After meeting Neko, the three of us continued playing at the playground every day after class. One day, as Prince readied himself to leave his classroom, the usual three bullies blocked his way.

“Prince, what’s the rush for? You’ve been like that these past few days, you know,” the fat kid asked with a smirk.

“Right, right. How about we ‘play’ again like usual?” the skinny kid followed and snickered.

“That’s—” Prince responded with an anxious look.

“We won’t take no for an answer,” the kid with glasses immediately interrupted to stop Prince from refusing.

“Bella...” Pixie called in a worried face as we watch over Prince near the window.

“Leave it to me,” I said with a serious smile and approached them. “Hey! If it isn’t my family members all present. Want to play again?”

“Geh,” the three reacted with furrowed eyebrows when the saw me.

I stopped before them and in a bright smile, I followed, “Want to play with big sis here?”

“We...we have something to do. Maybe next time,” the three responded in unison and left the scene.

Seeing that, Prince let out a deep sigh and looked at me with a sad smile.

“Thank you, Rosa.”

But this can't go on forever. What should I do so he could reach his answer?

“Let’s go to the playground?” I asked with a smile.

As his reply, he nodded and both of us walked away.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

When we arrived at the playground, we immediately saw Neko on the swing. She immediately stood up and waved her hand.

“She’s early again,” I commented and we approached her.

“So...what will we play for today?” Prince asked in curiosity.

“Hmmm...” I mumbled while in a thinking pose. “It’s windy today so want to make a kite?”

“So another one of Rosa's traditional suggestions,” Prince said with a smile. “But it sounds fun. Where should we get the materials?”

Hearing that, Neko raised a hand and pointed to herself. Then, she motioned a house-like shape using both her hands.

“You have some materials in your house?” Prince asked.

Then, Neko nodded.

“Sounds good. Let’s go to your house and make one before flying it then?” I asked.

As a reply, Neko once again nodded.

“Then, let’s go,” I said with an excited smile and the three of us left the playground.

Along the way, we saw five kids in an alley, all wearing white long sleeves and blue shorts. That was the boy’s uniform of the other elementary school near Prince and Neko’s school. The four were blocking all routes of escape to keep the kid in bob cut from escaping. That kid had a look of a girl but because of his uniform, I managed to identify his real gender.

“So can you give us your money now?” the kid in jagged hairstyle said while grinning.

“But that’s...” the girl-looking kid in bob cut responded, scared while cornered in the wall.

“We have to do something,” I said with furrowed eyebrows. But when I looked at Prince, I immediately saw the surprise and fear in his face.

Does that kid remind him of himself?

“Prince,” I called with a worried look and his shoulders immediately twitched.

“Rosa...” he whispered and looked at me anxiously.

“We have to—”

“Sorry!” he immediately said with a very frustrated expression and ran away.

“Prince?” I reacted, surprised from his action.

Then, the four bullies left after they got the wallet of the kid in bob cut.

“Let’s go to the arcade,” the kid in jagged hairstyle said and the rest laughed.

Suddenly, Neko looked at me and gave me a nod to convey that I can leave the bullied kid to her.

“Thanks. I’m gonna bring him back asap,” I responded and ran towards the direction where Prince went.

Jeez. It’s my fault for being f*cking insensitive.

“Prince!” I shouted and immediately saw him sitting in a cemented stair that goes to the park.

After I stopped before him, he looked at me with a sad face and said, “Sorry...for running away out of the blue.”

I shook my head with a smile and replied, “I can understand why you did that.”

Then, he looked at the road before him and followed, “I...I know I can’t help him. After all, I’m in a similar position as him. If I can’t help myself...how can I even help others?”

Prince...

“Why don’t you look at it this way then,” I said with a warm smile and Prince looked at me. “If you start helping others with the same problems as you, wouldn’t that lead you to the answer you're looking for?”

“Bella...” he whispered with a slight surprised look.

“Of course, the answer to his problem might not be the same as yours. But I think you’ll have a hint on what to do after helping, am I right?”

He got silent for a minute and made a determined expression afterwards. Then, he stood up and said, “I’ll do that.”

I guess there’s no need to worry too much about him. I’m sure that if it’s Prince...he can arrive to his answer eventually.

“Then, let’s go back,” I said and offered my hand to him. At first, he became surprised but with a shy smile, he took it and both of us walked back to Neko.

After that, we went to the alley and found no one there. So we walked back to the playground and saw both Neko and the kid in bob haircut sitting behind the cement table. We went before them and they stood up.

“Hey there,” I greeted. “Sorry earlier, we failed to stop them from getting your wallet.”

Hearing that, the kid shook his said and with a sad smile, he answered, “It’s my fault anyway...for giving it without a fight.”

“I'm Rosa. This one is Prince,” I introduced and looked at Prince.

“Yeah. I’m Prince and that girl is Neko,” Prince followed and looked at the masked girl. Neko gave a nod as her introduction.

“My name is Van,” the kid followed and everyone of us took a seat.

“So...are you always getting bullied by those four?” I asked with a serious expression.

Van then looked down and nodded in sadness.

“Yes, Johnson and the others always harass me. They even call me ‘fruit cake’ because of my looks,” he followed and clenched both of his fists.

The three of us looked at each other and I gave the two a nod.

“And I’m sure you don’t want it to continue like that, right?”I asked, still serious.

Van gazed at me and followed, “I want to change. I don’t want to be bullied anymore but...”

I made a slight glimpse at Prince and see him looking at Van with an anxious face.

“We can help you if you want to,” I said with a smile after returning my gaze to Van.

Hearing that, he looked at me with a surprised face.

“Really?” Van asked.

“Yeah,” I responded and looked at Prince and Neko. Both of them nodded.

“Thanks...” Van said and looked down sadly once again. “But how would you help me?”

“Well...it depends on you,” I said, also talking to Prince subtly. “After all, it’s your problem and you need to be the one to overcome it. All we could do is to lend you our helping hands.”

Van looked at us with a sad smile and replied, “Thank you.”

After deciding to meet once again in the playground the next day, we called it a day.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

“Do you have any plan on how to help Van?” Pixie asked to after everyone left the playground.

“If he can’t answer by tomorrow...I guess all I could do is to scare those bullies away to buy him time. Just like in Prince’s case.” I said while on the swing. Then, I looked at the dark sky.

“The answer should come from them after all,” Pixie whispered with a worried face and looked at the sky too.

And if Van managed to find his answer, I’m sure it will lead to Prince’s answer.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

The next day, the four of us gathered in the same cement table after the class.

“So...do you have a plan now, Van?” I asked.

“The thing is...” Van said while looking down sadly. “I still don’t have any...”

Well, it's not an easy problem to resolve that quickly in the first place.

“Raise your head,” I said with a warm smile and Van did what I told him. “There’s no need to rush. We’re always here to help you so take your time.”

Hearing that, Van nodded with a sudden smile.

“So how about we play a game instead?” I suggested and looked at Prince.

“That’s right,” Prince agreed with a smile and looked at Van. “Do you have any suggestions, Van?”

“Well,” Van said excitedly and rummaged his bag. Then, he brought out a foldable board game and asked, “Want to play Snakes-and-Ladders?”

With that decided, we started the game. After we played for half an hour, a winner finally emerged.

“You’ve still got a long way to go, kids,” I said with a proud look.

“How come you win most of the time at everything, Rosa?” Prince complained after getting the third place.

“So Rosa’s luck is that high,” Van, who came second, reacted with a slight surprised look.

“And she’s smart too,” Prince added and Neko agreed with a couple of nods.

“But when it comes to speed and dexterity, Neko tops us,” I followed and looked at the silent masked girl.

“True,” Prince followed. “She beat us in a landslide during the other day’s running game, you see.”

“That’s amazing, Neko,” Van said with a smile and Neko nodded at him. Then, he looked back to Prince and asked, “Then, what’s your strength, Prince?”

“That’s...” Prince muttered with a sudden anxious expression.

“Well, as of now, I can see him as a jack-of-all-trades,” I answered instead.

“Rosa...” Prince whispered, surprised from my reply.

“So he knows a lot of things?” Van asked.

“Yeah...and even good at various things. And I’m sure he can even do better in the future,” I said and looked at him.

“Thank you...” Prince muttered shyly and looked at the side.

So just grow, Prince. You still have all the time for that. As long as I’m here, I will help you.

♛ Prince's Point-of-View ♛

The next day after Van joined us, we started playing different games with four people. His addition made our group much livelier compared to usual.

“Prince!” Van shouted and passed me the rubber ball.

After I received it, I immediately looked at our opponents Rosa and Neko. We were playing dodge ball in the playground. My teammate was Van and even though we split between genders, that doesn’t mean that we’re at an advantage. After all, our real opponent was Neko. That was why we directed all our attacks to Rosa. But she was also a tough opponent, dodging every throw perfectly and even catching some.

But I managed to give them the impression that I already gave up on targeting Neko. That’s why this time...

“Take this!” I said and threw the ball as fast as I could towards Neko. It was so fast that dodging it would need an athlete’s reaction time.

Behold my secret weapon, Comet Break!

But in my surprise, Neko managed to grab the fast ball and immediately throw it to my stomach.

“Ouch!” I reacted after the rubber ball landed on me and bounced towards Van’s side body.

“And that’s game set,” Rosa said with a smile after picking up the ball on the ground.

After that, both me and Van sighed in defeat and fell on our knees.

“But that last throw was very fast,” Rosa commented and Neko nodded twice.

“I saved all my strength to that throw, you see,” I shyly responded.

“I’m not sure if I could dodge the ball if you threw that to me instead,” Rosa followed in a thinking pose.

Really? Why did I even include some strategy then? Was that for naught?

“Anyway, stand up you two, it’s dirty there, you know,” Rosa continued and offered Van and I a hand. We took it and both of us stood up.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

After we finished playing, Van and I walked together towards the direction of our own houses.

“Those two were amazing, right?” Van muttered and looked at the dimming sky.

“Yeah. They’re even more athletic than us,” I commented with a forced smileand looked at the road ahead.

“But Rosa is so cool, you know,” Van followed. His cheeks were flushed, probably because of the setting sun.

Wasn’t Neko the star of the day though?

“Well, you’re right,” I agreed with a smile after I looked back at him. “But her habit of picking trashes and fixing everything is weird.”

Is that what they call a perfectionist?

“I know, I know. It’s funny though,” Van reacted with a chuckle. Then, he gazed at me and said, “But...she still looks and acts very mature. Of course, there’s still her mischievous side when playing but over all...I like her.”

“I like her too,” I answered with an honest smile. My response made him shocked.

“R-Really?” he asked in a somewhat flustered look. “I didn’t notice...sorry about that.”

“Why are you apologizing?” I asked in a puzzled look.

“I mean...you like her, right?” he questioned, confused to my answer.

“And I like Neko too,” I followed with a smile.

“Ehhhh?” he reacted, with widened eyes to the point that he stopped his walk.

I also stopped and asked, “Uhmm...Van?”

“You...you’re ‘that’ kind of person, Prince?” he continued and scratched his head.

That kind?

“And even though we just met, I also like you, Van,” I said and looked down shyly. “I mean...I see some similarities between us after all.”

Because of that, he let out a sigh of relief and whispered, “So that’s what you meant.”

“What did you say?”

He looked at me with a smile and said, “I like you guys too. You’re very nice after all.”

“Thanks,” I replied with a smile.

“Anyway, let’s go,” Van continued and we started walking once again.

♦ Bella’s Point-of-View ♦

After everyone left the playground, I decided to ask Pixie a favor.

“Pixie, I have a favor to ask,” I said with a serious face.

“What is it?” she asked, clueless.

“Can you follow Van's bully, Johnson?”