[7 years ago]

“Ran’s a monster! Ran’s a monster!” the kids chanted.

The kids were a short distance around Ran. Never getting near.
The boys in the class two grades older than her started this taunt.

Ran stared hard at her shoes. Weaklings, she thought bitterly, I know you’re only mad because I won the Taekwondo match against you guys.

Her hands clenched hard around the wooden handle of the sandbox seahorse she was sitting on.

“Ran’s angry! Ran’s angry!” they chanted.

SNAP!

The handles broke off. The kids screamed and laughed running away.

“She’s so scary,” one of the girls cried out from the slide. Two boys comforted her as she looked at Ran in horror.

Prissy, Ran thought. She knew that girl. Alice. She was in the next door classroom.

Ran turned her head and caught another girl staring at her.

The girl was surrounded by other girls and boys and she had obviously stopped in the middle of a game. Ran looked away.
New girl, Ran thought, she transferred to Alice’s class last month… what was her name?

“Hi! I’m Sooah,” the new girl said, standing in front of her.

Ran blinked in confusion. She hadn’t noticed her walking over.

The new girl, Sooah, laughed. But it wasn’t a mean laugh. It was a pleasant laugh, like she expected Ran to join in.

“Wow! Did you do that with your hands?” Sooah asked pointing to the wooden handles in Ran’s hand.

Ran nodded, looking at her apprehensively.

She was surprised when Sooah suddenly grabbed her hands and looked carefully, turning them over.

“Wahhhh-ooow…” Sooah’s eyes were wide, “you’re really strong! I bet you’re the stronger than the 6th graders!”

Obviously, Ran thought smiling proudly.

“Look guys! Ran did this with her bare hands!” Sooah waved over her friends.

Ran sighed in annoyance. They all knew she was strong. She was the abnormal one because of it. But the response that came was unexpected.

The kids who were playing with Sooah walked over. And there was no hostility. It was purely interest and curiousity.

Ran stared at Sooah. And since then, Sooah seemed to always be near Ran. They talked and Ran discovered that everyone around Sooah was always happy and confident.

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[2 years ago – Friday night before The Incident]

Ran noticed Alice and Hyelim walking opposite down the hall.

She had noticed JB running down the hall earlier and frowned. He had looked pretty broken and be