Of course...Musaki and Ichi share a dislike of the one thing they cannot deal with the most...bullying.

Chapter 5: How to Deal with Bullies

A year has passed by since we first met each other and we became pretty close friends throughout and for the longest time, it felt like forever. I was 11 and Ichi was 12, so we're coming across the pre-teen age where we're getting a little older, which was something that we're trying to get used to.

If there's one thing Ichi and I don't like about the orphanage, it's all translated into one word; bullies.

Most of my bullies would harass me, poking fun at the way I am because I'm a skinny panda while very few others would beat me and make my life miserable as it had already been. On days when I do go out, I couldn't even make my way through the day without any kinds of bullying from the three rogue felines; Justin, Ian and their leader, Eli.

But Ichi...he had to cope with three stupid boars passing through our room and whenever they would see Ichi, they'd throw random things at him, laugh at him and call him names like 'freak'. And often times, I would witness it for myself and I didn't really like it when they bully him.

Whenever I got a chance to come in the room, Ichi would hide himself away from me, thinking that I'm here to bully him, but how would I do that when I'm already coping with things like that myself?

"Why would these people do this?" asked Ichi.

I sat down on my bed while he was on the floor and I replied, "I ask myself the same question everyday."

"Musaki...do you think I'm a freak?"

I looked at him and I don't see what everyone else sees him as and I replied, "No. You're not a freak."

Though it was comforting for Ichi, it never seem to get the message across and he said, "Look at me."

I looked at him again and as I looked at him in the eye or in the hands, my instincts proved right and I knew that he's not a freak. I know he isn't, so why should he care about it anyway? Ichi looked at me and asked, "Am I a freak to you?"

"No. And I know you're not one...at all."

I then begin to ask him the same question that those stupid bullies of mine always call me and I said, "Now you look at me. Do you think I'm an ugly, skinny panda?"

Ichi looks up at me for a second and replied, "Not really."

"Maybe you two should stop caring about what other people think of you and start thinking about what you think of yourselves."

We both turned around and we both saw Brutus standing there, listening to everything we said and I knew he was right. Ichi looks at Brutus and replied, "Thanks, Mr. Brutus...but the fact of the matter is nothing will stop them from saying what they wanna say about us."

"Some kids are just mean, but the reason why is because they're afraid." Brutus added.

I looked at him in complete and utter disbelief that bullies would be afraid and I asked, "Bullies, afraid? Get outta here."

"No, I'm serious. Me and Shakur dealt with those kids when we were your age and yeah, it would hurt, but you have to realize that we can't control what people say or do and we only care about what we think of ourselves." Brutus explains.

"So...how do you deal with it?" asked Ichi.

"You have to be stronger than that. Not let anything they say about you get you down." Brutus added.

Ichi lets out a big sigh and he said, "I'd rather just deal with it the way I've always done...just hide myself away from everyone else."

Brutus lets out a heavy exhale as Ichi makes his way to the corner to just cope with his own emotional pain he's been harboring and I looked up at Brutus and said, "Thanks, Brutus."

"Anytime, Saki. I just hope your little friend will be okay."

On the next chapter...Musaki sticks up for Ichi.