was yell curse words at me as I kept slipping out of their grasps. Grampa always told me that to win a war one must take full advantage of the terrain and cripple your opponents as fast as possible.

I may look like a porcelain doll, but I'm far from fragile. And now the whole school knows it.

0-0-0-0-0

All six of us – namely, me, Shizuke, Damien and his three goons I can't be bothered to remember the names of – were sent to the principal's office. Damien and his goons were sniveling on the opposite side of the waiting area, huddled together for warmth. I'm wearing less layers than they are and yet I'm perfectly fine. Wimps.

The principal called for a meeting with all our parents. As expected, Damien tried to get me expelled. It's a good thing mama had Keagan's parents on speed dial. After dragging Keagan's parents into this, the principal had to play fair and just gave us all detention for a few days. And to think my parents were making such a huge fuss about making enemies out of the Guerreros.

"Uhm… Uh…" Shizuke twiddled his fingers around a paper cup of hot chocolate and shoved it towards me. "Here!"

"Huh? What's this for?" I was confused, but I reached out for the hot chocolate anyway. Can't say no to free chocolate, even if it's the cheap vendo machine kind.

He fidgeted in place, his face turning red in embarrassment. "You were trying to warn me, but I didn't listen and you were right and… and… I wanted to say thank you for saving me!" he finished with a bow.

"Oh. You don't need to thank me. That's what friends are for."

"F-friends?" he sounded doubtful.

"Yes. Friends. They look out for each other not because they owe them, but because they care about them."

"But Damien-kun said…"

"'Damien-kun'," I said with disgust. "-is a butt and wasn't acting like your friend! You don't have to hang out with him anymore. I'm a much better friend than he is."

"But I'm not good enough… I'll never be good enough…" his voice was getting quieter and his gaze dropped to the floor.

"Is that what he said?"

"He's not the only one. Many others said that even before I moved here… It must be true."

"Then they're all dumb."

Shizuke raised his head and looked gobsmacked at my conclusion.

"Just because a lot of people say something, doesn't mean it's true. Take me for example. People say I'm like an adorable porcelain doll. A princess. But can a Jewelry Princess beat those losers all alone?" I pointed towards Damien and his goons with my thumb. "I don't think so. I'm made of stronger stuff."

Of all the reactions I was anticipating, I did not expect the mousy glasses boy to laugh, saying something about 'Gahpu Moweh'.

"Hey!" I huffed gently nudged him. He nearly fell over. I was going to apologize but he didn't stop laughing while rubbing his arm. I take back any guilty feelings I had for shoving him. "What's so funny?"

"You're different from how I imagined you were like."

"How did you imagine I was like?"

He muttered something under his breath, his cheeks turning red.

"Say what?"

"NOTHING!!! YOU'RE JUST STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT YOU'D BE!!!"

Realizing he started yelling, Shizuke shrunk back and hid his red face behind his hands. With the hot chocolate in my hand feeling cool enough, I downed it in one go along with my irritation at not understanding what he just said. Whatever it is, I get the feeling I'll be even more annoyed if I knew.

"Got a problem with that?" I sternly said, doing my best to imitate Mama when dealing with rowdy customers at her tattoo shop.

Shizuke shook his head in denial, not removing his hands from his ever-reddening face.

"Good. I'm sure we'll be good friends," I said, prying his hands away from his face.

"Y-yes Kuznetsov-san!"

"It's Fiona."

"What?"

"My name, silly. Kuznetsov-san sounds too formal, and I don't like formal. You can call me Fiona."

For some reason, instead of making him feel less stiff around me, he just got more flustered. It wasn't until later in life that I learned that people in his culture only start calling each other by given name if they're close. And the fact that Shizuke is easily flustered in general.

"F-F-Fuyu…"

"Fuyu?" I said, testing out the sound of it. It's not as girly sounding as Fiona or grampa's nickname for me, Fiya, but sounds close enough that it feels like it's still my name…

"I-I'm sorry! I meant to say-"

"It's okay. I like it. You can call me Fuyu from now on."

"O-okay, Fuyu. It suits you, actually.""Hm?""In Japanese, it means 'winter'. You seem comfortable in the cold… It's like you're at home with the ice and snow."

That moment, I knew that this was the start of a great friendship.

0-0-0-0-0

A lot has changed since then.

For one thing, my reputation as a porcelain doll went down the gutter. I got into fights with Damien and his goons so often, people finally got it into their heads that I'm a badass. Sometimes, it's to defend Shizu. Sometimes, it's to defend some other nerd he decided would be easier prey. Even if I got in trouble a lot for it, I have no regrets. I'm never going back to the days when I used to standby doing nothing while letting others do what I think is wrong. Even after Damien stopped joining in those fights and just left it to his goons, I never stopped picking fights with them whenever I see them bullying others. Finally! Something I'm good at!

There was one time when Damien started the fight by cutting off one of my pigtails. Papa nearly fainted when I went home that day. Mama just shrugged and cut off the other one. I never went back to pigtails since. As I got older, I stopped wearing dresses and started dressing more like Mama and Gav. For my thirteenth birthday, Mama and Papa finally let me get an extra pair of piercings on my left ear just because I thought it was cool. For my fourteenth, Grampa sent me a pair of combat boots. Last Christmas, Kaji got me a pair of silver headphones for Secret Santa. I look nothing like the doll-like princess of jewelry people used to admire me as. I never wanted to go back to that.

I'm no longer the Jewelry Princess only to be admired from afar. I'm a strong fighter who can protect herself and others…

The minute I saw the names of the people Shizu's grouped with, I knew I had to be there.

0-0-0-0-0

Notes:

Before anyone asks and points out this minor inconsistency, the reason Shizuke didn't butcher Fiona's last name, Kuznetsov, was because he had a lot of practice with it around Damien – who had a bit of a crush on Fiona at the time. He was 'friends' with Damien for like, almost five months, so I'm sure he would've been able to pronounce that right by the time Fiona confronts him. The reason why he butchered her name later on was because of the context of their meeting then. This time, he's meeting her as a friend and she just saved his butt. And the fact that he had a bit of a crush on her at the time didn't help.

Yes, the Mr Ross here is the same teacher from Chapter 1 and he's currently the main protags' homeroom teacher as well as their social studies/history teacher.