I fell forward faster than I could catch myself. I snapped out of the shock about mid-fall,and by the time I reached my hands out to stop my fall, my head had already bounced off the concrete, and I knocked the wind out of myself. I rolled onto my back, and I groaned in pain. My hands went to my forehead, which astonishingly enough, was not bleeding. It hurt like a mother fucker though.

"Really?" Sven snapped.

"He was on fire!" Chione exclaimed. Oh. That explained it. Chione had hit me with something to put out the flames on me. I wasn't accustom to sudden cold; that was probably it.

"He's a goddamn fire type! You know, they're practically immune to the flames? What's the worst that would happen, he'd lose his clothes."
I sat up, still holding my forehead, and I was just a little bit disoriented.

"That didn't feel very good." I murmured in annoyance. I stood up uneasily, and reached a hand for my back where the pain still lingered. It was cool, and hard. I grumbled, ignited my hand, and melted the ice that was still present. Once that was all said and done, I walked over to my backpack, and kicked it. It crumbled, and I sighed.

"Well, that was...eventful. Wait, what happened to the disc?" I asked. Come to think of it, a hole had been burned where it fell out, but why hadn't any of us heard it hit the ground? Gold, concrete, it was bound to make some noise. So, why hadn't it? I looked back over my shoulder at Sven and Chione, but they just shrugged. I looked back at the ground, hoping at least to see some dent or crack in the concrete, but there was nothing.

"Hell if I know..." Sven said. I looked back up at him, but he just shrugged again. He looked at his wrist, and sighed. "We ought to be heading home. The bell for the end of school rings in about ten minutes, we got to make regular time." We sighed, and quickly split. We met back in the same spot a few minutes later after a hasty wardrobe change, and then we all took a quick run to the front of the school. We waited outside on the sidewalk, just on the side of the wall surrounding the courtyard that surrounded the entrance to campus so that we would not be seen. We also prayed like hell that some parent didn't come by early to surprise us. Come to think of it, just about everybody walked home. The bell finally rang, and we waited until after the flow of students went to a trickle. We all began to walk in the direction of home, and we said our goodbyes.

When I got home, I was in for it. I was in deep shit. Deep, deep, deep shit. I don't know how, but Gray knew. And Kyukon didn't. The looks they gave me when I walked in gave it away.

Kyukon waved with a warm smile, whereas Gray looked at me with a cold, humorless grin that made my heart pound. He never looked so...ominous before. To be honest, it was pretty damn unnerving. I was used to the 'I seriously can't stop smiling because everything is alright' brother I had. This was more the 'I'm going to kill your family in your sleep and do it gleefully' kind of smile.

I steered clear of the kitchen where they were as fast as I could, without looking like I was fleeing the scene of the crime, which to be honest, was pretty damn hard at times. Such as now. I like to think I pulled it off, but I know for a fact that I screwed it up seven ways from Sunday. I scurried to my room once I was out of sight.

Well, I screwed it up. I did it again.

Gray was going to start his punishment again. I just got out of the last one twelve days ago! I paced nervously, thinking about ways that I might prepare myself. It was sort of hard to think I was prepared. I couldn't later up. He could use fire; we all could use fire!
I remember the first time , I burnt the crotch off of all of his pants and underwear. He was significantly less than pleased, especially when he had to borrow a pair. For now, I'm not going to go into the detail of the punishment, but I had to lay on my stomach to sleep for weeks. Literally, weeks. He has a hell of an arm.

I sat in my room, nervously clicking away on my laptop, writing up nothing in general. Writing was a hobby of mine, and I tended to do it when an emotion was at en extreme, in this case stress. And confusion I guess. The events with the golden disc still had me questioning what the hell was going on with my life. I wondered, WOULD it react to just anybody? Or did we need to be special? Must be the first, no way in hell I'm special.

A few hours passed without event, and I had steamed out about fifteen pages on my document. The story was like an excerpt taken from the middle of a story. Everybody seemed to know what was going on, but should anybody else read it, they would be lost. Anyway, I didn't get much more of my lonely harmonious state. Three sharp raps on my door made me jump, and I gingerly folded my laptop lid, and slid it aside.

I stood, and another three sounded, and they sounded angry at me. I swallowed, and walked over. Upon opening it, Gray was already standing there, in his hand the weapon of choice. He glowered at me, and I took a nervous step back. "Rokon." He addressed, curtly and quietly.

"G-Gray." I stammered. He nodded, and walked forth. I stepped back, and he gingerly closed the door behind him. He shook his head at me disapprovingly, and tossed his weapon aside, which landed on the ground with a heart shattering thump.

"I don't know what you're thinking Ro," he said softly looking down. His cream colored hair fell in front of his eyes, which he brushed aside calmly. "We haven't even been here a week. And you're already cutting class!" I jumped at the last sentence. His volume had suddenly increased.

"How-" I began.

"It doesn't matter how I know Rokon." He snapped at me. "I'm concerned about this. I don't care how much you don't like your school. You have to tough through it, especially if you don't want to be sitting in a shit hole of a home when you're an adult." he growled. I took a step back.

Here I was again, the equivalent of my six year old self, and Gray having inherited my father's stern speech. I was no more than an ignorant child, intaking the wisdom and the lessons that the adults had to offer me. Again, I was at fault, and they were biting my head off over how I shouldn't do what I did. I tended to tune them out, but when it came to people like Gray, and my father, I couldn't bring myself to do it. My heart beat so hard in my chest, my ribcage felt like it was going to shatter at any moment.

"What in the hell do you have to say for yourself?" He growled, arms folded in a disapproving gesture that I knew all too well. I merely shook my head in response. After all, what could I say? I'm sorry? That would get the shit smacked out of me. "That's what I thought." He grouched. "You know what happens now." He added. I swallowed.

I knew all too well what was about to happen.

The rest of the weekend flew by without event, side four doses of Gray's punishment for me. It made getting around a little awkward, because after each time, my pants would irritate my skin. Anyway, I had went out once, but that proved to be a waste of time, since it was storming outside.

On Monday, there was no deviation from the usual schedule, save for Gray getting me up half an hour earlier. He finished in the span of that half hour, and left to get dressed. I got dressed as fast as I could, and left without even grabbing breakfast. As I walked, I had started wishing I had at least grabbed some toast.

I pushed the idea aside, and figured I'd take something out of Chione's backpack. She got packed breakfast. Seriously, who the hell packs breakfast? Anyway, I figured she wouldn't care if a strip of bacon or two was gone. That plan was shot down however, as Chione didn't arrive. It was a little tranquil with just Sven and I walking, but it was also pretty awkward.

"So." He said quietly.

"So." I responded. "My uh...brother found out I didn't go on Friday." I muttered. I heard him laugh quietly.

"What did he do when he found out?" The Umbreon asked. He turned to look at me, and I looked back. His red eyes were large, and lustrous, and they always looked wet, as if he would cry at any moment. They were sort of pretty. I looked away, feeling a light warmth on my cheek.

"None of your damned business." I suggested. Sven chuckled, and pat my back.
"If I had to guess, your electronics are gone?" he prodded. I shrugged, and looked down at my wrist. On my left wrist, on everyone's really, there was a gray-brown band, with a rubbery texture. I hadn't the slightest clue as to how the fuck they worked, but we used them to do calls. It was weird, but it was stranger holding a slab of plastic to your face to talk to somebody.

I wanted to say that all of the school day passed without event, but that was a big lie. I hated to admit it, but I got into somewhat of a fight, though it was less of a fight, and more of a 'get the shit beat out of me, but make a little come back' sort of thing. I won't really bother with the details, because it's kind of pointless talking about how I ended up in the situation to begin with. Seriously, I can't even breathe wrong at Kori, they hate me there. I've gotten a few positive glances, a few shy ones, but most of them are spiteful and disgusting.

Well, anyway, I was waiting in line for food poisoning, and that was when it started. I felt something on the back of my neck, and I rubbed it habitually. It was all wet. I exhaled slowly, eyes narrowed, and tried to let it go. I willed myself to warm, and the liquid on the back of my neck evaporated. I had hoped that it wouldn't continue, but it did, without relent. I felt the sensation on my neck again, and realized someone was spitting on me. I willed myself to heat further, and it sizzled off my fur. The next one evaporated immediately. Then I felt a push on my back, and I stumbled forward. I bit my lip irritably, and waited for the onslaught to continue.

Unfortunately, it did. A massive weight on my shoulder took hold of me, and I was thrown to the side. I bounced once on my ass, and slid back a foot or so. Well, this sucked. It was the same abomasnow from before, Ray I think his name was. Big, stupid, and a terrible superiority complex. The guy was a douchebag without even having to try, and even the sound of his voice pissed me off, whether he was talking to me or not. It was just the most irking thing I had ever heard, and being all around the country, I had heard some really annoying shit.

"What've we here?" he asked in a mocking formal voice. I growled, a quiet feral growl, hoping he'd realize that despite his size, the fucker was still at the disadvantage. Regardless of my warning, he advanced on me, hands clenched into fists. "Oh, you made me look like a fool on Thursday, trust me. Outrunning me? How in the world did you manage that one?"

"You don't need me to make you look like a fool." I muttered.

"Exactly." he responded, as if I was supporting him. I knit my eyebrows together upon realizing he didn't realize that I had just insulted him. I imagined him inside an industrial sized dunce cap, making unintelligible noises, and walking around as if he had a disease in his legs. I giggled. And that brought me back to reality. "You think it's funny!" he hissed at me, stepping closer. He leaned down, and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, and lifted me up off the ground. Which didn't seem like it was really hard for him. The bastard was huge, let me tell you.

Anyway, Ray hurled me back down on the ground, and I grunted, more out of shock than in pain. I scooted backward along the tile, attempting to get away from him, which didn't do me too well. I backed into a fucking wall. I could have sworn to god that some little elves came down and built in the past ten seconds. It was annoying to think that I hadn't seen it. I forced myself to my feet, and put my hands up in a defensive position. I didn't know how fight. I tried to convince Kyukon to let me take some sort of martial art, but he wasn't for it. A solid swing to my jaw sent me sprawling, and left me pretty dizzy. I was small, he was a goliath, I wasn't going to last very long if I tried to keep this one up.

Face. Face. Side. Stomach. Belly. Chest. I was victim to a barrage of punches, unending, unmerciful, and all without meaning. I hated it. I'd been a punching bag a few times, but I tended to legitimately piss people off. Ray was hitting me for the hell of it. God, I thought. Where in the hell was Sven when I needed him? He went down a few bars in my mind, and I made it a note to be a bit of an ass to him next time I saw him around.

Well, on one particular punch, I slumped against the wall, and found myself on all fours, the abomasnow standing over me ominously. I lied flat on my belly, and pushed off the wall, sliding along the tile. I stood up, and just about as I did so, another hit to my chest sent me flat onto my back. I groaned, and sat up. Ugh, I probably had a concussion. Well, at this point, my instinct told my free will to sit tight, and let it work. I slid back along the tile using my feet, and rolled backwards, propping myself up on my feet in a rather ungraceful movement. My hands itched painfully, and they ignited. Here, I had noticed that a crowed had gathered around us. How had I not noticed it? Forty, fifty, maybe sixty students in a circle, cheering, jeering, shouting, chanting.

I ran forward at Ray, which genuinely surprised him. He hesitated, and I used my momentum to send my hand into his chest, which resulted in him stumbling back into the wall, batting at his smoldering shirt. "How does it feel!" I shouted. The energy of the flames gathered in my hand, and I threw an apple sized fireball at his head. He ducked, and it dispersed harmlessly, save for a faint burning smell.

I didn't let up. Every throw only felt better and better as I did it, and I became oblivious to my surroundings. Right now, it was just me and this prick, and despite my disadvantage at size, I had the advantage in element, and I was winning for once. It blinded me. Not just the sense of victory, but the rage that had been built up in me for so long, I only had so many chances to rid myself of any anger, mostly a result of my family issues. It took me a while to realize what was wrong with the scene, and for a second, and a second only, I was mortified.

Ray was cowering against the wall, singed and blackened by the heat, and there were scorch marks on the wall, and the paint curled up the walls, and melted. The cheering had ceased, replaced by looks of disgust, awe, exuberance, and a whole other multitude of emotions. Some people were scared it seemed. Some thought that I was no better than the Abomasow, who was now nothing. And some were flat out happy to see me kicking some ass. That moment of clarity solidified, and fled to the back of my mind, and I went on lobbing the balls of flame.

He didn't deserve mercy. He was a pointless, worthless, asshole bully, who went around preying on the weak just to feel good about himself. People like that made me sick to my stomach. And all that aside, where was my mercy? The only solace I had was around my brothers, and even they made me feel like nothing was right. Grey was simply underdeveloped; he had refused to grow up, and as a result, Kyukon had matured entirely too fast. I can't speak with either of them without feeling like I'm talking to a brick wall sometimes. Grey laughs in my face, Kyukon takes damn near everything too serious. Where was my mercy?

Long story short, I exhausted myself, sent Ray to the hospital with second degree burns, and managed to earn myself the nickname 'Standing'. Some students got in my face and scolded me, some congratulated me, and asked if I was okay, and the majority remained indifferent, walking away as if the travesty had not transpired. I was somewhat pleased with the outcome, and I rode out on the shoulders of six ice types. It was strange, being the hero. Even the faculty and staff looked at me with a glint of admiration. I guess he didn't cause hell to just the students. Even the principle tried her best not to smile. But, she did tell me that I'd have a three day in school suspension, effective immediately.

I spent the remainder of that day in the office, with an icepack on my head(it felt good, and at the same time it felt like hell.), and a small grin on my face. I could only pray to hell that the principle had mercy enough not to call home. Then I would have to deal with Grey's wrath(shudder), and Kyukon's wrath(he had the worst temper in the family).

On the way home, it was all that plagued my mind. You'd think that my mind would be on that golden disk, but it wasn't. I had won a fight, I had actually won a fight. Sure, the fight wasn't necessarily fair, but we each had our own advantages and disadvantages. Technically, the only person at the school I didn't have a one up on was Sven. A goofy delirious grin crossed my face as I walked home, and Sven prodded me for the details, which I gave up with no hassle.

He pat me on the head, wished me luck, and then sent me on my way. And you know what? I'd like to say that everything went my way after that. I approached my door, and slid in the key to open it up. And I threw open the door, with a loud shout to announce my arrival. And I went inside, oblivious to my surroundings. But what I saw when I walked in only came into my comprehension after a few minutes.

Gray and Kyukon were nowhere to be seen, or heard even. And around me? Around me, everything was packed neatly in cardboard boxes.

"Rokon?"