Rukard Stirvia sensed malice, a thing he'd always had since he could remember, but had only in recent years recognized what it meant. He knew he didn't stand a chance against the two kids being ganged up on by the five bullies, but he wanted to help the girl, he'd seen her always helping others and knew she didn't deserve being picked on.
"Ha! Trying to be a hero, eh? Boss, what should we do with him?" A spiky haired kid laughed.
"Hold him for me." A longer haired boy that could almost pass for a girl.
"Sure thing Beedde." The spiky haired boy, Straum Gallrit said, grabbing the struggling Rukard, trying to fight back against being held.
A girl handed Beedde a drink, the concoction, whatever it was, was clearly very sugary.
"Thank you, Huvlei." Beedde replied to Huvlei Dishsa, "I heard that you are allergic to stings, Stirvia, is that true?"
He didn't even wait for an answer, telling one of the other boys, Strigo Chethes to hit a nearby bee's nest with a rock on his signal. Beedde then splashed the drink all over the front of Rukard.
With that, Strigo hit the hive with the rock, and angry bees swarmed everywhere before becoming attracted to the sweet liquid dripping off of Rukard.
Any time the bees came near, Rukard would struggle to get free, causing himself to be stung.
"Is he dead? Let's get out of here before we get caught!" Glimon Taffox yelled.
"He's right, it's time to go." Beedde said coldly, "If you survive this, Stirvia, we'll be seeing each other again, count on it."
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Time passed since that incident, things had only gotten worse since then. Every day Rukard would be spat on, hit, and even shown dead animals. His family was concerned.
Meimei Stirvia and her little brother Rukard were packing up a small bag for the last class trip to the fair before their big move.
"So, are you going to come out and tell Minven how you feel about her? Might be your last chance before your move." Meimei said.
"You're a fine one to talk, Meimei. As I remember it, you were already off living in your dorm before you told Mitche how you felt about him."
"I did do that, and I regret it. Ended up a long distance cheater. So take what your older sister is saying to you to heart, yeah? It's amazing that Mom was able to get that transfer on such short notice. You really should have told us that you were being bullied so bad before I went off to college. We all could have helped you."
Rukard avoided his sister's gaze, paying much more attention to what he was putting in his bag as if it were the most interesting thing he could be doing at the moment.
A punch to his arm brought him back to reality.
"Did that hurt? I didn't mean to hurt you, but you were listening, right? We're your family, we're supposed to have your back."
"Yeah, yeah. I get it, but it's a little complicated. I just wanted to handle it myself."
"Handle it yourself?! You almost died when you were 13, did you forget that?"
"No, I didn't forget. S-sorry Mei, I know you and Mom and Dad care and want to help. I guess I was just more upset about leaving my friends behind than dealing with bullies to have wanted to say anything, but I guess now that we're moving, I'm relieved that I can leave those bullies behind."
"That's more like my little Ruru. Please don't ever forget we want what's best for you."
The day of the fair trip finally came. Rukard sat on the bus with Minven Chaus. He scanned for the bullies, seeing only Huvlei Dishsa. He wasn't that bothered if she was the only one to show up, sure if she had learned some self defense, she might be able to throw him if she wanted to, but he was sure she couldn't do much else to him. He probably should have worried more than he did, but he concentrated more on conversation with Minven.
