Micchi Versus the New World - Chapter 95

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Chapter 95

Yui was always weak. This was true as far back as I could remember.

I first met Yui in fourth grade, two years before we met Chika and Anya together. Back then, we wore those stupid matching uniforms and dumb-looking brimmed hats. It didn't matter how young kids were, or if they also caught the morning cartoons before going to school. At any age, but somehow when they were the youngest, kids could be the most vicious little fuckers in existence.

They didn't understand consequence. Probably because getting snitched on only meant a slap on the wrist and a ten-minute timeout. Then those bullies would take it out on their target again ten folds. Soon, the ones who couldn't or didn't fight back made themselves look small and stopped trying to report them to avoid painting a target on their backs. It was a vicious cycle.

At least it was. Until I broke it.

The spring season had started. Students returned for the new academic year, formed cliques and chose outcasts to torment. Maybe I was lucky. No one messed with me because I've always had that kind of a face, which suited me just fine.

School ended for the day, and as always, I looked for any excuse not to go home. My bored ass wandered into the back courtyard, where a small garden and rabbit hutch were built to teach kids a lesson in responsibility.

However, instead of finding someone taking care of the place, a group of students were picking on the new kid, who was curled up in the fetal position. Each girl was pulling on her two black pigtails, and another one was trying to rip her mud-stained uniform.

"Hey, Michiru~" One of them saw me peeking in from the corner. "If you know what's good for you, then you better keep quiet about this."

I didn't want to get involved with them. If the new kid was getting picked on, that was her own fault for not being able to defend herself. However, when I locked eyes with her, she didn't beg for help or even make a peep. She quietly took the abuse, like this was normal.

Something came over me, and I walked right up to the trio. The girl who spoke to me turned her head only to get sucker punched in the face. I didn't give the other two a chance to react, pressing handfuls of dirt into their eyes and kicking them away.

"Y-You're going to regret this!"

"We'll get you tomorrow, Michiru!"

They ran off in tears, having pissed their pants from a little bit of violence.

The new kid stayed on the ground, eyes still lifeless and not even a word of gratitude to me after saving her.

"Last I saw, they were headhunting the girl from class A4. What'd you do to piss them off?" I asked.

No answer.

Instead, her gaze fell to a dead cat I didn't notice until now. It must have died recently. Black coat and white underside, I recognized it as a regular visitor here. Probably drawn in by the rabbits since it would paw at the hutch.

"They wanted to see the kitty, but when I tried to shoo him away, they got mad and kicked him," she quietly explained.

I picked up the cat and put it in the trash can. No sense in leaving it out here to rot.

"You should probably get out of here before those bitches come back with more." I turned to leave, but she didn't move from her spot. "What's wrong with you? They don't plan on playing nice, you know?"

"It hurts to walk… Can you carry me? I don't want them to hurt me again…" She reached up to me like a baby reaching for her mother.

My gut reaction was to just leave her here. What did it matter to me that she gets beaten up some more? We're in the same class, but we didn't know each other. I told myself not to get involved, but those cunts have my number now.

"Tsk. Fine. I'm only doing this because there's strength in numbers, alright? If they come running back, at least there's two of us." I knelt down for scrawny arms to wrap around my neck. She was so skinny, I felt every bone of her ribcage on my back. When I held her by the thighs, she tensed up and whimpered.

"Sorry…"

Sighing, I clasped both hands behind my back and right under her ass. That way, she wasn't just hanging off my neck. I bolted out of there, heading to a small park that I often hung out in.

"You're Yui, right?" I asked, recalling the day she shyly introduced herself to the class.

Yui nodded.

"I'm Michi— shit!" My foot got caught on an uneven sidewalk block. We almost tripped onto the ground if it weren't for a street lamp nearby for me to catch.

"Mich… chi?" Yui repeated.

"No, it's… " I kind of liked the sound of it and decided against correcting her.

Micchi.

It had a nice ring to it.

We got to the park, but there was little to do. No jungle gym or obstacles, only a bench and small field. There was a single swing, but that was it.

"Should be safe here. Those girls got no reason to come to this bare ass park." I tried letting Yui down, but she refused to let go. "Get off already! What are you, a leech?"

"Please don't leave yet, Micchi…" Yui begged, burying her face into the back of my head.

This wasn't what I had in mind when looking for an excuse not to go home.

"Okay, I won't. But you gotta get off. I'll put you on the swing. How's that?" I offered.

"Will you push me?" she asked.

This kid… seriously…

"Hey, now… Just because I whooped those girls and carried you here doesn't automatically make us friends," I said.

"Oh…" Yui began to choke up.

Only because I didn't want her crying me a river, I relented and agreed to push her on the swing. She lit up, those dead eyes started filling with color. Never had I seen a kid take so much joy in being pushed. We were the same age, but it looked like she was having the time of her life.

I even thought Yui was kind of adorable, in her own runt of the litter way.

While pushing her, the winds lifted her skirt. I saw bruises on her legs that looked beyond painful.

My attention was stolen by a salaryman, stopping by the park to purchase a drink from the vending machine. He must have been tired, because he fumbled his wallet and dropped it to the ground. Coins clattered out, many of them rolling underneath the machine. His arm was too thick to reach under, and eventually, he left the park while cursing his luck.

"I'll be right back," I said.

"Wait!" Yui cried.

"Don't worry. I'm gonna grab that money and get us a snack from the convenience store nearby. I'll be back soon, I promise."

Leaving Yui on the swing to fetch the coins, my small arms were able to reach in and pick up most of them. Lucky day for me. It turned out to be enough to buy four taiyakis, fish-shaped cakes filled with sweet bean pastes.

Part of me wanted to leave Yui and keep these for myself. Would she just stay there, waiting in that park forever?

"Damn it. I promised her, didn't I? What kind of little bitch would I be to break a promise?" I sighed.

Heading back to the park, six girls from our school had Yui surrounded on the swing, pushing her around. She clutched tightly to the chains, trying her best not to get knocked off. The three from before were among them. They somehow found us. Maybe someone was tailing us earlier.

If I go in there now, I'd get slaughtered. Six was too many for me to take alone, but the thought of Yui getting beaten up… I shouldn't care, so why did I go and show myself?

"Why don't you mess with someone who can fight back instead?" I growled.

Yui's eyes filled with tears when she saw me.

"Finally! We were wondering when you'd show up," one of them said.

"Hey, she was nice enough to bring us something to eat!" Another girl snatched a taiyaki from my hand and chomped into it.

"You like it?" I asked. "Stuffed some dog shit into that one."

She gagged and threw up. It wasn't true, but she didn't need to know that.

An idiot could guess what happened next. I got slaughtered. They smeared the taiyaki in my face and hair, beat me to a pulp, and left me groaning on the ground.

Fortunately, I was the main target this time around. They left Yui alone and used my battered state to guilt her. The only thing that saved me was one of the girl's phone ringing, her parents telling her to go home.

Must be nice having family that cared.

Once they had left, Yui hopped off the swing and limped over to help me up.

"The hell? You can move just fine," I remarked about her legs.

Yui wrapped her arms around me and started balling her eyes out.

"I'm sorry, Micchi… I'm sorry…" she repeated over and over again.

No amount of telling her to stuff it would get her to stop apologizing.

"Sorry don't mean anything if you keep saying it so much. Take this and shut up already." I pulled out a wrapped up taiyaki from my pocket I'd hidden before confronting them. It had gotten cold, was a little smushed, and bean paste was spilling out of the seams, but at least it wasn't on various parts of my body.

"Th-There's no dog poop?" Yui asked.

"That was just a lie." I chuckled.

It made Yui laugh, too. Her eyes sparkled with life as she was about to take a bite, but hesitated to munch down on it. Instead, she ripped it into two, causing some of the bean paste to fall to the ground, and offered me a half.

"It's… more fun to do things together." She smiled.

For once, I felt like I had made a friend. Yui was right. As we ate together… I had fun. I just wished I was stronger.

However, I didn't realize how much I wished for it to be true until I was carrying Yui home. Her joy waned. She trembled on my back like a scared animal, like the rabbits when jerks banged on their cages at school.

The door opened to a middle school boy, glaring down at us. He was rough around the edges, had more angst than a manga protagonist, and looked like someone you wouldn't want to be alone with.

"Since when did you have friends, Yui?" the older boy asked, sounding as if I intruded on something.

"This is… Micchi," Yui introduced me. "Micchi, this is my big brother…"

"Thanks for bringing my little sister back. You can leave now." Yui's brother grabbed by the arm and pulled her off my back.

I wedged my foot in the doorway to keep it from fully closing. Instincts told me that Yui was in danger.

"The fuck do you think you're doing, kid? Buzz off already," he said.

"Yui?" I only saw a part of her face through the crack in the door. She was fighting back tears.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, Micchi." Yui smiled.

Her brother opened the door, kicked me hard in the stomach, then slammed the door shut as I staggered back. It hurt. A lot. Lifting my shirt revealed a similar-sized bruising to the ones on Yui's legs.

Once again, I was too weak to do anything. If only I was stronger. Strong enough to protect myself. Strong enough to protect my… friend.

From that day forward, I vowed to become stronger. We continued getting picked on at school. Outside of school, too. Two, scared little girls, with no one to protect us. The world was unfair, but at least we had each other.

Until Chika came along. She put Yui's brother in his place, taught us to keep getting up and fighting back, and loved us.

Sure, Yui and I ended up drifting apart. Yeah, we fought a lot like bitter rivals. But when the sun went down, it was all fun.

That's why…

Even as you're wailing into me now, every hit that would have broken bones in my body back in our world, I took it all standing. The abuse I suffered back then to protect you, I'd do the same to make sure you didn't have to.

"Fight back, Micchi! Fight back!" Yui screamed as tears streamed down her cheeks, striking me with harder and harder blows.

The nunchuck bashed my head, shoulders, arms, legs, chest… Everywhere. It hurt so much that I wanted to throw in the towel.

"I'm not… gonna hit you…" I said through gritted teeth. "Not while… you're acting like this…"

Yui somersaulted back, charging herself and the nunchuck up for a powerful hit. One that might actually knock me out. I could tell she was channeling her all into it, all the pain and betrayal she felt.

I wronged you. I pulled the same shit I hated Chika for. That's why I refused to fight back, but I was going to take the punishment.

Because I didn't want to be like Chika. This was the least I deserved, so I stood my ground.

"Bring it, Yui. Hit me with everything you got!" I shouted.

"Micchi!" Yui roared with the ferocity of a lion.

Electricity surged up the walls, knocking down the armor and weapons. Yui moved faster than lightning, and as her attack connected with my body, she couldn't follow through with it. The energy vanished from her and the nunchucks fell to the ground.

A light fist tapped my stomach instead.

"You're right, Yui… You did grow stronger, and you don't need to show me to prove it. I'm… proud of ya." I grinned, putting a hand on her head.

Yui wrapped her arms around me. She buried her face into my chest, rubbing tears and snot onto the jacket.

"You promised not to leave me," she cried.

"I know," I said, hugging her back. "I won't make that mistake again. You're right. We're in this together. We always have."