16: Proud

~*~*~*~

You were taking a walk, trying your best to clear your mind. It was a sunny day, with lots of people outside and lots of conversation. But you were still overthinking things, because...

You were still worried about Marc.

As in, you were worried about him telling anyone about the Akuma.

You forgot to tell him to keep it a secret. What if he tells Nathaniel? What if they tell everyone else? What if they tell teachers?! Ah, that wouldn't be good... They'd put you in counseling or something!

But you should trust him, right...?

You suddenly clutched your head in annoyance. Ugh, this was too confusing! You huffed angrily. This walk wasn't helping you at all! You felt someone looking at you and glanced up slightly. Your eyes suddenly widened as you lowered your arms from your head. Ah... It was Adrien.

"U-Uh... Y/n, you okay?" Adrien laughed awkwardly. You nodded.

"Yeah, I'm good..." You laughed awkwardly.

"I know how it feels to get so frustrated with yourself. It's fine, trust me. Believe in yourself and you can change the world around you easily! Just don't overthink." Adrien smiled. You nodded, and an awkward silence ensued. 

"W-Well, thanks. Uhm, I should get going now..." You mumbled awkwardly. He nodded, scratching his neck.

"Y-Yeah! Me too! Bye, Y/N."

"Bye!"

You speed walked around the corner, relieved to get away from that awkward situation. You sighed in relief, before you heard a shout from a distance.

 "W-What the...?! That hurt, idiots! I... I'M GOING TO SUE YOU!!" The voice yelled, causing you to jump. Boisterous laughs followed.

"You think you can sue us?? Don't be stupid! Hah!!" Another voice called. You shouldn't get involved, but... You recalled Adrien's words. Hah, how cheesy... But, something in you wanted to believe those words. Desperately....

You jogged over to the alley where the voices were coming from. You saw a boy, about your age, backed up to the wall. A group of three boys and two girls were scoffing at him.

"Y-You're all freaks! Disgusting!" The victim yelled. The group continued to laugh.

"Look in a mirror before you say anything to us~" One of the girls laughed. The other one did the same.

"This is payback." A boy growled. Should you get involved..?

"Hey. What's going on here?" You asked sternly. Your posture faltered slightly, before you repeated those words to yourself once more. No overthinking. Your confidence quickly returned.

"The heck? This girl gonna save you? You're bad at choosing teammates, you know that?" A boy scoffed. The victim's eyes quickly glinted, and you swore you saw him smirk. Though his next actions quickly dismissed your suspicions.

"H-Help me...!!" The boy started to cry, collapsing against the wall. "Please... I need... Someone..."

"Hey, you shouldn't pick on someone so helpless..." You continued, walking closer to the group.

"Get out of this place, little girl. You don't know what's going on." One of the boys spoke with a snarl.

"I'm going to call the polic-"

"Hah, we'll beat you up before they could get here! Scram!" Another boy yelled. You glanced to the side to see a bat a few feet away from you. You lunged forward, grabbing the bat as you did, and swung at the nearest boy's knee. He quickly collapsed with a cry of pain.

"F-Frick...! You're crazy! She's crazy!!" The boy yelled. His friend quickly slung his arm over his shoulder and backed away, whilst the last boy came forward.

"You think you can just do that and get away with it? You're dead. You're friends with this toxic monster, yeah?" He growled, pointing at the victim. He had somehow ended up behind you.

"Yeah... Yeah, I am." You confirmed. The boy scoffed.

"Well, guess I don't have to be sorry about beating up a girl." The boy snarled, punching his hand into his fist. You hesitated for a moment.

"You're in for it now!" A girl cheered.

"Should never have sided with that weirdo!" Another girl smirked.

What did you get yourself into...?

The boy suddenly lunged at you, causing you to sidestep instinctively. He snarled. You didn't want to fight...! What if you hurt him? What if he hurt you? What if you got in trouble?? Seriously, people were still doing this even when Akumas, Ladybug, Chatnoir, and Hawkmoth were around??

You did the same trick once more, moving before he could hit you, and this time hit him on the back with your bat. He swung around and threw a left hook which hit you directly in the face, sending you flying. You coughed as you scraped against the ground.

"C-Crap, that hurt... I'm not one to hurt girls, so we'll leave it here. I suggest you stay away from the monster. He isn't good." The male winced. The group quickly fled the scene.

"Ow..." You mumbled, clutching your cheek. That was definitely going to bruise. At least it wasn't swelling... 

"Are you okay?" The victim asked. You quickly took in how he looked. He definitely looked strong, stronger than you, which slightly confused you. Why didn't he fight? Ah, maybe he didn't like violence... He didn't even have a scratch on him. He also looked familiar... That's right! He was Fader!

"Y-Yeah..." You mumbled, trying not to move your cheeks as much. Ah, it hurt...

"I'm Jaku. I'm so relieved you helped me..." The boy smiled, sighing in relief. "But you got hurt... You need me to patch you up?"

"No, it's okay. I can do it myself. My place isn't far from here anyway." You smiled, though you made sure it was small. "My name is Y/N."

"Well, thank you, Y/N. You can call me Jake instead, since Jaku is a little weird..." The boy smiled.

"Alright, Jake." You smiled.

"I've actually seen you before. You were going to Francoise Dupont High school, right?" He smiled. You nodded. "I'm going there soon, actually! To get away from those bullies..."

"Oh... Sorry to hear you had to get chased out of your school because of them..." You gulped.

The boy smiled, "No, no! It's fine, I assure you. I'm happy to get away from them. Once again, thanks a lot... You should really get home and patch up, but do you think we could exchange phone numbers? To stay in touch."

"Ah... Uh, okay..." You nodded.

You lay on your bed, finally all patched up. You had a large plaster on your face and it ached slightly, but it was okay. There were also various plasters on your arm where you had scraped yourself as you fell. 

Though, you were proud of yourself.

You had chased away some bullies!

The boy was very grateful. He also seemed to care a lot, since he told you to text him when you got home. He also made sure to message again to check if you'd patched yourself up. He seemed nice. You continued your day happily, your mood uplifted.