Where fate falls ~ Save him

11

"What's the matter, little one? Can't you get any higher?" A small red-haired girl stood in front of a group of boys who were quite a bit taller than her. Algería was six years old at the time and attended a kindergarten not far from an elementary school. The kindergarten group the girl was in had done a little gymnastics in the primary school gym and now the children should go outside the school building to get back to the kindergarten. Algería was the last girl to emerge from the locker room. Just as she was about to turn the corner to get out into the school yard, these guys came up to her and had pulled her white stuffed deer toy out of her backpack and were now holding it up in the air. Algería, who wasn't particularly big, didn't get a chance, which made the boys laugh. "Give it back to me!" The redhead tried to grab her deer, after all it was her only friend and she didn't want to leave it behind. "Grab it if you really want it back"

"Stop it" Algería stopped jumping when she heard that voice. To her surprise, it wasn't an adult but a little boy with funny blue hair. He was even smaller than Algería. "What are you going to do about it, brat?" The little boy with the purple eyes growled at the bigger ones, showing sharp teeth. "Give it back to her!" The boy sounded quite angry and his eyes didn't allow any reply. The older ones put the stuffed animal in the girl's hands and left. "Thanks..." Algería hugged the deer. The blue-haired boy smiled at her, making him look a lot nicer. "Algería? Lui?" It was her caretaker who checked on the two. "Is everything okay?" "Yes" "Then come out with me" The three walked out to the rest of their group. "Form up in pairs so we can count." Algería looked around for a second, but someone was already grabbing her hand. It was the boy from earlier...Lui, if she remembered correctly. He kept smiling at her and Algería smiled back a little shyly. After the count was done and everyone was there, they went back to the kindergarten. Algería took off her jacket and shoes and hung up her bag. Just as she was about to enter her group's room, she saw Lui. She approached him. "Do you want to play?" Lui looked at her, then nodded and hand in hand the two walked into the room. The two played all day and they quickly became best friends.

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"Lui!" Algería caught up with the blue-haired. The redhead had already been at school for a year and since Lui was a year younger than her, the new year was his first. "Are you looking forward to it?" "I think it's stupid that you're a grade above me" "Yes, but we can still be together during the breaks" Lui sighed. "Yeah, that's probably the best thing about school" Algería bumped Lui's shoulder and smiled slightly at him. The smaller one looked at her. "We'll have a lot of fun together, even if we go to different classes. It also worked when you were still in kindergarten." "That's right...I guess I just have to trust you" Algería stood in front of her best friend and smiled. "You won't regret it." The redhead took Lui's hands and pulled him with her, laughing happily. "Watch where you're goi-" Algería bumped into someone. "Oh...sorry" "Watch where you're going, brat" The two stood in front of a group of girls. "Sorry, I di" "Hey, you don't need to apologize again" Algería looked at Lui. "Come on, let's go on" Lui grabbed Algería's hand and pulled her with him. "You're too nice to others" "Hm?" Lui looked at his best friend. "You shouldn't show everyone your weakness." The redhead tilted her head to the side. "My weakness?" Lui stopped and looked into her blue eyes. "I'll show you what's important" "Okay?"

The first day of school passed quickly. Algería had put all the papers in a folder and put it in her backpack. With this strapped on, she made her way down to the first classes where Lui was. They had agreed that they would meet after class and walking home together so that Lui could take care of her. Kind of funny considering he was shorter and younger than the girl but Algería didn't seem to mind. She was glad to have someone by her side who was there for her when she needed him. The girl was about to go down the stairs when she was pulled back. She looked back and saw the girl from the morning she walked in. Beside her were some boys who looked like trouble. Before Algería could say anything, a fist hit her face. "That should teach you a lesson" And they were gone. Algería didn't know what had happened. She could only feel blood running from her nose. Students just walked past her. "Algería!!!" She knew the voice all too well. "What happened?" "...Nothing..." "Nothing?! That's not 'nothing'! Tell me, who did this to you?!" Algería just shook her head. "I want to go home, Lui" "Fine, I'll take you home and I'll take care of it tomorrow" The redhead clung to her best friend. "No Lui...violence is not a solution...I don't want you to get hurt too" Lui sighed and got up. He buckled his backpack on his chest and gave Algería a piggyback ride. "I still won't let them off the hook." The blue-haired went down the stairs and brought Algería home.