Hinata Ema is eight years old as of two days ago, and she is still getting bullied. Only, instead of stealing her keys and ripping her coat, Ema's classmates had soaked her new book in water, as a sort-of birthday surprise for her.
Ema remembers how she had to tearfully explain to the librarian why the newest edition of the book he had saved especially for Ema had been ruined beyond belief. The conversation left her emotionally drained and she had slumped home to her quiet little apartment and cried some more.
Even with Juli's attempts at comforting her and reassuring Ema that her peers weren't worth the tears, Ema still couldn't help but feel upset. Luckily, Juli's presence helped deal with the bullies.
Ever since Rintarou's last whirlwind visit home, laden with gifts and hugs and a little grey squirrel on his left shoulder, Ema has had a companion and a true friend to shield her from the emotional backlash each of the incidents has had on her psyche.
Occasionally, the few times Ema felt miserable enough that she can't help but bring Juli to school, the sight of him sleeping peacefully at the bottom of her school bag always brought her waves of much needed comfort. On those days, she even remembers catching sight of small bite marks on the fingers of several of her more sadistic classmates.
Eventually, the fear of Juli getting caught up in one of the pranks leads her to stop bringing him to school, but not without plenty of protest from Juli about needed to protect her from the wolves.
.
.
.
Despite the horror and mortification of what Ema has quickly coined "The Book Incident" still fresh in her mind, Ema's classmates have now found a way to up the ante.
Currently, Ema sits on a clean bench in a small, public park. She wrings out her soaked knee socks and ineffectively tries to brush her fingers through newly cut, shoulder-length hair. The uneven ends brush against her neck and tufts of hair are curling to her wet face as tears run in streams down her eyes.
Ema is shivering in the March air and her wet uniform is only making matters worse.
She is trying to quiet her sniffling and her tears when the memory comes to her again, even more vividly.
"I'll be back in a moment, alright students? Please behave," The teacher asserted. It had almost been the end of the school day and Ema had been left alone for the majority of the day. She was cautiously happy, but waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Ema nodded absently at the teachers announcement and continued doing homework, when she suddenly herself being yanked from her seat. Someone forcefully held Ema's arms behind her while another girl (Minakami Natsuki, Ema's mind supplied) gathered Ema's hair into one hand.
"No, no please don't!" Ema cried fearfully.
The girl snapped the scissors meanly in front of Ema's face once, twice. Then she started haphazardly cutting. Ema felt a new wave of tears hit her when she saw thick chunks of hair floating down from the corner of her eye.
As soon as the haircut was over, the girl who had locked her arms in place pushed Ema forward. She stumbled unseeingly into the hallway to the sound of hurtful laughter.
After running to the corner, Ema turned and bumped into an older boy carrying a bucket of water over to one of the common areas to help clean up. She flinched as the bucket upended onto her. Ema gave one last tired, stifled sob and ran off to the sound of the boy's apologies.
.
.
.
"Hello?" Ema startles out of her memory. A teenager with bright orange hair is kneeling in front of her. A younger boy stands awkwardly behind him, and both are dressed in expensive looking running clothes.
"Um," Ema stutters.
But nobody ever comes to this part of the park! What are they doing here?
"Are you alright?" The teenager asks her. Ema has a vague flash of memory. The concern in this boy's eyes reminds her of someone, but who? She dismisses the thought.
"I'm fine! Really, I don't want to interrupt your run, so you can go ahead," Ema tries to covertly sniffle into her sleeve. It doesn't work very well, because the teenager's intense eyes zero in on her. He inspects the puffinesss and redness around Ema's eyes, then comes to a halt when he takes in the state of her hair.
"Well then," The teenager rocks back on his heels and trails off. He opens his mouth several times and closes it, clearly unsure of how to proceed.
He takes a moment to assess her dripping uniform and seems to come to a decision. Ema is still holding her sock, which she was in the middle of wringing out when they approached her. Her skirt is dripping water onto her legs.
"You must be cold. Our house is very close to this park, so we can get you a change of clothes and maybe call your parents. What do you think?" His voice is decisive and Ema feels a flash of intimidation.
"Uhm, Natsu-nii," The younger boy, who Ema has almost forgotten about as he has kept quiet this entire time, stutters something. He is red-faced and seems unsure, shifting from foot to foot in awkwardness.
Ema looks at the two of them then looks back at herself. Her arms and legs are covered in goosebumps, and it looks like it's going to start raining soon. She left her bag and umbrella in the classroom.
"Okay," Ema says simply. The teenager nods and something about him seems relieved. Ema experiences a sharp burst of deja-vu. It feels like she's seen the same sense of relief and determination on someone else. Like this isn't the first time.
He reminds me of someone. Who is it?, Ema considers.
Ema slowly pulls her wet sock back on, trying not to cringe at the feeling of wet wool on her skin.
Meanwhile, the teenager has a hushed conversation with the younger boy with grey hair. Ema recognizes the sound of awkward reassurances, because she is used to Rintarou's. The teenager returns in time to carefully help her into her shoe and pulls her up and off of the bench. In direct contrast to the way she was manhandled by her bullies earlier today, he seems to treat her like a doll, and holds her hand lightly the rest of the walk back to his home.