Chapter 6: Keep Moving Forward

It's been a little over a month since Veronica evolved and found out about me living at the orphanage. We've been practicing some of my moves together, with Veronica taking me to the clearing we went to the day we officially became friends. We didn't want to be disturbed. Seeing two teenagers battling on the street may be common practice, but we didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea. Veronica was still careful when trying not to hurt me, and I feel like I've actually learned some things.

At first when I tried to use Protect, nothing happened. It didn't work at all, and I couldn't block anything (We had practiced with some stones that Veronica picked up and flung at me, it stung, but was nothing I couldn't handle). She told me I had to focus on not getting hurt. I had to picture the shield manifesting to prevent anything from hurting me, and eventually it worked! My Protect barrier was fairly large, but I couldn't hold it for long. We practiced getting the shield to form for a bit, before the more difficult part arose. Actually using it to block an attack. I asked if Veronica would actually attack me, and she said that getting the shield to form may have been easy for me now, but actually using it and making sure it didn't break was a whole different matter entirely. Since she was far more experienced than me, if I tried to block anything she used, it would shatter in an instant, and I would be hurt pretty badly.

Then the idea came to us, we could have CJ and Bailey help us. CJ knew a move called Hold Back. A rare move that did little damage and made sure the opponent didn't faint. We might have told a white lie and said that Veronica was helping me practice so I'd do better in gym class, which was fine since neither of them shared that class with me anyway.

This actually helped us all bond a little. At first my shield didn't last long, and I got hurt a few times, but Veronica would use Heal Pulse to make me feel better. Eventually her attack wasn't enough to break the shield, and Bailey was next. He was actually trained, so it took a lot less work for him to break through, and one attack from him was all it took for me to really focus. It wasn't long before he couldn't get past my shield either. Veronica was next.

She actually pulled me aside and asked me if I was okay, because she knew I was still afraid. She reassured me that if my shield broke she would stop immediately before anything happened. She wanted to make sure I was comfortable enough before using her full power, so that I wouldn't have a panic attack again in front of CJ and Bailey.

It took two full weeks for my shield not to break. Veronica kept her promise to cancel the move the instant it did, but the fear was causing me to lose concentration, making my move weaker than usual.

But eventually, that fear turned to motivation. Rather than thinking about the shield breaking and me getting hurt, I thought about my shield staying strong, and keeping up, so I'd have no reason to be afraid. I wasn't gonna let that fear control me anymore, I would persist, and keep moving forward.

My shield was stronger than ever.

"Aaaaaand…Time! Wow Aaron you managed to keep up for five minutes. It may not seem like a long time, but that's actually really impressive!"

Bailey and CJ were watching a timer on Veronica's phone to help record how long my shield would last each time. We were only supposed to go for three minutes, but I guess this time they wanted to see how long I could last.

Veronica stops using her move, and sits down to take a breath.

"I'm actually impressed Aaron. You've come a long way, I'm glad I could help you practice."

I sit down as well, finally relaxing. Creating a Protect shield took hard work at first, but I was actually proud of myself, I could now manifest one with little to no effort, and maintain it quite easily.

Is this what growth feels like?

"Thanks, I couldn't have done it without you guys."

Bailey and CJ walk over to the both of us, and Bailey hands Veronica her phone.

"Glad we could help Aaron! It was nice to spend more time with you guys."

CJ nods in agreement with a wide smile.

"It sure was! You guys wanna get some ice cream to celebrate?"

Veronica stands up and dusts off her dress.

"Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea."

A few moments later, we're at the ice cream parlor, Bailey and CJ offered to pay for us. We all ate our cones together at the parlor, and it was nice to spend time with my friends. The last month really made me feel like we were a close group, and it felt great knowing they were all willing to help me.

After we finish the ice cream, CJ and Bailey leave, and Veronica and I are alone. We start walking down the street slowly.

"Apologies Aaron, normally I would use Teleport for us to go home, but I am a little worn today. While I am happy to have helped you practice, I must admit it's a little tiring. Speaking of, I know we practiced your other moves a little bit, would you like me to help you practice them further as well?"

Before I could answer, a shadow looms over the building next to us, and I see a familiar face lunging down at us from above.

"En garde!"

Lance barely misses me with a Brick Break. I managed to avoid it because of Veronica moving me out of the way, but in her doing so, she left herself open. She gets hit by his Hypnosis.

"I'm not here for you this time around!"

He eyes me as she falls over, asleep, and readies his blades for Psycho Cut. He lunges forward.

"Insufferable weakling!"

I use Protect instantly, pushing him back a little. He looks surprised, but growls and keeps slashing at my shield.

"I've been watching as you pathetically try to steal Veronica from me! How dare you?!"

I tilt my head in major confusion.

"What the heck are you talking about? I only wanted to be friends!"

He growls once more, and keeps slashing.

"Liar!"

I sigh and watch as he slashes relentlessly.

"What do you want from me? What's so wrong with wanting to be her friend? She doesn't seem to like you much anyway…"

I could see the rage fill his eyes, and his slashes grow wilder by the second.

"She was meant to be mine! I've known her since we were kids, but she rejected my feelings as we got older! I had consigned myself to watching from afar, but seeing you get so close to her makes my blood boil! Why was I replaced!?"

He keeps persistently attacking my shield, but he doesn't make a dent. I take a seat.

This is surprisingly easy to block compared to Veronica's attacks…

Before long, he stops and has to catch his breath. He's sweating profusely, and only glares at me from behind my shield. I keep the shield intact, and walk closer to him.

"Are you done?"

He doesn't say anything, and I continue.

"You know I don't think it's right for you to try to use force to go about this. I'm sure we could all come to an understanding if we talk. And you should probably stop leaping from buildings to attack people as well…"

He stays silent, apart from a huff. Assuming I got through to him, I dropped my shield and approached him carefully. However, the moment I do, he readies himself.

"Fool! I'm the only one who deserves her friendship!"

But before he can act, he gets blasted by a Moonblast from behind me, and faints instantly. Veronica walks forward while glaring at him.

"It's a good thing sleep induced by Hypnosis is only temporary. Sorry I was out for so long Aaron."

I sigh, and look down at him.

"It's fine! But um…did you and him really used to be friends?"

She puts her hands on her hips and scowls.

"We do have history, but I would not call us friends. All of our parents were close, so we saw each other often as kids. We never really spoke, and we only really spent time with each other when our parents visited each other. I was under the impression that we weren't close. Then one day he admitted that he had strong feelings for me, and I did not return them. He stopped talking to me, and by this time, our parents didn't drag us along when they visited each other, and he stopped coming around completely. I have no idea where this notion of my being his girlfriend came from, but he refuses to let it go for some reason."

I look down at him in thought, and with all the information present, an idea forms.

"Why don't you guys make up? I could try to be friends with him too."

She raises a brow and gives me a genuine look of confusion.

"Why in the world would you want to do that?"

The idea of Lance distancing himself from her didn't feel like it was purely out of rejection, since they'd known each other so long. I felt like there was more to Lance than we thought.

"I just think he might need to make some more friends, and move on from you guys' past is all. I can only imagine how lonely he's been. If I've learned anything at my social program, and from talking with Mr. Night and Mr. Weiss, it's that he's most likely acting out because he lost the person he felt was closest to him, and can only blame himself for it."

I lean down next to Lance and notice how peacefully he sleeps.

"I think it'll be good for both of you. At the very least, maybe he'll stop trying to beat me up."

I give her a slight smile, and she sighs in defeat.

"Very well. I suppose it is worth a try. But the instant anything goes wrong I'm blasting him again and leaving him there for the nightly clean up crew."

I flinch back a little, and smile sheepishly.

"Th-that's fine."

She walks over and uses Heal Pulse on Lance, and he awakens over time. He sits up slowly and looks at the both of us with hostility before quickly backing away.

"Woah woah…Calm down, I just wanna talk."

He turns up his nose and scoffs while crossing his arms.

"Hmph. I'd prefer not to waste my time talking with scrawny weaklings. I would rather-"

He sees Veronica with her eyes glowing blue next to me, and sat cross legged.

"I-I suppose I have time to talk."

I smile and sit across from him.

"Alright, why are you so convinced that I wanna date Veronica?"

He looks at me as if I was speaking another language.

"Do you not? Veronica is beautiful, strong and respectable. Any man would. I assumed you were attempting to get close to her for that reason."

I shake my head and look to my side to see Veronica turning red.

"I really only wanted to be friends. I respect Veronica, but that's all I really want."

Veronica scoffs and frowns at him.

"I can be friends with whoever I want, Lance. You say you respect me, but if that were true, you'd respect my choice of friends as well. Especially considering you're the one who stopped coming around me in the first place."

He looks down sadly, most certainly feeling the depth of her words.

"I…I only stopped because I didn't want to burden you with my feelings. I couldn't fathom the idea of making you feel guilty, or treating me different in response to my feelings. And as a result, I became unsure of how to approach our friendship from there. And when I saw the two of you talking in the library, I felt like I'd been replaced."

I understood how he felt…sort of. Well not really but, I could understand why that would make someone upset or jealous.

"Why don't you try being our friend Lance? No one would be replaced."

He looks stunned, and looks between me and Veronica.

"Why would you want that after I've attacked you countless times?"

I smile at him.

"I'm not sure… but there's never anything wrong with making a new friend, right?"

I can tell he's hesitant, but he looks up at Veronica for clarification.

"Do you feel the same way?"

She turns red again, and looks down awkwardly.

"I'm still learning about friendships myself, and what they entail. But if Aaron believes this is truly okay, then I will not object. However, if you try anything to hurt him again, I'll send you to oblivion like I've done several times before."

He huffs, before standing and eyeing me cautiously.

"Yes yes. I'm willing to give it a try, but not because of you. I am considering this to be my second chance to be Veronica's friend, and well…if you and I end up being friends as a result, then I'm not completely opposed."

That's fine as long as you stop attacking me…seriously.

Lance apologizes for keeping us, and leaves, meaning Veronica and I are alone again. We start walking toward the orphanage, and Veronica looks down at me curiously.

"So…why did you really want to be friends with Lance all of a sudden? Do you honestly think the two of you can get along?"

I shrug and finally let the stress in my shoulders go.

"I don't know. I kind of only wanted him to stop trying to fight me. He seems like the type that would take some getting used to, for me, and CJ and Bailey too. But if things work out, I think I could see us being friends."

Veronica only chuckles.

"Well, it's honestly nice how optimistic you can be when it matters. I think you'll get through to him."

I smile, and we continue our walk home.

"I hope so."

(Later that night, Unknown POV)

"Ah, finally finished."

I'd spent the last few hours sorting papers, as I was instructed. It was odd for me to be told to do this, as it was normally Lizbeth's job, but apparently she had business elsewhere today, and I was tasked with it in her stead.

I was ordered to keep an eye out for any unorganized papers, as the Head Aide was here earlier today searching through them for something. This was not meant to imply that she would leave things unorganized, but usually some things are out of place by mistake, regardless of who previously went through them.

And as per usual, some things were out of place. I took note of what changes were made, and how I fixed them.

The first was that, peculiarly, there was a duplicate of a child's information papers. These were the papers we showed adults who showed up and inquired about said child, to help see if they were compatible. Typically duplicates are necessary, but they're kept in our information office(which is here) and another copy is kept in a filing cabinet for quick access when potential parents show up. Why both copies would be here was strange, not to mention, one copy was kept in the files of children who'd already been adopted. We usually keep their papers here just in case the parents have a request about certain things, or have misplaced their own previous copies. I did what was right, and placed them both in the correct filing cabinet.

The second thing reorganized were the documents needed for a child transfer. Usually children are transferred to the Foster Care Center at the age of 16. This is because they start getting especially hormonal, and we don't want to introduce that environment to the younger children, and have them be influenced by any bad behavior. Only one child so far fit into that category, though their 16th birthday wasn't for another couple of months. I assumed that they were taken out to prepare for a potential transfer, and put them back where they belonged.

I sighed as I finished leaving those notes, and left.

I hope I'm not asked to do this again, such strenuous work.

(End Chapter)


Hey all, Night here! This time I was asked to talk about the Foster System here in Trinity Town! Lizzy was supposed to be here too, but she's currently busy, not to mention, it's a sensitive subject for her. So Lucas excused her this time around.

Ahem, a certain someone wanted to create his own system here, because he knows the topic can be difficult for some. It may not seem normal(and if this type of system is completely normal, he apologizes because he didn't do any actual research). Wow... someone got lazy huh Lucas. Oh come on that's a joke! Don't cut my pay...

Right, so, he wanted to make his system a bit different for the sake of storytelling, so I hope you all can bare with us. Thanks! See you next time!