Chapter 10: Praise Accepting Shutdown
*For this chapter, We're changing POVs to get a better understanding of the current situation in this chapter. Enjoy.*
Raffina's POV
To ever think that Kaze had a soft side in her. And to walk out of the lab. That hurt me a little bit. I wonder if Klug said something to her unnecessarily.
"Poor, Kaze. I wonder what made her upset." Amitie said.
"Possibly, because of what Klug said to her." I said.
"What?! I never said anything negative to her! All I said was I could've just taken her away from YOU. Just so I could've won." Klug said.
"Yes, we get that. But that's what got her upset. I never noticed you were a bully, Klug."
"Tch! That's coming from a nobody who's always into boys. For Kaze, she kinda deserved that anyways for picking on the winning team." Klug said as he was crossing his arms.
"Klug, that's totally messed up!" Witch said.
Then at that point I was boiled with rage, wanting to beat the crap out of this jerkwad for saying something very idiotic to my new friend who just had a soft side a few seconds ago. I'm not gonna let my friend cry over something that involves the past or the disabilities of controlling her emotions. And Klug… *growl*
"How could you say stuff like that, Klug?! You just need to stop!" TaruTaru said.
"What's the excuse?! It's not my fault that she made the biggest spread! Again, All I'm saying is that I would have won if I had Kaze as my partner, then It would have been easier for me to defeat Raffina for all I care!"
"But why did you try to insult her for not wanting to be on your team then?! All you just like to do is to try to get Raffina furious at any given circumstance! Just like how you did this to Feli!"
"*sigh* Look… I'm not trying to become a bully to everyone. It's just… It's fun to see how I mess with Raffina. That's all."
"At this point you did…"
…
"Huh?"
"Raffina?" Amitie called out to me but I didn't listen to her as I was ready to target Klug at this rate since he has already pushed my buttons and now it's time I've been waiting to punch the innocent face of his.
"You… You just like messing with me huh?" I asked Klug.
"U-Uh… Yes?" Klug said as he was looking at the scary me.
"Well… I believe you've done enough, Klug. Teasing me, making me look bad in front of everyone. And for insulting Kaze as well. And I think you are looking at the other side of Raffina. All of these days of you making me look like an idiot has made me want to give you a little bit of… discipline."
"Hey, Raffina. Maybe you should cool off." Ringo said.
"NO! NO WAY! NOT IN A MILLION YEARS AM I COOLING OFF! My rage is already at the top right now! I'm getting tired of Mr. goody two shoes thinking that he is going to bully me throughout the whole school year and until I graduate! I'm not gonna be messed with by a bunch of damn jerks who insult me for no reason! And Klug… I know you've been my classmate when we were little… But I've had it with you! I really am done with you, acting like a stupid nuisance! You made my friend leave with an emotional look on her face and not only that, You insulted her, and here you are, passing the baton to me, thinking that I did something to make her upset! All I did was praise her, not insult her, and so did Witch and Ringo! I promise you, I WILL SEND YOU TO HELL IN ONE QUICK PUNCH RIGHT HERE!"
I, then at that point, walked over to Klug with him trembling his chair moving backwards, looking all scared at how my rage was going to defeat him for all the times he has done to me. Now I'm ready to return the favor. And I'm not kidding at all. I was ready to go full assault when…
"WAIT, RAFFINA! I don't think you should blame Klug for all of this!"
…
…
…
I heard Maguro shout out of nowhere. I never noticed he was gonna say that. I thought it was either going to be Amitie or Ms. Accord.
"Why?! He's the reason Kaze was upset and I'm filled with rage."
"I get that. But… maybe it's gotta be something else that is making her upset."
"Hey… Raffina. I wonder if it was because you said something about praise." Amitie said.
…
…
"Praise?" I took the time to think about it because all I ever did was just praise hair. Now I looked at my classmates… then at Klug…
…
…
Then something triggered me.
Is it because of what I said to her first?! I think that might be it!
"You thought of something, Raffina?" Witch asked.
"Praise… Amitie… I think you're getting somewhere."
"I am?" Amitie asked.
"Witch, remember when you praised her after me?"
"Me?" Witch asked.
"Wait… Yeah… I think Kaze's upset because of the praise." Ringo said.
"I definitely saw her blush when you praised her, and then all of the sudden she sorta… switched her emotions." TaruTaru said.
"*gasp* Yeah you might be right! Now I can see why she was upset in the first place and walked out the lab with the saddest look on her face." I said as I finally figured it out.
"Gosh… I do feel bad for her when we were actually saying nice things to her and she felt this way… how mortifying." Ringo said.
"Well, there's no point in making her upset, right. She has all six of us. We just need to find her right away to tell what's bothering her." Amitie said.
"Well… there's no denying it. Ms. Accord, do you want us to find Kaze and tell her what's the problem?"
"Well, if it involves the current situation that she has problems with, then yes, I will allow you to go."
"Alright… then I'll go." Ringo said.
"Me too." Amitie said.
"Me three." Witch said.
"Do I really need to trust y'all to go?" I asked them.
"Yeah. We are her friends… We all should rely on Kaze if she's in trouble or is not herself today. And besides, I just met her yesterday. Amitie and Ringo met her two days ago. Now we have to try to maintain our relationship with her at a high level. Otherwise, ignoring her for only a few days would end it. Trust us, Raffina." Witch said, in which she, Ringo, and Amitie are serious about this task.
I mean they actually do see what they are saying, but I met Kaze more than they did when she first got here. I don't know what they might come up with…
…
*sigh* I guess I'll see what they might come up with.
"Ok… I can work with that. As long as you know what you are doing." I said.
"Don't worry. Just leave it to us." Ringo said.
"Alright, We'll be back, Ms. Accord. And… I'm sorry for screaming out of nowhere like that. I was just getting so heated and frustrated and all." I said as I walked out with Ringo, Amitie and Witch with me to find Kaze.
"Apology accepted. Just make sure to come back to class." Ms. Accord said.
Kaze… I sure hope you are alright.
Kaze's POV
Why… Why am I like this… All I ever got was praise. This is so hard to deal with… controlling my emotions.
I was on the side of the school, sitting with my head down, with tears still on my face, trying to recover from what was an embarrassing experience. I never thought I wanted to receive compliments from other people. I just wanted to take it, but it was too hard for me.
Raffina, Lidelle, Amitie, Sig, Klug, Witch, TaruTaru, Ringo, Maguro, Ms. Accord, Risukuma… I'm so sorry I made you guys see this.
"I know she can't be outside. Would she?"
"That's what I'm thinking."
I then started hearing voices at range. That must be Raffina and… Ringo? I don't think those two cooperate as much as they do.
Still though, why was I so upset earlier that Raffina gave praise to me… as well as Ringo and Witch? *sigh* I don't know how to explain this to Mom when I come home. This is starting to get even worse and worse.
"*Sigh* Why is this so hard… Hey, there you are!" I heard Raffina's voice as I picked my head up.
…
"Hey, girls." I said to them in a soft tone.
"Hey. What's the matter? Why are you all the way down here?" Witch asked me.
…
…
"C'mon, Kaze. We're your friends. You can always talk to us if you need help." Ringo then said to me.
"If it's something that involves Klug, then I can totally understand." Raffina also said to me.
…
"I…
…
…
I… *sniff* Just don't take compliments seriously." I then spoke up.
"You don't take compliments seriously? What do you mean?" Raffina asked.
"*sniff* Remember when you guys said that I'm really good at making soda volcanoes? That's what got me upset. I just *sniff*... have hard times accepting people's praises or compliments… It just happened when I was 12 years old. I don't know how I still got this."
"Oh dear." Amitie said.
"Oh dear is right. And I thought I was going to be disciplining Klug for you."
…
"Really, Raffina?" I asked her.
"He was taking it far on you when we were blaming Klug for making you so upset. So I thought it would be okay for me to step in, you know?"
"I never noticed you had a softer side in you, Kaze. Why didn't you at least tell us?" Ringo asked me.
…
…
"I just wanted to keep my secrets to myself and not tell anyone about it. That's what everyone does, right? I don't feel comfortable just telling them to everyone because I think it will lead to some terms of events where I can experience some emotion in me, or I can just receive some hate in my 16-Year-Old life.
...
…
But to have this type of experience where I receive praise and then me, walking out of the classroom. It's just something that was so messed up then. I'm already 16, and I already should know how to recover from those feelings when I deserve praise, but it just won't stop day after day after day. I just felt that it was a curse. Like, a huge curse. And my mother already knew this back when I was 13. She notices the sorrow in me because of the praise that I got from another woman back in the United Kingdom. It was a weird feeling. She then kept telling me to control my emotions when I'm receiving praise. I kept listening to her…
…
…
…
...but still no effect. It was so shocking how I still got this. I've been nice to everyone and this is what I get inside my feelings? SERIOUSLY! LIKE WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON WITH ME AND MY STUPID EMOTIONS WHEN I'M RECEIVING COMPLIMENTS ?!
*pant* *pant*
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The pain… The suffering… The rough feeling inside me. I shouldn't be the only person out of all these people in this world, who just appreciates the praise that they get from other people, to be crying because I just only got praise. Everything just went perfectly well and now look at where I'm at. It's just really hard to fight back my emotions. But there are some ways I can look to make it not be the case. As soon as I was walking out of the lab, the next thing I thought to myself… was "What the heck is wrong with me? I just got praise, and now here you are, acting like an idiot."
…
…
I just worked my way up towards controlling my emotions when receiving and totally saying "thank you", when I was a kid. I'm gonna try to maintain my emotions here in my 16-Year-Old life. And I'm not backing down. For mother's sake. If she wants me to keep the current feelings that I'm in locked up, then I'm gonna have to do so. It's for the best. I know that what you guys saw was a huge turn of events, and I'm sorry for making you guys worry. And I'm with you guys all the way."
"That was a long story, Kaze." Ringo said
"And quite emotional." Raffina said.
"I apologize, Raffina. Same to you, Amitie. If that really got you scared." I said.
"No, it's okay. I understand how you feel that you are going through a tough life dealing with your emotions when you are receiving respect from us." Amitie said.
"She's right. We all got your back. And besides, you are not the only person who's really emotional when you feel uncomfortable receiving praise when you feel like you did something great. It's not like we were trying to say that you are above and beyond everyone else. And besides, you were only here for several days, so what's the excuse for being an elite? I'm not just trying to praise you, it's just, if you were saying that you are not that good at taking compliments, why didn't you just say so then? We would have understood how you feel." Witch said.
"Witch…" I didn't know what to say. But I guess she's right about this stuff. There's no way I should have not said something about not feeling comfortable in receiving compliments. Otherwise, no one would know what I'm upset about.
"Thank you… I knew I should've been doing something like that all along. That could've been my best route."
"Yeah, anytime. We are here for you." Witch said.
"Same here." Raffina said.
"Same right here." Amitie said.
"Me too." Ringo said.
"Well… yeah. I think Ms. Accord's worried about me, so I think I should go back to class." I said as I got up from the grass I was sitting on.
"She's definitely worried about how you were feeling." Raffina said as I got up from the floor.
"Should I probably tell her what has gotten into me?"
Everyone nodded their heads.
…
"She will understand how you feel if you at least tell her the truth. She even does this to all of us." Amitie said.
"O-Ok." I said.
"Welcome back, Kaze. Are you feeling better?" Ms. Accord asked as we all were back inside the classroom.
"Yes. It was just something I needed to tell you." I said to her.
"Ok. We can chat in the hallway. Everyone else, take your seats."
"Yes ma'am." They all said as Ms. Accord and I stepped out of the hallway to talk.
Having to talk with Ms. Accord is a good idea for me personally because remember when Mrs. Satterwhite talked to me about the fact that I got bullied by four boys and she had my back? She relies on me and I now need to return the favor to her, along with Ms. Accord that is standing in front of me. She really is a nice teacher to be honest. And I have faith in her as well.
"So what happened back there? Did someone try to make you feel uncomfortable? It was honestly Klug right?" Popoi asked first.
"W-Well no. You see, the reason why I wanted to be alone was because…"
*One Explanation Later*
"Oh my. So you had hard times accepting people's praise? Especially when Raffina, Witch, and Ringo said that you were good at making this soda volcano?" Ms. Accord asked.
"And you're managing to hold in your feelings?" Popoi asked.
"Yes. It was tough. My mother would tell me to control my emotions. I listen to her, but I get the same result as always. I'm trying to not back down though."
"Kaze. You don't have to push yourself to not back down just because it's really bothering you that much." Ms. Accord said to me which made me feel shocked a little bit in the way she said that to me.
"I… don't?"
"It may not be that convincing, but it is always important to believe in yourself and just add some courage into accepting everyone's compliments. Amitie, for example, takes it very seriously whenever I give her a compliment. She has no problems saying "thank you" or whatever."
"Gee… Amitie sure is nice." I said with a sweatdrop.
"She always has a pure heart. She means so much to everyone. Not many people. That's why I'm telling you to do the same thing too. Many people rely on you too because you're special."
…
"Uhh… Yeah. I'm special." I said while trying my best to accept Ms. Accord praise. And scratch my head.
"See? Now you're getting it." Popoi said with a smile.
I wonder how Mom will take it.
"So, anything else you would like to ask or tell me?" Ms. Accord asked me.
"No. I think that's it." I said to her.
"Alright, I will resume class in a minute, so head back inside."
"Ok." I said to her as I walked back inside the classroom.
"So how did it go?!" Amitie asked.
"It went alright for me." I said to Amitie with a small smile.
"Oh, Kaze. I see that you are back in good shape. That's great to hear." Klug said in which I didn't expect.
"Thank you, Klug. However, I'm gonna have to Puyo Battle you someday for insulting me for whatever reason." I said to him.
"I see… hold on, WHAT?!" Klug shouted. Then I heard a few people laughing at Klug because of what I have just said to him.
"Revenge is Sweet, Klug!" Raffina said as she stopped laughing at Klug.
"Ugh!"
"Want me to cheer you up, Glasses?" Sig asked.
"No, I'm fine. And quit calling me Glasses already! That's not my name!"
"I kinda believe him, Sig. His name is actually Klug."
TaruTaru said.
…
"Uhh… What?" Sig said.
"There goes the same old Sig." Raffina said as she facepalmed.
Maybe I should train Sig on getting people's names right. Or it might be too uncomfortable. I'll think it through.