Summary: Hiro and Karmi do not tolerate bullying.
000
If there was one thing Hiro couldn't stand, it was bullies. Even thinking of the word sent cold shivers down his spine.
He hated how they tore down others just to bring themselves up, destroying their victim's self-esteem with no remorse.
He endured it almost every day of his entire school career. The constant name-calling and empty threats filled most of his day, and fear greedily took whatever was left.
He would do just as his brother told him, to be the bigger man and walk away. Sometimes it would work; other times, Tadashi would have to clean Hiro's wounds after a fight.
Thankfully, SFIT has an incredibly low number of bullies. This is due not only to most students being mature adults, but to the strict anti-bullying policy that Professor Granville has in place.
However, some people just like to stir up drama.
000
Hiro rummaged in his locker, looking for his calculus notebook. The mess of papers, textbooks and other miscellaneous items in the small area didn't help wih his search.
He muttered to himself as he pulled out a graded test from the mess, wondering if he should take Wasabi's advice and get an organizer. He turned around to throw the old paper in the trash, only to catch sight of a large group of students trying to get a good view of something.
Curiosity got the best of him, and he approached the group.
"Excuse me." He said, sliding past a couple of students. He stood in front of the group of young adults, and finally found what everyone was so interested in.
Karmi stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at a young man with short blonde hair. He was almost a foot taller than her, and had a bad boy vibe that would only be acceptable in the 1960s.
"I'm not gonna tell you again, twerp," he growled between gritted teeth, "Homework, now."
"My previous answer remains unchanged, Evan." Karmi said, trying to remain calm.
Evan threw his hands in the air, "You did it back in third grade!"
"That's because I was scared of you in third grade." Her voice was icy, showing little emotion. "I'm obviously not scared of you now."
He clenched his fists, "Do you remember what happened when you disobeyed me back then, Karmi?"
She took a step back, her calm demeanor beginning to fade.
"You wouldn't!"
"Try me."
Evan stepped closer. Karmi flinched in response.
"Go ahead and beat me up!" She yelled, "Not only will Granville expell you, but your butt will be in the backseat of a squad car by lunch break!"
Evan continued to move closer to Karmi, who stood frozen in place. He put his hands on her shoulders.
"Not scared of me, huh?" He said, looking her dead in the eyes. "Bull dust."
Evan shoved her, not hard enough to knock her to the ground, but enough to throw off her balance for a bit. Karmi glared at him and growled.
He flashed a sickening grin, "You gonna change your mind now, twerp?"
Before Karmi could say a word, Evans jeans dropped to the ground, revealing a pair of red gym shorts underneath. A small black robot with a goofy smiling face on it stepped to the side, looking proud of what it did.
The large group of students began to laugh as Evan's face turned red with embarrassment. Karmi couldn't contain herself, and laughed along with them.
"STOP LAUGHING!!!" Evan shrieked as he pulled up his jeans. "ALL OF YOU STOP!"
He turned around and ran, pushing past the laughing students as he tried to redo his belt. Through the small clearing he created, the giggling Karmi caught a glimpse of the little black bot skittering back to it's owner.
"Good job." Hiro said to Megabot, before powering him down and placing him in the messy locker.
"I can't believe you did that."
Hiro turned around, seeing Karmi right behind him.
"No one in the right mind would ever do something like that to Evan." She continued. "You are either really brave or really stupid and I can't figure out which one."
"I'm taking that as a 'Thank you for standing up for me, Hiro.'" He said, putting Megabot's controller in his locker, and slamming it shut. "Besides, it's nothing. I had to put up with dirt bags like him for ages, so I know what it's like."
Karmi sighed, "But really, thank you. I just wasn't expecting you to help me."
"Like I said, it's nothing." Hiro faced her once again. "I gotta get going, I'm probably already late for class."
He ran past her, hoping that his calculus professor wouldn't be too mad about his tardiness.
000
"Guys!" Fred exclaimed as he excitedly pulled a chair over to his friends' lunch table. "You will not believe what I saw in the hallway this morning!"
"Oh great," Wasabi sighed, picking up a french fry with his tweezers. "Let me guess, the drama club decided that 'Macbeth' will be their winter performance for the twentieth time. "
"It's better than that!" Fred grinned.
"Ooh, tell us!" Honey chirped.
"So I was walking in the hall and I saw this huge group of people, right? And when I look, I see Karmi and Evan going at it. I think Evan wanted Karmi to do his homework for him, or something."
"Which is completely wrong." Go Go interrupted.
Fred glared at her. "Anyway, things got heated, Evan shoved Karmi and before he could react, a robot pulled down his pants!"
"What!?" Wasabi yelled as Fred cackled. "Did he literally say that Evan got pantsed by a robot?"
"That's what I heard." Honey said.
Go Go glanced at Hiro, who remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the conversation.
"Why do I feel as though you had something to do with the bot?" She asked.
"Hey," Hiro rebutted, "Evan totally deserved it. He was being a jerk."
"He was being a jerk to Karmi."
"Does that matter? I have the right to stand up against dirt bag bullies like him, even if they are picking on my rival."
"MOVE." Someone yelled from across the room.
The group turned their attention to the source, an angry Evan who was stomping their way.
"Speak of the devil." Go Go muttered before blowing a bubble with her gum.
Evan made his way to the group's table, and slammed his hands on it as he got in Hiro's face.
"I know that it was you who pulled down my pants, pipsqueak." He said through gritted teeth.
"Evan, back off." Go Go growled.
Evan turned to her, "Shut up. This isn't your conversation." He turned to face Hiro once again, only to find that the teen left his seat and moved to an empty table on the other side of the cafeteria. He snarled as he went towards Hiro.
"Walking away won't save you." Evan walked to him, once again getting in his face.
Hiro ignored him, picking up his water bottle. As soon as he unscrewed the cap, Evan snagged it from his hands and poured it's contents onto the teen's head.
"Hey!" Hiro yelled. "That was totally uncalled for!"
Evan grinned. He finally got Hiro right where he wanted. "Like I said, you're not getting out of this."
Little did he know, someone was right behind him. He felt someone tug on the back of his shirt, and something freezing cold soon came into contact with his lower back.
Evan jumped and yelped, grabbing at the back of his shirt in hopes of getting rid of the cause of the sudden chill. He untucked his shirt from his belt, ice cubes fell to the ground. Laughter filled the air as amused students filmed the whole ordeal for their Snapchat stories.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!!!" Evan yelled as he made a hasty retreat.
Hiro stared blankly at the back of Evan, before turning his attention to the person standing beside the table.
Karmi grinned at him, shaking a cup which was half full with ice, pleased with what she had done.
Hiro smiled. "You are either really brave or really stupid and I can't figure out which one."
Karmi chuckled. "I'm taking that as a 'Thank you for standing up for me, Karmi'."
