Manga Fukudashi - Fake Friends...?

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He was always teased for his head.
It wasn't his fault he was born with a speech bubble for a face, everyone just liked to bully him. The whole world did.
His real parents left him when he was only three, and he was forced into the care of another couple, who were drug addicts and abusive to children for no reason.
Every school he went to, people would always hurt him and bully him, and no adult would do anything for him.
It was like he was alone in the world, with nobody to help him. That was until he was eight, when he encountered someone two years older than him that changed his life.

Fukudashi hid in the shadows of an alleyway as a group of bullies came racing down the sidewalk, calling out to him to come and 'play'.
"Where are you, comic face?" One of them called out. "We just want to play and have some fun."
"Yeah," Another voice agreed. "We don't want to hurt you. Come out, come out wherever you are!"
He didn't let himself make a sound, not even letting anything appear on his face. He was going to wait them out like the last two times, not wanting to be hurt.
The bullies seems to be walking away again, like the last time he waited them out, but then one of them spoke up and made life worse that day.
"Wait. Let's check this alleyway, he could be in there." The shuffle of shoes on the pavement alerted him that they were coming.
He went deeper into the shadows behind the walls as he progressed further into hiding, going deep into the dark alley and away from them. But they kept following his steps and he feared they would check until they found him.
He could circle back around once he got to the end, come out to the streets again and go back around to where he first went in to avoid them. He kept his footsteps as quiet as possible, not letting a breath escape his mouth, when a sudden voice called down to him from above.
"You're awful brave to be roaming this dark alley, aren't you?" The voice was smooth and silky, and sounded from right above him.
The immediate rush of footsteps that proceeded towards him made him freak out. He kicked up a burst of speed, trying to get onto the open streets as fast as possible. He was only met with more twisting passages and dark shadows that seemed to go on forever.
The voice echoed through the air again.
"To your left, jump up onto the crates and I'll do the rest."
Manga turned and spotted the stack of giant crates mentioned to him. He immediately kicked off the ground and jumped up to safety. If it was safe at all.
Just as he made it to the top, halfway up the brick walls, the bullies appeared and spotted him.
"Hey, paper face, come down and play with us, why don't ya?" One sneered as two others jumped up onto the first crate towards him.
Did I let myself get tricked into a dead end? Fear clawed his heart and chest. Why did I listen to the voice? My fate has already been sealed.
"I wouldn't be chasing him anymore, if I were you lot," a man two years older, tall with a handsome face, leaped from the rooftops and onto the second crate that the bullies were beginning to advance to. "This is where I would be going back the way I came and out of these dark halls, wouldn't you agree?"
The bullies froze. "Who the fuck do you think you are, giving us orders like that?" They demanded.
The tall boy leaned closer. "I am Archie, a filmer of a pop show from Texas. I came to Japan as a way to learn new things about the world. Wouldn't it be better to learn about things you've never knew about in your lives than chase an innocent kid who could become what you call a pro one day?"
They laughed. Manga only stared at him. Did he really mean that? Does Archie really believe that I could..?
"This useless waste of a life? Becoming a pro? That could never happen, what nonsense are you talking about? Everyone knows that useless bitch can never become anything." Those words pained Fukudashi.
"And what does that make you lot? Just a bunch of obsessed bitches that follow him around."
"We are better than that sack of skin and bones!" A girl spat.
"Not if all you can do is point at him with a stick and talk big game without actually doing anything." Archie's words hung in the air like a powerful storm. "If you believe he is so useless and weak, then why are you even bothering with hunting him down like prey? Why even bother speaking pointless threats to him if he isn't worth anything to you?"
Fukudashi felt his heart beat softly, tranced by the way he spoke with so much calmness and power. The bullies seemed to realize how much authority and power Archie also had over them just by listening to those words.
Slowly, they began to back away from the two on the crate, standing above them.
Archie puffed out his chest, looking bigger than he should.
"Now scram back to your homes and be useless yourselves."
They ran back the way they came.
Fukudashi was too shocked to move until Archie left up onto the same crate as him.
"Are you hurt?" He asked in his calm voice. "I hope they didn't pain you too much."
"Thank you," Manga breathed out. "M-my name is Manga Fukudashi."
"It is my pleasure to meet you, Fukudashi," He bowed gracefully. "My full name is Archie Cornelius."
The small phrases he spoke made him seem more powerful than a top ten pro did.
"Do you really believe that?" He asked. "That I can become a pro?"
"My friend, we live in a world full if superpowers," Archie told him. "Anything is possible. Even if the world makes you believe you are nothing, you are always a special something."
His heart was beating wildly. Nobody had ever encouraged him that he was something, anything. And his words spoke so truly with so much confidentiality. How could one simply not believe it?
"I could introduce you to my friends," Cornelius offered. "They are part of the filming industry I am in, and I bet they would love to see a face as special as yours."

Fukudashi was flattered to meet his friends. Charley was the best in anyone's eyes, always knowing just as much as Cornelius did and was always ready to flatter someone.
For once, he had never been more happy to be talking with new friends that he could be safe around.
He paid less attention to his parents' drunk yelling and abuse and the bullying at school. He couldn't stop thinking about how much Cornelius and his crew accepted him for who he was and not what he looked. Manga had never been more excited to visit anybody in his entire life.

Fukudashi and Cornlius watched the city lights at night as it lit up the night. He was on a rooftop with his best friend, and he never thought he would ever enjoy watching the city from above. It brought to him more joy than he could possibly say when he met Cornelius. It always warmed his heart when he heard his soft voice gentle in the air, and he was dazed with how much he and his friends believed he could be what others thought him to be nothing of.

I have to hurry! I have to hurry! He was thirteen now, still with his abusive parents, but nevertheless contented with his life. All thanks to Cornelius.
His Texas friend was going back to Texas for his filming job, and his train left today.
I will miss his voice so much.
He panted as he made it, at last, to the train station. He spotted Johnny and Noah at the far end and trotted up to meet them.
He passed at the edge of the wall when he heard Charley's voice and hid.
"We are finally abandoning this cursed place! Thank goodness." His harsh tone shocked Manga.
"It wasn't so bad," Noah objected. "It was nice, even for Cornelius. He even made a friend."
He's talking about me!
Charley growled at him. "Forget about that comic face freak. So what if Archie thinks of him as a friend? We have a job to do, and an offer from Viggar of Russia."
He listened to every word said. Is that how Charley thinks of me? As a freak?
"He is not a freak!" Johnny gasped. "What would Cornelius think of you saying that?"
"Who cares what Archie thinks, bastard!" Johnny let out a cry of pain. Fukudashi's heart dropped at the sound of what seemed like blood splattering on the ground. Noah stayed quiet. "The reason we came here in the first place was to progress out business further, and he's too friendly-friendly with some useless freak! Viggar offered us a position of satisfactory and pleasurement for as long as we want when we come to Russia and a filming with his best stripper. It's Archie's loss if he's chasing some stupid bitch in his dreams all day."
Fukudashi felt his heart get shredded in half, butterflies like stones flipping his stomach upside-down. He cares more about getting pleasure out of some random dude than his own friend.
He had heard enough. He bolted away without seeing a glimpse of his best friend all the way to his house.

UA... Cornelius was right, that I would one day become a pro.
He had just gotten his letter back, and he was accepted in UA high. But he didn't feel happy or proud. He was... empty. His life was lost when he lost Archie and found the truth of Charley.
He would put on a fake smile. Pretend he is fine and okay. He is not fine, but nobody at his new high-school has to know.
After all, nothing can stop him from becoming what Archie had always gave him hope of becoming.
He realized that even if he might not become an official hero, he can still be special like his friend always told him since they met.

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