Hi, everybody! How's it going? Well, I hope so!

I'm good! But, hey, maybe it would be better if I got a job. You know, for independence and all that. Nah, 'cause with all this mess...

Huh? Why am I telling you this?

I don't fucking know! I don't know what to say!

…

Anyway. We move on to the next chapter. And as a transition...

The real business begins. Enjoy.

CHAPTER 4 PART 2: …WITH A NEW PERSPECTIVE

The three kids were already on their way to the hospital, Makoto in the lead. Even though he didn't come on his own the first time, his parents showed him the way over the weekend, using the school as a starting point. And he remembered the way well.

It should also be said that he was... particularly enthusiastic.

"Ah, I see the hospital! We're almost there!" He signaled to Komaru and Natsumi behind him with a big smile. "I can't wait for you to meet them, Natsumi!"

The young yakuza rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah... you've talked about it at least ten times. Frankly, it was about time we got there."

"Why? Because you wanted to see them?"

"Yeah, partly."

What the young yakuza didn't say, of course, was that she wanted to see what these two new "friends" looked like so she could judge them with her own eyes. "Makoto may have trusted them just as quickly because they seemed like nice people, but you never know. I've been told this Tsumiki is shy, so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt, but at the first suspicious sign..."

"Natsumi? Are you all right?"

"Huh?" Komaru's voice brought Natsumi out of her stupor, and she replied, "Uh, yeah, I'm okay. I'm just wondering what she looks like, that's all."

"You mean physically?"

"Yeah, 'cause, you know, you tell me they're nice, but it doesn't help me get a picture of the girls. And the two or three details you're giving me aren't enough for me."

Makoto laughs a little embarrassed. "Ah, sorry, Natsumi..."

She sighed a little, but in an amused way. "Well, we're going to meet them soon so it's no big deal, but just think about it, that's all I'm saying." She turned to Komaru. "Though, what I'd like to hear again is why we're on our way to the hospital. Wasn't there some place, I don't know, happier than an institution where sick people go?"

"Well, we thought about it too," Komaru explained. "But the problem is, we didn't know where they lived or what schools they went to. We preferred to go to the place where we met."

The blonde sighed. "Okay, logical, I guess... I just wish we could have met where we don't see any injuries. It's killing the mood."

Makoto turned slowly and worriedly to her. "Natsumi, what's wrong? I promise I won't hurt myself like I did before."

"And don't you dare break that promise, you moron." She answered seriously before she looked down. "I just... I don't like this kind of place, that's all."

"Oh, is that so? But why?" The second little sister looked at her curiously. "Is it because of the incident?"

"A little, but..." There, Natsumi turned her head. "Nah, that's just dumb. Let it go."

The Naegi began to look at her worriedly. "Natsumi, you know you can-"

"No, stop it! It hurts!"

The three stopped as soon as they heard a voice in panic and suffering. Komaru seemed the most nervous. "Y-you heard that?"

"Hey, behave yourself!"

"Yeah, you said we could do whatever we wanted, so shut up!"

These following voices seemed haughty and contemptuous. And then Makoto and Natsumi began to open their eyes... ...the latter clenching her fists and teeth. "These voices... I recognize them..."

And apparently, Makoto did, too, since he was the first one to make his way to the voices, followed closely by his two companions. And when they arrived... they were disgusted.

"Tsumiki-san!"

"W-what?"

"Huh?! What are you guys doing here?!"

In front of them were two of the bullies from the other day, moments before the incident.

Pulling Mikan's hair, who was on the ground, crying her eyes out.

One of the bullies held her arms firmly behind her, preventing her from rubbing the red marks on her arms and legs.

Scissors were in the hand of the other who was holding her hair just as hard.

And there were wicks all around her on the ground.

That's all it took for Makoto to look at the bullies with a serious look on his face and furrowed eyebrows. "Let her go! Can't you see you're hurting her?!"

The fat guy didn't seem to like the tone of voice they were talking to him. "Hey, it's none of your business! Get lost!"

But the second brute, the thinner one, looked surprised when he saw Makoto. And he wasn't happy in the slightest. "Wait, I recognize you! You're the one who jumped in to save that freak!"

"The freak has a name, asshole!" Natsumi quickly joins his friend, looking like she's about to explode. "You were messing with her, and now you're bullying with someone else! Who the fuck do you think you are, you deepshits?!"

"Who are you calling a dipshit, you stupid girl?!" The fat man released Mikan who fell to the ground leaving a squeak of pain. He pointed at Makoto with a hateful look on his face. "Because of your buddy, we got punished by the old lady! The orphanage is watching us all the time, now!"

Komatru, who was nervously standing behind Makoto and Natsumi, gathered her courage to look at them and say, "I-it's not Onii-chan's fault! Y-you brought this upon yourselves when you hurt Seiko-san!"

"She's right, it's not right to bully others!" Makoto followed in a more confident tone. "She hasn't done anything to you, so leave her alone!"

The thin man looked at the trio with a vicious look... before a sly smile appeared on his face. "You know what? Okay, let's leave her... now that you're here."

Makoto was surprised. "Huh?"

"Well yeah... we'll be able to settle the score!"

And when he saw the two brutes regrouping and moving slowly towards them, that's when he understood their intentions. And he became very nervous. Natsumi was about to jump in their faces too, and Komaru took refuge behind them, looking at them terrified.

Despite the slightest hint of danger, Makoto maintained his position. "I can't let them hurt Komaru and Natsumi! I have to protect them-"

"Hey, can we know what you morons are doing?!"

Everyone turned around to see the third boy who had been there before the incident... the one who had thrown Seiko's book on the road.

But judging by his hateful look at his acolytes, he didn't seem to appreciate their actions. "I leave you alone for two minutes, and you use that time to make a fucking mess? You think you're so smart, acting like clowns where everyone can see and hear you?!"

"Huh?! B-but boss-"

"Shut up! We're in enough shit as it is!" He took a quick glance at Makoto and his friends before turning his back on them. "I'm out of here! I'm not staying with losers like you!"

"H-hey, wait, boss!"

The other two brutes left in a hurry to join their leader, leaving the trio to watch them with curiosity.

"I... I don't really understand what just happened." Komaru confessed confusingly. "Did he... did he just help us?"

Natsumi grunted and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but only because if they'd kept going, they'd have been in even more trouble. You heard what he said."

Makoto sighed with relief. "At least there wasn't a fight, that's something..." He then turned his attention to Mikan, slowly approaching her so as not to frighten her. "Are you all right? They didn't hurt you too much?"

The poor girl had tears in her eyes and looked at him like a doe, not knowing what to say or how to react. "Uh... well..."

"Your hair! They cut it!" Komaru went quickly to his side, looking at the strands on the ground. "I can't believe people would do this!"

"I do. Believe me, I've seen worse." Natsumi frowned. "People like that are everywhere. They don't hesitate to attack those weaker than themselves."

Then Mikan started crying. "I-I'm sorry! I-I know I'm weak, b-b-but don't hate me, please! Forgive meeeee!"

The young yakuza was completely surprised by this change of attitude. "H-hey, calm down! I didn't say it was your fault!"

"Yes, it's the opposite." Makoto's sister assisted her. "You didn't ask to be attacked, did you?"

"N-no, but-"

The injured girl stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and when she looked up in surprise, she saw the boy smiling at her. "Don't worry, we're here. It's gonna be okay."

She waited for a moment, before starting to cry again, hugging the boy very tightly, the latter turning the gesture around and letting her empty the tears from her body, repeating "Thank you, thank you...".

The two girls watched the scene with some pity, Komaru whispering in Natsumi's ear, "It's Tsumiki-san. She seemed very shy when we met her... I didn't think it was that shy."

"…I'm not sure we're talking about shyness here..."

Natsumi may have sounded harsh with her tone, but in truth she was in the middle of thinking about what she had just seen. "So she really is a victim, huh? Someone who gets stepped on, but apparently doesn't have the strength to rebel. She doesn't look like she could hurt a fly... I doubt she'd do anything dirty against us. But we can't leave her like this now, it would be too cruel."

"W-what's going on?"

Everyone turned to a pink-haired girl who approached them nervously. A girl Makoto recognised immediately. "Ah, Nishiziwa-san! Did you hear us?"

"Y-yes, for a little while now, actually. I was starting to get worried, so I came to see..." Kiriko looked at them before she noticed the strands of hair on the ground, her eyes shocked. "Wha-what happened to you?!"

"Hey, Natsumi!"

"Makoto-san! Komaru-san! Are you all right?!"

At that moment, a second group approached them, and the trio saw the forms of Fuyuhiko, Peko, Ruruka, Seiko and Sohnosuke approaching them, looking worried. "Everyone!"

"We saw the bullies from the other day go by! They didn't do anything to us, but they didn't look happy!" Ruruka explained first, frowning. "And neither do I, for that matter! Just the sight of them made me sick!"

"Y-you're alright. That's good..." Seiko sighed with relief, before noticing Kiriko. "Nishizawa-san? You were here too?"

"Yes, I've just arrived..."

There, Sohnosuke turned to see Mikan, and like others before him, he noticed the details of the scene. And that made him frown as well. "They did this to you, didn't they?"

"Uh-uh..." The poor thing was starting to panic. "I-I'm sorry..."

Everyone looked at her in amazement, before Peko went towards her. "We're not angry with you. You have nothing to fear from us. We just want to know the truth."

Seeing that the girl was hesitant, Fuyuhiko turned to the trio. "Natsumi, Makoto, Komaru... Tell us what we missed."

Makoto began to look at the two girls, Natsumi nodded her head seriously. Komaru, although a little nervous, made the same gesture. Then he turned to the others. "All right. Sit down, everybody."

And so the group of ten children sat in a circle to introduce themselves and explain the situation. The circle, running from left to right, was formed like this: Makoto, Komaru, Natsumi, Fuyuhiko, Peko, Sohnosuke, Ruruka, Seiko, Kiriko and Mikan, who was on the left of Makoto. He wanted to be there to reassure her after this ordeal.

Needless to say, after the testimony, the atmosphere was rather tense.

"Is... is that true?!" Seiko looked at Mikan with a terrified look on her face. "Did they really do this to you?!"

"Yes, they even had the scissors in their hands." Makoto explained, frowning sadly. "I think they were starting to attack her when we got there."

"Rah, I can't believe it!" Ruruka exclaimed with rage. "First they almost killed Seiko-chan and now they're going after someone else?! I don't know what's keeping me from slapping them!"

"That makes two of us, believe me." Natsumi growled. "Except that I would have done ten times worse to them. Especially after they tried to come after us."

"Really? They tried, huh?" Fuyuhiko turned to her, rage in his eyes. "Well, we'll see what the old folks say, here. No way it's gonna go on like this!"

"O-oh no..." Kiriko confessed as she looked at the ground shamefully. "I-I heard the screams, but I decided to go outside only after I heard Naegi-kun and the others. I-I should have warned someone that something bad was going on..."

"Hey, it's not your fault! You couldn't have known what was going on!" Komaru comes immediately to her defense. "At least the worst is over. We can do something now!"

"She's right. We can warn the hospital staff to keep them away from here." Peko suggested. "And our families will be able to report it, too."

"Yes. We'll just have to hope that everything goes well afterwards." Sohnosuke added before sighing. "I didn't think we'd get into trouble on our first meeting together. I would not like to interfere-"

"I'm-I'm sorry! Forgive me!"

Everyone turned around with an astonished look on their faces to see Mikan sobbing, panicking and refusing to look anyone in the eye. The reason why they seemed surprised was obvious: no one expected this kind of reaction.

Komaru was the one who asked the question that was on everyone's face. "Y-you're sorry? But for what?"

"For everything! Absolutely everything!" The poor thing started crying continuously. "Y-You were all planning to go out together, b-but I ruined it by letting you see me like this! This is not what I wanted!"

"Hey, calm down! It's not your fault!" Fuyuhiko shouted, a little frustrated by her attitude. "We already told you those assholes are responsible!"

But it only made her cry more. "Aaaah! I-I'm sorry! I-it's just that they're not usually this aggressive-"

"Wait, usually?!" Kiriko interrupted in a frightened way. "You mean this isn't the first time this has happened?!"

Natsumi followed in the same tone as his brother. "And you do nothing to defend yourself?! Seriously, it's not normal!"

"S-s-sorry! I'm sorry! Please forgive meeeee!"

Everyone looked at the poor girl sobbing, stunned by the victim's behavior. How could she behave like that? How could she blame herself so much for what was happening around her?

"Hey, it's all right now. We'll help you."

Everyone turned to Makoto, who had placed his hand on her shoulder, a reassuring smile, something that surprised the girl a lot.

"We're not going to let you suffer any longer. What's happening to you isn't fair." He affirmed with a tone as sincere and serious as it was benevolent, and this with a big reassuring smile. "And we're going to help you. We haven't known each other long, but... I'm all the way with you, Tsumiki-san."

The quietest, having Fuyuhiko, Peko and Sohnosuke, had their eyes closed, but they had a little smile on their lips. The most emotional ones, Komaru, Ruruka, Seiko and Kiriko, looked at Makoto with admiration, with the same expression.

Only Natsumi seemed to have reservations. She was happy, but... she couldn't help but frown when she saw the scene.

Mikan, for her part, stared at the boy in front of her, her eyes red from crying, her brain seemingly unable to understand what he had just said. But her cheeks were all red, the tears were coming at a halt, and her mouth was looking for words. "W... w-what? Y-y-you mean y-you really want to... help a w-w-w-w-w-weakling like me?"

Komaru was the first to join her brother, shaking her head with a determined air. "You are not weak! It's the people who tell you that who don't know what they're talking about! You can't blame yourself for everything!"

Peko frowned, but spoke in a serious tone. "Indeed. It's clear your oppressors are the weakest. But they'll probably take advantage of another opportunity to try another shot. And I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

"M-me neither!" Kiriko looked at her with a sad but determined look. "I'm the one who should apologize! I-I know I couldn't know, but... I didn't do anything! And besides, now that I think about it, it's not the first time I've seen you here! You were probably hurt and I..." She interrupted herself before resuming in a safer tone. "So now it's all over! I don't want to look away every time something happens!"

"Well said! We're not gonna sit around and do nothing!" Ruruka then decided to intervene by opening her personal tasting box and taking a light purple macaroon to hand it to the still crying girl. "Here, it's for you! You need it! It'll do you good, you'll see!"

Mikan looked at the sweet with shock, before taking it in her trembling hands. "T-thank you very much..."

She put it in her mouth... and as soon as she chewed a little, the stars appeared in her eyes, as well as the cascades of tears. "I-it's so goooooood! I'm sorry, I can't contain myself!"

Ruruka smiles amused. "Hey, at least you're in a better mood, that's an improvement..."

"If she likes your candy, then she's a good person." Sohnosuke added before turning to Seiko. "She looks a lot like you, Seiko."

A comment that made Seiko laugh slightly. "Yes, I suppose..." She then turned to Mikan. "I'll help you too. I don't like to see people suffer like this."

"T-thank you very much..." Mikan replied with a small smile, crying slightly with red cheeks. "I-it's the first time in my life that someone's ever told me that they care about me..."

Fuyuhiko raised an eyebrow when he heard that. "The first time? What do you mean-"

"Leave her alone, she's upset enough as it is." Natsumi interrupted in a calm but serious manner, which was quite surprising to those who knew her. She turned to Mikan and asked her in the same tone, "Would you tell us your name? You know, just to get to know each other better."

"A-ah! That's right, I forgot! Excuse me!" The girl apologized before she looked at everyone. "M-my name is Tsumiki Mikan... I hope from the bottom of my heart we can all get along."

"I'll do the same! And don't worry, I know we'll get along!" Makoto supported her. "I'm Naegi Makoto! A pleasure to meet you!"

The new member of the small group blushed again and allowed herself to laugh as she looked at him. "L-likewise..."

"Hey, big brother, your mind is elsewhere!" Komaru pointed this out to him. "You already said your name the other day, before we left!"

"I know, but I wanted to tell her, because she had already told us too!"

"Oh, that's so cute! You want to be a gentleman?"

"It's a good tactic."

"Hey! Stop it!"

"Ruruka-san, Sohnosuke-san, you're embarrassing him..."

"Well, I think it's nice of him..."

"Yeah, the guy's always like that, anyway, so it's no surprise."

"That's right... by the way, who are you? I think Kimura-senpai mentioned you."

"A-ah yes, excuse me! My name is Nishizawa Kiriko, and I'm the daughter of..."

While the others introduced themselves and chatted, Natsumi looked at Makoto, who was happily talking to Mikan, and as she looked at the two of them... she couldn't help but be pensive.

"Helping people is the right thing to do, isn't it, Makoto? Yeah, I think I understand a little bit, actually. I don't appreciate all of her quirks, but... it's clear she needs a little help, just by looking at her eyes."

"…"

"...I wonder if I had the same look, back then."

FREE-TIME EVENT BEGIN

And here we are! The second Free Time Event coming up! With the original gang of this AU now complete! Isn't that wonderful?

YES. IT IS.

…

Okay, enough with the jokes, I'm sure I've left you a little on edge with this little cliffhanger, haven't I? Well, don't worry, as I said, this is the beginning! If not for now, it's definitely for later! That was just an appetizer! Hahaha, you didn't think I hadn't thought of that, did you? Confess!

And besides, by the time I get this out, the first Pokémon DLC is out! If it's not a holiday season!

By the way, the usual people who support me (I think you know who they are) said hi to you guys. Go check my other fic if you wanna know their names. And go check them out... again.

I'll leave you two to enjoy yourselves, I'll go and enjoy it myself! Ciao!

Pupla out, Corona begone. Stay safe, people.