Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem


The door let out an aged squeak as the white-haired girl pushed it open. All that was beyond it was a musty waiting room filled with people. Sitting in a chair was a ginger-haired teenager. He was sucking on a lollypop. Like a little kid, Robin thought.

Across from the "carrot-top" was a buff guy with blond, spiky hair. He was looking into a hand mirror and admiring himself. Look's like someone has issues.

Robin's eyes gazed into the far corner where a girl with black hair and goth clothes sat and was putting pins in a doll. Necrophiliac, she thought.

The door in the back opened and a tall man stepped out. "Come inside, everyone," he said in a clear voice. One-by-one, they filed in. He made them sit in the corner while he sat, opposing them. "Everyone, meet your new teammates. You all are going to be taking sessions together."

They were slaves. Everyone in the room, except for the doctor, was a "troubled teen." We're all broken in our little ways, Robin thought. We're little, makeshift dolls; always falling apart and nobody can possibly fix us.

The doctor moved forward. "Why don't we start by introducing ourselves?"

The ginger-haired teen spoke first. "I'm Gaius. People call me a kleptomaniac. Of course, that's the nicest." He riddled off a few more "not-so-nice names" he's been called.

The goth girl was next. "I'm Tharja," she grumbled quietly. "I like dark magic. And the thought of voodoo. I also am a necrophiliac."

On to the blond. "Vaike," he said casually. "The Vaike loves to get into brawls with his buddies in the streets. But most of all, the Vaike loves himself." He began to complement himself in the mirror. "Oh, yeah. Look at those muscles. Nobody is sexier than you."

After that awkward reply, at last, all eyes turned to Robin. She shrank into the floor. "Hi, I'm Robin. I have what people call an 'authority problem.' I'm also a 'smart-ass,' too."

After that, the doctor left after leaving a brief warning of "no 'suggestive' fraternizing." They were allowed to talk, but that was pretty much it. Robin didn't bother. She had no interest in this. She was broken and none of this crap was going to fix her. Same with all of them.

After a few minutes (nothing happened. Thankfully), the doctor walked back in, followed by a 16 year-old. "This is my son, Chrom," the doctor said. Chrom stepped forward but didn't say anything. "He'll be learning and working with you so he'll get to know what it's like hanging out with...my students."

People like you. He caught himself, but Robin could practically hear it on his tongue. Even the doctor knew they were freaks.

Chrom sat next to Robin as they started to do tedious activities. The exercises could have been done by toddlers, they were so easy. So, of course, her thoughts wandered. He still hadn't said anything to her. Although she tried to push the thought back in her head, it kept nagging her, just begging for attention.

"I'm Chrom. What's your name?"

The voice sent a shiver down her spine; it was like a caress, almost. "I'm Robin," she answered. A perverse desire to start toying with him started nagging at her. After a few seconds of internal argument, she finally gave in and scooted closer to him. "I'm here because I molested a guy in my class," she whispered in his ear. "I just can't help myself around men. Especially ones my age."

He started to move away from her, an alarmed look on his face. Perhaps Robin should have felt guilt. She might have even just pushed away a potential friend. But the fierce, and rather twisted, sense of satisfaction of pushing another one away tingled in her chest. There's nothing I can do. No matter how hard they reach for me, I'll just push them away and walk farther into the abyss until there's no way out… It was madness but that was just how it was.

After a few hours of pointless stuff, she got up and left. Chrom saw her out. That honestly surprised her. "What's the matter? I thought you were afraid of me molesting you," she grumbled.

"Well, normally I would. But I chose you. Every class that my dad teaches, I make a single friend. Like, I have a friend named Donnel who thinks he lives in the country, even though he grew up in Brooklyn. Also, he wears a pot on his head all the time."

Robin suppressed a chuckle. "Well, maybe we can actually talk for a bit. Don't worry; I won't molest you~" Don't! the voice hissed. You don't need friends! Keep walking! Push them away!

Ignoring the voice, they sat on the steps outside the building and began to talk. "So, why'd your old man start this business?"

"He's not my biological father. My real parents died in a car crash when I was four. He was a good friend of my dad's and took me in. He actually started the business when I was in first grade. My friend Frederick turned out to be an obsessive pyromaniac. My adopted dad had a Ph.D for whatever you need to be a troubled teen counselor. Originally, there were kids that went here, too. But now it's just 13 through 18 year-olds here."

"Hmmmm…" Robin thought. "What other friends do you have from these classes?"

He paused for a moment. "I have a friend named Sumia. She's here because she has zero depth perception. Now, I'm not sure if that actually qualifies you to be a 'troubled teen,' but she still goes to the meets.

"Another one of my friends is Sully. She has trouble identifying her sexuality. And there's Olivia. She's so shy, she has no friends. I'm also friends with this sort of snobby girl named Maribelle.

Anyway, my sister Lissa is gonna be out here soon, and I don't want her to start teasing me." He smiled at her warmly. "I'll see you next Sunday."

As she left, Robin felt a warm feeling. What...is this? Nobody had ever been nice to her before. People avoided her. That was how it was. But he didn't hesitate to sit by her or talk to her. He didn't whisper about her behind her back. And he didn't lie to her.

It made her feel nice.

And she found herself actually looking forward to next week's session. At least, until, she got home and immediately felt a wave of exhaustion and fatigue hit her. Too tired to even sigh, she sat down on the couch and got under the covers. Nights were always like this. Whenever she was alone, the Shadows would sneak up on her, leaving her empty and jaded. Even though she was hungry, she felt too depressed to get up. Gods, I'm gonna waste away like this, she scolded herself. Even though the words were motivational, they had no gravity behind them. Maybe she was waiting for a catalyst. But that didn't mean she was ever going to get one.

Once again, she spent another sleepless night thinking about nothing but the pain.


It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts.

He betrayed her. And it hurt. The pain was a haze as she ran. He lied to me. I shouldn't have trusted him… She caught him kissing a girl with dusty, gray hair. He had promised her he would be there for her. He kissed her. Her lips burned as she ran. He lied. He lied. Heliedheliedheliedheliedheliedheliedheliedheliedheliedheliedheliedheliedheliedheliedheliedheliedhelied.

Anger flashed through her, erasing the hurt. He betrayed me! I'll make him pay! After a moment's thought, she paused. How would I make him pay? There wasn't really anything she could do to him. Instead, she just decided to ignore him.

She rested her face in the pillow as she finished crying. "Baka," she murmured.

It wasn't a very effective method. Chrom didn't realize what she was doing.

He poked her. "Hey. Did you hear me?"

She didn't reply.

He leaned back and fixed a slight pout on her. "Fine. You don't want to talk."

She was so tempted to talk. He looks so cute when he pouts~ Rather than giving in, she turned away and refused to look him in the eye. He turned her towards him forcefully.

"Look, I get that something's bothering you. You're my friend, okay? It bothers me to see you so sad."

"Really? Would you feel the same for the brown-haired girl? Friend, eh? Whatever happened to being 'The One,' or whatever you call it?" The bitter words spilled out of her mouth before she could recall them back.

Chrom reeled away. "Oh… You saw that," he replied lamely. There was nothing said between the two. He was caught red-handed.

….

No such luck.

He tried to look at her. "That was my friend Sumia."

"Despite all appearances, I don't speak to liars," Robin said coldly.

"My family wants me to be with her since her parents are really wealthy lawyers. The family's kinda in the middle of a money crisis. But I don't want to date her. I tried to kiss her once- which was yesterday. I realized that I didn't like her at all. I mean, we'll always be friends, but there's someone else I like…" He trailed off and blushed.

Robin didn't notice. "Well, if you like someone, don't go fooling me."

Chrom sighed. "Gods, Robin. Sometimes, you're the thick one. I like you!"

She paused and looked at him. "Oh… You mean you actually want someone like me?"

He chuckled slightly. "What's there about you? You're a nice girl who likes me and doesn't think I'm a jerk. At least, now you don't."

She frowned and didn't look at him. "I'm just a fucked up little girl who has an authority problem and suffers from depression."

He suddenly pressed his lips to hers. "Yes, but you're my fucked up little girl who has an authority problem and suffers from depression."

She smiled. "Maybe you're a bit fucked up yourself."

Fin


Hmmm… A bit dirty for my norm. Whatever. Anyway, I was just interviewed for a blog. Thanks to Tsuna 4 Cn4s for interviewing me. My questions are from a few months ago so they're a bit outdated. Anyway, hope you enjoyed~

Edit: Wow, something screwed up with the doc manager here or something, cuz the entire first paragraph was just cut off. Also, Frederick and his fire obsession, amiright?