Chapter 22: Makoto Flashback Chapter 16: Scissors Pt. 1 (Vol. 1)

"Just look at how bruised my son's face is!" yelled Xander's mother at the principal, who was sitting in front of her.

In addition to Xander and his mother, there were two other kids and families, who were at the after-school meeting as well.  This included Makoto and both of her parents and Jason and his.  The entirety of the right side of Xander's face was swollen and both of his eyes were bruised while Jason, on the other hand, only had a single black eye on his right side and a little bit of other smaller bruises on his right cheek from fighting Xander's friend.  Makoto was brought into the meeting because the teachers at recess duty believed she was part of the conflict by the way Jason was hugging and comforting her. 

"Kind of reminds me of how bruised my daughter's arms were," said Minerva, cheekily.

This angered Xander's mom and the principal interrupted, "Mrs. Lee, if you can't control yourself, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Fine, whatever." 

"I have to agree with Ms. Hayes, though," the principal claimed, staring at both Jason and Xander.  "Injury-wise, Xander seems to be in much worse shape and all of his injuries were by your hands, right, Jason?"

Jason nodded his head, yes, not wanting to lie.

"My next question is, who threw the first punch?"

"I did, sir," admitted Jason.  "Xander didn't even hit me once.  All of these bruises...were from his friend." 

"So, you started the fight and Xander didn't hit you once.  Am I hearing this right?"

"J-Jason...d-did it...because...X-Xander was being...mean to me," said Makoto, causing the principal to frown at her.

"While I do appreciate your input, Makoto, I didn't ask for you to speak, yet," said the principal, harshly.  "Plus, if what you say is true, Jason could have simply asked Xander to stop being mean to you but, instead, he attacked the boy.  Quite viscously, at that." 

Minerva had to force herself from reaching over the desk and strangling the principal with her own two hands and Andy could tell this just by one glance at her, causing him to gulp, worriedly. 

"Jason, I think the first thing you should do is apologize to Xander for hitting him so much," the principal stated, turning his attention back to him. 

Jason looked at Xander and then his mother, who seemed to be trying to hide a smile. 

"No," Jason replied to the principal, bluntly.  "I don't want to.  He was mean to Makoto.  I promised I would protect her and I did.  I would do it, again, in a heartbeat."

"How dare you!" hollered Xander's mother, angrily.  "After all the pain you caused my son, that's what you have to say to him?  God, and are you, as his parents, not going to scold him for this?"

Jason's father was the first to speak of his parents, "While my son's actions were extreme, I don't, for a second, doubt he did it to protect that small girl from your son's bullying.  He could have shown restraint.  There's no doubt about that but we aren't going to force him to apologize for doing what he believed was right."

"Also, our son isn't usually violent in the slightest," added Jason's mother.  "He's a very kind and caring boy and, by the sound of it, he really cares for Makoto.  If your son wasn't being mean to her, he would have never struck him.  Perhaps, you should teach your son that bullying isn't right and that there's consequences to doing it."

Xander's mother couldn't believe what she was hearing and, in the corner of her eye, she could see Minerva smiling at her. Despite boiling with rage, Xander's mother didn't want to create a scene so she decided to simply remain quiet and let the principal handle the rest. 

"Well, I think I've come to a decision," declared the principal, sternly.  "Makoto, since you didn't do anything wrong, you won't be punished for this.  However, I believe you two definitely should be for this kind of violent behavior.  Xander, you are expelled for 2 days for bullying and Jason, you are expelled for a week because of how badly you hurt Xander.  I truly hope the two of you reflect on your actions during that time."

"B-But...Jason's pun...pun....ish...ment s-shouldn't be w-worse than X-Xanders.  H-How is t-that fair?" asked Makoto in frustration. 

Andy agreed with everything that Makoto had just said but he knew how this worked.  That was the shitty thing about bullying.  When a kid would stand up to a bully and fight back, they would usually get a worse punishment than the bully, themselves.  He'd seen it countless times so he reached out to his daughter in the hopes of preventing her from angering the principal but, before he could, Jason spoke up.

"It's alright, Makoto.  Thank you for standing up for me, though.  I'm glad...I was able to protect you.  I'm just...sorry that I won't be with you at school for a week.  I feel so bad."

"Makoto, I recommend you keep your feelings about my decision to yourself unless you want a punishment of your own?" warned the principal. 

Makoto opened her mouth like she was going to talk back to him but, again, Jason spoke first, "Please, Makoto...I don't want you to get punished too."

In response to this, Makoto bit her lip to stop herself from talking back to the principal and began humming to herself. 

"Seems she does have a little bit of her mother in her," commented Minerva, only loud enough for Andy to her, making him smile a tad, despite the situation.

"If that's all, then this meeting is over," concluded the principal.  "I really hope I don't have to see the three of you in my office, again, for quite a while."

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"Jason, I just wanted to say thank you on behalf of my wife and I both," said Andy, squatting down so he was on the boy's level. 

The meeting with the principal had just ended and the two families were standing outside of the main office of the school.  Xander and his mother had already left in a hurry so it was just them left. 

"T-Thank you, sir," responded Jason, politely. 

"This is probably my fault...I was the one, who told you to protect Makoto for me," admitted Andy, sadly. 

"You weren't the only one.  Ms. Yuuki did to.  Plus, I didn't just do it because you told me to, sir. I did it...because I wanted to.  This is...my fault...and no one else's."

Andy stood back up to speak with Jason's parents. 

"He's quite mature for his age.  Despite what the principal and the other boy's mother thinks, you two have done a great job raising him."

Both of Jason's parents smiled back at him. 

"We know.  We're proud of him.  We're just going to have a little talk about showing restraint when protecting people when we get home," said Jason's father.  "How's your daughter taking it?  She seemed a bit bothered by the principal's decision."

"My wife took her to the car...I could tell that she was still mad about Jason being punished worse than Xander.  Plus, like Jason said earlier, I think she is sad about not getting to see your son at school while he's expelled."

"Well, if it helps, Makoto is more than welcome to visit Jason a couple of times after school at our house," offered Jason's mother, invitingly. "You've already allowed Jason into your home so we would love to do the same, especially if it would make Makoto feel better."

"Ha, that's very kind of you.  I'll talk to Makoto about that, later tonight, when she's feeling better. Thanks again, Jason."

"O-Of course, sir.  I'll keep protecting Makoto, no matter what."

*

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"Damn it, Xander!" yelled Xander's mother, angrily.

The two had just arrived back at their home and after his mother started yelling, Xander could hear his little sister, Madi, crying.  He found himself more concerned about his sister's wellbeing than his own.

"What the hell did I tell you about getting caught, you little shit?  I told you that if you wanted to, you could treat that girl as awfully as you wanted to as long as you were smart about it.  Guess this serves me right.  Being stupid enough to think you would do anything smart."

"M-Mommy..."

"Mom!" yelled Xander's mother, even louder this time.  "It's mom!  How many times do I have to tell you it's mom! Mom!  Mom!  Mom!"

A feeling of fear spread throughout Xander's body as he backed away from his mother. 

"M-Madi is crying," Xander forced himself to say.

"Wow, who's fucking fault is that, Xander?  I just had to leave Madi here by herself and stop my work because of your stupidity so forgive the hell out of me for being a little loud.  Also, the way that mother was looking at me all smugly...God, I hate her!  I hate her!  Her husband!  And especially that little girl!"

Xander's mother took a few deep breaths and managed to settle herself down a little but the disappointment in her son didn't leave her face. 

"You're so pathetic, Xander.  I couldn't be any more disappointed in you, if I tried.  You got your ass beat by that other boy and embarrassed in front of the whole school by him.  You didn't even get a single hit on him.  How is someone as weak as you going to be able to protect your little sister when she starts school?  Can you answer me that, Xander?" 

"I-I'm sorry," Xander said, now crying, after hearing his mother yell at him so much. 

Seeing her son's tears didn't affect his mother at all and the only reaction she gave him was a roll of her eyes. 

"Saying you're sorry and crying like a baby doesn't make me any less disappointed in you.  Go calm your sister down.  I need to get a glass of wine in me.  Lord knows, I need it, after dealing with those other two disgusting families and their brats.  Plus, I need to do a little more work and then I'll consider making you some dinner."

Xander headed towards his little sister's room, with his head down, staring at the floor, tears still rolling down his cheeks.  Madi was still crying quite loudly which wasn't surprising given how loud his mother had been yelling.  Xander didn't know what job his mother worked and only that it allowed her to work from home.  His mother would sit at a computer all day, quietly, typing away, and if anyone dared bother her, she would get impatient or even aggressive towards them.  Xander opened the door to Madi's room and made his way inside of it towards his little sister's crib, where she was still crying. 

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"It's alright, Madi," comforted Xander, tears still in his eyes.  "I-I'm sorry...it was so loud.  It's okay.  It's okay.  It's okay."

Xander kept repeating this phrase while putting his hand inside of the crib to rub one of Madi's. Xander recalled rubbing her tiny palms, gently, was able to calm her down quite quickly and, just like usual, this seemed to be working since her crying was slowly stopping.  He continued telling Madi that everything was okay and rubbing her palm until she was finished crying and began looking up at him, curiously. 

"Why?" asked Xander, to himself, since Madi couldn't understand him.  "Why...does she hate me so much?  Why won't mom...be nice to me?  Why won't she just...love us?  Aren't moms supposed to? She is right, though.  I'm sorry for being so weak, Madi.  I was weak and now, mom is going to take her anger out on the both of us.  I don't mind getting yelled at but I don't want you to.  I-It's their fault. Makoto.  Jason.  They ruined everything.  Mom was proud of me but then they went and ruined it.  Now, she hates me, again.  I'll make them pay for making our lives worse, especially, Makoto.  I hate her the most."

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Makoto had just finished her assignment and was working in her sketchbook, trying to take her mind off of how sad she felt about Jason not being at the school because he was still expelled.  Her parents did allow her to visit him at his parent's house which she enjoyed.  His parents were very nice just like he was but seeing him stuck at his home only made her miss him more when he wasn't at the school. Makoto couldn't help but look across the classroom at Xander, who had just returned to the school, after being expelled for two days.  Despite not saying anything, directly, to Makoto, she could sense that he was angry at her, even more so than usual.  Luckily, and to her surprise, Xander didn't mess with her during lunch or recess.  She expected him to mess with her, since no one was around to stop him, but he didn't. Makoto pondered whether or not this meant Xander was finished being mean to her, after getting in so much trouble for it.  All of the sudden, Makoto felt the urge to use the restroom and, instinctually, turned around to ask Ms. Yuuki but stopped herself, remembering she wasn't sitting in the desk behind her. 

Right, I'm supposed to ask the teacher if I can use the bathroom, anyways, from now on, instead of Ms. Yuuki, Makoto thought to herself.  I miss just being able to ask Ms. Yuuki.  It didn't involve raising my hand which makes the other kids look at me.  At least, Ms. William's isn't talking, right now.  I should hurry and ask before she does.

Makoto took a deep breath and began, slowly, raising her hand up into the air.  She did her best to ignore some of the looks this garnered from the other students.  Thankfully, it didn't take long for Ms. Williams to notice her hand.

"Yes, what is it, Makoto?"

Makoto lowered her hand while thinking back to how Ms. Yuuki taught her to, properly, ask for permission to leave the class and use the restroom.

"M-May...I use...the restroom, please?" asked Makoto. 

"Of course, just hurry back because we're just about to get started on the next assignment," said Ms. Williams.

Makoto got up from her seat and made her way out of the classroom to use the restroom as quickly as possible.

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"Alright, class, we're going to be moving onto our next assignment when Makoto gets back and it will require both scissors and glue so make sure you get some out.  If you don't have your own, then you can get up and pick some up from the baskets, over there."

Ms. Williams pointed to the area of the classroom, where the supplies was kept that she allowed the students to borrow. Many students got up from their seats to get their supplies while Xander remembered something that caused him to perk up.

Wait, Makoto always uses her own pair of scissors, doesn't she? he thought to himself.  A special pair of scissors for a girl, who thinks she's special.  Makes me sick.  I think it's about time she uses the same type of scissors that all of the other kids have to use. 

Xander got up from his seat and made his way over to the area, where the glue and scissors were, which was, coincidentally, right by Makoto's desk.  As soon as Xander made it to the area, he glanced behind him to check if Ms. Williams was paying attention to him and she was busy helping another student.

Perfect. I need to be fast, though. 

Xander crouched down and unzipped the portion of Makoto's backpack, where he knew her scissors would be, took out her pair of purple scissors that were, slightly, larger than the ones the rest of the kids used.  Having to sit by her at the start of the school year had, finally, proven beneficial to Xander. He closed Makoto's backpack and stood back up, all before Ms. Williams could see him.  She was still helping another student so Xander turned around and grabbed another pair of smaller scissors from a bin and a glue stick as well.  A girl that was standing next to him gave him a weird look, like she had seen him steal Makoto's scissors.  Xander thought she was going to get mad at him or, worse, tell the teacher, but she just picked up her supplies and headed back to her seat.  Xander did the same and, as soon as he was back at his desk, he hid Makoto's scissors inside of his backpack, before anyone else could take notice of what he was doing, including Ms. Williams, who had just finished helping the student she was working with. 

Xander smiled to himself, after realizing he had just gotten away with stealing Makoto's scissors and mumbled, "Time for you to learn you aren't any more special than the rest of us."

*

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Makoto opened the door to Ms. Williams' classroom and re-entered the room.  As she let the door shut behind her, she made her way back to her desk.  Upon sitting down, Ms. Williams was already on her way to her desk to let her know what they were doing for the next activity.

"Okay, so you're going to need some scissors and glue for the next assignment, Makoto," explained Ms. Williams.  "Don't worry, we'll wait for you so you don't fall behind."

Makoto unzipped the part of her backpack, where she kept her glue stick and scissors, while Ms. Williams made her way back up to the front of the classroom.  Makoto pulled out her glue stick, first, and placed it on her desk.  Then, reached back into the part of her backpack, attempting to find her scissors. After moving her hand around in the section of the backpack for a while, she felt a tiny bit of panic surfacing in her stomach.

Did I put it in the wrong section of my backpack? thought Makoto to herself. 

Not wanting to hold up the rest of the class, she, quickly, searched the other sections of her backpack but still couldn't find the purple scissors, that her father had boughten her. 

Did I lose them?  Oh no.  Oh no.  Oh no.  Oh no! 

Makoto zipped the main section of her backpack up as she could feel the impatient stares of her peers piercing through her back which only worsened her panic. 

But, daddy bought those scissors for me.  H-He's going to be disappointed in me for losing them. I'm going to get in trouble.  How could I lose them?  And, I liked those scissors.  I don't want to use the smaller ones that Ms. Williams has.  They're harder to use.  But...no matter how hard I look, I just can't find them.  What do I do?  What do I do? 

"Makoto, what's the matter?" asked Ms. Williams, noticing that she was still trying to get her supplies ready.  "Where are the scissors you, usually, use...the purple ones?"

"I-I don't...know...can't f-find t-them," said Makoto, stuttering worse than usual, because of her panic. 

Ms. Williams noticed Makoto's hands opening and closing, rapidly, and could hear her hum, indicating that she was stressed. 

"It's okay, honey.  I'm sure they'll turn up.  Why not just get a pair from the basket?  I know they're a little smaller than the ones you're used to but I can help you with them, if you need it?"

Makoto's mind was too preoccupied on finding her scissors, that Ms. William's offer fell on deaf ears.  Ignoring Ms. William's offer, she began unzipping sections of her backpack to resume her search for her scissors. 

"Makoto, I know you're sad about your scissors but we really have to get started on the assignment.  You can search more after—"

"No!" Makoto yelled back, without turning to face Ms. Williams.

The outburst startled Ms. Williams, not hearing Makoto raise her voice before and Makoto's humming was much louder, now.  Ms. Williams sighed to herself, realizing there wasn't any other way to handle the situation, then to take her backpack from her, since it was a distraction. 

I need to find my scissors.  They have to be in here, somewhere.  If I don't find them, daddy will be upset with me.  I don't want to hold up the class, though.  They hate me, already.  I know they do. Come on.  They have to be in here.  Please.  Please.  I'm so tired of losing things.

While Makoto was searching, her backpack was pulled away from her by Ms. Williams, causing Makoto to become even more distressed.

"W-Wait!" Makoto called out, desperately.  "T-They're in there!  I-I Know they are!"

"I'm sorry, Makoto.  You're holding up the class.  Please, get some scissors from the bin while I hold onto your backpack, until we're done with the activity.  Then, I'll give it back to you and we can search for your scissors, together."

"N-No!  I-I need to f-find them, now!" 

Makoto banged her small fists on her desk in frustration, eyes full of tears.

"I-I'm tired of l-losing everything!  I l-lost Jason and it's m-my fault!  I l-lost Ms. Yuuki for part of the day a-and, eventually, I-I'll lose her, forever!  T-That's my fault too!  N-Now, I l-lost my scissors and it's m-my fault too!  I-It's all my fault!  My fault!  My fault!  I-I hate losing everything!" 

Makoto realized that her sketchbook was still on her desk and the sight of it only made her angrier.  She picked up the sketchbook and threw it across the classroom, in disgust.

"Stupid sketchbook!  I-I can't even...d-draw well!  J-Jason and M-Ms. Yuuki are the o-only ones, who d-don't think it l-looks bad a-and they aren't h-here!  I hate it here!  I-I hate it here!"

Makoto got up from her seat and hid under her desk and buried her face into her knees.  She began to cry to herself as Ms. Williams sighed, sadly, and looked at the backpack she was holding.  She wasn't angry at Makoto.  She was, usually, a good kid and knew that she was just having an off day.  Ms. Williams lowered the backpack and placed it, gently, on the carpet of the classroom. 

"Alright, class, just give me a quick second.  Makoto's having a bad day so I'm just going to call Mrs. Smith, to come and get her."

Mrs. Smith was the special education teacher, who was, usually, able to calm Makoto down when Ms. Yuuki wasn't around.  As much as Ms. Williams wanted to help the small girl, she knew there wasn't much she could do for her. 

*

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As Ms. Williams made her way over to her phone, to call the special education teacher, the rest of the kids in the class were staring at Makoto.  Some were saddened by Makoto's behavior, some were scared, some were annoyed and some were indifferent.  All of the various faces of the students made Xander smile to himself as he watched Makoto bawl, loudly, under her desk.

The looks on their faces.  Everyone in the class, finally, sees that she isn't special.  She's just a crybaby.  Just a weirdo.  Serves her right for making Madi and I's lives worse at home.  If mom was here, I think she would, actually, be proud of me.  Yeah, she would be. 

As Makoto's crying became louder and louder, the more uncomfortable the students around Xander looked and the bigger the grin on his face got.

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