...So it's been a while, huh?
I feel a bit awkward about saying this but I need to be honest: I've actually been cross posting this story on another site, and it seems that, for some reason, I forgot that I hadn't uploaded the latest chapter on here.

So I'm sorry to all my readers who were waiting, I had no intention of forgetting you, and don't take this as another site taking priority, I just got mixed up.

Hope you enjoy reading!

She knew it.

The following day, and many days after that, everything just seemed to get worse. She slowly felt more and more detached from her peers and it began to show. What made things even worse is that the guy from before, Tahno, had clearly made her his prime target. He would take any opportunity to poke fun at her during class, more often than not in front of his group of friends that would join in on the fun. With no idea of what she'd done, all Korra could do was stare down at her work and stay silent. The hope was that if she didn't react to his constant teasing that he'd leave her alone, but it just seemed to do the opposite; it was as if her lack of response was giving him more freedom as he knew she wouldn't retaliate.

The teachers, far from helping her out of the situation, would always end up making it worse. If he ever said anything across the classroom to her, he would be chastised, but it was more as if the teacher saw it as something playful instead of what it really was. Also when any group activities took place they would always put them in the same group for some reason, as if it was their way of trying to getting them to work through their differences. That didn't help at all; it just gave Tahno even more opportunities to tease her.

She knew she was more vulnerable now due to her introverted behaviour, but she was almost certain even the past, more positive and outgoing Korra would have struggled to handle what this new environment was throwing at her. Her parents had spoken keenly about how secondary school was the place where you found out who you were, but from Korra's standpoint that wasn't the case at all. Finding out who you were? No, it was where other people tried to figure that out for you, and if you didn't fit into a specific box you were teased or ostracized from social groups. This school was just a place where a bunch of kids with rampant hormones were crammed together and left to their own devices.

Speaking of hormones… her body was definitely changing.

Despite the talks she'd had with her mum and the awkwardly run presentations at her old school, nothing could really fully prepare her for what was the start of emotional and physical turmoil. She had been told that at the beginning of her monthly cycles she would feel somewhat odd since it was a new experience for her, but it would soon become the norm. That hadn't happened to her. If anything, she felt worse. It didn't feel natural for her body to be doing this, and the knowledge of why her body was doing this made her feel sick to her stomach. This wasn't a bodily function she felt would ever be normal, she hadn't even felt interested from a novelty point of view. She felt so disconnected from that part of her body at those times.

Then, of course, there were the cramps.

If feeling low wasn't enough, she had to deal with constant waves of stabbing pain that would render her unable to sleep or focus properly. Apparently, the women in her family had a history of experiencing painful cramps; something she wished she'd never found out.

All in all, her first year of secondary school was turning out to be a pretty terrible one. She managed to get through it though - keeping her head down she did her best not to draw attention to herself, and whenever her parents asked how she was she would just offer a smile and the generic 'I'm fine' while inside she felt like hell. Talking to her parents about it would have seemed like an easy option, but she genuinely felt no desire to do so. Sharing her feelings with them now would mean taking too much effort to do so; she'd have to go through everything that she had dealt with and was still dealing with and relive it all again. Not only that, but there was a constant nagging worry in the back of her mind that said that they might not believe her.

So, at the end of the day, she did her best getting through the year one day at a time. During half term and many of the bank holidays, she once again shut herself in her room, her drums her only constant companion. When it got too late in the day to drum (the neighbours had complained several times about her causing too much noise so late at night) she would sit on her bed and write. What she wrote weren't masterpieces or designed to be so, instead, they were more like therapy, creating new worlds and distracting her from her everyday reality.

A reality which was soon to come crashing down on her and push her to a breaking point.

It happened in French class; they were split off into pairs to practice talking to one another about set topics in French, which meant their seats were temporarily switched, leaving the majority of their items aside from their workbooks on their original table. Unfortunately for Korra, Tahno 'conveniently' chose to take her seat during this assignment, and took an unsurprising interest in her leftover items.

She tried her best to ignore him as he picked up her planner and flicked through it, snickering at the various doodles she'd drawn in the borders. As much as the invasion of her privacy frustrated her she kept working, only flicking her eyes over to him once in a while.

When this didn't get a reaction from her, Tahno changed his plan. He opened her pencil case and rummaged through it, grabbing the black marker from its interior and selecting a page from her planner, ensuring he was looking her way before beginning to deface the pages. She tried to ignore him, she really did, but when she glanced over and locked eyes with him before her gaze travelled down to her planner and the crude drawings now covering the pages she snapped.

Now, Korra wasn't what people would consider an angry person, far from it, but this to her was the last straw. Too many times had Tahno pushed her and pushed her and right now she couldn't stop the overwhelming feeling of anger consume her. She swiftly got up from her seat and stormed over, grabbing the now defaced planner from a grinning Tahno's grasp and brought it down swiftly in the direction of his head.

"Stop it!" She cried, her voice cracking slightly as the frustration overwhelmed her. She didn't even realize what she was doing until it was already done. The planner didn't even hit Tahno, clipped his ear at best, but he knew what he was doing. With a yelp, his hands flew to his head which he cradled defensively in a dramatic fashion. Anyone observing the situation throughout would have clearly seen he was unscathed, but to the ever-distracted Mrs Nivelle, their teacher, whose gaze had been directed elsewhere, the circumstances were very different.

All she heard was two cries followed by the sight of Tahno holding his head while Korra stood over him, clutching her planner tightly and shaking with anger.

"Korra!"

Hearing her name, all the adrenaline coursing through her system swiftly drained from her and she slowly turned, her face turning white as she realized the situation she was now in. She opened her mouth to protest but wasn't given the chance to give any sort of explanation.

"Outside, now." Came the firm response, to which Korra bowed her head, her bottom lip quivering as she slowly, shakily walked past the rows of wide-eyed fellow students, dropping her planner on her desk and headed out of the door.

Once the door shut behind her the gravity of the situation finally sank in. She swallowed and let out a strangled sob as she leant against the wall beside the door. She'd never been in trouble before, not ever, and now for her to be punished for simply standing up for herself (arguably in an incorrect way, she realised in hindsight) made her feel sick to her stomach.

She was probably outside for ten minutes or so while Mrs Nivelle attended to Tahno and made sure the other students would be kept occupied while she left the room. Those ten minutes were, in Korra's eyes, the longest ten minutes she'd ever experienced and she knew that the longer she waited, the worse her stress became.

Finally, the classroom door opened and Mrs Nivelle stepped out. She looked over at the trembling Korra and let out a sigh, shaking her head.

"You know Korra, I'm surprised to be in this situation with you. You're one of the most well-behaved students in my class." The look in her eyes was one of disappointment, prompting Korra to speak.

"H-he was winding me up, Miss" Korra said quietly, nervously meeting her teacher's gaze. "He took my planner and-"

She was cut off by Mrs Nivelle gently raising her hand.

"I know what he did" she replied "I looked through your planner when you left and he has been reprimanded accordingly. However, regardless of who started what, any attempt of violence be it large or small is taken very seriously here, do you understand?"

Korra wanted to keep talking, wanted to make Mrs Nivelle understand why she'd done what she did, but instead she nodded, murmuring a quiet agreement in reply as she bowed her head.

"At the end of the lesson" the teacher continued "I will be sending you down to the principal's office where you will stay for the duration of your lunch hour"

Korra's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to protest, but Mrs Nivelle shook her head "I know what you're going to say. That what you did just now was a one-time incident, and it'll never happen again… but you have to understand that we cannot be seen to let something like this go unpunished."

Korra stared at her, stunned. So, she was to understand that a one-off case of retaliation was to be reprimanded, and yet the months of teasing and harassment that lead her to react in such a way was to just be pushed under the rug? If she was a bolder person she would have spoken out against what she considered such an injustice, but she could see in Mrs Nivelle's eyes that any attempt to protest further would result in her punishment worsening.

So, despite her gut screaming at her to defend herself, she submitted and nodded her head once again. Mrs Nivelle patted her on the shoulder and opened the door to the classroom, leading her back inside.

For the remainder of the lesson, Korra did her best to work through her tasks; however, she could see Tahno out of the corner of her eye sneering at her. He'd won. She'd tried to defend herself and he'd still managed to come out on top… it was ridiculous.

When the bell finally rang, she packed up her bags and waited for the rest of the students to leave. Tahno of course, shouldered past her with a smirk on his lips as he left her to her fate.

Mrs Nivelle then lead Korra down the steps and along the long corridor to her destination. She could have walked there by herself, but apparently, the protocol was that students had to be escorted to the principal's office… Korra could only assume it was because many students would try to evade their punishment.

When she got there, she was let into an area that appeared to be a waiting room of sorts. A row of chairs were lined up along one wall, with a large doorway across from them on the opposite wall. Mrs Nivelle gestured to an empty seat and left her alone, closing the door behind her.

She sat there in silence for a moment, trying her best to calm her nerves while she waited to be called in. She could feel the stress rising and was silently thankful for the quiet room as it gave her time and space to make an attempt at pushing that stress down and out of her mind.

This didn't last long, however.

Outside she heard the sound of raised voices before the door swung open once more.

"Yeah yeah I know where I'm going, what are you my fucking babysitter?" The voice was loud, blunt and intimidating. Also, to her surprise, it sounded very much feminine.

"Language!" came a stern voice which Korra presumed belonged to a teacher. Wait, was this student swearing at a teacher? She couldn't believe her ears; her interest piqued she glanced up to see just who this person was.

She was tall, with pale skin and long black hair that was pulled back in a firm plait. Her green eyes were narrowed and her lips curled in a look of irritation. She gave off an aura of someone who was definitely not to be messed with.

As a result Korra felt uneasy in this girl's presence, made even worse by the fact that said girl decided to take a seat right beside her. She swallowed and looked down at the ground, trying her best not to draw attention to herself. This girl gave off a similar air to Tahno and Korra was not about to let herself become a target for yet another student.

This clearly wasn't going to be an effective strategy as they were the only two in the room, and the silence was definitely a tense one.

"So, what are you in for?"

The voice almost startled Korra, sitting up she looked over to see the girl looking at her, a slightly amused expression on her face. She was slouched, one arm across the back of the chair in such a casual position that Korra could only guess that this situation was one she was used to.

She gulped, realizing she had to reply.

"Uh… "

The girl raised an eyebrow and chuckled, sitting forward in her chair.

"C'mon, I don't bite." She said with a small smile on her lips. "We're both here in line for the chopping block, might as well share stories to pass the time, right?"

Korra swallowed again, tugging at the sleeves of her blazer.

"I… I hit someone over the head with my planner." She said quietly. "He's been teasing and harassing me since the start of the year."

The intimidating girl blew out a puff of air before sighing.

"Sorry to hear that. What's happened to him then? What's his punishment?" When Korra looked at her in astonishment, she raised an eyebrow and looked confused herself. "Seriously, why is that so shocking. Obviously, the dickhead did something to deserve it, seeing as he's been giving you shit for a while now, so what's happening to him?"

Korra looked down, cheeks red from upset anger.

"Mrs. Nivelle said he had been 'reprimanded accordingly' for drawing stuff in my planner with a marker he stole from my pencil case." Korra said, voice tense and obviously irritated. "Sorry, I just…" She trailed off, embarrassed at the fact she was saying way too much about the situation to a stranger who could very well take Tahno's side.

"Well, that's complete and utter fucking bullshit."

Korra tensed, never having been around someone who swore so casually before in everyday conversation. She realised, however, it was also partly due to the fact she was obviously angry.

"Yeah." Korra agreed quietly, and before she knew it she had a pale hand shoved in front of her face. She looked at it, nervous, for a moment.

"I'm Kuvira."

"Oh." Korra said, tentatively shaking the girl's hand. "Korra."

"So, who is this dude who's been 'reprimanded' by the most distracted teacher in the school?" Kuvira asked casually, as if she hadn't just gone on a pretty intense swearing spree - in Korra's opinion.

"Oh, his name's Tahno."

Kuvira laughed shortly. "I know his type. They come up to Secondary school having been the popular kid who was the biggest bully but always got away with it, and you couldn't ever do anything about it because their parents would refuse to believe such a thing could happen. They come to school and immediately find someone to fuck with. They chose you either because they find it funny to see you cry and to see you angry, or the lack of response spurs them on. There is never any winning with them because their head is too fucking big for anything to get through to them."

"You know the type?" Korra asked shyly.

"I was the type." Kuvira admitted. "But then I lost pretty much everyone very, very quickly since they realised I was actually kind of a shitty person and without a bunch of people to tell me what I was doing was 'epic' and 'awesome' I stopped it all. Hell, I even stopped going to lessons because suddenly I was really fucking Lonely."

Letting the words sink in, Korra leant back in her chair. She wasn't exactly sure how to respond, after all it wasn't every day that someone she had just met was so quick to converse with her. Her silence was clearly very telling to Kuvira as the paler girl let out a low chuckle and shook her head.

"You're really not the chatty type huh? Don't worry, I get it." She continued when Korra made a move to apologize, wide-eyed. "By the looks of you, you're in your first year, year seven's usually aren't the chatty types; bet you spend most of your time scurrying between classes hoping not to make eye contact with any of the older fuckers."

Korra couldn't help but let out a slight snort of surprise, she'd really got her all figured out.

"Pretty much..." She muttered, leaning back in her chair and turning to look at her new companion fully. "What year are you in then? Don't think I've seen you around before." In her head she knew that she'd remember if she'd come into contact with this girl. She was hard to miss.

"Hah! Now that's a good question." Came a slightly amused response as Kuvira stretched, cracking her neck as she did so which made Korra wince.

"You know how I said I stopped going to lessons? Well, 'cause of that my grades pretty much went to shit. I was in this fancy ass private school at the time, not my choice but apparently the family had some connections there and I got a place. Wouldn't have stood a chance otherwise. Anyway, after my behaviour, I was told by the parents that it would be 'in my best interests' to move to a different school. I knew that was bullshit, of course; the school I was at just didn't want me anymore. Those places care more about their appearances than their students. Fucking mental."

She shook her head and continued.

"So I started here in year eight. But because I flunked my classes the year before I have to take additional classes with some of you lot." She eyed Korra briefly. "No offence, but I had a whole year of dealing with a load of socially awkward kids, the last thing I needed was to be surrounded by them yet again. They don't mess with me though, apparently my reputation precedes me." A slightly smug grin spread across her face at that. "Granted, I don't bully like I used to, but if I come across someone who thinks it's wise to go after those weaker than them, I'm not afraid to make a stand. Gotta stand up for the little people you know?"

Nodding in interest, Korra couldn't help but find herself intrigued. She almost felt bad for being so hesitant to speak to Kuvira before, as aside from the rampant swearing, she seemed like a pretty decent person. She was about to speak again when the door across from them swung open. The principal stepped out and, upon seeing Kuvira sitting there, sighed and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh. You again..." She shook her head. "Alright, let's get this over with, come on." She opened the door wider and gestured inside. Kuvira glanced over at Korra, shrugging her shoulders. "Seems I'm a more pressing issue than you are, well-" She got up, cracking her neck once more followed by her knuckles. "Was nice talking to you, I'll see you around sometime, huh?" She gave a wry smile to which Korra responded with a smile of her own, followed by a nod.

It was a while before Korra was called in, and everything then seemed to go by so fast, her mind still half focused on her conversation with Kuvira (she could recall that she had simply been let off with a warning, but that was it). Before she knew it, she was out of the office and watching from a distance as the older girl walked down the hall, too far ahead for Korra to call out to her or catch up.

The afternoon and evening went by in the same fashion, being distracted largely by the fact she wished she could carry on the conversation with someone who had the potential of actually being a decent person in her school that she could get on with, so for the first time, she wasn't completely dreading the day as she arrived at school.

She had been on her way to form when she bumped into Kuvira. Well, bumped into wasn't quite the word. She had been off in her own world as she walked along when the familiar voice cut through to her.

"Oi! Korra!"

Korra practically jumped and quickly turned her head, only to relax slightly as she realized just who it was. Kuvira had been leant against the wall presumably to keep out of the way of the morning rush. Now, however she pushed off from the wall and sauntered over, blowing a strand of hair that had come loose from her plait out of her eyes as a crooked grin spread across her lips.

"Thought it was you." She said with a chuckle. "How'd it go? You don't seem too shaken up so I'm guessing it your talk with the beast herself wasn't that bad?"

Korra felt herself chuckle slightly at that and shrugged her shoulders

"Uh, not too bad I think? She said it seemed like a one-off thing so I just got a warning this time. Any more though… " She trailed off.

Kuvira snorted.

"Don't take that to heart. She's full of threats, that woman, but most of them are empty." Patting the younger girl on the shoulder, she began walking with her.

Korra couldn't help but notice that some of the younger students ahead of them appeared to be moving out of the way, giving them more space. Seems Kuvira wasn't kidding, she really did have a reputation. Which furthered her curiosity. She didn't consider herself to be a particularly interesting person, so why Kuvira had sought her out yet again baffled her.

"So, where's your form room?" Kuvira continued, glancing about her as the pair of them walked together down the hall. Korra blinked and glanced up at her.

"Uh... It's just to the left down there, I.T room 3." She said, pointing in the general direction of her destination. Kuvira's gaze followed her finger and nodded.

"Right, let's get you there then huh? Pretty sure you don't wanna be late."

Korra tilted her head quizzically. "Don't you have your own form room to get to?" She asked hesitantly. "I mean- not that I don't appreciate the company but..." She trailed off.

"Eh, I'd rather see you get there first." came Kuvira's reply as she shrugged her shoulders. "What with all the shit you got into yesterday my guess is the last thing you need is more trouble. Besides, I want to get a look at this prick Tahno." Once again she patted Korra's shoulder, the corner of her lip curling up in a grin.

This sudden protective behaviour caught Korra off guard somewhat; then she remembered that Kuvira had told her she was always looking out for the 'little people' which in Korra's mind were those who weren't able to defend themselves. This made the younger girl smile a little to herself, a smile that quickly went away when she rounded a corner and spotted Tahno and his cronies hanging around her form room door.

It was as if Kuvira could sense her change in behaviour; she looked up and narrowed her eyes before leaning in Korra's direction.

"That him?" She asked in a hushed tone to which Korra nodded. The pale girl let out a puff of air before cracking her knuckles, then she glanced over at the visibly nervous Korra. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna beat him up or anything." She said with a chuckle. "I'm just preparing myself… just in case."

As they came closer, Korra saw Tahno's head turn in her direction. The smug sneer that spread across his face was swiftly replaced with surprise, his eyebrows raising as he noticed Kuvira beside her. It became apparent that he, too, was aware of Kuvira's reputation; so despite clearly not being as intimidated as his peers, he did step back a bit as they approached and kept his mouth shut for once. When they got to the door, Kuvira shouldering a couple of his lackies out of the way, she once again patted Korra on the shoulder and grinned.

"Right, I'm gonna head off now, you stay out of trouble alright? I'll see you at lunch or whatever."

Korra nodded shyly and waved her goodbye, heading through the door of her form room. Shortly after though, Tahno followed her, his arms folded and a smirk on his face.

"So, you got yourself a bodyguard now?" Korra blinked and opened her mouth to respond when she was cut off.

"You bet your ass she does!" The pair of them turned to see Kuvira stood on the doorway, cracking her knuckles. She'd clearly been waiting around the corner out of sight just in case. Taking a step towards Tahno she glowered at him. "So if you fuck with her, you fuck with me, got it?" She said as she jabbed her finger into Tahno's chest.

Korra had never seen Tahno scared before, but this came pretty close; his expression was wide eyed and slack-jawed for a moment before he shook himself out of it and took a step back.

"Yeah, yeah whatever." He grumbled as he stalked off to his seat, his gang of wannabe thugs trailing behind.

Turning back to Kuvira Korra gave her a shy smile.

"Thanks." She said quietly. "I knew he was going to say something."

"Why do you think I stuck around?" Kuvira replied with a grin. "Like I said, I was just like him once upon a time, I know the tactics guys like him use to take advantage of their victims." She sighed again, giving Korra a smile. "Well, anyways, I've really got to go now. Only so many times I can be late before I get my head bitten off. See ya." She turned on her heel and headed out of the door, Korra saying her own goodbye before taking her seat at the back and waiting for the register to begin.

The next few days followed the same pattern: Kuvira would meet her in the halls and walk her to her form room. It had been a surprise for Korra at first, but eventually she started looking forward to her brief conversations with the paler companion, finding herself growing more confident in her presence. The trouble with Tahno didn't go away completely, but her interactions with him and definitely been reduced and she couldn't help but feel thankful for Kuvira's part in the matter.

She found herself able to talk a bit more in class; not a lot mind you as she was still shy as anything, but without the constant threat of Tahno looming over her she felt as if she could relax a little more.

As she talked more with Kuvira, she began to learn she had a much softer side than she first thought. Behind the tough exterior was a genuine, caring person who only really caused trouble when she was standing up for others. She held a strong belief in being a mouthpiece for those in need and Korra had the utmost respect for her as she herself had none of the confidence.

Eventually she plucked up the courage to approach Kuvira during lunch, to which Kuvira promptly responded with offering her a seat beside her which soon became a permanent one. There would be times she would be worried she was too dependant on her new companion's company but Kuvira was quick to dismiss her fears, stating she also enjoyed Korra's company. It was clear that both of them had met each other at the right place at the right time.