WARNING: This chapter deals with issues concerning bullying. If you are easily triggered by stuff like this, then feel free to skip this chapter.
It had all started one day when Wataru came home covered in scratches. The rest of the Asahina family just shrugged it off at first. Wataru's eleven right? Kids always run around and get scuffed up, but they always shrugged it off afterwards and go back to doing whatever they were doing in the first place (except for those few who scream and cry like they're going to die, but they're usually alright too). But then, they noticed something weird about Wataru after patching him up. When they asked him what happened, he just told them that he tripped while playing outside in gym.
But they weren't convinced. Everyone knew something was up with him, and indeed something was up. A few days later, Wataru came home covered in mud and twigs. Again, he passed it off as him just being clumsy and not looking where he was going. But after that, there were more and more of these "incidents" with him. Wataru started coming home with various suspicious injuries that he had just tried to pass off as a result of his sudden "clumsiness". One day it would have been a scrapped knee, the next a black eye and a bloody nose.
His personality also started changing as well. He began shutting himself up in his room and spending less time with his brothers. Sometimes when they walked by his room, they could hear him him crying. Masaomi found the bunny he had made for him missing an eye, a section of its ear and stuffing coming out of its neck and legs. Ema started finding several of his favourite clothes ripped up or even covered in blood in the laundry. He eventually started complaining of frequent stomach-aches and headaches. If anyone dared to ask him about school, he would just refuse to tell them anything.
Where had that loud and cheerful kid they knew gone? Where was the kid who would happily grasp any opportunity to spend time with his older stepsister? Or that kid who would happily help his big brother bake sweets or chase a certain squirrel around the house? He was gone, and everyone was worried. Just what on earth had happened to him? And why was he acting like this? Eventually, Masaomi and Ukyo had gotten a call from his teacher. Wataru was not only skipping his classes, his grades were also beginning to slip.
That night, everyone called an emergency family meeting, with Wataru in the centre of this mess. He knew that he was in BIG trouble with his big brothers, and now he was going to have to pay for it.
"Wataru, is there something going on at school?" asked Masaomi
"Why are you suddenly skipping class? This isn't like you." Stated Ukyo as he pulled out a pile of papers.
They were a bunch of test papers from various subjects. Each of these papers had varying scores on them ranging from 67 to 16. Wataru's face flushed a very vivid shade of red as he broke out in a cold sweat. What kind of family meeting was this? He felt like one of those suspects in crime dramas being interrogated by the police.
"Wataru-kun, you can tell us. Please? We're all worried about you" said Ema as she placed her hands over his.
"Whatever is going on, we'll try to be understanding about it."
"It's nothing..." he mumbled barely above a whisper
"Pardon? Could you repeat that? We didn't hear you the first time."
"I said it's nothing! I'm just tired of school, that's all."
"Nothing? Don't you dare tell us it's just NOTHING!" Yusuke snapped
"What is going on with you? You just don't just come home one day covered in cuts and bruises and just tell us it's nothing!"
Wataru flinched at the sound of the red head's voice. He was DEFINITELY in trouble with his family.
"Are you being bullied at school?" asked Iori calmly.
"You don't have to be afraid of telling us if you are. We just want to help." Cut in Louis.
Wataru chewed on the inside of his cheek. He was starting to shake from having to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes.
"Y-you wouldn't understand!" He squeaked, trying his very best to stay composed
"No one would anyways. What's the point of telling you? You'd just blame it on me and make it look like it's MY fault for letting it happen. Leave me alone already!"
And with that, Wataru ran off crying his eyes out.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Cried Tsubaki
"Come back here! We're not done talking!"
"Tsubaki, just leave him alone for now. It's clear that he's not just going to tell us straight off the bat." Said Azusa as he tried to calm his twin.
"Well, what do you want us to do? Just sit here twiddling our thumbs? Or do you want to wait until something horrible happens?"
"I don't know but, all we can do for now is come up with a plan."
"Tomorrow, Yusuke-kun, Fuuto-kun and I will try to find something out." Interrupted Ema
"What? Are you sure we'll be able to find something out? What if we just wind up back at square one?" piped up Yusuke
"It's still better than nothing." Replied Fuuto with a shrug
"And even if we do wind up back at square one, we'll just keep trying no matter what. Afterall, NO ONE gets away with hurting our little brother."
-The next day-
Everyone was on edge and filled with anxiety. Not that anyone could really blame them for feeling that way. What if Yusuke really did have a point? What if they did turn up empty handed? Then what? Would they even have a backup plan for the following disaster afterwards? All everyone could do was believe in those three and hope they could find something out at Wataru's school. The end of the day couldn't have gotten here any faster.
"So do you have a plan?" Asked Yusuke as he jogged beside Ema.
"First, we're going to find Wataru's teacher and find out what's been going on with him. Then we're going to find some of Wataru's classmates and talk to them to see if they know anything."
"But Nee-san, there's hundreds and thousands of kids there. How could you possibly find out which kids are in his class?"
"We'll figure something out Fuuto-kun. Kids see things but sometimes are too scared to tell anyone because they don't want to look like terrible people. We just—"
Just then, a young girl ran into Ema. She was around ten or eleven years old with her long black hair pulled into two high pigtails. Her cheeks were flushed red from running and her face was caked with tears and dirt.
"Are you Wataru-kun's sister?" she asked frantically
Ema immediately tensed up. Who was this girl? And how did she know who she was? And more importantly, was her stepbrother in trouble?
"Yes, we're Wataru-chan's older siblings. What's wrong?"
"Please! You have to help him! Something terrible is going to happen! None of the other teachers aside from our homeroom teacher are doing anything about this!"
All the colour drained from their faces. Iori was right. He really was being bullied at school.
"Yusuke-kun! Go with Fuuto-kun find the principal! I'm going to find Wataru!"
"Right! Got it!"
"Lead the way!"
Time seemed to slow down considerably for Ema. She prayed in her heart that her baby brother was going to be okay. So what if he wasn't related to her by blood? He was still family to her, and that's all that really mattered. The remaining journey to the school wasn't too long of a travel for the four of them. After they passed the gates, the four of them split into groups of 2 and ran their separate ways. No sooner had Ema ran to the back of the school, she had heard the most horrible blood curdling noises that no one should have ever have to hear. The sound of Wataru's grunts and cried of pain rang through the air as she reached her destination. What she saw made her blood boil and her see red.
Two grade 6 boys were holding each of his arms tightly while a third boy had looped his arms under Wataru's armpits in a vice like grip. Meanwhile, a fourth boy was now pummelling him into a bloody and bruised pulp. The worst part about this was he acting looked like he was taking joy out of this. Ema wasn't normally a very angry person by nature. In fact, she was quite the opposite of that. But there was just something about the sight in front of her that filled her with all sorts of homicidal rage, disgust and bloodlust. And before she could stop herself, she found herself screaming at them in a voice that didn't even sound anything human.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LITTLE SHITS ARE DOING TO MY BROTHER?!"
The four boys froze in terror, a cold sweat pouring down their faces. Oh they were deader than dead alright, and if they didn't get out of here, they were going to be going home in coffins. Before they could go pick themselves up and get the hell out of here, Yusuke and Fuuto came running in with the principal in tow. Yusuke had to hold his stepsister back to keep her from tearing these four a new one while Fuuto and that girl who had come running to them went over to Wataru to assess the damage. Their little brother was barely conscious by this time and had to be rushed to the hospital.
He had gotten a couple of his ribs broken as well as his nose, which was now a swollen, bloodied and bruised mess. Some of his teeth were also missing, but those were baby teeth, so a new bunch of them would be able to grow back in. Ugly bluish-black bruises covered his entire torso as well as his arms and face. Had Ema and the gang not arrived any sooner, this whole thing could have ended in tragedy. When Masaomi first saw him in this horrible state, he almost fainted due to his fear of blood. But even if he did have such an extreme dislike of it, he still had a job to do, and this was his baby brother for crying out loud! For him, he'll (temporarily) put his fear of blood aside for him. A few days later, his family visited him in the hospital bearing him all sorts of gifts. But there was still something they had to address.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner that you were being bullied?" asked Masaomi
Wataru grimaced. All eyes were on him, and he didn't quite know how to phrase it. But he knew that sooner or later, he was going to have to explain himself to them, even if it hurt him to say so. He took a deep breath (or at least as deep as he could go since he was still recovering from having some of his ribs broken) and readied himself.
"I...didn't want you to worry about me." He mumbled while glancing off to the side.
"I just wanted to handle on my own, and not have anyone bailing me out. If I told anyone, they would have called me a wimp and a tattletale."
He held back a whimper and a sniffle. The tight feeling in his chest began to grow painfully and his eyes began to blur with tears.
"I can't even fight my own battles can I?" he choked out, hot tears streaking down his face.
"I'm so pathetic..."
He covered his battered face with his hands as his small body shook with sobs of despair. His siblings exchanged looks throughout the hospital room. Was it so wrong to want to fight your own battles without the interference of other people? To be independent and proud, and be looked upon as an awe-inspiring idol who didn't need anyone's help. This was what went through his head. His brothers (and stepsister) were probably going to yell at him for being so reckless and stupid, but they didn't.
Instead, he felt a hand on his shoulder, followed by a mountain of hugs from everyone.
"You're not pathetic." Replied Ema
"Even the strongest of people need help." Said Masaomi
"Bullying isn't something you have to face alone."
"You overcome bullying with friends and family by your side" said Louis as he moved a stray strand of hair from Wataru's head.
"But we can only help you so much." Added Ukyo
"You have to be willing to ask for help when you need it."
"So don't be afraid to ask us" Chimed in Kaname
"We're your older siblings. And if we don't know what's bothering you, then what kind of siblings would we be?" added Hikaru with a laugh.
"What we're trying to say Wataru" Natsume said with a cough.
"Is that whenever someone is bullying you at school, you come to us so that we can help you."
A few weeks later, Wataru was discharged from the hospital and was able to return to school. Ukyou and the rest of the Asahina family helped Wataru regain that loud and hyperactive personality he had before this whole mess began. The four boys who had bullied Wataru were expelled from the school thanks to the entire Asahina family fighting tooth and nail to make sure they never tormented their baby brother again.
That girl who had come to Yusuke, Ema and Fuuto screaming for help was one of their victims, but was also on her way to recovering as well after they got expelled. As it turns out, Wataru was trying to protect her from being bullied by them. That's why he didn't want to admit that he needed help. She's now a close friend of Wataru's, as well as the rest of the Asahina siblings. No one ever dared to pick on Wataru again. Why? Because when you mess with one wolf, you wind up facing the wrath of the entire pack.
